Cooking with Tales of a Peanut

Ham and Chicken Croissants

2012-02-15T06:30:00.000-06:00

After eating the French Dip Croissants that my mom made recently I thought I'd try the same concept with what I had on hand. I have always loved Chicken Cordon Bleu so I tried a very simple version. It's, obviously, different than a traditional Chicken Cordon Bleu but I loved the taste. And you could use this concept with whatever meat or cheese you have in the fridge. I didn't put any condiments on these before I baked them but I bet they'd be divine with some honey mustard if, unlike me, your husband likes honey mustard.

Ham and Chicken Croissants

16 slices of deli Chicken (sliced thick)

16 slices of deli Ham (sliced thin)

16 slices of Swiss Cheese

2 rolls of Croissants

1. Unroll croissants and stack ham, chicken, and cheese on them.

2. Roll back up and place on a cookie sheet.

3. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until the rolls are golden.

Bite Sized Cinnamon Rolls

2012-02-08T06:30:00.000-06:00

My Mom made numerous breakfast options for us when we celebrated Christmas morning with them and one of the things that she made were these wonderful mini cinnamon rolls. They are made with crescent roll dough and are wonderful! I especially love that they can be made ahead of time and just rewarmed or you can serve them right after adding the icing. Either way, they're great and easy!

Bite Sized Cinnamon Rolls

1 can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

4 T Brown Sugar

1 t Cinnamon

1 T Butter

1 T Flour

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

2 t Milk

1. In a small bowl mix together a tablespoon of slightly melted butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and flour.

2. Open crescent rolls, taking half of dough, and separate at the vertical seams. Press the diagonal seams of dough together so that the dough is smooth. (keep other half of dough in the fridge)

3. Spoon half of the cinnamon mixture onto dough. Roll short side up then continue with the remaining dough.

4. Cut 2 inch slices and place all the rolls on a cookie sheet.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

6. When rolls have cooled, mix powdered sugar and milk. Add more sugar/milk to get frosting to the consistency of your liking. Drizzle the sugar over the rolls and then serve or let dry.

From Life's Too Short to Skip Dessert via Pinterest

Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

2012-02-01T06:30:00.000-06:00

I needed to bring a dessert to Thanksgiving and so the weekend before when we were in Tuscaloosa I gave Jason, Charlie, and Dad a choice of three desserts. They chose the one that included 'Chocolate Chip Cookie' in the title and now having had the dessert I'm glad that they did! This was so good but wasn't overly sweet with all of the Cool Whip mixed in that it made it the perfect Thanksgiving (or anytime!) dessert. If you go to Taste of Home's website their picture shows it much higher than this. I'm thinking to achieve that look they probably put it in a smaller pan or something to cook. If you make it in a 9x13 pan it has much thinner layers but it is still so good!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

1 tube refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup Confectioners' Sugar

12 oz (1 carton) Cool Whip, thawed, divided

3 cups cold 2% Milk

1 package (3.9 oz) Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix

1 package (3.4 oz) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix

1. Let cookie dough stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften. Press into an ungreased 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Fold in 1 3/4 cups Cool Whip. Spread over crust.

3. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes; let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Spread over cream cheese layer.

4. Top with remaining Cool Whip.

5. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight until firm.

From Taste of Home via Pinterest

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

2012-01-25T06:30:00.000-06:00

One of the earlier recipes that I saw on Pinterest was a recipe for mozzarella sticks in egg roll wrappers baked instead of fried. I pinned it and when I was looking for an appetizer to take to Christmas I decided to try it. Mine didn't turn out exactly like the picture but they were really good.

In getting all my ducks in a row for this post I found that the person who uploaded the picture on the pin that I repinned basically uploaded a picture of fried mozzarella sticks and said that she would bake instead of fry them. A little confusing, but I'm glad that she wrote that because this is really easy and even though they don't look as awesome as fried mozzarella sticks they are still great!

I'm modified the recipe to give you the best non-fried approach but if you want the fried version check out the link at the bottom of this post.

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Egg Roll Wrappers

String Cheese

Water

Salsa

1. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with sides with cooking spray.

2. Lay out an egg roll wrapper. Place a string cheese near a top corner point and begin rolling the wrapper up. Halfway through fold the outer corners in and continue wrapping. When you finish rolling moisten the edge with water and seal.

3. Continue with as many wrappers as you have and place on your cookie sheet with a little bit of space between the rolls.

4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Keep a watch on them to add or take away time. You want them to get slightly brown but you also don't want all the cheese to seep out.

5. Serve warm with salsa or marinara sauce.

Modified from Taste of Home via Pinterest

Snickers Cake

2012-01-18T06:30:00.000-06:00

I made this cake when Jason's family was over for Christmas and it was a big hit. I made it early in the day so didn't serve it warm but it might be better that way because it's still pretty gooey when you pull it straight from the oven!

Snickers Cake

1 German Chocolate Cake Mix

Ingredients called for on cake mix (oil, eggs, water)

1 14 oz bag of Caramel squares

1/4 cup Milk

1/3 cup Butter

1-2 cups Chocolate Chips

1 cup Pecans, chopped (optional)

1. Mix together cake mix as directed on the box. Pour half of the batter into a greased 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

2. While it bakes, unwrap all the caramels. Put the caramels, milk, and butter in a sauce pan and melt over low heat, stirring constantly until caramel is melted and smooth.

3. Pour the caramel on the cake as soon as it is finished baking.

4. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and pecans (if desired) on top of the caramel. Spread the remaining half of the prepared cake mix batter on top.

5. Bake for 20 more minutes at 350 degrees.

From Six Sisters Stuff via Pinterest

Chicken Fried Rice

2012-01-11T06:30:00.001-06:00

You would think that something with "fried" in the name of it wouldn't be healthy but this recipe surprisingly is supposed to be. It is also very tasty and satisfied my ethnic tooth on the cheap. PLUS I knew exactly what was in it which made me feel better about eating it. It was also easier to make since I learned that you can scramble eggs in the microwave! Stir with a fork and then microwave for 45 seconds to a minute for every egg. Worked great and a tasted perfect! We'll be making this fried rice frequently!

Chicken Fried Rice

2 cups cooked rice (I used brown rice)

3-4 cups Veggies (I used frozen green peas because I had them on hand)

1 1/2 cups cooked chicken

2 eggs, scrambled

1 tablespoon Sesame Oil

3 tablespoons reduced sodium Soy Sauce

1 teaspoon minced Garlic

1 tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar

1. Add sesame oil to a wok or frying pan over high heat.

2. In a small bowl mix together soy sauce, garlic and vinegar.

3. Drop a single piece of rice in the oil, if it sizzles the wok is ready.

4. Add rice, chicken, and any thick veggies that you're using. Stir a couple of times and then add the soy sauce mixture. Stir frequently for about 3 minutes.

5. Add in any remaining veggies and eggs. Stir for 2 more minutes.

6. Serve immediately.

From The Joy of Clean Eating via Pinterest

Rudolph Cookies

2012-01-04T06:30:00.000-06:00

My last blatant Christmas cooking post! We made these cookies right before Christmas to leave for Santa. Charlotte loved them and Santa did too! I messed up a little bit and didn't stick the pretzels in the cookies before cooking so the antlers kept falling off but if you did that they'd be perfect!

Rudolph Cookies

1 tube refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough

Pretzel Twists

Mini Chocolate Chips

Red M&M's

1. Freeze cookie dough for 15 minutes.

2. Roll dough out and use a cookie cutter to cut circles.

3. Pinch circles in about 2/3 of the way down to make the indentation for Rudolph's face.

4. Break the rounded edges off of the pretzels for antlers.

5. Stick the antlers in the top of the cookies.

6. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until golden.

7. When cookies come out put the chocolate chips and m&m's on to make the face.

8. Let cool and serve!

From Southern Living via Pinterest

Brown Sugar and Balsamic Pork

2011-12-28T06:30:00.000-06:00

If you're looking for a good recipe for New Year's this one is a winner! I cooked it for dinner one night for our family and it was a big hit! Jason even suggested that I take a picture of Charlotte enjoying it so much...

I ended up doing the recipe with pork tenderloin's in the oven. We just baked for 45 minutes to an hour on 350 and they were perfect. I took them out and basted them for like the last half of the cooking time every 5-10 minutes or so. Turned out wonderful and is very easy! I also made this for Christmas with Jason's family and it was a big hit with them also.

The highlight of this recipe is the sauce. You could put it over any kind of meat that you want and it would be fabulous. For one pork tenderloin I made one recipe of sauce and had plenty left over for us to use during dinner and then some. For Christmas I made a little over four pounds of tenderloin (four one pounders) and made two recipes of sauce. I still had plenty to baste with, eat with dinner, and left over. But the sauce is good so you don't want to have too little!

Brown Sugar and Balsamic Pork

Some kind of meat -- I used pork

Sage

Salt

Pepper

Glaze

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon Cornstarch

1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 cup Water

2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

1. Combine glaze ingredients in a sauce pan.

2. Heat and stir until glaze thickens.

3. Cook meat according to directions -- in oven or slow cooker. Brush meat with glaze 2 or 3 times during the last portion of cooking time.

4. Serve meat with remaining glaze.

From Let's Dish via Pinterest

Puppy Chow

2011-12-21T06:30:00.006-06:00

Puppy Chow

One of my favorites from growing up! We originally got the recipe from my friend Kate's Mom.

1 box Chex cereal

1 cup Peanut Butter

1 cup Chocolate Chips

1 lb Powdered Sugar

1. Pour Chex into a very large bowl.

2. Melt peanut butter (30 seconds in microwave) and melt chocolate (30+ seconds in microwave). Once melted pour over cereal and mix until cereal is coated.

3. Slowly add powdered sugar and mix until all cereal is coated with powdered sugar.

Strawberry Angel Cookies

2011-12-21T06:30:00.005-06:00

Strawberry Angle Cookies (via Smuckers)

Got this from Pinterest also. As a note, make sure you make these cookies small, they are much better and much easier to handle when they're smaller. They also are very sticky so if you're storing them you might want to layer between wax paper to avoid them sticking together.

1 package Angel Food Cake Mix

3/4 cup Strawberry Preserves

3 Tablespoons Mini Chocolate Chips

1. Heat oven to 325 F.

2. Coat cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Mix cake mix and preserves with a mixer until thoroughly combined (about 1 minutes). Beat an additional minute.

4. Stir in the chocolate chips.

5. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the cookie sheet.

6. Bake 10-12 minutes or until tops are just lightly browned. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely. (Cookies will be soft and chewy.)

Saltine Toffee

2011-12-21T06:30:00.004-06:00

Saltine Toffee (via A Southern Grace)

An easy toffee recipe that is very yummy!

1 cup Unsalted Butter

1 cup Brown Sugar

2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Saltine Crackers

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Lay out the Saltine's evenly on the sheet.

3. Melt the sugar and butter until a boil is reached. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-8 minutes or until the mixture has thickened and sugar has completely dissolved.

4. Pour sugar mixture over saltines and spread evenly.

5. Bake 5-8 minutes or until the toffee becomes bubbly.

6. After removing the pan from the oven, let it sit for 3-5 minutes.

7. Sprinkle on the chocolate chips. Let them soften and melt and spread around to evenly coat the top.

8. Let cool and then cut or break into pieces.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

2011-12-21T06:30:00.003-06:00

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies (via Baked Perfection)

I love Reese's. These are similar and I can make them at home!

1 box of Brownie mix

Ingredients to make brownies (usually water, veggie oil, and an egg)

1/2 cup Peanut Butter Chips

1/2 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup Peanut Butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix brownie batter as directed on the box.

2. Grease mini-muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Spoon brownie batter into muffin pans (about 1 heaping teaspoon into each).

4. Bake for 13-15 minutes until they are set.

5. After brownies come out of the oven wait for the centers to fall. If they don't fall take a spoon and tap the center to create a well.

6. Place peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds.

7. Fill the wells in the brownies with peanut butter.

8. Top the brownies with peanut butter chips and chocolate chips.

Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

2011-12-21T06:30:00.002-06:00

Cinnamon Sugar Pecans (credit)

Set these out for the Christmas party but they were a bigger hit on the neighbor goodies plate.

1 large Egg White

3 cups Pecan Halves

1/3 cup Cinnamon and Sugar (1 T Cinnamon to 1/4 cup Sugar)

2 teaspoons Vanilla

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.

2. Whisk the egg white in a cup and then pour over the pecans. Stir until pecans are coated.

3. In a small bowl combine the other ingredients. Add them to the pecans a little at a time while continuing to stir.

4. Spread the pecans on an ungreased cookie sheet. Cook for 20 minutes without stirring.

5. Use a spatula to remove the pecans from the cookie sheet immediately after cooking. Let cool and then store.

Apple Pie Dip and Cinnamon Sugar Chips

2011-12-21T06:30:00.001-06:00

Apple Pie Dip and Cinnamon Sugar Chips (via The Peach Kitchen)

Another hit from the Christmas Party and a recipe that I got from Pinterest. It was good cold but I might serve it hot next time so that it will be out of this world!

2 cups (about 2 1/2 regular sized apples) Apples, peeled and diced

2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Cornstarch dissolved in 1 teaspoon water

5 (or however many you want) Tortilla's

2 Tablespoons Butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 1/2 Tablespoons Sugar

1. Combine apples, leon juice, brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon in pan.

2. Heat mixture on the stove for a few minutes until it's boiling and has extracted the juices from the apples.

3. Add the cornstarch-water mixture. Keep on the stove until it's boiling and the sauce has thickened.

4. Serve warm or cool.

5. Cut the tortilla's into wedges.

6. Put tortilla wedges onto a slightly greased baking pan.

7. Combine 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon and sugar until mixed.

8. Brush tortilla's with butter and then sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture.

8. Bake at 410 F for 5-8 minutes or until the chips are browning.

Holiday Fruit Cocktail

2011-12-21T06:30:00.000-06:00

Holiday Fruit Cocktail

We served this punch at our Christmas party and it was a huge hit! Jason thought it wasn't potent enough so you can add more alcohol if you prefer but this is how we made it.

1/3 cup Sugar

1 Quart Cranberry Juice

2 cups Pineapple Juice

3 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract

2 Liters 7Up

1/2 of a 750 mL bottle of Vodka

1. In a large container mix together sugar, cranberry juice, pineapple juice and vanilla extract. Stir well to dissolve the sugar.

2. Chill for an hour or two.

3. Immediately before serving add the 7Up and Vodka.

Serves 32

Chicken Taco Chili

2011-12-14T06:30:00.000-06:00

This great soup is not too spicy (the way I make it) and makes a ton so you can either eat half and freeze half or can eat leftovers. It would be a great soup to mix together and then freeze as well. I got the original recipe off of a pin from Pinterest which came from a Photo A Day blog.

Chicken Taco Chili

1 teaspoon Onion Powder

16 oz Black Beans, drained and rinsed

16 oz Red Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed

16 oz Tomato Sauce

1 pkg Frozen Corn Kernals

28 oz Diced Tomatoes (or you can use 2 cans of Rotel to up the spice factor)

1 packet Taco Seasoning

1 Tablespoon Cumin

1 Tablespoon Chili Powder

3 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

1. Mix everything except the chicken up in a slow cooker.

2. Place the chicken breasts on top of the mixture.

3. Cook on Low for 10 hours or High for 6 hours.

4. 30 minutes before you are ready to eat, open the slow cooker and shred the chicken with two forks. Stir the chicken into the soup and continue cooking.

5. Serve with taco chips, sour cream, etc.

Bacon Ranch Chicken

2011-12-07T06:30:00.000-06:00

This recipe came from a pin on Pinterest which linked to the Healthified Kitchen blog.

