Chili Sauce Chicken ***

Wow.  This sauce was amazing!  It's kind of strange, because it almost has a Chinese five-spice flavor to it.  That's a good thing in my book, since I love me some five spice.  We used boneless skinless thighs with no problem.  Both kids cleaned their plates and asked for seconds.  Definitely a keeper for us!

CHILI SAUCE CHICKEN
(Andrew&Elliott’s Mom ~ Nicci ~ via tasteofhome.com)

1 bottle (12 ounces) chili sauce
1/3 cup white wine or chicken broth
1/4 cup olive oil
10 to 12 garlic cloves, minced
4-1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
8 bone-in chicken thighs (4 ounces each)

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the first seven ingredients. Remove 1/3 cup for basting; cover and refrigerate. Add chicken to bag; seal and turn to coat. Chill for at least 2 hours. Drain and discard marinade from chicken. Grill, covered, skin side down, over medium heat for 20 minutes. Baste with half the reserved marinade. Turn; grill 10 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 180°, basting frequently with reserved marinade. Yield: 8 servings.

Oven-Fried Okra ***

I love the coating on this.  True, it's drier than true fried okra, but the flavor more than makes up for that, in my opinion.  The 6-year-old ate every bite, and the 8-year-old (who claims to detest okra) ate about half of his and said it wasn't too bad.  Dh and I both liked it.  It's a nice change to our normal veggie sides, so I'll definitely make it again.

OVEN-FRIED OKRA
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ via Cookin' Cowgirl)

16 oz bag frozen sliced okra, thawed {about 3 1/2 cups}
1 tsp Cajun or creole seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 C yellow corn meal
Canola oil spray
1 gallon zip lock bag

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Turn the zip-lock bag inside out and spray with canola oil spray.
Pour the okra in the bag along with the Cajun seasoning and garlic salt. Seal bag and shake vigorously. Let rest for 10 minutes so the juices extract from the okra.
Add the cornmeal to the bag and shake up again. Let rest 10 more minutes. Give the bag one more good shake. Pour okra over a strainer or colander {either over the sink or over a bowl} so the extra cornmeal will fall off. Spread the okra over a foil covered baking sheet and spread out evenly. Spray okra with canola oil spray.
Bake for 20 minutes, remove from oven, flip okra over, lightly spray again and return to oven for 20 more minutes.

Stuffed Pork Chops with Corn in the Crockpot ***

So, I took my mom's advice and tried this with the green beans.  We.  Loved.  It.  My kids ate the green beans with no complaints or bribery!  I used two cans of drained green beans.  My only complaint is that it had a bit too much liquid with those.  I'm not really sure how to fix that yet, though.  I'm still thinking on it.  At the time, I just ladled the extra out.  I know that it would be fine if I cut it down to just one can of green beans, but I liked having quite a bit in there.  Maybe I'll try draining them in a colander and then patting them dry, to get a little more of the liquid out.  Anyway, I'll be making this with the green beans from now on, because it's just yummers.  :)

STUFFED PORK CHOPS WITH CORN IN THE CROCKPOT
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ Fix-It-and-Forget-It)

6-oz pkg stuffing mix for pork
5 to 6 boneless pork chops
14-oz can whole-kernel corn (or green beans)
10¾-oz can cream of mushroom soup

Prepare stuffing mix according to package directions. Place pork chops in slow cooker and spoon prepared stuffing mix over chops.
Spoon corn over stuffing. Pour soup over all without adding water to dilute soup.
Cover and cook on high 3 to 4 hours.
*Amy's notes: I've also subbed two cans of green beans for the corn.

Previous Posts:
1/27/11 ~ This turned out much better than I thought it would. To be honest, when it was done, it still looked kind of soupy, and my first thought was that I was going to have to trash it and quickly find something else to throw together for dinner. I made everyone try it first, and it was absolutely delicious! I've mentioned before that I occasionally get a craving for StoveTop, so that's what made me try it in the first place. As always, I used the cornbread dressing one instead of the stuffing (texture issue for me). I also used 6 boneless pork loin chops. They were a little thicker than the thin chops and not as thick as the thick ones. We ate every bit of this, with only a little left for dh to take for his lunch the next day, and the kids were making their "yummy" noises the entire time we ate. This one is so easy to throw together and so yummy that I'm definitely putting it down for my rushed nights. I was telling my mom about it, and she wants to try it with green beans instead of the corn. That sounds really good, so I'm thinking I may have to try that one soon too. :)

Easy as Can Be Pineapple Dessert **

I picked this one because I really do love pistachio pudding.  I just never get to eat it anymore, since I'm the one one who does.  You can't taste the pistachio at all, which was a plus for everyone but me, lol.  I'm really into the Cool Whip type desserts right now, though, since they always taste so cool and refreshing with the summer heat.  Not to mention how easy they are to throw together while supper is in the oven.  I definitely prefer this one over the last one we tried, but it's honestly nothing special.  Just basic and simple.  I'll make it again and again.

