Creamy Southwest Chicken Alfredo

This one has become a family favorite!

Creamy Southwest Chicken Alfredo

Ingredients:

·         3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

·         1 Tbsp taco seasoning

·         1 Tbsp olive oil

·         1 Tbsp butter

·         1 cup heavy cream

·         ½ cup shredded Mexican cheese

·         1 can mild Rotel (reserve 2 Tbsp for garnish)

·         8 oz Penne Pasta cooked

·         2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (garnish)

Directions:

Pat chicken dry with paper towel.  Sprinkle with the taco seasoning on all sides.  Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat.  Add the seasoned chicken and cook until chicken is cooked through.  Remove chicken and cover with foil to keep warm.

Add butter to the pan chicken was cooked in.  Melt over medium heat.  Slowly add cream, whisking continually for about 2 min to incorporate all the seasoning and browned bits left behind from cooking  chicken. Add cheese and Rotel and continue to stir until thickened and cheese is melted.  

Stir in cooked pasta.  Remove from heat and top with chicken sliced into strips.  Top with cilantro and reserved Rotel.

Honey Garlic Chicken and Veggies

I have been finally trying new recipes and found a couple of really tasty meals. 
So easy and DELICIOUS!

Honey Garlic Chicken and Veggies 

Ingredients:

·         4-6 chicken breasts
·         16 oz baby red potatoes, halved
·         16 oz baby carrots
·         16 oz green beans
·         2 Tbsp parsley
·         ½ cup soy sauce
·         ½ cup honey
·         ¼ cup ketchup
·         2 cloves minced garlic
·         1 tsp dried basil
·         ½ tsp dried oregano
·         ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
·         ¼ tsp black pepper

Directions:

Combine soy sauce, honey, ketchup, garlic, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes and pepper.  Place chicken, potatoes, and carrots in slow cooker.  Cover with sauce mixture.  Cook on low  heat for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.  Add green beans last 30 min of cooking. Garnish with parsley.

Copycat Doubletree Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have made these cookies a couple times now. They are seriously SOOO good! The first time I started out making them as big as the recipe called for but quickly realized we would never be able to eat such a rich cookie that was so massively huge. So I made them about half that size and they were still amazing. And gooey. And super chocolatey. (My daughter actually said I might have put too many chocolate chips in! What!? No way!) Anyway, tons of people were asking for the recipe, so here it is.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rolled oats

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 cup unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 TBS vanilla

1/2 tsp lemon juice

2 large eggs

3 cups chocolate chips, any flavor (I used semi-sweet)

1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped

Directions:

Grind oats in food processor until powdery. (They don't have to be too fine.) Place them in large bowl and whisk in flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Melt butter in microwave bowl or on the stove. Add in sugars and stir until smooth. Add in vanilla, lemon juice, and eggs. Stir again until smooth. Pour into flour mixture and stir until all combined. 

Add walnuts and chocolate chips.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment (or wax) paper. Scoop 1/4 cupfuls of dough and form into balls. (I did about 1/8 cupfuls.) Place them close together on cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours or even overnight before baking.

Preheat oven to 350F. Place cookies well spaced on parchment-lined cookie sheet. (I used a silicone mat.) Bake for 12-17 minutes. Do not over bake! If you do them smaller like I did you will want to check them at 12 minutes. If you do the bigger ones, it might be closer to 14 or 15 minutes.

Recipe Source

Lemon Brownies

 LEMON BROWNIES (LEMONIES)

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
Lemon Glaze (recipe follows)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease an 8-inch square pan or line pan with non-stick foil.
2. Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and zest together using a wire whisk.
3. Add melted butter, lemon juice, eggs and vanilla and stir until completely combined.
4. Pour batter into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a tester inserted in center comes clean.
5. Remove from oven and cool.
6. Pour glaze over the lemonies and allow to set before cutting into bars.

Lemon Glaze
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions:
1. sift sugar into a medium bowl. Add lemon juice and zest and stir until combined and smooth.


 https://isinginthekitchen.com/2014/06/08/lemonies-lemony-brownies-awesome-new-music-from-lime-cordiale/

Snickerdoodle Apple Pie Bites

These little apple pie bites are super easy to make, don't take very many ingredients, and they are soooo good! I made them back in September and kept meaning to post the recipe before Thanksgiving. I made them again during Thanksgiving break & everyone really loved them. They are still yummy a couple days later after sitting out on the counter too. :)

Ingredients:

1 pkg snickerdoodle cookie mix 

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 can apple pie filling

caramel ice cream topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F. 