Bacon Ranch Chicken

2 Turkey Bacon Strips, cooked and chopped

1 teaspoon Minced Garlic

1 package Ranch Dressing/Seasoning Mix

1 10.75 can Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup

1 cup Fat Free Sour Cream

16 oz Chicken Breasts (1 package)

8 oz Pasta

1. Combine the bacon, garlic, dressing mix, soup, and sour cream.

2. Place chicken in bottom of crock pot and cover with mixture.

3. Cook on high for 3.5 hours.

4. At least 30 minutes before you want to eat open the crock pot and shred the chicken.

5. Cook the pasta per instructions.

6. When you're ready to eat, stir the pasta into the chicken mixture in the crock pot and serve.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Sandwich

2011-11-30T06:30:00.000-06:00

This sandwich recipe was so good and made juicy sandwiches. It would be a perfect game day lunch food or a dinner. I saw this on a pin from Pinterest and the recipe is from Baked Bree.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Sandwiches

3 Chicken Breasts

2 T Olilve Oil

1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 14 oz Can Petit Diced tomatoes, undrained

1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1 Tablesoon Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

1 teaspoon Pepper

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons pepper

1. Preheat a large skilled over M/H heat, add olive oil. Season chicken breasts with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Add to the skillet and brown the chicken on both sides for two minutes.

2. Add the browned chicken into the slow cooker.

3. Whisk together apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, tomatoes, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, and Dijon mustard. Season with 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

4. Pour sauce over chicken.

5. Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours.

6. Shred chicken with fork and serve.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

2011-11-23T20:14:00.000-06:00

I recently had some cookies with craisins in them and thought they were fantastic. So when I saw this recipe that was a mix of chocolate, oats, peanut butter, and craisins I was ecstatic about making it. I made these for out Bible Study group and I really enjoyed them. They're not the perfect food for a gathering like that because they're better served right out of the fridge. The longer they sit out the more they melt as soon as you put them in your fingers. But if you're just looking for a sweet snack it's nice that you eat them right out of the fridge.

These bars are almost fudge like but the craisins give them a really sweet taste and the oats give them texture. I'm not normally a texture person in my cookies, etc (I really dislike nuts in my desserts) but I really enjoyed these. Plus they're no-bake so they were quick to mix together and pour in a pan. You do need to let them sit in the fridge before serving but an hour will get them perfectly hard.

If you're looking for a new recipe for Christmas or the holiday's this is a good one to consider. I found the recipe via Pinterest and the recipe was from the blog, New Nostalgia.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Makes a 9x13 pan of bars

1 cup Peanut Butter

2/3 cup Honey

1/2 cup Coconut Oil (no substitutes!)

2 cups Oats

1 1/4 cups Mini Chocolate Chips

3/4 cup Dried Cranberries

1. In a medium sized saucepan, melt together peanut butter, honey, and coconut oil.

2. Remove from heat and add oats, chocolate chips, and dried cranberries.

3. Stir until combined and chocolate chips are melted.

4. Spread into a 9x13 pan. Refrigerate until hardened (about an hour).

5. Store in the refrigerator.

Ranch House Pork Chops

2011-11-16T06:25:00.000-06:00

This is yet another crock pot recipe from Pinterest. If you can't tell, most of my cooking these days involves the crock pot and most of my recipes are coming from Pinterest! I just made the pork chop part of this recipe and served it with boiled potatoes and butter which is one of our favorites but I'm sure it would be just as good, if not better, with the parmesan potatoes that the original author mentions. Another good, easy recipe that's great for cool nights.

Ranch House Pork Chops

6 Pork Chops, 1/2 inch thick

1 packet Ranch Dressing/Seasoning Mix

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1. Place pork chops in the bottom of a slow cooker.

2. Mix soup and dressing mix. Pour over pork chops.

3. Cook on High for 4 hours or Low for 6 hours.

Baked Cinnamon Breakfast Puffs

2011-11-09T06:25:00.000-06:00

I was looking for a breakfast recipe to make for Tuscaloosa and remembered that I had pinned a doughnut hole like breakfast. So Charlotte and I mixed it up and got it ready the Friday before and we cooked them Saturday morning. It was an extremely easy recipe to make, even with a two year old sous chef!

A few notes on these. They are kind of dense, they reminded me of the Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puffs if you've ever made those from her cookbook. But the beauty of these is that they're much smaller so they're less overwhelming than I feel like the French Breakfast puffs (which are huge) can be. But they are very good and were just as good reheated on day two as they were eaten straight out of the oven. Also, I made them the day before and took them to Tuscaloosa in a cooler and we cooked them the next day. That didn't seem to hurt them at all, so I bet they would freeze well -- cooked or uncooked.

Baked Cinnamon Breakfast Bites

Makes 2 and a half dozen bites

1 1/3 cups All Purpose Flour

1 cup Rice Krispies, coarsely crushed

2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup Sugar, divided

3 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 cup Butter-flavored Shortening

1/2 cup Milk

1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/4 cup Butter, melted

1. Mix flour, cereal, 2 tablespoons cereal, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

2. Cut in shortening with pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

3. Add milk and stir until just moistened.

4. Roll dough into approximately 2 1/2 dozen 1 inch balls.

5. Mix cinnamon and remaining sugar in another bowl. Drop balls into melted butter and then roll in cinnamon sugar.

6. Place balls onto a greased pan.

7. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes in the pan on a wire rack before removing from pan.

Chicken and Dumplings

2011-11-02T06:25:00.000-05:00

It took me six weeks but I finally go back enough energy to start cooking again. So the week James turned six weeks old I went from literally not having cooked since he was born to three crock pot recipes in one week! I think the crock pot was a good thing to ease in to cooking again because the three recipes that I picked from Pinterest were extremely easy but also tasted good.

I can see this recipe becoming my go to recipe when anyone in our family isn't feeling good. Soup is nice, but chicken and dumplings are better and this recipe is so easy but very yummy. I ran out of time and wasn't able to chop up onions and so just added onion powder and I found that I didn't have parsley on hand like I thought I did, but even without those two recipe ingredients the finished product was great. I'm sure with them it would be even better. It's a perfect "when you're sick" food and when we're not I might add some veggies to make it almost more like a chicken pot pie with dumplings. Very easy, very good, and even Charlotte couldn't get enough of it so that means it must be good!

Chicken and Dumplings

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons Butter

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1 can Chicken Broth

1 Onion, diced

1 tablespoon Dried Parsley

4 Grands Flaky Biscuits

1. Place chicken in crock pot.

2. Add butter, soup, chicken broth, onion, and parsley on top of chicken.

3. Cook on HIGH 4 hours or LOW 6 hours.

4. At the end of the cooking time use a fork to break apart the chicken.

5. Cut the biscuits into nine pieces per biscuit and add them to the crock pot.

6. Cook for another 30 minutes.

Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken

2011-10-26T06:30:00.000-05:00

When I was making my dinner plan last week I went through Pinterest to see what recipes I had on my recipe board. This BBQ Chicken recipe looked easy and worked well since the only chicken breasts I had were frozen. It ended up being super easy and was very good!

Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken

4-6 pieces of boneless skinless chicken breasts, frozen

1 bottle Barbecue sauce

1/4 cup Vinegar

1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 - 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1. Mix Barbecue sauce with all ingredients listed below it.

2. Place chicken in crockpot.

3. Pour sauce over it and cook on Low for 4-6 hours.

*I would do less times if the chicken isn't frozen.

Chicken Poulet

2011-10-19T06:30:00.000-05:00

KayKay brought this for dinner after James was born and we really enjoyed it so I thought I'd share. It is apparently a recipe from an old restaurant in Decatur called The Iron Gate.

Chicken Poulet

Makes a 9x13 dish

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1/2 Cup Mayonnaise

4 eggs

1 stick Margarine

2 cups Chicken Broth

16 ounce package Peppridge Farm corn bread stuffing mix

1 cup Milk

1 cup Water

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

Sprinkling of Salt

1. Melt stick of margarine in a cup of water by heating in the microwave.

2. Place stuffing mix in bowl.

3. Pour water and margarine over and stir.

4. Add 2 eggs and chicken broth, stir.

5. In a separate bowl, combine shredded chicken and mayonnaise. Stir well.

6. Place 1/2 of stuffing mix in bottom of a 9x13 pan. Top with all of chicken mixture.

7. Dash salt over chicken.

8. Top with remaining stuffing mix.

9. Beat together remaining two eggs and milk. Pour over mixture in pan.

10. Cover and place in refrigerator for at least eight hours.

11. Before baking, remove cover and spread cream of mushroom soup over top.

12. Place in 350 degree oven, uncovered, and bake for 45 minutes.

13. Remove from oven and top with shredded cheese. Return for another five minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Mrs Jenni's Cornbread Muffins

2011-10-05T06:30:00.000-05:00

We have been so blessed over the past few weeks to have friends and family bring us dinners as we've been settling into life as a family of four. The first person to bring us dinner was our friend Jenni and she brought a great stew with delicious cornbread muffins. To be honest, I've never been a fan of cornbread and even though Jason loves it I just haven't been able to find a recipe that I like. But Jason snuck a taste of Jenni's cornbread muffins and told me that I had to taste them because he thought I'd like them. I'm glad he told me and didn't just keep them all to himself because I loved them! I knew I had to ask Jenni for the recipe and she graciously agreed to let me share it with you. Even Charlotte enjoyed them although when she would see a piece of corn she would pick it out but I know some got into her mouth without her noticing! Thank you Jenni for sharing!

Mrs Jenni's Cornbread Muffins

Makes 24 muffins

2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix

1 can cream corn

1 cup of shredded cheese (all cheddar or a blend)

Diced onion to taste (maybe 1/3 cup) -- optional, Jenni left it out of ours

Few teaspoons of diced jalapenos -- optional, Jenni left it out of ours

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Grease muffin pans or use paper baking cups.

3. Blend ingredients. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Let batter rest for 3-4 minutes and then restir before filling cups.

4. Fill muffin cups 1/2 full.

5. Bake 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Note: These freeze wonderfully and you can pull them out anytime you need them!

Caramel - Peanut Butter Bars

2011-09-21T04:25:00.000-05:00

I pulled this recipe out of Sandra Lee Semi Homemade in April of 2010 but only got around to making it the week before James was born. She lists it as a great bake sale idea but the bars would also be good to give as gifts to neighbors at Christmas or for some other occasion. While they were pretty easy to make I will warn you that they are very rich and very peanut buttery! So be prepared -- if you aren't a big peanut butter fan you won't like these bars, but if you like peanut butter then this might be just the dessert for you! But the dessert did get better the longer it sat so I'd definitely recommend it if you're baking them ahead of time.

Caramel-Peanut Butter Bars

Makes one 9x13 dish to be cut into bars

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup regular Oats

2/3 cup creamy Peanut Butter

1 large egg, slightly beaten

2-3 Tablespoons whole milk (I used 2% because it was as high fat content as I had)

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1 12.25 oz Jar Caramel Ice Cream Topping

1 cup SemiSweet Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and oats. Using a pastry blender or two forks, cut in peanut butter until mixture is crumbly.

3. In a small bowl, combine egg and milk. Add to peanut butter mixture; stir until just combined. Reserve 1 1/2 cups peanut butter mixture. Press remaining mixture into prepared pan.

4. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add caramel topping; beat just until combined. Carefully spread over peanut butter layer in pan. Sprinkle remaining peanut butter mixture over cream cheese layer. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until nearly set in center. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack (about 1 hour). Cut into bars.

Chicken Roll Up's

2011-09-14T04:25:00.000-05:00

I love the blog world and the ability to catch up with people that you knew in college once you've left college life and are out in the real world. Catherine is one of those people that I love to keep up with via blog's and I especially love all of the wonderful recipe's that she frequently post's! Even though I wasn't an AOPi in Tuscaloosa, I can still appreciate the great meals that all of the sorority houses served so when I saw that she posted a recipe from the AOPi house I knew I needed to try it out.

This recipe was really easy to put together -- especially since I cheated and went with precooked chicken from the store! And it turned out great! I halved the recipe so that I could freeze half of it and one half of it ended up being just enough for Jason, Charlotte, and I. If you have more people in your family I'd go ahead and cook it all at one time, but for us it was the perfect size halved. And the bonus with that is that there's another recipe in the freezer ready to pull out now that James is here! The recipe below has my shortcut modifications of Catherine's recipe but you can check her's out by clicking on the recipe name.

As a sidenote, if anyone else has any great sorority house recipe's could you send them my way? I'd love to try them!

Chicken Roll Up's

Makes one 9x13 casserole or two smaller square dishes

Two 6 oz packages of pre cooked chicken, chopped

2 cans crescent rolls

1 3/4 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1 cup Milk

1. Open crescent rolls and press two crescent rolls together into a large rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half to get two squares of rolls per two crescent rolls.

2. Mix soups, 1 1/2 cups of cheese, and milk.

3. Chop chicken and put a spoonful of chicken into the center of each crescent triangle and close. (I sort of made little wonton shapes.)

4. Place chicken rolls into a greased baking dish.

5. Pour soup mixture over the rolls and spread mixture evenly over them.

6. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the rolls are beginning to brown on the top.

7. Sprinkle rest of cheese over the top of the rolls and enjoy.

King Ranch Chicken

2011-09-07T04:25:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for a spicy chicken dish to either serve as a meal or as a heavy topping to chips for a game day look no further than this recipe. I found it off of a blog I love, Lamberts Lately, and made it a few weeks ago for us. The recipe I'm going to give you is a much less spicy version than Leslie's because her version was pretty much more than I could handle! But if you want to up the spice quotient follow her directions and you'll be there. We liked it as a meal but will probably use it as a game day dip meal in the future.

King Ranch Chicken

Makes 1 packed to the brim square/small round casserole or a less full 9x13 casserole

1 lb Chicken

1/2 Tablespoon Chili Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Pepper

1/8 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 tub Philadelphia Cooking Cream (or 10 oz Cream Cheese)

1 can Rotel

3/4 cup Pepperjack Cheese

1 1/4 cup Cheddar Cheese

1 bag Tortilla Chips

1. Cut the chicken into small pieces and cook in a little bit of oil a skillet. Add next four seasonings to chicken as it cooks.

2. Mix together soup, cooking cream, rotel, and half of each cheese. Add in chicken once finished.

3. Put a good layer of tortilla chips on the bottom of a sprayed casserole dish, then top with the chicken mixture. Add the rest of the cheese on top.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Slow Cooker Enchilada's

2011-08-31T06:30:00.001-05:00

I'm pretty sure that I've never been more thankful for my slow cooker than I have these last few weeks of pregnancy. It's next to impossible to handle preparing dinner with my pregnant self with Charlotte's "help" these days which leaves us options of eating out, having Jason make dinner, or me making it while Charlotte's asleep. I am so thankful that I've found some really easy slow cooker meals that I've been able to put together during nap time and have been really good for dinner! Jason is great at helping me out, but I hate to ask him to make complicated dinners as soon as he gets home from work so this has been our life saver.

This is, yet another, recipe that I found on Pinterest. You should definitely check out my Recipe board on there if you need some new ideas. Please note on this recipe that I didn't use any meat.

Slow Cooker Enchilada's

1/2 yellow onion, diced small
1/2 bell pepper, diced small (any color)
1 16-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups cheese, shredded and divided - we like monterey jack
2 16-ounce jars of your favorite salsa
12 6”-8” tortillas, flour or corn
Optional: 1 cup leftover meat - chicken, pork, hamburger, or shredded beef

In a medium bowl, mix together the onion, pepper, black beans, corn, spices, meat (if using), and just 1/2 cup of the cheese. Pour about a cup of salsa (half a jar) into the bottom of the slow cooker and spread it around evenly.

