White Chicken Chili

We have been making this White Chicken Chili recipe for years, Andy and I love it. Our kids are picky so they don't eat it, but that just means more leftovers for us! 

I wanted to try it out in my Instant Pot, so I'll include the regular stove top recipe as well as pressure cooker directions. 

 

(This pic shows it a little more soupy than chili-like...I added an extra cup of water in the IP, don't! After I boiled it down a little it was the perfect chunky/creamy consistency. So just follow the original recipe amounts for stove top or pressure cooker!)

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes1 medium onion, chopped (or 1/4 cup dehydrated)
  1 taspoon minced garlic
  2 cans (15-1/2 ounces each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
  2 cups chicken broth
  1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 teaspoon ground cumin
  1 teaspoon dried oregano
  1/2 teaspoon pepper
  1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

Directions:

In a large saucepan, saute the chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add the beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream.
If desired, top with tortilla chips, cheese and jalapenos or serve with corn bread which is our preferred side.

Pressure cooker version:

Place full (frozen) chicken breast and all ingredients except sour cream in the pot. Cook for 13 minutes on manual setting, I did a quick release of pressure. 

Remove the chicken and shred or rough chop then return to pot, stir in sour cream. 

Enjoy!

Mini Pepper Nachos!

Last night I decided to create a menu for the rest of January.

I like the idea of menus but creating one proved to be harder than I thought. Especially once I decided to start asking everyone what their favorite meals were!

I finally decided to split the month up between Chicken, Beef, Vegetarian and Other.

Our first meal from this menu was the following scrumptious hit!😋

Mini sweet peppers cut in half and the seeds taken out. Lay them out in your pan. I put foil on one pan before spreading the peppers on it to keep everything from sticking. The stoneware pan did great without anything underneath.

The toppings I used were taco seasoned beef (not shown), Olives, Corn, Green onions, cheese and lime juice. Sprinkle the meat on every pepper. Spread a thin layer of cheese over the meat and then add the other ingredients. Squeeze the fresh lime juice over the top. I used half a lime for each pan. I will use more next time. Put more cheese on again! I love cheese!💗

Put it in the oven at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes. Make sure the cheese is melted.

We all enjoyed this meal very much! I put fresh tomatoes and Avacado on mine with Sour cream. This is a great alternative to chips. We will definitely be making this again.

Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Mac and Cheese - Kid approved!

So I got an Instant Pot for Christmas (just one brand of many pressure cookers out there), and have been loving it!

Last night for dinner I made Mac and Cheese in it, and including the time it took to pressurize to having the food on the table was about 15 minutes total. For made from scratch Mac & Cheese. Amazing!

Here's the "recipe" I combined from others and used.

Mac & Cheese (Pressure Cooker)

Ingredients:

4 cups elbow macaroni noodles
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

4 cups shredded cheese
      I used 1 cup Pepper Jack
                1 cup Cheddar
                2 cups Mozzarella

Directions:

Mix all but cheese in your pressure cooker, cook for 8 minutes on manual then do a quick release to release the pressure. (If there is excess liquid you may want to drain a little of it, otherwise it adds to the creamy-ness of the mac and cheese.)

Add the cheese and stir until melted.

The only thing that I noticed, and this was probably because of the cheese combo I used (fridge special :) ) is that my batch was really stringy, that didn't stop us from enjoying - and devouring - this though. Def making again!

Nutrition Facts: 390 cal per serving, makes 8 servings

Creamy Tomato Soup

This is my all time fave tomato soup recipe. So good. So creamy.
I've heard that not all care for the texture, but we LOVE it!

Creamy Tomato Soup (Crockpot, 6 hours)

Ingredients:

2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with the juice
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced onions (I use dehydrated onions, I find them less repulsive)
1 cup finely diced celery (I also skip this, because I don't usually have celery on hand)
2 T tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp dried oregano
1 T dry basil
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups half and half (I've also just used milk)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

Add diced tomatoes, carrots, onion, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil to your slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours until flavors blend and vegetables are soft.

About 30 minutes before the serving, prepare a roux.
In a skillet melt the butter over med-low heat and add the flour. Whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
Slowly add 1 cup of the soup from the crock pot  to the roux, it will make a thick paste, slowly add 3 more cups of warm soup to the mix and stir until smooth.
Add the roux mixture to the crock pot.
Stir in the Parmesan cheese, half and half and salt and pepper. Stir well, let cook on low for another 30 minutes.
Pour soup into a blender (do this in batches), puree until smooth.

