Loose Meat Sandwiches

I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner one night and my husband told me about these "Loose Meat Sandwiches" his grandma used to make him when he was growing up.  They are super easy and yummy too!  We don't know exactly how Gram made them so we did the best we could and I think ours taste pretty good.  Here's the recipe:

Loose Meat Sandwiches:

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion
3 cloves of garlic (pressed)
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Ketchup
American Cheese
Bread
Butter

Brown the ground beef with the onions, garlic and steak seasoning.  Once your meat is cooked, drain it and set aside. Butter one side of each piece of bread and grill the bread just like you would with grilled cheese.  Once the bread is toasted, put it on a sheet pan with the toasted side down.  Top it with some meat, some ketchup and a slice of cheese; then top it with another slice of toast (toasted side up).  Put the rest of your sandwiches together and put them in the broiler on low for a few minutes to melt the cheese and warm the ketchup.  Be sure to watch the sandwiches because they will toast pretty fast!

The Best Chicken Fajitas (Seriously!)

It's been a while since I posted...I guess life just gets crazy and we forget about this kind of stuff.  Today we heard of an unfortunate tragedy in an elementary school in Connecticut.  It's sad to hear about anyone being hurt, but it's even worse to hear about innocent children being murdered.  It makes me think about my crazy life and realize that it's really not that crazy.  I am incredibly thankful to have my babies cuddling next to me right now and can't even fathom what the parents of those children in Connecticut are going through.  I know that I am holding my kids a little tighter and praying for those victims and their families and I hope you'll take a moment to do the same.

I've made these fajitas several times and I can tell you that the marinade is really good!  The chicken is full of flavor and they are easy to make--it can't get better than that.  Typically when I make these, I will slice my chicken the night before and put it into a zip lock bag with the marinade and they cook the chicken the following day.  The recipe suggests to let it marinade for at least two hours.  As with any recipe the two hours will work, but the longer you let them marinate, the more flavor they'll have.  I found this recipe online on Cooks.com and it had a rating of 4.8 stars.  Here it is:

The Very Best Chicken Fajitas Ever:

1 clove mince garlic
1 1/2 tsp. season salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. lime juice (fresh is best)
1 1/2 lbs. sliced chicken

Throw all of that into a zip lock back and let it marinate for at least 2 hours.

When you are ready to cook it, just saute the chicken in olive oil until it's cooked through.

Usually when we make the "fajitas" we basically just have chicken tacos.  We'll usually use lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream and taco sauce on our tortillas.  My husband isn't a fan of peppers and onions so I don't usually make them.  So technically the recipe I use would be "tacos" since we're eliminating the key ingredients of a fajita ;)

Stuffed Shells

One of my favorite meals is stuffed shells.  I not only like the flavor of the recipe, but I like that it makes enough to make two meals!  Usually when I make this recipe, I make it the night before.  I drive an hour to work everyday so I typically don't get home until around 6pm and by that time everyone is beyond ready to eat.  My husband gets home by 4:30 so he's able to just pop it in the oven when he gets home and it's done by the time I get home!  When I make this recipe, I typically fill a 9x13 pan to cook the next day and then I also have an 8x8 tin pan that I fill and freeze to cook on another night.  That frozen meal is perfect for a night when you just don't feel like cooking, but want a home cooked meal.  This recipe came from my Mother-in-Law--she typically adds in spinach or meat, but I prefer just cheese stuffed shells.  Here is my version:

Stuffed Shells:

1 box Stuffing Shells
32 oz container of Ricotta Cheese
8 oz bag shredded mozzarella, plus extra to top off the shells
3 eggs
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. parsley
1 tsp oregano
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 Jars of Spaghetti Sauce

Cook shells according to package.  Mix all of the rest of the ingredients (except the sauce).  Pour about 3/4 cup of sauce into the pan, then fill your shells and place them in the pan(s).  Cover the shells with the remaining sauce and cover them with tin foil.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-50 minutes.  During the last 5 minutes of cooking, uncover the shells and top with shredded mozzarella.

