Grandma Brochier's Sweet Peas

My grandmother could make anything taste good--she could even get me to eat peas and LIKE them! This is my attempt to duplicate her sweet peas.

1 T. butter
2-3 green onions, sliced
1/2 c. white onion, chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, pressed
  (or 1/8 t. minced garlic in a jar)
2 cans sweet peas
salt & pepper
pinch of sugar

6 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled, or to taste


In a small saucepan, saute green onions, onion and minced garlic in a tablespoon of butter. Add 2 cans of sweet peas, with some of the liquid. Add seasonings and half the bacon. Bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, covered, to combine flavors. Add the remaining pieces of crumbled bacon at the end because the other bacon will be very soft.

Chicken Fried Rice Skillet

I am sorry if this recipe looks long and complicated. It's not. I just have a habit of making things more complicated than they are. I broke this down into bite-size steps for you. ;) It's handy to have 2 large deep fry-pans, with lids, when making this recipe. Allow 2 hours to prepare this recipe.

Step 1:
Put the following in a ziplock bag to marinate for 1 to 2 hours:
1 1/2 lb. chicken breasts, thawed and cut up
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/2 t. sesame oil

Step 2:
Brown chicken pieces in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, with a dash of garlic salt and pepper.

Step 3:
Cook 4 servings of short-grained brown rice, or whatever rice you prefer.
I use my rice cooker, so I have to start this an hour before we plan to eat.
My family doesn't have rice often but I couldn't live without my rice cooker--love it!

Step 4:
In large skillet, saute the following vegetables until softened:

2 T. butter (the real stuff :)
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed (or 1/8 t. minced garlic from jar)
1/2 c. yellow onion, chopped
1/2 bag Matchstix, french-cut carrots
garlic salt and pepper

Add the sauteed vegees to the other skillet with cooked chicken. Turn to low heat, cover slightly.

Step 5:
In the now empty skillet, add:

2 T. butter
1/4 c. water
2 c. frozen peas
5 c. frozen broccoli

Cover green vegees, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Add green vegees to chicken skillet. Adding a couple teaspoons more soy sauce and a few more drops of sesame oil, if needed.

Step 6:
In clean skillet, scramble together:
1-2 T. butter
5 eggs
1/2 t. soy sauce
lightly salt & pepper

Finely chop up eggs, then add to chicken skillet.

Step 7:
Mix together:
4 c. cooked, short-grain, brown rice
4 T. Yoshihida's Gourmet Sauce

Add rice to chicken skillet and mix in. Turn up the heat and cook, uncovered for a few minutes. Serve as is or with a little Yoshihida's Gourmet Sauce on the side.

Serves 6-10. It would have made closer to 8-10 servings if my kids didn't devour it all! They are teenagers though. :) Can easily be halved for a small family.

Eldredge Chili

Brown and season:
1 to 1/2 lb. ground beef
garlic salt and pepper to taste

Drain. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender:
1 large Vidalia onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, crushed (or 1/4 t. minced garlic from a jar)

Then add:
1 T. chili powder
1 t. salt
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. dried oregano leaves
1 t. cocoa powder
few drops red Tabasco sauce
2 cans (16 oz. each) mexican seasoned stewed tomatoes, undrained (break up into smaller pieces)
1 can (16. oz.) tomato sauce

Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for1 hour.

Stir in beans during last 20 minutes of cooking:
2 cans chili beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained

Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered, stirring mixture occasionally for 20 minutes.

Serve with corn bread or corn chips, sour cream and grated cheddar cheese.

"Cheese Fondue" aka Glorified Cheez Whiz ;)

This is one of my family's favorite treats for Halloween! This is another recipe from my 7th Grade Cooking Class that I have been making annually ever since. I even found a way to send a jar of Cheez Whiz with some Worcestershire sauce and garlic salt to my son in Chile so he wouldn't miss out. He said it was the best meal he's had since he's been in Chile. Ha! That is sad! ;) Anyway, when October comes around and when the air turns cold and turns to rain, my family starts asking for this fondue. Some years we don't make it until Halloween.

