Aisan Beef Kabobs

I've made these many times and they're always a crowd pleaser! I've used a different cut of meat, but flank steak is definitely the best to use.

Asian Beef Kabobs

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons sherry
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon barbeque sauce
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1 1/2 pounds flank steak
skewers

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix together hoisin sauce, sherry, soy sauce, barbeque sauce, green onions, garlic, and ginger.
Cut flank steak across grain on a diagonal into 1/4 inch slices. Place slices in a 1 gallon resealable plastic bag. Pour hoisin sauce mixture over slices, and mix well. Refrigerate 2 hours, or overnight.
Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Discard marinade, and thread steak on skewers.
Oil the grill grate. Grill skewers 3 minutes per side, or to desired doneness.

Lemon Herb Chicken & Zucchini Fettuccine

Ok so it seems that we're definitely in a chicken rut and I really wanted to post a non-chicken recipe next, but I made this recipe for the first time a couple of nights ago and I thought it was so good, I just had to put it on here. I just cut up my chicken and zucchini and cooked it in a skillet on the stove because it was too hot for me to venture outside and fire up the grill, but I bet it would be super tasty if they were cooked on the grill. I pretty much followed the recipe just as it is written. It turns out pretty lemony so be prepared for that, but it was goo-ood.

Lemon Herb Chicken & Zucchini Fettuccine
recipe by Our Best Bites

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 lemons
2 T Red Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil
1/2 lb Fettuccine
2 medium zucchini
1 C shredded parmesan cheese
5-6 cloves garlic
Fresh Basil (about 1/2 C)
Fresh Oregano (about 1/4 C) If you don't have fresh oregano, just add a little dried.
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Prepare grill. You could also do this on the stove top in a skillet, or a grill pan.

Place chicken in a zip-lock bag with the juice of one lemon, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and a couple tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Smoosh around and set bag aside while you get your other things ready. (If you've got time to spare, let the chicken marinade for 30 minutes, if you don't, just take what you can get. I did mine for 15 min and it was great.)

Put the pot on the stove to boil water for the pasta. While you're waiting for the water to boil, slice the zucchini in half length-wise. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Press, or finely mince garlic cloves. In a small sauce pan on the stove, place 1/4 C olive oil and add garlic. Turn burner onto low-med heat. It shouldn't be popping and frying, it should just slowly warm, infusing the oil with the garlic and removing that zing fresh garlic has.

When water boils, add pasta and a spoonful of salt.

Remove chicken from bag and salt and pepper both sides. Place chicken, and zucchini on grill.

While chicky and zuchs are grilling and pasta is boiling, chop herbs and get out cheese. Zest both lemons and juice the one that hasn't been juiced.

See, now you're all ready. When everything is done cookin' you can throw it together! Keep an eye on that garlic. You DON'T want it to get brown and crispy. It should still look nice and white. Give it a stir. If it starts really cooking, just take it off the heat and set aside.

When zuch and chicken are done take them off the grill and chop 'em up.

Reserve about 1/2 C pasta water. Drain pasta and immediately place in a big bowl. Place chopped zuch and chicken on top. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese, herbs, and garlic-olive oil mixture. Just pile it all in there. Then stick your face up real close and inhale. Ahhhh, heaven.

Now take some tongs and give everything a big toss. If you feel it needs more moisture, add a little of the pasta water, or a little more olive oil. This will make 4+ generous servings.

Garnish with a little more Parmesan on top and another squeeze of lemon if you have any left.

Coffee Cake

This one is always a crowd pleaser and it's super simple; all of the ingredients are normal things that you'd usually have on hand. It's delicious for breakfast, dessert, snack or whenever.

Cake:
3 C flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 C sugar
1 C shortening or butter, melted
1 1/2 C milk
2 eggs

Topping:
1 C brown sugar
1 Tbs butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbs flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the dry cake ingredients together. Then add the wet cake ingredients and mix well (by hand or with a mixer) until there are no chunks. Pour mixture into a greased pan (either cookie sheet or 9x13 cake pan). Set aside.
Mix the topping ingredients together well and then sprinkle evenly over the entire cake batter. Bake the cake until the center doesn't jiggle/toothpick comes out clean (about 20 minutes for a sheet cake or 30 for a 9x13 pan). Eat it warm or cooled off with a nice glass of milk :)

Sherry Brown's Marinated Chicken and Green Salad

For Chicken:
1 lb of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or tenders cut into bite size strips

Marinate over night in Soy Sauce, Brown Sugar & Lemon:
3 Tbs Soy sauce
3 Tbs Brown Sugar
Juice of 1/4-1/2 of lemon

Bake chicken at 350 in covered casserole dish for 30-40 minutes until well done (can also fry in a little oil until done) and add to remaining salad ingredients

For Salad:
2 oranges- peeled & cut into bite size pieces
1 head Romaine Lettuce or sub.
2 or 3 Tbs Almonds- toasted or reg- sliced or slivered

For Dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
2 rounded Tbs mustard- any kind
1 Tbs veg. or olive oil
Combine in jar and shake dressing until blended

SUPER Easy Grilled Catalina Chicken

So I've been putting off posting because I wanted pictures, but I am a slacker and either don't cook or forget to take pictures when I do, so here you go and I'll add pictures later :)

What you need:
Chicken Breasts
1 bottle Kraft Catalina Dressing

Marinade your chicken in about half the bottle (til covered) for 4-6 hours. Throw chicken on the grill and baste with additional dressing while cooking, take of grill when cooked and baste one more time with remaining dressing and your done!

Tortellini Bacon Broccoli Salad

Trent isn't a big fan of pasta salad, but I managed to find one that he really liked. I made it a few days ago and have been snacking on it every day. It's just as good or better days after it was made!


Tortellini Bacon Broccoli Salad

recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients
2 (9 ounce) packages refrigerated three-cheese tortellini
1 pound bacon
4 cups chopped broccoli
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 cup bottled coleslaw dressing

Directions
1.Cook the tortellini according to the package directions, drain, rinse with cold water, and refrigerate until cool, about 30 minutes.
2.Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate. Chop the bacon into 1/2-inch pieces while still a little warm.
3.Place the tortellini, bacon, broccoli, grape tomatoes, and green onions into a salad bowl. Pour the dressing over the ingredients, and toss lightly to coat. Chill in refrigerator before serving

Key Lime Pie

This recipe is like the easiest version ever for a key lime pie, but it is oh so good. It really makes a difference if you squeeze your own limes vs. using the store-bought bottled juice, so it's definitely worth the trouble of squeezing your own.

Key Lime Pie
9 inch graham cracker crust (homemade or store-bought - both work great)
2 1/2 Cups sweetened condensed milk
1/2 Cup sour cream
3/4 Cup key lime juice
1 Tbs grated lime zest (I've never actually added the lime zest but it may make the pie way more delicious...who knows?)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice and lime zest. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 7 to 10 minutes, until tiny bubbles burst on the surface of the pie. DO NOT BROWN. Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired.