Chicken Fried Rice

1 cup diced cooked chicken

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 cup uncooked rice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup oil

2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1/4 cup thinly sliced celery

2 slightly beaten eggs

1 cup finely shredded lettuce

Combine chicken, soy sauce and salt.  Cook rice in hot oil over medium heat until golden brown.  Reduce heat, add chicken mixture to rice and add broth.  Simmer, covered for 20-25 minutes.  Remove cover the last few minutes and stir in onion, green pepper and celery.  Cook uncovered over medium heat until liquid is absorbed.  Push rice mixture to sides, add eggs in middle and cook until almost set, then blend into rice.  Stir in lettuce and serve with soy sauce.

Star Spangled Fruit Tart

From Taste of Home

Here's what I am going to make for our BBQs tomorrow. I might make them individual sized though, I haven't decided. Anyways it looks like a pretty easy yummy idea so I thought I'd share. Have a happy 4th!

Ingredients:
1 tube (18 ounces) refrigerated sugar cookie dough, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup halved fresh strawberries

Directions:
Press cookie dough onto an ungreased 12-in. pizza pan. Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and extract until smooth. Spread over crust. In center of tart, arrange berries in the shape of a star; add a berry border. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 16 servings.

Lettuce Wraps

1/2 lb. ground chicken or turkey (I have always used ground turkey and it is fabulous!)

1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 1/2 tsp. finely chopped fresh ginger

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce (found in the Asian aisle)

2 tsp. brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. soy sauce

5 - 10 drops red pepper sauce (Tabasco)

2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped

1 head iceberg lettuce, separated into lettuce cups

In a large skillet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, saute chicken/turkey over medium heat until no longer pink.  Pour into dish; set aside.  Rinse pan; spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Saute bell pepper, onion, garlic and ginger for 2 minutes.  Add meat.  In a bowl, blend lemon juice, hoisin sauce, sugar, oil, soy sauce and pepper sauce.  Pour into pan; stir to coat chicken/turkey.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring until sauce is absorbed, about 4 minutes.  Stir in cilantro.  Serve with lettuce cups. (optional, rice)

Chinese Chicken Salad

There's nothing really special about this, but its really easy and delicious.

1 head romaine lettuce

1 can chicken (i get mine from costco)

1 can mandarin oranges

1 package top roman noodles

green onion (i use about 4-5)

Chinese chicken salad dressing (my favorite is Girards)
Wash and cut up the romaine lettuce, dump the can of drained shredded chicken in, dump the can of drained mandarine oranges in, cut up the green onions, smash the noodles then toast on the stove top (wait till they are cool to dump in), mix all together and add dressing.  Voila! Your done!

Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients

• 2 cups elbow pasta, cooked until almost al dente (it should still be a little hard, because it'll soften up when it's baked and you don't want to end up with mushy noodles)
  
• 16 ounces Cheddar cheese, 1/2 cubed, 1/2 shredded
• 8 ounces Monterey pepper jack cheese, cubed
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you want it)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 4 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 4 slices bread
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, toss together pasta with the cheese cubes and pour into the baking dish.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, nutmeg and sour cream, egg, heavy cream and half-and-half. Pour over the pasta and cover with shredded Cheddar. Bake uncovered until top is just beginning to brown, about 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the bread into crouton-sized squares. In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter, add cubes and toast until golden.

Sprinkle the bread cubes on top of the macaroni and cheese and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more.

Garlic Butter

I saw the 'go-to' question and will try to answer it, but in the meantime I wanted to post this recipe. 

Last night we had a BBQ with some friends, we grilled Lemon-Rosemary Chicken and corn in their husks, then slathered this garlic butter on top of the corn. Soooo good. 

Garlic Butter

2 sticks butter

8 cloves garlic 

1/4 serrano chile, deseeded and finely chopped (if you're not familiar with these, like I was, they're in the produce section, and cost like nothing)

1/4 bunch fresh chives, finely chopped

salt and pepper

dash chili powder

Combine all in food processor or blender. Tastes great on corn or garlic bread. It makes a lot so I cut it in half. 

Ribbon Ice Cream Pie

from Woman's Day.

The combinations you could try are endless. Yum.

• Active Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pint vanilla ice cream
• 1 ready-to-fill chocolate cookie crust
• 1 pint reduced-fat Dutch chocolate ice cream
• 1 pint strawberry ice cream
• 1/4 cup fudge sauce
• Garnish: strawberries

PREPARATION

Place 1 pint vanilla ice cream in large bowl; stir until smooth but not melted. Spread into bottom of a ready-to-fill chocolate cookie crust. Freeze 30 minutes until just firm. Repeat as above with 1 pint reduced-fat Dutch chocolate ice cream, then 1 pint strawberry ice cream. Cover and freeze until firm. Before serving, slightly warm 1/4 cup fudge sauce in microwave. Drizzle over pie; garnish with strawberries.