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.

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!!

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. 

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!

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!

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!

Coconut Cream Pie

 

This is seriously THE BEST coconut cream pie recipe around, and let me tell you why:

1.  No cooking and stirring (in my case burning).

2.  It's thick and rich.

3.  It's easy!

4.  It tastes like you spent all day making it.

I made this for Thanksgiving, and I was a little nervous because I had never even tried the recipe before.  The only thing that went wrong was that I tried to use the roll-out crusts, and they kind of shrunk in the pans, (because I don't know what I'm doing) so I had to run out and buy frozen ones. Lesson learned. haha :)

However, I got lots of compliments on it and my SIL even said, "This is definitely not a pudding pie".
It does have pudding in it, but it's really rich - it tastes more like a cheesecake.  YUMMY!

For the crust:  You can use a graham cracker crust, or make your own flaky, flour crust if you are talented like that.  The frozen ones aren't that great, but the filling made up for it.  :)

I doubled the filling ingredients to make 2 pies, and I used the 9" deep dish - perfect!

Filling Ingredients: 
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup cream of coconut (non-alcoholic, found in the drink mixer section)
1 (3.4 oz) pkg. coconut cream instant pudding mix
1 (6 oz) pkg. sweetened, flaked coconut.  (toast some to mix in, and also to sprinkle on top)
2 (8 oz) tubs frozen whipped topping, thawed (one is for the top of the pie, or you can make your own)

Directions:
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and cream of coconut until smooth.  Add pudding mix, blend well.

Stir in coconut until combined and then fold in whipped topping.

Pour into cooled pie crusts.

Spread the second container of whipped topping over the filling, or put into pastry bag and squeeze like you do cupcakes. 

Toast a little coconut in a 400* oven for 3-5 minutes - watch carefully so it doesn't burn! Sprinkle over the top of the pie - BEAUTIFUL!

Apple Crisp

It's FALL!!  I love fall!  My mom had TONS of apples and last week we made applesauce.  (First time ever - wasn't too bad.)  I also dried a bunch of apples, and even made some caramel apples - YUM!  I still had more apples left, and I realized I hadn't made APPLE CRISP in a long time.  I can't believe this recipe wasn't already on here!

I have been making this apple crisp for over 20 years and I still loooove it!  It's super easy, and sometimes I make it all up in the pie dish, wrap it in plastic, and put it in the fridge until I'm ready to bake it.  What is better than WARM apple crisp?  Not much. haha :)

Ingredients:

5 - 6 medium apples, peeled & sliced (enough to fill your dish)

1 c. rolled oats

3/4 c. flour

2/3 c. margarine

1 c. brown sugar

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Place apples in baking dish.  Mix other ingredients until well mixed and crumble over top of apples.

Bake at 350 F - 45 minutes, or until bubbly around edges.

Southwestern Egg Rolls

I have made these in the past, but didn't have the sauce and they were....okay.  But I recently made them again - this time with the sauce and they were DELICIOUS!!  The sauce really added a little something. 

I don't even like ranch, which is probably why I was nervous to try the sauce.  All the flavors really come together - my kids really liked it too.  We had sooo much sauce left over!  You might want to half the recipe, or use the ranch sauce for something else.  I bet it would be really good on a salad!

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast, cooked and diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/4 c. onion, diced
2 TBS green onion, diced
1 cup frozen corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small can green chiles
1/2 TBS parsley
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
dash cayenne pepper
1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded (I used colby jack)
flour tortillas

Directions:
In large bowl, mix all ingredients together, including chicken. (Make sure it's been fully cooked.)
Saute all ingredients until fully cooked.

Remove from heat and add shredded cheese.  Mix well.  Warm tortillas and place 1/2 cup of mixture inside.  Fold up tightly and cook in a Panini or George Foreman grill until cheese is melted.  (I just cooked it in a frying pan like a grilled cheese.)

Slice and serve with sauce. YUM!

Avocado-Ranch Dipping Sauce
1c. ranch dressing
1 avocado, mashed
1 tsp minced onion
salt and pepper, to taste

Blend all ingredients together until creamy.