Scoop about 1/3 cup into one of the tortillas, roll it up, and nestle it into the bottom of the crock pot. Repeat with the half of the remaining filling, rolling tortillas until the entire bottom of of the crock pot is filled. Spread another cup of salsa over this layer and sprinkle it with another 1/2 cup of cheese.

Continue with the remaining filling and tortillas to create a second layer. Top with another cup of salsa, but reserve the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese for later. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 2-4 hours. In the last 15 minutes of cooking, sprinkle the leftover cheese over the top and let it melt.

Serve the enchiladas with the remaining salsa. Leftovers will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken

2011-08-24T06:25:00.001-05:00

This recipe from Pinterest is very similar to the Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken that I posted a while ago. The main differences are the addition of corn and that you put the cream cheese in the crock pot from the beginning. This gives the dish a little more creaminess since the cheese has been in the entire time and also a little healthier feel since there is corn in the dish. Both are great and I'll probably go back and forth on which variation I cook depending on whether I have corn in the pantry or not!

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken

One package of chicken breasts (or more)

8 oz of Cream Cheese

1 can of Black Beans, drained and rinsed

1 can of Corn, drained and rinsed

1 can of Rotel

1. Put chicken in crock pot.

2. Put cream cheese over chicken -- cutting into blocks to spread over the entire area.

3. Put in the black beans, corn, and rotel.

4. Cover and cook -- 6 hours on low, or 3 hours on high. Stir periodically if possible.

5. Serve over rice or on tortilla's.

Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken

2011-08-17T06:25:00.001-05:00

One of the nicest things about Pinterest is that sometimes you not only find a good recipe but a good blog. This is one such find. Mama and Baby Love is a blog I stumbled upon and while I haven't spent a whole lot of time browsing it, it looks like a great blog and has some good recipes!

This one is a freezer slow cooker one that I made recently and that we really enjoyed. Here are some of my notes on it:

- I split it into two portions like she describes, but one portion was really just enough for the three of us. If you have more than two adult eaters and one (very small portioned) child eater I would make the entire recipe for one meal.

- As I chopped I split into a gallon bag to go in the freezer and put the rest straight into the crock pot to cook. Because of this I only cooked the crock pot portion on low for 5ish hours and it was plenty done.

- I might substitute regular potatoes (or half regular and half sweet) next time because I'm not a big sweet potato fan and this dish is really sweet potato heavy.

- I will also probably use regular chicken breasts next time. It was different to use the drumsticks but I prefer less bones on my plate. :)

Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken

3 medium unpeeled sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 large green pepper, cut into strips
1 large red pepper, cut into strips
1 zucchini, chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tablespoon quick cooking tapioca
2 pounds chicken thighs or drumsticks
1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt

Dump everything into two gallon freezer bags, shake it up, seal, label and put in the freezer.

To cook, take bag out of freezer to thaw for 30 minutes then dump in slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8. Or, simply put in the slow cooker fresh and cook for less time.

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

2011-08-10T06:25:00.000-05:00

Yet again, another Pinterest find. Seriously, if you haven't checked out Pinterest and don't mind being sucked into a bottomless pit of ideas, go and check it out. It's amazing...and a huge time waster....but still, amazing!

When I saw the picture that came with this pin I knew I wanted to try it. I've been kind of blah about breakfast foods recently and have been jumping back and forth to things that only really sound good for a day or two. So I really wanted to try this. One negative about this cake is that it's hard to have all the ingredients on hand to make it any time. It calls for buttermilk and unsalted butter which aren't staples at my house (the unsalted butter should be, but hasn't been).

So I made plans to pick up what I was lacking at home but then couldn't find a good time to make it. Another downside is that it's not a really simple recipe so it wasn't something that I could simply whip up in the morning unless I wanted to get up and make it way before Charlotte got up and, lets face it, at 30 some odd weeks pregnant, that's not going to happen!

Finally, Jason suggested that he'd watch Charlotte after dinner so that I could make it then and just reheat what I wanted to eat each morning. Stellar idea! I started cooking and after a few measurement problems (I am pregnant remember and sometimes counting to 7 is hard!) I finally got it cooking. It took a little longer than the 35 minutes the recipe called for but once it came out it looked delicious. Jason and I had it for dessert that night and it was fantastic. The next morning I heated up two pieces for Charlotte and I but Charlotte wouldn't touch it so she missed it and that left more for Jason and I!

I would highly recommend this recipe. It's a really dense cake but it's not too sweet and perfect for breakfast or for a more tempered dessert. It was good reheated for about 40 second in the microwave in the morning's but was also great fresh out of the oven. Next time I might mix it the night before and bake it in the morning, but either way it's a great dish!

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Makes 1 square dish

1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature

7/8 cup + 1 T sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter with 7/8 cup of sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with 1/4 cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.

4. Grease a 9 inch square pan with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes (or more). Check with a toothpick for doneness. Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Chicken, Bacon, and Avocado Quesadilla's

2011-08-03T06:25:00.000-05:00

This is another Pinterest recipe but it actually comes from Kevin and Amanda's blog but I must have missed it when it was posted. I love avocado's and chicken and bacon and cheese so these sounded perfect to me! They ended up being superb! The butter that you cook the tortilla's in added such a nice flavor to the quesadilla's and I felt a little healthy about them since they had the avocado's in them. Like anything that you cook immediately before serving, they were a little stressful putting them together in the skillet but with my "helper" Charlotte we got them taken care of and enjoyed them for dinner. I highly recommend this recipe if you're looking for something that's pretty easy (30 min start to finish) and is really good. Charlotte even enjoyed eating them until she realized that she was eating avocado's and started saying "I can't like a-cado!"

Sidenote: I took some shortcuts from Amanda's recipe so this is my version. Her version is linked on the post though if you want to be a real cook and do it all her way!

Chicken, Bacon, and Avocado Quesadilla's

Makes 4 quesadillas from 10" tortillas - 1 quesadilla per tortilla

1 package pre cooked chicken

8 strips bacon (we do the microwave kind)

1 avocado

Cheddar Cheese

4 Tortilla's

Butter

1. Cut chicken into bite size pieces.

2. Cook bacon until crumbly and crumble it.

3. Cut avocado into squares.

4. Warm chicken in skillet for a few minutes -- it's precooked so you're just getting it warm. Put it back in the bowl you were holding it in originally.

5. Put 1/2 tablespoon of butter in the skillet. Once it melts most of the way and gets foamy put the tortilla in the skillet and get it coated with butter.

6. Arrange chicken, bacon, avocado, and cheese on half of the tortilla.

7. Use tongs to fold the tortilla in half.

8. Cook about 1 1/2 minutes per side until both sides are golden brown and the cheese is melted. (I use a cake spatula and a regular spatula to turn my quesadilla's over so as not to tear them up.)

9. Remove quesadilla onto plate or pan and stick in the oven (either off or on very low) to maintain the warmth of the quesadilla.

10. Repeat steps 5-9 starting with putting more butter in the skillet until all of your quesadilla's are made.

Crock Pot Chicken and Rice

2011-07-27T06:30:00.000-05:00

This is my first recipe from Pinterest! It sounded very easy and good so I tried it as my first recipe. It turned out very good and was so easy that I'm sure we'll make it all the time!

Crock Pot Chicken and Rice

2-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

8 oz cream cheese (let it sit out to soften)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 packet Italian Dressing Seasoning

Rice

1. Stir the cream cheese, cream of chicken, and seasoning together in the crockpot.

2. Add chicken and spoon mixture so that it covers the chicken.

3. Cook on low for 4-6 hours (I cooked for 4.5 because that was when I was happening to put it in. Make sure and check it about an hour before dinner to make sure that the chicken is done but that's plenty of time for thawed chicken to cook in the crock pot.)

4. Make rice before dinner.

5. Serve chicken mixture over rice.

Sweet and Sour Pork

2011-07-13T06:30:00.000-05:00

I'm always on the look our for slow cooker recipes so when I see them in a magazine I tear them out. Therefore, I currently have a drawer full of recipes and no time or energy to try them! But I've been trying to try more recipes out and came across this recipe for Sweet and Sour Pork so I gave it a try. It is a pretty easy meal to throw together and came out really well. Even Charlotte liked it! When she tried some she looked at us surprised and said, "This is tasty!" Hope it's a hit at your house too!

Sweet and Sour Pork

Makes 6 servings

2 T vegetable oil

2 lbs pork shoulder for stew, cut into 2 x 1 inch pieces

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

1 large green pepper, cored and seeds removed, sliced

1 can (4 oz) mushroom pieces, drained

1 can (14.5 oz) tomato sauce

3 T packed brown sugar

2 T rice vinegar

2 T soy sauce

1/2 lb egg noodles, cooked

- Coat slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

- Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season pork with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Saute 3 minutes per side.

- Add pork to slow cooker and layer in onion, green pepper, and mushrooms. In a small bowl, combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce. Pour over pork and vegetables.

- Cover and cook on High for 6 hours or Low for 8 hours. Serve over cooked egg noodles.

Shortcut Corn

2011-07-06T06:30:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you but I'm pretty bad at making sides to go with meals. I would much rather just make one casserole or something that we eat basically as our whole meal and add a salad or fruit and veggies with it. But, I will make this corn to go with dinner because it's so easy and I almost always have corn in my pantry. There's a good chance that you've been cooking your canned corn like this forever but I hadn't and so when I tried it out it was a miraculous discovery. And one of the best parts is that Charlotte will eat corn when it's cooked like this so I can eat least get one veggie in her! But be forewarned, I'm guessing that this recipe is really not great for you what with the salt and margarine, but it sure is good!

Shortcut Corn

Serves 4

1 small can Shoepeg Corn

1 small can Yellow Corn

Salt

Pepper

2-3 tablespoons margarine

- Pour both cans of corn into a baking dish.

- Stir corn together until it's evenly mixed.

- Generously salt and pepper the corn and remix.

- Cut margarine into 4 or 5 pats of butter and spread them throughout the corn (i.e. spoon out corn, put the margarine in, and put corn back on top of butter.

- Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Salsa Chicken

2011-06-22T06:25:00.000-05:00

Does anyone else have a recipe folder on their email like I do? Mine has emails all the way back since we got married and I've only cooked maybe a third of them. So when I'm tired of cooking what feels like the same old, same old, I go search that folder to find something that I want to make.

Recently I found this Salsa Chicken recipe. I haven't made it before since it asks you to marinate the chicken in the salsa for at least two hours or overnight and I rarely have my act together enough time to do that. But now that C is taking an afternoon nap I prefer to get dinner ready during her nap so that when it's time to cook all I have to do is stick it in the oven. So I found that this recipe worked for me where I am right now.

It ended up being a pretty light recipe that didn't take an inordinate amount of time of prep work although all the chopping did eat up some of nap time. Be prepared that this is not a tomato based salsa recipe, it's a green pepper salsa recipe so if you're looking for a traditional salsa dish this is not one to try. But it was very good and pretty easy.

Salsa Chicken

From Dinner by Design

11/2 cups diced green pepper (about 2 medium)
1 1/2 cups chopped cilantro (about 1 bunch)
1 cup diced onion
3 Tbl chopped garlic
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
2 Tbl red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 tsp black pepper
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, except chicken. Reserve 1 1/2 cups salsa (to serve with chicken), cover and refrigerate. Place chicken in a large resealable bag. Add remaining salsa to the chicken. Seal bag and marinate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Drain and discard chicken marinade. Grill chicken over medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes, when a thermometer reads 170°, turning once. OR bake chicken at 400° on a broiler pan for 20-25 min. Serve chicken topped with reserved salsa.

Miss Nicole's Chicken Quesadilla's

2011-06-08T06:25:00.000-05:00

As I think I mentioned last week, my friends Nicole and Kristina are doing a feature on Nicole's blog showcasing what their menu's look like each week. I've already gotten a lot of ideas from these posts so make sure and check them out if you're on the lookout for a new recipe to cook!

Last week I made Nicole's Chicken Quesadilla's and they were so good and easy that I know this will be a recipe that we come back to again and again! Thanks Nicole for sharing!

Miss Nicole's Chicken Quesadilla's

1 lb uncooked chicken tenders or breasts

Lawry's Mesquite Marinade

Flour Tortillas

Shredded Cheese

Sour Cream

Hot sauce (we didn't use)

1. Cut chicken into small strips like for fajitas. Mine were between 1 and 2 inches long and were pretty skinny but just chop them into smaller pieces, size doesn't really matter.

2. Put cut up chicken into bowl and let it marinate for 30 minutes or longer until you're ready to cook.

3. Throw chicken and marinade into skillet and saute chicken until cooked through (takes maybe 5 or 10 minutes).

4. In the meantime, warm your tortilla's up and get everything out to make the quesadilla's.

5. When chicken is cooked make quesadilla's up however you like and enjoy!

*Note: This made enough for us to give Charlotte chicken to eat and make four large quesadilla's. If you are serving more than just a small family, you should increase the amount of chicken that you use.

Salmon and Citrus Rice Bowl

2011-04-06T06:30:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm out of the first trimester I can stand going to Publix again and smelling the seafood department. I can also stand eating fish again (on some occasions). Because of this I really wanted to cook a salmon dish because it's so healthy and I hadn't eaten it for a while. This Martha Stewart recipe had been sitting in my recipe drawer for a whlie so I thought I'd try it since I figured Charlotte loves rice and oranges so she'd at least eat some of it. The dish was good if a little bland. I'll probably add some soy sauce to the rice and maybe some salt and pepper to the peas next time. But it was a very good recipe that I'll definitely make again!

Salmon and Citrus Rice Bowl
Serves 4

4 navel oranges
1/4 ounce (1 inch piece) fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced, plus 1 teaspoon finely grated
1 dried bay leaf
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
1 tablespoon brown-rice vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 pound skinless salmon fillets
1 cup uncooked brown rice
5 ounces (1 1/2 cupes) sugar snap peas, cut into 1/2 inch slices

1. Cut away peel and pith from 2 oranges. Cut between orange membranes, and let fruit and juice fall into a bowl. Squeeze juice into bowl and discard membranes. Cut segments into small pieces, and place in a separate bowl. Juice remaining 2 oranges and add juice to bowl (for a total of 1 cup).
2. Bring orange juice, sliced ginger, bay leaf, and coriander to a boil in a small saucepan. Cook until mixture is reduced to 2/3 cup, about 6 minutes. Let cool completely. Straing, and whisk in vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and oil.
3. Combine 3 tablespoons juice mixture and salmon in a resealable plastic bag, turning to coat. Refrigerate salmon and remaining juice mixture for at least 1 1/2 hours (or up to 3 hours).
4. Cook rice according to package instructions.
5. Preheat broiler. Remove salmon from marinade, and pat dry with paper towels. Discard marinade. Place fillets on a baking sheet, and broil until cooked to desired doneness, about 5 minutes for medium. Transfer to a dish. Let salmon cool slightly, and flake into bite sized pieces.
6. Divide rice among four bowls. Top with salmon, peas, and orange segments. Drizzle each serving with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the reserved juice mixture.

Oven Fried Pork chops

2011-03-30T06:30:00.000-05:00

This weekend we had some pork chops and were looking for a new way to cook them so I put Jason in charge. He stepped in and found an oven fried recipe that sounded good, was easy, and that we could make all from ingredients that we had in our pantry -- the perfect trifecta! The pork chops were pretty good although ours were thick so took about twice as long to cook as the recipe said. But we will definitely be making these again!
Oven Fried Pork Chops

* 4 pork chops, trimmed
* 2 tablespoons butter, melted
* 1 egg, beaten
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* (We added 1/4 teaspoon of salt)
* 1 cup herb-seasoned dry bread stuffing mix (we used half panko bread crumbs (plain) and half italian seasoned bread crumbs)
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Pour butter into a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. Stir together egg, milk and pepper. Dip pork chops in egg mixture, coat with stuffing mix and place in pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Turn chops and bake for another 10 minutes, or until no pink remains in the meat and juices run clear.