1 (16 oz.) jar Cheez Whiz
4  oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. margarine
1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce (I can't say it but I can spell it)
1/4 t. garlic salt

Put margarine in fondue pot, or pan, and melt. Add cream cheese and Cheez Whiz. Melt together slowly over low-medium heat. Add seasonings.

Cut a GOOD, dense loaf of french bread into slices and then into 1" cubes.
Do not buy the cheap loaves of french bread that are at the checkout! Those are like baked air and go flat when you cut them. Don't even get me started! ;) Ha!

Note to Julie: send me a loaf of Columbo french bread at the end of October. :) Mmmm...

Oreo Ice Cream

3 c. half & half
1 c. whipping cream
4 c. BYU Chocolate milk (from BYU Creamery)
    (or regular milk with a big squirt of Hershey's chocolate syrup)
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla

Mix together and pour into ice cream machine. Freeze as instructed.

When mixture is starting to thicken, add crumbled oreos, or even better, mint oreos!

*To crush oreos:
Place Oreos in bottom of bowl and crush using the underside a small custard bowl or glass measuring cup. This is also how I crush graham crackers to make a pie crust. I guess you could put the cookies or crackers in a large Ziplock and crush it that way but to me it's just as easy to do it this way. Easier to remove from bowl and less waste.

BBQ Shredded Chicken

Slow-cooker recipe:

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or, as many as you'd like)
Cattlemen's BBQ Sauce (Kansas City Classic)

*Line crockpot with "Reynold's slow-cooker liners" for an easier clean-up.

Pour a little sauce in the bottom of the pot, add chicken breasts one at a time and cover them with a layer or sauce. I use a whole (18 oz.) bottle of sauce when I make this. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Or, on high for 4-6 hours. Begin cutting breasts into smaller pieces and shredding when they are fully cooked. Continue cooking for another hour to saturate the chicken with the sauce.

*I usually thaw frozen, skinless chicken breasts but you could just throw in the frozen breasts if you are feeling lazy. It just takes a little longer.

Serve with rolls, rice, corn...simple Summer western dinner. Super easy!

Soft Pretzels

When I was more ambitious and adventurous, this was one of my 4th of July traditions. I still crave these pretzels about this time but too lazy to do them. Fun activity to do with kids if you are "up" to it. ;) We made shapes like teddy bears with them with some of the dough and just made knots out of the rest of them. The key to this pretzel is in the salt. A good coarse salt like Kosher salt is great, although back in the day I used magarita salt since Kosher salt was nowhere to be found.

This recipe was from my 7th Grade Foods Class. :) It's a keeper.

1 pkg. dry yeast
1 1/2 c. lukewarm water
3/4 t. salt
1 1/2 t. sugar
4 c. flour
1 egg
coarse salt (Kosher salt)

Soften the yeast in lukewarm water in a large bowl. Add salt & sugar. Mix in flour well. Knead to make a soft dough. Do not let rise. Cut in small pieces. Roll in long, pencil thin ropes and form into pretzel shapes. It helps to moisten the dough (using a little water on my finger) in areas that you want to stick together.

Place pretzels on a cookie sheet that is covered with foil and dusted with flour. Brush pretzels with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt. (or cinnamon and sugar) Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until light brown.

Serve with melted butter, or mustard. Carb heaven. :)

Chicken Stir-Fry

1 1/2 lbs. chicken breasts, cut-up
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/2  bag of Matchstix, french-cut carrots
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper



5 eggs, scrambled
1/2 t. soy sauce

Taco Salad

Justin's annual birthday request: 

1 to 1-1/2 lb. ground beef, seasoned with garlic salt and pepper
Taco Bell seasoning, follow directions

Let cool, slightly, then add over:
1 bag cut-up iceberg salad mix
grated cheddar cheese
chopped roma tomatoes

black olives, sliced (small can)

corn, about 1 cup

red onion, diced
Light Catalina dressing 
Nacho Cheese Doritos, crunched up

Toss well! Enjoy! Happy Birthday to Justin! :)