Stir together cookie mix, butter, and egg in large bowl, until a soft dough forms.

Scoop out the dough into small balls and roll them in the cinnamon/sugar mixture that came in the cookie mix package.

Place each ball into a greased mini muffin pan.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges start to turn golden brown. Immediately after removing from oven, make an indentation in the top of each cookie. 

I used a little wooden Pampered Chef tart shaper that looks like this but you can use the back of a spoon if you want.

After cooling for a couple minutes, gently pop out each cookie cup and place on a wire rack to cool completley.
Chop apples in the apple pie filling and scoop into each cookie.
Drizzle caramel topping over cookies and top with a sprinkle of the remaining cinnamon/sugar.

Enjoy!!

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This has got to be one of the easiest recipes I've ever made! At first, we wondered if it was going to be very good because it seemed really liquid-y. But after you add in the tortillas and cheese, it thickens up quite a bit. It really tastes just like chicken enchiladas. Delicious!!

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts
2 (10 oz) cans of red enchilada sauce
10 corn tortillas
2-3 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (divided)
1 (3.8 oz) can olives, sliced (divided)

Directions:
Add chicken and enchilada sauce to slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours.
Shred chicken using forks. (I shredded them right in the slow cooker - easy!)
Slice tortillas into strips - a pizza cutter works great - and add to chicken and sauce. Stir.
Add 1 cup cheese, half the olives, and stir again.
Top with remaining cheese and olives. Continue to cook 30-60 minutes longer or until cheese is all melted and bubbly.

Serve with lettuce, sour cream, or any other toppings you would like. Enjoy!

                  

These pictures do not do it justice at all. It looks like a sloppy mess but tastes amazing! We only have 2 kids left at home now, so we had tons of leftovers. I just pulled the dish out of the cooker and stuck it in the refrigerator. Then, a couple days later I popped it back in and heated it up. I thought the tortillas would be all soggy and gross but it was almost better the second time. We will definitely be making this again!

Corn Bread

Tis the season for my favorite.....Corn Bread! This is a yummy very quick and very moist recipe.


Ingredients:

1 yellow cake mix
2 jiffy corn bread mixes (or 1 large box of another brand)
(oil, milk and eggs according to directions on both packages)

Directions:

Preheat oven according to directions on cake mix box.  Combine cake mix and corn bread mixes in a large bowl.  Add eggs, oil, and milk according to package directions.  (replace all water with milk)

Mix together according to cake mix directions.

Divide mix between one 9 x13 pan plus one 8 x 8 inch pan.  Bake according to the times and temperatures on the cake mix box. 

Mexican Street Tacos

Have you ever eaten Mexican Street Tacos? I never had until recently. I always made tacos with ground beef and taco seasoning on flour tortillas, Fritos, or those crunchy, hard shells that always break apart when you take a bite. You know what I'm talking about, right? Ugh!

So when my son and daughter-in-law came home for a visit, they told us we were making street tacos & that we would never want to go back to regular tacos again. Seriously. He was right. We don't. 

In fact, we have made these 3 times since then and they are sooooo good!! The chicken is cooked in a crock pot & practically shreds itself it's so tender. I am also IN LOVE with the white corn tortillas! They have such a great flavor. Mmmmm! You also don't need all the toppings that you would normally put on tacos. Authentic street tacos only have cilantro and onions. That's it. (I only put pico de gallo or guacamole on mine because to me, those go on everything! Plus, I'm not a fan of raw onions.)

Even if you don't want to make tacos, this meat is easy & delicious. It could be used with almost anything. 

Ingredients:

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

White corn tortillas

Cilantro

Diced onions

Directions:

Put chopped onions in bottom of crock pot, then add the chicken and garlic. Mix all spices together and sprinkle over chicken. Cook on low for about 6 hours until fully cooked. Shred the chicken with 2 forks and let sit another hour or so. 

Heat tortillas on skillet (flipping so both sides are nice and toasty) then fill with chicken, onions and cilantro. (Or other toppings.) ;)

Enjoy!! 

