Sweet and Sour Chicken for God's Closet

Many of the youth at First Trinity helped to make and serve the meal for God's Closet today, and then stuck around to do a bunch of cleaning and set up in the chapel.  We are truly blessed to have such a fun and giving group of kids.

Many people asked for the recipe for the Sweet and Sour Chicken, so here it is:

First the chicken

2 Chicken Breasts cut into about 1" pieces

1 cup Flour

1 tablespoon Salt

1 tablespoon Pepper

4 Eggs

Toss the chicken first in the flour, then the eggs, then the flour again.  Fry chicken in about 1/2" vegetable oil (and set aside in a preheated warm oven.  Be careful not to overcrowd the frying pan and add more oil as needed.  

Next the vegetables

2 Red Peppers

1 Red Onion

10 oz Carrots

Cut all vegetables to about 1" pieces.  Sauté the carrots in the same oil as you cooked the chicken until they are just starting to get soft, then put them in the oven with the chicken.  Repeat that process with the onions and the peppers. 

The Sauce and finishing touches

2 cans Pineapple Chunks (drained)

1 bottle Pantai Norasingh Mild Chili Sauce in 30.5oz

Put the pineapple in the frying pan and just as they get hot add the sauce.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes.  Remove the chicken and veggies from the oven and pour the sauce and pineapple over the top.  

We had some parsley and sesame seeds today so we topped the dish with those to make it extra pretty.  

Serve with white rice, and expect it to disappear quickly!  

Best Cookies Ever

Hello Everyone!  Rene here.

I've made these cookies to share at God's Closet and fellowship before, and today we enjoyed them during our getting-to-know-you session with Samantha and Malina.  Since they are the best cookies ever, I thought I would share the recipe!

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup Imperial Margarine (you can use butter, but I like the way margarine works in this recipe)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 large bag peanut butter m&ms (you could use Reses' Pieces, but I find the M&M are better for this cookie)
Sea salt to taste.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine flour and baking soda in small bowl. Beat melted margarine, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chips and M&Ms.
3. Use a cookie scoop or make 2" round balls.  An ice cream scoops is a good substitute for a cookie scoop.  
4. I like to use a silicone baking mat on a cookie sheet.  Parchment works too.
5. Place 6 cookies on the cookie sheet.
6. When you place the cookies in the oven, set the timer for 10 minutes.  
7. At 10 minutes remove the cookie sheet from the oven, and leave the cookies on it.  
8. Take the cookies from the previous batch, and move them to a cooling spot.  I use a big sheet of brown craft paper placed on the table.  Paper is nice because it soaks up some excess grease.
9. Sprinkle just a little salt on top of the cookies.
10. Return to step 5 and repeat until all the cookies are done.

The trick to these cookies is underbaking them just a little.  They will not look "done" when you take them out of the oven.  Also, sprinkling the salt on top rather than putting it in the dough gives a really nice sweet/salty thing.  Enjoy!

Recipe from a community meal

Today during God's Closet we served salmon patties.  During lent we try to serve fish or vegetarian

meals on Fridays for those who participate in that tradition, and we had a donation of several cans of pink salmon, so it seemed like a good idea.  They turned out really tasty, and several people asked me for the recipe.  Here is a reduced quantity version:


1 can salmon
1/2 can corn (I use Fiesta corn with red and green peppers in it)
about 2 cups bread or cracker crumbs, plus extra for rolling
2 eggs
2 tablespoons parsley

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Form 1" balls, and roll the balls in extra bread crumbs.  Fry in about 1/2" vegetable oil, flattening the balls as they cook, and flipping once.  Allow to rest on paper towel and sprinkle on salt to taste.

Beer Bread Recipe

Since hospitality and feeding people is important to me, part of my Lenten discipline this year is to teach some baking skills to a willing student.  Roxy has been a great student and she and I have really enjoyed making the bread for Catechemunnity each week.  So far we have made chipas, french bread, pretzel rolls, and the most popular... beer bread.  I've given this recipe to everyone who asked orally, but I figure I should write it down :)

So here it is, the infamous, easy beer bread:

Preheat the oven to 375

Mix:

3 cups self rising flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 can of beer

Mix well, should be a bit crumbly.  Put the whole thing in a greased loaf or cake pan, bake about an hour until nice and brown.  You should be able to pull a dry knife out of it.

Now, you may want to get fancy with this recipe and I encourage that.  

• Sometimes I substitute the beer for any other carbonated beverage... my dad will use sprite and add a half cup of cranberries for a lovely breakfast bread.
• Sometimes I add cheese and/or jalepenos.
• Drain a can of Rotel and throw that in!
• Chocolate Chips = Yes.
• Nuts = Why not?
• Yep, you can melt half a stick of butter on top while baking.  I find this unnecessary and I want the vegans to enjoy my bread too, but it is popular.  

Enjoy the recipe, love your neighbors, and build relationships with bread!  

Dish to Pass - Chopped Salad

I wanted to create an easy salad, similar to the chopped salad at Portillo's but with my own twist and no leftover ingredients. This was a hit!

3 romaine hearts, rinsed and chopped

4 roma tomatoes, rinsed and chopped

1 bunch of green onions,  rinsed and chopped

1 small jar of stuffed green olives (about 4 oz), chopped

4 oz blue cheese, crumbled

1 pound bacon, fried crisp, drained, and chopped

6 eggs, hard boiled, cooled and chopped

1 pound ditalini pasta, boiled about 8 minutes, drained and cooled

16 oz creamy Italian dressing. 

It's a salad, you know what to do!  Mix it all up!

Some tips:

• Rinse the pasta and eggs in cold water to cool them more quickly.  
• Buy a chuck of blue cheese (rather than crumbles) it is usually more flavorful and less expensive.  Coarsely chop it with a knife and it will crumble nicely.  
• Some people like to add roasted, chopped chicken.
• I like the Marzetti creamy italian dressing.
• I also like to toss the lettuce in the dressing, then add all the other ingredients.  This just helps to make sure that the lettuce is evenly coated.