Dec. 27 - Jan. 2nd 2010

I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL & FILLING Christmas. The week of Christmas I didn't do a whole lot of cooking, mainly because I was busy doing other stuff to get READY for Christmas. It was a few nights of grilled sandwiches, hot dogs and what not.
I was HOPING to have some leftovers from my in laws for this weekend, but we all ate too much and didn't even get that! So, here's what I will HOPEFULLY be cooking this week!

MUSHROOM CHICKEN

1.5 lb. Chicken thighs
1 large can + 1 reg. can Cream
of Mushroom Soup
1 can Evaporated Milk
1/2 C. reg. milk
1/2 lb. (or more) fresh sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. white pepper
1/2 C. Whit wine (optional)

Place all ingredients in a crock pot on high for 3-3 1/2 hours. Serve over rice.

TERIYAKI CHICKEN & SHRIMP

It has always been a family tradition while growing up that on Christmas Eve, we went out for Chinese. It is a tradition I love to carry on....but the wallet doesn't always cooperate. So, I have learned to improvise.

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 lb. small frozen shrimp (already cooked kind is easier)
2 C. shredded cabbage
1/2 onion sliced
1 C. shredded carrots
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms sliced
1 jar Kikkoman Teriyaki Glaze
2 Tbs. oil
1/2 C. Brown Sugar

Dice chicken into bite size pieces and place in a bowl. (you can marinade this for a while in a mixture of Soy Sauce, Sesame oil, a little Ground ginger and some Garlic powder) In a large frying pan or Wok, pour in oil and coat sides. Once heated on Med. Hi, pour in chicken and cook through; set aside. In same pan, add in all your veggies and saute on Med. heat. You don't want to FULLY cook these, you still want them a little crunchy. When done, place in a separate bowl. Add chicken back to pan and pour in your frozen shrimp. Place a lid on. The water from the frozen shrimp will create a thin sauce on the bottom of your pan. DO NOT OVERCOOK THESE SHRIMP. Add in the entire bottle of Teriyaki Glaze. Pour a little water in the bottle, shake it around to get remaining sauce out and pour into the pan as well. Toss meat and shrimp well to fully coat. Add in your brown sugar to sweeten. (add more according to own taste) If the sauce is too thin, thicken it up with a cornstarch and water mixture. Pour into separate bowl and serve with veggies over rice. (Yeah, we are a big rice eating family!)


SAUSAGE & SPINACH QUICHE

8 oz. mild sausage
1 C. torn fresh spinach
3 eggs, beaten
8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese
1 1/2 c. half and half
1 pie shell

Arrange pie shell in your pie dish and set aside. Cook sausage and drain grease. (You can also run warm water over the cooked sausage to get rid of extra grease) Place sausage, spinach and cheese in a bowl. Add eggs and half and half. Mix well and pour into pie shell and bake at 375 for 45 min. Serve immediately.


HAM & FUNEREAL POTATOES
For those of you who are not of the LDS religion, this might sound like a foreign dish. But like every church, it's one of those famous "Church recipes" that has been around for years!! Whenever there was a funeral, these potatoes were sure to be there for the luncheon for the family. Thus the name became "Funeral potatoes." In our house, we put just a little twist on it though.

1 bag frozen hash browns
1 large can Cream of mushroom soup
1 C. sour cream
1 C. milk
1 small chopped onion (Saute a little before you add in if you like)
1 tsp. pepper
1-2 C. shredded cheddar cheese

In a large bowl, mix together soup, sour cream, onions and pepper. Mix in half the cheese and then fold in the frozen hash browns. Try to coat as evenly as possible. Pour into an 11x13 casserole dish and bake at 350 for approx. 45 min. Top off with remaining cheese the last 4 min.
THE WOOD TWIST: When we have leftover ham, I chop that up and add it into these potatoes. It's a complete meal and we just add a salad on the side. My boys inhale it like no tomorrow!

CHICKEN K-SO

My sister laughed at me when I told her the title of this one. She says I'm such a "white girl." This is an honest to goodness made up recipe and it turned out GREAT!!

6-7 Boneless Skinless chicken Breasts
1/2 can chicken broth
1 C. Tostito Queso cheese dip

Place ALL ingredients in a crock pot and cook oh high for 3-3 1/2 hours. (For me, it was cooking while we were at church, done by the time we got home!) Remove chicken and shred completely. Pour some of the cheese sauce from crock pot over the top. We used this and made soft tacos with it. Try eating it with Tortilla chips too....it's YUMMY!!!