Cheesy bread is one of my favorite things to do with spaghetti or pretty much any Italian dish. It also goes great as an appetizer for parties. I usually end up buying this from the store but have discovered making my own is so much better. I got this recipe from the Pioneer Woman, and it has become one of my all time favorites! The process to making this cheesy bread recipe is fairly easy. You simply mix ingredients such as mayonnaise, cheeses, and green onions in a bowl. You then heat garlic and butter in a pan and coat the French bread with it. After that the cheese mixture is spread onto the top of the bread, placed into the oven and baked. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
¾ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup real mayonnaise
4 green onions (minced)
1 dash salt
1 loaf French bread
1 stick butter
4 garlic cloves (minced)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a medium bowl mix together cheddar cheese, Monterey jack cheese, Parmesan cheese, real mayonnaise, a dash of salt, and green onions. Set aside. Cut the loaf of French bread in half, and then cut the halves in half.
Step 2: In a large skillet melt 2 tablespoons of butter and add ¼ of the minced garlic. Place one of the French bread slices cut side down in the skillet, swirling it so it soaks up the butter and garlic. Allow the bread to toast in the skillet until evenly browned. Remove any burnt garlic from the skillet. Remove and repeat with the remaining butter, garlic, and French bread.

Step 3: Place the browned bread slices onto a baking sheet. Spread the cheese/mayo mixture onto the top of the warm browned slices of bread and place into the oven and bake at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is hot and bubbly. Slice and serve.
(Makes 4 Servings)

If you enjoy a spicy Chinese pasha dish, this recipe is perfect for you. Kung Pao Linguini combines kung pao chicken with noodles. This is apparently a copy cat recipe for California Pizza Kitchens Kung Pao spaghetti. We do not have a California Pizza kitchen around here so I am not aware what this dish tastes like there. I did make some modifications to the original recipe though. I rolled the chicken bits in cornstarch and then deep fried them. I also left out the dried red chili peppers. The best part about this recipe is the sauce. The sauce combines ingredients such as soy sauce, chicken broth, chili paste, red wine vinegar, and garlic. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
½ cup cornstarch
oil (for deep frying)
1lb uncooked linguini noodles
Sauce-
½ cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¾ cup soy sauce
½ cup dry sherry
3 tablespoons red chili paste with garlic
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
¼ cup garlic (minced)
1 cup dry roasted peanuts
1 cup dry roasted peanuts
1 cup green onions (sliced)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add linguini and cook according to package directions. When linguini has finished cooking drain and set aside.
Step 2: While noodles are cooking, toss cut up chicken pieces with ½ cup of cornstarch until evenly coated.  Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees. Deep fry chicken bits in batches until golden brown and fully cooked (the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees). Drain on paper towels.
Step 3: In a bowl whisk together chicken broth, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, soy sauce, dry sherry, red chili paste with garlic, sugar, red wine vinegar, and sesame oil.
Step 4: Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok or fry pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir fry for 15 seconds. Pour the sauce mixture into the pan. Stir in peanuts. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until thickened and bubbly.
Step 5: In a serving bowl add cooked linguini and chicken bits. Add the kung pao sauce mixture.  Add green onions and toss everything together.
(Makes 4 Servings)

Burgers are always a solid choice for dinner, even in the winter. They go perfect for football season and the variety of condiments you can put on them is nearly endless. These Cowboy burgers are well seasoned burger patties and can be grilled or cooked in a fry pan. Grilling is always the best but unfortunately, it’s not always an option.  I used an indoor grill pan to make these burgers. These burgers are topped with Swiss cheese, sautéed mushrooms, French fried onions, and your favorite BBQ sauce. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2lbs ground beef
4 hamburger buns
salt
ground black pepper
garlic powder
4 slices Swiss cheese
½ cup BBQ sauce
1 cup French fried onions
1 package fresh sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Shape 4 patties out of the ground beef. Season both sides with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Lightly grease an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan. Heat to medium high heat. Add the burger patties and cook turning once until fully cooked (the internal temperature has reached 160 degrees). During the fast few minutes of cooking top each patty with a slice of Swiss cheese.
Step 2: While burgers are cooking melt butter in a sauté pan over medium high. Add mushrooms and sauté for 15-20 minutes or until tender.  In a small sauce pan, heat BBQ sauce.
Step 3: Split hamburger buns in half. Place each hamburger patty on the bottom half of the bun. Top with mushrooms, French fried onions, and BBQ sauce. Place the top half of the bun over the BBQ sauce.
(Makes 4 Servings)



