Hawaiian Chicken

This is pretty much sweet and sour chicken. It's a new recipe that we tried and we all loved it. Richie said that it is second to my chicken and dumplings. That's huge considering Richie's love for my chicken and dumplings. It came from my 365 Easy One-Dish Recipes. But I have a complaint, it isn't one-dish. It's worth the extra pots and pans though.

You will need:

2 small, whole chickens, quartered- I didn't do this. I used 2.5 lbs. chicken breast tenderloins.
Flour
Oil
1 (20 oz) can sliced pineapple with juice
orange juice
2 bell peppers- the recipe says to cut them into strips, but I chopped them up cooked them in some olive oil.
Rice, cooked- We used a wild/brown rice mix. Just use what you like.

Sauce ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3 T cornstarch
3/4 vinegar- the recipe didn't specify. I used white.
1 T lemon juice (fresh, always fresh)
1 T soy sauce
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules

• Preheat oven to 350. Wash and pat chicken dry with paper towels (if you're doing the quartered whole chicken). Shake a little salt, pepper and flour on chicken. Brown chicken in oil and placed in 10x15 inch baking pan. I baked the chicken for 20 minutes while I made the sauce.
• Drain pineapple into 2-cup measure. Add orange juice to make 1 1/2 cups liquid. Reserve juice for sauce.

Sauce:

• Combine 1 1/2 cups juice, sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce and chicken bouillon in medium saucepan.
• Bring to a boil, stir constantly until thick and clear and pour over chicken. Cover and bake for 40 minutes.
• Place the pineapple slices and bell pepper on top of chicken and bake for additional 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

Beef Barley Soup

My grandma used to make this with homemade bread all the time. This isn't her recipe, though. I was missing her badly a couple of years ago and tried to come up with something decent. I took the Quaker recipe and changed it a bit. This is what I got.

If you're a Michigander then you are more than likely bracing for the snow storm of the century that is supposedly headed our way. We'll see. So tuck yourself into your warm home tonight, and count your blessings with some homemade soup.

You will need:

1 lbs. lean ground beef- I've also used leftover roast and that is by far the best route to go.
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic- pressed or minced
5 cups water- this is to start with. Don't be afraid to add more if the soup gets thicker than you would like, because I'm not too sure about this part. I don't usually measure.
2 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes
3/4 cup barley- I use the Quaker quick barley. Certain types of barley can require soaking, so go with the quick barley.
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup sliced carrots
2 T beef bouillon or soup base (LB Jamison's beef soup base is the best in my opinion)

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, brown the meat. Add onion and garlic, cook until onion is tender. Drain if necessary. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Cover; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally. Keep the pot covered. You just want to cook the celery and the carrots to your liking. For us it's usually 30-40 minutes. We like our soup vegetables very tender.