Thursday, March 17, 2011

Canadian Bacon Breakfast Quiche

I absolutely love this dish.  I make it for dinner, and then proceed to eat the leftovers for breakfat and/or lunch the next day.  Mmm, mmm, good!  It's simple to make, but really only satisfies about 4 people, maybe even less, if you have a big eater.

So...What you need:
frozen pie crust (usually comes in a two-pack)
4 slices of swiss cheese
4 eggs
3/4 cup milk
6 slices of canadian bacon, diced
1/4 cup green onion, diced
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tomato, sliced thin

What to do:
Place swiss cheese, overlapping, in bottom of pie crust.

Mix together remaining ingredients, minus the tomato slices.  Pour into pie crust, top with tomatoes.  Bake at 400 for 20 min, then reduce heat to 350 and bake additional 20 min.  Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

(**This recipe is from kraftfoods.com**)

Friday, March 11, 2011

Mandy's Creamy Chicken Tacos/Mexican Chicken Chili

I figured since this meal could be eaten as tacos with tortillas or in a bowl as chili, I'd name it both.  I got this recipe from my friend Mandy Boker (yes, I know she's married now, but all my sorority sisters will forever go by their maiden names in my head).  Anyway, she gave me this UBER easy and tres tasty crockpot meal and it was good!  Hubby loved it.  Beware--it makes a lot.

What you need:
4 chicken breasts
1 full can of salsa (I used almost 2)
1 can  corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 brick cream cheese

What you do:
Dump everything into the crockpot EXCEPT the cream cheese.  Cook on low for 8 hours, shredded chicken after about 6 or 7 hours.  After 8 hours, stir in cream cheese until melted.

Put desired amount into corn or flour tortillas, or place in a bowl and happily eat with a spoon.  Top with cilantro, tomato, and sour cream (or other desired toppings) and enjoy. 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

crockpot chicken

4 cans of creamy soup such as cream of broc, celary, chicken, onion, ect
dash of salt, pepper, dyhydrated onion, or any other "season" you would like
chicken breast
refridgerated biscuits (large and flaky)

Mix soup and season together, place in crockpot. lay chicken on top. cook 6-8 hours on low. With 45 min remaining place uncooked biscuit on top.

Great for breakfast...and simple too!

Depending on your family size you can adjust the amount.

Need:
1/2 stick of melted butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
I package refrigerated biscuits
4-8oz cream cheese


I use walmart brand biscuits (10), and make 5 muffins or if you used a larger biscuit you could make up to 10.

cut up cream cheese to the number of muffins you are making. Roll in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture. If you are using large biscuits, sound the cream cheese with one. If you are using smaller ones, use two to surround cream cheese. Place in greased muffin pan. pour left over butter on top, sprinkle left over sugar on top. Bake at 350 for 15 min

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Menu, Menu...What's on YOUR Menu!?

To make things easier, I used to make a "meal plan", or menu, if  you will.  It cuts down on the "what do you want for dinner?" "I don't know.  What do you want for dinner?"  "Hm, what can we make?" ordeal that occurs at 6pm at night.  It also allows me to be creative, inspires me to look through cookbooks and recipes online, and helps with grocery lists--makes them specific and eliminates many side trips to the store.  I did this regularly after Kate was born and before Rowe.  Since then, it had gone to the wayside.  Well, in January I started that again, and it's been SO helpful.  I plan our meals better, and do all the other pros above--am more budget friendly when going to the store, creative, inspired, and actually COOK!  I also plan for leftovers as well to help cut down on the fridge becoming a tupperware and gladware convention and then just tossing out tons of food on Wednesday mornings for garbage day.  It also keeps me from getting in that rut of cooking the same few things over and over again.  Hubby and I tend to get into a chicken rut...Chicken This, Chicken That, which is fine if I can get more creative vs. just serving marinated chicken with pasta or rice.  So, to give you an idea, here is our menu for February and March...


I will go and make changes in need be, and save the menu over and over, but for the most part, we stick to the menu.  Another friend gave me this tool, which I found useful in order to keep track of your fave recipes according to main ingredients:


Hope this is helpful!

Labels

I have gone through all of the posts on here and added labels for an easier find to recipes with specific ingredients.  You can see the labels on the side bar to the left and simply click on an item or category to get you to recipes with ingredients you want.  Hope this is helpful!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Peachy Pork Chops

6 boneless pork chops, browned
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1/4 cup syrup from drained peaches
1/4 cup vinegar
1 can (29 oz) peaches

Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, tomato sauce, peach syrup and vinegar. Salt and pepper pork chops to taste.

Brown pork chops on each side before adding to crock pot.

Place peaches on top of pork chops, then pour mixture over. Cover, cook on low 4-6 hours.

***I used lite canned peaches***

recipe from cdkitchen website


Taco Soup

1 lb extra-lean ground beef ( I used ground turkey)
1 onion, chopped
3 cans (15.5 oz each) mild chili beans, undrained
1 can (14.5 oz) whole tomatoes undrained
1 can (14.25 oz ) corn, undrained
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1 pkg Taco Seasoning
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Brown meat and drain. Add onions and salt and pepper to taste and heat for a few minutes. Add all remaining ingredients except cheese; stir, breaking up tomatoes with spoon. Bring to boil; simmer on medium low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Top with cheese, sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips.

A few modifications: I used ground turkey instead of beef. For the corn I used mexicorn and the beans I used some cans hot and some mild. What really made this yummy....I used mexican four cheese with a touch of philadelphia.

Kraft foods recipe

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Garlic and Chicken

What you need:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 garlic bulb; cloves separated and peeled
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup caesar dressing
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

What to do:
Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium-high heat.  Make sure skillet is hot before adding the chicken and garlic.  Cook for 2 minutes and flip chicken, cook an additional 2 minutes.  Stir in broth and dressing.  Cover and cook for 8 more minutes, flipping chicken half way through.  Turn off heat and top with cheese.  Let stand for a minute or two before serving.

While the garlic might seem like it would be overwhelming due to how much you use, believe me...it's subtle and tasty.  I served this with onion roasted potatoes and ranch-slaw.  Pretty good (will upload a pic of our meal tomorrow).

French Onion Pork Skillet

We had this meal on Friday and thought it was pretty good, however, both Hubby and I agreed that the stuffing over-powered the pork and onion.  Not sure how to fix that, so if you have any suggestions, we'll take 'em!  And, it didn't really taste "French Onion"-like to me, but I may be wrong...

Food you need:
6 boneless pork chops
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 pkg.  (6 oz. ) Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1-1/2 cups hot water
1 cup  Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
What to do:

Heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat. Add chops and onions; cook 10 min. or until chops are done, turning chops and stirring onions after 5 min. Remove chops from skillet. Cook and stir onions 5 min. or until golden brown. Stir in Worcestershire sauce. Return chops to skillet; top with onion mixture. Mix stuffing mix and water; spoon around edge of skillet. Top with cheese; cover. Cook 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

**This is a recipe from Kraft Foods, with slight alterations**