Sugar Crumb Crisp

Yummy and super easy!!!

1/4 cup butter *make sure butter is cold*

1/4 cup sugar (next time, I will use a little less of both kinds of sugar)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamondash of salt

1/2 cup flour

1 can Pillsbury Cresent Rolls

Preheat oven to 400 degrees FCut in butter to sugars, cinnamon, and salt and flour to form crumbs.  On an ungreased cookie sheet, separate crescent roll dough into 8 triangles.  Sprinkle crumbs on top.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 8-12 minutes.  After they were cooked and cooled I cut them into smaller triangles but you can leave them big too! 

GLAZE

1/2 cup powdered sugar 

1 Tbsp. softened butter

1/4 tsp. vanilla

1 to 1-1/2 Tbsp. milk

Blend together and drizzle over Sugar Crumb Crispies

Shrimp stuffed twice baked potatoes

Ok, ok, I realize that these really don't look like that much, but I cannot BEGIN to tell you how amazing these are!  I watched Paula Deen make this one morning, and after I stopped drooling, I went out and got what ingredients I was mising! 

Ingredients
4 (6 to 8-ounce) russet potatoes, scrubbed and pricked all over with a fork
Vegetable oil, to coat potatoes
4 slices bacon
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch
4 green onions, thinly sliced, white and light green parts; dark green parts chopped, for garnish
1 cup grated Cheddar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 cup sour cream
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Rub the potatoes with vegetable oil and put them on a baking sheet.  Bake the potatoes until tender, about 1 hour.

While the potatoes are baking, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 7 minutes.  Transfer the slices to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, then crumble.  Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of bacon grease from the skillet.

Cut the shrimp into thirds.  Reheat the bacon grease over medium-high heat.  Add the shrimp, Cajun seasoning, and a pinch of salt.  Cook until the shrimp are opaque, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes.

When the potatoes are done, let them cool slightly (leave the oven on).  Slice off the top third of each potato and carefully scoop out the flesh into a bowl.  Scoop out the potato from the top third, and add that to the bowl, then discard the skin.  Leave about 1/4-inch border of potato inside the skin. Mash the potato flesh with 1 teaspoon salt, the green onion, cheese, butter, sour cream, mayonnaise, and black pepper.  Add the shrimp and bacon to the mixture.  Stuff the potato skins with the filling, mounding any extra on top.  Return the potatoes to the oven on the baking sheet and bake them until heated through, about 15 minutes.  Remove the potatoes from the oven, sprinkle with the reserved chopped green onions and serve.

Fish Tacos

I love, love, love fish tacos!!  Oddly enough, I made them for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago.  I researched a TON of recipes prior to deciding to make them, and finally decided to combine the parts I liked from several of them and kinda do my own thing!  And I gotta say,  I loved them.  I still have a bunch of tuna in the freezer, so I'll be making these again soon! 

1 lb fish (I used tuna because I have a bunch of flash frozen tuna in the freezer.  Most recipes I found called for mahi mahi or halibut)
1/2 cup flour
1 t. cayenne pepper
4 Roma tomatoes
1 small red onion
1 package salsa seasoning

shredded cheese
shredded cabbage or lettuce

tortillas (I always buy the raw tortilla shells and cook them myself by throwing them on the griddle until both sides are browned and puff up)

Cream Sauce
1/3 c. mayonaise
2/3 c sour cream
1 t grated lime zest
2 T fresh squeezed lime juice
salt and pepper

Dice the tomatoes and onion to the size of your preference.  Combine with the package of salsa seasoning(or, if you are way more talented than I am, make up salsa from scratch) Let the salsa sit for at least a half hour, as it gets better the longer it sits. 

Cut the fish into bite sized pieces.  Combine the flour and the pepper in a bowl and dredge the fish through the flour.  Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet(or in my case, I used my wok).  Once it is hot, slide the fish into it and let it cook.  While the fish is cooking, put together the cream sauce by whisking together the mayonaise, sour cream, lime zest, and lime juice.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Once the fish is cooked, assemble your taco and enjoy!  I always spread a bit of the cream sauce on the tortilla, then the fish, then salsa, shredded lettuce, a little more cream sauce, then shredded cheese.  So yummy!

