*This Easy General Tso’s Chicken post contains affiliate links

I love making my favorite restaurant meals at home. I guess I’m weird, but I’d rather eat at home than go out to eat. When I found this Easy General Tso’s Chicken recipe, I knew I had to try it.

Easy General Tso’s Chicken

Like the name implies, this recipe is easy. Coat and brown the chicken. While that’s cooking make the sauce, it’s just measure and dump. Then add the chicken to the sauce before serving. So easy!

I did make a couple of substitutions, I used chili powder to taste, instead of the dried chilis. And I didn’t have any sesame oil, so I skipped that. The first time I made it without the hoisin sauce. It’s much better with it, so don’t skip the hoisin.

It’s so good. I’ve made it twice now, and it came out great both times! So good!

I highly recommend this Easy General Tso’s Chicken recipe! It tastes like what you would get in a restaurant!

Check out some of my favorite recipes – Slow Cooker Sweet & Sour Chicken
Slow Cooker Chinese Chicken, Lo Mein, and Szechuan Zucchini.

*This post contains affiliate links. If you click the links, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you

*This Cooking For a Crowd – VBS Style contains affiliate links

I’ve cooked for a crowd a number of times now. It’s not as hard as you might think!

So if you get asked to cook for a crowd, don’t be intimidated!

I recently cooked for 3 days of VBS at my church. I ended up not taking nearly as many pictures as I wanted, though!

Cooking for a Crowd VBS Style

The first day, we had elbow macaroni with sauce & green beans. Cookies for a snack.

The 2nd day, we had hot dogs, chips, and green beans. With cupcakes for a snack.

The 3rd day we had bologna sandwiches, and carrots with ranch. Nachos for a snack.

I made the menu, the shopping list, and did the shopping!

Here is what 14 pounds of cooked macaroni looks like! I cooked it at home, the day before. Yes, you can do that with pasta! Simply coat the pasta with a little olive oil and it keeps nicely.

I had to pull this pic from my Instagram stories. Because this is the only picture I took of any of the 10 dozen cupcakes I made!

For the nachos, I bought 100 of these 2 ounce cups. It is so much easier to fill these cups ahead of time, than to scoop it out on plates while everyone is in line. Worth the price, I say!

I used a cookie scoop to fill the cups with cheese. So easy! The scoop I’m using in the picture is a Pioneer Woman one from Walmart. lol But here’s a link to a similar scoop.

When feeding a crowd, sandwiches are easy to figure out how many you need. Check the label on the bread you want to use, it will tell you haw many slices in the loaf. I recommend subtracting the heels, as most people don’t like to eat the heels. Yes, this is another picture I stole from my Instagram stories. lol

I made some sandwiches with mayo, and some plain, with a bottle of mustard on the side. So hopefully the majority of people had their sandwich the way they liked it. In this picture it was snack time. We put the sandwiches on the counter again in case some of the kids wanted another one. And some did. I also left the carrots on the counter. Then the tortilla chips with the cheese cups. I put out more plates as they took those. The counter isn’t big enough to put them all out at once. If you look close, you can see cupcakes on the far end. The kids didn’t care that they were left over from the day before. They just wanted them. lol

Here’s a cheat sheet for feeding a crowd. If something you want to serve isn’t on the list, just google it. For example, how much macaroni for 50 people. Then decide how much extra you want to make, if any, in case you end up with more people than you planned on.

It’s better to have some food left over, then to not have enough!

Even though I didn’t take pictures of everything, I hope I shared enough to encourage you that cooking for a crowd isn’t as hard as it sounds!

Check out my Preparing for a Large Cookout post for more ideas, tips, and recipes for feeding a crowd.

*This post contains affiliate links. if you click a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.

*In the Kitchen with Linda contains affiliate links

Hello! this week I have a ton of pictures to share! So lets get started!

I need an easy dinner one night leading up to Christmas. Freezer Turkey Tetrazzini made from the Thanksgiving turkey to the rescue! And it’s good, too!

