Cranberry Chicken

This is a super easy no brainier recipe, it has alot of pre-packaged food that I try to avoid, but sometimes we all need a little break and this is the perfect meal for that, and as a bonus it's a slow cooker meal!

Ingredients:

1-1.5lbs boneless skinless chicken breast

1 can whole berry cranberries

1 pkg onion soup mix

1 cup french dressing


In your crockpot/slower cook, mix dressing, onion soup mix, and cranberries, add chicken, cook on low for 6-8 hours, that's it, no flipping chicken nothing! We serve our ontop of steamed rice and side caesar salads.

Broccoli Beef and Ham Fried Rice

Maybe this should be 2 separate post, but I always make it together, so that's how i'll post it.  It gets a little over whelming making everything at once, so i like to have everything mixed/chopped/prepared, and ready to be cooked.

This is how many frying pans you need.

Broccoli Beef:

1lb Beef for stir fry, do not buy stew meat!

2 heads of broccoli

1 packet broccoli beef seasoning mix (we buy the sun-bird brand)

2 mushrooms

ground/powder ginger

1 garlic clove

soy sauce ( 2 thbs is needed in the seasoning mix)

oil for frying the meat

season mix prepared

Directions

Heat frying pan with oil and add in one clove of garlic chopped (low medium heat).

Sprinkle meat with ginger, wash and cut broccoli and mushrooms, prepare seasoning mix as directed.  Place meat in frying pan, stir so all sides get browned, about 10 mins. Steam broccoli in microwave.  Add seasoning mix to meat, it will be very thin. add in broccoli and mushrooms, cook for 5 more mins, or until sauce thickens.

when the sauce is first added and very thin

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Thickened sauce, and it's ready to eat!

Ham Fried Rice:

The secret to non-mushy ham fried rice is to let your rice cool completely before frying it.  I usually steam my rice in the morning, put it in the fridge and take it out hours later when i'm ready to cook.

2 cups rice, steamed, I use Jasmine rice, with this rice you do not add double the water, instead its 1.5 cups water to every 1 cup jasmine rice.

diced ham

6 eggs, scrambled

soy sauce

ground ginger

Directions:

heat large pan with oil, low medium heat. cook eggs, and set aside.  Place rice in hot pan, sprinkle ginger ontop and allow to sizzle while you stir it for 2-3 mins.  Create a hole in the center and add ham, let that cook for about a min, while stirring around, and eggs, and mix well.  Soy sauce is up to you and your taste buds, I put in just enough to see a color change in the rice, then allow each person to add soy sauce to there own plate, to their liking, you can always add more soy sauce, but you can't take it away once you add to much, i've done that before!!

rice with ginger ontop

add ham in the middle

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wala, it's done :)

time to eat!!!

This has nothing to do with food....

My cute little 2 year old :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkyt73MEY9w

Chicken Noodle Casserole

My 6 year old loves to be in the kitchen just as much as I do, her favorite is to make up new reicpes, this is our favorite so far, it's got a lot of random stuff in it and might not seem that appetizing, but it is so good! We have made it about 5 times in the last 3 months, so give it a chance :)

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breast
Cream of chicken Soup (recipe found here)
mini or small shell noodles (half of the bag)
frozen peas and carrots
real crumbled bacon
cheese

Boil chicken, while your chicken is boiling make your cream of chicken soup again you can find that recipe here.  Boil the small or mini shell noodles, the last 2 mins of boiling I throw in half a bag of the frozen peas and carrots, drain and set aside..  Once your chicken is done boiling shred it, then mix in your cream of chicken soup, noodles and frozen veggies, 1/2 cup crumbled bacon and 1/2 cup cheese, mix together and put in a pyrex dish, I use an 8x11, but a 9x13 would work fine.  Cover and bake 20 mins at 350.  After the 20 mins uncover, and sprinkle cheese and bacon  on top, bake just until cheese melts~ we serve ours with rolls.

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mixing it all together

cover and bake

with the melted cheese and bacon on top

ready to eat :)

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup.

I was in the middle of making a dish one day, went to my cupboard to grab a can of cream of chicken soup and realized I was all out.... After a quick google search, there where hundreds of recipes, I picked one that looked the easiest and made that, over a coarse of a few weeks, I developed my own, cost less than .50 to make, and is sooooooooooo much better tasting!