**When I make this ahead of time, I usually bake it in a 425 degree oven for about about 1 1/2 hours.  Since it's cold, it takes a little longer.

**You can also add some chopped frozen spinach or brown ground beef and add it to half of the cheese mixture if you don't want your shells to be so cheesy.

2 Dinners one Meat--Roast and BBQ Beef

One of the things I like most when it comes to cooking is saving time.  This weekend I made a roast for dinner on Friday and then we had BBQ Beef Sandwiches for dinner on Sunday.  Typically I use a chuck roast, but when I thawed my roast out on Thursday night, I realized I pulled a London Broil roast out.  We usually buy London Broil for my husband to make his Grandma's Beef Jerky, but this time it was used for roast.  I am not a fan of Beef Jerky, but I will post our recipe on here next time my husband makes it :)  One of the things I learned about picking a roast is to find one that is marbled with fat.  All roasts will have some fat, but you want some swirled in the middle of the roast and not all around the outside--this will give you more flavor and make the roast even more tender.

Pot Roast:

For my roast, I used the following recipe:

Chuck roast (or whatever you have available)--about 3 pounds
16 oz. baby carrots
12 oz. can of Pepsi, coke, Dr. pepper (I've used them all and I've used generic versions as well)
1 package of onion soup mix

I throw all of this in the crock pot and cook on low for about 8-10 hours.  When I made it this time, I also added a pack of brown gravy mix--the roast was good, but didn't taste a whole lot different from the recipe above so that's why I didn't include it in the ingredients.  This is stuff we almost always have on hand so it makes it easy to just throw it in the crock pot and forget about it.

Gram's BBQ Beef:

We didn't eat all of the roast so instead of freezing it or eating leftovers, I decided to turn it into my husband's Grandma's BBQ Beef.  Since we already ate some of the roast and it was only about 2 1/2 pounds to begin with, I cut the following recipe in half.  But here is the full recipe she used for a 4 pound chuck roast:

Sauce:
1 c. chopped onion
1/2 stick margarine
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. garlic
1 Tbsp. horseradish
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 c. chili sauce
1 c. tomato sauce

If you were just making this recipe for the BBQ Beef, you'd cook the chuck roast in the crock pot with 1/2 cup of water until it falls apart.  Take out all of the fat and put in a regular pan on the stove and add the sauce ingredients listed above. 

For us, we already had the roast cooked so I just shredded it and added the sauce.  We always put our BBQ Beef on buns and have sandwiches.

Chicken Paprikash

A few years ago, my Aunt Kim and I went to the Fabulous Food Show in Cleveland, Ohio.  It was there that I had Chicken Paprikash for the first time--and from that point, I fell in love!  My aunt gave me the "recipe" that my Grandma used, but you know how "recipes" from Grandparents go--they can make the meal taste great, but they don't use an actual recipe to make it.  I attempted the so-called recipe and failed so I was on a hunt to find an actual recipe.  I came across a recipe for "Hungarian Chicken Paprikas" so I gave it a whirl.  I was happy to find that June Meyer had a winner!  I've been using the recipe ever since and it's always a hit at our house.  The link to the recipe is above, but here is the actual recipe too:

• 2 onions chopped (I use a little less because my hubby isn't a fan of onions)
• 4 Tbsp. shortening, corn oil or lard (I typically use Country Crock)
• 3 Tbsp. Hungarian paprika (I just use regular paprika--not sure what the difference is between that and the Hungarian version)
• 2 Tsp. Sugar, do not omit
• 1/8 Tsp. black pepper or whole pepper corns
• 1 bay leaf 
• 2 Tsp. salt
• 4 to 5 lbs. chicken disjointed, use legs, thighs, breast and back for best flavor
• 1 large can of crushed tomatoes 
• 2 cups water
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 pt. sour cream