This was mine with just the pico on top. ;)

S'mores Treats

I have made these a couple times now and they are sooo yummy! I think I like them even better than actual s'mores. Less messy too!

Ingredients:
6 cups graham cereal pieces
5 cups mini marshmallows, divided
3 TBS butter
3 - 1.55 oz. Hershey's milk chocolate candy bars, broken into pieces

Directions:
Measure out cereal into large bowl.
Spray a 9" x 13" pan with non-stick spray.
Melt butter and 4 cups of mini marshmallows in a pan over medium heat until completely melted. Pour into cereal and stir until combined. Add in the last cup of mini marshmallows and stir.
Pour half the cereal mixture into prepared pan and press down. Top with half the chocolate bar pieces. Cover with remaining cereal, press down and top with the rest of the chocolate.
Allow to cool and then cut into bars.

Enjoy!

I didn't even get a picture of them all cut up because they were gone too fast!

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

We have been craving nachos lately and usually we just do our own individual plates where we toss on some cheese and throw it in the microwave. But we have really been wanting to make a big ol' pan in the oven all piled high and layered with yummy things. We finally made these buffalo chicken nachos and they were super good! In fact, the first pan was gone before I remembered to take a picture, so I had to take one of the second batch, which didn't cook as nicely. (Of course that would happen.) 

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1/2 cup buffalo sauce (We found a recipe online and made our own, using Frank's Red Hot Sauce.)

Pepper Jack cheese, shredded or sliced

Jalapenos, sliced (We used the deli-sliced kind from the jar.)

Tortilla chips 

Directions:

Line baking pan with foil.

Lightly coat chicken with the buffalo sauce. Spread tortilla chips on pan, sprinkle on cheese, add chicken & cover with more cheese. Top with the jalapeno slices.

Broil in oven until cheese is melted. Watch closely so it doesn't burn. (Our second batch got a little crispy.)

Enjoy!

For a yummy variation try Nacho Cheese Doritos, tortilla chips with a hint of lime, or even Fritos!

Oven Baked Chimichangas

Oven Baked Chimichangas

 

Ingredients

Makes 6 chimis

*This recipe makes use of already cooked chicken and cooked rice so plan ahead!

1/4 cup vegetable oi

1 onion chopped

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

1/2 cup cooked rice

2-3 cups diced cooked chicken

1-2 teaspoons minced cannd chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

1 cup shredded cheese

salt and pepper

6 large burrito size tortillas

Directions:

Place baking sheet in the oven and heat to 450* While oven is heating, in a large skillet heat 2 Tbsp oil.  Cook onion until tender.  Stir in beans, rice, chicken and chipotle and cook until heated through, about 3 min.  Remove from heat stir in cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.  

Covering tortillas with a damp paper towel, microwave tortillas about 1 minute.  Top each warm tortilla with some of the chicken mixture, leaving about a 2 inch boarder at the bottom of the tortilla. Fold in the sides and roll up the tortilla tightly.  Brush the wrapped tortillas with the remaining oil and arrange them seam down on the hot baking sheet.  Bake until the chimis are golden brown and crisp, about 8-10 min.

French Toast Roll-Ups

 French Toast Roll-Ups (otherwise known as Crack Sticks)

These are the most delicious deserts I have made in a very long time!! We did an Iron Chef activity with our youth group.  (12-17 yr old boys and girls) Our ingredient that we were to use was strawberries and we only had an hour.  This was THE best!!

Ingredients:

Loaf white sandwich bread
Strawberries 
8 oz package of cream cheese softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter melted
1 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Nutella

Directions:

Mix cinnamon and sugar in shallow dish and set aside.

Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Set aside.

Remove crusts from bread and roll flat using a rolling pin.  Spread small amount of cream cheese or Nutella (I did half Nutella half cream cheese.  Both DELICIOUS!) mixture on each slice of bread.  Add small amount of strawberries and roll up tightly.

Dip in melted butter then roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Place on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at *350 for 20 min until golden brown.

These are delicious warm or cold!!

Fruit Cookies

Fruit Cookie

This is a recipe I got from Nikki. She made these a couple of years ago and I just made them for a youth activity.  They were a HUGE hit!!  I actually just used The Ready to Bake Sugar Cookies from Pillsbury (the flat kind that you just tear apart) They are surprisingly good!! They aren't to soft or to crunchy.  Everyone was asking for my recipe! So basically this is just a recipe for the frosting (and to tell you how easy and good these cookies are)  The frosting is the most delicious cream cheese frosting I've ever had!