Cinnamon Roll Cake

Also in honor of Mother's Day today, I wanted to try something new for dessert.  I'd found a recipe on Pinterest that I'd been wanting to try, so decided today was the day for it!  Ohhh my goodness!  So good.  We got a little eager to try it, because it smelled so good, so put the glaze on while it was still really warm.  The glaze melted a little more than it should have, so it maybe wasn't as pretty as it should have, but the glaze sort of seeped down into the cake and was delicious!

Recipe courtesy of:  Cookin Up North

What it shoulld have looked like....

What mine looked like...but it couldn't have tasted better!

Cake:
 3 c. flour
 1/4 tsp.salt
 1 c. sugar
 4 tsp. baking powder
 1 1/2 c. milk
 2 eggs
 2 tsp. vanilla
 1/2 c. butter, melted

 Topping:
 1 c. butter, softened
 1 c. brown sugar
 2 Tbsp. flour
 1 Tbsp. cinnamon

 Mix everything together except for the butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. For the topping, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes.

Glaze:
 2 c. powdered sugar
 5 Tbsp. milk
 1 tsp. vanilla

 While warm drizzle the glaze over the cake.

Momma's Day Breakfast!

Happy Mother's Day!  To celebrate this year, I decided to bring back an old favorite that we haven't had in a long, long time.....German Pancakes.....yummy!!! 

Recipe courtesy of Dave Lieberman

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound bag frozen mixed berries
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl whisk together flour and baking powder until blended. Dump the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk until homogenous. Let stand at least 10 minutes.
Heat an 8 or 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven with the butter.
Pour the batter into the cast iron pan and bake until the pancake is golden brown, puffed up and set in the center, about 15 minutes.

To make the mixed berry syrup: Heat the berries in a small saucepan with the maple syrup until mixture thickens, but you can still see the berries.

Serve warm over a wedge of pancake, dusted with powdered sugar.

Today, in honor of Mother's Day, we added fresh whipped cream, but that's not the normal!

Strawberry Shortcake

A sign of spring....Strawberry shortcake!!!  Yumm!!!

Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen

Ingredients
1 quart strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/4 cup sugar plus 3 tablespoons sugar, plus 8 teaspoons
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed
2/3 cup half-and-half, plus 1/4 cup
Sweetened whipped cream
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish
Directions
 Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a medium mixing bowl, toss the strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar together. Set aside until time to serve.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together flour, baking powder, salt and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Then pulse in the cold butter cubes until a coarse meal is formed. Turn the flour mixture out into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in 2/3 cup half-and-half and gently mix it in with a rubber spatula or fork, be careful not to over mix the dough or the biscuits will be tough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a couple of times until it just holds together. Pat the dough out to 3/4-inch thickness and cut out 8 round 3-inch biscuits.
Transfer the biscuits to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of each biscuit with the remaining half-and-half and sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon sugar. Bake in a preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until the biscuits have risen and are a light golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Split each biscuit, spoon some strawberries on the bottom piece, then whipped cream and top with the other biscuit half. Garnish with fresh mint and more strawberries.

Blackened Chicken with Wild Rice

Yumm!!  And so easy.

Recipe was taken from http://www.sarcasticcooking.com/

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
½ Teaspoon of Paprika
¼ Teaspoon of Salt
¼ Teaspoon of Pepper
¼ Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
¼ Teaspoon of Onion Powder
¼ Teaspoon of Cumin
1 Teaspoon of Olive Oil
2 packages of wild rice
Juice and Zest from Two Limes
A Dash of Salt and Pepper
2 Tablespoons of Cilantro, chopped

Sauce over the top:
1 medium avocado
2 T greek yogurt

Combine all the dry seasonings in a small bowl. Mix them together and then season both sides of each chicken breast.

Add the teaspoon of olive oil to a large pan or skillet. Heat the olive oil for a minute over medium/high heat. Add the chicken breasts to the pan. Cook for seven minutes on each side with the lid on.

After the chicken breasts have cooked all the way through, remove them from the pan and let them rest for seven minutes before slicing them.

Prepare the wild rice according to the directions.  Once it is done, toss in the lime zest, lime juice, salt and pepper, and chopped cilantro. Mix to combine.

