Smothered Chicken over Brown Rice

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 teaspoon creole seasoning, store bought or homemade
2 medium carrots chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
 Brown rice cooked in chicken broth and butter for extra flavor


Make It:
Heat a large pot over medium high heat, add oil to pan. Once oil is hot add chicken and brown on both sides. Remove chicken from pot. Add butter, once melted add veggies. Cook and stir till veggies are tender. Pour wine into pot, stir and scrape bottom of pan. Allow to simmer and reduce by half. Pour soup and chicken broth into pot, stir to combine. Stir in garlic powder and creole seasoning. Put chicken back in pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat cover and allow to cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over rice. Enjoy!

Tater Tot Casserole/ Bacon Mushroom Cheeseburger Tot Casserole

So I was gonna make the standard tater tot casserole and then I decided to do a different take on a burger and tots so I cerated this. It turned out pretty tasty!


Ingredients:
1/2 package mushrooms, quartered
1 pound ground beef
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup beef broth
2 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons butter
4 slices bacon, cut into pieces, cooked and drained
1/2 package frozen tater tots


Make It:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat a large pan over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned. Add onion and cook until tender. Meanwhile in a separate small saucepan heated over medium heat add butter. Once melted add mushrooms and cook until tender. Add flour and stir, cook for a minute, add beef broth and whisk to combine. Cook until thickened, turn off heat. Drain extra grease off meat and onion. Pour meat mixture into a 9x9 casserole dish. Pour mushroom mixture over top of meat, stir to combine. Evenly put tater tots on top of meat mixture, bake for 15 minutes, until tots are browned. Sprinkle cheese over top of tots and bake until melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle bacon on top of cheese. Enjoy!

Cornbread Muffins

I got this recipe off an old box of cornmeal a long time ago.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons melted butter
Honey and butter(optional)

Make It:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line 12 muffin cups. Mix together all dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix all wet ingredients in another bowl until combined. Add wet to dry, stir until just combined, you don't want to over mix it. Pour evenly into all muffin cups. Bake for 19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes then remove to a metal rack. Serve with honey and butter. Enjoy!

Chili Beans

Ingredients:
1 26oz can Ranch style beans
116oz can Baked beans
115oz can Kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 15oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 pound ground beef


Make It:
Heat a large pot over medium high heat, add ground beef and break up with a spoon. Cook until browned, add onion and pepper to meat. cook until vegetables are softened stirring occasionally. Drain off fat. Stir in all other ingredients. Bring to a simmer, stir, reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove lid and cook for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add more seasoning if needed. Enjoy!

Meatballs with Mushroom Gravy

This recipe along with all my meatball recipes can be made with premade frozen meatballs, if you don't want to make your own. Also these meatballs can be made ahead and frozen, to use for a quick weeknight meal. You can also use more mushrooms if you prefer.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup chopped italian parsley
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 teaspoons black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 container mushrooms, sliced
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups low sodium beef broth
1/4 to 1/2 cup low fat milk

Make It:
Preheat oven to 400. In a large bowl mix together beef, parsley, 1 tablespoon salt, 2 teaspoons pepper, red pepper, parmesan, bread crumbs, garlic and egg. Stir until completely mixed together. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet. Meanwhile using a small scoop, put mixture into the palm of your hand and shape into a tight ball. Add to pan continue until pan is full. Brown meatballs on all sides. Move to a baking sheet. Continue with the rest of the mixture. Move baking sheet to oven. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until meatballs are cooked through. While meatballs are in the oven, heat a large pot over medium heat. Add butter to pan, once melted add mushrooms to pan. Once mushrooms are softened add flour to pan, stir to combine. Allow flour to cook for 1 minute add beef broth to pan, whisk to combine. Allow to cook and thicken, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Stir in milk, season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Remove meatballs from oven and add to gravy, stir lightly to combine. Serve over mashed potatoes or noodles. Enjoy!

