Southern Girl Cooking

Chicken teriyaki 3 pounds of boneless chicken 3/4 cup...

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:18:05 -0400

Chicken teriyaki

3 pounds of boneless chicken
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup soy sauce
6 tablespoons cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
4 1/2 teaspoons cold water
Hot cooked long grain rice

Place chicken in a skillet and brown.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, soy sauce, cider vinegar, ginger, garlic and pepper. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 1 hours or until chicken in tender.

Remove chicken to a serving platter; keep warm.

Skim fat from cooking liquid.

Place liquid in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into liquid and stir until sauce is thickened.

Serve with copy cat Panda Express chow Mein.

Source: http://lakelurecottagekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/08/crock-pot-teriyaki-chicken.html

Panda Express Chow Mein 1/4 c. soy sauce 1 Tbsp. brown sugar 2...

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:15:14 -0400

Panda Express Chow Mein

1/4 c. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
ground black pepper, to taste
2-3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 (5.6 oz) packages refrigerated Yaki Soba noodles (found in the produce section of the grocery store.. usually the 3 packages are sold together in one 17oz. pack)
2/3 c. chopped celery (chopped diagonally)
1 medium-sized onion, thinly sliced
2 c. chopped cabbage

In a small bowl combine soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and black pepper. Set aside.

Remove Yaki Soba from packages and discard included flavoring packets. Rinse noodles well, drain, and set aside.

Heat oil in a large wok or skillet. Add celery and onion and saute for about 1-2 minutes or until onions start to become soft and transparent. Add cabbage and saute an additional minute or so.

Toss Yaki Soba noodles and soy sauce mixture with the vegetables over medium-high heat for an additional 2-3 minutes or until noodles are heated through.

Source: http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2012/12/our-version-of-panda-express-chow-mein.html

This recipe is from my cousin Jessica (I hope she doesn’t mind...

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:13:19 -0400

This recipe is from my cousin Jessica (I hope she doesn’t mind that I am posting it, if so I’m sorry !!!) it’s from our Dargis family cookbook! A few people have asked me for the recipe, so that’s why I’m sharing it.

Tropical Slush Punch

1 can coco Lopez cream of cocunut comes in a tube
2 10 ounce jars of maraschino cherries sliced in half so stems come out
2 2 liters of Sprite
1 46 ounce can of Dole pineapple juice
1 20 ounce can of Dole crushed pineapples in heavy syrup
4 cups of Malibu Black cocunut rum (that’s the stronger version of Malibu)

In large container, empty can of coco Lopez and whisk. Pour in pineapple juice, pineapples, and cherries (including juice). Stir.

Pour in 1 sprite and 2 cups from the other 2 litre. Add rum and stir well.

Cover with foil, freeze at least 1 hour. We do it over night.

Before serving, remove from freezer and slush it up.

Homemade Meatballs and Homemade Gravy 1.5 lb. lean ground...

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:51:28 -0400

Homemade Meatballs and Homemade Gravy

1.5 lb. lean ground beef
2 egg
2 Tbsp of olive oil
1/2 cup of italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup minced onion
1/4 to 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 tablespoon of worsterchire sauce
1 tablespoon of oregano
1 tablespoon of basil
1 tsp of thyme
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl combine egg, olive oil, italian bread crumbs, onion, garlic, seasonings, salt and pepper and combine.

Add ground beef, broken into chunks, and mush with your hands to combine.

Form into meatballs about 1” inch. place on oven pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Red Gravy Recipe:

2 tablespoons of olive oil
28 ounce can of diced tomatoes
8 ounce of tomato sauce
1/4 cup of tomato paste.
2 tablespoons of basil
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of oregano
1/2 tablespoon of thyme

Heat olive oil in pan and cook the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes are cooked (right before they come to a boil), add the sauce, paste, and seasonings, Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Cook spaghetti noodles. Add meatballs to the sauce.

My edges on my curtains…. This will probably help you see...

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:16:25 -0400

My edges on my curtains…. This will probably help you see them being made.

Zoe was my supervisor while I made curtains! She needs to stop...

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:15:52 -0400

Zoe was my supervisor while I made curtains! She needs to stop being so cute.

DIY Curtains! This was soooo easy guys! I just wanted to share...

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:05:39 -0400

DIY Curtains!

This was soooo easy guys! I just wanted to share with you how I made these.