Make the sauce by putting the avocado and the yogurt into a food processor and mixing until smooth.

Serve the sliced chicken over the wild rice and top with the avocado cream sauce.

Sopapilla Cheesecake.....YUMMM!!!

I am so far behind....I have so many delicious recipes I need to get up, but for right now, I'll start with this morning's breakfast. 

Ingredients:
 -2 cans pillsbury butter crescent rolls (I'm cheap and used the Great Value brand)
 -2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (softened) (I used Neufchâtel--1/3 of the fat!)
 -1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup and it was plenty sweet for us)
 -1 teaspoon vanilla (I used 2 teaspoons)
 -1/4 cup butter (melted) (I used a little bit over 1/8 cup)
 -Cinnamon & sugar

 Instructions:
 Unroll and spread 1 can crescent rolls on bottom of un-greased pan. Combine softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Spread mixture over crescent rolls. Unroll and spread remaining crescent rolls over mixture. Spread melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Paired this morning with sausage links, bacon, and a variety of fresh fruit, and it was a breakfast that satisfied the adult trying to be careful what she eats and the two teenage boys who are food disposals!

THE.BEST.MUFFINS!!!

Truly, these are the best ever muffins.  They were delicous, both the first time I made them, and then again this monring.  And an easy way to feed a houseful of teenage boys!

Sugar Topping

1/3 cup (21/3 ounces) sugar
1½ teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon

Streusel Toppi

ng

3 T white sugar
3 T brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
5 T melted butter

Muffins

2 cups (or less if you are me!) fresh blueberries, picked over
1 1/8 cups  plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 1/2 cups  unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

If topping with lemon sugar, stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside.

If topping the muffins with streusel, combine ingredients until it is the size of peas and set aside.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. If your oven cooks on the hot side normally, reduce the heat.  Some people have commented that 425 was too hot.  I would recommend getting a thermometer for your oven if you aren't sure. 

Prepare standard muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray or liners. Bring 1 cup blueberries, water,  and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing the berries with your potato masher or fork several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced by about half.  This will take about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and well combined. Slowly mix in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not over mix.)

Using a cookie scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar or streusel evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Broccoli Lemon Chicken

This was so good, and actually really easy to cook....and super healthy!!

Ingredients
 3 tablespoons soy sauce
 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
 2 tablespoons honey
 2 cloves garlic, minced
 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
 2 tablespoons canola oil
 1 1/2 pounds broccoli, stems peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick, florets separated
 1 small lemon, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise, seeds removed
 2 teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Directions
 In a large, shallow bowl, whisk together soy sauce, 3 tablespoons water, vinegar, honey, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Pour half of the mixture into another bowl; reserve. Place chicken in remaining mixture; let marinate 15 minutes.
 In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 1/2 tablespoon oil over high heat. Add half the chicken; cook, tossing often, until brown and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate. Repeat with another 1/2 tablespoon oil and remaining chicken. Wipe skillet with a paper towel.
 Heat remaining tablespoon oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Cook broccoli and lemon, tossing often, until broccoli is bright green, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water; cook until broccoli is tender and lemon is translucent, about 6 minutes.
 Add reserved marinade, cornstarch mixture, chicken, and any accumulated juices from plate. Bring to a boil; cook, stirring until thickened, 1 minute. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Honey Glazed Chicken

3 boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup chopped onion (or 1/16 cup onion flakes)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours or on high 1 1/2 hours. Chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce. Serve over rice or noodles.

To bake chicken as a 30 minute meal:
Dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper, place in 8x8 pan. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

As I discovered about 15 minutes before it was cooked, I am out of rice.  So I served it over pasta, and it was really good!  And...confession....I used the 30 minute method, because it was one of THOSE days, and I sort of forgot about dinner til approximately 4:45....very tasty!!!

Chicken Salad Sandwich

I L.O.V.E chicken salad!!  But I'm crazy picky about it.  I've stopped ordering it in restaurants because I'm always disappointed.  I never like it as much as I do my own.  Last week, we had a good friend come over for lunch one day and I figured it was the perfect time to bust out my chicken salad sandwich!!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups mayo or miracle whip (I use light)
1/4 cup diced green onions
1/2 t lemon juice,
1/4 t salt
1/8 t black pepper
1 t paprika
1/4 t sugar

Poach the chicken breasts and dice them into bite size chunks.  It should only take about 10-15 minutes to cook through.  Let the chicken cool.  Mix the chicken and all other ingredients together in a large bowl.  Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, so it's served cold. 

