Cheddar Baked Chicken

Found this on allrecipes.com. Very Scrumptious!

I was looking for a good baked chicken recipe. I had one from my mom… but I kind of wanted to branch out a little and add some more flavor. This recipe had a great rating and lots of good reviews. After making it for a double date with my brother and soon-to-be wife we give it our full support!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 eggs
2 Tbl milk
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups cornflakes, crunched up
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts- cut in half
2 Tbl butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a medium baking dish with 1/4 cup of melted butter.

2. In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. In a separate bowl, but together the eggs and milk. In a third bowl, mix the cheese and cornflakes. Dredge chicken pieces in the flour mixture, dip in the egg mixture, then press in the cornflakes. Arrange in the prepared baking dish.

3. Pour your remaining cornflakes and cheese over the top of the chicken then drizzle the 2 Tbl butt evenly over the chicken.

4. Bake for 35 minutes in the oven. Make sure to check the temperature (170 degrees)

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

WOW!!! This is my new favorite recipe! Seriously!!! It tastes amazing and is so much healthier than your normal stuff. Thanks to Pinterest and wonderful friends who pointed it out on Facebook. This really is an amazing recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups low-fat milk (I used 1%)
1/3 cup cream cheese (you could also buy low fat)
2 Tbl Flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbl Butter
1 tsp garlic powder or 1 Garlic Clove
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Place milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth.

2. If you’re using a Garlic Clove: In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic. Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds, you don’t want to burn it.

3. If you’re using Garlic powder, In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter then add your garlic powder. Mix it together, then add milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly until it just comes to a simmer. Once it has come to a simmer keep stirring and let it cook for 3 more minutes. It should be getting much thicker at this point.

4. Remove pan from heat. Add the cheese, stir it up and then cover as quickly as possible. Let it stand for at least 10 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing

If you have leftovers in the fridge the sauce will thicken to almost a solid. Just re-heat it and add a little milk. It will be back to normal and just as good.

Funeral Potatoes

One of my favorite dishes. I don’t know why I’ve never tried making it before. I’ve actually found myself wondering the same thing about a lot of other foods recently.

I absolutely love these potatoes. The idea to try these with freeze-dried ingredients actually came from my good friend Rose (Thank you for the inspiration!) They turned out perfect!!! It was so easy and I love the fact that my potatoes/hashbrowns don’t have to be taking up space in my freezer.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of freeze dried onion, reconstituted
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
2 cups of powdered sour cream, reconstituted (2 cups of powder, one of water)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups of grated freeze dried cheese, reconstituted
6 cups of freeze dried potato shreds, reconstituted (or 2lb bag of frozen hash browns)
3/4 c cornflakes, crushed and firmly packed
4 Tbsp butter, melted (optional)

1. Combine your onions, soup, sour cream, salt, and cheese. Stir in potatoes. Pour into a 9x13 inch pan.

2. *Combine crushed cornflakes and melted butter.

3. Sprinkle cornflakes over the top of your potatoes.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Makes 12 servings

*If you are interested in more onion flavor feel free to add more. The original recipe calls for 1 medium onion, chopped and cooked in 1/2 cup of butter until soft.

It’s delicious and can be served with all sorts of meats and other entrees.

Cordon Bleu Casserole

One of my favorite things to order when I go to a nice restaurant is Chicken Cordon Bleu. There are many different kinds, and yet they are all delicious. There have been a few times that I’ve been tempted to try it myself at home, but it seems like there are too many steps. Maybe I just need to toughen up and actually try it… I’ll think about it.

In the meantime, this recipe was extremely easy and quick and tasted just as good! It might not be as pretty or as impressive, but sometimes that doesn’t need to matter.

Ingredients:
4 cups of turkey or chicken, chopped or shredded
3 cups of ham, cubed
1 cup freeze dried shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped freeze dried onion (I think I will omit the onion next time)
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
2 cups cream or half-and-half
1 tsp dillweed
1/8 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Topping:
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp dillweed
1/4 cup freeze dried shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup walnut (I didn’t use)

1. Reconstitute your cheese and onions by pouring water over the top and letting it sit for 5 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine your meat and cheese. Set aside.

3. In a saucepan, sauté your onion in butter until tender. Add your flour and stir until it is coated. Add your cream, stir and bring to a boil until it thickens. Add your spices then remove from heat.

4. Pour over your meat mixture, mix well, spoon into a 9x13 pan.

5. In another bowl combine your bread crumbs, butter and dillweed. Stir in your cheese and walnuts.

6. Sprinkle over the top of your casserole and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

*Tip*: One way to save money on bread crumbs is to save the heels of your bread (no one likes to eat them anyway). Have a plastic bag set aside that you keep in your freezer for just this sort of occasion. I would crumble the bread before putting it in the bag. That way it is all prepared and ready for you when you need it in a pinch.

The 1 cup of onions was a little much for me. Next time I think I will probably cut it to at least 1/2 cup, maybe 1/4. I will also be trying some broccoli in there. Despite my problem with the onions it was still amazingly good. If you really like onions then you would probably like it with the measurement listed originally.

