mmm mmm GOOD

It's been a LONG while since I've shared some recipe favorites but...I have to share this one.  My hubs (who is not particularly a "casserole lover") really enjoyed this one and so did Addie...needless to say it was a family favorite and mom-friendly too - super easy to make and the prep work can be done ahead!!

Recipe: Texas Ranch Chicken Casserole (courtesy of Pinterest)
Serves: 8

Ingredients:
* 1 large onion finely chopped
* 2 celery ribs finely chopped
* 1 medium green pepper finely chopped
* 1 medium sweet red pepper finely chopped
* 1 tbsp of canola oil
* 1 garlic clove finely chopped
* 3 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
* 1 can reduced-fat reduced-sodium condensed cream of celery soup, undiluted
* 1 can reduced-fat reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
* 1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
* 1 tbsp of chili powder
* 12 corn tortillas (6 inches) cut into 1 inch strips
* 2 cups reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
* Preheat oven to 350F

* In a large non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray, saute the onion, peppers, and celery in oil until crisp-tender.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.  Stir in the chicken, soups, chili powder, and tomatoes.

* Line the bottom of a 3 qt baking dish with half of the tortilla strips and top with chicken mixture and 1 cup of cheese.  Repeat layers.  Bake uncovered at 350F for 30-35 minutes until bubbly.

Tips and Tricks:
* You can do all of your slicing and dicing of veggies and cook the chicken a few hours or day in advance to make throwing this meal together a breeze!

Enjoy!!!

What's not to like...

Bacon...cheese...biscuits...and more cheese...I mean, really?!  All baked together for some breakfast yumminess...oh, and yep, its easy too (but you already knew that because otherwise you wouldn't find me here blogging about it).  While we spent our week in the Outer Banks we planned out everything we were going to eat so we knew what we needed to bring down and while this was my first time trying this recipe (thank you, Pinterest - you can find it here)...I had no worries...because seriously, how could all of that together be bad?!  So...here's the scoop on how to make your own:

Supplies:

* 1 can of refrigerated biscuits

* 1 cup of mozzarella cheese (shredded or 6 slices)

* 1 cup of crumbled bacon

* 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

* 2 tablespoons of butter

* Medium oven-safe skillet (cast iron will probably work best but I used stainless and it worked fine)

And then....

* Preheat oven to 350 F

* Grease your skillet with the butter

* Place the biscuits in the bottom of the skillet

* Top the biscuits with the mozzarella, then the bacon, and finally the cheddar cheese

* Bake for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and biscuits are cooked through

* Serve warm and enjoy!

Don't tell Santa...but, this might be our Christmas morning breakfast.

Easy Peasy Sweet Potato Pie

A few years ago I was feeling very "Martha" like and thought I'd try my hand at making homemade pie.  Knowing my limits, I decided to start simple and found a keeper in this sweet potato pie recipe!  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and I have looked and looked and can no longer find it on that website but, here are the deets:

image from gina's skinny recipes and she's got a skinny version!

You'll need the following:
* 1 pound of sweet potato
* 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter softened
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup milk
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
* 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 1 9 inch unbaked pie crust

And here's how you'll make it happen:
* Boil sweet potato whole (40-50 minutes or until done).  Run cold water over sweet potato and remove skin.
* Preheat oven to 350 F
* Break apart sweet potato in bowl.  Add butter and mix with mixer.  Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla.
* Beat on medium speed until smooth and pour into unbaked pie crust.
* Bake for 55-60 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean.
* Enjoy!

I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!!!

Another easy one...

As I always say...I'm a recipe girl and an easy recipe girl at that.  I get stressed when multiple things are going on in the kitchen at once and although I'm trying to learn to better manage the whole cooking process I tend to stick to easy recipes whenever possible.  So, when Lis and I decided we would surprise the husbands with an appetizer dinner...I say "surprise" because we knew this wouldn't be their first choice but we were really craving an all appetizer dinner.

So...I decided I'd attempt sausage balls and luckily the end result was a good one.

Here's what I used:

this is what it should look like after being mixed

* 1 lb of mild pork sausage (hot sausage would be great for a spicier option)
* 1 cup of Bisquick
* 1 cup of cheddar cheese

And here's what I did:

* Preheat oven to 375 F
* Mix all of the ingredients with your hands until well mixed.  This is key!!
* Form into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheet
* Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown
* Serve and enjoy!!

These were a big hit and make quite a bit...which was perfect for the 4 of us!!