The recipe that I have is a little different than the link above so I made sure the recipe in here is exactly what I use.  I typically use chicken thighs for this recipe--it's definitely a lot different using dark meat than white meat.  I've done a combo of chicken breasts and thighs before, but all chicken breast doesn't come out right at all!  You need the flavor from the dark meat.  I start by putting a cooling rack on top of a sheet pan and putting the chicken thighs on the cooling rack (so they aren't just sitting in the grease when they bake).  I then drizzle them with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake them at 375 degrees for 45 min to an hour or until the juices run clear.  Once they have cooked and cooled, I remove and discard all of the skin and bones and put all of the chicken aside for the Paprikash.

Then, Brown onions in shortening. Add the seasonings and chicken and brown for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf, and water, cover and let simmer, slowly. To thicken the gravy, make a roux by combining the 2 Tbsp. of butter and 2 Tbsp. of flour and stir the mixture into the stew liquid.  Cook a few minutes until the liquid thickens.  Once the stew is about done, I add in the 1/2 pint of sour cream and cook for about 5 more minutes.

The linked recipe has a dumpling recipe, but my husband isn't a dumpling fan so we eat this "stew" served over egg noodles.

Waffles for Breakfast

I was in the mood for homemade waffles this morning and have been using this recipe I found a while ago.  I seriously love these waffles--and the title is so fitting--Waffle of Insane Greatness found on the Food Network's website.  Here is the recipe (and I always double it for our family of four):

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Butter and syrup, for serving

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes.
Preheat a waffle iron. This recipe says not use non-stick spray on the waffle iron because the oil in the batter will allow the waffle to release easily; however, mine crumbled so I use non-stick spray. Follow the directions on your waffle iron to cook the waffles. Serve immediately with butter and syrup.

Our Little Monster's First Birthday Party

We had our son, Cohen's, first birthday party yesterday--the theme was Little Monster.  Fall is my favorite season, so I was excited to have "fall" food.  We went with soups, salad, and a baked potato bar--it was a hit!  I made Chili, Easy Potato Soup and Cream Cheese Chicken Chili; my father-in-law made Chicken Noodle Soup and my mother-in-law made Gumbo.  In addition to the soups, we had Japanese Chicken Salad and our baked potato bar.  It was a cold day so the warm soups hit the spot!

This was also the first time I attempted making a homemade cake!  I can bake so that wasn't the part I was worried about--I was more worried about the decorating, but I'll have to say it turned out ok!  I posted the cupcake and frosting recipe already, but I used a different chocolate cake recipe for the actual cake.  I got the recipe from the Kevin & Amanda Blog and it's definitely one of my favorites.  So here it is:

THE BEST Chocolate cake ever:

1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 small pkg Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together everything except chocolate chips. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into cake pan. For this recipe, I used two 9 inch pans and just used the cooking time that was on the back of the box as a guide--it took about 45 minutes.


The recipes are as follows:

Chili:
I made this for a crowd--normally I just make enough for our family of four, but this time I made a large pot.  Typically when I make this, I use about 1-1/2 pounds of ground beef and just cut the recipe in half.  I made this the weekend before Cohen's party and froze it--I have learned to make as much as I can ahead of time so that I am not so frazzled on the day of the party!

3 pounds ground beef
1 large onion
1 Tbsp. Garlic (I used about 4 medium cloves, pressed)
5 cans (15oz) Tomatoes--I used diced this time, but I've used stewed too
1 cup Beef Broth
3 Tbsp. Chili Powder (I spice mine up so you can use more or less depending on what you like)
3 tsp. Cumin
3 tsp. Oregano
1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper (You can go easier on this too if you don't like too much spice)
Salt to taste
3 cans of Chili ready beans (don't drain)

Brown ground beef with onion and garlic and drain grease.  Add everything except the beans and cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Add the beans and simmer 30 minutes longer.  Add water if chili becomes too thick.

Easy Potato Soup:
My best friend, Nicole, made this for lunch one day and I couldn't believe how good it was and with such little effort--now that's my kind of meal!  I have made this for potlucks and it's always a hit!