Delicious Crockpot Ribs

I bought some Boneless Pork Ribs the other night on a whim. It was the first time I have ever bought them and planned on doing something with them myself. I wanted to try something new and a little out of the ordinary. I did a bunch of searching online and finally came across a recipe that I felt would turn out good, but had interesting flavors that I was interested in experiencing.

I found the recipe on AllRecipes.com. I believe it was called “Garlic Honey Ribs” or something like that. I did a little tweaking when it came to the cooking style, but I used all of the same ingredients for my sauce. I think it turned out pretty good. Those that tried it told me it was a keeper.

Ingredients:
Boneless Pork Ribs (I think I had about 4lbs)
1 c honey
1 c brown sugar
1/3 c soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground mustard

1. Mix together all of your sauce ingredients well. Use as a marinade for your pork overnight. Make sure that your ribs are coated well and turn a couple of times (or when you think of it).

2. Pour your ribs and your sauce into a crockpot and let it do all of the work. Heat your crockpot for 1 hour on HIGH (so that everything can get to the correct temp. quickly), then turn to LOW for 4-6 hours. You may need to adjust your cooking time depending on your crockpot.

This pork tastes great on it’s own with a couple of sides, or would work great over rice. It is easily shredded and tastes great as a sandwich, or could work over a salad.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

THANKS MOM!!!!

Ingredients

2 lbs lean ground beef

2 eggs

1 cup dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp seasoning salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp granulated sugar

Sauce Ingredients

1 (20 oz) can pineapple chunks, drained with juice reserved

1/3 cup water

3 Tbs distilled white vinegar

1 Tbs soy sauce

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 Tbs cornstarch

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp seasoning salt

1 large carrot, diced

1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a large, shallow baking sheet.

2. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs and onion. Sprinkle with ginger, seasoning salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and sugar. Shape into one inch balls.

3. Place meatballs in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes; set aside.

4. To make the sauce, mix enough water with the reserved pineapple juice to make 1 cup. In a large pot over medium heat, combine the juice mixture, 1/3 cup water, vinegar, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Stir in cornstarch, ginger and seasoning salt, until smooth. Cover and cook until thickened.

5. Stir pineapple chunks, carrot, green pepper and meatballs into the sauce. Gently stir to coat the meatballs with the sauce. Simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes, or until meatballs are thoroughly cooked.

Creamy Crock-Pot Chicken

Ingredients

1 can cream of Chicken Soup

1 large container of Sour Cream (16 oz)

1 envelope dry Italian dressing mix

3 lb bag of chicken breasts (or the amount that fits in your Crock-pot)

1. Mix soup, sour cream, and Italian dressing well

2. Pour in Chicken and flip to coat

3. Cook 5-6 hours on high

Really good served over noodles!

Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice

Ingredients

2 cans Condensed Cream of Chicken soup

1 1/2 cups water

4 large carrots, thickly sliced

1 package (6 oz) seasoned long-grain/wild rice

8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1. Mix soup, water, carrots, rice, and seasoning packet in 3 1/2 qt. slow cooker.

2. Add Chicken and turn to coat

3. Cook on LOW 7-8 hours or on HIGH 4-5 Hours. Make sure to measure the temperature of the meat! (170 Degrees)

South-of-the-Border Meat Loaf

YUM! Pampered Chef!

Ingredients

1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper

1 medium onion

1/2 cup very finely crushed authentic restaurant-style tortilla chips

1 cup ketchup

2 tbsp Chipotle Rub (Your Favorite Spicy Seasoning)

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 egg (I’m wondering if 2 will work better. I’ll let you know)

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese divided

Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. Finely chop pepper and onion. Place chips into large resealable plastic bag; very finely crush to measure 1/2 cup crumbs. combine ketchup with rub in another bowl. In larger bowl combine pepper, onion, tortilla chip crumbs, 3/4 cup of the ketchup mixture, beef, egg and 1 cup of the cheese: mix well.

2. Place meat mixture in pan (Use 2 loaf pans, or a large baking dish) and bake, uncovered, in a 400 degree oven for 65-70 minutes. Brush with sauce 15 minutes before end of bake time.

3. Sprinkle remaining cheese over meat loaf: cover and let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Sprinkle cilantro over meat loaf if desired.

If you have a covered baker you can also cook this in the microwave. It will need to be cooked on HIGH for 14-17 minutes, then brushed with the extra sauce and microwaved for 3-5 more minutes or until your thermometer reads 160 degrees

Italian Chicken

This is one of my favorite easy recipes.

Ingredients

Chicken (however much you need to serve your family)

Italian Dressing (your favorite)

That’s it, really!

I throw much chicken in my skillet and cover with the dressing. If you want to be healthier then use only enough to coat the chicken. I’ve also heard of people using the dressing as a marinade and letting it soak all day before dinner. Cook it over med-high heat until your meat thermometer reads 170 degrees (or until you feel comfortable with it). I usually cook mine covered and move around every now and again so that you don’t burn anything.

I like to serve this with wild and long grain rice. There are multiple brands that you can get in any grocery store that are easy to prepare in your microwave while you chicken is cooking. (Uncle Ben’s and Rice-a-Roni are both great!)