Need Recipes

So I haven't found any outstanding recipes recently.

Lately, I have been trying out crock pot recipes, but a certain someone (my husband) hasn't liked any of them. I'm giving the last one a shot tonight and praying we like it, since it is so much easier to prepare dinner during the morning and letting it cook throughout the day, then trying to do a million things at once at 5 p.m.

So if anyone wants to post their favorite recipe, please do! I always love cooking up new dishes.

Peach Upside Down Cake

Just made this for my family this evening and it turned out amazing and it was super easy. I found the original recipe on Joyful Homemaking, but made a few changes.

Ingredients:

1 Box of yellow or white cake mix

21 oz can of peach pie filling

3 peaches, cut into bite-sized pieces and a couple of tablespoons of apple juice and another couple of tablespoons of water (original recipe called for a 19 oz can sliced peaches using the juice from can)

2/3 cup butter

*Original recipe also called for 1/2-1 cup chopped pecans but we omitted this for our little one

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a greased 9x13 pan, place cut-up peaches and pour juice/water over them.

Spread pie filling over the top of the peaches.

Spread out the dry cake mix over the peaches/peach pie filling.

IF using pecans, sprinkle them over the top of cake mix.

Spread butter over top.

Bake for 50 minutes.

Enjoy!

Chicken Scaloppine

Made this dish last night for dinner and it was a huge hit. My husband raved about it and actually was sad that the left-overs went towards our daughter's lunch. Haha! I cooked this along with some rice and cooked carrots, it was a super easy dinner (the picture doesn't do the meal justice).

Ingredients:

About 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 Tbsp canola oil

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Between pieces of plastic wrap, place chicken breast; pound with flat side of meat mallet until about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with remaining chicken. Cut chicken in half, if desired.

In shallow dish, mix flour, cumin and salt. Coat chicken with flour mixture. Reserve 1 tsp flour mixture.

In 12 inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 3-5 minutes on both sides until golden brown and no longer pick in the center. Remove chicken from skillet and cover to keep warm.

In small bowl, stir reserved 1 tsp flour mixture into broth. Gradually stir broth mixture into skillet. Heat to boiling; stir in lime juice and cilantro (it will smell amazing!). Serve sauce over chicken. Also is great over rice as well.

White Chocolate Strawberry Pie

I had seen this on another blog site and decided to make it for a party I went to this evening. Not only was it easy, but was a huge hit too.

Ingredients:

1 pie crust

4 oz bar white chocolate (I used Bakers white chocolate and used 6 blocks for the filling and 2 to drizzle)

2 Tbsp milk (I actually forgot to put this in, but it turned out perfectly fine without it)

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp grated orange peel

1 cup whipped cream (I just used Cool Whip)

About 2 cups sliced strawberries

Directions:

Prepare and bake pie crust according to package directions, or own recipe. Cool.

Microwave 6 blocks of white chocolate with or without the milk until completely melted, about 1 minute. Cool to room temperature.

Beat cream cheese, orange peel, and powdered sugar in small bowl until well mixed. Stir in chocolate mixture. Stir in whipped cream.

Spread mixture onto bottom of pie crust. Arrange strawberries on top of filling. Melt remaining white chocolate and drizzle over strawberries.

Refrigerate for at least an hour or until ready to serve.

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Decided to make more muffins since the last batch was gone in less than 48 hours! Super easy and very tasty.

Ingredients:

1-2/3 cups quick-cooking oats

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1-1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/4 cup canola oil

2 tsp grated lemon rind

2 large eggs

2 cups frozen blueberries

2 Tbsp all purpose flour

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Cooking Spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place oats in a food processor; pulse 5-6 times until oats resemble coarse meal. Place in a large bowl. Combine oats, flours, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir well with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture.

Combine buttermilk, canola oil, grated lemon rind and eggs in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Toss berries with 2 Tbsp flour and gently fold into batter.

Spoon batter into muffin cups coated with cooking spray; sprinkle 2 Tbsp granulated sugar evenly over batter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove from pans immediately; and cool.

Makes about 16 muffins, or 32 mini muffins.

Mini Whole Wheat Apricot Muffins

I just finished baking these and there are very yummy! I had recently bought a cookbook for toddlers and found this recipe and decided to bake them for my one year old for snack time today. It's Cooking Light First Foods and am loving this book so far! Another great recipe for freezing and defrosting as needed.

*To ensure that the apricots are soft enough for baby, soak them in hot water for 10 minutes; drain them well before chopping them.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour

1/3 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 Cup Sugar

3/4 tsp Grated Orange Rind

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/8 tsp Salt

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Large Egg White

1/2 cup Finely Chopped Dried Apricots (I used canned apricots)

Cooking Spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flours, sugar, orange rind, baking soda and salt in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, butter, vanilla extract and egg white in a bowl; stir with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; stir until just moist. Fold in apricots. Spoon batter into 24 mini muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool.

Lasagna

This is my mom's recipe and is always a good one. Makes a ton too. I usually make two batches with the amount of ingredients that are used. And this recipe is great if you want to add vegetables.

