Bacon Ranch Chicken

I have a new website that I absolutely love! Crock Pot Girls!! Have a feeling I will be using this site a lot this fall and winter!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tbsp. real bacon bits (I used turkey bacon)

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 pkg. ranch dressing mix

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

egg noodles (Cooked and drained)

Combine bacon, garlic, ranch dressing mix, soup and sour cream; mix well. Pour over chicken in the crock pot. Cook on high for 3-4 hours. Shred chicken and add egg noodles. The recipe says to take the chicken out, but mine was so tender I left it in the crock pot and just pulled it apart with a fork.

Mexican Cornbread

Lydia helped me make Mexican Cornbread for our White Chicken Chili! She is such a sweet little helper in the kitchen! I used Paula Deen's recipe ... so as you can guess, it was great! =)

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup sifted all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk ( I used skim)
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped jalapenos, or to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Grease an 8-inch square pan, cast iron skillet, or cornbread mold. In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. To dry mixture, add egg, milk, sour cream, oil, and jalapenos and mix until smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden.

White Chicken Chili

My sister-in-law gave me this recipe and it was wonderful! I am sure I will be making it a lot this fall and winter! Love sticking stuff in the crock pot and letting it cook all day! Makes getting dinner on the table so much easier, especially with a baby.

2-3 large cans white northern beans (4 small cans)

6 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)

1 can chicken broth

2 medium onions, chopped (I only used 1/2 an onion)

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1-2 cans cream of mushroom soup

3 Tbsp. chili powder or 1 pkg. chili seasoning

Dump everything into a large crock pot and cook all day. (My favorite part!! )

Serve with Mexican cornbread, salsa, sour cream, or chips. 

Chocolate Gravy

When I think of breakfast at my Grandmother's house, the first thing that always comes to mind is chocolate gravy!! To some, that may sound crazy or gross ... but to me it sounds amazing!! =) I decided make some tonight for dinner and it actually turned out pretty good! In my opinion, it was not nearly as good as Grandmother's, but of course, she has several years of making chocolate gravy on me! Jeff said it was good and Lydia ate it up! So I guess that's a good sign.

1/3 cup cocoa

4 tbsp flour

1 can evaporated milk (plus enough regular milk to make 2 cups)

1/2 sugar

1/2 stick of butter

Mix cocoa, flour and sugar in a sauce pan. Add milk and cook on medium, stirring until all lumps are gone. You have to stir this quite a bit to keep it from sticking to the bottom, so keep an eye on it. When the gravy starts to get thick, add butter. Serve over hot biscuits and enjoy!

**I was told this week that it tastes really good with peanut butter added to it. I may have to try that next time!**

YUMMY!

Roasted Potato Salad

This potato salad recipe is one of our FAVORITES! I have no idea where my mom got it from, but I am so glad she found it!! =) Just a little warning, it takes a while to make because you have to chop up the potatoes and then roast them in the oven ... but totally worth it!

4 cups quartered, unpeeled new or red potatoes

6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 400*.

Place potatoes on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Spray top of potatoes with cooking spray and sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Bake potatoes for 40 minutes or until gold brown and tender. Stir the potatoes about half way through cooking time. Spray again with cooking spray and put more salt and pepper on them. If double (or triple or quadruple like I normally do) you will have to cook the potatoes a little longer. Just continue to stir every once in a while! Remove from oven and cool slightly.

Combine sour cream, mayo, green onions, salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix well. Add potatoes and bacon. Toss gently.

Serve warm or at room temperature. It is also good cold ... but we like it best warm!

To Die For Brownies

 I saw this recipe last week and HAD to try it out! It calls for a secret ingredient ...

Yes! Black Beans!!

These brownies are made with black beans and NO eggs or oil! I thought there was no way that they could taste like brownies, but I just had to try it and see! They were AMAZING!! Plus, you can get the added benefit of protein and fiber while eating your dessert!