Triple Fudge Oreo Crunch Cookies

 

These cookies are super chocolatey - they taste like brownies with Oreos in them!!  I brought them to a reunion dinner & they went FAST!  They are a little hard to make perfect though because the dough is so lumpy.  :)  I also used the birthday cake Oreos because I thought they would be fun - so if you see random colored specks, that's what it is.  haha

Ingredients:
1 cup butter-flavored shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 1/4 cup chocolate chips or chunks (I used semi-sweet)
12 Oreos, roughly chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F. 

In a medium bowl, cream together shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  Slowly add to the sugar mixture and mix until well combined.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in the white chips, chocolate chips, and chopped Oreos.  Scoop out dough and roll into 2 tablespoon-sized balls.  Place on parchment-lined baking sheet, and flatten slightly with your hand.

Bake for 9 minutes, or until done.  Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then remove to rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Banana-Berry Soft Serve

Oh my goodness - this stuff is soooo good!!  My husband's cousins made this for a reunion last weekend and it was so yummy I had to run home and make some for myself!  The good thing is, it makes quite a bit (especially for just my family) so we get to keep it in the freezer and have it all week! Yay!

Ingredients:
1/2 gallon of raspberry sherbet
1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream
frozen mixed berries
chopped bananas

Let the sherbet and ice cream get pretty soft, then stir them together in a large bowl.  When it's all mixed up, add in as many berries and bananas that you want.

At the reunion, we just plopped some into plastic cups and ate it with spoons.  If you want it in waffle cones though, you might want to put it back in the freezer for a few minutes.....it's very soft!! :)

 

I bet there are a lot of yummy combinations you could make with this recipe!!  If you try any, let me know! :)

Garlic Breadsticks

If you love the Olive Garden's breadsticks as much as I do, you need to make these right now!  They are soooo good!

Do you want to know the very best thing about them?  They are super easy to make!  No need for a mixer, and they're ready in about an hour.

We have made these quite a few times in the last year.  I tried them once without the garlic, just for a change and they were still very good.  However, my family has voted they like the garlic ones best.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 tsp rapid rise yeast
2 TBS sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
4 1/4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp salt
4 TBS butter or margarine, melted

Topping:
1/2 cup butter (8 TBS), melted
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
oregano (I just sprinkled some in)

Directions:
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water.  Let sit until frothy, about 5 minutes.

Add flour and salt to yeast mixure, stir.  Add melted butter and knead with hands until well combined.  Add a little flour if dough is too sticky.  Do not over-knead.

Oil palms and divide the dough into 16 pieces.  (I just break dough in half, then keep dividing in halves until I have about 16 fairly similar-sized balls.)

Roll dough into long strips.  Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.  Cover and let sit in a warm place until breadsticks rise slightly, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Bake for about 6 minutes. 

Meanwhile, combine topping ingredients in a small bowl.

Remove breadsticks after 6 minutes, brush with topping mixture. Continue to bake an additional 5-6 minutes, or until golden. (Watch closely.)

Remove from oven and brush with more topping mixture.

Enjoy!

Reese's Popcorn Munch

I started making some of my Super Bowl treats already, so I don't have as much to do tomorrow. :)  This Reese's popcorn is something I have been wanting to try for awhile, and I decided this would be the perfect opportunity!

I made my boys stay out of it because "it's for tomorrow", but I had to try a little - just to make sure it was good. ;)

Yep.  It's good.  Very, very good! I think chocolate and peanut butter are my new favorite things on popcorn.  Yummy! Who knew?  Oh, you did?  Well thanks for telling me.  haha :)   

 

Recipe adapted from Inside BruCrew Life

Ingredients:

10 cups popped popcorn

1 1/2 cups Reese's Unwrapped Minis, chopped in half



2 cups Reese's Puffs cereal
1/2 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk)
1/2 cup Reese's peanut butter chips
2 tsp shortening, divided
1 cup Reese's Pieces candies

Directions:
Mix popcorn, mini cups and cereal  together and spread on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine 1 tsp shortening and chocolate chips.  Heat for 30 seconds and stir, continuing until melted and smooth.  Drizzle over popcorn mixture.

Sprinkle with Reese's Pieces candies.

Heat peanut butter chips the same way you did the chocolate chips, using the remaining 1 tsp of shortening.  Drizzle over popcorn.

Let sit in refrigerator for a few minutes until cooled and set.

Break into chunks, and enjoy!!