Frosting Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2-4 cups powdered sugar
1-2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar. Beat for 2 minutes or until fluffy.  Add vanilla and beat until mixed well.

Spread in a thick layer over completely cooled cookies.  Top with fruit!

Fruit: Strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mandarin oranges, kiwi and raspberries!

The BEST Chili EVER!

I seriously cannot say enough about this chili! It is soooo good! Anyone who knows me will tell you that I really am not a big fan of chili. Especially because I am freaky about the meat in it. It's always chewy, or the consistency is wrong - runny with chunks of meat - ugh!! I can handle it when it's on a potato, but to just eat it plain in a bowl - no way!

But this recipe looked really good, and it's homemade so I control what's in it. ;) It was so good and hearty, with the PERFECT consistency, and I added a little spiciness to it also. Yummm! 

I ate it over a potato, and then had a bowl of it as well. Talk about over-eating! haha

It made a TON - so we saved it and I just threw it all in the slow cooker 2 days later. STILL DELICIOUS! 

So hurry and go make this before winter is over! You won't regret it. :)

Ingredients:

2 lbs. lean ground beef, browned and drained

3 green peppers, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1 TBS minced garlic

1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans, drained

1 (15 oz) can Ranch Style beans

1 (15oz) can Italian stewed tomatoes

2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce

1 (10 oz) can Rotel, or diced tomatoes with green chilis 

1 pkg McCormick chili seasoning

Secret Ingredient: crushed red pepper flakes, to taste (It's hard to tell - I just sprinkled a bit on top, and mixed it in & it was perfect.)

Directions:

While ground beef is browning - chop peppers, onion, and celery. Add all ingredients to a large pot or slow cooker. Simmer for a few hours. If you use a slow cooker, you could keep it on low most of the day if you wanted. (Mine cooked a little too hot on the stove, and burned a little on the bottom. Ugh!)

Note: If you like your chili really spicy, add a medium Rotel, hotter chili seasoning packet and/or more crushed red pepper flakes. Mine was pretty spicy though. ;)

This also makes amazing leftovers, and I think I will be freezing the rest. 

Enjoy!

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

I have had this recipe for awhile now, & kept planning on making it but I never got around to it, or it didn't sound good that day - whatever. Well I finally made it tonight and it was sooo good!! I can't believe it took me that long to make it! This was the only picture I got of it before it was GONE. Seriously. 

This recipe makes two 8x8 pans or one 9x13 pan. Since I have a small family I made the two 8x8 pans and froze one for another night! Bonus! 

Ingredients:

5 cups cooked rice

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 cups broccoli, chopped (I thought this could use a lot more broccoli, so I would do at least 3 cups. I also just threw mine in uncooked, but if you are using frozen broccoli you might want to lightly steam it first.)

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (And some extra to sprinkle on the top.)

salt and pepper, to taste (optional)

Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well.

Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Enjoy!

Monterey Chicken

This was a throw together last minute meal.  It turned out so good!  My husband said this was one of his favorite meals.  So yummy!!

Ingredients:

2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs Weber's Kick'n Chicken seasoning
4-6 chicken breasts
1/4 c bbq sauce
1/4 c crumbled up cooked bacon
1 c Colby Jack cheese shredded
1 can 14 oz Rotel
2 sliced green onions

Directions:

Marinate chicken for 30-40 min in soy sauce and chicken seasoning.
Preheat oven to *400
Grill chicken 6-7 min each side or until done
Place chicken in a baking dish covered with foil

Top each chicken breast with 1Tbs bbq sauce, 1/4 c cheese, 1/4 c Rotel, green onions and 1 Tbs bacon. 

Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted.

Onion Veggie/Chip Dip

My mother-in-law gave me this amazing dip recipe, and it is seriously better than any store-bought dip you can find.  We originally made it for veggies, but then started eating it with Ruffles potato chips - WOAH!!  If you like that french onion chip dip, you will absolutely LOVE this!  We loved it so much we made it twice in one weekend.  Mmmmm!  :)

Ingredients:
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayo
1 TBS onion flakes (dried, minced onions)
1 TBS parsley
1 tsp Beaumond (Spice Islands is the brand)
1/2 - 1 tsp dill weed

Mix all together, and let stand for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.  (I thought it tasted even better the second day!)

