* Cream Cheese Chicken Wontons & Sweet and Sour Sauce *

These deep fried nuggets of goodness are my favorite...so unhealthy but so delicious!  We only have them occassionally because they aren't super great for you and I hate deep frying things in our house because it makes it smell gross but these are totally worth the day of oily smelling house! 

This isn't really a recipe--I got the idea after a girl's night when someone brought plain cream cheese wontons.  I starting thinking about how adding meat automatically makes it a meal, right?  And then these were born.

* Cream Cheese Chicken Wontons *

1/3 block of cream cheese
3-4 chicken tenderloins, cooked and shredded (I season mine with garlic salt and onion powder)
1/2 package of wonton wrappers (about 25)
oil for frying

Season, cook, and shred chicken and set aside. Lay out wonton wrappers on counter.  Cut 1/3 block of cream cheese into equal pieces.  Place a piece of cream cheese on the center each wonton wrapper and top with chicken (no exact amount-just whatever looks like it will fit in the wrapper).

Start heating up your oil.  I've read to heat it to 350* but I just drop a drop of water in and if it bubbles, it's ready.

To fold the wonton, brush a little water over all of the edges of the wonton skin.  I then fold the wrapper diagonally into a triangle and press the edges well to seal.  I then take the two furthest ends and fold them in to meet in the middle.  You can fold them however you want...get creative :)  Just make sure the edges are sealed well so the filling doesn't come out.

Drop wontons into the preheated oil 4-5 at a time.  Allow to fry until lightly browned.  Remove with slotted spoon (or whatever you use when you deep fry) and place on a paper towel covered plate to let the excess grease drain off.

I serve these with fried rice (I ususally use this recipe but I didn't in this picture) and a side of the sweet and sour sauce recipe listed below (not pictured).  These would also be yummy appetizers!

* Sweet and Sour Sauce *

3/4 cup white sugar  

1/3 cup white vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
2/3 cup water 

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Place the sugar, vinegar, water, soy sauce, ketchup and cornstarch in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir continuously until the mixture has thickened.

Recipe found here

* Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken *

This recipe is so good! My husband and kids gobbled it right up!! I found the recipe here.

* Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken *
(this picture is off the recipe's website (Life as a Lofthouse)...I forgot to get a pic of the chicken)
The chicken coating:
3-4 boneless chicken breasts
salt + pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil


The sweet and sour sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 tbs ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

Preheat your oven to 325*. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs. Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.

* Buttermilk Caramel Syrup *

One weekend while visting my parents, they made us a delicious breakfast of Gingerbread pancakes with Buttermilk Caramel Syrup. They recieved the recipe at a food storage enrichment night from Liesa Card, author of "I Dare You To Eat It" (she blogs here at this site). This recipe is SO SO yummy! You have to try it! It is worth the extra effort (because if you know me, you know I use the store bought Western Family maple syrup) and you won't be disappointed!

* Buttermilk Caramel Syrup*
3/4 cup buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk so I used the substitution of 3/4 c. whole milk plus 3/4 T. lemon juice)
1/2 cup butter (I used margarine)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla
Place first five ingredients in extra large saucepan. Bring to boil and cook for 7 minutes (mixture will foam like crazy), stirring to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

My syrup was a bit thinner and less caramelly than my mom's. I know it is because I used the margarine and the buttermilk substitution but it was still SO GOOD--although I think the real version is better.

* Homemade Biscuits and Sausage Gravy *

I am not a "made-from-scratch" kind of girl. I am all about shortcuts (think Bisquick, gravy mixes, jarred spaghetti sauce, etc.) and although I generally think that made-from-scratch things taste better, I am too lazy just not confident enough in my cooking abilities to try homemade things out. So the other night I decided to try to make homemade biscuits and gravy...not because I necessarily wanted to but because I was out of Bisquick and gravy packages and this was the dinner the hubby requested. It actually turned out pretty good, if I say so myself! So if you're a "made-from-scratch" kind of person, give it a try :)

I found the biscuit recipe here and I got the sausage gravy recipe out of the "Worldwide Ward Christmas Cookbook" (yes, the Christmas one...they didn't have the regular "Worldwide Ward Cookbook" at the library so I settled for the holiday version.)

* Homemade Fluffy Biscuits *
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
2/3 cup milk

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg with milk; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Turn onto a well-floured surface; knead 20 times. Roll to 3/4-in. thickness; cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

* Sausage Gravy *
1 lb. sausage
4 T. grease from sausage (add 2-3 T. butter, if necessary)
4 T. flour
2 c. milk
1 dash hot pepper sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Cook sausage. Remove from pan and drain grease from sausage. If there is not 4 T. of grease, add 2-3 T. of butter and put back into pan. Mix flour and grease/butter until it forms a ball. Stir in milk. Whisk together until incorporated and let it cook until it thickens. Add sausage, salt and pepper to taste, and a dash of hot sauce. Serve over biscuits.

* Pizza Crust and White Sauce *

I've said before that I don't necessarily love my go-to pizza crust recipe. I mean, there is really nothing wrong with it other than it's kind of bland but it's fast, easy, and doesn't need to rise. This recipe is similar with a little more flavor...it's also fast, easy, and doesn't need to rise. I found it on Real Mom Kitchen blog here. Give it a try, if you're looking for something fast and easy.

*Fast & Easy Pizza Crust*sorry about the crappy picture...my camera broke a few weeks ago and I had to use my phone :(
3 cups flour, more or less
1 tablespoon honey, heaping
1 tablespoon oil, heaping
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. (If using a pizza stone, let stone heat for at least 30 minutes in the oven before baking pizza.) Mix all pizza dough ingredients together, except the flour. Add flour and knead for a bit then put into pan (or use a pizza peel and pizza stone). Top dough with sauce and toppings. If baking in a sheet pan, bake for about 12 minutes (checking often) until crust is browned and cheese is golden and bubbly. If baking on the preheated pizza stone, slide pizza onto stone and bake for about 8 minutes. Makes 1 large pizza.

I also used this white sauce found on Real Mom Kitchen. It reminded me of the white sauce we used at Papa Murphys...and it was also really good!

*White Pizza Sauce*
½ cup ranch dressing
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. dried basil
¼ cup shredded Parmesan

Mix all ingredients together and place on your pizza crust. This is enough sauce for 1 (14 inch) pizza.

* Copycat Winger's Sticky Finger Sauce *

My husband LOVES Winger's Sticky Fingers! When I found this recipe (and I can't even remember where I found it...sorry I can't give credit to whomever made it up!), I was pretty excited and so was my hubby! And this is the easiest sauce EVER! I have to admit it's become one of our go-to recipes. We probably have it once a week :)

Copycat Winger's Sticky Finger Sauce

3/4 c. brown sugar
3 T. Franks hot sauce (the original recipes said it HAD to be Franks hot sauce)
2 T. water

Combine ingredients in saucepan. Bring to boil for a minute. Serve with chicken.

That's it! Pretty freakin' sweet, eh? I usually just have it with grilled chicken but every once in a while I bread the chicken too! It's great both ways! We have Sticky Fingers, Sticky Finger Wraps, Sticky Finger Salads, etc. all the time. I LOVE it!