EASY AS CAN BE PINEAPPLE DESSERT
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ Food.com)

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple
1 box pistachio pudding mix
1 container Cool Whip
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Mix together pineapple and pudding.
Then add cool whip, marshmallows and walnuts.
Put in a large bowl and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Mexican Pot Pie ****

We absolutely love this one! The first time I made it, I kept putting off making it, because I tend to have ADD when it comes to recipes with long lists of ingredients. The one thing it had going for it in that respect was that it had a short directions list, lol. I do love Jiffy in general, and cumin is one of my top 5 spices. Put the two together, and I was sold. Even the super picky 6-year-old asks for seconds. Dh hates black beans, and the kids hate black olives. I get NO complaints on any of that stuff! It's so awesome! It's actually not too terribly unhealthy, either, which is totally awesome, what with dh and I starting diets again. I just used a colby-jack blend, instead of using two different kinds of cheese. Mine also needed the full 30 minutes for the cornbread to set. This one will most definitely be made again!

MEXICAN POT PIE
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ Food.com)

1 lb lean ground turkey (93% lean is best)
11 ounces corn, drained
15 ounces black beans, drained (or chili beans)
4 ounces diced green chilies (or jalepenos)
16 ounces salsa
4 ounces sliced black olives (optional)
4 ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded (1 cup)
4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)
8 1/2 ounces Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Brown turkey and drain.
Spray a 2 1/2-3 qt (mine's a 9x13) casserole and combine turkey, corn, beans, chilis, salsa and olives. stir in cheese and pour into casserole.
Mix jiffy mix with egg, milk, sour cream, cumin and garlic.
Spread over turkey mixture
Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes.

Cake Mix Pumpkin Muffins **

These are definitely not pretty muffins, but they had a decent flavor.  They had a slight doughy taste to them, even though they were completely cooked.  I used a sugar-free yellow cake mix.  It was sweet enough, but in my opinion, the pumpkin flavor was kind of lost in there.  I think I might try it with a little bit of cinnamon next time.  The kids liked them, and they were beyond easy.  Those were my main concerns, so it all worked out.  :)

CAKE MIX PUMPKIN MUFFINS
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ via Sweet Verbena)

One Cake mix- OP used yellow
1 -15 ounce can 100% pumpkin- puree, not pumpkin pie filling

Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients. Pour into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Add a dusting of powdered sugar, or better yet some homemade cream cheese frosting for added awesomeness.  Makes 12 large muffins.
Note: Batter will be extremely thick.

Peanut Butter Cookies ***

I've made these cookies many times because we love them so much.  We had a Cub Scout bake sale a couple weeks ago, and I made these to sell.  This time, I added the Hershey kiss on top.  The cookies were amazing, as usual, but I thought the kiss took away from the cookie itself.  But hey, with peanut butter and chocolate, it's all good.  :-)  So I'll definitely keep making the cookies (I'd be insane not to, hehehe), but I'll do it without the kisses next time.  I love how moist these are.  I normally take them out just a little bit earlier than called for, to make them even moister.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
(farmin_mama)

1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg

Mix all and form into 1" balls, use bottom of glass to flatten and use fork to make cross marks like you would for a normal peanut butter cookie. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Past reviews:
2/4/11
Well, this recipe has really ticked me off. How can something so easy be so good?!? I normally don't let myself make cookies, because if they're there, I'm going to eat them, lol. These just sounded so interesting that I had to try it. I was convinced that they couldn't work without some kind of flour or something in them, so I was fairly convinced that I would have a gooey mess afterwards. I almost felt like I was performing an experiment. You wouldn't believe my shock when they actually turned out to be cookies, and pretty good ones at that! I am in so much trouble, now that I have an easy cookie recipe where I always have the ingredients on hand!

Fat-Free Pineapple Angel Food Cupcakes ***

These were surprisingly good.  However, there's nothing filling about them.  I made the mistake of letting the kids have them for breakfast, and they were still hungry afterwards.  They would be much better as an after-school or midmorning snack.  They were yummy, though, and goodness knows you can't beat them for how easy they are!

Photo from Pinterest (no actual link)

FAT FREE PINEAPPLE ANGEL FOOD CUPCAKES
(via Pinterest)

1 box of Angel Food Cake Mix
1 large can of crushed pineapple with the juice

Combine ingredients and pour into muffin tins with cupcake liners.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 min or until golden brown. 
Makes about 36 cupcakes.
(May also be made in a bundt pan. Cook time will run 30-40 minutes.)

Fruit Fluff **

The kids loved this, but it was too sweet for me.  I'm thinking it might be better with blueberry, but I don't know if I'll try it again or not.  You could barely even taste the cherries at all. 

FRUIT FLUFF
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ Food.com)

1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling or 1 (21 ounce) can blueberry pie filling
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 ounce) container whipped topping, thawed

Combine all 3 ingredients in medium sized bowl.