1 30oz bag of hash browns

1 lg. box of chicken stock

1 can cream of onion soup

1 capful of minced onions

8oz of cream cheese

I throw everything in the crock pot except the cream cheese (I add that about 30min to an hour before we’ll eat).

Cream Cheese Chicken Chili:

I found this recipe on Pinterest and tried it out before I made it for Cohen's party.  When I went to my pins to get it again, the link was bad :(  However, I did find the same recipe from Tried and Tasty although I adjusted it a smidge.

1 can black beans
1 can corn, undrained
1 can Rotel or generic tomatoes with green chilies
1 ranch dressing mix packet
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 8 oz package cream cheese
2 chicken breasts or 5 chicken tenders, frozen

Place the Chicken in the crock pot, then add the undrained can of corn, tomatoes, black beans, rotel/tomatoes, ranch dressing mix, cumin, chili powder and onion powder.  I added the cream cheese about 30 minutes before serving, but you can add it in at the beginning too.  When you are ready to eat, shred the chicken with two forks and serve!

Japanese Chicken Salad:

I have loved this salad for a long time!  My aunt Rhonda and my best friend's mom always made this and now it is a staple at our parties!

Salad:
1 head lettuce (cut up)
2-4 Chicken Breast halves (cooked and diced)
1 sm. bag sliced almonds
1 sm. can of Chinese noodles
4 green onions

Dressing:
1/2 c. oil
4 Tbsp. vinegar
4 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. Poppy seeds
Pepper to taste

Mix salad ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine dressing ingredients, mix well and pour over salad just before serving and toss.


Baked Potatoes:

Normally when I make baked potatoes, I drizzle olive oil on them and put some garlic salt and pepper on them and then wrap them in tin foil and bake at 425 degrees for about an hour.  Baking them that way, them come out pretty good, but I usually only make 4 potatoes.  I didn't feel like wrapping 30 potatoes in foil and I remembered I pinned a recipe on Pinterest from the blog I wash...you dry.  I ended up using that recipe, which did not call for them to be wrapped! 

Clean your potatoes and set your oven to 375 degrees.  Using a fork, pierce the potatoes 2-3 times on each side, then brush them with olive oil and sprinkle them with sea salt.  Place them directly on the oven racks and place a baking sheet on the rack below to catch any drippings.  Bake for about 45 minutes.


In addition to the main courses, we had Cucumber Sandwiches and Vegetables and Dip as appetizers as well as White Chocolate Chex Mix and Cinnamon Roasted Almonds on the tables for everyone to munch on.

Cucumber Sandwiches:
My cousin, Chrissy, started me on these and I've taken them to potlucks and they've always been gobbled up!

1 8oz. package of Cream Cheese (softened)
1/2 c. Mayonnaise (I use Hellman's)
1 envelope Good Season's Italian Salad Dressing
French bread (sliced)
Cucumbers (sliced)
Olives (sliced--these are optional and were used to make them look like eyes since it was a monster themed party)

Mix the cream cheese, mayo and Italian Dressing mix.  Spread the mixture on slices of the French bread and top with cucumber slices and the optional olives.

Grandma's Veggie Dip:
Anytime I have a veggie tray, I always use my Grandma's Veggie Dip recipe--which is just from the Knorr's website, but here it is:

1 package of Knorr's Soup Mix
1/2 cup Mayo
1 16 oz. container of Sour Cream

Stir everything together and chill for 2 hours.


White Chocolate Chex Mix aka White Trash:

3 cups Rice Chex
3 cups Corn Chex
3 cups Cheerios
2 cups pretzels
2 cups dry roasted peanuts
1 12 oz. bag of M&M's
1 pound white chocolate (my recipe calls for 2 pounds of chocolate, but I think 1 pound is fine)

Melt the chocolate. Combine all ingredients except the chocolate.  Spread half of the cereal mixture on a cookie sheet and spread with half of the chocolate.  Mix with your hands and spread into one layer.  Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes and repeat with the rest.