Serve with artisan bread, or fresh rolls. So yum!

Baked Chicken Toquitos

This is a favorite at our house! Everyone will eat them, they freeze and reheat well, and anything with cream cheese has to be good, right?!

Baked Chicken Taquitos

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken
5 oz cream cheese, softened
2 T lime juice
1/2 cup green salsa (or red, really whatever you have on hand)
1/4 tsp minced onion
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (I usually use dried cilantro and that works well)
2 T green onions, chopped (again, dried works just as well)
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (I've used Pepper Jack and Mozzarella)
20 corn tortillas

Direction:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
In a large bowl mix the cream cheese, salsa, lime juice, chili and garlic powder and cumin.
Add the cilantro, green onion, and cheese. Add the shredded chicken last, mix well.

Heat the corn tortillas in the microwave between damp paper towels for 30 second at a time so they're easy to roll and won't crack (as much).

Spread about 2-3 TBS of the mixture in each tortilla, roll it up and place it seam side down on the greased foil.

Make sure the tortillas aren't touching or they will stick together while baking.
After they are all rolled and placed on the pan spray them with cooking spray.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges are golden brown, some tortillas may crack during baking time and that's okay - they will still be delish! Serve with salsa, sour cream, rice, beans, etc.

Nutrition Facts: 100 cal per serving, 20 servings per recipe.

Pizza Dough

This is an Italian recipe that came originally from my Aunt Margie who got it, as I understand it, from her Aunt. It required a lot of time, like bread dough; so, my mom adapted it to be able to make it quickly without waiting for it to rise.

• 6 c. flour
• 6 T. sugar
• 1 T. salt
• 1 T. yeast
• 1 c. milk*
• 1 c. water, warm
• 5 T. oil 
• parmesan cheese, garlic, oregano, etc. (optional)

Combine 3 c. flour, sugar, salt and yeast in large bowl. This is where you would add the parmesan cheese and possibly some garlic and/or oregano to flavor the dough. Then add the liquid ingredients and mix well. Add the remaining flour to make a kneadable dough. Divide into two clumps and spread in/on pans with your hands. You can also roll the dough out on a floured surface until it is about the right size for the pan. 

Bake at 425 degrees on the lowest rack for about 18-22 minutes.

* If you want to substitute water for the milk, that will work as well. You can also use 1/3 c. milk powder and 2 c. water. It's a very forgiving recipe!

Dee-lish!

Moroccan Chicken and Rice

I made this for dinner the other night and it's possibly the most delicious thing I have ever made. It was well worth the hour or so that it took to prepare and cook it.

CHICKEN
vegetable oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup onion, chopped or thinly sliced
1 cup chicken broth
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 freshly grated ginger
1 satsuma, squeezed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp coriander

Cook the chicken in 2-4 tbsp of oil, depending on the size of your pan. Let it brown on one side and then turn over. Stir in the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Then cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through (25 - 35 min)

RICE
Chicken broth
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup pistachios, shelled and chopped

Cook the rice (stovetop or in a rice maker) with the chicken broth. Once it's done, stir in the honey, cinnamon, and nuts. I highly recommend serving the chicken atop the rice with the sauce poured over it.

Sausage Rice Skillet (aka cheater jambalaya)

For a Relief Society activity a few years ago I organized a 5 ingredient recipe lesson, we gathered lots of yummy, easy recipes for the little cook book. This is one of our favorites here at our house. Super easy and it gives you the jambalaya experience in a lot less time!

Sausage Rice Skillet
1 (4 1/3 ounce) box Rice-A-Roni, Chicken Fajita flavor (we use a generic brand jambalaya flavored rice mix)
3 Polish sausages, cut lengthwise and sliced (I use one of those 12-14ish ounce sausages you can buy in the store by the lunch meat, I've also added chicken but don't every time)
1 medium onion, cut crosswise and sliced (we don't like onions, so I use about 2 Tablespoons dehydrated onion)
1 green pepper, sliced (in the above picture I used dehydrated peppers, I was out of fresh ones)
3 cups water

In skillet saute sausage, onion and green pepper until lightly browned. Add rice mix, seasoning packet and 2 1/2 cups of water, stir. Bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook 25 minutes or until rice is tender, stirring occasionally. Add remaining water as needed.
Recipe makes 4 servings (though it usually feeds our family and then Andy and I have the leftovers for lunch, so I'd say it's about 6 servings)

Cream Tuna on Toast

This is something that my mom made all the time but I don't know where it's from. It's one of my favorite meals, and it is EASY!

