Crockpot Sweet and Sour Pork

I love sweet & sour pork and this recipe did not disappoint.  It was simple and tasty.  And pretty easy to throw together!

1 1/2 - 2 lb. pork loin or shoulder, trimmed & cut into 1-inch cube
1 Tbl. oil
2 (8 oz. each) cans crushed pineapple in juice
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 c. water
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 Tbl. ketchup
1 Tbl. quick-cooking tapioca
3 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1.  In skillet, brown pork cubes on both sides in oil; drain off fat and place in crockpot.
2.  In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients and pour over pork.
3.  Cook on low for 8 - 10 hours, or on high from 4 -5 hours.

I'm sorry, this was the only picture I managed to get

Fail-Proof Pizza Dough

We love making homemade pizza; we used to make it almost every week when we were engaged/dating/in Rexburg.  We don't make it as often now, but it's always fun.  We have almost always used Zak's mom's recipe (they have a Pizza Friday tradition since forever), which is awesome and we love.  But I saw this recipe online and thought I'd like to give it a try.  The gal talked about how the crust was chewier, thinner and like restaurant pizza, and the only major difference was using bread flour vs. regular flour.  Zak was in charge of the dough and when I came home for work, we made two pizzas: one just cheese, and one with pineapple, tomatoes and basil.  It was delicious.  I really liked this recipe, the crust was awesome!  Zak liked it too, but he naturally loves his mom's recipe.  So I think we'll use this one from time to time, depending on our stock of bread or regular flour.  

Crust
1 c. warm water
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbl. honey (or sugar)
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbl. olive or canola oil
3 c. bread flour

Sauce
6 oz. tomato sauce
6 oz. tomato paste
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic
1/2 tsp. minced onion


~4 c. cheese
toppings

1.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together yeast and honey (or sugar) into warm water.  Let sit for 5 - 10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam.
2.  Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix on low.
3.  Once that flour is incorporated, start adding rest of flour slowly until dough is slightly tacky, but doesn't stick to hands when you touch it.
4.  Turn the mixer to medium - high to high speed, set a timer for 6 minutes and walk away.
5.  Lightly grease bowl and dough, cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1 - 2 hours.
6.  Once dough has doubled in size, punch down, separate into two pieces and roll into circle.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
7.  Mix sauce ingredients, adding other spices to taste.
8.  Add sauce, cheese and toppings to pizza.
9.  Cook pizza about 8 - 10 minutes, until crust has turned a beautiful golden brown color.

at first, I was skeptic of pineapple w/basil & tomatoes, but it was so yummy!

beautiful and delicious

Chinese Sundaes / Hawaiian Haystacks

This is a family tradition. We often have it a few times a year, but the most memorable time is at the beach. My family has been going to the same motel, on the same beach, since my dad was a baby. It is one of my favorite places to be! My mom almost always makes this meal for the family, which has now grown to at least 30 of us. It's an ordeal, but it's tradition, too. Zak was wary of this, when I first talked about making it a few years ago. He was hesitant, but being the trusting guy in his woman's cooking that he is, ventured forth and came out a fan. Now every time I mention I'm making Chinese Sundaes, he gets all excited. They are that good. And we don't call them Hawaiian Haystacks, but I guess some people do, so whatever floats your boat. It's a simple meal to throw together, the only thing that takes time and a recipe is the chicken gravy, oh man. It's hard to not dump it all on your sundae because it's so good. Mmm. Well, I'll post the 'order' of the sundaes, as well as the chicken gravy recipe. Enjoy!

1. Rice

2. Chow Mein Noodles (crunchy)

3. Chicken (diced, cooked)

4. Chicken Gravy

5. Tomato (diced)

6. Celery (diced)

7. Cheese (grated)

8. Gravy again (optional, but if you're feeling indulgent, go for it)

9. Crushed Pineapple

10. Green Onion

11. Sliced Almonds

12. Coconut

13. Cherry

the perfect sundae (without celery)

Chicken Gravy

6 Tbl. butter

6 Tbl. flour

1 1/2 c. chicken broth

1 c. milk

salt & pepper to taste

*our microwave is crazy powerful, so I usually cook the recipe starting around 50 or 60% power, working my way up and checking often, so it doesn't overflow*