Texas Chicken Hash

This is one of the recipe ideas on saw on Diners, Drive In's & Dives. A lady in Texas created this fantastic dish and prepared it on the show. Well if you have ever watched the show they don't give measurements and move quite fast. I had to stop and rewind 3 time just to get the amount of info that I did. I then took the basics from hers and did it my way. I can't not believe how good it turned out. Mike stated after dinner that I could put it on the menu every week! The seasoning on the chicken is delicious, I think i'm going to use it as the base for creating a homemade taco seasoning. We had some hash leftover so the next morning I made burritos out of it, that we ate for breakfast. They were super yummy too. This recipe is a little time consuming, so either prep ahead or make it on the weekend.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon passilla powder
1 tablespoon new mexico chile powder
1 1/2  tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon chile de arbol
2 teaspoons cumin

This is the seasoning for the chicken, mix together in a bowl and save any extra for next time.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bell pepper, 3/4 chopped into big chunks, 1/4 finely diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 cups cheddar cheese
7 tablespoons butter, divided
2 russet potatoes, chopped
8 corn tortillas
vegetable oil, for frying tortillas
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons flour

Make It:
Preheat oven to 350. Put chicken in a casserole dish and cover with seasoning, really put a lot on both sides, cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool a little, and chop up.
In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter, add potatoes to pan. Stir and brown potatoes for 5 minutes, add 1 more tablespoon butter. Stir and brown for about 15 minutes or until potatoes have a good crust on them and are tender. Add 1 tablespoon butter to potatoes, and add onions and peppers to pan, stir. Allow to cook for 5 minutes, until peppers and onions are tender. Add 1 tablespoon butter and add chicken, stir to combine, make sure it is well combined because you want all the seasoning on the chicken to get on everything else. Heat the vegetable oil in a small skillet over high heat. Fry each one of the tortillas, one side at a time, like a tostada, until crispy but still soft. Drain on a paper towel. Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons butter, allow to melt. Once melted add diced bell pepper and jalapeno. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 2 tablespoons flour and stir to combine, cook for a minute. Whisk in milk, allow to come to a simmer, stirring often. Let simmer and thicken for a couple minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheese, one cup at a time. Stir until cheese is melted and combined. To serve put 2 tortillas on plate spoon a good amount of hash over them and ladle on the cheese sauce. Enjoy!

Steak & Mushroom Spaghetti

This recipe is a cross between beef stroganoff and swedish meatballs, yet over spaghetti noodles. Just try it, you will like it!

Ingredients:
1 pound steak strips, I use top sirloin but you can use whatever you like
1/2 package white mushrooms. sliced
1 shallot sliced thin
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
1 cup heavy cream
2 to 3 cups beef broth, start with 2 and if its to thick add more
1/2 package spaghetti noodles, cooked
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper

Make It:
In a large pot melt butter over medium heat. Add shallot and mushrooms stir and cook until both are tender. Add steak to the pot, cook and stir for about a minute, just brown the steak. Sprinkle flour over mixture in pot, stir to combine. Cook and stir for about a minute. Slowly pour in beef broth, stirring constantly. Once all broth is combined, allow mixture to come to a simmer. Let it simmer, stirring often, until thickened. Stir in cream and dill. Taste and add salt and pepper. Allow to cook five minutes more. Serve over spaghetti noodles. Enjoy!

Chicken & Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 chicken breast, cut onto pieces, and browned

1/2 onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 turnip, diced

3 red or golden potatoes, diced

4 tablespoons flour

5 tablespoons butter

2 cups chicken broth

2 teaspoons thyme

1/2 cup milk

salt and pepper

6 biscuits from a can or homemade

1/2 cup chardonnay

Make It:

Heat a large pot over medium heat, ad butter to pan and allow to melt. Add carrots, onion, and turnip. Cook and stir until carrots are tender, about 10 minutes. Add chicken and thyme. Add flour to the pot, stirring to combine. Slowly stir in chicken broth and wine. Bring to a simmer, add potatoes. Simmer stirring occasionally until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile bake biscuits. Stir in milk. Taste, add salt and pepper if needed. Place biscuits on top of chicken mixture, pushing biscuit in so 1/4 of the biscuit is submerged. Enjoy!

4 Bean Chili

Ingredients:

2 cups dry black beans

2 cups dry kidney beans

2 cups dry cranberry beans

1 can ranch style beans

1 pound ground beef

1 pound pork stew meat

2 small or 1 large green bell pepper, diced

3 jalapenos, diced

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

1 onion, diced

8 tablespoons chili seasoning mix

1 small can salsa verde

salt and pepper and red chile flakes to taste

Make It:

Soak all dry beans in enough water to cover, overnight. Heat a large pot over medium heat, add beef to the pot, cook breaking up with a spoon until browned. Add onion, bell pepper, and jalapenos to meat, cook and stir till softened. Drain off extra fat if needed. Add beans, pork, tomatoes, salsa verde and seasoning, stir together( if mixture seems to thick add a little water, beer, or beef broth).Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Uncover taste and add salt, pepper and red chile flakes if needed. Allow to cook for another hour uncovered. Taste and add more seasoning if needed. Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie # 2