You can use the bread or roll of your choice.  I always choose a soft roll, cuz that's what I like.  Slice the roll open and garnish with lettuce and tomato.  Pile on the chicken salad and enjoy!!

And you can never, ever go wrong with a side of deviled eggs!!!

Yummy Philly Cheese

I love Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches, but am really picky about them.  I hate it when they're greasy and don't like them from a lot of restaurants.  So when I came upon a receipe for them, I decided to give it a shot.  Very easy, and super good!  We actually ended up having them two days in a row, due to Josh's request.

1 lb thinly sliced sirloin steak
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
8 slices chese of choice--I used Muenster
4 hoagie rolls

Preheat the oven to 350.  Heat 1/8 c of olive oil in a skillet on a medium burner.  Slide peppers and onion into the pan and cook for about 4 minutes.  Set them aside in a bowl, with the juices.  Heat another 1/8 c of olive oil in the pan.  Put the meat into the pan and cook to your desired temperature(remember it will cook more in the oven).  Put the peppers and onions back in the pan to heat all together for a couple of minutes.

Cut the hoagie rolls open and put each one down on a sheet of tin foil.  Scoop the meat, pepper, and onion mix onto the bottom half of the bun.  Top with cheese and put the top half of the bun on top.  Wrap the sandwich in the tin foil and place them on a cookie sheet in the oven for approximately 20 minutes.  Pull the pan out of the oven, unwrap the foil and put back in the oven for about 5 minutes.  The cheese will be completely melted, the bread will be lightly toasted, and the sandwiches will be completely amazing!!!

Two Timin' Pasta

I'm not sure it can really be called cooking when it's this easy!!

1 box penne pasta
1 (15 oz.) jar Alfredo sauce--I used Bertoli
1 (24oz.) jar Marinara sauce--I used Bertoli
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Cook the penne pasta in a pan of boiling water.  Combine the jar of Alfredo sauce, the jar of Marinara sauce, and the mozzarella cheese in a bowl.  Once the pasta is cooked, pour it into the bowl and stir it until the pasta is completely coated with sauce.  Pour into a 9 X 12 casserole dish and top with the shredded Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  I paired it with garlic bread and fresh, steamed brocolli.  It was delish!!! 

Super Bowl Sunday Deliciousness!

We are not at all football fans, but the Super Bowl gives us an excuse to sit around with the family, eat yummy food, and watch the commercials!  And to be honest, it served this year as a count down to the start of a new season of The Voice!

So, I'm on a recipe kick, and especially a crock pot recipes.  I found this delicious recipe for crock pot chicken tacos.  YUMMY!!!!  This recipe also comes from this great blog!

5 FROZEN chicken breasts (don't you love it when you can start with frozen! Me too...)
1 1/2 C salsa (I used fresh salsa purchased from the grocery store)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (I use 98% fat free)
2 1/2 T taco seasoning
1 T maple syrup (Yum. Trust me. It adds a lot of yum....
 and I know you have some in your pantry!)
1 t lime juice (you can use bottled)
1 T butter
1/2 C sour cream (I use light)

Serve over Tortilla chips or Tortillas.  Top with tomatoes, onions, cheddar cheese, lettuce, perhaps a little cilantro,  sliced avocado? Maybe we are gourmet after all!

1. Spray the inside of your crock pot with cooking spray and place the FROZEN chicken breasts inside.
2. In a small mixing bowl stir together all other ingredients but the butter and sour cream.
3. Pour the sauce over the top of the chicken. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 7-8 hours.
4. Take the chicken out of the crock and onto a plate. Shred it all up with a fork and throw it back in.
5. Add the little pat of butter and the sour cream, stir it all around until incorporated.
6. Cook for 1 more hour.

We served it over tortilla chips with melted cheese, topped with sour cream, diced tomatoes and lettuce, and it was completely delicious!!  For leftovers tomorrow night, I think I'm going to actually try it over rice.