2 (15oz each) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 - 3/4 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa (I used Hershy's Special Dark)
1 T. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 (12oz) pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Puree black beans in blender with water until smoothie like consistency. Combine black bean mixture, sugar, and milk in a large mixing bowl. Mix with electric mixer until well combined. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan. 

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Lydia and Jeff both LOVED them!! I will definitely be making these again and again!

Peanut Butter Toffee With Saltines

I made this yummy treat for hostess gifts for Jack Henry's first shower. I saw it on a blog and HAD to try it! =) They were pretty easy to make and were very good. Jeff said that when Lydia tried it for the first time she said "This is the best treat ever!" Pretty good compliment if I say so myself! Hah!

1/4 lb (one sleeve) saltines (the salted ones)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter

2 1/2 cups semi-sweet chips

1/3 cup peanut butter

Chopped M&M’s

Chopping the M&M's were harder than I thought it would be!! The recipe also said that Reese's PB cups or nuts would be good on top!

Preheat oven to 400-degrees. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper (the pan needs to have a lip to it or these things will leak all over your oven.) Place saltines in pan, salted side up. Leave just a bit of space between crackers so the toffee with encase the entire cracker when done.

Bring sugar and butter to a boil in a saucepan.

Put dollops of peanut butter on top and return to the oven for 1 minute.

Top with M&M pieces (or whatever you come up with). Place in freezer for at least 1 hour. Once these are set, crack them into individual pieces.

Bring sugar and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Boil for 3 minutes (time the boiling after the whole thing starts boiling, not just the edges). DO NOT stir ... this was TOUGH for me!


Pour boiling mixture over crackers. Place in oven for 5 minutes.

Put dollops of peanut butter on top and return to the oven for 1 minute.

Spread melted peanut butter over mixture with spatula and top with chocolate chips. Then, put back into the oven for 1 minute.

Use spatula to spread the chocolate chips (which have melted). 

Top with M&M pieces (or whatever you come up with). Place in freezer for at least 1 hour. Once these are set, crack them into individual pieces.

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

3-4 chicken breasts cooked and shredded

8 tortillas cut into strips

1 Can Cream of Chicken soup

1 Can Cream of Mushroom soup

1 Green Bell Pepper diced up

1 Can rotel (or whatever diced tomatoes you have...for this one I had Hunts diced tomatoes with garlic...it's just what I had!)

1 Onion

1 small can mushrooms

Cumin

Shredded cheese

Crushed Chips

Preheat oven to 350. 


Saute the onion and bell pepper with some salt. 


Add the chicken, soups, rotel, and drained mushrooms. At this point add your cumin and just let it simmer and stir occasionally. 


In a baking dish place down a layer of your tortilla strips.


Next layer with a bit of the soup/chicken mixture, then layer with some cheese. Repeat this until you are out of the soup/chicken mixture. Top with remaining tortillas and crushed chips.


Cook for 20 minutes, top with more cheese and cook for remaining 5 minutes. We ate this with a salad and it was delicious!

Mexican Rice Bowls

Another new recipe that I am sure I'll be making A LOT!! So light and refreshing, especially for summer. I served this with chicken quesadillas because I knew that Lydia probably would not touch it and that Jeff would want some sort of meat! =)

Cilantro Lime Rice

2 Cans Black Beans

1 Small bag of frozen corn

Roma Tomatoes, diced

Avacado, diced

Salsa (Used my new recipe!)

Cilantro

Layer all ingredients, starting with rice then corn and beans, tomatoes, salsa then avacado. Top with cilantro.

Calories: 260

Fat: 5 grams

Protein: 8 grams

**You need to check out CJ In The Kitchen!**

Cilantro Lime Rice

Found this recipe on the same website that I found the Cookies n' Creme Cookies. It was wonderful! Full of taste and was great in the Mexican Rice Bowls!

1 cup long grain rice
1 can chicken broth

1 cup water

zest of 1/2 lime

2 garlic cloves

2 tsp sugar

2 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp chopped cilantro

Combine rice, chicken broth, water, lime zest and garlic in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover for 20 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork. Put rice in a bowl and add sugar, lime juice and cilantro. Stir and serve!