Miss Kelly's Baked Beans

2011-03-02T06:15:00.000-06:00

When we first moved to town we found a great Sunday School class. We made some friends that I hope we'll continue to be friends with our entire lives. And we often go together potluck style with everyone bringing a dish. Kelly often brought baked beans which we loved but I always forgot to ask for the recipe. Last Saturday we had Kelly and Tripp's going away party and we served bbq and asked people to bring sides and desserts. I decided that I would make Kelly's baked beans! They were a hit and everyone asked me to post the recipe for Recipe Wednesday. So, without further ado, Miss Kelly's Baked Beans!

Miss Kelly's Baked Beans
Makes 1 9x13 dish

1lb ground chuck, cooked & drained
3 1 lb cans of pork & beans (add last)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup ketchup
3tbsp mustard
2tbsp worstechire sauce
1 med onion, chopped & microwaved until tender (I just used a good amount of onion powder since Jason doesn't like onion pieces)

Mix all together. Cover & bake at 375 for 1 hour.

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

2011-02-09T06:30:00.001-06:00

I got this recipe from Mrs. Smith at The Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I was intrigued by her name for it "World's Easiest Chicken Casserole" and thought that I would make it for our dear friends Leigh and Justin who had just had a baby. I doubled the recipe because Mrs. Smith showed one recipe of it in a square pan and two recipes filled two square pans to the brim -- I probably could have put a decent portion in three different pans instead of filling two pans so high. This recipe is really easy and it is also REALLY good! Try it next time you want something quick and filling!

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole
1 lb chicken breasts or tenders
2 microwavable packages of Uncle Ben's Wild Rice
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 can Chicken Broth

1. Cook chicken for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cut into bite size pieces. (I salted and peppered my chicken before baking.)
2. Cook rice per instructions.
3. Mix together chicien, rice, soup, and chicken broth.
4. Pour into a square baking dish.
5. Bake for 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Tortellini Alfredo

2011-02-02T11:29:00.000-06:00

This recipe is totally stolen from others but it is way too good not to pass on! I saw the recipe on Kristen's blog Raising Acorns and she said that she got the recipe from Amanda's blog Kevin & Amanda. So, I give them credit, because this recipe is great and super easy! Also, I went with Kristen's version that included peas and it made it fantastic! It was good the night I made it, but honestly, even better reheated the next two days for lunch!
Tortellini Alfredo
1 (8 oz) pkg cheese tortellini
1 cup ham, diced
(8 oz) cream cheese
1 pkg dry Italian dressing
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 stick butter
1 cup frozen peas

Add tortellini to a large pot of boiling salted water and let cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a skillet to medium heat. Add the cream cheese, butter, cream of chicken soup, Italian dressing, and milk and stir until smooth. Once smooth, add in ham and peas and stir to coat. After the tortellini finishes boiling, drain, then add to cream sauce. Stir to evenly coat and serve warm.

Low Maintenance Lasagna

2011-01-19T06:30:00.000-06:00

It's been forever since I has a Recipe Wednesday post but I'll just have to say that life got in the way and I reverted back to tried-and-true recipes to save time rather than making something new. But with all this snow I tried a few recipes that I had pulled from magazines and this one turned out to be a hit!

I've only made real lasagna a couple times (one being the Pioneer Woman's which was wonderful but took a sweet forever) and so when I saw this crock-pot version I figured I'd try it because there's nothing that Jason likes better than lasagna. This recipe was really easy and quick and turned out great. I'll probably add beef next time but the beauty of it is that you could add anything -- spinach, meat, different cheeses -- and it would still be really easy and good! The recipe does call for carrots which I liked and I cut them up really small to try and sneak them past Charlotte. She ate everything for a little while but by the end of the meal she was putting bites into her mouth, eating everything but the carrot pieces, and then spitting the carrot pieces out. You can definitely feel the texture of the carrots -- they don't go completely limp in the crock pot -- so if that's something that weirds you out you might want to try it without it. You could also double the recipe to make it taller if you need to feed more people, that way a serving could be smaller but have the same amount of food.

Low Maintenance Lasagna
From Jan 2011 issue of Parents magazine
Nonstick cooking spray
1 26 oz jar pasta sauce
3/4 cup water
1 15 oz carton part skim Ricotta Cheese
1/2 c Shredded Carrot
6 regular lasagna noodles
1 1/2 cups part-skim Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1. Coat a slow cooker with cooking spray. In a large microwave-safe bowl, stir together the pasta sauce and water. Cover with wax paper and microwave on high for about 3 minutes. In the meantime, in a medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese and carrots; set aside.
2. Spook 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture into the bottom of the slow cooker. Break half of the noodles and arrange over the sauce. Spoon half of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Continue layering in the following order: 1/2 c mozzarella, half of the remaining sauce, remaining noodles (breaking them to fit), the remaining ricotta mixture, 1/2 c mozzarella, the rest of the sauce, and the rest of the mozzarella.
3. Cover; cook on low heat for about 3 hours, until the noodles are tender. Remove slow cooker from liner; let stand, covered, for about 20 minutes so lasagna is easier to slice.

Halloween Treats

2010-10-27T06:30:00.000-05:00

For playgroup last week I put together a few desserts that I had seen a few weeks ago. They turned out really cute and tasted good too! I might make up another batch of ghosts to give out to special trick or treaters this weekend! Both of the recipes were from Parenting.

Marshmellow Ghosts

Makes 6 ghosts

* 8 large marshmallows

* 6 wooden skewers (points cut off)

* 1 cup white-chocolate chips

* 1 Tbs vegetable shortening

* 12 cinnamon Red Hots (I used M&M's)

* Black decorating gel

1. For each ghost, push three marshmallows onto end of skewer; set aside.

2. Microwave white-chocolate and shortening in a microwave-safe dish on medium-high for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave in 10-second intervals until smooth.

3. Holding the skewer, spoon the melted mixture over marshmallows until covered; place on wax-paper-lined cookie sheet. Use two Red Hots for eyes and decorating gel for a mouth.

4. Refrigerate until chocolate has hardened; serve.

**I just mixed the chocolate in 1 cup of chip increments and it worked great!

Witch on a Stick

1. Cut off the tops of pretzel rods and set aside.

2. Melt 1 cup white-chocolate chips, 1 Tbs shortening, and a few drops of green food coloring; stir until smooth.

3. Dip the cut end of the pretzels into the chocolate, covering the top 2 inches. Place on wax paper and sprinkle the sides of each with coconut flakes to form hair.

4. Top each with a Hershey's Kiss and refrigerate until the chocolate has hardened. Draw on eyes, nose, and mouth with black decorating icing; finish by covering the Kiss, too.

Apple Dumplings

2010-10-20T06:30:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I was in charge of putting together the food so I went in search of some new recipes. I found a recipe for Apple Dumplings in the breakfast section of my Alabama Rich in Flavor cookbook and decided to try it out for breakfast on Saturday. I omitted the Mountain Dew that the recipe calls for because I figured we'd get enough caffeine the rest of the day and even without it they were great! I would highly recommend making this for breakfast or topped with ice cream for dessert.

Apple Dumplings
Serves 8

2 10 oz cans Crescent Rolls
2 or 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped
2 sticks butter, melted
1 c Sugar
1 t Cinnamon
Place two crescent rolls together to make a rectangle. Fill with apples and fold up like a package. Repeat with remaining crescent rolls and apples. Place, seam side down, in a 9x13 baking dish. Combine butter, sugar, and cinnamon; pour over rolls. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Sweet Potato Fries

2010-09-29T06:30:00.000-05:00

Grow Alabama has started delivering sweet potatos again and not being a big fan of sweet potatoes I've been at a loss at what to do with them. So this week I set out to make something other than sweet potato casserole and so I searched Tasty Kitchen and came up with this recipe for Sweet Potato Fries. I made them last night and they were even tasty for me! Charlotte thought they were too spicy though so tomorrow when I make some more since we have sweet potatoes coming out of our ears I will omit the seasoning on a few for her. But this was a really easy recipe that didn't require a lot of work and the fries came out really great. And one of the best parts was that they were baked so they were a relatively good way to eat veggies.

Sweet Potato Fries
Serves 2

2 whole sweet potatoes
3 T Olive Oil
1 t Salt
1 t Pepper
1/2 t Smoked Paprika (couldn't find this at the grocery store so just used paprika, use less than 1/2 teaspoon!)
2 T Brown Sugar
- Preheat oven to 425
- Peel potatoes (if desired). Cut into wedges until you get the size fry that you want.
- Put potatoes in a bowl. Combine with other ingredients and mix thoroughly with your hands so that every wedge is covered.
- Set a wire rack on a baking sheet and spray with non-stick spray. Lay wedges on the wire rack. Bake for 25 minutes. Rotate pan and put back in for 20 minutes. (Time is approximate, cook them to whatever your desired doneness level is.)

Baked Parmesan Fish

2010-09-15T06:30:00.000-05:00

When I was reading my friend Catherine's blog a few weeks ago I saw this recipe and thought I'd give it a try. Jason and I are always up for a fish recipe. I took Catherine's advice and added a small jar of Bruschetta sauce to the recipe and it was fantastic. Jason picked most of the mushrooms out (of course) but Charlotte and I loved them. And it was really easy! Great meal for when you only have a little bit of prep time. I also used salmon like Catherine did and I was worried about getting the skin off once I had cooked the fish, but the skin sticks to the roating pan (which is the kind of pan that I used) and so it wasn't a problem at all! Catherine got this recipe from the Nestle Cookbook.
Baked Parmesan Fish with Pasta
1/3 cup grated fat free Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon all purpose flour
3 thyme springs, leaves removed and crushed (I used regular thyme in the bottle)
4 white fish fillets (6 oz each) (I used Salmon and it was great)
1 package (9 oz) Buitoni Refrigerated Angel Hair Pasta
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup halved mushroom caps (I used sliced mushrooms)
1/2 cup finely sliced green onions
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small jar of Bruschetta sauce (I added this to the recipe)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Place cheese, flour, and thyme in paper bag (I used ziploc). Individually coat fish by gently shaking in bag; discard coating ingredients. Place fish in baking pan with rack.
Bake for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily.
Prepare pasta according to package directions.
Heat large, nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add onion, mushrooms, green onions, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are tender. Season with salt and ground black pepper.
Place past on oven-warmed plates. Attractively arrange fish over pasta. Serve with mushroom medly over fish and pasta. Garnish with thyme, if desired.

TIP: you can use most firm, white fish fillets, including swordfish, sole, halibut, or red snapper.
Prep: 15 min
Cooking: 25 min

Prairie Pork Chop Bake

2010-09-08T06:30:00.000-05:00

We hadn't had pork chops in a while so I went back to Tasty Kitchen to look for a pork chop recipe and found this recipe that looked SO SIMPLE! So I tried it and it was really good. Just as simple to assemble as it looks in the instructions (cutting the fat off the pork was the most time intensive part!) and tasted great. It has a little bit of a sweet taste but I'm not sure if that was the kind of mustard I used (Boar's Head Deli Mustard) or just all the brown sugar. But regardless this is definitely a recipe I will be using frequently. It would probably be great over chicken also if you don't like cooking pork.

PS One thing I love about Tasty Kitchen is that you can change the servings online for whatever the recipe is and it will do all the math for you. If you haven't checked it out make sure you look at it next time you're looking for a recipe!

Prairie Pork Chop Bake
Serves 4

4 whole Pork Chops
1/4 c Prepared Mustard
1/4 c Brown Sugar
1/2 box Stove Top Stuffing (6 oz box)
1/2 can 15 oz Niblet Corn
1/2 c Water

1. Mix brown sugar and mustard together. Cover each side of each pork chop evenly.
2. Then combine stuffing, corn, and water. Top each chop with 2-3 spoonfuls of stuffing mixture.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Simple Spanish Rice

2010-09-01T06:30:00.002-05:00

I made this rice a few weeks ago as a side to chicken and it was really good. The rice tasted like the rice that you get at a good Mexican restaurant. I will definitely be making this again!

Simple Spanish Rice

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

½ whole Onion, Chopped
1 cup Long Grain White Rice
1 pint Chicken Broth
¼ pounds Tomato Sauce

1. In a medium-sized pot, heat the olive oil (or your oil of choice). When hot, add the onion and rice. Cook, stirring frequently, until rice is light golden brown.
2. Add chicken broth and tomato sauce to the rice; stir to combine (this is the only time you’ll stir it). Bring just to the boiling point and immediately reduce heat to low. Cover and cook on low for about 20 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.
3. Remove from heat. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

2010-08-25T06:30:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I was looking for a dessert recipe for Bible Study. I wanted something that had chocolate in it but wasn't a brownie and was something that could be eated without any utensils. So I searched my trusty recipe source (Tasty Kitchen) and came up with a few options. I gave Jason the choice of which one to make since he would get leftovers and he chose the Chocolate Peanut Butter bars. I'm so glad he did because they were so good! And while making them I might have stumbled upon my new favorite, super guilty pleasure of peanut butter and brown sugar (don't worry I was cleaning the spoon after everything had been safely put into the pan and the pan was cooking in the oven!). These are really good and very easy. And they have oats in them so they're healthy right?? Oh... just because they have oats doesn't mean they're healthy?? I will choose to ignore that you just told me that! Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Bottom layer:
1 box Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
1/2 cups Butter, melted
1 whole egg

Top layer:
1/2 cups smooth Peanut Butter
3 tablespoons Butter
1/2 cups packed Brown Sugar
1 cup Oats
2 tablespoons All-purpose flour
Semi sweet chocolate chips

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pray a 9x13 dish with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix cake mix, butter, and egg together until well combined. Press into bottom of pan.
- Melt peanut butter and butter together in a microwave safe bowl until butter as been melted. Stir in brown sugar, oats, and flour until oats and flour have been incorporated. Sprinkle over chocolate layer and gently press peanut butter crumbles into chocolate layer.
- Top with chocolate and bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cut into squares and serve. Great warm or cooled.

Apple Dip

2010-08-18T06:30:00.000-05:00

I had never had this dip until a friend of mine brought it to a party Memorial Day weekend. The first bite I had I fell in love with it. I had a chance to make it for our last Bible Study gathering a few weeks ago and everyone there asked me to post the recipe. It is a really simple recipe that is better the farther ahead of time you make it. I made one recipe with six cut up apples for our Bible Study and we ate most of it. If you're having more than 10 people I would double the recipe.

Apple Dip

1 package of cream cheese (softened)
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 package toffee chips/heath bar chips (in chocolate chip section)

*Mix all ingredients together, then fold in toffee chips.
*Refrigerate for at least 2 hours prior to serving to allow flavors to be absorbed.
*Serve with tart apples (Granny Smith). Put lemon juice on the apple slices to keep longer...

Fried Okra and Fried Green Tomatoes

2010-08-11T06:30:00.000-05:00

We have been loving our Grow Alabama boxes this summer. It has provided us with very fresh, varied produce that is all organically grown in Alabama and the surrounding states. A few weeks ago we got some green tomatoes and one of Jason's co-workers brought some fresh okra into work to share so we took the challenge and fried up our first ever batch of fried okra and fried green tomatoes! I went to my trusted recipe source of Tasty Kitchen and found two recipes and went with them.

The okra was pretty good. We should have added a little more spice into the breading because we added salt and pepper afterwards but we were scared to go too spicy with our first batch. In the future we'll know. This was a traditional southern recipe and it did taste like the fried okra that you get at the local country restaurants.

The fried green tomatoes were really good. This recipe is NOT the traditional southern recipe. The parmesan cheese gave it a different kick that was really good once you realized you shouldn't expect the typical tomato fare.

Overall, both great recipes that we will try again. It might be next summer before I have the desire to make that mess again, but we will try it again eventually!