Texas Sheet Cake 

Ahhh-may-zing!!  And really....a cake that can be ready in 35 minutes, from start to finish....that's my kind of dessert!!!



Ingredients

1 c. butter

1 c. water

2 c. sugar

2 c. + 4 T flour

1/2 t salt

1 t soda

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

1/2 c. sour cream

Frosting:

1 C butter

6 T evaporated milk

1 t vanilla

4-5 c. powdered sugar

dash of salt
1 c. pecans (optional)

Put butter and water in a large bowl.  Heat in microwave for 2 minutes.  Stir until all the butter is melted.  Add sugar, flour, salt, and soda.  Stir with a wire whisk until smooth.  Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.  Stir in sour cream until all is blended. 
Pour into a 11”x17” baking sheet that has been greased and floured. 
Bake at 375º for 20-25 minutes, until cake springs back when lightly touched or toothpick inserted in center comes clean.
Remove from the oven and make the frosting.
Cook butter and milk for 3-4 minutes in microwave.  Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and a dash of salt.  Beat until smooth. Add nuts and gently spread on warm cake.

Cool and serve. (I couldn't wait and we ate it slightly warm....ooooooooooooo man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Yummy, Incredibly Easy Cake!!

This cake was so good, and not filled with calories!  And it's so, so easy.  It's super light and airy. 

1 box lemon cake mix
1 20 oz bottle of Diet Coke

Mix the two ingredients together and pour it into a 9 X 12 cake pan that you have sprayed with non stick spray.  Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Let cool.  Top cake with a tub of Cool Whip.  If not serving the whole cake at once, do what I did and just top each piece with Cool Whip.

Yummy Baked Potato

I live in Idaho.  We eat a lot of potatoes.  I've never been able to get my nephew to eat baked potatoes.  He likes them mashed, roasted, and as fries, but not never baked.  So recently I decided to try something new. 

Wash the potatoes and pat dry with a paper towel.  Put a dallop of olive oil on the potato and rub it around so that the entire skin is covered in olive oil.  Then do the same thing with the Paula Deen seasoning.  bake the potatoes in a 450 oven for approximately 55 minutes, until the potato skin is crunchy, but the inside is soft when poked with a fork.  Cut open the top of the potato and slip in a little bit of butter to melt.  I top with fat free sour cream.  The seasoning cooked into the skin adds so much flavor.

Home made Croutons

This is one of the yummiest discoveries I've made!!  Home made croutons are so, so much better than store bought ones and are super easy to make!!

So easy!  I buy a loaf of french bread at Wal-Mart.  Cut it up into bite size chunks and arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  I sprinkle olive oil over the chunks of bread and then sprinkle with seasoning.  You can use whatever seasonings you want.  I use pepper and garlic a lot, but have also used season salt.  Any flavor seasoning packet would work.  Bake in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes, or until they look toasted the way you want them.  They're delicious in salads and soups, but really yummy still slightly warm!

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

This delicious recipe was taken from http://jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com/ which has a ton of great recipes!!





Chicken:
4 large chicken breasts
2 sleeves Ritz crackers
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1/2 C milk
3 C cheddar cheese, grated
1 t dried parsley

Sauce:
1   14 ounce can cream of chicken soup
2 T sour cream
2 T butter
 
1. Cut each chicken breast into 3 large chunks.
2. In a small food processor grind up the ritz crackers.
3. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans. Toss the 1/4 t salt and 1/8 t pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine.
4. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk then the cheese and finally the cracker crumbs.
5. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan.
6. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken.
7. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.
8. Into a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken.

Crock Pot Chicken 'n Dumplings

Many thanks to my good friend Erin for this recipe!  I know the picture does not do it justice, but this was a delicious meal!!!  Will be added to the short list of favorites.

The secret is to use the big grands buttermilk biscuits and cook until it's thick.

 2 cups cooked chicken
 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
 2 soup cans water
 4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
 1 can refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (8 biscuits)

Mix all ingredients, except biscuits, in 4 1/4 quart crock pot slow cooker
Cut biscuits into quarters and gently stir into mixture. Cover and cook on LOW 4 to 6 hours.

