Cooking - for a new lifestyle (Our Test Kitchen)

Zesty Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken John is sick of puddings So we are being creative to give him some texture! Original recipe: 6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce Directions: Place chicken in a slow cooker.  In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken. Cover Cook 3 to 4 hours on High (or 6 to 8 hours on Low.) Now for our purposes, we will be dicing the chicken for our toothless member of the family. We served it with mashed potatoes and creamed carrots. BUT It was really yummy as an open faced sandwich when John was not looking! "Bon Appetit!"

This was super easy. In a large deep skillet or dutch oven: melt 1/2 cup butter Add: 1 cup diced onions 2 diced raw potatoes (or 2 cups frozen hash browns) 1 1/2 cups water Cover and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes or until potatoes are fully cooked. Add: 1 small can of corn (or cream corn) 1/2 bag frozen baby scallops 1/2 bag frozen baby shrimp 3 tbsp of your favourite seasoning (I used bacon and chives) Continue cooking on medium and stirring. Add: 1 cup of milk or cream I then used an immersion blender to break it down a bit. John said it was definitely a do again... especially when he can enjoy non-pureed seafood! "Bon Appetit!"

This weeks cooking challenge was bacon. Although I am not a huge fan, I love the taste IN recipes. So, I chose this recipe as my family LOVES bacon. You can make these individual servings. or as a loaf for family dinner night. 2 lbs of ground chicken diced onions (to taste) garlic seasoning black pepper 3/4 cup of bread crumbs (mine was a mix of corn meal, crushed crackers and bread crumbs) 1/4 cup of oatmeal  1 package bacon Depending on how much sauce you like you can multiply this combination. 2 tbsp bbq sauce 4 tbsp ketchup shot of your favourite mustard 2 tsp vinegar 2 tbsp brown sugar ******************************************************* Mix the meat and onions and crumbs. *I had to add extra bread crumbs as chicken is VERY moist to work with. Line a loaf pan with bacon! Press mixture into pan being careful not to knock down the bacon. Top with more bacon. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until bacon is crispy. P

SOOOOO easy but needs time to refrigerate! Unfortunately, I forgot to tell Judy to cut the cold water in 1/2 so our jello was a little too liquid to hold the cubed shapes. Although mine LOOKED like soup, it was still super DELICIOUS. *1 box jell-o *1 container cool whip *1 can mandarin oranges *1 can crushed pineapple *coconut flakes nice bowl/serving dishes Step 1: Drain 1 can of pineapple and 1 can mandarin oranges, removing as much liquid as you can from the pineapple ***Let sit to the side in a strainer while jello sets. Step 2: Sprinkle fruit with coconut (amount of your choice) Step 3: Make any colour jello package with 1 cup boiling water and 1/2 a cup of cold water. then REFRIGERATE well. Step 3: In large serving bowl mix 1 almost thawed container of cool whip/no name whip topping to the fruit DO NOT mix hard! just gently Step 4: Cut your jello with a knife into cubes and drop into cool whip/fruit mixture. Serve as an appetizer or

Teriyaki Pork Chops http://www.soscuisine.com/en/recipes/view/teriyaki-pork-chops 2 servings Marinade 30 min   Preparation 10 min   Cooking 10 min 240 calories per serving   Ingredients   resealable plastic bag     2 pork chops with bones 360 g 1/2 clove garlic, finely chopped   1 tbsp gingerroot, minced 14 g 1 tbsp brown sugar 12 g 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar   30 mL 1/4 cup soy sauce, low-sodium   65 mL 1 1/2 tbsp mirin (sweet rice wine), or sherry   23 mL 1 tbsp canola oil 15 mL Before you start Keep the serving plates in the oven at the lowest setting so they are warm when you serve. Method Place the pork chops in a resealable plastic bag. Finely chop the garlic and mince the ginger then put them in a small bowl. Add the brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and  mirin  (or Sherry) then  stir  until the brown sugar is dissolved. Pour the mixture into the bag, then seal it and turn it to coat the pork chops with the  marinade . Let stand

2 servings Soaking 20 min   Preparation 10 min 230 calories per serving   Ingredients 6 dried apricots   4 tbsp 2 tbsp white wine   30 mL 5 cups baby spinach   80 g 2 tbsp canola oil 30 mL 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar   8 mL 1/2 tsp honey   4 g 1 pinch salt  [optional] 0.1 g   ground pepper to taste     1/4 cup walnuts  [optional] 26 g Method In a small bowl,  macerate  the apricots in the white wine for at least 20 min. Drain the apricots, resrving the liquid, slice them into bite size pieces and put them in a salad bowl. Wash the baby spinach and spin dry, then add it to the salad bowl. Set aside. Mix the reserved wine, oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper.  Beat  the mixture using a fork until well emulsified. Pour the vinaigrette over the spinach and apricots then  toss  gently. Add the walnuts (optional) and serve.