Belgian Waffles

2 2/3 c flour
2 1/4 t yeast
2 T sugar
1 t salt
1 3/4 c milk
1/4 c water
1/4 c butter
3 eggs

Combine and mix dry ingredients. Heat milk, water, and butter until very warm. Add to flour mixture, add eggs - blend for a few minutes on low speed. Cover with plastic and foil (it will double in size) and refrigerate overnight.

Orange BBQ Chicken Cornbread Skillet

olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1 red onion
salt & pepper
3 T. tomato paste
1 1/2 T. paprika
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
4 T. Frank's hot sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
juice of 2 oranges
1 1/2 c. chicken stock
3 chicken breasts

1 1/2 c. flour
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. corn meal
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 1/4 c. milk
2 eggs
1/2 c. melted butter

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Place a medium-size sauce pot over medium-high heat with a little olive oil. Add the garlic and onion to the pan, and cook until tender, 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and add the tomato paste and paprika. Cook the tomato paste until caramelized, 1-2 minutes. Add Worcestershire, hot sauce, brown sugar, orange juice and chicken stock to the pan. Bring everything up to a bubble then reduce the heat to medium and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
While the sauce is simmering, place a large, cast iron skillet over medium-high heat with about 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and cook until golden brown on all sides, 5-6 minutes. When the chicken is golden brown, pour the thickened barbecue sauce into the skillet.
Combine flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder and salt and then mix in milk, eggs and melted butter. Pour on top the the chicken and bake until set in the middle.

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

1 cup uncooked wild rice
1 chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups chicken broth
5 cubed peeled red potatoes
3 cups milk
10 slices Cheddar Kraft singles
2 chicken breasts
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
1/4 t salt

Boil 3 cups water. Add rice and bring back to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until cooked.

Heat oven to 425. Coat chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast about 9 minutes on each side. Let rest.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add a little olive oil or butter, onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Add broth and potato; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until potato is tender. Combine milk and flour, stirring well with a whisk. Add the milk mixture to potato mixture; cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in rice, chicken, pepper, and salt.

I topped mine with crushed Ritz crackers.

We're having a pretty laid back week this week. I have a test in my skills class and I am going to have to study pretty hard for it.

1. Spaghetti Soup - I've had this recipe posted for a while. It's really good. Ask Stace. I made it for her once.

2. BBQ Pork - This one is super easy, cheap and de-lish. We had it tonight with some roasted potato fries.

3. Breakfast burritos - Does anyone else feel like Dad used to make us these all the time? Eggs, ground sausage, cheese and whatever else you like in it. I have a feeling Russ will be adding a little salsa to his.

4. Chicken and Wild Rice Soup - We love soup (as if you haven't already noticed). This is a new recipe. If it's any good, I'll post the recipe along with any changes I made.

5. BBQ Bourbon Orange Chicken - This one's new, too. Per Mom's suggestion I'm going to go ahead and sub in orange juice for the bourbon. I was looking forward to flaming that up...

Leftover Tomato Paste?

I just got an awesome tip for using all tomato paste in a can. I have never seen a recipe that uses a whole can of tomato paste. You can find the kind in a tube and I have heard that kind is better quality but it's quite a bit more expensive.

Use what you need in the can then open the other end of the can with your can opener, put in a ziplock and put in the freezer. Take it out the next day, run it under hot water and slide the frozen paste out of the can. Cut into 1/4 inch slices. Put back in ziplock and re-freeze. Each 1/4" slice is about a tablespoon.

Good tip, huh?

BBQ Pork

3-4 pounds picnic pork roast
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1 can Coke

Put everything in the crock pot on high for 6 hours. If you want to make it a little more homemade, make your own BBQ sauce. It's really easy and you can make it as spicy or smoky as you like.