Malibu Chicken Sandwiches

8-10 buns
3 chicken breasts (grilled), shredded
8-10 slices of ham
8-10 slices of swiss cheese
1/4 cup special mayo (recipe below)

Place chicken on bottom half of bun with ham and swiss cheese on top.
Set on baking sheet with top half of bun and broil until lightly brown
Spread special mayo on top half of bun and serve.

Special mayo:
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
3 drops of Tabasco sauce
Some freshly ground pepper

I went WAY overboard last time I made these and marinated the chicken breasts and grilled them special (which tasted awesome). The next time you grill just make some extra and stick them in the fridge and then you have the chicken for the sandwiches. The other WAY overboard ticket was the homemade buns, which is totally unnecessary but also tasted unbelievable.

Oh, Mommy! Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin was on sale at the grocery so I snatched some up.

So for Sunday dinner, I cut up a cantaloupe and made Linda's salad. (That should be another post!)

And the tenderloin took longer to cook than I was planning. I had enough time to set it down, take it's picture, and grab my keys to make it to a fireside.

When I got home, I asked Dan, "How was it?" His reply was, "Oh, Mommy!" I couldn't tell if that meant good or bad, but as I made my way to the table and saw that one ENTIRE tenderloin was gone, I knew it meant good.

I tried it and it was!


Oh Mommy Pork Tenderloin

5 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 minced garlic cloves
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. pepper
(2) 1 lb. pork tenderloins

1. Mix all ingredients in a large ziploc bag. Add the meat.
2. Marinate in the fridge for as long as possible. Mine was about 4.5 hours
3. Cook uncovered in a pan sprayed with cooking spray for 25-35 minutes per lb. at 425. Or until it reaches 160 degrees.
4. Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing and serve with the pan drippings.

Buttermilk Pancakes and a Couple of Syrups

Truckstop Buttermilk Pancakes

This makes a crazy amount of pancakes - so have some Ziplock bags handy to freeze the extra. My family will never settle for boxed pancake mix again - these are so yummy! I never used to buy buttermilk, but now it's always on my shopping list.

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

6 Tbsp. butter, melted

5 cups buttermilk

5 cups all-purpose flour

5 tsp. baking powder

5 tsp. baking soda

1 pinch salt

5 Tbsp. sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter and the buttermilk. Combine the flour, baking powder , baking soda and sugar; stir into the wet ingredients just until blended. Adjust the thickness of the batter to your liking by adding more flour or buttermilk if necessary.

Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto a preheated non-stick griddle and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook until browned on the other side. Plan on a lot of time to make it through all this batter.

Okay, now for some syrup. Just a couple recipes I've found that my family loves. Super simple and so delicious, the Mrs. Butterworth's is just sitting in the back of the pantry.

Cinnamon Cream Syrup

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1-5 oz. can evaporated milk

In a saucepan, combine the first four ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Stir in evaporated milk. This would be delicious on vanilla ice cream too!

or...........

Buttermilk Syrup

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup butter

2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large saucepan (don't try a small - this really gets big!) stir together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup and baking soda. Bring to a boil and cook for seven minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. As the syrup cooks, it turns a warm, caramely brown - so good!!!

Creamy Chicken Torilla Soup

This is so quick and easy!

Ingredients:
1-2 cans Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles) depending on how spicy you like it.
2 cans (14.5 oz.) Chicken broth
1 can no fat refried beans
1/2 cup corn
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (to make this even quicker I just shred the meat off a rotisserie chicken I buy at the store)
tortilla chips
shredded cheese
sour cream

1. Combine tomatoes and broth in medium saucepan.
2. Stir in beans and corn and bring to a boil.
3. Then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add chicken and heat through.
5. Top with tortilla chips and serve with cheese and sour cream.

I also like to serve this soup with the torillas you cook at home. They are by the eggs in the refrigerated section at my store. Just cook 'em up, butter 'em, and eat and/or dip in soup.

Yummy!