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons flour
4 Tablespoons Butter
1 Cup half and half
1 Cup water
3 bullion cubes



Mix half and half and water together, set aside.  Melt butter and flour together until it becomes a thick paste, SLOWLY, I can not stress that enough, add in your half and half and water mixture, just a little at a time, stirring in between, once you get about half the liquid in, you can poor the rest in, but that first half has to be done a splash at a time to prevent your flour from clumping.  Once all liquid is in put your bullion cubes in and whisk away, I keep mine on a medium heat the whole time, takes about 7 mins from adding in all the liquid to get the thickness i prefer, your time will depend on how thick you want it.

flour and butter mixed together

add the liquid mixture in a little at a time

once all the liquid is in, before it starts to thicken

nice thick, homemade cream of chicken soup

Chicken Cordon Bleu

You can find the original recipe here

This is one of those recipes that you are just going to have to find what works for you, i've made it 3x and each time and folded the chicken differently.

Ingredients 

*4 bonless, skinless chicken breast

* pieces ham

*2 mozeralla cheese sticks

*salt and pepper

*1 tsp dried thyme

*1/4 cup melted butter

*1 cup corn flakes, crushed



Directions:

1) preheat oven to 400 degrees


2)Place 1 piece of chicken between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet to about 1/8" thickness.

3) Cut cheese sticks in half, place 1/2 piece of cheese stick on 1 piece of ham, sprinkle salt, pepper, and thyme on-top (hubby likes me to go easy on the thyme on his piece, and i like a little extra) roll up ham around cheese "jellyroll-style", then roll each chicken breast with ham and cheese inside.  Tuck in ends and fasten with toothpicks, do no use colored ones, unless you want streaks of red, green, and orange in your cooked chicken ;)

4)Place melted butter in a small bowl and place cereal crumbs in a shallow dish or bowl,  dip each chicken roll up in butter, then roll in cereal crumbs, make sure it's coated thoroughly   Place coated rolls in a lightly greased 6x9 baking dish.

5)Bake at 400 degrees for about 35-40 mins, or until chicken is gold brown and juices run clear.

chicken is uncooked here

all done!

Cafe Rio

I have a weakness, it's called Cafe Rio, I can't quite get enough, I personally believe the homemade version is better, it takes some work, but when you can eat Rio 3 days in a row, it makes it all worth it!

I have found these recipes on so many sites and have no clue who the original poster was, but just know that the sweet port, and chicken are NOT my recipes!

Cafe Rio Chicken Recipe:

2 lbs chicken breasts
8oz zesty italian dressing
1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 pkt ranch dressing mix (mixed with 1/2 cup of water)
1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

I like to put all the ingredients in the crockpot and mix well, then add in the chicken.  Cook on low for about 6 hours then shred, it's THAT easy!

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Recipe:

 2 pounds pork roast

2 cans Coke do not use diet!!!!

1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies
1 (10 oz) can red enchilada sauce
1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a ziplock bag to marinate, pour in one of the cans of Coke and 1/2 c. brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight I have only done the over night marinade.  Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of Coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours. Remove pork from crock pot, drain off liquid. Shred pork. Mix together in crockpot other 1/2 can of Coke, can of chiles, enchilada sauce and brown sugar.Put shredded pork back in the crock pot, cover with sauce, heat just until warmed through. (I let it sit for about another hour)  This one is a little more difficult and time consuming then the chicken, but really I prefer this one.

The Dressing, oh the dressing, I'm pretty sure I could drink this stuff, oh wait, I HAVE!!!

1 package dry hidden valley ranch salad dressing
1 cup mayo
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 large clove garlic
2 small/medium tomitillos husked, I cut mine into 4's
1 cup buttermilk
juice of 1 lime
1 small jalapeno (take the seeds out!!)

Easiest thing to make EVER, throw all the ingredients in, blend very well, let chill for a few hours in the fridge!

Rice

*This recipe is on my husbands side, I did not find this from any other blog!

2 Cups Jasmine rice

3 Tablespoons butter

Chopped yellow onion (I do about a 1/4 of the onion)

4-5 chicken buillion cubes

4 cups water

**Melt the butter and add the onions and rice, on med-high heat, once rice is browned add in the water and bullion cubes, cover and turn down, let simmer 20 mins! Serioulsy this rice is sooooooooooooo good!

Beans

Ready for this one, open a can, hahahah, i don't do anything special with my beans!  We open one can of black, and one can of pinto, we don't agree on beans in this house, so why fight? Make both!

PICO DE GALLO

4-5 tomatoes, diced
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
juice from 1 large lime
1 jalepeno, diced, and seeded.

Mix ingredients together and you have pico!

You'll also need, red leaf lettuce, tortilla strips, cheese (we use colby jack) and tortillas, get the uncooked ones, they are generally where your cream cheese is at in the store!

To assemble:

Put the cook tortilla on a plate, sprinkle cheese, rice and beans, and the meat, lettuce, pico, top with cilantro and tortilla strips.  Then add the heavenly dressing!

