Tuesday, March 31, 2009

One dish chicken and stuffing

1 ¼ cups boiling water
4 T butter or margarine, melted
4 cups herb seasoned stuffing
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/3 cup milk
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley OR tsp. dried parsley flakes

PREPARE stuffing according to pkg. directions.

SPOON stuffing across center of 3-qt. shallow baking dish. Place chicken on each side of stuffing.

MIX soup, milk and parsley. Pour over chicken.

COVER . Bake at 400°F. for 30 min. or until done.

I love this recipe because it is quick and easy. For the stuffing mix, I just buy a box of stove top stuffing and prepare as stated on box. I have made this several times. I think the next time I make it, I might put some vegetables in the pan.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Chicken & Biscuits

1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup sour cream, divided
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 pkg. (16oz) mixed vegetables, thawed
1 cup shredded cheese
1 cup all-purpose baking mix (like Bisquick)
3 tbsp milk

Mix soup and 1/2 cup sour cream, stir in chicken, vegetables and cheese, place in 8x8 baking dish. Mix baking mix, remaining sour cream and milk until mixture forms stiff dough. Spoon into 6 mounds over chicken mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and chicken mixture is hot and bubbly.

I have made this several times and I LOVE it. It's great. I make no variations to the recipe. I got it out of the Food and Family magazine.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

16 oz penne pasta, cooked and drained
1/2 c butter
1/3 c flour
2 c milk
3 c shredded cheddar cheese (reserve one cup for topping)
1 small container small-curd cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/4 c dry bread crumbs

Melt butter over low heat, whisk in flour until smooth. Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in milk, cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir in 2 cups cheese and next 3 ingredients. Pour over pasta. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 13x9 baking dish. Top iwth remaining cheese. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

This is the best baked mac and cheese that I have ever made. It was really good. My husband loved it, he said the only thing he would change is the type of noodles because I have a lot of recipes that I use penne pasta in. I guess he wants a bit of variety. The next time I make this, I will not use quite so many noodles, I thought it was a tad dry. Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Bacon Cheese Spread

16 oz sour cream
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch dip
2.5 oz fully cooked bacon pieces
2 cups finely shredded Colby Jack cheese
crackers

Mix sour cream an ranch dip together. Add bacon pieces and cheese. Stir until mixed throughly. Chill at least one hour before serving with crackers.

This is my all-time favorite dip for crackers. It it so good and tasty. I have also cooked my own bacon (about 1/2 pound) until crispy and then crumble, instead of buying pre-cooked bacon.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Ranch Party Mix

1 large box of Crispix cereal
2 bags pretzel Combos
1 bag oyster crackers
1 bag small pretzels
1 box Cheese-It crackers
2 bags Bugles chips
2 boxes Muchems: 1 ranch, 1 original
1 7oz can potato sticks
1 box cheese fish crackers
2 cans mixed nuts
1 pkg Hidden Valley ranch dry mix
1 bottle Orvill Redenbacher popping oil

In large container or trash bag (make sure it is unscented), mix together cereal, crackers, and nuts. Mix together ranch mix and oil, pour over dry mixture. Shake well. Let stand overnight, stirring or shaking every so often.

This is my favorite party mix to make. You can change or add anything to the recipe. We made it this weekend, and it was great.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Chocolate-Cream Cheese-Peanut Butter Bars

Cookie base and topping
1 pouch peanut butter cookie mix
3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp water
1 egg

Filling
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup crunchy or creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream

Mix cookie base and topping ingredients until soft dough forms. Shape 6 (1-inch) balls of dough. On ungreased cookie sheet, place balls 2 inches apart and flatten in crisscross pattern with fork. Press remaining dough in 9x13 greased pan. Bake cookies and base 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown at 350 degrees. Cool 10 minutes. Reserve cookies for topping. In small microwave bowl, melt chocolate chips and butter uncovered 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, until stirred smooth. Spread evenly over bars. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. In bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar and whipping cream until light anf fluffy. Spread over chocolate layer. Crush reserved cookies, sprinkle over cream cheese layer. Press in lightly. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes. Store covered in refrigerator.

These were absolutely awesome!!! I got the recipe from the Betty Crocker website. For some reason when I was shopping for the ingredients, I was thinking that whipping cream and cool whip were the same thing, but we know that they are not. So, instead of whipping cream, we used 2 to 3 tablespoons of milk, and it turned out fantastic. The bars were not as rich as I thought they would be, and were very moist. When I make them again, I will use crunchy peanut butter.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Honey Glazed Carrots

1 lb baby carrots
1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp ground ginger

Bring carrots to boil, then lower the heat to medium-high and cook until tender. Drain and set aside. Melt butter in pan. Add honey and cook over low heat until combined. Add lemon juice and ginger; mix well. Add carrots to the pan and sitr to coat with honey mixture. Cook over medium high heat, until carrots are heated through. Serve hot.

I got this recipe off of one of the cards you get in the mail that's trying to get you to subscribe to their cookbook. I don't think I have ever really tried honey glazed carrots, so didn't know what to expect. The carrots tasted good, but were not as sweet as I thought it would be. I would make them again.