August menus...

I so do not want August to come...then that means school will soon follow and I have been enjoying my summer off from school so much...
since we had just moved to our new house in May, I still have so much to do...there are still boxes and bins to unpack but summer meant that I could take my time...having a heart attack right after we moved did not help the situation either...but I am feeling better and getting a lot done...but, while I had a few minutes I decided to go ahead and make the August line-up of food...

here goes...

porcupines
chicken and pea pod foil
chicken parmesan with bacon
pork roast
breakfast
huli huli chicken
seasoned potato with chicken and green beans in slow cooker
corn chowder
BBQ for hubby's dinner
hoagies
slow cooker lasagna
orange chicken
alfredo
smothered pork chops
frito casserole
polish sausage with apples and onions
sweet and sour meatballs
BBQ corned beef
stacked chicken enchiladas
lettuce wraps
slow cooker mac and cheese
italian sausage and veggies
thai pork
spanish rice
chicken fried steak fingers
hamburger soup
taco lasagna
taco salad
kabobs
grilled chicke and bacon sliders

happy eating

chicken fried rice and homemade egg rolls

I love fried rice and it is always what I get when we go to Pick Up Stix (my favorite place to eat...), I like it all coated but I still never have gotten anything else to eat there...
when we were first married I tried several times to make fried rice and it never came out like I wanted it to...

so a couple of years ago, I decided to try it again, but thoroughly researched different recipes to try to see what I had done wrong to begin with...I still am not sure what I did wrong, but everyone in this family loves my friend rice, especially my oldest grand daughter Zoie...but she likes to fry her own rice and put only what she likes into it...she made her own and then took it home with her for her dinner (smart girl...)

so, here is what I do...

I make up ahead of time 8 cups of white rice (I use the Minute rice)

and I fry it in a small amount of oil in 3 batches (easier that way to do in batches and also everyone can put their own spin on it with just basically rice///)
and then I add a ton of seasonings, garlic salt, onion powder, and black pepper and keep stirring and then I add enough soy sauce to lightly coat the rice (I hate to have white rice mixed in, in other words, I like to have each kernal coated...) LOL...

then to the last 2 batches I add...
diced cooked chicken
crumbled bacon
green onions
shredded carrots (I copied this from Pick Up Stix)
frozen green peas

once I remove the rice from the pan, I then add 6-8 lightly scrambled eggs to the bowl of rice and gently fold it in...then add some cashews to the top

voila...yummy

for the egg rolls...

I mix up some breakfast sausage
with some seasonings
and packaged cole slaw mix
and put inside an egg roll wrapper
fry in small amount of oil...

chicken lazone, my version...first posted 09/15

http://momsdutchoven.blogspot.com/2015/09/chicken-lazone-my-version.html

meatloaf patties, hash brown casserole and carrots

http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2016/06/27/crockpot-hashbrown-casserole/

this recipe I first made on Friday and then we decided to eat out instead and my son and the little kids ate the potatoes and loved them...little boy said (he says he is going to own a bakery when he gets big) these potatoes will be featured in his bakery...so I made them again for today...

paired with meat loaf patties and carrots...

this is the recipe I loosely base for my meat loaf...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/30-minute-mini-meatloaves/d691ebd6-743b-4dc1-a04c-40ee7da480d5

chicken and wild rice casserole in the slow cooker

everyone that knows me, knows that this recipe is hands down my favorite ever...I could make this every week and never get tired of it...Tim also loves it but little boy especially does and since he is spending the night tonight decided I would make it in honor of him...he cannot wait until after water polo to get to eat...it is cute how excited he is about it...

http://www.southernplate.com/2014/08/chicken-and-wild-rice-casserole-bags-to-dishes.html

here in Riverside, we are in the depths of summer with triple digits forecasted till next Monday...oh my Lord, I hate summer...I melt in this heat...been battling a migraine all day because of it...and there is not way I will turn my oven on when it is this hot...

this works out great in the slow cooker...I had it on high for about 2-2 1/2 hours...I toasted the Ritz crackers by themselves in the toaster oven so they would be crispy and not soggy in the slow cooker...

Tim said there is no difference between this recipe in the oven and the slow cooker...yeah for me...

yum, happy eating

Wednesday night, chicken wraps, homemade pasta salad

for dinner I was going to make the Applebees copycat oriental chicken salad tortilla wraps but I made the mistake of going to the store without a shopping list and not once but twice last night and I still forgot a key ingredient...the honey...and I was not going to go back out when we have triple digits here in Riverside...
(can I please say, here, that it is sooooooo nice in the new house with air conditioning, how did we do it for 14+ years without one?)

so what I did was lay out all of the ingredients that I did have and let everyone make their own...Tim made a chicken wrap with honey mustard, I think Zoie did also and Sam made hers with BBQ sauce and ranch...and everyone loved their own creations...

I had out to add:
cole slaw mix
shredded carrots
sliced onion
almonds
chow mein noodles
chicken tenders and I cheated tonight and went to Carl's for their chicken so I did not have to cook it...


for my pasta salad

to al-dente cooked ditalini I add, 6 diced up hard boiled eggs, about 4 stalks of celery diced, green onions chopped, diced dill pickles, black olives, seasonings, a little mustard and some mayo...I also add a little of the pickle juice...

yum

honey sesame chicken with rice

http://damndelicious.net/2013/11/02/slow-cooker-crockpot-honey-sesame-chicken/

I have had this dinner bookmarked for a very long time and last night I decided that it would make a great dinner...(I have to make up my mind the night before, so that I make sure the meat is defrosted and I have all of the ingredients on hand...)  for some reason, if it is clear in my mind what I am making, it is so much easier...

this is definitely a keeper and the simplicity of the recipe makes it a winner...everyone loved it, in fact Zoie wanted me to put a bowl away for her for breakfast when she gets here in the mornings...haha...

a couple of very small changes I would make to it for next time...I would add just a couple of drops of sesame oil and maybe some shredded carrots to it...I also would not leave on for the whole 3 hours and 30 minutes, some of the chicken got a little more done than the rest...(I have come to the conclusion that my slow cooker cooks a little faster than some are stated...)  I would cut off the 30 minutes and Zoie also asked that I make a little more sauce...

otherwise, totally yum...

you will love the easy prep of this recipe...