Serve with fresh veggies or potato chips. 

Enjoy!

Andes Mint Muddy Buddies

My family loves Muddy Buddies!  We have tried a few different kinds lately.  We liked the cinnamon churro okay, but probably won't make them again.  But now, the mint Muddy Buddies..... YUM!  We LOVE these!  They are especially good at Christmas!  I don't know why, but I can't get enough mint lately.  Peppermint Brownie Cookies, Mint Hot Cocoa, and my favorite - Mint M&Ms.  I buy bags of these during the holidays.

These are super easy to make, and the only bad thing about this recipe is that it doesn't make very much. :(  I guess I will just have to make more.....

Ingredients:
2 boxes (4.67 oz) Andes Creme de Menthe Thins
5 cups Rice Chex cereal
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons sprinkles, optional  (I used 2 each of red and green)

Directions:
Add powdered sugar and sprinkles together in a gallon-size plastic bag.  Mix together.

In a large bowl, measure out the Rice Chex.

Unwrap and place all the mints into a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute, and then in 15 second intervals until you can stir it smooth.

Pour the chocolate over the cereal, mixing until cereal is evenly coated.  Add cereal to the bag with the sugar, and shake until covered.

Enjoy!

Mint Hot Cocoa Mix

I have been on a search for some REALLY GOOD homemade hot cocoa!  All the store-bought stuff tastes watered-down and a little blah.  I finally found one that I liked.  I did modify it a little though, because it was made with special dark cocoa.  We love dark chocolate, but my kids thought this was a little too bitter for their liking.  So I mixed it with some regular milk hot cocoa from the store.  Still good. :)

The great thing about this recipe, is you can make all different kinds of flavors.  We made a batch with mini chocolate chips instead of the mint ones, and we put them in cute little jars on the counter.  With the plain cocoa you could add in caramel topping, marshmallows, vanilla creamer, butterscotch chips, cinnamon chips, or even peanut butter!!

I always wanted a little hot cocoa bar during the winter!  I am going to have lots of little jars with some of the above ingredients in them to add in.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup special dark cocoa or regular cocoa
1/2 cup rich milk cocoa mix (We used Nestle in the red & gold can)
1 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
*1 cup mint chips (green ones in the baking aisle), grind or blend up so there are no big chunks. 

The last batch I made, I didn't have the mint chips, so I used the red & white peppermint ones, a little different flavor, but still good.

*Substitute for mini chips if you are making regular flavor.

Mix everything together in a large bowl and pour into a jar or other storage container.

To serve:  1/4 cup cocoa mix with 1 cup hot water

Stay warm and enjoy!

Peppermint Brownie Cookies

I made these cookies last week for a party, and they were sooooo good!!  In fact, I'm making them again today! Some of the smaller candy cane pieces melted, but I still like having lots on there!  Still yummy though.  :)  For my next batch, I actually found some red and green candy canes to add extra color.

These are basically brownies with a mint flavor, gooey chocolate chips inside, and crunchy candy cane on top.  Go make them RIGHT NOW!  You won't regret it. :)

Ingredients:
1 pkg (19.5 oz) brownie mix (I used Pillsbury)
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
3 TBS cold water
1 tsp mint extract (I worried about this, because mint has a slightly different flavor than peppermint extract, but it was really good.  I'm sure peppermint would taste good, too.)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 cany canes, chopped

Directions:
Whisk together brownie mix, flour and brown sugar in large bowl.  With a wooden spoon, stir in eggs one at a time. 

Add butter, 3 TBS cold water and mint extract.  Stir until well combined.  Batter should be thick, but not dry.  Add one or two more TBS of water if needed. (I didn't need to.)

Fold in chocolate chips.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Scoop tablespoon-sized dough and roll to form a ball.  Place on parchment-lined baking sheet a few inches apart.  Press down slightly, but don't flatten.

Bake for 5 minutes - remove from oven & sprinkle chopped candy canes on top.  Bake an additional 5 minutes more, or until cookies are set.

Allow to cool on the pan for a couple of minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.

Enjoy!