Many of you know that we are sitting and waiting for our investment house to sell so we can move home. One of the things I DON’T want to do is move food cross country so I have been taking my recipe experiment nights and trying to use what we have on hand and use up ALL stock (packages and bottles that are space hogs and breakable especially). The result? I have actually developed some great new recipes that I don’t mind sharing and we will eat again and again. This week we have Coffee BBQ Chicken, Vegetable Yam Mash & Cherry Green Beans. I hope you enjoy them.

COFFEE BBQ CHICKEN
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 3 pounds of chicken wings
1/2 cup STRONG coffee
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup minced green onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Juice of 1 lime*
honey
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Juice of 1 orange*
1 7up
dash apple cider vinegar
dash Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper

• Pierce each piece of chicken a few times with a fork.
• Whisk together the 7up, Juice of 1 orange, dash of apple cider vinegar and dash of Worcestershire sauce.
• In an airtight container place chicken pieces side by side. Salt and pepper generously.
• Pour the 7up mixture over top and marinade for several hours or overnight.

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• In a small saucepan whisk together the first 11 ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes to meld flavors.
• Add honey to thicken.
• In a shallow baking dish place chicken pieces side by side. Pour BBQ sauce over top to cover and bake for 1 hour or until tender.

*I saved the pulp from each to simmer in the BBQ sauce.

VEGETABLE YAM MASH
1 large yam*, peeled and quartered
1 large russet potato*, peeled and quartered
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 package KNORR vegetable recipe mix

• Melt the butter and blend with the sour cream.
• Add in the vegetable mix and blend well. Set aside while you prepare the yam and potato. This can also be done the day before and refrigerated until needed.
• In boiling, salted water cook yam and potato until tender.
• Add yam and potato to the sour cream mix and mash together until well blended.

*any combination of the two would work well

CHERRY GREEN BEANS
1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
1 large bunch green onions, sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cherries
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

• Melt butter. Saute’ green beans until tender.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Add garlic and onions and cook until translucent.
• Whisk together the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, lime juice and sugar until sugar is dissolved.
• Pour over the bean mixture and simmer 2-3 minutes.
• Add cherries and heat through.