French Dip with Au-jus

We love french Dip! We make it when ever roast beef goes on sale. Yummy! I had never had it until Aaron and Jared made it for our first valentines together. It's quick and feeds a lot of people. Great with a nice Cesar salad and homemade French fries!!

1 Loaf French Bread

8 -12 oz of mushrooms

1 onion

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 pkg Au jus 0r bullion

1 lb roast beef

Saute the mushrooms and onions in a large frying pan. In the mean time cut open the loaf of bread, spread out the roast beef, sprinkle 1 cup of cheese on each side of the loaf of bread. Then when the onions are pretty clear spread it over the cheese. Then put it in the oven on a cookie sheet @ 400 F for 10-15 mins.

Roasted Chicken with Acorn Squash

• 1 acorn squash, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced 1/2-inch thick

• 1 pound mushrooms, trimmed and halved

• 1 large red onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

• 8 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

• 4 bone-in chicken breast halves (10 ounces each)

• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary, crumbled

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the squash, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and oil in a roasting pan; season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast until the squash is beginning to soften and all the vegetables are heated through, about 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, lift up the skin from the chicken breasts; rub the flesh with rosemary and some salt and pepper. Replace the skin; season the chicken all over with more salt.

3. Remove the roasting pan from the oven, and place the chicken, skin side up, on top of the vegetables. Return to the oven; continue roasting until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, about 35 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Put 3/4 cup of couscous in a glass bowl; pour in boiling water. Cover tightly with plastic wrap; let stand 5 minutes. Uncover; fluff with a fork. Serve couscous with squash, mushrooms and chicken. Use the sauce at the bottom of the pan for rich flavor

I got bountiful baskets this week with acorn squash and mushrooms. So I decided to make dinner with them and chicken and some onions This recipe just fit perfectly with what I was thinking. This recipe is from Martha Stewart. I used regular breast with no skin and they turned out very moist and wonderful tasting. This recipe was so good my kids even loved it. I added the couscous and it went perfectly. I can't wait to make it again.

Crunchy Honey Mustard Chicken Fingers

Serves 4

1 pound chicken tenders

1/4 cup honey, warmed

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1 cup corn flakes, crushed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

In a small bowl, mix mustard and honey together. In another bowl, place the crushed corn flakes.

In assembly line fashion, dip the chicken tender in the mustard mixture, then roll in the corn flakes and place on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

Homemade Root Beer

A Bell favorite that is made at every Thanksgiving I have ever been to. Got to love homemade Root Beer.

5 POUNDS SUGAR

4 GALLONS WATER

5 POUNDS DRY ICE

1 BOTTLE ROOT BEER EXTRACT

IN 5 GALLON COOLER ADD WATER, SUGAR AND ROOT BEER EXTRACT. STIR WELL SO SUGAR IS DISSOLVED. CAREFULLY ADD DRY ICE. LET MIXTURE FINISH BUBBLING AND BREWING BEFORE PUTTING THE LID ON.

Megan's CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD

1 HEAD OF RED CABBAGE, SHREDDED

1 CUP BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN BREAST

1/4 CUP SOY SAUCE

1 SMALL CAN WATER CHESTNUTS

1/4 CUP GREEN ONION, SLICED

1 CUP HENDRICKSON'S VINEGARETTE DRESSING

2 TEASPOONS SPLENDA

CUBE CHICKEN INTO SMALL CUBES. SAUTE' CHICKEN IN HEATED SOY SAUCE UNTIL DONE. REMOVE CHICKEN FROM HEAT AND CHILL. MIX SPLENDA & DRESSING TOGETHER. ADD ALL INGREDIENTS TOGETHER ONCE CHICKEN HAS CHILLED. SALAD KEEPS FOR 4-5 DAYS.

GRANDMA VIVIAN'S NO BAKE COOKIES

"When I need something chocolaty, I make this. It is so yummy! A staple in my house."- Meggan Lehnerz

1/2 CUP MILK

1/2 CUP BUTTER

2 CUPS SUGAR

3/4 CUP PEANUT BUTTER

5 TABLESPOONS COCOA

3 CUPS OATMEAL (I PREFER OLD FASHIONED 6 GRAIN OR ROLLED OATS)

1 TEASPOON VANILLA

IN LARGE PAN BRING MILK, BUTTER, AND SUGAR TO BOIL FOR 1 MINUTE, STIRING OCCASIONALLY. REMOVE PAN FROM HEAT. STIR PEANUT BUTTER INTO MIXTURE UNTIL SMOOTH. ADD REMAINING INGREDIENTS AND STIR. SPOON COOKIES ONTO WAX PAPER AND LET COOL.