J

Quick, Easy, and OH-SO good

I'm no gourmet chef...my husband comes close but I'm more of a recipe girl.  I do well with baking because its pretty precise but I don't do well with those "little of this and little of that" recipes.  So...when I tell you this is quick and easy...trust me, it is.  Which is enough to make it a favorite in our house but when you throw in its amazing comfort food qualities...its a win-win in my book.  I should also admit that this has been a recipe my Grammy made and passed down to my mom so I have no idea what the name of it is...I just know its amazing!  So...here's how to make it happen:

First you'll need these few things:
* 2-3 chicken breasts
* Can of cream of chicken soup (plain or with herbs works great)
* Milk
* 1 stick of butter
* 2 cups of shredded swiss cheese
* 1 box of chicken stuffing (I'm a fan of Stove Top)

in case the visual is easier

Then you'll do this:
* Preheat your oven to 350
* Cut the chicken breasts into strips (or maybe just be smarter than me and buy tenderloins to start with) and layer on the bottom of the baking dish (I use a 9x9 stoneware baking dish)
* In a separate bowl, empty the cream of chicken soup and then re-fill can with milk and add to the bowl.  Mix with a wisk until well combined.
* Pour mixture over chicken
* Layer shredded swiss cheese over chicken mixture
* In a separate bowl, melt butter and then add stuffing to the bowl and mix together until stuffing is well coated.
* Place stuffing mixture on top of cheese
* Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through
* Remove aluminum foil and bake uncovered for 10 more minutes to crisp up the stuffing
* Let cool for about 5 minutes and serve!!

the finished product - pure delight

This also makes really good leftovers...if there are any!

J

Product Review - McCormicks Recipe Inspirations

With both me and the hubs working full time and the hubs in school, we are lucky to get cereal down for dinner at night so I'm totally game for anything thats easy to make and actually tastes like a real, thought-out, homecooked meal.  So, while perusing the grocery store aisles this weekend - which by the way I try to avoid because it always results in random things in my cart - I came across these McCormicks recipe inspirations packets, which consist of just the right amount of spices and seasonings necessary to make the recipe provided on the back.  I LOVE any and all things Mexican so the Quesadilla casserole was a no brainer for me.  I made this for dinner last night and here's what we found:

Product name: McCormicks Recipe Inspirations - Quesadilla Casserole

Price: $1.99 at Harris Teeter for the spice pack.  I estimate the total cost of ALL of the ingredients, including the spice pack would run you about $16.  This meal has a serving size of 8 - so that's about $2 per serving.
Easy to make: Yes - The times on the package were right on - 25 minute prep time and 15 minutes to cook.  I also REALLY liked that the ingredients were pretty basic and the directions were super simple - ground beef, onion, black beans, corn, tortillas, green chiles, tomato sauce, and cheese.  Even the spices included in the pack were pretty basic - next time I will just use these spices from my pantry.  

Success or Failure: success - even the hubs who really enjoys fancy stuff loved this and told me it was "a keeper" - I rarely get that!  This recipe will be a staple in my book.

Pros:  This dish was very easy and quick to put together and we LOVED the recipe and the end result.  I really like the idea behind these spice packages, especially if you have a recipe that uses spices or seasonings that you would otherwise not keep on hand.  I also love that everything was already measured out so you just pretty much dumped everything together and your chances of putting too much or too little of something were slim - again, a great time savings.  

Cons:  I feel like I'm always listing "pricey" as the con in my reviews.  However, if you already have these ingredients on hand, $1.99 for perfectly measured portions might be a little much!  However, finding a wonderful recipe thats easy to make is worth $1.99 to me and if this recipe had required something I don't usually keep on hand - this would have been perfect.

Other info:  In case you decide to pick this up and try I thought I'd share that I made this recipe as prescribed with the exception of leaving the canned corn undrained.  In looking at the consistency before adding the corn, I thought it would be too watery to leave the juice in so I did drain the juice off the corn and I think that was the right decision.  Also, each of the spice packets are individually sealed and labeled which I thought was great in the event there was something you didn't want to add and hold onto for later use.

Would I buy again or buy for a friend? Yes - not this recipe because I now have it and I keep all of these spices and seasonings on hand.  However, I am eager to try some of the other recipe inspirations they have!

More on Food - Freezing strawberries

The past two Saturdays as I blogged about here and here, I've spent a part of my morning at the local strawberry fields, picking more strawberries than I could possibly eat so I was determined to find others uses so nothing went to waste.  I got lots of great ideas (thank you SO much for all of the ideas) on how to use these strawberries and made a few different things but also decided I wanted to freeze some of these delicious berries so that I could enjoy them during the winter in smoothies and sauces.  So, I thought I'd share a quick post on the two different ways I decided to freeze my berries!

I sincerely apologize to those of you that are more domesticated than myself and are wondering aloud right now why I would write about something so obvious!  However, I had no idea how to freeze strawberries properly so I looked it up and thought I'd share what I found!

