Three Bean Salad

I'm not a huge fan of bean salad, but I really do like this one. It has just enough sweetness while not being too acidic. It is also very fast and easy. I have done the dressing without bringing the vinegar, oil and sugar to a boil. That works, too and makes it even faster!

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Serves 12 people

Ingredient	Always have it	Usually have it	Usually don’t have it	Grocery aisle
green beans				a
black beans				a
pinto beans				a
onion				a
vinegar				a
oil				a
brown sugar				a
pepper to taste				a

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Ingredients

1. 15 oz. can green beans
2. 15 oz. can black beans
3. 15 oz. can pinto beans
4. 1 onion, thinly sliced
5. 3/4 cup vinegar
6. 1/4 cup oil
7. 3/4 cup brown sugar
8. pepper to taste

Directions

1. First drain and rinse all of the canned beans. I just dump them in a colander and rinse them off with cold water. Then, dump into a large bowl and add the thinly sliced onions. Meanwhile, in a quart sized saucepan, combine the vinegar, oil and sugar. Bring to a boil, remove from heat immediately, and pour over the beans and onions. Stir together, adding a little pepper if you like. Chill and serve.

Delicious Baked Buffalo Wings

My son loves buffalo wings and requested them for his 16th birthday party. This recipe was a hit with everyone who came to his birthday celebration.

Prep time: 1 hour 15 minutes (if you include the time the wings sit in the fridge after dredging)
Cook time: 45 minutes
Serves 2 people as main dish or 4 if an appetizer

Ingredient	Always have it	Usually have it	Usually don’t have it	Grocery aisle
chicken wings				a
butter				a
hot sauce				a
flour				a
cayenne pepper				a
garlic powder				a
salt				a

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Ingredients

1. 20 chicken wings, separated at the drumette
2. 1/2 cup butter, melted
3. 1/2 cup hot sauce
4. 3/4 cup flour
5. 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6. 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Mix flour, cayenne, garlic and salt in a large zip-lock bag (or a bowl).

2. Coat wings in flour mixture and place on ungreased cookie sheet. I’d recommend lining the pan with foil for easier cleanup.

3. Place in refrigerator to cool and firm up the coating for an hour or so.

4. Preheat oven to 400°F.

5. Mix melted butter and hot sauce in a bowl.

6. Gently coat wings in sauce mixture and place back on cookie sheet in single uncrowded layer.

7. Bake for 45 minutes turning half way.

8. Serve dressing to dip. Our family prefers to use ranch dressing to dip, but of course many (if not most) folks use blue cheese dressing.

Herbed Cheese Breadsticks

The recipe calls for a 10 inch boule (which I think means a round loaf) of sourdough. I get a large loaf of sour dough bread from Panera’s for this recipe, but it isn’t round. This recipe is a great item to take to parties. For a really large loaf, you might want to double the toppings.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves approximately 12 people as appetizer

Ingredients

1. 10-in. boule sourdough bread
2. 1/2 t. garlic, minced
3. 1 T. fresh oregano, basil, or dill, finely chopped
4. 8 T. unsalted butter, melted
5. 1/2 c. Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Starting at the top, slice down through the loaf, stopping about 1 inch from the bottom (in other words, don’t cut all the way through, you want these to be attached at the bottom.) Continue to cut slices approximately 1 inch width until you have sliced the entire loaf. Rotate the loaf 1/4 turn and slice in the same manner (horizontal slices), creating a checkerboard across the original cuts. Place the bread on a piece of extra wide foil. Mix the garlic and herbs into the melted butter. Pour the butter mixture over the loaf and down between the bread sticks. Top with cheese and close foil securely over loaf. Place in the oven or on top of grill for 10-15 minutes, until browned. I usually open up the foil and put it under the broiler for just a minute to lightly brown the cheese on top.

