New Recipes

Homestyle Chicken

Yes, you guessed it, it's another chicken recipe! My mom had clipped this recipe from somewhere and I saw it sitting at her house one day and decided to copy it. It was super easy to make and could pass as a healthy version of fried chicken. Next time I make it I will use the chicken breast tenderloins so they are more like chicken strips. The breading is really thin, so there didn't seem to be enough breading for a thick chicken breast.

1/3 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt

1/2 tsp Lawry's Garlic Pepper (I couldn't find Lawry's, but found a McCorrmick one)

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast (I would use the tenderloins instead)

1/4 cup milk

1 tbsp oil

Spray foil lined 15x10x1 baking pan with cooking spray (coat it good!). Mix flour & seasonings in shallow dish. Moisten chicken with milk & coat evenly with flour mixture. Place chicken in pan and drizzle with oil. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 min turning halfway through.

Pepperoni and Cheese Bread

I was hungry last Sunday and it was too late to eat a big lunch, but dinner was still several hours away. I remembered seeing this recipe on another blog and just happened to have all the ingredients on hand. For the bread I used the Pillsbury Italian Country bread (in a can). It was a little hard to roll out, so next time I might try just slicing the bread down the middle and stuffing it with the pepperoni and cheese.

1 roll refrigerated french bread dough OR 1 loaf frozen bread dough (thawed)
Pepperoni
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Egg wash (1 egg white, 2-3 tbs water)

Preheat oven to 350. Roll out bread dough and sprinkle with mozzerella and parmesean cheeses, place pepperoni (as much as desired) on top of the cheese. Carefully roll the bread dough into a cylinder shape. Pinch ends and top to seal. Brush top and sides of loaf with egg wash. If desired, top loaf with cheese, pepperoni, and/or Italian seasoning. Make a few diagonal slices in top of loaf for air to escape while cooking. Bake at 350 for ~20 min. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

Take Two

I decided to try a couple of my previous recipes again to try to improve them.


Chicken Enchiladas

When I made the enchiladas a few weeks ago Scott and I both thought there was something missing. This time we made the Chicken Helper Cheesy Chicken Enchilada according to package directions with ground chicken. Then we rolled it up inside tortilla shells and placed in a 9x13 glass pan. Pour a can of enchilada sauce over the enchiladas and then top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted. The rice in the Chicken Helper gave the enchiladas more substance and we both thought they were much better.



Soft Pretzels

I am determined to perfect the homemade soft pretzels. This time I still used the Trader Joe's pizza dough, but I brushed them with egg white before I put them in the oven and then again halfway through. I brushed them with a little butter right before they were done to give them more flavor. The egg white gave the outside the correct texture, but the dough is still not quite right. Next time I might try breadsticks, or something with a little lighter dough.

Monday Night is Calzone Night!

Scott tends to get on kicks with food where he likes to eat the same thing over and over again for weeks. It got so bad with chicken tacos that his sister (and my former roommate) Laura refuses to ever eat them again. So, one day I bought some Trader Joe's pizza dough and decided to try to make some calzones. They were so delicious that we craved them all the time. Eventually Scott named Monday night as calzone night and we eat them while we watch Big Bang Theory (the best show ever!) and the other CBS Monday night shows (the only shows we can agree on!).


Calzones

There really is no recipe for these, you just throw everything together. I highly recommend the pizza ingredients from Trader Joe's. Their pizza dough, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and pizza sauce are all excellent and very reasonably priced. The dough is premade and in a bag and can be found in the refrigerated section by the cheese. We use the pizza sauce in a jar, not the refrigerated stuff.



Here's what you need:

pizza dough
pizza sauce
mozzarella cheese
your favorite pizza toppings

If you are using the Trader Joe's dough, divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll out each piece on a flour covered surface, or you can carefully stretch it with your hands. Layer your pizza toppings, a little cheese and a spoonful of sauce on one half of each piece of dough. Fold the dough in half and pinch the sides to seal. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake according to the pizza dough directions. Heat up some extra sauce to dip your calzone in as you eat it.