Sunday Roast

So I mentioned that I don't get home from church to 2 pm now, and that means super easy Sunday dinners.  Because let's face it....equally as important as the Sunday dinner is the Sunday nap.  So last Sunday, I wanted yummy beef.  Before church, I pulled a roast out of the freezer and prepared it, again focusing on the EASY aspect....meaning a one dish meal.  Soooo......

Rubbed the roast with my handy dandy Paula Deen seasoning mix and put it in the middle of a foil covered roasting pan.  Slice an onion into thin slices and place on the roast.  Cut several red potatoes into quarters and place around the roast.  Then I drizzled olive oil over the potatoes, sprinkled more of my trusty PD seasoning over the potatoes, and slid the whole thing into the oven at 350 until the roast was medium rare, the way we like it, which was about 90 minutes.  I served the meal with a yummy green salad.  Easy, delicious one pan meal!!

French Breakfast Muffins

Thank you Pinterest, for this amazing recipe!!  This was stolen from this fun blog, which has now become a favorite of mine.  And these muffins....oooh boy.....they are every bit as delicious as advertised!!  Made for Saturday morning breakfast, and they were snacked on by all members of the household all day til they were gone.  A weekend must!

  1/3 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg (preferably room temperature)
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. milk

Topping (option: cut topping in half*)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium-large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir until combined, but still a bit lumpy. Don't overmix. Scoop batter into muffin tins that have sprayed with cooking spray. Using a large ice cream scoop, I got 8 medium-large muffins out of this batter; I think you could get 10-12 muffins by distributing the batter a little less generously. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they just start to turn a bit golden at the edges.

For the topping, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Place melted butter in another small bowl. Dip the warm muffins in melted butter (you can dip just the top, but it's even tastier to dip the whole muffin!), then dip/roll the muffin in cinnamon sugar. *May have left-over topping; the extra topping can be used for dipping, while eating the muffins (oh my). Another option is to cut the topping ingredients in half. CONSUME, ENJOY, GO CRAZY!

I really have been cooking.....sometimes!

Lazy may be able to cook, but apparently, Lazy can't keep up on posting recipes.  The last two weeks have actually be perfect examples of why I love simple, easy recipes.  I have been running like crazy with work, and have even found the time to be super, super sick in the middle of it.  Joy of joys!  So here's some catch ups on recipes.

Insane Day! And Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Today was a crazy, insane day.  It was the kind of day that leftovers were made for!  Unfortunately, none of my leftovers were meat.  Fortunately, this is why I always keep individual steaks in the freezer.  So, I pulled out steaks for everyone, and told them that their side dish was up to them!

When I made the beef stroganoff Sunday, I cooked extra noodles.  For my side dish, I heated about 2 T of olive oil in a sauté pan.  I tossed some of the leftover noodles in the olive oil to heat them and coat them with oil.  Sprinkled salt and pepper, and about 1 T of Parmesan cheese over the pasta, and slid it onto the plate.  Instant meal.

Everyone else had leftover twice baked potato casserole, which was a new addition to the menu last week, and has been requested as a regular item.  Recipe is below!

BTW, simple, quick, and delicious idea for lunch.....because I get so incredibly bored with lunch ideas.  Lunch today was an awesome BLT!  I cook my bacon on a rack in the oven so that it's not greasy...and my little secret for a BLT is that I add thinly sliced cucumbers as well....just cuz I love them!

Twice Baked Potato Casserole ***recipe courtesy of http://www.sippitysup.com***

5 lb russet potatoes
10 sli bacon
8 oz cream cheese
0.5 c unsalted butter, melted
1 c sour cream
0.25 c chives, minced
2.5 c cheddar cheese, grated
2 t kosher salt
0.5 t pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel potatoes, and cut into 1-inch chunks. Place in a large saucepan, and add enough cold water to cover by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until tender and easily pierced with a paring knife, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a colander to drain; return to pan, cover, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon, and cook until crisp and browned, turning once. Transfer to paper towels to drain; let cool, and crumble into pieces.
 3. Using a fork, mash the potatoes in pan until light and fluffy.(I left my potatoes fairly chunky, rather than mashing them smoothly.  Added some texture)   Add the cream cheese, butter, and sour cream, and stir until combined and smooth. Add the chives, 2 cups cheddar cheese, half the bacon, salt, and pepper. Stir until well combined.
4. Transfer to a buttered 3-quart baking dish. Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese. Bake until top is slightly golden and potatoes are heated through, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven; garnish with remaining bacon. Serve immediately.