Southern Fried Okra
Serves 2
1 lb fresh okra pods
2 whole eggs, beaten
1/4 c Buttermilk
1 c All-purpose flour
1 c Cornmeal
2 t Baking Powder
1 t Salt
1 dash Black Pepper
3 c Oil for frying
1. Wash and slice okra; pat dry with paper towels.
2. Combine eggs and buttermilk; add okra, and let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and pepper.
4. Drain okra, small portions at a time, using a slotted spoon.
5. Dredge okra in flour mixture.
6. Pour oil to depth of 2-4 inches in a Dutch oven or fryer and heat to 375 degrees F.
7. Fry okra until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.
Panko-Parmesan Crusted Fried Green Tomatoes
Serves 6

2 whole green tomatoes
1 cup Buttermilk
1/2 c All-purpose flour
1/3 c Panko Bread Crumbs
1/3 c Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
5 T shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 t Kosher Salt
1/2 t Ground Pepper

1. Slice the tomatoes into about 1/2 inch thick slices. Place in a bowl and cover with buttermilk while you combine the other ingredients.
2. Place flour in a shallow container and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Combine panko bread crumbs, Italian bread crumbs, and parmesan in a shallow container. Season well and also season with salt and pepper.
4. Bring about 1 inch of oil up to 350-375 degrees F in a cast iron skillet or dutch oven.
5. Dredge the buttermilk-soaked tomato slices through the flour, back into the buttermilk, then into the bread crumb mixture. Fry until golden brown, turning once and being careful not to knock off the breading.

Greek Chicken Pasta

2010-08-04T06:30:00.000-05:00

When I was on the tail end of being sick a few weeks ago Mom called and told me that she had made a pasta dish and they had lots of leftovers and she wondered if we wanted them. I'm always up for not having to cook a meal, especially when I'm not feeling 100%, so I jumped on the opportunity. I'm sure glad I did because this was one of the best pasta dishes I've had in a while! Thanks Mom for the recipe!

Greek Chicken Pasta
Makes 5-6 servings
2 cups uncooked penne pasta
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
3 cups cubed rotisserie chicken
1 jar (7.5 oz) marinated, quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1 cup (4 oz) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 cup sliced, pitted Greek olives
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1. Cook pasta according to package directions
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter.
3. Add onion; saute until tender. Add garlic and cook about a minute more.
4. Stir in the flour until blended; gradually add broth.
5. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the chicken, artichoke hearts, cheese, tomatoes, and olives.
6. Drain pasta; stir into the pan. Broil 3-4 inches from the heat for 5-7 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Sprinkle with parsley.

Chicken Enchilada Ring

2010-07-14T06:30:00.001-05:00

This recipe is from Kelly Stamps' Mom. I made it over the weekend and our entire family -- including Charlotte! -- loved it! I didn't have all of the ingredients (like the tomato and the lime) but it was great without and made even better with a little salsa on top of it. This is a super easy recipe that your family will definitely love.

Chicken Enchilada Ring

2 cups cooked chicken
1/4 cup chopped black olives
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 small can chopped chilies, undrained
1/2 cup sour cream
1 package taco seasoning
2 rolls of crescent rolls
1 small chopped tomato
1 lime (juice)
2/3 cup finely crushed tortilla chips

1. Chop chicken and add olives, cheese, chilies, sour cream and taco mix. Seed and chop 1 tomato and add 2 tablespoons lime juice; add to chicken mixture. Reserve 2 Tblsp. crushed chips and add remaining chips to mixture.
2.Unroll crescent dough and separate triangles. Arrange on round baking stone or cookie sheet making a circle with wide ends OVERLAPPING in the center and points toward outside. ( I did lightly spray oil on the cookie sheet I used). There should be a 5 inch diameter opening in the center.
3. Spread chicken mixture evenly onto widest end of each triangle.
4. Bring points of triangles up and over filling and tuck under wide ends of dough at the center of the ring. Sprinkle with 2 Tblsp. crushed chips. ( I put shredded cheese all on top!)
5. Bake @ 375 for 20-25 minutes. Garnish with tomato and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Charlotte's Corn

2010-06-23T15:59:00.000-05:00

I've been working hard to deplete my canned food stores in my pantry since a family of 10 could probably live a year on the cans that I have in there! I'm the worst about planning a week of meals, buying what I need, and then not completing the whole week of meals and having items left over and just making a whole new list of meals for the next week. So, when I checked we had like 8 cans of corn in the pantry so I went looking for a corn recipe. I love the Cotton Country Baked Corn with Sour Cream (it's my favorite corn dish of all time!) but it takes a little while and I was looking to try something different. While I was on my search I found a recipe that I knew I had to try... Charlotte's Corn! It is a local Delta Zeta alumnae chapter cookbook and so I modified the original recipe by using canned corn instead of frozen but kept the amount the same. No pictures (I'm a slacker, sorry!) but it was pretty good.

Charlotte's Corn
3 boxes of frozen corn
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 pint Whipping Cream
1 tablespoon flour
Mix whipping cream and flour with melted butter. Add corn. Pour into casserole dish and bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Stir once half way through baking.
Variations that were given included substituting creamed corn for some of the corn so I did use a can of creamed corn in mine.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

2010-06-16T06:30:00.000-05:00

I saw a version of this on Tasty Kitchen and I made it a little simpler based on what I had on hand and what Jason and I both like. Turns out that this is a fantastic and really easy pizza. If you're pressed for time and are wanting something a little different try this, it's great!
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

1 Pizza Crust (we use the Pillsbury Refrigerated Dough)
Olive Oil
Ranch Dressing
Pre-cooked chicken pieces/slices
Bacon (we use the ready made kind)
Mozzarella Cheese

- Spread dough out onto pan
- Spread olive oil on top of pizza dough
- Spread ranch dressing on top of dough until you have a thin layer
- Place chicken evenly on top of pizza
- Cover pizza with cheese
- Crumble/cut bacon on top of cheese

Bake at 400 degrees (or 425 based on your type of pan) for 10-12 minutes until edges are golden brown.

Summer Squash Casserole

2010-06-08T09:08:00.002-05:00

Until last week I had never made a vegetable casserole. But with Grow Alabama providing us with veggies like squash and cucumbers pretty much weekly I had to come up with something new to use the veggies in. So I went to my trusty Arab Mother's Club cookbook that Jason's grandmother gave us when we got married and found a Summer Squash Casserole that turned out to be divine. Even Charlotte loved it which I guess means that she's like her mother in that if you put mayo and cheese on it she'll eat just about anything! So this will now be my go-to recipe for Squash when we're tired of onion squash. I hope you enjoy it also!
Summer Squash Casserole
Yields: 6 servings

2 lbs summer squash, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
1 cup grated Cheddar Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
3/4 cup herb-seasoned stuffing mix

Boil squash and onion in water until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and mix with mayonnaise, cheese, salt, and pepper. Turn into buttered 1 1/2 quart casserole and sprinkle with stuffing mix. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Brown Sugar Pork Chops

2010-06-02T06:35:00.000-05:00

I will be the first to tell you that this recipe is not your typical southern fare. However, Jason had a brown sugar tenderloin on our first trip to The Masters and he talked about how interesting it was so I thought I'd try to come up with a recipe that was similar. They turned out really good but you need to be prepared for a sweet main dish. I will serve mashed potatoes with them next time instead of onion potatoes and green beans because you kind of need a thick, blander starch to counteract all of the sugar. Mac and Cheese would probably go great with it also. I did really like them though and will probably try the recipe on chicken sometime soon. If you do it before I do I would love to hear how it is on chicken! I hope you enjoy them! I did make this up so it's very unprecise and open to your own interpretation.

Brown Sugar Pork Chops

Pork Chops
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Brown Sugar
Maple Syrup (our's was light maply syrup -- any kind of breakfast syrup should be fine)

1. Trim fat from pork and tenderize with mallet or fork
2. Drizzle olive oil on one side, turn over and do the same
3. Lightly salt and pepper one side, turn over and do the same
4. Heap 1 - 2 teaspoons brown sugar on each side of pork rubbing into meat, turn over and do the same
5. Drizzle mape syrup over pork chops until the tops are barely covered
6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to a couple hours to let the pork absorb the juices
7. Bake at 350 for 30 - 45 minutes depending on the thickness of your pork chops

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

2010-05-12T06:30:00.000-05:00

My friend Christen posted a Parmesan Crusted Chicken recipe a few weeks ago and I thought it looked great. So last week when we begged, pleaded, and bribed my parents to come help us set up our new bed I figured it was the perfect occasion to try what I was sure would be a fantastic recipe. It definitely didn't disappoint! The chicken was juicy and tender and the spices and crust made it very tasty. I normally cook with chicken tenders and so to use chicken breasts was different but I think this recipe wouldn't be nearly as good with tenders. I did go with the broiler pan like Christen did and I think that worked fine, but I agree that a cookie sheet should work just fine too. I hope you like it as much as I did! And, if so, make sure you let Christen know!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

12 multigrain saltine crackers
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
2 Tablespoons finely chopped Parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried Basil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 tsp. each of salt and pepper
1/4 cup buttermilk
4 boneless skinless chicken breast

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place baking rack on a baking sheet/broiler pan.
Place crackers in a large zip lock bag and crush. Add parmesan, parsley, basil, paprika, salt and pepper. Shake to combine. Pour crumbs in a shallow dish like a pie plate or breading trays.
Place buttermilk in a shallow dish (again with the breading trays). Dip chicken in buttermilk, then coat both sides with cracker mixture.
Place chicken on rack on baking sheet.
Bake @ 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Crock Pot Cream Cheese and Black Bean Chicken

2010-05-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

I got this recipe off of Magnolias, Marriage, and Manhattan and I made it last week. It was SO GOOD and SO EASY! I am loving my crock pot so much these days because it makes cooking a healthy meal really simple. And the good news is that we found out Charlotte's a huge fan of salsa because she was downing the salsa and black beans and when she had sucked all the salsa off she was spitting out the black beans. As a sidenote, I'm afraid my child is never going to eat any table food veggies! :) Also, I would have had a picture but I realized when I checked the picture after dinner that my memory card was in the computer and not the camera when I was taking pictures with it. Sorry!

Cream Cheese and Black Bean Chicken
4-5 chicken breasts
2 cans of rinsed and drained black beans
4 oz cream cheese
2 cups salsa (I used mild)
Spice Options: taco seasoning, chili pepper, garlic powder, crushed red peppers
Throw salsa, chicken and beans into crock pot for 6-8 hours until chicken is falling apart. At the very end, add cream cheese until it melts (about 15 minutes). Stir. Serve.
We served ours plain, but you could use it as a filling in a tortilla or over rice.

Pork with Veggies

2010-04-21T06:30:00.000-05:00

Since we started participating with Grow Alabama in January we have been eating a lot more vegetables because we are getting them weekly. The past two weeks we have gotten squash and root vegetables and so I decided to come up with a recipe to use them. This recipe is my creation....it was very good and very, very simple. The beautiful thing is that if you don't like the seasonings that I used you can vary them to suit your tastes. This would also be a great recipe with chicken instead of pork or if you wanted to eliminate the meat and just cook this as a side it would be wonderful. I will list the recipe as I made it but feel free to substitute out veggies for ones that you like. Although, I will say, turnips are the forgotten vegetable! They taste very similar to potatoes and are very good!
Pork with Veggies
One container thin sliced pork chops (mine had 5 small chops in it)
5-6 Small to medium sized Squash
2 large Turnips
6-8 medium sized carrots
Olive Oil
One small box of chicken broth
Onion Seasoning Packet
Salt
Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Powder
1. Trim fat from pork and lay on the bottom of the slow cooker. Season meat with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder (lightly coat tops of meat).
2. Cut vegetables into bite sized pieces (peel turnips and carrots first if fresh). Throw veggies in plastic bag as you are cutting them.
3. Mix 1/2 cup olive oil with packet of onion seasoning.
4. Pour onion mix over vegetables and move around in plastic bag to coat all of them evenly.
5. Pour veggies over meat in slow cooker.
6. Add chicken broth until meat and veggies are covered.
7. Cook on high for 3 hours (or low for approximately 6 hours).

Meat with Potatoes

2010-04-07T06:30:00.000-05:00

This recipe is from Stephanie at Happily Ever After. This dish combines meat with any kind of veggies that you like. It was really easy to put together and was very tasty. I felt like it was a pretty decent meal health wise also because of all of the veggies I put in it!

Meat with Potatoes

Hamburger (1-2 lb., depending on your crowd)

Green Pepper (1-2)

Green Beans (I used one bag of frozen green beans)

Onion (1)

Celery (1 C)

Potatoes (1-2, washed and sliced)

1 8oz. can of Tomato Soup

1 pkg. of Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1 C of water

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Form meatballs from the hamburger, put on bottom of 9x13 pan. Cut up fresh veggies and layer on top of meatballs, ending with the potatoes on top.

Mix tomato soup and onion soup mix together with water. Pour over top of veggies and hamburger. Cover with foil, bake for 1-1.5 hours (depends on your oven and how much hamburger you use).

This is a great, flavorful dish that is perfect on a cold winter night! The soup mixture makes a thick sauce that gives everything a wonderful taste. It's so simple and yummy and that's the beauty of it. Plus, you can tweak it with the ingredients you have on hand or the ones you prefer. I've made it several ways, depending on whether or not I feel like grocery shopping!

**Notes: I used 1 lb meat, added carrots, and left out the celery and pepper because I didn't have any. You could use whatever veggies you have and have as much or little meat as possible.

The funny thing about this recipe is when Stephanie posted it she mentioned that if you were reading all of her posts about food you would think she was pregnant because that's what her posts were like when she was pregnant with their almost 1 year old, Ava. She said that she was not pregnant but they found out a few weeks ago that she is! So if you get a chance drop by and wish them congratulations!

Napa Pasta

2010-03-31T06:30:00.000-05:00

My parents came up with this recipe and I'm sorry that I don't have a picture to share with you because this is really a fantastic recipe and I feel like you won't get the full effect until you see the finished dish. They used spices from Napa Style and I looked online and couldn't really find anywhere else that sells these salt's, but I bet there is somewhere. I would also link to the salts but the Napa Style website keeps crashing my browser...not good. Regardless, this is a wonderful recipe that is different and pretty light. And, the best part, it is almost better re-warmed up or eaten cold the next day! Great job Mom and Dad! Enjoy!

Napa Pasta

Package of refrigerated pasta (we used three cheese ravioli)
NapaStyle Citrus Rosemary Gray Salt
NapaStyle Roasted Garlic Gray Salt
NapaStyle Prosciutto Bits
Roasted Chicken, pre cooked and cut into pieces
Parmesan Cheese, grated
Olive Oil
Sprinkle chicken and Prosciutto bits with a little of each salt and heat in skillet in olive oil until heated through. Put in serving dish, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and heat in oven on low while preparing the pasta. Brown pasta in olive oil with a little of each salt (I did this one layer at a time, lightly browning on each side. It took about four skillets full.). Move browned pasta to serving dish in oven until all pasta is finished. Sprinkle more Parmesan cheese on top, stir and serve.

Breads!

2010-03-24T06:30:00.000-05:00

If you don't have a bread machine I highly recommend that you go and purchase one. The smell and taste of home baked bread is something that very few things compare to (can you tell I love carbs?!?!). These are my two favorite, favorite time-tested recipes that always get rave reviews. I know for sure that the Honey Oatmeal recipe is from my grandmother, Gramme. I'm not sure if the Italian bread one is also or not. But regardless, it's great too!