6 yards of fabric
2 packages of heat n bond ultra hold
Iron
Pinking Shears
Curtain Rods

6 yards of fabric. i made 4 panels, each panel measured 23 inches in width and 84 inches in length. I had about 2 feet of scrap material. So if you have longer window frames I always think its best to purchase an extra yard. You could always use the leftover material to make throw pillows. The fabric at hobby lobby is 46 inches in width.

2 packages of heat n bond ultra hold. Bought this in the sewing aisle at Walmart. I got the 3/8th of an inch because I didn’t want to have to use a lot of material folded over. Each packet is 10 yards. No I didn’t use all that but I did go into the second package. I also cut off the bottom of the fabric to play around with it to make sure I was sealing it properly. I suggest doing that first, it helped me understand how this bonding agent worked. You’ll need an iron for that step.

I basically measured my window. And measured it three more times. I cut my material about 8 inches to long. So if I needed the finished product to be 84 inches in length I would cut it at 92 inches in length. My windows are pretty standard.

The fabric was 46 inches across. This was perfect for me because my window measures 31. All I had to do was cut the fabric in half. So my measurements per window was 46x92. I cut it straight down the middle so my panels were then cut to 23x92. This made things cheaper to!

Once I had 4 fabric panels at 23x92 I began to make the curtains. Cutting the fabric and making measurements was the hardest part but once it’s over it’s done and everything else is really simple.

After I cut my panels for both windows I ended up with four sections of fabric.

The first step was to make a hem. I played around with the measurements. My measurement ended up being about an inch and a half bigger than my iPhone 5 when the material was laid out, not overturned to make the hole section where the curtain rod will go.

I measured the heat n bond strip appropriately. Follow the directions on how to iron it on. Mine was the white strip up, heat for 2 seconds, remove white strip, fold over edge of fabric to seal with iron for 30 seconds. If you use stitchery witchery it’s more complex and calls for steam. I wanted to keep it simple so that’s why I got this style.

After I made my top hem for the curtain rod I sealed the edges that were cut with the heat n bond. This took the longest. It’s not hard, it’s just tedious. If you have a sewing machine, I would run a hem. It would take 1/5th the time. I don’t own a sewing machine so I wasn’t going to buy one for $75 when I was trying to save money. Luckily, only one edge had to be hemmed.

So now I have created my top hem for the curtain rod and sealed off my edge that was cut. The last part for this panel was to seal off the bottom. This is another measuring step. I measured how long my curtain was. I believe it was at 87 inches now. Creating the top hem took off about 5 inches (that’s why it’s crucial to give yourself extra fabric) so now I had 3 inches to spare. I hemmed the bottom by 2 inches of folding over material and sealed it with the heat and bond. This created my 84 inch panels. If you need to cut the material that’s fine, just give yourself three inches to seal the bottom.

After that your done. My first panel took the longest, about 45 minutes. I was trying different methods. After that, each panel took about 25 minutes to make. But like I said, if you have a sewing machine it would take no time.

I hope this wasn’t confusing. I have never made or sewn anything in my life. I did this with no instructions or help. If I can do it, so can you!

All in all, this was time consuming but it saved money! School is out for me for the next three weeks so I have nothing to do. I purchased my panels at target in my living room and spent $100. But these curtain panels cost me $10 a panel. I went to hobby lobby and had them cut me 6 yards of material. I then was able to use my 40% off coupon. Love those things!

Feel free to ask me any questions and ill try my best to help you!!

Next, I’m making curtains for my dining room bay window! It’s gonna be great :)

Baked Ranch Chicken So I saw this recipe on Love, Pomegranate...

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:42:43 -0400

Baked Ranch Chicken

So I saw this recipe on Love, Pomegranate House and knew this was something I needed to immediately try. I changed things up a bit but not much!

And I love having simple recipes for during the week. I had all ingredients on hand so there’s no need to run to the grocery store.

This was prepped and baked in 30 minutes! Rachel Ray would be proud!

I served this with mashed potatoes.

1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp garlic powder
1 envelope Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Seasoning Mix
1 tbsp butter
3 boneless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 400.

Melt 1 tbsp butter in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine Panko, cheese, garlic powder, and Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Seasoning Mix.
Dip chicken in butter, then roll in breading mixture to coat, pressing the breading into the chicken breast.

Bake for 20 minutes

Source: http://www.lovepomegranatehouse.com/breaded-ranch-chicken-with-hidden-valley/

DIY Homemade Weed Killer Have you noticed the price of Roundup...

