Ground pork steaks in onion mushroom gravy

Not my picture, but close enough.. except for tomatoes and carrots.. and I will serve over rice.

1 1/1 pounds of ground pork
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1 tablespoon dried chives
2 eggs
5 slices of bacon
1 large onion diced
2 stalks of celery diced
1 TBS minced garlic
1/4 cup of mushrooms diced
1 to 2 TBS olive oil
1 Tablespoon Butter
3 tablespoons flour
4 cups of beef stock or beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes
3 large carrots sliced

Cook bacon in skillet on stove. when cook through, reserve oil and add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil.  Cook onion and diced celery in oil until soft. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.  Add 3 tablespoons of flour, cook flour in vegetable/oil mixture for a few minutes to get rid of raw flour taste.  Add 2 cups of cold water a little at a time. whisk until smooth.
Add 4 cups of beef stock, tomatoes, and carrots to crock pot.  Add flour vegetable mixture to crock pot.  Wipe out skillet, heat the rest of the olive oil and   1 TBS of butter in skillet.  In seperate bowl, mix ground pork, Italian breadcrumbs, eggs and seasonings together.  Form into patties. Coat patties in flour and brown in skillet. Add to crock pot and cook on high for 6 hours.  If gravy is not thick enough at the end of cooking time, add a paste of flour and water and cook on high for about 30 minutes with cover off until thick. Serve over noodles or rice..
{Eat the bacon yourself!!!}

Christmas French Toast Casserole

Not my picture but close enough!!

Preparation:
1 to 1 1/2 loaves of Texas toast
4 tablespoons butter melted
3/4 cup of brown sugar
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Custard:
10 eggs
3 cups eggnog
3/4 cup of milk


Topping:
3 TBS melted butter
3 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

If your bread is fresh and soft, you will need to "stale it". Heat oven to 300 degree's and layer bread on cookie sheet.  Baking for about 15 minutes, turning it over and baking 10 to 15 more.
This casserole is meant to be made the night before.
Use a deep 9x13 casserole dish or Disposable foil pan.  Mix the 4 TBS butter and 3/4 cup of brown sugar in a bowl, and layer on bottom of casserole pan.
Divide the bread into 3 sections.  Layer first section on bottom.  Mix the 4 TBS sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Sprinkle half of this mixture on bottom layer of bread. Layer with 2nd portion of bread. Sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon mixture on that layer. Top with last layer of bread.
Custard:
Mix eggs, eggnog, milk, and vanilla with whisk until very well blended.  Carefully pour custard over bread, being sure that the top layer gets wet. The bread will absorb the custard.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Topping:
Mix, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg and maple syrup together. Should have consistency of glaze.  If too thick microwave for 15 to 30 seconds.  Using fork tines, scatter or glaze the top of the casserole.  Place casserole on a cookie sheet in case of any boil overs. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 350 degree's.  Let rest for about 20 to 30 minutes once you take out oven before serving. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with Apple pie topping, or syrup and whipped cream.
Very rich and serves 12 in large squares, or 24 in small servings!!  Try the  small servings or you will be on sugar overload!! 


  

Chicken pillows- Kay style

Chicken pillows
1 1/2 pounds of chicken tenders
italian seasoning
Garlic powder
olive oil and butter: About a tablespoon of each
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heat butter and olive oil in frying pan.  Season chicken tenders with garlic powder and italian seasonings.
Brown chicken in skillet until done. remove and let cool.
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1 onion diced
2 stalks of celery diced
bell pepper diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
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heat olive oil and butter in same skillet you used for chicken. Saute onion, celery and bell pepper on low until soft and transparent. Remove and set aside.
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8 ounces of onion and chive cream cheese
2 tablespoons of butter softened
3/4 cup shredded cheese of your choice
salt and pepper to taste
the cooked chicken and Vegetable mixture
2 cans of crescent rolls
2 tablespoons melted butter
Italian breadcrumbs

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mix cream cheese and  butter and shredded choice, add chicken and veggie mixture.  Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.  Unroll your crescent dough and press together two triangles to create a rectangle. Make sure to press together the perforations well, so filling won't ooze out.  You should have 3 or 4 rectangles depending on how many rolls came in can.
spoon about 3 tablespoons of chicken mixture into center of rectangle. Fold each corner over the center of the filling. Press together to cover filling entirely.  Shape into a ball. Repeat with all rectangles. Once all pillows are formed, dip each in melted butter and then into italian bread crumbs, shaking off excess. Place each coated pillow onto the greases cookie sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes
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Gravy:
1 can cream of chicken
1 envelope chicken gravy mix
3/4 cup of water
1/2 tablespoon dried chives
2 to 3 tablespoons of sour cream
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In small saucepan, mix together cream of chicken soup, gravy mix, water and chives.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Just before spooning over pillows, stir in sour cream.

