BBQ Chichen Sandwiches (in the Cockpot)

BBQ Crockpot Chicken Sandwiches
Courtesy of Janette Childs recipe

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts (boneless/skinless)
1 bottle Cattleman's BBQ sauce
1/2 cup Zesty Italian Dressing
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 T. Worcestershire Sauce

What to do:

Place all sauce ingredients in slow cooker and stir together. Drop chicken in crockpot and cover with sauce.
Cook for 4-5 hours on low, then shred chicken. Add back to crockpot and cook for 30 more minutes.

Serve. We served on Hamburger Buns and ate as sandwiches. But, you can eat plain, or on rice, etc.

What we Thought:
Stars: Kyle 4 Marie 4.1

Pretty tasty. Very flavorful. I liked eating them as sandwiches with a slice of medium cheddar cheese on top.

Honey Mustard Mozzarella Chicken

Tonight for dinner I am making.....CHICKEN! Surprise!!

Honey Mustard Mozzarella Chicken

Ingredients:
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup prepared mustard
lemon pepper to taste
shredded Mozzarella Cheese
sliced bacon (optional)

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Place the chicken breast halves in a baking dish, and drizzle evenly with honey and mustard. Sprinkle with lemon pepper.
3. Bake chicken 25 minutes in the preheated oven. Top each breast half with 2 bacon slice halves(optional, I of course will not be doing this), and sprinkle evenly with cheese. Continue baking 10 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear, bacon is crisp, and cheese is bubbly.

This was not good. I forgot to add the lemon pepper. But, I am pretty sure a little lemon pepper would not bring a gross meal up to great. 2 thumbs down from both Kyle and I.

If you attempt to make this and it turns out, let me know how you tweaked this recipe.

Andes Mint Brownies

I am making dessert 2 days in a row! The problem is Kyle and I can never eat a whole pan just us 2. So half of it usually goes old and crusty. But, I have Andes Mint's left over so I am going to try it out.

Andes Mint Brownies
no prepackaged mix, the real deal
adapted from: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa
½ teaspoon salt
1 package Andes mints (24-28 mints)
Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9X13-inch pan with foil and lightly grease with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
Unwrap all the mints and coarsely chop. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Remove from the heat and add the sugar, stirring well to combine. Whisk in the vanilla and then the eggs. Blend well.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. Gently stir in the chopped Andes mints. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 32-35 minutes, until the brownies are set in the middle but not overbaked. Let cool completely, slice into squares and serve.

Chicken Rotini Stovetop Casserole

Today I am making Chicken Rotini

Ingredients:

• 1 (12 ounce) package rotini pasta
• 1 cup half-and-half cream
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese ( I use the shredded shaker kind from KRAFT)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
• 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (optional)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.
2. Combine half-and-half and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Boil gently, stirring, until mixture has reduced to 1 1/2 to 1 2/3 cups. Remove pan from heat; whisk in cheese, basil, oregano, chives, and parsley. Cover, and set aside.
3. Saute chicken in a large skillet until lightly browned on both sides. (if you want to: Stir in green and red bell pepper), and cook until vegetables are tender, and chicken is no longer pink in the middle.
4. In a casserole dish, combine the hot cooked pasta, chicken mixture, and sauce. Mix well, and serve immediately.

All in all

Delicious Dessert Pizza!

Dessert Pizza (Fruit)

• 1 (18 ounce) package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (8 ounce) Cream Cheese
  
• 1/2 cup sliced banana
• 1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 1/2 cup seedless grapes, halved
• 1/2 cup blueberries

You can add or take off any fruit that you want, that part is not really important

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Press cookie dough evenly into a 12 inch pizza pan. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack.
3. Mix together half of the brick of the cream cheese and the whip cream topping. Spread whipped topping mixture over cooled crust. Arrange fruit in a decorative pattern. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. It tastes best if you refrigerate for about 20 minutes. If you make it before dinner it will be ready to eat after!!

What we thought:
Kyle: 5
Marie: 5 It was delicious!

French Bread Pizza

I have a night class on Tuesday and Thursdays, so I tend to make easy meals then, and I never really post them. But, today I will.

French Bread Pizza

1 loaf of french bread
1&1/2 cups of Mozerella Cheese
1 jar premade pizza sauce (I used Ragu)
1 cup pineapple

Any other toppings that you would like


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Slice the loaf of bread in half so that you have two "boats". You can slice them in half again so you have 4, face up pieces.
Take out a little bread from the middle. I find that if you do this it wont get soggy. Don't take out too much or you wont have a good CRUST.

Top with sauce, and toppings and sprinkle a nice amount of Cheese. You can put a little cheddar cheese on top if you want.