Perhaps you are looking for a perfect side dish for the Holidays or to go with dinner, if so this recipe for ranch potatoes is perfect for you. This is a casserole dish that combines cubed potatoes with a ranch/cream of mushroom soup sauce, cheese, and bacon. Those ingredients alone should be enough to hint that this recipe is pretty good. I felt like I cubed the potatoes a little too big so I would recommend slicing the potatoes a little thinner.  If you want to skip the step of boiling the potatoes, they can be done in the oven but will need to cook for longer depending on how big they are cut. This is a great recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
8-10 medium potatoes (cut into ½” cubes)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (undiluted)
1 ½ cups milk
1 envelope ranch dressing mix
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (divided)
salt and pepper
6  bacon slices (cooked until crispy and crumbled)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Add potatoes to a large pot. Add enough water to cover the potatoes and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until the potatoes are almost tender. Drain.
Step 2: Lightly grease an 13×9 inch casserole dish. In a bowl mix together cream of mushroom soup, milk, ranch dressing, 1 cup of the cheese, salt and pepper. Pour over potatoes in the casserole dish.
Step 3: Sprinkle remaining cup of shredded cheddar cheese and the crumbled bacon over the top. Place into the oven and bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
(Makes 6 Servings)

If you love Philly Cheese steak sandwiches, you are sure to enjoy these Philly Cheese Steak dogs. These hot dogs combine all of your favorite ingredients from the classic Philly Cheese Steak onto hot dogs. This means that these hot dogs are topped with cheese sauce, steak, green pepper and onion. I grilled the hot dogs but you could boil them as well. Of course, I have to recommend going with the all beef hot dogs. For the steak, I seasoned it well with garlic powder, salt and pepper and then sautéed it in the pan. This is another perfect recipe for game day. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
4 all beef hot dogs
4 hot dog buns
1lb sirloin tip steak
salt
black pepper
garlic powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 green pepper (sliced)
1 onion (sliced)
1 cup nacho cheese (or cheez whiz)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Slice the steak a thinly as possible into small strips. Season the steak strips to your taste with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Heat a medium skillet to high heat. Add steak strips to the pan and cook until browned on the outside. Deglaze the pan with ½ cup water, and scrape up any bits of steak stuck to the pan. Reduce heat and simmer until steak is fully cooked and the liquid has reduced to almost nothing.
Step 2: In another medium skillet add vegetable oil and heat to medium high heat. Add green onion and peppers and sauté until tender.
Step 3: Lightly grease an outdoor grill or an indoor grill pan and heat to medium high heat. Grill hot dogs until slightly charred. While hot dogs are grilling heat nacho cheese or cheez whiz in a small pan over low heat. Toast hot dog buns cut side down on the grill until lightly browned.
Step 4: To assemble hot dogs- place each hot dog into a bun and top with cheese sauce, steak, green pepper, and onion.
(Makes 4 Servings)

Shrimp with Broccoli is a simple and easy Chinese stir-fry dish. There is no deep frying in this recipe and everything can be done using a wok or fry pan. I used frozen shrimp but I would recommend fresh if you are in an area where they are available to you. The best part about this recipe is the stir-fry sauce. The sauce uses ingredients such as soy sauce, chicken broth, wine, sugar, and sesame oil. The sauce will make a lot so you can use it to serve over rice. This recipe can be prepared very quickly and is perfect for dinner. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2lbs shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1 large head broccoli (sliced into florets)
Sauce-
2/3 cup soy sauce
½ cup chicken broth
1/3 cup rice wine
3 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
¼ teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger (minced)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup water

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a bowl combine soy sauce, chicken broth, rice wine, sugar, sesame oil and white pepper. Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of water.
Step 2: Heat a wok over medium high. Add vegetable oil. Add broccoli and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until it has reached your desired tenderness. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add a little more oil to the wok if needed. Add garlic and ginger. Stir-fry for 15 seconds. Add shrimp and stir fry for 1 minute.
Step 3: Add sauce mixture to the wok and bring to a boil, cook for 1 minute. Add the cornstarch and water mixture and cook while stirring until the sauce thickens. At this point the shrimp should have turned pink and be fully cooked. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp. Add broccoli florets back into the wok, mix well. Remove from heat and serve.
(Makes 4 Servings)

If you are looking for an excellent snack for game day you might want to give these BBQ chicken sliders a try. I have posted a few slider recipes lately but these have to be my favorite. The chicken is first grilled and shredded and then mixed with your favorite BBQ sauce. If you would like a delicious BBQ sauce, you can try my BBQ Sauce Recipe. The grilled chicken is placed onto slider buns and topped with mozzarella cheese slices, lettuce, and ranch dressing. If you want to save time you could use leftover cooked chicken or buy a cooked rotisserie chicken from the store and shred it.

