 Tonight's dinner mission was more of a back-up plan as my original idea took longer than I had time for and my day was consumed with unexpected errands. Oh well, at least we didn't result to going out to dinner and I'm sure what I made was way healthier for us than any fast food place. I originally found this recipe earlier this year when my daughter was playing with her Hawaiian-themed American Girl doll, Kanani, and she asked me what type of food they ate in Hawaii. Having never been there, the only way to figure this one out was to go online and do a little research. After some surfing, I came across a website, Polyneasin Culture Center, dedicated to Polynesian foods and decided Huli Huli chicken seemed simple enough to try and I figured my daughter would eat it. Typically I would serve this with grilled pineapple, but given that it is October I doubt that a fresh pineapple would be very good so I opted to use different sides I had ingredients for already. Here's what you'll need Huli Huli Chicken4 chicken breast1 cup pineapple juice (or 1/4 cup pineapple concentrate)1/2 cup chicken broth 1/3 cup white wine1/4 cup ketchup1/4 cup soy sauce1/4 tsp ground ginger2 drops Worcestershire sauceI asked my husband to pick up pineapple concentrate on his way home from work because I realized I hadn't got it when I went grocery shopping last week because the store I was at didn't carry it anymore. Well, sometimes sending someone else to the store doesn't work out like you plan and my husband thought I meant pineapple juice. Oh well, I decided to roll with it and opted to include 1 cup of juice in place of the 1/4 cup of concentrate. It didn't change the flavor so if you can't find concentrate, pineapple juice will work too.
In a small bowl, whisk together pineapple juice, chicken broth, white wine, ketchup, soy sauce, ginger, and Worcestershire.
Place your chicken breast on a hot grill and brush sauce. Cook about 10 to 15 minutes then turn. Continue to brush with sauce as the chicken is grilling.
Brush this side with sauce and continue to grill 10 to 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Serve with your favorite sides. Tonight we had rice pilaf and broccoli.
MISSION: SUCCESSFUL!
 Tonight's dinner mission is brought to you by the request of my little girl. About five years ago, we visited Disney World and while browsing around one of the many gift shops I found a "Cooking with Mickey" gourmet cookbook. I decided it was a must have for my cookbook collection and I'm glad I bought it. There are several recipes I love in that book and so many I haven't had time to try; however, I'm planning to change that. The directions are actually for cooking it on the stove top, so I have altered it slightly to meet my needs as a crock pot meal. It was my busy cleaning day and again I just wanted dinner to cook while I did my thing. This definitely works well in the crock pot and is good on a chilly fall evening like today.
 Here's what you'll need.
Beef Stew
2 lbs stew meat, cubed
4 Tbsp oil
4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup onion, cut into 1/2 in. pieces
1/2 cup carrots, sliced length-wise then cut on bias
1/2 cup celery, cut on bias
3 Tbsp tomato paste
4 beef bouillon cubes
2 cups water
3 cups brown gravy
1 tsp paprika
1 bay leaf
1 tsp garlic salt
Salt & Pepper
1 cup peas
Add flour to stew meat, toss to coat.
Heat oil in a skillet and add flour-coated meat and brown.
Once meat is browned, remove from pan and place in crock pot.
While meat is browning, chop up your vegetables. The veggies should be chunky for a more rustic dish.
In a large bowl or measuring cup, mix gravy according to direction on package.
Add tomato paste, paprika, garlic salt, salt and pepper to gravy and whisk to combine.
In a large measuring cup or bowl, combine water and bouillon cubs.
Whisk together until bouillon dissolves and resembles beef broth.
Add vegetables to crock pot with stew meat.
Pour in liquid ingredients and add bay leaf. Simmer on low 8 to 10 hours.
About half an hour before stew is done, stir in peas.
 Tonight's dinner mission need a bread to go with it and the recipe I made includes these biscuits. They are simple to make and taste fantastic with a little bit of butter and honey. My daughter would eat these all day if I would let her. :o)
 Here's what you'll need.
Baking Powder Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup milk
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix well with a fork to distribute ingredients.