Cream Tuna

2 T margarine
2 T flour
1 cup milk
1 can tuna, drained
Salt & pepper, to taste

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt margarine. Add flour and stir until the butter and flour are well combined. Pour in milk, stirring constantly as it thickens, about 10 minutes. Add drained tuna. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve over toasted and buttered bread.

Serves 2. (We triple it.)

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

I love me some comfort food! We don't make this often because it's so fattening...but when we do make it we love love love it!! 

Chicken broccoli casserole
layer #1 - 2 10 oz packages frozen broccoli (cooked)

layer #2 - 2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 Cup Mayo
1 tsp lemon juice
2 lbs cooked.diced chicken

layer #3 - 3/4 Cup grated cheese

3/4 C bread crumbs
1/4 Melted butter

layer in 9x13" pan top with crumbs and drizzle butter
Bake at 350 for 1 hour (or less, as long as cheese is melted and it's warmed through)

Silas Pancake

Or German Pancake. Whatever you call it, it's a great breakfast dish...although we usually eat it for dinner.




Silas Pancake

1 1/2 sticks margarine (or butter)
9 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 c. flour

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut margarine into several pieces and place in 9x13 cake pan and place in oven. Beat eggs, milk, salt and flour. When margarine is melted, add egg mixture and cook for 15-18 minutes.

Serve with favorite syrup. Silas's favorite topping is lemon syrup (lemon juice mixed with powdered sugar) AND jam. The kids and I like maple syrup and powdered sugar.

Cream Cheese Potato Soup

Andy doesn't especially like soups. I do, and I've tried to push share my love of a good soup with Andy. I especially like potato soup, but until I found this recipe I didn't have Andy convinced. We love this creamy soup, and make it about once a month (more often sometimes!). We like to look past the fact that it's not super healthy.

Panera's Cream Cheese Potato Soup (Original recipe in black, my notes/changes in red)

Ingredients
4 cups chicken broth (I just use the water/bullion method)
4 cups peeled and cubed potatoes (I do closer to 5 cups, I like it a little thicker)
1/4 cup minced onion (I use about 1 Tablespoon dehydrated onion)
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper (I don't have this, so I just use pepper...)
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (Instead of ground, I use red pepper flakes.)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, cut into chunks

Directions
Combine broth, potatoes, onion, and spices. Boil on medium heat until potatoes are tender. Smash a few of the potatoes to release their starch for thickening. Reduce to low heat. Add cream cheese. Heat, stirring frequently.

Best served with Artisan bread. Yum!

Delicious Chicken Curry

So, I got this WONDERFUl recipe from my good friend Kelly, and she gave me permission to post it on here. I absolutely ADORE this recipe. It just hits the spot for me, every time. Now, this is one of those recipes that changes every time... when my friend Kelly gave it to me, she literally just had me watch what she did, and write down what I saw. For example, at one point she said, "Put salt in your hand, dump in half, then throw the rest away." (If you are reading this Kelly, I love you!) I tried to find out what the exact measurements were for some of the things, but, you're just going to have to have fun with this and experiment. You really can't go too wrong... unless you put something in there that really doesn't go... like, fish... or something. :) My changes are in purple!

Anyway, here's the ingredient list: 

(This is based on a big group recipe... try halving it if you don't want so much.)

4 chicken breasts 

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup water

Poultry seasoning

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

abt. 3 cups rice (or however much you want)

4 Tbsp. butter, sliced into 1 Tbsp. pieces (I used 3 Tbsp. margarine)

Curry powder, mild- 2 dashes

nutmeg- 1 dash 

ginger

1 can apricots (I used lite apricots)

1 can coconut milk, sunluck

 (I also used light coconut milk, and it wasn't the sunluck brand)

1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch 

coconut, toasted

Directions: 

Take chicken breasts, put them in a large skillet and cook in water on high. Adjust your water amount based on how much chicken you are cooking. You will be using the liquid later, but you don't want too much liquid. It should just cover your chicken so it can cook. After cooking a few minutes, take chicken out and chop into bite sized pieces. Put them back in the skillet, and put a light layer of poultry seasoning on the top and cook until no longer pink. When no longer pink, place chicken and all liquids in a bowl until later. Don't rinse skillet!

Start cooking your rice. 

I wanted to use brown rice, but wasn't able to, so if anyone does brown rice, tell me how it tastes!