1. Melt butter for about 1 1/2 minutes.

2. Once butter is melted, whisk in flour; cook for about 1 1/2 minutes, or until bubbly and thicker.

3. Add in liquids, slowly and whisking as you go. Once all the liquids have been added, microwave for 3 minutes.

4. Whisk, cook 2 minutes.

5. Whisk, cook 1 1/2 minutes.

6. Repeat until sauce is fairly thick, or until however thick you want it to be. Salt & pepper to taste.

(this recipe makes about 3 cups)

everything all laid out

close-up

Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs

This meal is definitely a keeper. Zak didn't really want to come home and grill after a sub-par day at work, but once we got the kabobs on the grill and he smelled the delicious scent of grilled, teriyaki chicken, he knew he was in the wrong. I had decided earlier that day to make the kabobs, after getting a craving for them. And I wasn't going to pay over $5 a pound when I could easily make the same meal for cheaper! I mostly made it up as I went along, with the exclusion of my mom's teriyaki recipe. Which is:

1 c. soy sauce
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
sprinkle of ginger

I made half of that recipe and had previously turned it into a glaze for chicken tenders on the stove a few days earlier. But I figured whether glaze or marinade, it would still work for our purposes.

I put two chicken breasts (probably 3/4 - 1 pound) in a Ziploc bag and added enough sauce for them to sit in. And then I went to work.

I read in a recipe book that if you soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes before grilling, they won't burn on the grill. So as those soaked, I cut up:

1 onion
1 yellow pepper

into decent chunks. I cut them on the smaller size, but they worked out great us. I also cut up the chicken into pieces about 3/4 - 1" in size. And I opened a can of pineapple chunks.

Then I threaded them onto the skewers, somewhat in this manner:

chicken/pineapple/onion/chicken/pepper/onion/chicken/pineapple/pepper/onion/chicken

I tried to get about 4 pieces of chicken on one skewer. And I got 8 kabobs out of the ingredients, with some of the vegetables leftover.

Then Zak grilled them, and once they were almost done we added a glaze. I was initially just going to heat up the remaining teriyaki sauce and stir in some of the pineapple juice, but Zak thought we should add some spices to make it really yummy. I probably used half of the pineapple juice drained from the can. Zak added pinches of:
cinnamon (small amount)
garlic salt
pepper
ginger
chili powder (small amount)

He brushed it on both sides and they came out really well. We had them with corn on the cob and now we can't wait to have them again!

Here's a kind of recipe for those who didn't want to read my awesome explanation of everything:

1/2 recipe of teriyaki sauce, as provided above (which had been made thicker, into a glaze)
3/4 - 1 lb. chicken breasts, marinated in said sauce for 3 - 4 hours, cut into 3/4 - 1" cubes
1 onion, cut into similar sized cubes
1 yellow pepper, cut into similar sized cubes as well
1 can of pineapple chunks + juice (reserve in a bowl)
8 wooden skewers [if you use metal, I read to brush them with oil first]
pinches and dashes of [here pinches are the larger of the two]:
ginger (pinches)
garlic salt (pinches)
pepper (pinches)
chili powder (dash)
cinnamon (dash)

1. Make teriyaki sauce into glaze (add water that is equal to 1/2 of the total amount of sauce + cornstarch, microwave until thick and clear).
2. Put chicken (cut up before or after, doesn't matter) in bag, add maybe 1/2 of the sauce.
3. Marinate for 3 - 4 hours.
4. Soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes.
5. Cut onion and pepper up, into 3 /4 - 1" cubes.
6. Open pineapple can.
7. Cut chicken, if you haven't already.
8. Thread on ingredients in some semblance of this order: chicken/pineapple/onion/chicken/pepper/onion/pineapple/chicken, etc. I got 4 pieces of chicken onto each skewer.
9. Grill for 10 - 20 minutes, turning every 5 - 8 minutes.
10. Heat up remaining teriyaki sauce, add about half of the pineapple juice as well as the spices. Mix to taste.
11. Brush glaze onto kabobs once they are almost done cooking.

The moment he realized that I was right, and he was wrong. ;)