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:45:11 -0400

DIY Homemade Weed Killer

Have you noticed the price of Roundup lately? Wow, that stuff is expensive. It does work great, however, we can’t afford that price tag! When I saw this on Pinterest I was really excited to try it. This option is beyond cheaper. Last I checked, roundup was $40 at my local gardening center. This alternative was about $3!

I never posts these types of stuff but I really want to share it with everyone!

I didn’t have my own photo so I’m borrowing there’s. I’m glad I tried this! I’m going to rehit the areas in our garden that didn’t die. I must not have soaked it as good because some patches were shriveled up and dead within 24 hours!

Here is what you will need:
1 gallon of white vinegar
1/2 cup salt
Liquid dish soap (any brand)
Empty spray bottle

Put salt in the empty spray bottle and fill it the rest of the way up with white vinegar. Add a squirt of liquid dish soap.

Read more about it here: http://www.drpins.com/diy-homemade-weed-killer/

Grandmaws Oven Baked Ribs My sweet Grandmaw sent me this recipe...

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:37:48 -0400

Grandmaws Oven Baked Ribs

My sweet Grandmaw sent me this recipe in the mail! Love her! She’s so thoughtful. It’s nice to open up a letter with a new recipe. It’s really great and super yummy

2 pounds of boneless ribs
1/2 cup of ketchup
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of BBQ sauce
1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of worst receive
2 teaspoons of paprika
2 teaspoons of onion powder

Preheat oven to 450. Bake ribs for 20 minutes.

Combine the rest of the ingredients. Whisk together. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Take out ribs. Pour half of sauce over ribs. Turn down oven to 350. Every fifteen minutes baste ribs while flipping. This should be for an additional hour.

Tangy Glazed Chicken Legs These are really good. I love finding...

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:47:25 -0400

Tangy Glazed Chicken Legs

These are really good. I love finding new blogs! This is from Divas Can Cook. I will be using more recipes from here!

Sean walked into the kitchen and mumbled “chicken again” but he sure ate basically all of it! As to quote Sean, “damn baby these are the shit.” He’s such a gentlemen haha!

But really, these were good and easy to make! I paired it with pasta salad. It was a nice balancing act.

3 lbs fresh chicken legs, frozen
salt and pepper
½ cup honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon paprika
¼ garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450.

Place chicken legs in a single layer on a baking pan.

Sprinkle legs generously with salt and pepper.

Bake for 20 minutes. Then flip legs and bake on other side for 20 minutes.

Prepare the sauce by combining remaining ingredients into a large bowl.
When wings come out of the oven place them into the sauce and toss them around so that they are covered in the sauce.

*I made extra sauce because it didn’t seem like enough, I was wrong, there was tons of sauce leftover.*

Pour the chicken and any remaining sauce back onto the baking pan and arrange in a single layer.

Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes on one side and 10 minutes on the other side.

Remove from oven and plate.

Serve and enjoy!

If you use thawed chicken the time should be cut in half. Just use your best judgement. Mine cooked right at an hour frozen. I didn’t have time to thaw them because I forgot to take them out the freezer. I’m a genius, I know!

Source://divascancook.com/2013/02/tangy-baked-chicken-wings-recipe.html

Pasta Salad OMG! Things have been crazy this past week....

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:44:55 -0400

Pasta Salad

OMG! Things have been crazy this past week. Horrible horrible horrible news hit me and I’ve been trying to comfort my best friend and her family. Tragedy unfortunately struck this family, who is like my second family. This is how far back we go, Rachal became my best friend in the womb! No lie! Our parents met in Lamaze class when they were pregnant for us! We’ve been attached at the hip since then! So it kills me to see this family in pain. Anyways,
Ill be posting good freezer friendly recipes soons. Ill be making a few recipes in a big batch to bring to their house for them to have food.

Anyways, I found out great news. Walmart sells Olive Garden Italian dressing. And even better news? They sell it in light!!!!!! I was thrilled! It’s my favorite dressing but it’s sooooo fattening. Now, I don’t have to feel guilty eating this goodness!

2 ounces of Colby jack cheese chopped in very very small cubes
2 oz mini pepperoni
1/2 can black olives sliced
1/2 jar Olive Garden salad dressing, 1/4 c parmasean cheese
I box of the colorful spiral noodles
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Cook your noodles. Then toss all ingredients together! We didn’t make measurements so you may need a little more parmesan cheese or dressing.

