CheeZit Chicken

I found this recipe in an old recipe-swap email and since all the the ingredients were on hand I gave it a whirl! SOO glad I did! YUM!

CHEEZIT CHICKEN

BLSL Chicken breasts

Sour Cream

Cheezit Crackers, crushed

1/4 c. melted butter

garlic powder

(yep...really...5 ingredients!)

"Frost" chicken with sour cream. Roll in crackers. Put in a 9x13 baking dishes that has been lightly sprayed with oil. Drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle with garlic powder.

Bake at 350 for about 50-60 min. or until juice runs clear.

Moist, tender, flavorful... everyone loved it here! :D

Served with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Homemade Hamburger Helper?

This recipe was taken from my Ward Cookbook, the Bishop's wife contributed it. And my kids LOVE it! Super simple... so why would I ever buy Hamburger Helper again for a quick meal?

 

The secret is in this great Season Salt we found! No MSG!! And it tastes GREAT!

(found at Costco, and more recently at Wal*Mart) 

Cook some pasta, al dente. It doesn't matter which kind, though my kids like the shells for some reason! LOL 

Brown your Hamburger, seasoning generously with the season salt.

Add a can of drained corn, heat through.

Drain the pasta. 

Add the meat to the noodles and smoother with grated cheese.

That is it!!

Isn't she brilliant?

5 ingredients and it is tasty!!!

And no added preservatives or funny "boxed food taste".

Serve with a great side salad and you are done!

Sloppy Joes

I needed a quick dinner... and the canned version did not sound good! I found this recipe in a friend's ward cookbook and I tweaked it! :) Isn't that what we do?  

I added a healty dose of onion powder - as I didn't have an onion.

And I only used 1 lb. of hamburger.

Then I added a healthy sprinkling of our new favorite seasoning! YUM!!

It was the first time that everyone in my household ate a sloppy joe!

Definately a do over! :)

p.s. try this seasoning on steaks... it is divine!

What did you have for dinner?

I have been trying to be good and plan what we will have for dinner. Some weeks I am great at this, others are more fly by the seat of your pants. This last week I was prepared. I tried to gauge where we had to be with how long it would take to make. Here is our list:

Monday: Tacos and Tapioca pudding. The tacos were traditional, the tapioca was the recipe from the box titled Tapioca egg cream. It was really easy to make, I did this in the afternoon so it would be ready for our family night treat. Why this combination? My Grandma Thiriot was known for her tapioca and when we would go to her house for family home evening this was usually what we would have for dinner and dessert. The only difference was that she would heat the corn tortillas in oil. They are tasty that way but a little more fattening than just warming them in the microwave.

Tuesday: This was a crazy day I made some Minestrone Soup and Pizza Grilled Cheese. We only ate the pizza grilled cheese and saved the soup for later.

The soup is souper easy, pun intended:

1 bottle of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1-2 cans chicken broth
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
macaroni or other small noodles
1-2 cans of garbanzo beans, juice included.
Mix together in a crockpot all day or on the stove for about an hour. Serve with parmesian cheese. You could add meat, but this is one of our meatless meals and is really satisfying.

The pizza grilled cheese are sooooooo yummy:
Butter one slice of bread, place on a hot griddle or skillet.
Top with provolone or mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and another piece of cheese and end with a buttered piece of bread. Cook both sides till golden and the cheese is melted.
Serve with spaghetti sauce as a dip. YUM!

Wednesday: Henry's birthday: Pizza, Root Beer and Cake

Thurdays: Creamy Chicken Taquitos, from Our Best Bites. We had these with rice and beans and they were a huge hit. These will definately be made again. I think I will keep them in the freezer and pop them out when I need them.

Friday: Italian Drip Beef from Pioneer Woman . Oh my, these were so yummy. I only added half the italian seasonings and it was almost too much. I will reduce it next time to maybe a quarter.

Now what are we going to have this week?

Pumpkin Pancakes w/ Cinnamon Syrup

1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
6 T. packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
dash of ground cloves
dash of nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 2/3 c. buttermilk
3/4 c. canned solid pack pumpkin
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 T. melted butter

Mix all dry ingredients together to blend. In another bowl whisk wet ingredients. Pour into dry ingredients and whisk until mostly smooth. Spray skillet or griddle with cooking spray. Drop batter by 1/4 cups and cook until bubbles form on top and bottoms are golden brown. Flip and cook about 2 min more. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve with warm cinnamon syrup.

CINNAMON SYRUP
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 T. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. water

In large sauce pan, stir together dry ingredients. Add water and vanilla and bring to a rolling boil, stirring often. Continue to boil, stirring often, until mixture begins to thicken (about 5-8 min). Remove from heat and let stand a few minutes before serving.

We REALLY enjoyed these last night for dinner, served with a sausage patty and scrambled eggs. YUM!

Pizza Sauce

Tastes just like Pizza Hut's sauce! I couldn't believe it! Super easy and Holy-cow-I-can't-believe-it cheap! :)


1 - 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 tsp. dry oregano
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. dry basil
1/2 tsp. garlic salt

Combine and let sit for about an hour before use to allow flavors to blend. Makes enough for 1 large pizza.

If you watch sales you can get the cans of tomato sauce for less than $.25!

(I tried cooking this to speed up the flavor blending, and it boiled... did not turn out nearly as good. If you are going to heat it up I suggest NOT allowing it to boil - it becomes a little too strong.)

Chicken Cabonera

I know that this is not real italian cabonera sauce. I haven't found a recipe I think my family will eat, so here is what I have been playing with. This sauce is good doubled and made into a casserole with chicken, sundried tomatoes, penne, mushrooms,provolone and swiss cheeses, but that is a post for another day. I've tried to make the sauce with cream cheese and it was too thick and didn't coat well. This has been the best so far. Oh, pictures are forthcoming, I forgot and started eating, it was really good!

Chicken Cabonera
Sauce:
3 tbsp butter, melted
4 tbsp flour
3 cups milk
3 cloves roasted garlic
½ C parmesan cheese
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

6 slices bacon
2 chicken breasts cut into small pieces and cooked in a little bit of bacon fat (1/2 tbsp)
1 package mushrooms sliced or diced, we have mushroom texture issues at our house so the smaller the better
1 pound spaghetti
1 tomato diced

Instructions:
Cook bacon until crispy, drain on a paper towel and cook diced chicken and mushrooms until done, set aside.

In a saucepan melt butter and add flour, stir and cook for a few minutes to reduce the floury taste. Add the garlic cloves and milk, stir on medium heat until thick and bubbly, remove from heat and add cheese and salt and pepper. Add chicken, bacon and mushrooms to sauce and then add to 1 pound of drained spaghetti.

Top with tomatoes and serve. Half my family dislikes tomatoes so I usually put them on the side.