Cook for 10-20 minutes depending on your oven. Watch it carefully.

The End. Quick Easy and Delicious!

Both of us give 4.5 stars!! I did not have enough cheese to make really cheesy. The bread turned out great!! Not too crispy.

I don't really like to bake

Hi, I have has some questions why I never have desserts on my blog. The answer is simple. I don't like to bake. Baking takes more skill. If you mess it up, it is ruined. Cooking does not have to be an exact science for it to turn out. I also never learned the vocabulary to baking, such as "cream the butter" "fold-in bla bla" so It is much harder to follow a recipe.

Also, it takes longer, more dishes, and I do not have a kitchen-aid. People that bake always have kitchen-aid's.

Also, desserts usually will make you fat before dinners will.

However, there are some delicious dessert recipes out there, and I would like to try some. If you know of any easy ones to start out on send them my way!

Pesto Cheesy Chicken

Pesto Cheesy Chicken

What you need to have:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/4 inch thickness (Kyle and I used 2)
  
• Pesto that comes in a Jar, or you could make your own I guess
  
• 1 cup of Mozerella Cheese shredded, or 4 thick slices mozzarella cheese
• some bread crumbs and an egg (OPTIONAL)
  

What to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of the pesto sauce onto each flattened chicken breast. Place one slice of cheese over the pesto, or some of the shredded cheese (that's what I did). Roll up tightly, and secure with toothpicks. OPTIONAL STEP: put some lightly beated egg on top with some Italian or Regular Bread Crumbs sprinkled on top. I did this step.
   
3. Place in a lightly greased baking dish.
4. Bake uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until chicken is nicely browned and juices run clear.

The End. Yum Yumm!!

Stars: Kyle and I both give: 3.5 stars.

It was good, and moist. It was very flavorful for just a piece of chicken on your plate. But, not an every week sort of meal. Maybe a pesto LOVER would enjoy it more regularly.

Chicken and Biscuit Casserole

Chicken and Biscuit Casserole

What you Need:

1 pilsbury biscuit tube thing
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup (regular sized)
1/2 cup of Sour Cream
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1 can of peas (LeShur is the bestest very sweet petite peas)
2 cups cooked chicken, (I boil mine and then shred it)
1 cup mild cheddar cheese
3 TBS milk

What you do:

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix soup and 1/2 cup sour cream. (If you heat them together on the stove your biscuits will come out less doughy on the bottom. I usually heat my mixture in a large saucepan first - This is step is not required, but helps if you don't want a doughy bottom of the biscuit)
Then, in 8-inch square baking dish. Stir in chicken, and peas, milk, and melted butter: flatten out, and put the cheese sprinkled evenly on top. I like to add some pepper into the mixture.

Put biscuits on top of the cheese you just sprinkled. Just layer them in a single layer. If you did buy the thicker biscuits I would probably flatten them out a little, or cut them in half so they are not as thick, they will cook better.

Cook for 35 minutes or until the biscuits on top are golden brown and the amazing mixture underneath is hot and bubbly.

George Foreman Orange Chicken Marinade

George Foreman Orange Chicken Marinade


1 cup orange juice
1 small can of pineapple juice
2 tbls olive oil
some salt and pepper

Put everything in a ziplock back, let marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours.
Throw on the George Foreman for 4-8 minutes.
I am serving with the oven fried potatos.

It was good. But, I still do not love the way the George Foreman cooks chicken, kinda makes it chewy. Which is not my favorite.

Kyle and I both give it 2.5 stars

Oven Fried Potatos (Russet)

Tonight as a side dish I am going to make these oven fried potatoes


Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 lbs. russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

How to Make:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Cover potatoes with cold water in a bowl. Let sit 15 minutes. Drain potatoes and pat dry. Coat a baking pan with oil. Add potatoes and toss with melted butter and salt and pepper to taste. Bake 20 minutes. Turn potatoes with a spatula and bake another 15 minutes or until golden and tender.

There is not really any nutritional value in this, but I think it will turn out well!

Stars:

Kyle: 5 stars
Marie: 5 stars

Kyle's Alfredo

Tonight we got back from SLC and only had leftover BBQ sidedishes to eat really, and I looked at Kyle and said, perhaps you could make me dinner tonight. And he did! I found him an easy Alfredo recipe, and without any help he made it and was a champ! He added chicken he grilled on the stove and made some bowtie noodles.

Here is the recipe for the sauce. It was pretty tasty and required little ingredients.

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup milk
• 3 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

We both decided it was a 3.5 in stars.
Simply because it was nothing out of the ordinary, but a good quick meal if you need one. This recipe was for 3 person's worth of sauce. But you can double, because I actually cut it in half. Got it from allmyrecipes.com