Cut shortening in with two knives or a pastry cutter.
Flour mixture should be slightly coarse.
I used my measuring cup to combine the egg and milk. I figure if there's room, no sense in dirtying more dishes. You could also do this in small bowl.
Add milk mixture to flour.
Stir until dough forms. You can use your hands to knead the dough smooth.
Turn dough ball out onto a well floured surface. This dough will be sticky so apply a thin coating of flour to the dough.
Roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cut approximately 12 to 16 biscuits.
Place on a greased cookie sheet. I used my silicon mat instead.
Bake approximately 12 minutes or until golden brown.
 Tonight's dinner mission was to make a wonderful Sunday dinner. I decided to try the Pork Schnitzel recipe I came across online at SimplyRecipes.com. This is a fairly easy recipe to make and everyone seemed to enjoy it - though my daughter did opt to leave the sauce off of hers. I was ok with that too. Here's what you'll need
 4 boneless pork chops about 1/2 inch thick
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp Lawry's season salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
3/4 cup pank bread crumbs
1 tsp paprika
3 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream (I used light)
1/2 tsp dried dill
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a meat mallet to flatten pork chops to about 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick.
In a shallow dish (I used my pie plates), combine flour, season salt, and pepper.
In another shallow dish, combine egg and milk
In another shallow plate, combine panko crumbs and paprika.
Coat pork chops in flour.
Move pork to second step and coat in egg.
Place pork chop in final step and coat with bread crumbs. Repeat step for remaining pork chops.
Heat oil in large skillet then add pork chops. Cook pork chops about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, turning only once.
Remove pork chops from skillet and place in warmed oven to bake the rest the way through while you create the sauce.
In the skillet you browned the pork chops, add chicken broth and salt. Scrap brown bits from bottom.
Add sour cream and whisk until a smooth sauce is created.
Add dried dill to sauce.
Stir dill into sauce and mix well.
Plate pork chops and drizzle with sauce. Serve with your choice of sides. Tonight we had homemade mashed potatoes with gravy and broccoli/cauliflower with homemade cheese sauce. Enjoy!
MISSION: SUCCESSFUL!
 Wimpies are a simple "lose meat" type sandwich that are a nice change from Sloppy Joe's. This recipe is very easy to make in the crock pot and my family enjoys it. I usually have all the ingredients on hand for seasoning it and usually only need to purchase hamburger buns and ground beef.
Here's what you'll need
CROCK POT WIMPIES
2 lbs ground beef
1 cup ketchup
3 onions, diced
1 cup celery, dice
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp brown sugar
4 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp vinegar
3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp ground mustard
Begin by dicing your vegetables.
Combine all ingredients in 4.5 quart crock pot.
Stir well to combine. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
Serve on your choice of bread with your favorite sides.
MISSION: SUCCESSFUL!
 The last few days have been crazy busy, so I haven't had a chance to post the last few meals I made. This dinner mission was made a few days ago when I needed something I could just put in the crock pot and go about my day. My mom has been making this recipe for probably 20 years. She found it in a store circular ad many years ago and we loved it. She always browned the roast, added the remaining ingredients, and finished it in the oven. I didn't have time to babysit an oven so I decided the crock pot would work.
Here's what you'll need
CHUCK WAGON ROAST
3 lb chuck roast
3 Tbsp oil
1 8oz pkg button mushrooms
1 large green pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
4 to 5 large carrots
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5 oz cans stewed tomatoes
1 4 oz can green chiles
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp Tabasco (optional)
Heat oil in large skillet and brown both sides of roast. Remove and place in crock pot.
While roast is browning, prepare vegetables.
Add remaining ingredients to crock pot. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours.
Serve with your choice of bread.
MISSION: SUCCESSFUL!
 Tonight I made white chili and about half way through the preparation of the meal I thought it needed a bread of some time. Since most breads take awhile to prep, I quickly grabbed my "America's Most Wanted" cookbook and turned to the Red Lobster copy cat recipe to see how long they would take to prepare. Less than 20 minutes seemed perfect so I glanced at the ingredients and knew I had everything on hand. These biscuits were so soft and delicious! My daughter was in love.