Scott likes his with hamburger, onion & pepperoni. I like mine with pepperoni, but prefer just cheese. We usually cook the pepperoni in a skillet first so that they aren't so greasy. I also cook a pound or so of hamburger at a time with some onion and garlic and keep it in the freezer, so it is faster to put the calzones together. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!



Soft Pretzels

This past Monday, Scott insisted we buy extra pizza dough and try to make soft pretzels, even though we had no idea how to make them. I divided the dough in pieces and rolled and shaped the dough with my hands, but it is so stretchy it was hard to maintain any kind of shape. We brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled them with a little coarse salt. We then baked them according to the dough directions.



Neither one of us cared for them that much. It pretty much just tasted like a buttery, salty breadstick. Later I found a recipe that said to brush the dough with a beaten egg, rather than butter, so maybe we will try that next time.

Favorite Party Recipes

As the Super Bowl approaches I thought I would post some of my favorite party recipes. I make these three recipes almost every time I have people over. I made all three for New Year's Eve, but that was before I got the idea to start this blog. Next time I make them I will take a picture and update this post.


Buffalo Chicken Dip

I got this recipe off of Dierbergs.com. It was one of the winners of a contest they ran before the Super Bowl last year. I made it for the Super Bowl party we went to because it sounded easy to make. When I told Scott what I was going to make he could not grasp the concept and kept asking me what he was going to dip his chicken wings in. The guys at the party devoured the dip and I barely got a taste. Scott even makes it for himself now and eats it as a meal.


1 - 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup ranch dip
6 to 8 tbsp hot sauce (we use Frank's Red Hot - 6 tbsp is plenty for me because I am not big on spicy foods)
2 cups Oscar Meyer cooked chicken, finely shredded (we buy chicken breasts and cook it ourselves)
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
tortilla chips or crackers

Place cream cheese and ranch dip in medium bowl and stir to combine. (Scott swears it tastes better if you use a mixer, I can't tell a difference.) Add hot sauce. Fold in chicken. Spread over the bottom of pie plate & top with cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers.

We usually double the recipe so there are leftovers. :)


Mexican Dip

I got this recipe from a coworker and it is one of those recipes where it was good I tried it before I knew what was in it. I normally don't like cottage cheese, but you can't even tell that it is in here. Every time I make this recipe for someone new they ask for the recipe.

8 oz cream cheese
16 oz small curd cottage cheese
1 packet taco seasoning
8 oz jar chunky salsa
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
about 1/4 cup sour cream
about 1 cup shredded lettuce
3 diced roma tomatoes
3 diced green onions
1 small can sliced black olives-drained
tortilla chips

Cream cream cheese, cottage cheese and taco seasoning with a mixer. Spread in 9x13 dish and chill overnight. Spread salsa over cheese layer and top with shredded cheddar and drizzle with sour cream. Top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, green onions and black olives. You can also add jalapeño peppers on top if you like, or you can omit a topping you don't like, very versatile.

*I usually divide this amongst two 8x8 dishes that way I can keep one cold in the fridge while the other sits out during a party. I never put the black olives on it anymore because we experimented one time and put black olives only on half and no one touched that half, so I came to the conclusion that none of my friends like black olives. ;)


Party Mix




This recipe also came from one of my coworkers and I have to warn you that it is very addicting. Once you start eating it it's hard to stop! I don't follow the recipe exactly, but it is very versatile, so you can add or omit whatever you like. Don't get weirded out by the brown paper bag! Here is how I make it:

2 - 1oz envelopes ranch salad dressing mix (the powder stuff - I use Hidden Valley that comes in a two pack)
4 tbsp dried dillweed
1 box Krispix cereal
1 bag oyster crackers
1 bag pretzel sticks
1 container peanuts
1 box Cheez-its
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
brown paper grocery bag

In a very large bowl (I just use the paper bag), combine all snack items. Toss to mix. Sprinkle with dressing mix and dillweed. Toss to coat. Drizzle oil over mixture and toss to coat. Place mixture in brown paper bag and fold top of bag to secure. Let stand 2 hours moving bag to different sides every 15 minutes. (You may want to put something underneath the bag.) Store in airtight container.

You can use whatever types of snacks you like, Cheerios are good too!