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, diced, and cooked

2 golden potatoes, boiled and diced

2 shallots, diced

1 turnips, diced

1 yam, peeled, diced, boiled

3 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons butter

2 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon fresh dill, diced

2 pie crusts

Make It:

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat, spray with pam and add shallots and turnips to the pan. Cook until softened about 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. Add butter to the pan, once it is melted add flour and whisk to combine. Add chicken broth, a little at a time, whisking to combine. Once all broth is combined, bring to a small boil and allow to thicken. Reduce heat and whisk in mustard and dill. Add all vegetables and chicken to pan, stir to combine. In a 9 inch pie plate, place one crust. Pour all filling onto crust. Cover with second crust, press all the edges together to seal. Put 2 slits in the top, and bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden and bubbly. Enjoy!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Ingredients:

1/2 pound egg noodles, cooked

2 carrots diced

1/2 yellow onion diced

1/2 cup green beans, cooked and diced

1/2 cup cooked corn

1 can tuna, drained

1 can cream of celery soup

1/2 can milk or more if needed to thin soup

crumbled potato chips for topping

Make It:

Preheat oven to 350. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Spray with pam and add onion and carrots, cook until softened. Stir in green beans, corn, and tuna. Stir in soup and milk. Stir until heated thru and combined. Put noodles in a 9 inch casserole dish, pour sauce over top and stir to combine. Sprinkle with crumbled potato chips and bake until heated thru and bubbly, about 30 minutes. This can be made ahead and covered and kept in refrigerator for a few days. If you make ahead leave potato chips off until you bake it. Baking time will be longer on a premade. Enjoy!

Jambalaya

This is my recipe for jambalaya, it is not traditional, but my family loves it and hopefully yours will too!

Ingredients:

1 small onion diced

2 stalks celery diced

1 bell pepper diced

2 garlic cloves diced

2 tblsp. butter

1 ham steak cut into small cubes

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

10 1/2 oz beef broth

1 cup brown rice

1 cup water

1 teas sugar

1 teas dried thyme

1 teas chili powder

1/4 teas pepper

4 cheddarwurst sausages sliced

Make It:

In a large pot, saute onion, celery, green pepper, and garlic in butter until tender. Add next nine ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender. Add sausages cover and cook another ten minutes or until sausages are heated through. Enjoy!

Grilled Cheese Burger

Ingredients:

2 hamburger patties

4 pieces sourdough or french bread

Shredded cheddar cheese as much as you like

Sliced red onion and tomato if you like

Make It:

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. While pan is heating salt and pepper your hamburger patties, put them in pan cook 4 minutes per side. Remove patties from pan and set aside. Wipe out pan, butter one side of each piece of bread, place butter side down in pan. Add cheese(as much as you like) then onion, then pattie, then more cheese and tomato slices. Top with other piece of bread, press down on sandwich to bind it, flip over and cook until all cheese is melted and bread is browned. Do the same again for the other burger. This is a recipe for 2 but can be easily doubled or tripled depending on how many you are feeding. Enjoy!

Chili Macaroni

In an effort to save time the day I made the mac and cheese I cooked a whole box of macaroni noodles. I used 1/2 that day and stored the second 1/2 for this recipe. Also this is a recipe that could easily be doubled to feed a crowd, and can be made ahead and reheated.

Ingredients:

1lb. ground beef

1 big green bell pepper or 2 sml diced

1 onion diced

1 jalapeno diced(optional)

1 can diced tomatoes or 2 cups homemade diced tomatoes

2 to 4 tablespoons chili seasoning, add 2 then taste and add more if you ned too

1c. red chile sauce

1c. cheddar cheese

Make it:

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add beef, cook until browned, drain. Add onion and peppers cook until softened. Add tomatoes let simmer(small amount of bubbles) for ten minutes. Add chili seasoning, stir to combine, add chile sauce. Simmer ten more minutes and taste, add more seasoning if it needs it. Turn broiler on high. Pour macaroni into a casserole dish and sprinkle cheese on top. Put under broiler until cheese is melted(watch closely it happens fast). Enjoy!