Here's what you'll need
Red Lobster Copy Cat Cheddar Biscuits
2 cups bisquick
2/3 cups milk
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp parsley to sprinkle
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine bisquick, milk, and cheddar cheese.
Stir until a soft dough forms.
Spoon onto greased baking sheet (I have silicon cooking mats I use instead). Place in preheated oven and bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown on top.
In a small microwave-safe bowl, add butter. Microwave 45 seconds to melt. Add garlic powder. Stir to combine.
Using a pastry brush, brush each biscuit with garlic butter.
Sprinkle with parsley flakes and serve warm.
MISSION: SUCCESSFUL!
 Tonight's dinner was something I've been intrigued about for awhile now, but never actually took the time to make it - white chili. It seemed interesting; however, I wasn't sure how well it would be received by my family. Since I'm always looking for something new to try and tonight just felt like a chili kind of evening, I decided to give white chili a chance. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy it. I was even more pleased when my daughter said she loved it because she's very picky. Saving this one for a future use.
 Here's what you'll need.
White Chili
5 3/4 cup chicken broth
1 large chicken breast, cooked and shredded
2 14.5 oz cans Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 14.5 oz cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 4 oz can green chiles
2 onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro
Begin by chopping up your onion, cilantro, and garlic. Set aside.
Drain and rinse all your beans.
In a large stock pot, combine half onions, garlic, beans, and broth. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium-high heat.
In the meantime, in a large skillet add oil and half of onions and sautee approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
Add chiles to sauteed onion. Continue to sautee an additional minute.
Add sauteed onions and chiles to bean mixture.
Add cumin, oregano, cloves, salt, and cayenne pepper to bean mixture. Stir to mix well. Bring to a boil.
Shred cooked chicken breast.
Add chicken to bean mixture. Continue to simmer approximately 45 minutes or until beans are cooked down and soup thickens.
Top with shredded cheddar cheese and cilantro. Serve with your choice of bread.
 Tonight's dinner mission was to have some good ole comfort food - shredded chicken w/homemade gravy over mashed potatoes with southern fried corn and green beans. Doesn't get much better than this. I got this idea from my friend, Julie, who told me she was going to make this one night last week and I thought man that sounds good. After a little explanation I knew what to do and decided to give it a go myself. This was a big hit at our house last night (Thanks Jules!).
Here's what you'll need
Shredded chicken w/homemade gravy
2 large chicken breasts
2 14.5 oz cans reduced fat/low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cold water
Salt
Pepper
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (optional)
Place chicken broth and chicken breast in large stock pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for an hour until chicken is cooked thoroughly.
Once chicken once it is cooked, shred and set aside. Reserve stock to make gravy.
In a small bowl, combine water and flour.
Whisk together until smooth and no lumps have formed.
Add flour mixture to chicken broth. Season with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Bring to boil and simmer until gravy is thickened.
Top mashed potatoes with chicken and pour gravy on top. Serve with your favorite side dishes. Last night we had green beans and southern fried corn (below).
MISSION: SUCCESSFUL!
Nothing says yummy like some good southern-style comfort food. Tonight's shredded chicken with mashed potatoes needed a delicious side dish and my friend, Julie, told me about southern fried corn. I'll have to admit, I'd never heard of it. She told me what I needed and how to make it - seemed simple enough so that's what I did.
Here's what you'll need
1 10 oz pkg frozen corn
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp sugar
½ cup milk
Salt & pepper to taste 
Begin by melting your butter in a 10 inch skillet. Be careful not to brown it.
Add your flour.
Whisk the flour into the butter until smooth.
Add sugar. Whisk until sugar dissolves.
Add milk and whisk. Bring to a simmer to create a rue.
Once rue has formed, season with salt and pepper.
Stir in corn and coat with rue mixture.
Cover and simmer over medium heat until corn is cook - about 40 minutes.
Serve with your favorite main dish and enjoy!
MISSION: SUCCESSFUL!
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