Put skillet back on heat and cook the onion and garlic in the butter until transparent. Put in the 2 dashes of curry powder, 1 dash of nutmeg, then add ginger. LOTS. I put a light layer on the chicken, stirred, then did it again two more times. Cook until fragrant... This is the part that you play with. I have done this before, and I know that I've put a little more ginger than I did this time, and it still tasted good. Go with what smells good to you... follow your nose!

Dump the bowl of chicken and broth/water back into the skillet and fold it in. Partially drain the apricots and add; then the coconut milk. Add the cinnamon, salt and brown sugar; stir. 

Put the cornstarch in a small bowl and add small amounts of water, stirring vigorously until it's a liquid. Then add to the chicken curry while continuously stirring. Turn heat down and let thicken. 

You can then add the toasted coconut and enjoy! Serve over rice. 

I didn't add the toasted coconut, but I have had it with toasted coconut and it tastes yummy.

My 2 year old son was "helping" me... very difficult to cook dinner when you have a 2 year old "helping". :) Cute though. 

Well, I hope that this is a recipe that works out for everyone. I really enjoyed it... even with the changes that I made. I like the original version better, but even with the lower fat options that I tried, it still tasted good. 

Lemon Chicken and Rice

This is a delicious and easy crock pot recipe! I borrowed the recipe from This website but I am always out of atleast a couple of the main ingredients! Good thing I like to improvise!

Lemon Chicken and Rice

5 small chicken breast

1 c Flour

1 T Salt

Olive Oil

Sauce:

6 T Brown Sugar

6 T Ketchup

1 1/2 c Lemon Juice

2 T White Vinegar

Cut the chicken into strips and toss in a bowl with the flour and salt. Lightly brown the outside of the chicken. Just enough for the flour ,mixture to stick. Put the chicken into the crockpot. Mix the ingredients for the sauce together and pour over the chicken. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Enjoy over lemon pepper rice!

Mashed Potato and Black Bean Soup!

I got this recipe idea from Our Best Bites! I love their site. They have all sorts of yummy stuff!
Anyway, I wanted to make it but I did not have several ingredients and for some reason my baked potatoes did not turn out the way I thought they would so they ended up mashed!

Baked Potato Soup
Recipe by Our Best Bites


3 Tbs butter I love butter which I think is part of my down fall so I added an extra Tbsp
2-3 cloves garlic, minced I ran out of this ingredient so I ended up using 1 small chopped onion and some Garlic salt with parsley. Then I sauteed it all together.
1/2 C flour
4 1/2 C milk (low fat works great)
1 14oz can chicken broth
4 medium baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds) baked* I used 6 potatoes
2 C grated cheddar (or sharp cheddar) cheese, divided
1 1/2 tsp. salt More Garlic Salt!
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 C sour cream (low fat is fine), divided
1/2 C chopped green onions, divided
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, divided
2 cans Black Beans

*don't have time to bake potatoes in the oven? Just pierce them with a fork a few times and then pop them in the microwave. Cook in 5 minute intervals until a knife easily pierces through them. It usually takes 5-10 minutes. To bake in the oven, pierce each potato with a fork and place directly on oven rack. Bake at 375 for 45-60 minutes.

Melt butter in a stock pot over medium heat. Add garlic or onions and saute for 30-60 seconds until fragrant. Add flour to pan. At this point I mixed the flour in with the onions and let it cook for one minute. It makes it so you don't have to worry about chunks of flour. Slowly add milk a little at a time while whisking constantly to eliminate lumps. Whisk until smooth and then add chicken broth and Beans so the beans will become soft. (Now, if you get to this point and don't have a smooth liquid. Stop! Save your soup by popping the mixture in the blender, then continue.) Bring soup just to a simmer and heat until thickened, stirring often, about 5 minutes.

Once soup is thickened, turn heat down to medium-low. Cut potatoes in half length-wise and use a spoon to scoop out potato flesh into the pot. Use a wooden spoon to smash potatoes, breaking up large clumps. Add 1 1/2 C grated cheese and salt and pepper and stir until cheese is melted. Remove pan from heat and stir in 3/4 C sour cream, 1/4 C green onions, and 4 strips of the crumbled bacon. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and top with each serving with the remaining sour cream, onions, cheese, and bacon.
Now, I love bacon and if you do too I would double the amount of bacon you put into the soup.

Enjoy!!!!

Baked Chicken Taquitos!

