Lentil Soup

My basic veggie lentil soup recipe.  A good dish to make a big batch of have as a snack or a side dish.

Ingredients

• 6 cups water
• 6 chicken bullion squares
• 2 cups of lentils
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 head of celery
• 4-6 carrots
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp garlic

Directions

• Add everything to a large pot on the stove.
• Bring to a boil.  Simmer for 30-45 minutes on a low heat.  
• Pull out 3 cups of the soup and blend them.  Return blended mixture to the pot and stir.  

Extras:

• Small squares of smoked ham can be added to the soup to add some meat.

Buffalo Style Chicken Filets

Buffalo style chicken filets.

Ingredients

• 6 chicken thigh filets (other cuts will work also)
• 10 Tbsp hot wing sauce (Franks Red Hot or any other brand)
• 5 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp white vinegar
• Salt/pepper to taste
• Light Olive Oil
• Flour

Directions:

• Coat each piece of chicken with a light layer of flour.  
• Heat up a large skillet with olive oil.  
• Fry each chicken filet for 10 minutes (5 minutes on each side).  Use a medium-high heat.  
• Dry chicken with a paper towel to remove excess oil.  
• Combine hot wing sauce, butter, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a medium sized pot.  Bring to a low simmer.  
• Put chicken in the pot and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes  before removing.  The longer the chicken simmers for the more flavor it will soak up.  

Cheesey Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients

• 3 Bell Peppers
• 1lb Ground Turkey
• Shredded Cheese (any cheese is fine, go with whatever you like best)
• Salt/Pepper

Directions

• Cook ground turkey (salt/pepper to taste) uncovered on a medium heat until meat is cooked thoroughly.  Drain the leftover grease and mix a handful of shredded cheese.  
• Cut the tops of the bell peppers out and clean out the insides of any remaining seeds.  
• Stuff each bell pepper with the turkey/cheese combination.  
• Bake at 350F for 35 minutes.

Notes:  The bell peppers can be placed in boiling water for 2-3 minutes before being stuffed if you want to have a softer skin.  Forgoing the boiling leaves the peppers much more crisp.   

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

Tried the following recipe.  Was great and really easy to make.

http://forkinit.blogspot.com/2010/09/crockpot-barbecue-chicken.html

Potatoes Onions and Eggs

This is a fairly quick and easy breakfast which combines several of my favorite foods.

Ingredients:

• 2 red potatoes
• 1/4 yellow onion
• 2 eggs

Directions:

• Cut the potatoes and onions in to small pieces.  The smaller the pieces the more thoroughly they will cook.  Larger pieces will come out with more of a raw vegetable taste.  
• Season vegetables with salt and pepper.  
• Warm up a small pan on the stove at medium-high heat.  
• Coat the pan with 1 Tbsp of olive oil.
• Add onions and potatoes to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, make sure to stir often.
• Put onions and potatoes on a plate and spray out any remains in the pain in to the sink.  
• Reheat the pan and set the stove to medium heat.
• Carefully add both eggs to avoid breaking the yolk.  
• Cook the eggs for about 2-3 minutes on each side.
• Place eggs on top of the vegetables and enjoy.  

Spicy Blended Salsa

This is a spicy blended salsa that I learned from my step-Grandma.  It can be used for chips, but it is much better on food.

Ingredients:

• 4 roma tomatoes
• 1 yellow onion
• 8 jalapeños 

Directions:

• Heat water until it is boiling in a medium sized pot.  
• Add jalapeños and boil them for 15-20 minutes.  The jalapeño skin should be soft to the touch and they should have turned a darker green by now.  
• Remove jalapeños from the water and cut off the steams.  
• Combine the tomatoes, onion, and jalapeños in the blender.  
• Thoroughly blend until there are no chunks remaining.  
• Simmer for 20 minutes on a low heat.  

Extras:

• Salt and garlic can be added to taste.  
• Jalapeños can be added or taken away to adjust how spicy it is.  

Oven Baked Chicken

This recipe works well for any kind of bone in cuts of chicken with the skin (thighs, drumsticks, breasts, etc).

Directions:

• Preheat Oven to 400F
• Pat chicken dry with a paper towel. 
• Season chicken (salt, pepper, seasoning salt, paprika, etc)
• Bake chicken on 400F for 30 minutes
• Move chicken to top rack and reduce heat to 350F and cook for 10 more minutes.  
• Allow chicken to sit outside of the oven for 5-10 minutes before serving.