Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:
½ lb. bacon
½ onion, diced
½ cup celery, diced
¼ cup butter
3 Tbl flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp thyme
½ tsp paprika
1½ cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or cubed
1 10 oz. can chicken broth
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbl cooking sherry or white wine
1 cup milk
1½ cups half-and-half
1½ cups cooked wild rice

Directions:
1. Fry, drain, and crumble bacon; set aside.
2. Sauté onion and celery in butter until tender. Stir in flour, salt, thyme, and paprika. Heat until bubbly.
3. Add cooked chicken, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, sherry, milk, and half-and-half, stirring until thickened. Cool a bit. Fold in rice and bacon.

Yield: 6 large bowls of soup

Taken from Don't Panic-Dinner's in the Freezer

Cookie base

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
2¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1¼ teaspoons baking soda

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high, beat the butter, brown and granulated sugars, corn syrup, and vanilla for 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Add ingredients from the variation of your choice.
4. Unless the directions for the variation state otherwise, form the dough into tablespoon-size mounds. Place on the prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake until lightly browned at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 5minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks. Cool completely.

To Make Now and Bake Later: When you mix a batch of cookies, double the recipe. Bake half the dough according to the recipe and divide the rest into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap each log in plastic, then place in a resealable plastic bag. To save yourself time and hassle, label the bag with the flavor, the oven temperature, and the baking time, adding 3 to 6 minutes to the regular oven time. Freeze the dough for up to 3 months. To bake, slice the frozen dough into rounds about 1/2 inch thick, making as few or as many as you would like. Bake on a parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet.

Yield: Makes 40 cookies

Nutrition per Serving: Calories 105(43% from fat); Fat 5g (sat 3g); Cholesterol 17mg; Carbohydrate 15g; Sodium 67mg; Protein 1g; Fiber 1g; Sugar 8g

Sweet and Sour Chicken

A little time consuming, but well worth it!

Chicken Ingredients
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup cornstarch (I used flour, since I didn't have cornstarch)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil (I used sunflower)

Directions
Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper.
Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce Ingredients
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar (I used red wine vinegar, because I didn't have anything else. It was still yummy)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Directions
Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. (I only baked mine for 45 minutes, but I had small pieces of chicken.)

If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stove top. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes. (I made the extra batch of sauce, but found that I didn't need it.)