This is made with the pork

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my own recipe, I've been making it for years and slowly tweeking it, until it was finally perfect!




Ingredients:

*1 cup butter (softened)
*1 cup brown sugar packed
*3/4 cup white sugar
*2 eggs room tempeture
*1 tsp vanilla
* 1/8 tsp almond extract
*1 1/2 cups flour
*1 tsp baking soda
*2 1/2 cups oatmeal
*1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (could use semi-sweet but we are milk chocolate lovers)


Cream together butter and sugar, add in eggs and vanilla and almond.  In a seperate bowl combine flour and baking soda, pour into wet ingredients until mixed well, then add in oatmeal.  I like to stir in my chocolate chips with a spatula not my mixer.  Bake at 350 for 9-11 mins.  (I cook for 10 mins, then let them sit for a few mins before transferring to cooling racks.)

Mini M&M Pancakes

Mini M&M Pancakes

Everyone has heard of chocolate chip pancakes but what about mini M&M's? Its a kid favorite, with the bright colors and sweet taste it's sure to please, and so easy to make! The trick is when pouring the batter on the griddle to push the m&m's in the batter pour a little more batter on top to make sure they are covered, if you don't they will burn when you flip the pancake. Make it more fun by adding food coloring in the batter.

*Feeling really domesticated, then make your own batter: *2 cups flour *1 1/2 tsp of baking powder *1/2 tsp salt *1/4 cup oil *2 cups milk *2 eggs. Mix all dry ingredients first side aside, then mix milk eggs and oil, add in dry ingredients  (Original recipe calls for 1 tsp of sugar, I grew up with it never being added in and have never added it in mine, so it's your call) 

*Enchilada Soup* **pictures to come later**

*Enchilada Soup* **pictures to come later**

*6 boneless chicken breast

*6 cups water

*6 chicken bullion cubes

*1 tsp cumin

*2 tsp fresh minced garlic

*1 large can green enchilada sauce

*1 large can diced tomatoes

*2 small cans tomato sauce NOT paste

*1 can black beans

*1 1/2 lbs shredded colby jack cheese

**Boil chicken until cooked, then shred, if you have a stand mixer you can throw it in there turn on to 4 speed and let it go around for about 45 second, if not shred by hand *its the hardest part of this whole recipe, I promise*. Add shredded chicken, water, bullion, cumin, and garlic. Cook over medium-low heat until bullion is disolved. Add in enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and beans. Do not add cheese in the pot, it will stick to the sides and spoon, and does not make for easy clean up, instead add cheese in individual bowls. We love to top with cilantro but that is your preference. We dip tortilla chips in ours!


This is also a great soup to freeze, so if you have plenty of leftovers like we do, then freeze it for a later date, makes for a super easy dinner!

Imitation Olive Garden Breadsticks.

Before you read further, this recipes needs a stand mixer, I have made other bread recipes, but this one REALLY needs that handy kitchen gadget!




Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water 
2 Tbs sugar 
1 Tbs yeast
1 tea. Salt
2 Tbs butter, softened 
4-5 Cups flour 

3 Tbs butter melted 
sea salt 
1 tsp garlic powder 

In your stand mixer add warm water (anything above 110 degrees will kill your yeast) and sugar, give it a stir, then add in your Tablespoon of yeast, cover and let stand 10 mins, it will foam/froth.

at the 10 min mark

Now add in your salt, softened butter and 2 of your cups of flour, turn mixer on low speed and add flour in 1/2 cup at a time until dough "swipes" clean off sides of the bowl, mine needed 4 cups total. Let mix together for 3-5 min.

salt, butter, and 2 cups of flour

still sticky, I had 3 cups of flour at this point

4 cups of flour and not sticking to the bowl

Let dough rise for 1 hour covered.

at the begining

after 1 hour

Now that your dough has risen, lay it on the counter and roll out (see pic)

 spray your knife with cooking spray and cut dough in 12-14 pieces (to keep kids entertained give them each a piece of dough to play with)

 Now roll your 12 individual pieces out and place about 2" apart on a sprayed cookie sheet, let rise again 15-20 mins.

  Melt 1.5Tablespoons of butter and get out your pasty brush and brush the breadsticks with the butter and sprinkle some salt on top   Bake 12-14 mins at 400 degrees, once breadsticks come out melt 1.5Tablespoons of butter, mix in 1 teaspoon of garlic POWDER, and brush breaksticks with this mixture, I let mine sit for about 5 mins before serving!

We served ours with homemade Alfredo Sauce over fettuccine noodles with chicken!