Honey Oatmeal Bread
Makes 2 lb loaf

11 1/2 ounces (or 1 1/4 cup and 3 T) water
3 T Honey
3 1/4 cups Bread Flour
1 c Old Fashioned Oats
2 c Dry Milk
2 T Butter
1 1/2 t Salt
2 1/4 t Active Dry Yeast

1. Add ingredients to pan in the order they are listed, stopping before you add the butter, salt and yeast.
2. Level ingredients in pan by shaking or tapping on counter.
3. Spoon dry ingredients out to make a well in the center (put the extra in the corners).
4. Cut the butter into four sections and place in the corners of the pan.
5. Put the yeast in the center of the pan.
6. In one corner put the salt.
7. Follow machine instructions to get the outer crust type that you want (I put this on the white bread setting for a 2 pound loaf with a light crust)

Italian Bread
Makes a 2 lb loaf

1 ¼ c. 2 T. water

3 T. oil

4 c. bread flour

3 T. sugar

3 T. dry milk

1 T. Dried Italian Seasoning

2 t. salt

2 ¼ t. active dry yeast

1. Put ingredients in pan in the order they are listed, stopping before adding the salt and yeast.

2. Spoon out a well in the center. Add the yeast into the well.

3. Add the salt in one corner.

4. Follow machine instructions to get the crust that you want (I put this on the French course for a 2 pound loaf with a light crust).

Calzones

2010-03-17T06:30:00.000-05:00

Have you ever made calzone's before? Until last week I hadn't, but one day I got the idea that if we could make a pizza surely we could make a calzone. And with my addiction to bread the extra bread to sauce ratio was exquisite! This is super easy and probably not new to most of you, but I'm trying to put together some simple, easy recipes for my newly graduated into the working world brother and this is a surefire winner!

Easy Calzone's

1 tube refrigerated pizza dough (the calzone above is half of one calzone made with one tube of dough)
Marinara Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Toppings (i.e. pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, peppers...the possibilities are endless)
Olive Oil
Red Pepper Flakes

1. Lay pizza dough out on a cookie sheet or pizza pan. Spread with fingers to cover most of the width of the pan.
2. Brush olive oil on dough (light brushing).
3. Put marinara sauce on half of the pizza dough spreading it fairly close to the edge of the calzone.
4. Place toppings on top of the marinara.
5. Spread cheese on top of the toppings.
6. Fol the other half of the pizza dough over the top of the side with toppings. Press down the edges to seal with your fingers.
7. Brush top with olive oil and sprinkle red pepper flakes (if desired).
8. Bake at 350 for approximately 20-25 minutes or until top is turning golden brown and the bottom is not sticking to the cookie sheet.

Cashew Chicken

2010-03-10T06:30:00.000-06:00

Yet another Rachael Ray Kid Food recipe. So good! Although next time I'll use plain rice instead of jasmine rice, we didn't like the flavor of the jasmine rice. Also, Jason requested that I reduce the amount of water chestnuts next time.

Cashew! God Bless You Chicken with Jasmine Rice

1 box Jasmine rice

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced

2 T sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, minced and mashed

2 T rice wine vinegar (or rice wine or dry sherry)

A couple of shakes crushed red pepper flakes

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 large carrot, peeled and diced into small cubes

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 can (about 7 oz) sliced water chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped

3 heaping tablespoon-size scoops hoisin sauce

A couple handfuls unsalted cashews

3 green onions, thinly sliced on an angle

Follow directions on rice box and start rice.

In a large bowl, combine chicken with 1 T sesame oil, garlic, rice wine, crushed red pepper, and black pepper. Set aside and let it hang out.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon sesame oil in wok or large nonstick skillet over high heat until it smokes. Add carrot and stir-fry for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the coated chicken and cook another 3 or 4 minutes. Toss in the bell pepper and water chestnuts. Heat through for 1 minute. Add the hoisin and toss to coat evenly. Place chicken on a bed of jasmine rice and top with cashews and green onions. Feeds 4 well.

Spicy Chicken Taco's

2010-03-03T06:30:00.000-06:00

I can now definitely recommend that you go and buy the Rachael Ray Kid Food cookbook. I have made a lot of recipes out of it and each one has been pretty superb. This recipe, Spicy Chicken Taco's, was really good and really easy. And, it wasn't too spicy at all!

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small cubes (I used pre-cooked and cut chicken)

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced (I used the jarred version)

1 cup Tomato Puree

2 teaspoons Chili Powder

1 teaspoon Ground Cumin

A handful (I used around 8) coarsely chopped Spanish olives stuffed with pimentos

A hadful of golden raisins (I omitted this)

Coarse salt, to taste (I used regular salt)

8 jumbo taco shells or flour tortillas

Toppings:

Shredded cheese

Avacado dices

Tomato dices

Chopped green onion

Shredded lettuce

In a big skillet over medium heat, brown chicken in olive oil. Add onio and garlic and cook another few minutes to soften onion. Add tomato puree, chili powder, cumin, olives, raisins, and salt, to taste. Bring to a bubble, reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to serve.

Warm taco shells or tortillas in oven or microwave according to package.

Scoop filling into shells and add toppings at the table.

Super Sloppy Joe's

2010-02-24T06:30:00.000-06:00

In college I tried cooking some of Rachael Ray's recipes but I always found them too hard. Too many ingredients that weren't common. Maybe she could make those recipes in 30 minutes but it took me a LOT longer than that! So I kind of gave up on her. Until my aunt gave me her "Kid Food" cookbook for Christmas. A few weeks ago I was looking for new recipes and I figured I might could find something in this cookbook so I pulled it out and I made Rachael's Super Sloppy Joe's. And let me tell you, they were super! We used to make Sloppy Joe's a lot in our first year of marriage when we were trying to stretch our grocery budget but it was always with the sloppy joe mix package from the store. These homemade sloppy joe's were so good! Please give this recipe a try, you won't regret it! (I couldn't find this recipe on her website but if anyone has the link please let me know!)

Super Sloppy Joe's

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 lb Ground Beef (the leaner the better)

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 teaspoons Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick

1 medium Onion, chopped finely

1 small Red Bell Pepper, chopped finely

1 T Red Wine Vinegar

1 T Worcestershire Sauce

2 cups Tomato Sauce

2 T Tomato Paste

4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and slightly buttered

1. Heat a large skilled over M/H head. Add oil and beef to the pan, spreading it around to break it up.

2. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning, then add to skillet and combine.

3. When meat has browned, add onion and red pepper. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Add vinegar, stirring briefly, then add Worcestershire, tomato sauce and tomato paste, stirring to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook 5 minutes longer.

5. Serve on toasted buns

Pineapple Zucchini Cake

2010-02-17T06:30:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago we joined Grow Alabama. This is an organization that you can sign up with to receive a box of locally grown, mostly organic or working towards an organic qualification produce. Each week you get a list of things for your box and you can eliminate items that you don't want and get an extra portion of items that you want. We have found it to be a great way to introduce more produce into our diet while knowing that we are supporting local farmers and families.

The first week that we got a box we received zucchini in our box. Since it had been too cold to grille and that's usually how I would enjoy zucchini I set out to find some zucchini recipes. So I started out by searching typical recipe sites and then I went to The Pioneer Woman because I've found that she has great, go-to recipes. And I found a recipe from her recipe website, Tasty Kitchen. I had forgotten about Tasty Kitchen but I went and checked it out and if you're not using it for your recipes you should be! It's full of reader submitted recipes that other people comment on and put their opinions. It includes ratings and pictures. It's a great resource!

Anyway, so I found Ree's post about Pineapple Zucchini Cake and I decided to try it. It is similar to carrot cake so don't flip out too much about there being zucchini in it. And the pineapple's make it moist. It is a really delicious cake that's topped with cream cheese icing! Go check out Ree's post about it which links to the original recipe on Tasty Kitchen or here's the recipe. (BTW, sorry about the quality of the picture. All I had with me was my camera and it was kind of dark!)

Pineapple Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
    * 1 cup All-purpose Flour
    * 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (can Use All White Flour If You Don't Have This)
    * 1-¼ cup Granulated Sugar
    * 1/2 Cup Sweetened Flaked Coconut
    * 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
    * 1 teaspoon Salt
    * 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
    * Freshly Grated Nutmeg, To Taste (1/4 To 1/2 Tsp?), Optional
    * 1 Pinch Ginger (about 1/16 Tsp Or So), Optional
    * 3 Tablespoons Canola Oil
    * 2 whole Large Eggs
    * 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
    * 2 Cups Grated (unpeeled) Zucchini (*see Note)
    * 1 (20 Oz.) Can Crushed Pineapple In Juice, Drained (reserve In Case You Need It For The Cake Batter Or The Frosting)
    * FROSTING
    * 2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
    * 8 Ounces Low-fat Cream Cheese, Softened (can Use Full-fat Cream Cheese)
    * 2 Cups Powdered Sugar, Approx.
    * 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
    * Splash Of Milk Or Pineapple Juice, If Necessary
    * Chopped Walnuts Or Pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, coconut, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk.

Combine oil, eggs, and vanilla; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated zucchini, and pineapple into flour mixture. Batter will be stiff and dry but keep folding it and it will all come together. If it still seems too dry, just add a little splash of the pineapple juice.

Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for about 33-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs and cake is pulling away from sides of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To prepare frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Add a splash of milk or pineapple juice if necessary. Spread frosting over top of cake. You can garnish with chopped pecans or walnuts, if desired.

NOTES : If your zucchini are huge, scrape the seeds out of the center before you shred it so it’s not too watery. Also, I spread it all out on layers of paper towel to drain it and dry it off a bit. Then I measure out 2 cups. Not sure if this is critical though. Nuts can also be added to the cake batter if desired. This recipe makes a very generous amount of frosting.

And this recipe can be turned into a Carrot Cake just by substituting shredded carrots for the zucchini.

Valentine's Petits Fours

2010-02-10T06:30:00.001-06:00

Last year at Valentine's I channeled my inner Bakerella and made Red Velvet Cake Cookies. They were a huge hit and have been a huge hit multiple times between then and now. If you haven't ever made them then please go make them for yourself today. Consider it your Valentine's present to yourself.

This year, I'm channeling my inner MckMama and Amanda to bring you Valentine's Petits Fours.

Yes, I made these myself and yes, I'm rather proud of them. I had never worked with Fondant before and it was surprisingly easy and, with some vanilla added in, surprisingly tasty. I've never been a big fondant fan, actually the one thing that I said about my wedding cake was that I didn't want fondant because it always makes cakes (that I had had in the past) taste horrible. Please excuse me if your wedding cake had fondant on it, I'm sure it tasted lovely, but apparently the bakers in my hometown don't know how to flavor it and keep it from tasting like rubber so I try to avoid it. That being said, despite how much I've maligned the fondant name in the past, I decided to try these because they were oh so cute and I figured they would look pretty even if they didn't taste good. I followed Amanda's instructions from MckMama's blog and I think the end result was quite satisfactory! I didn't get all fancy with the royal icing but the next time I make them I think I will! Here's my condensed version of the previous post (the post has pictures, etc to go with steps so hop on over there for more detail).

Valentine's Petits Fours
Makes: However many you want to make

You will need:
Oreo Cakesters (my Target had the golden cakesters and they were probably better than original but its your preference)
A box of fondant (from Hobby Lobby)
Rolling Pin (from Hobby Lobby)
Red Food coloring (the gel kind from Hobby Lobby)
Colorless Vanilla extract (from Hobby Lobby)
Cookie Cutters
Royal Icing (if you are so inclined)

Instructions:
- Take a good chunk of fondant and put a little bit of vanilla extract in it and work it in until you feel like the fondant is pretty well flavored. My precise measuring of the vanilla extra included maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of one of Charlotte's soft tipped spoons.
- If you are coloring it then add in some food coloring and do the same mixing that you just did before. To make a deep red it takes a lot of food coloring but start with a little and work your way up to it.
- Break off a piece of the fondant and start rolling it out with the rolling pin. I rolled it straight on to my granite because that's supposed to be best but if you don't have a stone countertop MckMama recommends rolling it out on wax paper. Make sure that you bring the ends of the fondant up onto the rolling pin while you're rolling so that they won't stick to the counter making it hard to peel off.
- Once it's rolled fairly thin place the fondant on top of a cakester and use your fingers to gently press it down on the top and sides. It really helps when you're doing this if you've see Ace of Cakes. I felt like I was a professional from all of their episodes that I've watched.
- Once the fondant is pressed down on the sides cut around the cakester leaving a little edge. Then pick up the cakester and using your fingers press the fondant down to seal the edges.
- Decorate as you desire. I bought a paintbrush at Hobby Lobby and used it to paint water onto the top of the cakester and on to the back of the heart to fuse them together.

Chicken Parmesan

2010-02-10T06:30:00.000-06:00

This is another Family Circle recipe and, like the last, I couldn't find the recipe online. I found this recipe to be fairly simple to put together and it was very good. The only thing that I would recommend is to carefully watch your chicken while it is browning in the skillet because mine didn't take three minutes per side -- that left my chicken pieces a little too browned!

Chicken Parmesan

Serves 6

Prep 20 minutes

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
12 chicken tender filets, about 1 1/2 pounds
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup bottled marinara sauce
12 fresh basil leaves
1 cup shredded four cheese blend

Heat oven to 375 degrees
Place bread crumbs in a shallow dish and egg in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken pieces in egg, shaking off excess. Coat with bread crumbs, place on a plate.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add half the chicken and cook for 3 minutes per side. Remove to a 9x13 inch baking dish. Repeat with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and remaining chicken.
Spoon marinara sauce over a chicken in dish. Top each tender with a basil leaf, then sprinkle cheese over chicken.
Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, until bubbly and cheese melts. Serve with cooked ziti and marinara sauce, if desired.

Potato Salad with Bacon and Parsley

2010-02-03T06:30:00.000-06:00

This recipe is from Real Simple's June 09 issue. It was a feature on "Summer Vegetable Sides" but potatoes are always in season -- at least you can always get them at the grocery store -- so I think this is a year round recipe. This differs from the "traditional" Southern potato salad with a mayonnaise base. Since Jason isn't a big mayo fan I thought this would be a good recipe. We enjoyed the recipe but I didn't have as many potatoes as I was supposed to and so the ratio of sauce to potatoes was a little strong. If you are cooking less potatoes than the recipe calls for I would recommend mixing the sauce in a separate bowl and just putting in enough sauce to lightly coat the potatoes. My potatoes also cooked a little too long, so make sure you don't overcook them or they'll start falling apart when you're trying to mix in the sauce!

Potato Salad with Bacon and Parsley

Serves 6 Hands-On Time: 10m Total Time: 25m

1 1/2 pounds new potatoes
kosher salt and black pepper
4 slices bacon
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Place the potatoes in a pot with water to cover and 1 teaspoon salt and simmer until tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool. Cut into quarters.
Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to paper towels. Crumble when cool.
In a large bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, mustard, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss with the potatoes, bacon, and parsley.

Shrimp Pizza

2010-01-27T06:30:00.000-06:00

I pulled this out of the September 2009 issue of Parents magazine from an article about making things that your kids will eat. (I couldn't find the recipe on their website.) Kids, husbands, same thing right??? :) I kid, Jason is a really good eater, but he loves shrimp so I thought that this recipe would be perfect for him and I like shrimp so good for me! I made this on Monday night and it was fantastic! It's more like an authentic pizza that you would get in Italy as opposed to something from a pizza delivery chain. It was really good and I felt pretty healthy eating it since the recipe says that each slice only has 175 calories. It was really easy to make and only took about 35-40 minutes from start of prep time until sitting at the table so that was great also.

Shrimp Pizza

1 14 oz can refrigerated pizza crust
2 T olive oil, divided
2 tsp minced garlic
1 lb Shrimp, peeled
5 plum tomatoes, cut into 1/4" slices
1/4 c fresh basil, slivered
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
Pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425. Roll out crust to fit a jelly roll pan or your pizza stone. Brush crust with 1 T olive oil and sprinkle with garlic. Top with shrimp and tomatoes; bake for 12 minutes.
2. Remove the pizza from the oven. Sprinkle it with basil and cheese. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Return to the oven just until cheese is melted, about 7 minutes (only took 5 in my oven). Season with pepper and allow the pizza to cool slightly before serving.