For both ways, I started by removing the cap and stems from all of the berries and giving them a good rinse to get any dirt off.

For those that I was freezing whole, I simply placed them on a baking sheet that I lined with parchment paper and stuck them in the freezer for 24 hours.  The next day I pulled the berries from the freezer and placed them in a freezer bag and back in the freezer they went.

For those that I was freezing in sugar and halved, I cut each berry in half first.  I then added a tablespoon of sugar and stirred everything around until all of the sugar was dissolved.  I then placed the berries in a freezer bag and removed the excess air and placed in the freezer for storage.


As I said above, this was SUPER easy and quick and I'm glad I'll have these to use in my smoothies when strawberry season is over.

And...I almost squealed yesterday afternoon when I found one ripe strawberry on our strawberry plant in our garden while gathering some lettuce for dinner.  This was the first year we planted any strawberries and we only planted one plant but it was exciting for me to find a ripe one and there are about 5 or 6 more that look like they will be turning soon:)  Looks like I'll be doing more of these next year!

J

Harvesting and Freezing Collard Greens

I know-by just looking at the title some of you have likely already started gagging at the word "collard" or maybe you don't even know what they are.  So - trust me when I say, they are an acquired taste and most commonly found in southern cooking.  They are a green leefy vegetable (sort of like kale or other mustard greens) that are generally cooked with "streak of lean/streak of fat" or "fat back" for added flavor in a pot for about an hour or so - they get mushy so I really don't think you can "overcook" them.  I generally add cider vinegar to mine when I eat them and refuse to eat these things cold!

The hubs and I started a family garden in our backyard last year and LOVE to plant all sorts of wonderful veggies in it.  We really try to hard to utlize it all year round and not just in the summer when the tomatoes are best (although, those are my favorite).  So this past fall we my mom planted the collards and cabbage we purchased (it was early October and our little girl arrived a little earlier than planned so my momma was nice enough to not let these little collards die a slow death in their store bought container).  We have watched them grow, get covered in over a foot of snow, see the first signs of springs, and FINALLY it was time to harvest our goods.  They (all of those real farmers who have FAR more experience than me) say that the best time to pick collards is January through April and well, its April and I need the bed/box space for my summer stuff.  So, this past weekend, I harvested and froze the collard greens (clearly we weren't going to eat collards for breakfast-lunch-dinner, repeat) from our garden.  I thought I'd share how we did it because prior to this weekend, I'd never frozen collards and trust me, it wasn't bad.  So, here's the play-by-play on a process called "blanching" (yep, just learned that too this weekend - I think I'm becoming more domestic by the minute:)):

Things You Need:
* Stock pot filled 2/3 full
* Bowl filled with cool water
* Bowl filled with COLD water and ice cubes
* Collander
* Tongs
* Timer
* Garden shears

Step by step:
1.  I first clipped the collards I wanted off of the plant using my garden/kitchen shears.  I discarded those greens that graced the ground as well as the itty bitty greens that were new growth (basically I stuck to the middle 2/3 of the plant).

2.  Place the stockpot on the burner (filled 2/3 of the way with water) and bring to a boil.

3.  Place the picked greens in a large bowl of cool water (I didn't do them all at once because I had far too many so I did it in sections).  Once they had soaked for about a minute, I looked each leaf over to check for bugs or any signs of fungus and brush off anything that hadn't fallen off in the water.  I dumped the water and then re-filled to give the leaves another bath.

4.  Place the greens in the stockpot (once the water is boiling) and cover tightly and let boil for 3 minutes.

5.  After 3 minutes, remove promptly using the tongs and place in bowl filled with COLD water and ice cubes.  Make sure the greens are fully immersed in the water to ensure the cooking has stopped.  Allow to cool in the bowl for 3 minutes.

6.  Remove from the bowl and place in a collander to drain off excess water then squeeze the greens out to remove as much water as possible.

7.  Once water has been removed, place in a freezer bag and remove as much air as possible for sealing.  One trick I like to use if you don't have a food sealer is to leave just enough room along the zipper to place a straw in the corner and suck any remaining air out.  It helps, promise!!  Your collards are now ready to be put in the freezer for a later date!

So that's it, super easy!  I now have several bags of collard greens that we can eat whenever our hearts desire.

