Saturday, October 30, 2010

Easy Easy Crockpot Chicken

This is for Atrena... I keep telling her that I love my easy yummy crockpot chicken meals where the ingredients don't go bad, and you can keep them around the house so when you have a busy day and didn't think about dinner ahead of time... you can make these!

Cranberry Chicken

2-8 breast of chicken
1 package of dry onion soup (unprepared)
1 bottle French Dressing
1 can wholeberry cranberry sauce

Mix ingredients together and pour over chicken. You can do this in a casserole dish in the oven, or in a crockpot all day... whatever works, the sauce tastes the same!

Citrus-Glazed Chicken

2-4 chicken breasts
1/3 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon corn starch

Place chicken in crockpot. Pour orange juice over chicken. Sprinkle brown sugar and salt over top. Cover and cook on low heat until done (4-6 hours). Remove chicken with slotted spoon. Pour liquid into a medium saucepan. Stir in cornstarch with a wisk. Over medium heat bring to a boil. Boil until sauce thickens. Pour over chicken.

White Bean Chicken Chili

3 - 15 oz. cans of great northern or white kidney beans (drained)
2 breast of chicken, cooked and shredded
1 large onion chopped (or sprinkle desired amount of dried minced onion)
1 small can of green chilis
1 can cream of chicken
2 tsp chili powder
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn (drained)
2 cloves of garlic minced (or garlic paste... I just do it to taste)
3 1/2 cups chicken broth

Combine and bring to a boil. We eat over crushed torilla chips, a dap of sour cream, and shredded cheese.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Tailgate Chili - By Jeff Holm

If you don't have a good recipe for the Chili cook off try this! We left out the beer. 



INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds ground beef chuck
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy
sauce
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with
juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green chile peppers, seeded and
chopped
1 tablespoon bacon bits
4 cubes beef bouillon
1/2 cup beer
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g.
Tabasco™)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as
Fritos®
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar
cheese
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.
2.
Pour in the chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chile peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3.
After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.
4.
To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Sometimes I forget that this bread is especially good in the fall since I'm mildly addicted to it and therefore have to eat it year round. Happy Fall!

Ingredients:
1 cup oil
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
16 oz. can pumpkin
2/3 cup water
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. allspice
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream oil and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time while mixing. Add pumpkin and water, then mix. In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to mixture little by little, mixing until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees:

2- 1 pound loaves for about an hour or
6 small loaves for about 40 minutes

(The timing really varies so check the bread with a toothpick once you think its done. I also sometimes like to make mini loaves and those only take about 20 minutes.)
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pumpkin turkey chili



my sister in law just introduced me to this fall dish. and let me tell you, it's wonderful. i think i like it better the next day. i definitely like to eat it with cornbread IN my chili. i may be weird, but it's a piece of heaven. fyi, costco has the best cornbread mix. the brand is penguin. if you don't have a costco membership and want me to pick you up some, let me know. it's that good.

now, for the recipe. the original recipe didn't call for the corn or beans, but i added them. and i'm glad i did.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 1 can corn, drained
  • 1 can black beans, rinsed
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 dash salt
  • 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions

  1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Stir in the turkey, and cook until evenly brown. Drain, and mix in tomatoes and pumpkin. Season with chili powder, pepper, and salt. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve topped with Cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Chicken-Bacon Stuffed Pizza Rolls

This came from a friend of mine (who is a total foodie) and I haven't tried it yet but one day when I'm feeling ambitious I will!

Print Recipe Text Only

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough*
(or make your own)
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil or melted butter
sharp cheddar cheese
(I used 75% sharp cheddar and 25% mozzarella)
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
about 1 C shredded, cooked chicken.
3/4 C mayo
3/4 C milk

First take 1 teaspoon of your ranch dressing mix and combine it with 1 1/2 T
parmesan cheese. Set aside. Combine the remaining ranch mix with 3/4 C mayo and 3/4 C milk and place in the fridge to chill.

Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package. Usually it's 400-425 degrees.

Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it's about 12" by 8". You're going to want to cut it into 24 squares, so just eyeball it if you need to. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 24 squares.

Place cheese and desired toppings on each square.


When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings.


I grab the four corners first and then squeeze the seams shut. Then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish). Brush with melted butter or olive oil and sprinkle with the
parmesan-ranch mixture.


Time out for a sec. I tried a few new things this time around. One was to cook some of my rolls in a mini-muffin pan. This might work better for serving depending on the situation. They turned out great. You're making 24 rolls, so it fills up the pan perfectly. They cook quicker this way than in a pie pan so keep an eye on them. Mine only took about 8 minutes whereas the ones in the pan took about 13-15.


Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Place your rolls in the oven. I've noticed baking time really depends on the type of dough I'm using. Whether it's different brands from the store, or homemade dough, they all take different amounts of time. Set your timer for 10 minutes and check on them after that. They may take up to 15 or 20 to be done. Take them out when they're lightly golden on top.

Serve them warm with a side of freshly made ranch dressing for dipping.



I'm serious when I tell you these are amazing. They were actually way better than I had imagined them. Although how could you possibly go wrong with warm dough, gooey cheese, and crispy bacon,
dipped in ranch. You can't. You just can't.



The other great thing is that these are freezable! Before baking, flash freeze individually, or together right in a disposable foil pan. Bake from frozen until golden brown.

Friday, October 1, 2010

pumpkin cookies

it's fall. and that means baking. these pumpkin cookies are melt-in-your-mouth, even-if-you-don't-like-pumpkin-cookies-i-bet-you'll-like-these type cookies.

make them. you won't be disappointed.
best pumpkin cookies

1 cup shortening
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup mashed cooked pumpkin (you can use the canned from the store)
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt

Cream shortening and sugars well. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla; mix well. Sift dry ingredients, add to creamed mixture and blend well. Drop onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool and frost.

Frosting:
3 T. butter
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Combine butter and sugar in a saucepan: bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Cool Slightly. Add milk, beat until smooth. Stir in powdered sugar to make a spreading consistency. Spread on cooled cookies.