Lettuce Wraps

3/4 lb. ground turkey

1/4 c. chopped fresh basil

2 T soy sauce

2 T lime juice

2 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. garlic chili sauce or Tabasco

1 T sesame oil or vegetable oil

Lettuce leaves

Combine first seven ingredients in medium bowl and stir to blend well. Heat sesame oil in heavy medium skillet over high heat. Add turkey mixture and sauce until turkey us just cooked through, breaking up clumps with back of spoon, about 4 minutes. Transfer turkey mixture to platter.

Sauce for lettuce wraps:

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. water

2 T soy sauce

2 T rice vinegar

2 T ketchup

1 T lemon juice

1/8 t. sesame oil

1 T Chinese hot mustard

2 t. water

1 - 3 t. garlic red chile paste

Combine all ingredients together and mix well. Add to meat mixture in the lettuce along with fried Mai fun noodles.

French Dip Sandwiches

from Our Best Bites

1 2.5-3 lb. beef roast (you can use a frozen roast if you want)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
2 1-ounce packages dry onion soup mix
2 c. water
2 cans beef broth
6-8 large buns (or more...6 would be VERY generous servings!)
Swiss, provolone, or mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and rub roast with salt and pepper.

When very hot, carefully place roast in pan and sear on all sides. You're not cooking the meat, you're just browning it quickly on all sides to add flavor and seal in the juices.

Place in crockpot and sprinkle with onion soup mixes. Pour water and beef broth over roast.

Cook 8-10 hours on low or cook 4-5 hours on high and another 3-4 hours on low. It's hard to screw this part up; basically, the longer it cooks, the more tender it will be. But you know it's done when you pop a fork in it and the meat just falls apart. When meat is ready, shred with a fork.

Place meat in crusty rolls. Top with cheese and broil open-faced in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes, until bread is golden and cheese is melty.

Ladle juices into small cups for dipping and enjoy!

Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches

courtesy of Rib City Grill
1 small 2-4 lb. pork butt "bone in" or pork collar, or roast bone in or no bone
1 bottle Liquid Smoke
1 blend of Vegetable blend spices (Season Salt, Celery, Salt, Pepper, Montreal BBQ Spices, Garlic powder mixed together
1 bottle Sweet BBQ sauce

Spread all spices on Pork Roast or Butt forming almost a crust, or thick layer.
Tear off 2 big pieces of foil to cover roast.
Pour 1/2 bottle liquid smoke into foil with roast. Wrap the first sheet, then wrap it again with the second sheet so the juices cannot escape when cooking.
Place in a shallow pan or cooking tray. Slow cook at 375 for 4 hours, and then 275 for 4 more hours. (I just place it in my crock pot in the morning and forget about it).
Unwrap and bull bone (if any). Take a fork and make sure that the meat separates easily. Leave cooking juice and put in bowl and pull with forks or gloved hands.
Add BBQ sauce.
Serve on fresh rolls.

Now, to add as a side, I recently discovered these sweet potato fries. I just picked them up at Wal-Mart. They taste just like the ones at one of my favorite restaurants. However, I wish I had the dipping sauce to go with it. So, I made this one -- it is good, too!

Apricot Dipping Sauce
1 cup apricot jam
1/4 cup orange juice
1 T prepared mustard

Melt jam in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in orange juice and mustard. Purée sauce in food processor or with immersible mixer.

Cheesy Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Source: Our Best Bites

7oz jar roasted red peppers (about 1C diced)

4 C grated pepper jack cheese (3/4 lb)


8oz cream cheese

3/4 C mayonnaise


2 T minced onion

3 cloves garlic, minced 


1 T Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 350. Remove peppers from jar and blot excess water with paper towels. You want to make sure they are dry so they don't add moisture to the dip. Then dice 'em up.

In a bowl, soften cream cheese in microwave so it will be easier to stir. Add in mayo, onion, garlic, and dijon. Stir to combine and then add in grated cheese and the diced peppers. Place in an 8x8-ish dish (pie plate works). At this point you can pop it in the fridge if you're going to cook it later and you can even make it a couple of days ahead of time. Place in the oven and cook for 30-45 minutes. Baking time depends on the dish. It will start to bubble and brown on the outside edge, and you want it to be bubbly all the way through to the center. It will be nice and golden brown on top, especially around the edges. Mine usually takes 40-45 minutes.

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

• Source: Phemomenon
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 large limes)
• 2 teaspoons to 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 2 large cloves of garlic, finely minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 large breasts), cooked and shredded
• 12 corn tortillas
• 2 cups of Mexican cheese blend, shredded (1 small bag usually is 2 cups)
• 1 14-oz can of green enchilada sauce (mild or medium, to your taste)
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of heavy cream
• nonstick cooking spray
• 1 Tablespoon of chopped cilantro, to garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the cooked and shredded chicken in a medium sized bowl. Set aside. In a small bowl, place the honey, lime juice, chili powder and minced garlic or garlic powder. Whisk together thoroughly to combine. Pour this mixture over the chicken and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to marinate while you prepare the tortillas, 30 minutes or up to 1 hour, in the refrigerator.

Heat a large griddle till a drop of water skitters across (about 350 degrees F). Spray the surface with non-stick cooking spray or a oil it with a little bit of canola oil in between each round of tortillas. Heat tortillas about 20 seconds on each side till warm and flexible and some golden brown spots have appeared. Remove the tortillas from the griddle and keep them between a couple of paper towels until ready to use.

Spray the sides and bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish lightly with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl combine the enchilada sauce and the heavy cream. Spread about 1/2 cup of the mixture in the bottom of the oiled baking dish.
Add a large spoonful (about 2 tablespoons) of the chicken mixture to the center of each tortilla in a line. Cover the chicken with a large tablespoon (or big pinch) of cheese, then roll the tortilla up from one side to make a rolled enchilada - it will be more of an over lap on the seam side that rolled tightly. Place the enchilada seam side down in the baking dish starting at one end with the long edge parallel to the longest side of the pan so that you end up with two columns of six enchiladas each.

Repeat with the remaining chicken, cheese and tortillas. You will use about 1 1/2 cups of the cheese for the filling and set the remainder aside for topping the enchiladas in the pan. Add the remaining marinade mixture to the enchilada sauce and cream mixture, if desired. Pour this mixture over the top of all the enchiladas. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake the enchiladas for 30 to 35 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and starting to brown on top. Serve with sour cream, black beans, and rice or a green salad for a great meal.

Shoyu Chicken (Teriyaki Chicken)

Compliments of my dear friend, Michelle Cryer.

5 lb.chicken (dark meat only)

1 c. soy sauce

1/4. c. water

1 T cornstarch

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. ginger powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 c. ketchup

Place chicken in baking dish and cover with sauce. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or place in a slow cooker for 6 hours. Use hot liquid to serve over rice.