Salsa

I've always wanted to try to make my own salsa because I am not a huge fan of what you buy at the grocery store, but love what you get at restaurants though! I found this recipe this week and could not wait to try it out. It's from The Pioneer Woman who has AMAZING recipes, so I knew it would be good! It was a huge hit at our house! I think from now on, I'll be making my own salsa!

1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice

2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)

¼ cups Chopped Onion

1 clove Garlic, Minced

1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin

¼ teaspoons Sugar

¼ teaspoons Salt

¼ teaspoons Ground Cumin

½ cups Cilantro (more To Taste!)

½ whole Lime Juice

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse 10 to 15 times, until desired consistency. Taste and season more if needed.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour.

Symphony Brownies

Another tasty Paula Dean recipe!! And the best part ... it's SO easy! I made these one day at the shoppe in Benton that I've been working at on Fridays and knew that it would be added to my collection!

2 - 20-ounce package (family-sized) boxed brownie mix

4 King-sized almond-toffee Symphony brand candy bars (made by Hershey, found in the candy aisle)

Prepare the brownie mix according to package directions.

Line a 9×13-inch cake pan with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon in half of the brownie batter and smooth with a spatula. Break apart the candy bar into sections and space them out so they cover the surface of the brownie batter. Cover with remaining batter.

Bake according to package directions (mine took 40 minutes). Let cool completely, then lift from the pan using the edges of the foil.

Cookies 'n Creme Cookies

These cookies are AMAZING! I found them on the site CJ In The Kitchen. She has some recipes that look really good! Can not wait to try more of them out!

2 1/4 cups flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter, softened 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 

1/2 cup white sugar 

1 (4.2 ounce) package Cookies 'n Creme pudding mix 

2 eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 cups white chocolate chips 

15 Oreo cookies, very coarsly chopped 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars, add pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda with a whisk then add it to the butter mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and Oreo cookies. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven until cookies tops barely have a touch of brown.

Lydia could not wait to get her hands ... well tongue ... in this cookie dough!! =)

Strawberry Cake

This is Paula Dean's recipe ... and OH SO YUMMY!! =) Jeff loves strawberry cake and think this is one of his favorites that I've ever done!

1 box white cake mix

1 - 3 oz. box strawberry flavored instant jello

15 oz. frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed

4 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese

10 oz. frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed

1/2 tsp. strawberry extract

1/2 tsp. vanilla

7 cups powdered sugar (more if needed)

Fresh strawberries, for garnish, optional

Preheat oven @ 350*. Lightly grease 2 (9 inch) round cake pans.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and jello. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

For Frosting:

In large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and strawberry and vanilla extract. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.

Spread frosting in between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with fresh strawberries, if desired.

Enjoy!

Santa Fe Chicken Casserole

I had a coupon for Philadelphia's new cooking creme and was wanting to try it out, so I looked up some recipes online and found this awesome recipe! It was super easy and was REALLY good! Lydia even ate it ... once she decided to take a bite! 

3 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 can no-salt added diced tomatoes, drained

2 green onions

1 tub Philadelphia Santa Fe Blend Cooking Creme, divided

3 flour tortillas (6 inch)

3/4 cup finely shredded cheese, divided

Heat oven to 375*.

Combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Add 3/4 cup cooking creme, mix lightly.

Spoon 1/3 of chicken mixture into 9 inch pie plate; top with 1 tortilla, half the remaining chicken mixture and 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Cover with second tortilla, remaining chicken mixture, 1/4 cup shredded cheese and remaining tortilla. Top with remaining cooking creme and shredded cheese. Cover with foil.

Bake for 20 minutes or until heated through; uncover. Bake 5 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.

I served it with corn and chips and salsa ... would have been better with a salad and maybe some mexican corn! 