Bacon Mac & Cheese, Cauliflower with Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 box macaroni noodles cooked

1c. cheddar cheese

4oz. 2% velveeta

1 head cauliflower cut into individual florets and boiled until tender

4 pieces bacon cooked until crispy

2c. milk

2tblsp. flour

2tblsp. butter

Make It:

Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add butter, once butter is melted, add flour. Whisk to combine, slowly add in milk, whisking constantly. Once milk is combined and there are no lumps stop whisking and allow to come to a low simmer(little bit of bubbles). Stir occasionally to prevent bottom from burning. Once bubbly turn down heat a little and let sauce cook until thickened. Add velveeta and stir till melted and combined, do the same with the cheddar. In a separate pot add noodles, crumbled bacon, and 3/4 of the cheese sauce. Stir to combine. Pour the rest of the sauce over the cauliflower when you serve it. Enjoy!

Cheesy Tot Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces and cooked

2 carrots peeled and diced

1/2 onion diced

1/2 head broccoli cut into small pieces

2tblsp flour

2c milk

2tblsp butter

4oz velveeta

1c cheddar cheese

25 frozen tater tots

2teas thyme

Make It:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a small saute pan to medium heat, spray in some pam, add carrots and onions. Cook over medium low heat until softened. Add chicken stir to combine, keep over heat until chicken is warm. Meanwhile heat a saucepan over medium heat add butter, once butter is melted, add flour stir for 30 seconds to cook flour a little. Add milk whisking constantly, once combined cook over medium low heat until slightly thickened(about 5 minutes). Add velveeta stir until velveeta is melted. Pour chicken mixture into a 9x9 casserole dish, sprinkle thyme over it, add broccoli. Pour cheese sauce over chicken mixture, stir to combine. Sprinkle cheese on top. Then cover with tater tots. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tots are golden brown. Enjoy!

Basic Cooking Tip of The Week

How to make a pork loin chop

Preheat oven to 375. Preheat an iron skillet or basic saute pan to medium high heat. Season chop with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and granulated garlic to taste(feel free to experiment with the seasoning to get them the way you like it). Put in pan and brown, 4 minutes per side. Put on an oven safe dish, place in oven and cook for 20 minutes. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes. Enjoy!

Pot Beans

Ingredients:

2 cans chili beans

1 can baked beans

1 bell pepper diced

1/2 onion diced

1 tblsp garlic

1 jalapeno diced(optional)

1 tblsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teas. crushed red pepper

Make It:

Heat a large pot over medium low, spray with cooking spray, add bell pepper, onion, garlic, and jalapeno. Cook until softened, stirring occasionally. Add beans and seasonings, stir to combine. Bring to a low simmer(small amount of bubbles) cover, cook for thirty minutes stirring every ten minutes. Uncover and cook another fifteen minutes. Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie

I have a few different ways I do pot pies, they are a favorite in our house, you will see the ingredients change as the seasons do! Also I like to buy chicken when it's on sale and bake it then chop it up and freeze in 3 cup portions. This makes creating casseroles throughout the week easier and faster.

Ingredients:

3c. cooked chicken

1 white or yellow onion diced

1c frozen peas

2c precooked red potatoes diced

2 pie crusts(homemade or store bought)

2tblsp. butter

2tblsp. flour

10-16oz. chicken broth

1tblsp. dijon mustard

Make It:

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium saucepan saute onions in a little pam until softened. Add chicken and potatoes stir to combine. In a separate saucepan melt butter, add flour whisk to combine. Add chicken broth slowly whisking constantly till combined. Cook until bubbly and thickened. Add mustard and peas stir to combine. Place one pie crust on bottom of pie plate pour in chicken combination, pour sauce over chicken. Place second crust on top, crimp edges to seal. Cut a few small slits in the top to vent. Put foil around edges for first 20 minutes of baking to prevent over browning edges. Bake 30 to 45 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Enjoy!

Skillet Chicken with Boiled Potatoes and Shallot Gravy

Ingredients:

4 Chicken Breasts pounded thin

8-10 Red Potatoes

2 tblsp. Flour

2 tblsp. Butter

1 can Chicken Broth

1 Shallot diced

1/4c. White wine

Make It:

Cook chicken in skillet on medium heat with a little pam in it. Cook 4 to 5 minutes per side depending on thickness. Meanwhile boil water for potatoes. Add a little salt then potatoes, cook until potatoes are soft enough to stick a fork in, drain. Once chicken is done set on a separate platter and melt butter in a saucepan. Once melted add flour cook for about a minute stirring constantly then add chicken broth a little bit at time whisking as you add. Once all broth is added and its combined let cook until thickened and bubbly. Reheat the pan that you cooked the chicken in with a little butter then add shallots, once shallot is softened add white wine and reduce until almost gone. Add a little gravy to shallot pan and put chicken back in. Coat and reheat, then serve with potatoes put gravy on both. Enjoy!!!