Making easy meals leading up to a big holiday should be the law, or something. lol I made Slow Cooker Chicken and Spinach Stroganoff. It was so good!

My anthropologist daughter has a birthday right before Christmas. This year I surprised her with skeleton cupcakes. They came out kind of cute. lol Even if I didn’t get the heads shaped right.

I made lasagna one night. One pan for us, and a pan to take to a friend that needed a meal. I prep lasagna noodles the easy way. lol

My husband and I teamed up to compete in a Gingerbread House building contest at church. I couldn’t decide which kit to buy when I was in the store, so I got the big “estate” house. lol It was basically a mansion. Then I found out after that we only had 1 hour to build and decorate the house. Yikes!

It actually came out kinda cute. And we won the contest! The prize is basically bragging rights. lol We did win a trophy “belt” that we bring back next year. We will be the judges for next years competition, and pass on the belt then.

I’m sorry to say that our gingerbread mansion didn’t make it home. About half way home, this happened. lol Oh well it was fun anyway!!

This year, I made chocolate cupcakes, with chocolate frosting, to pass out to a few people along with their Christmas card.

I used these boxes.

Everyone seemed to like them. So I guess it was a good idea. lol

I haven’t made Cranberry Bread for a couple of years. I forgot how time consuming it is to chop little cranberries. lol The bread is worth it, though!

I made Cranberry Bread, Banana Bread, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Spritz Cookies to send to work with my husband. My husband said everything was basically gone by lunch time, so I guess it was a hit. lol

Oh yes, they got some cupcakes, too!

The breads sliced and ready to go! They didn’t get all the bread! I have one of each in my freezer!

I had tried this once before, and it seemed to work. But it did not work this time! I put a bowl of water right next to the cutting board while I cut a couple of cups of onions for the stuffing/dressing.

The water is supposed to draw the onion “fumes” away from your eyes. It didn’t work this time! I guess these onions were just too potent! lol

Have you ever tried this? Did it work for you??

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls have been a Christmas morning breakfast tradition for years. A couple of years I substituted store bought canned cinnamon rolls. This year I didn’t buy any. And I spent Christmas Eve with the family instead of in the kitchen by myself. So while awake during the night, I realized that I did not want to get up at 5 and make the yeast dough for the cinnamon rolls. So I did a search on my phone, and found this recipe for no yeast, no rise time, cinnamon rolls. I just could not keep the rolls together, the dough was so soft. So they weren’t the prettiest. lol

They were pretty good, though. Here’s the Quick Cinnamon Rolls Recipe I used. And yes, I used paper plates for breakfast! And dinner, too!!

Before we ate our Christmas Dinner, we packed up food for a family, and dropped it off to them. Then we ate. I had a stash of food containers from take out, so I used those to pack up all the food.

Here’s the Pumpkin pie, the Apple Pie, and a container of whipped cream. There was also chocolate pie, but it didn’t make it in the picture.

Mashed potatoes, stuffing/dressing, ham, turkey, corn, green, beans, and sweet potatoes.

Everything boxed up. A cold box, with the pies, whipped cream, and a container with cranberry sauce, and a stick of butter, on the left. The hot box with everything above, and some dinner rolls on the right.

If you have never taken a meal to someone that needs one, sickness, etc., I highly recommend you try it. Whether it’s lasagna, Christmas Dinner, or anything in between. Both of you will benefit from it!

I remembered to take a picture of our food! lol A couple of people had already gone through the line, but I remembered! lol

The silverware, napkins, and butter were already on the table.

We had an awesome Christmas day with family. And food. lol I sincerely hope you did as well!