I found this extremely good recipe for Baked Chicken Taquitos from Our Best Bites. They have the most wonderful food imaginable! Of course I changed the recipe a bit to fit our particular needs, but it was still delicious! Delicious enough that Phil was excited to take them to work for lunch!


Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice Did not use
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder I did not have this so I used dried chopped onions. It worked just as well.
1/4 t granulated garlic, or garlic powder I only had Garlic Salt, I didn't notice a difference
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken (for extra yumminess, use grilled taco chicken!)
1 C grated pepperjack cheese I used fiesta shredded cheese

small corn tortillas (and actually, flour ones are really good as well) I used small flour tortillas I liked them much better
kosher salt I did not have this either
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice (I forgot to add this but I think it was a good idea since there was lime in the dressing that I made), cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it, We put it in a plastic bag and warmed them up for 20 seconds then flipped them over and warmed them for another 20 seconds. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or are coming unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. We did a little more of the mixture cause we like a lot! It did spill out while cooking though.




Roll them up as tight as you can. Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.
Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown. I do live at a high altitude so I don't know if that made a difference or my oven is just weird but I only needed ot cook them for 10 minutes and they were perfect!

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing: This dressing is also from Our Best Bites

This is the dressing I used for dipping. It was a little too thin so I added Cream Cheese. I think next time I will do cream cheese instead of the mayonnaise.

1 pack (1oz) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix ignore the directions on the packet
I used Italian dressing mix.
1C mayo if you want it to be thick like a dip use cream cheese instead
1/2 C milk
1 lime I would only put in 1/2 a lime. It wa way too limey!
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped again, we only had garlic salt it was still good though.
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro since I put this in the blender I did not chop this up. The blender did it for me!
1/4 C green salsa* I doubled this but only to cover up most of the lime flavor
hot sauce I did not use this, I don't like it too spicy.

This is tough folks. Place milk, mayo, and ranch mix in a blender. Juice the lime in there too, you should get about 2T juice. Toss in the garlic, cilantro and green salsa. Blend 'er up. Sample it and add hot sauce to taste. Make it several hours ahead of time to allow it to thicken.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! We did!

KFC original recipe copycat!

This recipe is so good! It's not too oily/greasy that way I can type this and eat it at the same time!! The kids even like it!

2 envelopes tomato soup mix, preferably Lipton cup-o-soup brand (each envelope is about 1 oz each or roughly 1/4 cup) We did not use this ingredient
2 envelopes Italian dressing mix (one envelope is about 3/4 oz.)
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons dried chervil (optional, but makes a huge difference in taste) I did not use this. I don't even know what it is!
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon powder I crushed 2 chicken boullion cubes
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon tarragon I could not find this anywhere therefore it was not in my chicken mix
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cups pancake mix, preferably Bisquick brand (self-rising flour can be substituted, but won't taste as good)

Enough buttermilk to soak the chicken Instead of buttermilk I put 1 T lemon juice for every 1 cup of milk.


Instructions for Making the Original KFC Recipe

Blend all of the Kentucky Fried Chicken ingredients for the coating in a blender.

The fried chicken coating is enough for a whole chicken, cut up. Soak the chicken pieces in buttermilk for at least one hour in the refrigerator, we just did about 15 minutes. Remove chicken from buttermilk and roll in the chicken coating mixture above. Let chicken sit at room temperature while waiting for the oil to get hot.

We deep fried them so the oil was about 325 degrees


Deep fry if possible for the most authentic copy of the original Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe. If that is not possible, use a cast iron skillet. Do not crowd the chicken when placing into the skillet. Use lard or shortening if you really want that original Kentucky Fried Chicken taste. If you're making this chicken recipe, chances are you weren't looking for low-fat, healthy recipes. ;)

Brown the chicken in the skillet on high heat. Then turn down the heat and cover the pan. Cook until the fried chicken is done, about 30 minutes. During the last 5 or 10 minutes, uncover the pan and turn up the heat. This will crisp up the fried chicken. Be careful not to burn the chicken during this last step.

Remove the fried chicken and drain on paper towels. Serve while still hot


ENJOY!

Bruschetta Bake!

I love all things Bruschetta, especially when it comes from Olive Garden! Unfortunately We can't go there as much as I would like (every day). While searching the web for some ideas to remedy this situation I cam across this recipe.