Ingredients:

1 Box Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles

1 Large Jar Spaghetti Sauce (about 4 lbs)

1/2 lb Sweet Italian Sausage

1 lb Ground Beef

1, 32 oz Tub Ricotta Cheese

3-4 Bags Shredded Italian Cheese

1 Cup Burgundy Wine

Cooking Spray

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In medium pot, brown ground beef and sausage together. Drain. Add spaghetti sauce and wine. Heat on low. Spray bottom of baking dishes with cooking spray and place a layer of lasagna noodles down. Spread ricotta cheese over noodles. Pour some spaghetti sauce/meat mixture over ricotta and sprinkle Italian cheese over sauce. Repeat until dishes are full, starting with lasagna noodles and ending with Italian cheese. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Can freeze left overs.

First Attempt Making Baby Food

It has been so long since my last post. I have been making new dishes, all of them busts. That along with being sick for what seems like a couple of months, is the reason for the lack of posts.

I recently became intrigued with making baby food. My daughter is 10 months old and is a very adventurous eater but has become tired of the store bought foods. I recently received an American Baby magazine and found a ton of recipes for baby, so I figured why not.

I made my first batch of Strawberry-Banana-Pineapple Soup and am very surprised at how easy it was (and how wonderful it smells). My daughter hasn't had it yet, but will at some point today so I'll post pictures of how that goes.

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 fresh or frozen strawberries (I used frozen, already sliced strawberries)

3 bananas

1/4 pineapple (I used an 8 oz can of pineapple chunks)

1 cup water

Directions:

Remove strawberry stems and then wash the berries. Slice each banana into 4-6 pieces. Cut the pineapple into berry-size chunks.

Put everything into a 4 quart pot and cook, covered, on high for about 6 minutes, stirring once. Carefully pour the mixture from the pot into a strainer with a bowl underneath to save the juice.

Pour the cooked fruit into a blender. Puree until smooth using 1/4 to 1/2 cup juice to adjust consistency.

Pour into two ice cube trays, and cool. Once frozen, place them into freezer safe bags and defrost cubes as needed.

Here's the picture of the frozen cubes.

I realize it has been a long while since my last recipe post. I have been either sick or cooking up some of the new and old favorites that I have already posted. I'm hoping later on this week and next week I'll have a new recipe to share, if they turn out well. ;-)

Chicken Tacos

Made this a few nights ago and we really liked it and it was pretty easy to make.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken strips

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

4 taco shells

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into thin strips (omitted this since we are not fans of peppers or onions)

1 cup barbecue baked beans (from 16 oz can)

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

4 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled

Directions:

Heat oven to 4oo degrees. In small bowl, toss chicken strips with cumin and paprika to coat. In 8 inch square baking dish, stand taco shells side by side.

Fill each shell evenly with seasoned chicken. Divide pepper strips evenly over chicken. Top each with 1/4 cup baked beans and 1/4 cup cheese. Sprinkle with bacon.

Bake 8 minutes or until thoroughly heated and cheese is melted.

Serve with Mexican rice and/or more baked beans. Enjoy.

Pizza Soup

This has been a recipe I cook up occasionally, especially when it is chilly out. It's yummy, hot and super easy.

Ingredients:

2 cans (10-3/4 oz each) condensed tomato soup

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

1 cup uncooked tiny pasta shells

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Combine soup, 2 soup cans of water, garlic powder and oregano in small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add pasta. Cook 8 minutes or until pasta is tender. Stir in cheese. Cook until cheese melts. Ladle soup into bowls. Serve.



Serves about 4 people.

Total time: 15-20 minutes

Maria's Chicken Enchiladas

I got this recipe from a friend a month or two ago and am finally got around to making it tonight. And let me tell you, this is a WOW dish! Absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:

2, 4 oz cans diced green chili peppers, drained

1, 8 oz cream cheese softened

1 Tbsp milk

1 cup milk

3 chicken breasts

1/4 tsp ground cumin (can also add cayenne pepper-I used about 1/8 tsp or less)

Burrito sized tortillas

1, 10-3/4 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1, 8 oz sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp butter

Directions:

Heat oven to 350.

Boil water with salt in a large pot. Add chicken. Cook chicken about 10-15 minutes on medium-high heat until thoroughly cooked. Pull chicken out and set on plate, season with salt and pepper. Chop. Set aside.

In skillet, melt butter. Stir in 1 can green chili peppers.

In medium mixing bowl, combine: cream cheese, 1 Tbsp milk and cumin. Add green chili peppers from skillet. Add chicken. Add cheddar cheese. Stir until well combined. Spoon mixture onto each tortilla and roll up. Place filled tortillas in greased baking dish.

In medium bowl, mix soup, sour cream, 1 cup milk and 1 can green chili peppers. Pour evenly over tortillas. Cover with foil. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil. Sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese and bake for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Chili

I know I haven't posted any new recipes recently, but I have not forgotten about this site, just haven't found any really good recipes. I have cooked a few other meals, but they were all busts.