In The Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Monday – chicken or turkey – Fish filets, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, peas

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Turkey Tetrazzini, broccoli

Wednesday – Taco Night- Chicken Fajitas

Thursday – pork or chicken – Sausage Pasta Skillet

Friday – Quick & Easy  – New Year’s Eve game night with the family, and snacks! lol

Saturday – Quick & Easy or Husbands Choice – Venison roast in slow cooker, with potatoes, carrots, and onions

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Soup & sandwiches, or leftovers

*This post contains affiliate links. If you click the links, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you

*In the Kitchen with Linda contains affiliate links

I’m back again this week with what I’ve been up to in the kitchen.! Are you shocked? lol I am! lol

One thing I’m not shocked about though, is that fact that I had a Christmas party last night and didn’t take any pictures of the food! Ugh

But I am glad that I was so busy enjoying being with everyone, and playing a Christmas gift game, that I forgot pictures. I didn’t make all the food this year, like I have done in the past. I had everyone bring a dish. It was nice not to have to stress about the food! It was all family, so no one minded. But actually, even if it was friends, most friends wouldn’t mind at all contributing a dish.

In the Kitchen with Linda

We had pasta with meat sauce, green beans, and garlic bread one night. Ok, we usually have pasta every Tuesday night! lol Check out the garlic bread made from hamburger buns! It’s a great way to use up leftover buns. It works with hot dog buns, too! One of my daughters used to separate hot dog buns, and toast them. She called it dog toast. lol

Meatloaf is a family favorite. So is mashed potatoes. So this dinner was a hit. Yum!

I guess the theme of last weeks dinners was family favorites. Because on Thursday, we had another favorite. Jag. It’s a Portuguese rice dish cooked in one pan. You can use any kind of meat you want, even leftovers. My husband said the first time his family had it, the women that made it for them put fish in it. Here’s the Jag recipe I use, that’s from my Grandfather in law, and mother in law.

Last week I told you I had been on a grilled cheese kick. Here’s one I made last week. Grilled ham and cheese. The trick is to layer cheese, meat, cheese, so the cheese can glue it all together. I used shredded cheese, but slices work well, too. And yes, I often eat while working on the computer.

In The Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

Monday – chicken or turkey – Baked chicken, baked potatoes, spinach

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with meat sauce, broccoli

Wednesday – Taco Night- Taco Casserole, tortilla chips

Thursday – pork or chicken – Sausage Pasta Skillet

Friday – Quick & Easy  – Venison roast in slow cooker, with potatoes, carrots, and onions

Saturday – Quick & Easy or Husbands Choice – Dinner out or pizza

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Lunch at church today

*This post contains affiliate links. If you click the links, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you

*In the Kitchen with Linda contains affiliate links

I haven’t shared anything from my kitchen here in a very long time. The main reason? I can’t seem to take pictures on a regular basis. Ugh! So I’m really going to be intentional about taking pictures. And then post them regularly on Monday. You’ll notice today is Thursday. lol

In the Kitchen with Linda

Our little garden gave us so many tomatoes this summer. Before the first frost, we picked all the tomatoes left on the vine. We ate them as they slowly ripened. These tomatoes below? We ate them last week, the first week of December. What a treat to have garden tomatoes in December! So good!

A few months ago, I bought a new FoodSaver vacuum sealer. And I love it! I used it to vacuum seal 14 meal size packages of sliced green tomatoes from the garden for the freezer. Some of the family loves fried green tomatoes. So they are in for a treat this winter!

My husband harvested a deer during hunting season. We process the meat ourselves. I vacuum sealed 36 packages of venison for our freezer.

This Foodsaver worked like a dream for me. I highly recommend it, if you need a vacuum sealer.

Is there anything better than the smell of peppers and onions cooking?? Ok maybe….a chocolate cake….and a babies head! lol

I’ve been on a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch kick lately. I spotted some cooked bacon in my freezer, and thought that sounded good. So I warmed up the bacon in the pan, pulled it out and proceeded with the sandwich. Grated cheddar cheese, bacon, and more grated cheddar cheese.

It was so good!! I just might have another one for lunch today!

And last, but not least, my husband had a birthday. His favorite yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Not nearly as good as chocolate with chocolate frosting! lol

I’ll be back next week with more of what I’ve been up to in the kitchen. And hoepfully, I will get back to sharing my menu, too!

*This post contains affiliate links. If you click the links, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you