Catch up to Week 5--Wings!

With the holiday weekend, Kate and I decided to double-dip (so to speak) for our recipes. Long holiday weekends in the summer seem to require BBQ Wings.

BBQ Wings

3 or 5 Lb. bag frozen disjointed chicken wings
1.5 Tbsp. onion powder
1.5 Tbsp. ground chili powder
1.5 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. seasoning salt (or table salt)
1 C. honey
0.25 C. Kansas City or St. Louis BBQ sauce (Kansas City makes them sweeter; St. Louis spicier)

For the grill:
3 C. wood chips of your choice (apple, pecan, cherry or hickory)

Soak wood chips in water so they will smoke instead of burn. Remove the bag of chicken wings from the freezer. Prepare rub by combining onion powder, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper and seasoning salt. Rub the surface of the wings (still in the bag) and let the rub dry for at least 30 minutes while your coals are burning to white. (Closing the bag and shaking it will coat the wings even better.)

Remove the wings from the bag and place them in a (13 ½” x 9 ½”) disposable all-purpose foil pan. In small bowl, combine honey and BBQ sauce. Pour the sauce over the wings in the pan until all wings are evenly coated. Add wood smoking chips to coals. Place the wings on your BBQ grill/smoker grid using indirect heat and smoke.

Smoke wings for 20 minutes. Stir and recoat wings with sauce. When the wings are done, the sugar in sauce should caramelize and turn dark. Continue smoking and checking every 20 minutes. The amount of time it takes will depend on how many wings, how thawed they are and how hot the grill is. Once the sauce begins to darken, place pan on grid over direct heat. Wings are ready after about 20 minutes.

Week 4: The secret Beach chocolate chip cookies!!!

Ok, this recipe isn't really so secret. Mom and I just decided a couple of decades ago to adopt it as our secret recipe.

Beach Family Chocolate Chip Cookies

0.5 C. Sugar
0.5 C. packed light brown sugar
0.33 C. Margarine or Butter, softened
0.33 C. Shortening
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1.5 C. Flour
0.5 tsp. Baking Soda
0.5 tsp. Salt
1 C. Chocolate Chips (1 Cup = 6 oz.)

Sift together flour, soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream together sugars, shortening and margarine. Add egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture 1 cup at a time. Once dough is well mixed, stir in chocolate chips.

Place on ungreased cookie sheets by the teaspoon. Bake at 375F for 8 to 11 minutes.

Week 3: Kate's Favorite--Sheppard’s Pie

Sheppard’s Pie

1 Lb. Ground Beef
0.50 Lb. Sausage
1 C. Carrots, chopped
1 med. White Onion, chopped
0.50 C. Water
2 Beef Bouillon cubes
0.50 C. Water
6 Tbs. Margarine
6 Tbs. Flour
0.50 C. Evaporated Milk (Fat-Free)
2 C. frozen vegetables
3 C. Mashed Potatoes (either left-over or instant)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Brown and drain meats; set aside. Microwave carrots, onions and 1/2 C. of water for about 5 minutes. Make sure that the carrots are cooked but not mushy. Do NOT drain.

Dissolve the bouillon cubes in 1/2 C. of water by microwaving it for 1-2 minutes. In a large saucepan, begin to melt margarine over medium heat. After bottom of the pan is covered by the margarine, add flour. Once all the margarine has melted and the mixture has begun to bubble, add the bouillon. Stir until mixture is smooth and then quickly add the evaporated milk. Again stir quickly and make sure there are no lumps. Add carrots and onions, along with the water they were cooked in. Stir slightly to mix and remove from the heat.

Add in the meats and the frozen vegetables. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more evaporated milk, 2 tablespoons at a time. Pour into large casserole. Cook for 20 minutes.

While the meat is cooking, prepare mashed potatoes. When meat is ready, top with mashed potatoes by loose spoonfuls. Once all the potatoes are on the casserole, use the tips of your fingers to be sure there are no peaks that may burn. Return casseroles for 20 minutes or until brown.

Week 3: Delayed

We had to delay our 3rd recipe for a little reason...Ken couldn't eat. He came down with a stomach virus that had him not eating for 5 days. Well, he was eating, if you could call the BRAT diet eating. But somehow eating Bananas, (white) Rice, Applesauce and (dry) Toast wasn't what Ken considered as eating.

Luckily he's beginning to feel better finally. But since we have a crazy week ahead it'll be next weekend before we can make the next recipe.

Week 2: Sandy's comments

We saw this on the Rachel Ray show the morning we were in Vail. Ken and I love Chinese, but the kids weren't too excited about it. When I made this the first time, Kate loved it but Charlie didn't. To keep Charlie happy, I just pull out some chicken and pineapple before everything is combined for him.

This is a little spicy, so cut back the hot sauce if you don't want it spicy. You still want some of the hot sauce, just to round out the sweetness of the pineapple though. I also found that the sauce was too thin, so I've doubled the amount of cornstarch.

This will be a recipe we're making for a long time.

Week 2: Kate's comments

I love it. my favorites part is the pineapple. It would not be the same with Canned pineapple.

Week 2: Recipe from Vail--Sweet 'n Sour Pork

Sweet 'n Sour Pork (or Chicken)

Recipe from Rachel Ray

Rice for 4
2 Tbs. vegetable or canola oil
1 Tbs. hot sauce
Juice of 1 lime
3 Tbs. honey
3 Tbs. soy sauce or Tamari (dark soy sauce)
3 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
8 Oz. canned tomato sauce
1 Tbs. cornstarch
1 Lbs. pork tenderloins (chicken breasts), trimmed of silver skin and cut into 1-inch diced
2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
1 inch ginger, peeled and grated
2 green bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
6 slices fresh pineapple, drained and cut into 1-inch pieces
Freshly ground black pepper


Prepare rice.

When the rice is about halfway done, place a large skillet over high heat with two turns of the pan of oil, about 2 tablespoons. While the pan is heating up, grab a small bowl and combine the hot sauce, lime juice, honey, Tamari, vinegar, tomato sauce and cornstarch, stirring to dissolve the cornstarch. Set the sauce aside.

When the skillet is searing hot, add in the pork and cook the meat until caramelized, 3-4 minutes. Add in the garlic, ginger, peppers and onions, and stir fry the meat and veggies for 2 minutes more. Add in the pineapple and reserved sauce and stir everything together. Bring the sauce to a boil and allow it to cook for 1 minute to thicken up.

Season everything with some ground black pepper and serve the sweet 'n sour pork over the rice.