Megan's Awesome Sugar Cookies

I love these Sugar cookies they are sooo good. They are thick and moist. Perfect for frosting and don't brake. I love them!!

1 c butter
2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 c sour cream (8 oz)
4 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1 tsp baking powder

Mix together and refrigerate for 2 hours. Grease cookie sheet. Cut out or drop cookies on sheet. bake at 350 for 10 min. Top off with butter cream icing! (this is so much fun for Christmas and Halloween shapes)

Megan's Chicken Salad

2 boxes shell macaroni cooked and drained
4 c cooked chicken
1 c celery
1 c green pepper
1/4 c green onion
1 c mayo
1/4 c whipped cream (whipped)
1 tsp chicken bouillon
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
cut up grapes to taste
Cut chicken up into cubes or shred. Chop us celery, pepper, and onion. Mix all ingredients together. If its a little dry add more mayo or some milk

Megan's Orange Glaze Cake

Yellow Cake Mix
Lemon Instant pudding
4 eggs
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 c butter
Mix all ingredients. Grease and flour bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 45 min. While still hot poke with fork all over. Pour hot orange glaze all over.
Glaze:
2 Tbs. butter
1 c powdered sugar
2 tbs orange juice (condensed-not prepared)
2 tbs. hot water

Megan's Baked Apple French Toast

1 large loaf of french bread
8 eggs beaten
3 c milk
3/4 c sugar
1 tbs. vanilla
2 granny smith apples (peeled, cored, and sliced)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbs butter
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 9x13 glass dish. Slice bread into 1 1/2 inch slices. Place bread tightly together in one layer in dish. mix eggs, milk, 1/4 c sugar, and vanilla. Pour over bread. Mix remaining sugar with cinnamon and coat apples. Place apples on bread. Dot with butter. Bake for 35 min. or cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake the next morning for 50 min. Once baked, cool for 5-10 mins. Serve with favorite syrup.

Megan's Lasagna Rolls

"A lot faster than lasagna"- Megan Bell

1 pound sausage
mozzarella cheese
8-16 oz cottage cheese ( your preference of amount)
spinach (once again your preference)
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
lasagna noodles
Italian seasonings
pepper
Brown sausage. Boil noodles until almost done. Mix sausage, cottage cheese, spinach, 1/2 of the mozzarella, pepper, italian seasonings together. Take the noodles and lay them flat on a surface, put a spoonful of mix at one end of each of the noodles. Roll noodles up around the mixture and place them in pan. Once pan is full place any remaining mixture on top of noodles then cover with spaghetti sauce. Top with remaining cheese and cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 20 mins

Aaron's Favorite!!! Chinese Night

Aaron loves Chinese food! We make it like once a month. We love to invite some friends or family over, we always have enough to go around. My Mom always made Chinese chicken salad for me and I love it

Mom's Chinese Chicken Salad

1 Head of iceberg lettuce shredded

3 Green onions chopped

2 Breast of Chicken Grilled and chilled

1/2 cup peanuts or other kind you like ( optional)

1/2 cup Crunchy noodles La Choy

1 Tbl roasted sesame seed

Dressing

1 cup oil

1/2 cup white vinegar

2 tsp sesame seed oil

2 Tbl Lemon Juice

1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp roasted sesame seeds

Put all ingredient in a glass jar of some kind, shake it up and chill.

Fried Rice

3 cups cooked rice

3 green onions

2 chicken breasts or pork

3 scrambled eggs

2 tsp soy sauce

1 cup frozen peas and carrots

1 pkg sun bird fried rice seasoning mix

1tsp oil

1tsp sesame seed oil (secret ingredient)

seasoning (if you don't have the mix) I do it to taste

garlic

onion powder

salt

pepper

sugar (just a little)

I have to use a wok for this to turn out just right. If you don't have one it will just take longer if you want some rice to be crispy, if you don't care then a big frying pan will work too.

Stir fry the rice and onions in oils first. Then add seasoning and soy. Then scrambled eggs. Then meat and veggies.