Super Easy chicken and potatoes!

I knew today was a day that I'd be out working for most of the afternoon.  So I needed an easy meal.  Chicken and potatoes!  So this morning, I pulled out three chicken breasts and put them in a marinade.  I buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  When you buy them in the store, they're really thick,and I prefer them to be thin.  A lot of people pound the breasts out to make them thinner, but I prefer to take a fillet knife and slice them in half the thick way.  I do this prior to putting them in the marinade.  You can use any marinade you like.  My favorite is World Harbors brand Island Mango.  I put the chicken and marinade in a sealed gallon size bag.  Throw it in the fridge and let it sit as long as you want.

Now, for the potatoes.  Super easy roasted potatoes, because I like easy!  I don't parboil them, just right into the oven.

4-6 potatoes
olive oil
Paula Deen Seasoning
Parmesan cheese

Tonight I used red potatoes, because that's what I had.  Take however many potatoes you need....I used 4 for 5 people.  Wash them and pat them dry with a paper towel.  I don't peel them.  Cut them into bite sized pieces.  Spread them on a cookie sheet.  I line the cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Sprinkle olive oil over the potatoes.  I don't measure, just ensure that all potatoes have olive oil on them.  Sprinkle Paula seasoning over the potatoes and then sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top.  Cook for about 1 hour at 375.

 And Voila!  The finished product!  The outsides are slightly crispy, the inside is soft and flavorful.  THe seasonings are so good.

And now for the chicken.....again, super easy.  I cook the chicken on a flat topped, counter top griddle.  I dump the entire contents of the bag onto the griddle, marinade and all.  I have found that cooking the chicken in the marinade helps keep it moist, as well as adding more flavor to the chicken.  Because the chicken is thin, it only takes about 10 minutes to cook through.

And for a vegetable tonight, simple steamed broccoli.  The only time required is the time it takes to trim the stems and toss them in the steamer basket to cook.  And really, not much is better than delicious steamed broccoli!!

Total prep time tonight was about 15 minutes, and while the cook time was about an hour, the cook time that I needed to pay attention was only about 10 minutes.  I had no leftovers, and Josh ate three pieces of chicken, which means dinner was a success!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

This is such a good soup, and so filling!  Also super easy.

1 lb chicken breasts (3-4 fillets)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 C diced onion
1 garlic clove
4 C chicken broth
1 C masa harina (flour)
3 C water
1 can enchilada sauce
16 oz. Velveeta Cheese
1 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin

Add chicken breasts and one can of cream of chicken soup to a crock pot and bake for about 4-5 hours on high.
When the chicken is done baking...
Add onions and garlic to a pot and saute over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until the onions begin to become translucent.
Add chicken broth to the pot.
Combine masa harina with 2 cups of water in a medium bowl and whisk until blended.
Add the masa mixture to the pot with the onions, garlic and broth.
Add remaining water, enchilada sauce, cheese and spices and bring mixture to a boil.
Shred the chicken into small, bite-size pieces and add it to the pot.
Reduce heat and simmer soup for 30-40 minutes or until thick.
 Serve in cups or bowls and garnish with shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, sour cream, and crumpled tortilla chips.

(I made my own tortilla chips for this soup. Slice up several flour tortillas into thin strips and saute with a 1 tsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt until the tortillas strips are crispy).

Beef Stroganoff

This is the year of easy Sunday dinners.  We go to church at 11:00am now, and by the time we get home just after 2 pm, we are H-U-N-G-R-Y!  So we've decided we'll be using the crock pot a lot this year, and making meals that don't take a lot of time.  Today's menu was beef strogranoff, which I love, but we seldom ever have.  Total time, including prep and cooking was about 40 minutes.  Right up my alley!

I forgot to take a picture of the finished meal, but will do it when it's leftovers tomorrow....