Sweet and salty cookies

Peanut butter cookies with caramel, chocolate and pretzel topping

Cookie dough ingredients:
2 cups of butter flavored crisco
1cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups peanut butter chips

Topping:
caramel kisses- 2 for every cookie
pretzels- 1 for every cookie


Cream together shortening, peanut buttter, sugars and eggs.  Add dry ingredients a little at a time. Adding peanut butter chips at the end.  Chill dough at least an hour.  Roll into balls, flattening with a fork in crisscross pattern.  Bake 10 minutes.  
Meanwhile,  unwrap kisses.  when cookies have baked for 10 minutes, remove from oven. place a caramel kiss in center, put back in oven for 1 minute. remove, place a pretzel on top of melted kiss. top with an additional kiss. place back in oven 1 more minute.  Remove to cooler racks to cool.
 

Teriyaki pulled pork sandwiches- Crockpot

 3/4 cup DR Pepper
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1 can chunk pineapple with juice
3/4 cup Teriyaki sauce or Teriyaki marinade
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 pork shoulder
Garlic powder
Italian seasoning
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Line 6 quart crock pot with liner.   Season pork shoulder with garlic powder and Italian seasoning.  Brown in olive oil in a skillet on stove until all sides are seared.  Meanwhile mix- Dr. pepper, soy sauce, brown sugar, pineapple chunks with juice and teriyaki sauce in crock pot.   After browning pork shoulder, add to crock pot.  Cook on high the first 2 hours and then lower to low for another 6 to 8 hours.
When pork is falling apart, remove from crock pot.  Drain sauce in colander, into another container to reserve juice. Also reserve pineapple in another container.    Add ice cubes to sauce and fish out any solid fats that rise.  After getting rid of most of the fat, put juice back in crock pot, turn to high and make a slurry with corn starch and some cold water.  Add to sauce, whisk and reheat for about 30 minutes,  Add pineapple and shredded pork, and serve on buns.

KFC coleslaw.. Knockoff.. with a few of my own added tweaks

Ingredients: green is my own tweaks!!
1 bag of coleslaw mix
1 bag of shredded carrot
Dressing ingredients:
2 tablespoons of finely grated onion {original recipe said finely minced, but I don't like raw onion unless its grated}.

1/8 cup to 1/4 cup of chopped finely- bell pepper- any color

2 1/ tablespoons of lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons of vinegar
1/2 tsp of salt
1/8 tsp of ground pepper
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk[ I was out- so mix 1/4 cup of milk with 1/4 tsp of lemon juice or white vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes.]
1/2 cup mayo
1/3 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons of lemon zest

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Mix carrot and cabbage in large bowl.

In separate bowl mix, onion, bell peppers, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, milk, buttermilk, mayo, lemon zest, sugar and lemon zest.

Pour over cabbage carrot mixture, mix well and cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Mix again before serving or dressing will all settle at bottom of bowl. 

Orange soda meatballs

 Meatball Ingredients
2 pounds of ground meat(beef- chicken- pork or turkey.. your choice)
1 egg
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1/2 tablespoon of minced garlic
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of pepper
1/2 cup of saltines crushed into fine crumbs

Sauce Ingredients
2 cups of diet orange soda
2 cups of ketchup
2 tablespoons of Stir Fry Sauce
1 tablespoon of Soy Sauce
1/4 cup of diced onion
1/4 cup of diced- red or green or yellow sweet peppers

Rice or noodles
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Mix all meatball ingredients in a small bowl.  Brown in a mixture of oil and butter.. turning to brown evenly.
Meanwhile mix ingredients for sauce. Pour over meatballs.  Simmer covered for 15 to 20 minutes, lowering temp if the sauce seems to cook too quickly.   Serve over rice or noodles.