Tonight I cooked chili, and although it wasn't one of my favorites, it was pretty good. Just felt like it was missing something. Here is the recipe, I will most likely make this again but first I have to figure out what could give this dish the "wow" factor.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb lean ground beef (I used 1 lb tonight, but will cut it down next time)

2 cups red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can condensed tomato soup

1 soup can water

2-3 tsp chili powder

Shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cook beef over medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown, drain. Stir in remaining ingredients, except cheese. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Ladle chili into bowls. Sprinkle with cheese. Serve.

Clam Chowder

This is another recipe I found in one of my magazines a couple of years ago and has quickly turned into my husband's favorite recipe. I could cook this every week and my husband would still be excited about this dish.

Ingredients:

4 strips bacon (I use twice this amount, because we are huge bacon eaters around here, haha), cut up into small pieces

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2-1/2 Tbsp flour

1, 8 oz bottle clam juice

3 cups milk

1 large potato, peeled and cut

Hot sauce

2 cans chopped clams, drained

2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley (however, I sometimes use the dried parsley instead of fresh)

Salt

Directions:

Combine bacon and oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until fat is drawn out of bacon, about 4 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring for about 2 minutes. Pour in clam juice and bring to a boil, stirring well. Add milk, potato, clams and a dash of hot sauce. Season with salt. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are fork-tender, 10-12 minutes. Ladle chowder into bowls. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve.

*What I have found to make things easier is to have everything all ready, all chopped clams drained, potato peeled and chopped, bacon chopped, milk already measured. When I first made this, I was stressed out trying to do everything when I had already started making the dish, which made things harder on myself (like trying to chop the potato when it needed to already be chopped and in the pot). I know it's probably one of those, it's common knowledge to do that, but hey, I'm still learning and thought to pass that along.

Taco Melts

Ok, so I found this recipe on a free calendar I had requested through Pillsbury a few weeks ago. Didn't think it would be this good of a recipe, but my husband loved it and told me so after the first bite.

Ingredients:

1 package taco seasoning mix

2/3 cup water

1-1/2 cups salsa

1 lb lean ground beef, COOKED, drained (I only use caps on cooked because I made the mistake of overlooking this)

1 can Pillsbury Grands refrigerated biscuits (I used buttermilk)

*3/4 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

*1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

*(OR 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend)

1 cup sour cream, if desired

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In medium saucepan, cook taco seasoning mix, water, 1/2 cup of the salsa and COOKED ground beef until thickened.

Press each biscuit flat, until thinned out. Fill each with taco mixture and 1 tablespoon cheese. Fold dough over filling and press to seal. (I used a fork to seal the edges). Place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake 9-14 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with remaining salsa, cheese and sour cream.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I had this recipe sitting in my old book for forever, but decided to finally make it tonight and it turned out pretty well. Although the biggest downside is that it requires 3 pots, but it was good and got the approval of my hubby so it is definitely something I will make again.

Ingredients:

2 cups of Penne pasta
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (I used the Kraft grated Parmesan located by the spaghetti sauces)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-1/2 Tbsp Cajun spice blend
1/4 Cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook Penne according to directions.

In another pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour, stir for 1 minute. Add half & half, stir until thickened, about 4-6 minutes. Remove from heat, add Parmesan, salt and pepper. Cover.

Place chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Pound with the flat side of a meat tenderizer to 1/2 inch thickness. Rub Cajun and Cayenne spices over chicken. Warm oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning once, until no longer pink. 6-8 minutes. Slice chicken.

In the large pot, toss pasta with sauce. Pour pasta and sauce into separate bowls/plates. Top with chicken. Enjoy!

Chicken Spaghetti

This is an old-time favorite of mine and has quickly become a hit at our home. It's a great, one pot recipe and very flavorful.

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb spaghetti pasta
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 lb Velveeta
1 can Rotel

Directions:
Boil chicken in large pot of water with a pinch of salt. Cook chicken for about 15-20 minutes, or until completely cooked. Remove chicken. Boil noodles in the water left over from chicken, drain. Pull chicken apart into tiny chunks. Cut cheese into small chunks and melt in pan. Combine in large pot: chicken, noodles, cheese, soup and Rotel. Mix well.

*If a little dry, add some water. If you are going to refrigerate leftovers, you also probably want to add a bit of water to the pasta before placing it in the refrigerator.

BLT Sandwiches

Just made these sandwiches this morning and had it for lunch, it is pretty good. Great and easy for lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:
1 can Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations refrigerated seamless dough sheet OR already sliced sourdough bread

1/2 cup cheddar-monterey jack cheese blend, shredded

6-8 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/2 shredded lettuce

Tomatoes

Directions:

If making the dough, heat oven to 375 degrees. Unroll the dough on work surface. Cut into desired amount of squares (if it's just two people, cut into 8 squares. However it can be cut into 24 if needed). Bake 8-10 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix cheese, bacon and mayonnaise. Place cheese-bacon mixture on top of half of the rolls or slices of bread. Top with lettuce and sliced tomatoes, then top with remaining roll/slice of bread.

That's it! I made the bread with the dough this morning, but plan on just using sourdough bread in the future as it's just not worth the expense of buying 7 cans of dough a week. Like I said, I made it in the morning, bagged it up and microwaved it for about 20-30 seconds and presto! a nice warm sandwich. :-)