Lemon Roasted Chicken So I had tons of lemons leftover from...

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:05:30 -0400

Lemon Roasted Chicken

So I had tons of lemons leftover from making lemonade and iced tea yesterday! So I decided to make lemon chicken for dinner! It’s super quick and easy.

3 pounds of chicken (I’ve used breasts but I had chicken quarters on hand so I decided to use these)
10 cloves of minced garlic
2 tablespoons of chopped onion
3 lemons sliced
1 lemon juiced
olive oil
3 tablespoons of basil
1 tablespoon of oregano and thyme
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400

Prepare the chicken. Slice lemons. Place some lemons on bottom of dish safe casserole dish. Layer chicken with lemon slices.

Drizzle olive oil over chicken. Sprinkle garlic cloves and onion over chicken. Sprinkle basil, oregano, and thyme. Sprinkle pepper and salt. Squeeze lemon over chicken.

Bake for about an hour.

O.M.G. this runner is PERFECT 😍

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:44:30 -0400

O.M.G. this runner is PERFECT 😍

The Mother’s Day feast! Grilled Chicken Baked Ribs Tater...

Sun, 12 May 2013 20:40:42 -0400

The Mother’s Day feast!

Grilled Chicken
Baked Ribs
Tater Salad
Baked Beans
Baked Mac and Cheese
Oven Roasted Cauliflower

Oh and that’s my kitchen!! I am thinking of painting the cabinets a dark chocolate or cream/light tan. Yeah, totally different color extremes but that’s how I roll ;)!

Dargis Family Mac and Cheese Everyone who has this Mac and...

Sun, 12 May 2013 20:37:44 -0400

Dargis Family Mac and Cheese

Everyone who has this Mac and cheese loves it! I’ve posted it before and have gotten concerns about it. Do not be afraid of the sugar!! It’s the secret ingredient! It makes it good from good to awesome! Seriously, that’s what makes this so yummy!

32 ounces of velveeta
1 pound (16 ounces) penne noodles
6 tablespoons of Sugar
1 1/2 cup Milk
Shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350

While water is boiling for noodles, start cutting up the velveeta. The smaller the slices the quicker it will melt

Once noodles are tender, drain. Over medium to low heat, pour in milk. Slowly melt all of the cheese, do small sections at a time. After cheese is melted, add sugar.

Pour in a 4 qt baking dish that’s been sprayed with Pam. Layer shredded cheese on top.

Bake for 25 minutes

Potato Salad 2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, 3 medium-large...

Sun, 12 May 2013 20:34:13 -0400

Potato Salad

2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, 3 medium-large potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 hard boiled eggs crumbled
1/4 cup of diced pickles
1/4 cup of diced olives
1/3 cup mayonnaise, eyeball it
1/3 cup yellow mustard, eyeball it
Salt and pepper

Directions
Boil potatoes in salted water 10 to12 minutes, or until just tender.

In a bowl, combine pickles, eggs, olives, salt, pepper, mayonnaise and mustard.

When you are ready to serve, combine cooled potatoes with other ingredients. Stir the potatoes to combine and season with salt and pepper.

Oven Roasted Cauliflower 1 head of...

Sun, 12 May 2013 19:48:54 -0400

Oven Roasted Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower
Breadcrumbs
Parmesan cheese
Tony’s
Garlic powder
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 425.

Chop cauliflower into bite size pieces.

Drizzle with olive oil. Toss cauliflower to coat. Sprinkle with a heavy hand Tonys, garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, and breadcrumbs. Toss to evenly coat. Add more olive oil if to dry.

Bake for 25 minutes stirring once.

Strawberry Delight Happy Mothers Day! Sean and I are hosting...

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:01:48 -0400

Strawberry Delight

Happy Mothers Day! Sean and I are hosting today so I will be uploading quite a few recipes! I’ve been MIA lately, I know!

2 pounds of strawberries
1 1/2 loaves of pound cake
2 tubs of cool whip

Slice strawberries in half. Slice pound cake in bite size pieces.

Layer in trifle bowl one layer of pound cake. Layer berries. Layer cool whip. Repeat.

It’s that simple!

Hosting Mother’s Day for my two favorite ladies, mom and...

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:17:12 -0400

Hosting Mother’s Day for my two favorite ladies, mom and grandmaw! Happy Mother’s Day!