Mexican Chicken

I could not find a recipe that I liked ... so I decided to combine several recipes and came up with this one. It turned out really good! The best I've made in a while! =)

3-4 Chicken Breasts (cooked and chopped)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 spoonfuls sour cream

2 cans Ro-Tel

1 can green chilies

Tortilla Chips

Cheddar Cheese

Combine chicken, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, 2 cans Ro-Tel, green chilies and couple handfuls of cheddar cheese. in a large bowl. Cover the bottom of a sprayed casserole dish with crushed tortilla chips. Pour chicken mixture over chips. Cover casserole with more crushed tortilla chips. Bake at 350* for 25 minutes. Sprinkle more cheese on top and cook 5 more minutes. We enjoy having mexican rice and a salad with our casserole.

Cake Mix Cookies

 One of my roommates in college shared this recipe and I LOVE IT!! It's super easy and they taste wonderful! It's a great recipe to use with kids and you can make any color or shape you want! All you need is:

1 Cake Mix (If you are coloring, get a white or yellow cake mix. If not, get whatever you want!)

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

Food Coloring (Optional)

Sprinkles (Optional)

Mix eggs, oil, and cake mix in a bowl. Once all mixed together, add food coloring. We used orange today to make pumpkins for Halloween ... but you can use whatever color you want!

 You can either drop spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet or spread the batter out on the cookie sheet and make one BIG cookie. If you want sprinkles add them before you bake.

 Bake @ 350* for 12-18 minutes. Take out of the oven and use whatever cookie cutter shape you want. Cool on cooling rack.

Enjoy!!

Tortellini Soup

So glad that soup weather is here ... even though this soup is great any time of year! It's super easy and tastes GREAT!

48 oz. Chicken Broth

2 small cans diced tomatoes (or 1 large can)

2 tbps. minced garlic

1 package tortellini (you can use frozen, refrigerated, or packaged ... whatever you like!)

Fresh spinach (optional)

Mozzarella cheese

Bring broth, tomatoes and garlic to a boil. Add tortellini and cook according to the package. Once the pasta is done cooking, remove from heat and add 3 or 4 handfuls of spinach (or however much you would like). Serve with mozzarella cheese on top!

Romaine Crunch Salad & Dressing

Topping:

1 pkg. Romaine Noodles, broken up

1 cup chopped pecans

butter

Brown noodles and pecans in butter. Cool on paper towel.

Dressing:

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup red wine vinegar (can also use balsamic vinegar)

3 tsp. soy sauce

salt & pepper to taste

Mix together!

Salad:

1 bunch broccoli, chopped

4 green onions, chopped

2 bunches romaine lettuce

Combine!

If you are serving the salad right away, you can toss the salad and the dressing together and top with topping. Or just wait and put dressing and topping on individual salads.

This dressing is also good on a green salad with grapes and strawberries ... or with chicken! I love getting creative! =) Enjoy!

Monkey Muffins

Monkey Bread is something that I remember Mom making when we were little and we LOVED it!! She always let us help ... which now I realize is a lot more time consuming, but is totally worth the extra time spent! I decided to make some last week and thought I would try to make them in muffins instead of a bundt pan and they turned out wonderful! I mean ... how can you go wrong with bread, butter, cinnamon and sugar?!?

Here is what you need:

2 cans of jumbo biscuits

1 Cup Melted Butter

1 Cup Sugar

Cinnamon (as much as you want ... some like more and some like less)

**Preheat oven @ 350*. Either use muffin cups or grease pan.

1. Cut each of your biscuits in 4 pieces and roll them into balls.

2. Mix your sugar and cinnamon together.

3. Roll your biscuits in the butter.

4. Roll your biscuits in the sugar/cinnamon mixture.

5. Put 3 balls into each muffin cup.

6. Sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon sugar on top of each muffin.

Bake for 12-16 minutes.

I didn't use muffin cups, but will next time. They didn't hold together very well ... but tasted wonderful!

Lydia agreed ...

Yumm!!