Chicken Teriyaki Stir-Fry

Tonight I made a Chicken Teriyaki Stir-Fry with the lightly breaded chicken breasts from Angel Food Ministries. First I fried the chicken breasts in a little bit of oil, until cooked through. Then, I removed the chicken from the pan and put some stir-fry vegetables in the pan to let them start cooking. When the chicken had cooled just a tad, I cut them up into bite size pieces. As soon as the stir-fry vegetables were about finished (crisp tender), I put the chicken back in, stirred it up, and then poured some bottled teriyaki sauce over them. Cooked until the sauce thickened a little, and then served it over some white rice. It was good, quick, and easy!

Sweet & Sour Chicken

We were having trouble finding a way to enjoy the Breaded Chicken Breast Fillets. We had a lot of this particular chicken because I bought two Angel Food boxes that month. We tried frying them and eating them on buns, which was "okay" but nothing great. Tonight I tried something else. I altered a Sweet & Sour chicken recipe a little bit to make it work with the fillets. The family gave it FIVE STARS!

Sweet & Sour Chicken

5-7 Breaded Chicken Breast Fillets
Garlic Powder
Oil (to fry in)

Sauce:
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. ketchup
2 T. soy sauce
1/4 c. white vinegar
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. cornstarch

Cooked Rice (to serve)

Sprinkle the breaded chicken breast fillets lightly with garlic powder. Heat a 1/2 in. or so of oil in a large skillet and when the oil is hot enough put the chicken in the oil to fry. When the chicken is browned on one side, flip over and cook until browned on the other side. When browned and cooked through, remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

Meanwhile, begin to prepare the sauce. Combine the six sauce ingredients in a bowl and either whisk together, or if you bowl has a lid, put on the lid and shake until thoroughly blended.

When chicken is cool enough to handle, move it to a cutting board and cut into chunks. Put the chicken in a large skillet and pour the sauce over the chicken. Heat on medium heat, constantly stirring, until the sauce thickens.

Serve over a bed of rice.

Family-Style Vegetable Soup

This uses the ground beef and mixed vegetables in the May Angel Food box (If I'm not mistaken). We also made corn muffins to eat with it, which was also an Angel Food item. The soup was tasty and filling. We gave this recipe FIVE STARS.

Family-Style Vegetable Soup

1 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound ground beef round

1 garlic clove, minced finely

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoons black pepper

2 cans (15 ounces) diced tomatoes

1 can (14.5 ounces) tomato sauce

1 can (14 to 14.5 ounces) beef broth

1 package (16 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables

1 bay leaf

½-1 t. dried basil

½-1 t. dried oregano

½ t. dried parsley

1 cup uncooked macaroni, or 1 cup spaghetti broken into 1-inch pieces

1. Place the olive oil in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble in the ground beef and break it up with a wooden spoon. Add the salt and pepper and garlic. Cook, stirring, until the beef browns all over and is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the 2 cans of tomatoes with their liquid, tomato sauce, and the beef broth, frozen vegetables, bay leaf, basil, oregano, and parsley. Fill both the tomato cans with water, add this to the pot, and stir. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and let the soup simmer until the flavors blend, 20 minutes.

2. Stir in the pasta and cover the pot. Let the soup simmer until it has thickened somewhat and the pasta is al dente, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. To serve, ladle the soup into serving bowls. The soup can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Best Wishes and Best Dishes!

I enjoy cooking blogs, although I don't have time to visit them very often. But, I thought it might be fun to start my own.... this will be quite different than others. Since Mark's job loss, we've begun participating in a ministry called Angel Food Ministries. For $25 you get a box of food that they say is valued between $50-70. The box contents are pre-determined by the ministry and you don't have any choices (except that you can add some specialty boxes to your purchase).

Sometimes the challenge is to determine how to use items that are in the box! I thought it might be fun to use this blog to share what I make from my box. I'd love to have people comment and share what they have done with their Angel Food box items, too.

Best wishes and best dishes! (That's what Paula Deen says, isn't it?)