Ingredients:
2lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
½ cup BBQ sauce (or more)
12 slider buns
butter
4 slices mozzarella cheese (cut into 4 squares)
ranch dressing
lettuce

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Lightly grease grill grates and preheat the grill to medium-high heat (you can also use an indoor grill pan). Place chicken onto the grill and grill chicken, turning once, until fully cooked (the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees F). Remove chicken from the grill and wait 10 minutes to allow the chicken to cool. Shred the chicken into pieces with 2 forks. Mix the shredded chicken with the BBQ sauce and set aside.
Step 2: Split the sliders buns in half, and butter each half. Place butter side down onto the grill or in a frying pan and cook until browned.
Step 3: Pile shredded BBQ chicken onto the bottom half of each slider bun. Top with a slice of mozzarella cheese, and lettuce. Spread ranch dressing onto the bottom of the top half of the slider bun. Place on top of the lettuce.
(Makes 6 Servings)

Teriyaki Chicken wings are the perfect sweet and tangy appetizer. These wings go great for game day and they are something almost everyone is sure to enjoy. These wings are deep fried and then mixed with a delicious teriyaki sauce.  I really enjoyed the flavor that the grapefruit juice gave to the sauce, it was very unique. The sauce combines ingredients such as soy sauce, grapefruit juice, vinegar, and hoisin sauce. It also gets a lot of its flavor from garlic and ginger. If you would prefer not to deep fry the wings they can be baked or grilled as well. You could also make boneless wings and coat them with this sauce. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
3-4lbs chicken wings (separated at the joint, wing tips discarded)
Sauce-
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup sesame seeds
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup grapefruit juice
¼ cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
¼ cup light brown sugar
5 garlic cloves (minced or smashed)
1 tablespoon ground ginger

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a large bowl whisk together soy sauce, grapefruit juice, hoisin sauce, ketchup, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, ground ginger, oil, and sesame seeds. Set aside.
Step 2: Pour the sauce into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the sauce becomes reduced and thick (about 20 minutes).
Step 3: Heat a deep fryer to 375 degrees. Deep fry chicken wings in batches until fully cooked. (or you can grill them for 8-10 minutes preside on an outdoor grill). In a large serving bowl toss cooked chicken wings with the sauce until well coated.
(Makes 6 Servings)

I consistently get a lot of questions from people wondering how to cook Chinese food. Regardless of if you are just learning how to cook or have been cooking for awhile you will probably find this article useful. The truth is, cooking Chinese food is not hard at all. In fact, many Chinese dishes are all very similar so once you learn how to cook a few different dishes, you should develop a good understanding of Chinese cooking. In this article I will explain to make a few popular Chinese dishes. These dishes include Sesame-Orange Chicken, General Tso’s Chicken, Cashew Chicken, Black Pepper Chicken, Egg Rolls, and Crab Rangoons. All of these items are fried and most can be found at Chinese restaurants across the United States.

The first thing when preparing to cook Chinese food is to make sure you have a lot of the ingredients on hand. A lot of Chinese dishes all use very similar ingredients. Some ingredients you will want to keep in your pantry are soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, oyster sauce, sugar, and rice wine. Fresh ingredients would include ginger, garlic and green onions. A couple of questions I constantly receive are, “What is the best type of oil for deep frying Chinese cuisine?” and “Are rice wine vinegar and rice wine the same?”  The answer to the first question is peanut oil.  Peanut oil will brown nicely and give the meat great flavor when used for deep frying.  Rice wine vinegar and rice wine are not the same thing. Rice wine is an actual wine, sometimes called Sake or Mirin, while rice wine vinegar is a type of vinegar that is made from fermented rice wine.

Sesame-Orange Chicken-

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1 inch cubes)
½ cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg (beaten)
½ cup water (or as much as needed to make batter smooth)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
salt (to taste)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Sauce-
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup honey
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
½ cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sesame oil
the juice of ½ orange
1 teaspoon orange zest
sprinkle of garlic powder
sesame seeds

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Heat oil in a deep fryer to 325 degrees. In large bowl combine all of the batter ingredients and mix thoroughly. The batter should be thick enough to coat the chicken but thin enough to flow around the pieces. Set aside.
Step 2: Dip chicken pieces  into the batter to coat evenly (one by one). Deep fry the chicken in batches in your deep fryer for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. (or you can fry in hot oil at about 325 degrees in your wok for about 3-4 minutes or until golden brown).
Step 3: In a bowl whisk together ketchup, honey, sugar, water, vinegar, cornstarch, sesame oil, orange juice, orange zest, and sesame seeds. Pour into a wok and cook until the sauce is thickened and bubbly. Mix in a bowl with the fried chicken pieces.

