Week 15 - Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas!

I have two recipes to share today and will probably share more over the next week.

The first recipe I saw on a Facebook post and knew I had to try it. This Cheese Dip recipe was easy to make!

Ingredients

• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese 
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 small purple onion, diced (you can use chopped green onions as well or omit onions if you don’t like them)
• ◦Serve with your favorite chips, crackers or veggies

Instructions
1. Place all ingredients in a shallow baking dish (a 9″ square pan or round quiche pan will be perfect!)

2. Microwave on high for about 2 minutes or until the ingredients are melted enough to stir together.
3. Stir until combined.

4. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

This was a hit for our company on Sunday Funday! Very easy to make and YUMMY!

The second recipe I wanted to share is for Gourmet Potatoes - a side dish my mom made last week that I had to make again because it was just that good. 

Ingredients:

• 1-2 bags of frozen hash browns, thawed
• 1/2 cups chopped onion (Optional)
• 1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup
• 1 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups shredded cheddar

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and place in greased 9x13 pan. I mixed them all in the pan, so I didn't have extra dishes to clean!

Bake at 350 for approximately 1 hour or until browned. This can be refrigerated overnight before baking which is what I did. You can top the casserole with onion rings during the last few minutes of baking.

I made this for 4 people and barely had ANY left! It is super delicious and easy to do!

Happy Holidays to everyone! 

Week 13 and 14 - Crockpot Salsa Chicken, BBQ Cheddar Crusted Chicken PLUS a bonus recipe for Creamy crockpot Spaghetti!

Sorry for being so slow with my posts! I have actually had time to cook, but no time to blog. I will be sharing THREE recipes today. 

The first recipe I found on Pinterest of course - I had trouble linking up directly to the recipe, but here is the link to the website where the recipe can be found: http://www.persnicketyplates.com/p/featured.html

Ingredients:

• 3-4 boneless chicken breasts
• Taco seasoning (I used about 1/2 packet; enough to cover the chicken)
• Salsa - again I didn't measure, but used enough to cover up the chicken (see photos)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas (recipe called for corn, but we didn't have any in the house)
• Taco Shells or Wraps
• Rice
• Shredded cheese of choice (I used cheddar)

Directions:
Put chicken into crockpot in one layer. Sprinkle with taco seasoning

  top with salsa

 and add peas or vegetable of choice

Cover and let cook for 4-5 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low. Stir and shred with a fork. Mine fell apart really easily.

Now comes the fun part....assemble any way you want. We made rice and also had taco shells to use. Some people made taco's and some just topped the chicken mixture over the rice. There are many ways to do this and it was delicious and EASY!!!

Definitely a recipe to use again!  We had company that night to share and they really enjoyed this!

The second recipe I made this week was for BBQ Cheddar Crusted Chicken - http://www.hellmanns.com/recipes/detail/43184/1/bbq-cheddar-crusted-chicken

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 oz.)
• 2 Tbsp. barbecue sauce
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/4 lbs.)
• 4 tsp. Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise, cheese and barbecue sauce in medium bowl. 
   
   
   
3. Arrange chicken on baking sheet. Evenly top with mayonnaise mixture, then sprinkle with bread crumbs.
   
   
   
   
4. Bake until chicken is thoroughly cooked. I had bigger pieces of chicken so it took about 45 minutes to be cooked through. If you use thin chicken then 20-25 minutes should be enough.
   

 This was another hit with Ben and my dad who was visiting us for dinner!

This week's bonus recipe is for Creamy crockpot spaghetti. This was perfect for today's snow day!
http://picky-palate.com/2012/03/19/creamy-crock-pot-spaghetti/
**I did modify the recipe and will show what I did below**

Ingredients:

• Pasta sauce - I had a big jar and just eyeballed the amount to be used
• 1 pound spaghetti noodles
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1-2 cups chicken broth

Pour one jar of pasta sauce into bottom of crock pot on high heat. Break spaghetti noodles in half and place noodles over sauce then top with cubes of cream cheese.

Pour another jar of pasta over cream cheese, close lid and let cook on high for 3 hours. 

After 3 hours, give a good stir (will be thick) and add last jar of pasta sauce and 1-2 cups of chicken broth (I used 1.5 cups, but use more if you want a thinner sauce). 

Close lid and let cook another hour or until ready to serve.

 

This also came out really good and was super easy!!! Even Ellie liked it :)

Stay tuned for more recipes. I plan to make fried ravioli soon so keep an eye out for that recipe and more!!

Stay safe!

Week 12 - DESSERTS!!!! Cupcakes and Cheesecake

I wanted to change it up this week and since I had baking to do I figured I'd share some dessert recipes the week of Thanksgiving.

The first recipe is for Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes which my mom pulled out of a magazine.

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow cake mix plus ingredients to make the batter
• 2 boxes instant banana pudding plus ingredients to make the pudding
• 2-3 bananas
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• graham cracker squares, crushed into crumbs

Bake cupcakes according to package, cool completely

 Made pudding according to package, set aside in fridge while cupcakes are cooling. The recipe had you make your own whipped cream but I went the lazy way and just used cool whip. 

Once cupcakes are cool, cut a deep cone out of each cupcake. Stir chopped banana into the pudding. 

Then spoon a generous amount of pudding into the center of each cupcake, allowing some to come out over the top.

Using either a spoon or pastry bag, top the cupcake with a generous spoonful of whipped cream. Garnish with the graham cracker crumbs and serve. These are best eaten the same day they are made.  

I felt like these are the type of cupcakes you would find in a bakery. Next time we make these we are going to change the filling and cupcake flavor as well. I will let everyone know what we decide!

The second recipe is for Cheesecake with Pretzel Crust from the Chew - http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Cheesecake-Pretzel-Crust-Michael-Symon. Thanks to Eileen for sharing this recipe. This was a big hit, so I'm really glad I tried this it!

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

1 1/2 cup Pretzels (ground) - I crushed 

• 1 1/2 cup Pretzels (ground) - I crushed the pretzels in a plastic bag hand
• 1/2 cup Graham Crackers (ground) - I crushed the crackers in a plastic bag by hand
• 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 8 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (melted)
• pinch Salt

• For the Filling:
• 24 ounces Cream Cheese (room temperature)
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 5 large Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 10 ounces Strawberry Preserves (to serve)

For the Crust: Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the pretzels, graham crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Add a pinch of salt and then press into the bottom of a 13x9 clear glass baking dish. Set aside while you make your filling.

For the Filling: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the softened cream cheese on medium speed, scraping the sides and the beater occasionally. Next, add the sour cream and continue to mix until combined. Next, add the sugar and continue to mix until combined. With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, thoroughly mixing in after each addition. Add the vanilla. Pour the filling over the crust and bake for 1 hour or until the center is no longer jiggly. **This was a bit of a pain since I don't have a great mixer, but it worked out fine.**

Remove the cheesecake from the oven and let sit for a few minutes while you prepare the jam.

 In a small sauce pot-melt the strawberry jam over low heat. 

When it is melted, strain in to another bowl if you prefer no seeds. Pour the melted jam over the top of the cheesecake and smooth out in to an even layer. 

Let the cheesecake sit out to cool for another 30 minutes to an hour, then slice in to 24 squares while still warm. Refrigerate for a few hours to chill completely.

 We had a great Holiday weekend! We had a great time visiting with all of our family and got to eat a lot of goodies too!! Our little Giants cheerleader is hoping her team can pull out a WIN! Stay tuned for next weekend and more recipes!