Beef Stroganoff

1.5 pounds of sirloin steak
1 medium yellow onion
5 mushrooms
1 T butter
1/4 cup white wine
1 T Paula Deen seasoning
1 T flour

Pasta of choice

Sauce

2 cups sour cream(I use reduced fat to eliminate the guilt of a sour cream filled meal!)
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 t Paula Deen seasoning

Cut the sirloin steak into bite size cubes.   If you cut beef on the diagonal, across the grain, it will be more tender.  You can also used pre-diced stew beef, but it won't be as tender.  Dice the entire onion.  I'm not a huge onion fan, but do recognize that it adds flavor to meals.  Because of this, I dice my onions into very small pieces!  Slice the mushrooms.  I like the visual texture that leaving the slices whole gives to the plate.

In a large skillet on medium heat, combine the meat, butter, and white wine.  Sprinkle the Paula seasoning and the flour over the meat and stir both in.  Stir occasionally while cooking.  While your meat is cooking, fill a large pot with water to cook your pasta.  I say pasta of choice, because you can use whatever pasta you want.  I typically use linguine.  In my opnion, it makes the meal less heavy.

Cook the meat until it is almost all the way cooked.  Add the mushrooms, sour cream, heavy cream, and additional Paula seasoning.  Cook for aproximately 5 minutes, until mushrooms are barely cooked and sauce is well blended and heated all the way through.  Drain your pasta.  Serve the stroganoff over the pasta, with a vegetable of your choice.

Not only is this super simple to make, but the cleanup is a breeze, because you've only used two pans.  Definite plus in my book.  And judging by the two heaping helpings Josh had, it's a winner in his too!

A few of my basic must haves

I have a few basics that are always, always in my cupboard.  I'm not sure I'd know how to cook without them!!

1.  Paula Deen's House seasoning
     1 cup salt
     1/4 cup black pepper
     1/4 cup garlic powder
     Mix them together and store in an air tight container.  I  store it in a pint sized canning jar.

2.  Butter.  Now I'm not going all Paula Deen on my cooking, but butter really does, in limited quantities, make whatever I'm cooking better.  And I mean butter.  Real butter.  Not margarine.

3.  Olive Oil.  It's key in cooking, in my opinion.  It'll be in a lot of the things I cook.

4.  White wine.  Now don't freak out on me.  I actually use wine in a lot of the things I cook.  It adds a very unique flavor.  And since I only use it in items that I am cooking, all of the alcohol cooks out of it, and you are left only with the flavor, so you don't need to worry that you are feeling your children alcohol.  The great chefs say not to use any wine that you wouldn't drink, so instead of using cooking wine, I always purchase a cheaper drinking wine.

5.  Italian Seasoning.  It's super cheap, and because it's a blend of herbs, it's actually one of my go to seasonings.  I use it a lot when I taste something and think, Gosh, this needs something, but I don't know what......voila!  Italian Seasoning.

I am a lazy cook!

Ok, maybe lazy isn't the most accurate word....it sure isn't the most flattering!  So instead, let's go with busy.  I am a busy cook.  I like to eat.  I love food.  I even like to cook.  But I also have a job that keeps me really busy, so don't have a ton of time to spend preparing meals.  But I also don't like eating a lot of packaged or pre-prepared foods, because they are just so bad for you.

I don't have little kids to try to feed, but I do have an 18 year old nephew living with me.  So the trick is to try to balance meals for me and for him.  On my side, you've got an adult female who is trying to eat in a healthy way and lose weight.  On Josh's side, you've got an 6', athletic teenage boy who could happily eat 4,000 calories a day and stay slim and athletic.  Sometimes, he makes me crazy!  And let me add that I love to try new things and be adventurous in my cooking, and Josh would be happy always eating the same 5-6 meals, every 5-6 days.

So the happy medium is that I cook healthy meals, making them in ways that make Josh's teenage boy appetite happy, provide lots of veggies, and always have a batch of cookies in the cookie jar.

So anyway, to wrap this up.  I know I have a lot of friends who find themselves to be in the same meal preparation situation as me.  I've found and collected some really great, simple recipe's.  And, since I like to play with things when I'm cooking, I've created some dishes of my own that are pretty darn tasty!  Soooo....I figured I'd start a blog to share those recipe's with my friends.  I'll only post recipe's that I've made and have passed approval from my family.  If they're my own creation, I'll claim credit.  If I lifted it from somewhere, I'll give credit to the culinary genius I stole from!