Cashew Chicken-

Ingredients:
2lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” chunks)
2 cups flour
5 teaspoons cornstarch (divided)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 eggs (beaten)
oil (for frying)
Sauce-
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon pepper
1 large green pepper (sliced)
1 large onion  (sliced)
2 cups cashews
1/3 cup green onions (chopped)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a bowl mix flour, baking soda and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. In another bowl beat the eggs. Dip chicken pieces first then the flour mixture, then in the egg mixture and then again in the flour mixture.
Step 2: Fry in oil in a wok or in a deep fryer at 350 degrees in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
Step 3: Heat a tiny bit of oil in the wok and stir fry green pepper and onions for 2-3 minutes. Remove from wok and set aside.
Step 4: To make the sauce- in a bowl mix chicken broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, pepper, and 4 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Step 5: Pour sauce into wok and cook over medium heat stirring until well blended and sauce thickens. In a bowl pour sauce over chicken pieces, add green peppers and onions. Mix well and garnish with cashews and green onions. Serve with white rice.

Black Pepper Chicken-

Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)
6 tablespoons cornstarch (for dusting)
1 white onion (diced)
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
oil (for drying)
Sauce-
¼ cup oyster sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sake or rice wine

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Mix together all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Step 2: Cut chicken into ½“cubes and dust chicken pieces with corn starch until fully coated.
Step 3: Deep fry (or fry in a wok) chicken in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
Step 4: Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok and stir fry diced onion for a minute or two. Add celery and stir fry for another couple minutes. Add sauce mixture to the wok and heat until bubbling. Add chicken stirring to fully coat with the sauce. Serve with white rice.

General Tso’s Chicken-

Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into 1” chunks)
5 dried red chili peppers
3 green onions (sliced)
3 eggs (beaten)
½ cup cornstarch
oil (for frying)
Sauce-
1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons rice wine
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a large mixing bowl combine cornstarch and beaten eggs. Mix well to create a batter. Add chicken bits and coat thoroughly.
Step 2: To make the sauce- in a small bowl combine rice vinegar, rice wine, soy sauce, sugar and cornstarch. Mix well and set aside.
Step 3: Heat deep fryer or wok to 375 degrees and deep fried chicken bits in batches. Drain on paper towels.
Step 4: Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to your wok. Add dried chili peppers to your wok and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken bits to the wok and stir fry for a couple minutes.
Step 5: Add sauce mixture to the wok and cook stirring until the sauce becomes thickened and bubbly. Garnish with green onions and serve.

Pork Egg Rolls-

Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
1 package egg roll wraps
1 bag shredded cabbage and carrot mix
1 tablespoon oil
¼ cup sugar
½ cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
1 teaspoon Garlic powder
1 egg (beaten, for sealing)
Oil (for frying)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Fry ground pork in a little oil until the pork is completely browned. Drain and set aside.
Step 2: In a large bowl combine cabbage and carrot mixture, cooked ground pork. Season with 1 tablespoon of oil, sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Step 3: Lay out an egg roll wrapper. Place 1-2 tablespoons of filling in the corner of the wrapper, but not so the filling is actually touching the corner. Fold over that corner and roll about half of the way up. Fold over the left and right corners to the middle. Using a brush or the bottom of a spoon, brush the beaten egg on the edges of the wrapper. Finish rolling up tightly and secure to make sure there are no leaks. Repeat until all the egg roll wraps are used.
Step 4: Deep fry egg rolls in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Crab Rangoons-

Ingredients:
12 ounces of cream cheese (at room temperature)
50 wan ton wrappers
1 cup imitation crab meat (or canned)
2 green onions (minced)
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon soy sauce
1 egg (beaten)
oil (for frying)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a bowl cream the cream cheese, soy sauce, green onions and garlic powder. Stir in the crab meat (if using imitation crab it should be chopped into pieces).
Step 2: In a separate bowl beat 1 egg. Lay out a wanton wrapper so it forms a diamond shape and place 1 teaspoon of filling just below the center of each wrapper.
Step 3: Brush the opposite corners of the wanton wrapper with the egg mixture. Fold over the edges of the wrapper to form a triangle and seal tightly.
Step 4: Deep fry the rangoons in batches at 375 degrees for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.