PW's Chocolate Sheet Cake

2010-01-20T08:02:00.000-06:00

I'm not going to feature a PW recipe every week but this one is too good to not feature so that I can try and twist your arm to make this cake because you definitely won't regret it!

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 24

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:
2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
2 sticks Butter
1 cup Boiling Water
½ cups Buttermilk
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla
_____
FOR FROSTING:
½ cups Finely Chopped Pecans
1-¾ stick Butter
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
6 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.
Cut into squares, eat, and totally wig out over the fact that you’ve just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever.

Hawaiian Sandwiches

2010-01-13T06:30:00.000-06:00

This is not so much a recipe as an idea. Since we were gone all week last week, I'm playing catch up with the Cooking through the Pioneer Woman's cookbook this week and am pretty much only cooking staple recipes that I've already posted or Pioneer Woman recipes. So I thought I would give you the details about one of my favorite warmed sandwiches since this time of year is the perfect time to enjoy a warm sandwich.
The key ingredient is Hawaiian bread/rolls. I buy King's because that's the only kind of Hawaiin bread that they sell at our grocery stores. So buy either a package of small square rolls or a large round pan of the bread. The sweetness of the bread is what makes it so good. Then you can add whatever you want on the sandwich and then you heat it in the oven until the cheese is all melty. My Mom used to make it with onions but I don't have that exact recipe so we just make a sandwich now. We usually put two kinds of meat (ham and turkey usually), cheese (usually something really yummy from the deli like smoked guyere or smoked cheddar), mayo, and mustard (something tangy works best). These are super easy and are really good. And if you're making them for, say, a football game or an event their easy to make ahead of time and just pop them in the oven about 20 - 30 minutes (on 350) before you want to serve them. So in summary...
Hawaiian Sandwiches
One large package of Hawaiian Bread
Mayo
Tangy Mustard
Ham
Turkey
Cheese

Cut sandwich bread in half. Spread mayo on bread. Add mustard to bread. Add meats and cheese(s). Toast in the oven on 350 for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese melts.

The Pioneer Woman's Monkey Muffins

2010-01-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

Monkey Bread is perhaps one of my favorite breakfast foods. It's so yummy and sweet and gooey that I just eat it up! So the Christmas after we got married I decided I wanted a bundt cake pan so that I could make Monkey Bread. Being the good Santa that Santa at our house is, he brought not only the pan but a mix for Monkey Bread from Williams-Sonoma. So later in the winter I set out to make the Monkey Bread and I kid you not, I think it took me one entire Saturday to make it. So time consuming! Of course, super delicious when it was actually finished but that was a lot of work!

That experience is what made me giddy when The Pioneer Woman put up a recipe for Monkey Muffins. Basically, it's a shortcut for Monkey Bread! I planned to make them for the day after Christmas morning but I was sick so I finally made them New Years morning. I made them after feeding Charlotte when she got up and they were ready right when we were ready to eat breakfast! Super easy and so, so, so good. We ate the leftovers the next morning and they might have been even better because they had more time to soak up the sweetened, condensed goodness! If you're a Monkey Bread fan you have to try Ree's adaptation!
PW Monkey Muffins
Servings: 12
Ingredients
Leftover Bread Dough (or Refrigerated Biscuit Dough, Cut Into Thirds)
Butter
Sugar
Ground Cinnamon
Sweetened, Condensed Milk

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Add 1/2 teaspoon butter to muffin tins. Sprinkle in sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into walnut sized balls (or cut refrigerated biscuit dough into thirds). Place three into each muffin tin.
Top with 1/2 teaspoon butter. Sprinkle on more sugar and cinnamon.
Allow dough to rise, if applicable, or just go ahead and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.
Remove from oven and immediately drizzle plenty of sweetened condensed milk over the top of each one. Be generous! Allow rolls to sit for a little while to absorb sweet, sticky milk.
Scoop out with a spoon and serve to hungry humans.
My Notes:
- I used one can of flaky biscuit dough. I ended up putting probably 4 or 5 smaller balls in each muffin place instead of just three.
- Once these have baked they come out of the muffin tins and stay together beautifully so if you wanted to serve them they would be easy to serve.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

2009-12-30T06:30:00.001-06:00

For Christmas Eve dessert with Jason's parents and brother I made the most delectable pie for dessert. I combined a recipe from the Birthday Girl and The Pioneer Woman to make this pie (used The Pioneer Woman's crust recipe and the Birthday Girl's filling recipe). It was so good! BUT, it is super rich so you don't need to cut big slices!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Crust:
25 whole Oreos
4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
Filling:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 (8-ounce) package softened cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 can condensed milk
8 ounces Cool Whip
Preparation:
Crust:
Crush the Oreos until they’re fine crumbs. Pour melted butter over the top and stir with a fork to combine. Press into pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes, or until set.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Filling:
Beat the peanut butter, condensed milk, powdered sugar and cream cheese in a mixer until smooth.
Add in the whipped cream and beat until smooth, scraping the sides as needed.
Pour filling into crust, evening out the top with a knife or spatula.
Chill for at least an hour before serving.

Million Dollar Cookies

2009-12-23T06:30:00.000-06:00

If you've ever wanted a fantastic, to die for Chocolate Chip cookie recipe this is the recipe for you! It is so good that I could eat these cookies all the time! I recently made them for our neighbors and I hope they were as big of a hit at their houses as they are at ours! The recipe is from my parents next door neighbor, Talitha, and they are really really good. They do have oatmeal in them (a lot of oatmeal) so if you don't like oatmeal I would stay away. But I feel like the oatmeal gives them the perfect taste and besides, I figure, with oatmeal in them, they could almost be considered healthy! :) The cookie batter also gets really thick so I would use a stand mixer if you have one and if not, be prepared for an arm workout! It's a workout just mixing in the chocolate so I can't imagine how much energy it would take to hold a hand mixer to mix the whole batter.

Million Dollar Cookies
Makes 5-6 dozen
1 c butter
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
2 1/2 c oatmeal (instant Quakers)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 12 oz pkg chocolate chips (Hershey)
3 Hershey candy bars (broken)
1 1/2 c chopped nuts (optional)
Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix in flour, oats, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add chips, candy, and nuts(optional).
Bake 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes.
*I made a little over 4 dozen. I scooped my cookies with the medium sized scoop from Pampered Chef.
*I also don't add nuts. I'm against nuts in sweets! :)

The Pioneer Woman's BBQ Meatballs

2009-12-16T06:30:00.000-06:00

This week the recipe that I'm featuring is one of The Pioneer Woman's. If you don't read The Pioneer Woman you should probably start. She is hilarious with the most down to eart, funny tales about life on the ranch in Oklahoma. She is also an amazing cook who comes up with the best recipes! A lot of them have a lot of steps but every one that I've made so far has been so worth it! Ree has a cookbook that has come out that I'm hoping I'm getting for Christmas!

Two weeks ago I got on a cooking kick and made a few recipes, one of which was The Pioneer Woman's BBQ Meatballs which she calls the "ultimate comfort food." I was surprised at the lack of elaborate steps in the recipe but I was glad that Jason was home to help me when we got to the part about dredging the meatballs in flour and then cooking them in oil on the stove. It just helped to have two sets of hands but I'm sure you could do that step by yourself if you were a little more organized about it than I was. Another thing that I loved about this recipe was that I ate the leftovers for lunch the next two days and the meatballs were still fantastic even two days later! I also served these over egg noodles but I'm sure mashed potatoes would be great also.

Go and check out Ree's post for step by step pictures and instructions or to print the recipe to the size that you need for your recipe box. But if you just want the bare bones recipe it is below.

BBQ Meatballs

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 45 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Servings: 6

Ingredients

FOR MEATBALLS
1-½ pound Ground Beef
¾ cups Oats
1 cup Milk
3 Tablespoons Very Finely Minced Onion
1-½ teaspoon Salt
Plenty Of Ground Black Pepper (to Taste)
_____

FOR COOKING MEATBALLS
1 cup All-Purpose Flour (coating For Frozen Meatballs)
Canola Oil
_____
FOR SAUCE
1 cup Ketchup
2 Tablespoons Sugar
3 Tablespoons Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire
4 Tablespoons (to 6 Tablespoons) Onion
1 dash(es) Tabasco

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes.
After 5 minutes, remove meatballs from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.
Brown meatballs in canola oil until just brown. Place into a baking dish.
Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve with egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or crusty French bread.

Shells with Chicken and Mozzarella

2009-12-09T09:01:00.003-06:00

I don't remember where I found this recipe so I can't give credit but if you run across it in a recipe search let me know. I made this last week and it was soooo yummy! Jason and I both thoroughly enjoyed it! And it was really easy too!

Shells with Grilled Chicken and Mozzarella
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Vegetable oil, for grates
1 1/2 pounds chicken cutlets (Note: I used two packages of pre-cooked grilled chicken breast and it was great!)
8 ounces medium pasta shells
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons butter

1.Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for pasta. Meanwhile, heat grill to medium; lightly oil grates. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Grill until cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from grill, and cut into thin strips, halving if long.
2.Cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water; drain pasta, and return to pot. Add chicken, tomatoes, mozzarella, parsley, Parmesan, and butter. Toss to combine. Add reserved pasta water a little at a time to create a sauce that coats shells (you may not need all the water). Serve with more Parmesan.

It is a lot easier and quicker if you use the pre-cooked chicken. Two packages put plenty of chicken into the mix. The way the cheeses melted and blended with everything else was just so good! I want to go back and remake this recipe already!

Sausage and Potato Soup

2009-12-02T06:30:00.000-06:00

Since it's gotten so cold outside I have been wanting any kind of soup that I can find. I keep a recipe folder in my email box and whenever I get an email I tag it for that folder and archive it. So on Sunday I started going through some of those emails to see if I could find something to cook this week that was new and I ran across this recipe from one of my Mom's co-workers. It was good as she gave it but I've tweaked it just a little more to our liking. That's the beauty of simple recipes -- you can change them up to just how you like them and you can be pretty sure that they'll still taste great! And this recipe makes a lot of soup so you might want to half it if there are just two of you.
Sausage and Potato Soup

32 oz bag of frozen diced hash browns (or about 3 lbs of peeled and diced potatoes) (the more potatoes the better)
1 1/2 to 2 lbs sausage browned (can be hot or mild)
2 chopped onions
4 cups of water
4 cups of milk
28 oz of chicken broth
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans cream of celery soup

Mix everything and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes. Serve with cheese -- pepper jack or parmesan go especially well.

Black Bean Salsa

2009-11-25T06:30:00.000-06:00

This is not very Thanksgiving-y but if you're making an appetizer this is always a crowd pleaser! This Paula Deen recipe is one of my very favorites. It's made with all fresh ingredients so it tastes fantastic and the best part is that it is SUPPOSED to be made the day before!

Black Bean Salsa
Two 15 oz cans Black Beans, rinsed and drained
One 17 oz package frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/8 to ¼ c Chopped Fresh Cilantro
3 to 4 T Lime Juice
1 T Red Wine Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl. Cover and chill overnight. Taste and add salt, pepper, or more lime juice as necessary. Serve with tortilla chips as an appetizer or with grilled chicken breast as a meal.

Pizza Spaghetti Casserole

2009-11-18T06:30:00.000-06:00

This is another Southern Living recipe that I made last week. It was very good!

Pizza Spaghetti Casserole
Makes 1 9x13 casserole

12 ounces uncooked spaghetti
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1-lb package mild ground pork sausage
2 ounces turkey pepperoni slices (about 30), cut in half
1 26 ounce jard tomato-and-basil pasta sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 8 ounce package shredded Italian three-cheese blend

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions in water with salt. Drain well and placed in a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish.
2. Brown sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain and set aside. Wipe skillet clean. Add pepperoni, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, 4 minutes or until slightly crisp.
3. Top spaghetti in baking dish with sausage; pour pasta sauce over sausage. Arrange half of pepperoni slices evenly over pasta sauce. Sprinkle evenly with cheeses. Arrange remaining half of pepperoni slices evenly over cheese. Cover with nonstick or lightly greased aluminum foil.
4. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes; remove foil, and bake 10 more minutes or until cheese is melted and just begins to brown.

Onion Topped Sausage 'n Mashed Potato Casserole

2009-11-14T12:46:00.003-06:00

I found this recipe in a Southern Living Casserole email that I got last week and I made if for Jason last Wednesday. My version is a little different than the original Southern Living recipe because I couldn't find all of the requested ingredients in the grocery store. But the modified version was yummy and so I know the original would be too! And pretty easy and quick! It's a good fall/winter meal because it's hearty and warm. It made a full 9x13 dish so it would also be easy to split in two and freeze half. Here's my version:

Onion Topped Sausage 'n Mashed Potato Casserole

1 package sweet Sausage links (pre-cooked kind)
2 14.5 oz cans Diced Tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried Basil
1 teaspoon Garlic and Herb Seasoning (Mrs. Dash's)
1 pkg Steam and Mash potatoes (frozen section)
1 8 oz package Italian five cheese blend
1/4 teaspoon Dried Italian Seasoning
1 cup French Fried Onions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut sausage into small slices. Warm slices in skillet 2-3 minutes.
3. Stir in tomatoes, basil, and Garlic and Herb Seasoning. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.
Transfer sausage to a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish.
4. Meanwhile, cook potatoes in microwave as directed. Only microwave, don't mash.
5. Stir together mashed potatoes, cheese, and Italian seasoning in a large bowl. (Mixture will be dry.) Spread potato mixture over sausage mixture in baking dish.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly. Top with fried onions and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Mustard and Brown Sugar Chicken

2009-10-21T06:30:00.000-05:00

This recipe is from the Birmingham Junior League cookbook, Tables of Content. Like I mentioned earlier, I love Junior League cook books and this one has some great recipes. From my notes in the margins I made this recipe first back in February of 2007 but then I forgot about it until now. I hate that I forgot about it because it is really good!!

Mustard and Brown Sugar Chicken

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

6 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tablespoons coarse grain mustard (like Maile mustard)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Hot cooked Rice (or I served this with the Smashed Potatoes!)

Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix the brown sugar, olive oil, vinegar, coarse grain mustard, lime juice, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a bowl and pour over the chicken, turning to coat. Marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for 4 hours, turning occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the chicken in the marinade for 40 minutes. Spoon the hot cooked rice onto a serving platter and top with the chicken. Drizzle with the hot marinade.

Shrimp with Rice

2009-10-14T06:30:00.000-05:00

Wild Rice and Shrimp has long been a favorite of mine. It's pretty easy to make and includes my favorite ingredients like shrimp and mushrooms. However, my sweet husband isn't such a mushroom fan and while he likes the dish he usually picks the mushrooms out. So as a compromise I found this recipe from The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook. It was really good and just as easy to make. I did make a little bit of a modification since Charlotte isn't liking when I eat cheese. I'll include the original and my modification. Enjoy!

Shrimp with Rice
Two 6 ounce boxes Uncle Ben's long-grain and wild rice
2 pounds shrimp, cleaned, peeled, and deveined
1 onion, diced and sauteed in 2 tablespoons butter
1 bell pepper, chopped
Two 10 3/4 ounce cans condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
16 ounces Grated Cheddar Cheese; reserve 1/2 cup for top
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Remove seasoning mix from rice; do not use. Cook rice as directed on box. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix rice with remaining ingredients in a baking dish and sprinkle reserved cheese on top. Bake for 45 minutes.