Summer Bruschetta

Today I'm sharing my summer bruschetta recipe - this is a summer favorite of mine and is best with tomatoes right out of the garden - I'm pretty sure I could just eat this stuff morning, noon, and night!  There is no exact science to it and it's fun to add different things as you go!  The tomato mixture is great on toast points in the oven (bruschetta), as a dip (like salsa), mixed together with croutons for a light salad, on top of chicken, or even mixed in with some pasta.  It's great to eat as soon as you've finished making it but also has a great flavor after spending a few days in the fridge and letting the flavors "merry."  So - here are the main ingredients I use to put it together - super easy, super fast, and did I mention its also super delish:) 

Serving Size: 6 for an appetizer

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Bake Time: 10 minutes or until edges of bread are golden brown and cheese is melted

Ingredients:
* 1 cup of fresh, diced tomatoes (I use whatever has the most flavor - right now its cherry tomatoes)
* 2 tbsp Basil
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp black pepper
* 1/2 french baguette

Optional:
* 1 tsp balsalmic vinegar
* 1/4 cup of diced onions
* 1 garlic clove
* 1/3 cup fresh mozarella

Directions:
* Preheat oven to 375 F.
* Dice the tomatoes and place in bowl - add salt and pepper.
* Wash basil leaves well and roll into a tight roll and cut length wise to make nice even sized slivers.  Add to tomato mix and add olive oil.  Mix well together and if desired add balsalmic vinegar, diced onions, or garlic (you don't have to add all - pick those you like and go with that).  Let set for at least 20 minutes.
*Slice french baguette into small rounds and drizzle with olive oil.  Place on a baking sheet cover each piece with mozarella cheese(optional).  Add the tomato mixture to the top of each piece and bake for about 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown and cheese is melted.  If you are planning to offer the tomato mixture as a dip, bake the french baguette slices in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown and serve with the tomato mixture.

**As I mentioned above - this is also great as a topping on grilled or baked chicken or tossed in with some pasta and a little more olive oil.  You can also chop up some ciabata bread and bake to make your own croutons...add this mix and some seedless cucumbers and ta da....you have a panzella bread salad.**

Enjoy!

J

Tuesdays at the Table - Chicken Cordon Bleu

Today I'm linking up with Cole at "All the Small Stuff" for Tuesdays at the Table and posting a chicken cordon bleu recipe.

In our household, my hubs and I share the cooking responsibilities as we both enjoy making a good meal.  However, my husband is a natural in this department and I am more of a recipe chef.  The hubs is really good at throwing things together that taste fabulous without so much as glancing at a cookbook.  So, Saturday he decided he wanted to make chicken cordon bleu and I agreed to be his taste tester and it was A-mazing.  I thought I'd share how he put it all together:

Serving size: 2
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25-35 minutes depending on thickness of chicken

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
6 slices of thin sliced ham (black forest works well)
1 cup of shredded swiss cheese
1 cup of panko bread crumbs
3-4 tbsp flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp of parsley
1 tbsp butter
1 cup of milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:

Chicken:
1.  Butterfly the chicken breasts and pound out with a mallet (place plastic wrap over the chicken when doing this to avoid damaging the chicken).  Preheat oven to 350 F.

2.  Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken breasts you have just butterflied.  Lay several slices of the ham inside the chicken and cover with swiss cheese. Roll chicken and place a toothpick through the roll to hold shut.

3.  Dredge the chicken roll in the flour and shake off the excess.  Next coat it in the egg and then dip in the bread crumbs until covered and then shake of the excess.  It is good to add salt and pepper to the flour, egg, and bread crumbs for extra seasoning.

4.  Coat bottom of oven safe skillet, if possible, with canola oil and heat on medium.  Once heated, place chicken rolls in skillet and cook chicken until the bread crumbs on all sides are golden brown.  Transfer skillet to oven (if you did not use an oven safe skillet, simply transfer the chicken from the pan to a baking dish) and bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes (if the chicken breasts are abnormally small or large, you may want to adjust this time accordingly) until cooked through and cheese is melted on the inside.

Bechamel Sauce:
1.  Using a medium sized pot, place a tbsp of butter and flour in the pot on medium-low heat and stir with wooden spoon until it creates a blond roux (paste consistency-generally takes about 5-8 minutes).

2.  Whisk in 1 cup of milk (whole milk is the most tasty but for a lighter version try 2% milk) until blended.  Turn heat to medium-high until it starts to boil and then reduce to low so that sauce simmers.  Continue to whisk so that sauce starts to thicken and then add in remaining shredded swiss and cheddar cheese, a handful at a time.  Continue stirring until all of the cheese is well melted and sauce is cohesive.

Finishing touches:

Once chicken is complete, slice into rounds and drizzle the cheese sauce over the chicken.  We added asparagus (steamed and sauteed with olive oil and salt and pepper in a pan) and some basic red-skin mashed potatoes to go along with it and threw in some parsley for extra garnishment.  Enjoy!!

J