Cinnamon-Roasted Almonds:

I found this recipe on All Recipes and love it!  This is a great recipe for the Holidays.  Almonds are expensive, but I found the best deal at Sam's Club.  You can get a large bag (about 9 cups) for about $11.

1 egg white
1 tsp. cold water
4 cups whole almonds
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Grease a sheet pan.  Combine the sugar, salt and cinnamon. Lightly beat the egg white and water until it becomes frothy (not stiff). Pour egg white mixture over the nuts and coat them.  Pour the sugar mixture over the nuts and mix well and then spread them into one layer on the sheet pan.  Bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. 

A Cooking and Baking Day!

I was one busy mom today.  I made our dinner (Hamburger, Rice and Potatoes) plus vanilla and chocolate cupcakes as well as chocolate frosting all from scratch!  Believe me, I've used my fair share of boxed cakes, but there is definitely a difference between cake made from scratch and cake out of a box.  For today's cupcakes, I used a recipe I found here for Vanilla Cupcakes and here for Chocolate Cupcakes.  I also used the recipe for Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and let me tell you--it's a keeper!

I will post the recipes here so that they are available for reference if the links don't work; however, the Glorious Treats Blog is a good one for tips, tricks and recipes!

My cupcakes turned out good--although I am not the best decorator.  I made these for my cousin, Danielle's funeral luncheon.  She was a 38 year old mom of 3 who battled ovarian cancer for 3 1/2 years.  Unfortunately, she lost her fight on Thursday.  I decorated the cupcakes with teal sprinkles (the color that represents ovarian cancer) and a pink "D" for Danielle.  This woman was seriously the strongest person I've ever known.  And in all the years that she fought, she remained incredibly positive!  I love her and will miss her dearly. 

Vanilla Cupcakes:

Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes

Recipe by Glorious Treats

Yields- 15-16 cupcakes

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil (vegetable, canola or extra light olive oil)

1/2 cup buttermilk

(or 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice- add acid to the milk then set aside for 5 minutes before using)

Directions-

* Preheat oven to 350*F.

* In a medium bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together with whisk, and set aside.

* In the bowl of an electric mixer, add eggs and beat 10-20 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed about 30 seconds. Add vanilla and oil, beat.

* Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add half of the milk, then the rest of the flour and the rest of the milk. Beat until just combined. Scrap down the side of the bowl.

* The batter will be thin. Pour batter into a muffin pan prepared with paper liners. Fill liners about 2/3 full.

* Bake cupcakes in pre-heated oven for 12-14 minutes.

* Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan (carefully) and finish cooling on a wire rack.

* Frost as desired when fully cool. I love to use my favorite Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.

* Feel free to use this recipe for a cake as well. The recipe above will work for a 6″ cake. Double the recipe for an 8″ or 9″ cake.

* A note about Cake Flour- Cake Flour has a lower protein content than traditional all-purpose flour, which results in a more tender, delicate crumb in the finished product. If you can not find or access cake flour, feel free to substitute as necessary, but your results will vary from the original recipe.

Chocolate Cupcakes:

Perfectly Chocolate Cupcakes

by Hershey's

(makes 24-27 standard sized cupcakes)

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (best quality available)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (best quality available)

1 cup boiling water

Directions-

Line muffin tin with paper liners. Heat oven to 350*F.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for one minute.

Stir in boiling water (the batter will be thin, don’t worry, this is right).

Fill liners 2/3 full with batter. (I usually put the batter into a large measuring cup with a pour spout, and then pour the batter into the liners.)

Bake cupcakes for approximately 18-22 minutes.

Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

Vanilla (Chocolate) Cream Cheese Frosting:

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
½ cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) butter (set at room temp about 10 minutes, but should still be cool)
8 oz. cream cheese (directly from fridge)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (always use pure vanilla extract if possible)
4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1 to 4 Tablespoons heavy cream, heavy whipping cream (or milk- although I do like the richness that cream adds)
Directions:
*Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.
*Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
*Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don’t add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)
*Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
*Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)
The recipe above will produce a delicious VANILLA flavored frosting, here are a couple of other options to try…
For a Stronger Cream Cheese Flavor: Use an additional 4 oz. (½ block) of cream cheese. This is good for any cake/cupcake recipe that is traditionally topped with Cream Cheese Frosting, like Carrot Cake, or Red Velvet Cake.
For Chocolate Frosting: (my favorite!) add ½ cup unsweetened cocoa (I use Ghirardelli brand, it’s really good). Add the cocoa powder before adding the powdered sugar, so it gets fully incorporated into the butter and cream cheese.
Strawberry, Blackberry, etc: Add 2-4 tablespoons of preserves. Depending on how chunky or seedy the preserves are, you may want to blend it in the food processor, and/or strain it through a fine strainer before adding it to the frosting. Add the preserves to the frosting mixture before adding the heavy cream. Depending on the amount of preserves you add you may need very little or no cream, especially if you want the frosting thick enough to pipe. A final option would be to add a drop of food coloring to add to the color of the preserves (for example, pink coloring for the Strawberry flavor).
* This recipe will frost about 22-24 cupcakes if you are piping a nice swirl, or even more if you just spread it on. If you’re making a cake, this will frost and fill a two layer 9″ cake.
Recipe Source: Glorious Treats

Easy Chicken Dinner

Tonight's dinner was adapted from a Mr. Food Recipe for Baked Cheesy Chicken.  I do like that recipe, but I didn't have any of the ingredients so I just made my own version.  This recipe is one of those recipes that you can pretty much use any dressing you like and any type of crunch that you like. Tonight I used this recipe:

2 Boneless-Skinless Chicken breasts (sliced in half and pounded flat)

3/4 c. Creamy Italian Dressing

2 c. Rice Chex (crushed)

1/4 c. Parmesan Cheese

2 T. melted butter

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a baking sheet. Mix the crushed Chex and Parmesan cheese together and set aside.  Dip the chicken in the ranch dressing and then dip in the crushed Chex mixture. Place the chicken on to the baking sheet and drizzle with the melted butter.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.

You can use a combination of any of the dressings or crunch substitutions below:

Dressing Substitutions:

Thousand Island

Honey Mustard

Creamy Caesar

Ranch

Blue Cheese

Crunch Substitutions:

Corn Flakes

Pretzels

Cornflakes

French Fried Onions

Croutons

Chicken & Biscuits

Today was such a fun day!  My little sister, Amanda, is getting married in May of 2013 so today we spent the day dress shopping!  It was such a fun time to spend together and see how beautiful she looks in her dress.  Amanda moved to Mississippi last year with her fiance, Julian who she met in Boot Camp.

I typically cook dinner for our family at least once when they are in town so I decided to make Chicken and Biscuits for dinner tonight.  I wanted to make sure I had everything prepared ahead of time since we'd be gone all day today.  I tweaked the recipe that Barefoot Contessa uses (Chicken Stew with Biscuits) to fit our tastes.  I also made almost a double recipe so that we had enough for our family--I have three siblings who all have a significant other plus my family of four, my niece and my little cousin that my parents are raising.  We have a small army to feed when I cook so I always have to make double!
The link for Barefoot Contessa's actual recipe is above, but here is what I actually did:

Ingredients:

• 4 split chicken breasts, skin on and bone in
• 6 chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 8 cups chicken stock --2 of the store bought cartons
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
• 2 10-ounce packages frozen peas (2 cups)
• 3 cups diced redskin potatoes, blanched for 2 minutes
• 1 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts and thighs on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. I roasted the chicken for about 60 minutes, but just make sure that it's cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, and then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Dice the chicken into medium-sized pieces. You will have about 8-10 cups of chicken.  The original recipe calls for Chicken Breasts, but I am a bigger fan of dark meat so I chose thighs.  My husband likes white meat so I compromised and had a bit of both :) 

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 3 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and the heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, potatoes, and parsley. Mix well. Place the chicken mixture in a large roasting pan. Bake for 15 minutes.