My Modified Recipe:
Omit the cheese
Add Bread crumbs

Remove seasoning mix from rice; do not use. Cook rice as directed on box. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix rice with remaining ingredients in a baking dish and sprinkle bread crumbs on top to cover dish. Bake for 45 minutes.

Smashed Potatoes with Stir Ins

2009-10-07T06:30:00.000-05:00

Yummy! This picture makes me hungry all over again! I had never tried making any form of mashed/smashed potatoes until I tried this recipe but now that I know it's so easy I will definitely be making it again and soon! I got this recipe from an "Easy Meals" magazine from Woman's Day. I couldn't find the recipe on their website though so I can't link to it. Anyway, it was really good and a really great side dish. You can change out what you put in the potatoes to make them go with any meal!

Smashed Potatoes with Stir Ins
Serves 6 (2/3 c servings)

2 pounds (4 cups) medium red potatoes, washed, cut into quarters
1 teaspoon salt
Water
1 cup Half and Half
1/4 cup Butter, cut into chunks
1/4 cup Sour Cream
1/2 teaspoon Salt
5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1. Place potatoes and 1 teaspoon salt in a 3 quart saucepan; cover with water. Cook over high heat until water comes to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Cook until potatoes are tender (15 to 20 minutes). Drain potatoes, return to saucepan.
2. Meanwhile, heat half and half in 1 quart saucepan just until warm.
3. Add butter to potatoes; mash potatoes until about two thirds are mashed and one third remain lumpy. Gradually add half and half to potato mixture; mix well. Stir in sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper (if desired), and bacon. Serve immediately.

Variations:
- Ranch Smashed Potatoes: Omit 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir in 2 tablespoons dry ranch salad dressing mix and 1/4 cup chopped green onions with sour cream.
- Chipoltle, Green Chili, and Cheddar Smashed Potatoes: Stir in 1 teaspoon chopped chipotle chili in adobo sauce, 1 (4 ounce) can well drained diced green chilis and 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese.

Note:
I didn't use all of the liquid with the potatoes because mine were getting soupy quickly. Just keep mixing until you get a consistency that you like.

Also, make sure you don't get too many of the potatoes smashed before you start adding liquid. The stirring with the liquid smashes the potatoes quickly.

Slow Cooker Barbecue

2009-09-30T06:30:00.000-05:00

With fall and cooler weather upon us I'm searching for any and every warm, slow cooker meal that I can find. And what defines fall more than barbecue!?!? Nothing! To me that just screams football season! I found a really great slow cooker barbecue recipe in our local hospital foundation's cookbook. I was a little unsure because I've never cooked that much pork before but it turned out so tender and really good!

Slow Cooker Barbecue
2 to 3 pounds boneless pork
1/3 cup Ketchup
1/3 cup Vinegar
1/3 cup Pineapple Juice
1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons pepper sauce
2 (4 ounce) jars baby food peaches

Trim excess fat from pork. Pack tightly into slow cooker. Combine ketchup, vinegar, pineapple juice, brown sugar, pepper sauce, and peaches in blender container. Process until smooth. Pour sauce over pork. Chill, covered, overnight. Cook on High for 8 to 10 hours or until pork is cooked through.

*Note: I cooked this on high in my slow cooker for 8 hours and it was perfect!

Sesame Salmon and Hunan Noodles

2009-09-23T06:30:00.000-05:00

A few years ago my parents went to Colorado and my Mom brought me back Colorado Collage which is the cookbook from the Junior League of Denver. I LOVE collecting Junior League cookbooks from around the country because their recipes are always so good! This cookbook has intimidated me though because all of the recipes sound so sophisticated and are so different than the staples that we make in the South. But a few weeks ago I endeavored to try something. For the past month or so I've been working at finding new recipes in the myriad of cookbooks that I own and so I found this recipe in the Colorado cookbook. Let me tell you, it was a good recipe! There are a few things that I would change the next time I made it (which I'll note at the bottom) but all together a very good (and pretty healthy!) meal!

Sesame Salmon and Hunan Noodles
Serves 4

6-8 ounces dried oriental-style noodles
4 T Sesame Oil, divided
1/2 c Soy Sauce, divided
2 T Rice Wine Vinegar
1 T Sugar
1 T Hot Chili Oil
1 T plus 1 t peeled, minced fresh ginger root, divided
2 T sliced Green Onions
1/3 c Fresh Peas, cut into thirds
1/3 c Shredded Carrots
1/3 c Sliced Fresh Mushrooms
1/3 c Thinly Sliced Red Bell Pepper
3-4 T Fresh Lemon Juice
Freshly Ground Pepper
4 4-ounce Salmon Filet's

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain well, place in a large bowl and toss with 2 T of the Sesame oil. In a small bow, combine 1/4 c of the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, hot chili oil, and 1 t of the ginger. Stir until well blended and add to noodles. Toss to blend. Add green onions, peas, carrots, mushrooms, and bell pepper. Toss and chill 2 hours.

In a shallow glass dish, combine lemon juice, remaining 1/4 c soy sauce, remaining 2 T sesame oil, remaining 1 T ginger and pepper to taste. Add salmon and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill 2 hours. Preheat grill to medium-high. Grill salmon, discarding marinade, 4-5 minutes per side. Serve salmon on noodle mixture. Serve immediately or chill and serve cold.

*Note: I couldn't find 'Rice' Wine vinegar in the grocery store and so I used the 'Wine Vinegar' that was with all of the oriental fixings.
*Note: I couldn't find Hot Chili Oil and so I substituted 1/2 teaspoon of Chili Sauce with Garlic
*Note: I decided to saute the vegetables in olive oil before putting in the pasta, but that's just a personal preference.
*Note: Jason preferred the pasta to be served immediately while still warm. It was ok with the pasta cold but I agree that it would probably be better all hot. And we definitely served it while the salmon was fresh off of the grill!

Baked Corn with Sour Cream

2009-09-16T06:30:00.001-05:00

This is one of my absolute favorite side dishes. It is so good and fairly easy to make! It is always a big hit when I take it to gathering's and Jason always gets excited when I say that I'm making it! The only thing is that it doesn't make a ton so if you're planning on taking this for a pot luck or for a lot of people I'd double the recipe. The recipe says that is yields 8 servings but in my experience people take really large servings because it's so good! This is another recipe from Cotton Country.

Baked Corn with Sour Cream
Yields 8 servings

6 strips Bacon
2 T Chopped Onion
2 T Butter
2 T Flour
1/2 t Salt
1 c Sour Cream
2 12-ounce cans Shoe Peg Corn
1 T chopped parsley (optional)

1. Cook and crumble bacon.
2. Cook onion in butter, blend in flour and salt.
3. Add sour cream gradually, stirring to keep smooth.
4. Bring just to a boil and add corn. Cook until heated through.
5. Fold in half of bacon and pour in greased baking dish.
6. Garnish with parsley and remaining bacon.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Burgundy Pork Tenderloin

2009-09-09T06:30:00.000-05:00

This is another guest post by my friend Brittanie! She sends me the yummiest recipes! Enjoy!

Burgundy Pork Tenderloin

2 lbs Pork Tenderloin (a pkg usually comes with two 1 lb tenderloins)
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Ground Black Pepper
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
Mushrooms, whatever kind you like, cut up how ever you like
2 cups Red Wine
1 (maybe 2 depending on if it thickens or not) packets dry Brown Gravy Mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place pork in a 9x13 inch baking dish, and sprinkle meat with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Top with onion and mushroom, and pour wine over all.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
4. When done baking, remove meat from baking dish and place on a serving platter. Pour gravy mix into baking dish with wine and cooking juices, and stir until thickened. Slice meat. And cover with gravy.

** Notes: When the meat was done I took it out of the baking dish and put it in some aluminum foil while I mixed the gravy. Then I cut up the meat and put it back in the baking dish. Also, I used two packets of gravy mix and it never thickened, I might not have done it right, but it was still really good!

Chicken Aloha

2009-09-02T06:30:00.000-05:00

I'm actually using Cotton Country consistently for the first time in my married life instead of just making the recipes that my Mom has always made so this is another one from that great cookbook! Even though I'm not a big pineapple fan this was a good recipe that was also easy to bake. Just make sure and factor in the cook time! All of these one hour cook times leave us eating dinner rather late!

Chicken Aloha

1 Chicken Breast for each person

1 small bottle Ketchup

1 can Tomato Soup (or Tomato Paste)

1 Bell Pepper, chopped

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/3 Cup Vinegar

1 Teaspoon Dry Mustard

1 can Pineapple Chunks and Juice (I got a regular sized can since it just said "1 can")

1. Place chicken breasts in baking dish.

2. Mix remaining ingredients into sauce and pour over chicken.

3. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour covered. (In my gas over I only let it cook for 45 minutes covered)

4. Remove cover and bake an additional 15 minutes.

5. Serve over rice.

Sweet and Sour Pork Chops

2009-08-26T06:30:00.001-05:00

This is another recipe from Cotton Country. It was SO EASY to make and it was SO GOOD!

Sweet and Sour Pork Chops

6 Pork Chops
Salt and Pepper to taste
6 slices Lemon
6 teaspoons Brown Sugar
1 cup Ketchup
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1. Place pork chops in deep baking pan; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. On each pork chop place a slice of lemon and a teaspoon of brown sugar.
3. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over pork chops.
4. Cover baking pan with foil. Seal to make airtight.
5. Bake in 350 degree oven for one hour.

Wild Rice and Shrimp

2009-08-19T08:30:00.000-05:00

It's back! After a maternity leave I've started Recipe Wednesday again. This is where I'll share some of my favorite recipe's with you. Today, I'm sharing one of my go-to recipes. It's pretty easy to put together (when you use frozen shrimp), makes a ton of food, and tastes great! If you have Cotton Country you can find the recipe in there but for those of you who don't have that cook book here it is.

Wild Rice and Shrimp
Serves 10-12 (One 9x12 casserole or two square pans)

1 1/2 pounds cooked Shrimp
1/2 cup Margarine
1/2 large Chopped Onion
1/2 large chopped Bell Pepper
1 large can sliced Mushrooms (I only use about half of this due to Jason's distaste of mushrooms)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
6 drops Tabasco
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
2 tablespoons Cream
Buttered Bread Crumbs
1 small box Wild Rice cooked as directed

1. Saute onion, pepper, and mushrooms in margarine.
2. Add shrimp, Worcestershire, and Tabasco.
3. Heat soup with cream.
4. Fold all together with cooked rice.
5. Pour in greased casserole.
6. Cover with bread crumbs.
7. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

Eclair Cake

2009-06-17T06:30:00.001-05:00

Éclair Cake
Makes 12 servings

1 box honey graham crackers
2 (3.4-ounce) packages Vanilla or French Vanilla instant pudding mix
3 cups milk
1 (8oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 container ready-to-spread chocolate frosting

Preparation
Line bottom of an ungreased 13- x 9-inch baking dish with honey graham crackers. Whisk together pudding mix and milk. Let it set for 5 mins in refrigerator. Fold in whipped topping. Spread half of pudding mixture over graham crackers. Repeat layers with graham crackers and remaining pudding mixture. Top with remaining graham crackers. Heat frosting in microwave for 30-35 seconds. Pour chocolate frosting over graham crackers. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Note: To lighten, use reduced-fat graham crackers, sugar-free pudding mix, fat-free milk, and fat-free frozen whipped topping.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-06-10T04:29:00.000-05:00

Hi! My name is Jenni, and I came to know Jennifer when I helped her host a baby shower for Kelly. After that she brought me a few meals while I was on best rest waiting for my little girl to be born. How nice was that...we hardly knew each other at the time and she was sweet enough to bring us some wonderful food! So, I was more than happy to return the favor when Charlotte was born.This is a recipe for the cookies I took her for dessert. They resemble those old fashioned peanut butter cookies you probably made when you were little...but better!! At least I think so because I love chocolate and peanut butter together!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
1 pkg devils food cake mix
4 oz. cream cheese (room temp)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all four ingredients on low speed x 2 min and then on medium for 2 min. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and put on non stick cookie sheet. Dip fork into granulated sugar and make "criss-cross" shape on top. Bake for 7-8 minutes.

My hints:
**I felt the batter was a little too dry. So I added a little water (maybe a TBLS or two). It still was really grainy and I didn't think it would work, but they came out great!
**Be prepared...the mixing is a mess. Use a big bowl!
**It makes a lot of cookies and you don't have to space them to far apart on the cookies sheet (they don't really spread).
**You can make then 1-2 weeks ahead and freeze after baked. Then take out as needed.

Spinach Dip

2009-05-27T06:30:00.001-05:00

Hi everybody! My name is April and I am going to be sharing a quick and easy Spinach Dip recipe with you today. This is a dish that I made for the office baby shower I helped throw for Jennifer and she must have liked it because she invited me here today. :) I immediately accepted her invitation and am thrilled that I can help out during this busy time and allow her more time to just snuggle up with baby Charlotte.

So on to the good stuff! I got this recipe from a friend of mine and it is a favorite snack around my house. The good news is… it only requires three ingredients, three steps and no actual cooking. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

You will need the following:

16 oz. container of sour cream

Knorr’s dry vegetable soup mix

Chopped spinach -- I generally use a 14 oz. package

The first step is to thaw and drain your spinach. Then put all three ingredients into a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly and serve! I usually pair mine with Wheat Thins but you can use whatever you like.

Honey Bun Cake

2009-05-20T06:30:00.001-05:00

No pictures with this one because I haven't made this cake in a while but it is truly heavenly and since I haven't shared a dessert with you in a while and because I'm rarely feeling up to cooking much less trying new recipes these days, I thought I'd share an oldie but goodie . Our first experience with this cake was right after we had bought our house. We had closed and spent the first weekend mooching off of our parents good natures by having them help us paint, pretty much the entire inside of the house. What troopers they were! :) And one day while we were there Jason's grandparents brought us lunch and with it this fantastic cake. It's super easy and oh so yummy! So enjoy!

Honey Bun Cake

Cake:
1 box Yellow Cake Mix (the kind with pudding in it)
4 eggs
2/3 c Vegetable Oil
1/3 c Water
1 8 oz carton Sour Cream
1/2 c Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
1 t Ground Cinnamon
2/3 c Chopped Pecans (optional, I don't use them because I'm not a huge fan of nuts in my sweets)

Glaze:
1 c Sifted Powdered Sugar
2 T Milk
1/2 t Vanilla Extract

Combine first five ingredients in a mixing bowl; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Set aside.
Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans; set aside. Pour half of batter in a greased and floured 9x13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over batter. Repeat procedure. Gently swirl batter with knife.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven.
Combine all ingredients for the glaze. Beat at a medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.
Drizzle glaze over cake, and cool. Cut in to squares.

Yields 15 to 18 servings

As most of you know we are planning on having Charlotte via a c-section on Friday. Therefore, I will be taking a few weeks off of Recipe Wednesday as I adjust to life as a new mother. A few friends have offered to pitch in and help and I have plans to set some posts up that will link you to some of my favorite recipes on the blogs that I read, but we probably won't have any recipes that I'm just trying for the first time for a while. :)

Cheesy Pork Chop Casserole

2009-05-13T06:30:00.000-05:00

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com and it is so good. I would guess that this would be just as good with chicken as it is with pork. It's a very easy recipe! Enjoy!

Cheesy Pork Chop Casserole

Serves 4

4 potatoes, peeled and sliced

4 thick cut boneless pork chops

1 10.75 oz can condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup

1 10.5 can condensed French Onion soup

1 8 oz package shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan with sliced potatoes. Arrange the pork chops on top of the potatoes.
In a bowl, stir together the cheddar cheese and French Onion soups. Pour the soup over the pork chops.
Cover and bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes or until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 160 degrees.
Sprinkle pork chops with Monterrey Jack cheese and serve.