Our version in Red

Ingredients :

1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed - already cooked, cut up and seasoned with pepper and garlic salt.
1 teaspoon salt
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (6 ounce) box chicken-flavored dry bread stuffing mix - Herb flavored stuffing
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese - Fiesta shredded mixed cheese
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning - Did not use this ingredient

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray a 9x13-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2.Toss the cubed chicken with the salt in a large bowl - Omitted this step. Place the chicken in a layer into the bottom of the baking dish. Stir together tomatoes, water, garlic, and stuffing mix in a large bowl; set aside to soften. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the chicken, then sprinkle with the Italian seasoning. Spread the softened stuffing mixture on top. - Obviously I did not put the Italian seasoning in the dish, but I did add more cheese on top of the stuffing. I love cheese!!!
3.Bake uncovered until the chicken cubes have turned white and are no longer pink in the center, about 30 minutes. Since the chicken was already cooked I cooked it in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. Just long enough to melt the cheese.

Enjoy!

mmmmeatballs

The other day i decided (for the millionth time, maybe) that I miss living close to Ikea. They have cute toys, adorable kitchen gadgets, and wonderful (and cheap!) food. We like the Swedish meatballs with Lingonberry sauce.

So I decided to try an easy Swedish meatballs recipe. Pretty sure it's not even close to authentic Swedish meatballs, or the ones at Ikea. But it's been so long since we've eaten at Ikea, so we couldn't tell. We did like it though, so that works for me!

This is the recipe I used, except I bought frozen meatballs. The sauce is very creamy, and super easy!
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1/4 pound Jimmy Dean sausage (or favorite ground sausage)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• .
• Sauce:
• 2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 dash Tabasco sauce
• 1/4 cup milk

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients together for the meat mixture. DO NOT OVER MIX! Roll into small balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake 45 minutes or until browned. In a medium bowl mix sauce ingredients together. Place meatballs in a skillet or crock pot. Simmer for 45 minutes. May be used as main dish served over rice or noodles or as an appetizer served with toothpicks.

Also, big surprise, Cameron Walmart doesn't sell Lingonberries! So I made some easy cranberry sauce (used the lingonberry sauce recipe, but it's just the same as cranberry sauce), which added just the perfect sweet compliment to the creamy sauce.

Overall, even if this isn't the "real deal" we like it. Yum!

Cracker Barrel Mac and Cheese- extra cheese, please!

Several months ago Andy and I took the boys to Cracker Barrel for lunch. And big surprise Avery didn't eat all his food, which included some delicious mac and cheese.

And so the search began. Andy has never really liked the mac and cheese recipes I've tried...too dry, too bland...blah blah.

As is the recipe is good, but we've made minor changes to make it acceptable to be a keeper in our house. In the end I've ended up with the happiest husband when I double the cheese sauce recipe, so it stays nice and moist after baking, and it's still plenty moist as left overs.

Cracker Barrel Mac and Cheese (6 servings) (my changes are in red)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth (I made my own with bullion and water, for a more flavorful batch add double the bullion to the 1 cup of water)
• 1/2 cup cream
• 2 1/2 cups shredded colby cheese (I've used colby, I've also just done cheddar. both are good)
• 2 1/2 cups uncooked pasta
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup bread crumbs, give or take

Directions

1. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat; add the flour a little bit at a time whilst whisking to make a roux. (if you don't know what a roux is, read this)
2. Heat the broth.
3. Next, add the broth to the roux, and stir with the whisk; this will thicken as it heats.
4. Add a little cream, watching for the desired consistency. (desired consistency is...really whenever you feel like being done. IT should be thicker than water, but it doesn't have to be very thick)
5. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a separate pot; add salt and pasta.
6. In the other pot, add shredded cheese a 1/4 of a cup at a time whilst (I like that this recipe has the word whilst, people should use that more) stirring with a spoon. When you have about one cup of cheese in you can add the rest of the cheese.
7. Cook the pasta until al dente; strain and combine with the cheese sauce.
8. Pour the mix into a casserole (cover with bread crumbs) and bake uncovered in a preheated oven set to 350°F for about 10 minutes.
9. Keep an eye on the mac & cheese, you want it to brown around the edges and in patches on top.
10. Remove and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
    

So, try it the original way and make your own adjustments, try it my way or not at all. 

I haven't been back to Cracker Barrel since making this recipe...so maybe we're WAY off, but the way I make it works for us. And whether it's like Cracker Barrel mac and cheese or not, we definitely have CB to thank for our new favorite Mac and Cheese recipe! :)

 

Enjoy!