**Since I made this ahead of time, I put mine into an oven set to 200 degrees for about 4 1/2 hours. If you look at the original recipe, you can see I made some changes--some things I doubled, while other things I eliminated.  Most of the time, I make my recipes exact the first time I make them and tweak them from there; however, this recipe called for a lot of onions and my husband is not a fan of onions.  I cut back on the amount of fresh onions and replaced the frozen onions with potatoes.  I don't feel that we lost any flavor with my changes--everyone liked it :)  I also took the easy route on biscuits and used store bought canned ones.

 Hopefully you enjoy it!

Planning a First Birthday Party

I can't believe how fast time flies--at this time last year, I was preparing for the arrival of our second son.  Now he's turning one and I need to plan his first birthday party! I am a December baby so I've always wanted my kids to be born in the summer.  Mikey was born in June, but Cohen was born November 4th.  As much as I wanted my kids to have summer birthdays, I am so excited to plan the menu for this party.  Fall is my favorite season--I love everything about fall especially the food that comes along with it!  The theme for his party is "Little Monsters" so I have scoured the Internet and Pinterest to find the cutest monster ideas.  It's exciting to plan the theme, but the menu is also fun to plan.  We are having soups, salads and baked potatoes--my favorite fall comfort foods!  A friend of mine pinned a recipe for Crock pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili, which we tried last week and it was pretty tasty so it'll definitely be on the menu!  I love this recipe because it had great flavor and was super easy to make.

Just throw the following things in your crock pot:
2 chicken breasts
1 can of undrained corn
1 can of rotel tomatoes
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 package of dry ranch dressing mix
1 Tablespoon of Cumin
1 teaspoon of Chili Powder (I added about a Tablespoon when I made my version)
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 8 ounce package of cream cheese

Mix it all up and let it cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

A Frozen Meal Kind of Night...

Today was one of those days that I was thankful to have frozen meals!  Whenever I make a meal that makes a large amount, I always freeze the leftovers so we have a quick and easy meal when we need it.  I didn't have the energy to get anything ready last night or this morning so we ended up eating "Baked Spaghetti," which is a Paula Deen recipe.  I will have to say, she is one of my favorite food network stars--I don't think I've tried a recipe of hers that I didn't like!

My loves

As I think back to a few years ago, I remember wondering if I'd ever have kids.  Fast forward five years and I have two beautiful baby boys! I am so blessed to have my two little guys and thank God every day for them.  Unfortunately, we did have pregnancy complications in the past and I take comfort in the fact that my three little angels are in Heaven.  On October 6th, there is an event honoring the babies who have passed away.  The event is called "The Little Balloon Launch" and will be at Fair Park in Canfield, Ohio.  It starts at 10am and all proceeds raised will benefit "Hannah's Oak"--a local organization dedicated to helping families experiencing pregnancy complications, children in intensive care units & child loss.

My First Blog--Apple Cupcakes

Last week, Mikey learned about apples in preschool so it was fitting to have him learn to cook with them too :)  We spent some time at White House Fruit Farms this weekend taking in the beauty of fall!  Mikey loves pumpkins so we had to go play in the pumpkin patch before we got our apples.
We settled on Gala apples, which are one of my favorites--they're sweet and good for baking; Fuji and Honeycrisp are also favorites of ours.
We decided to make this awesome apple cake that I found on one of my favorite cooking sites, Smitten Kitchen (Mom's apple cake).  I've made this cake a few times before and it's always a hit!  Instead of making a cake this time, we decided to make mini-cupcakes that Mikey could take to school to share with his class.  The cake has to back for about 1.5 hours, but the mini cupcakes ended taking about 22 minutes.  We had a good time baking and I'm sure his class will enjoy their treat!