Chicken Bacon Mac n Cheese

Yesterday I was sitting at home with my husband trying to figure out how to use the chicken boobs (yes, I said chicken boobs) we had thawed out in the fridge, and use them in such a way that we could have 2 different meals out of them in a row. 4 big chicken boob halves and 2 dinners to be prepared... I wanted something different that wasn't just plain chicken.

So I went down a list of yummy things I like to make with chicken breast. (Eventually I'll have recipes for these)

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole?
Honey Pecan Chicken?
Pizza-topped Chicken?
Spicy Chicken and Spinach Rotini? (A pasta-casserole variation of this yummy dish)
Baked Chicken Spaghetti? (A recipe from my great granny that I'll have to eventually share)

Then I started tossing out ideas on what I could make with the chicken, that I hadn't made before, and this was the result.

The winning comment went like this:

"I want to make beer bread... OOH HOW ABOUT A CHICKEN BACON MAC N CHEESE?"

(Product Plug! The Tastefully Simple Beer Bread is so easy and so delicious, I always buy the 3 pack for our pantry... it makes a loaf of bread that's about a pound and a half, and all it takes is mixing a bottle of beer with a packet of mix and optionally pouring some melted butter over the top, then baking for 50 minutes)

My husband's face was like... "Wha...?" (He's used to my seemingly random jumps between thoughts, and gives me that look so I'll explain the steps from A to B - though not how I managed to make that jump in less than a second)

1) I love the Tastefully Simple Beer Bread (so does he) and wanted it with whatever I made
2) The beer bread, crumbled up, makes an excellent topping for baked mac n cheese
3) I looooove home made baked mac n cheese
4) We could put chicken in the mac n cheese
5) Bacon makes every thing better.

Thus my outburst. Then I started plotting how I was going to tackle this dish, and what we had in the kitchen to make it. (We had to get pepper jack from the store, but still, mostly things at home)

I came up with this list:

Milk, flour and bacon grease not pictured.

8oz elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
2 cup shredded colby jack cheese (or mild cheddar) (divided)
1 cup shredded pepper jack (divided)
1 cup shredded mozzarella (divided)
1/2 cup grated parmesan
4 cups milk
3 tbsp flour
ground mustard
garlic powder
4 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp bacon grease
2 - 8oz chicken breasts cooked and cubed or shredded (or both, since that's what happens to me every time) (about 2 1/2 cups)
10 - 12 slices cooked and crumbled bacon (reserve some grease)
1 1/2 cup cubed beer bread (or other cubed bread, or 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs) + 2 tbsp melted butter

How I put it together:

Boil the chicken breast, allow to cool, then cut it into small chunks.

Prepare and bake the beer bread, following package directions.

I wish you could smell this.

Cook and crumble the bacon, reserving a couple tablespoons of the grease

Boil and drain the macaroni, and put in a large bowl

Add crumbled bacon and chicken to pasta, and set aside

==Heat oven to 350*F==

In a large sauce pan, melt the butter, and add reserved bacon grease

Add flour and spices, and cook until brown

Add about a half a cup of milk and stir until smooth, then add the rest of the milk and the cheeses (minus 1/3 cup of each shredded cheese (if desired) for the topping - I skipped this and put it all in the sauce)

Cook and stir until smooth, until bubbling slightly... stir constantly so it doesn't stick or clump, and let to bubble for a minute or so, allowing the sauce to thicken

Pour cheese sauce over macaroni and meat mixture, 1 cup at a time (I used 4 cups sauce and reserved 1 cup) then pour into a 9x13 casserole dish.

Top with remaining cheeses (if you saved some), bread crumbs/cubes

Drizzle with 2 tbsp melted butter, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until topping is golden, and cheese is bubbly.

The sauce will seem thin at first, but as it heats to bubbling, it will thicken, and then thicken a bit more in the oven.

There was just a little too much sauce for the pasta/meat mixture. I reserved about 1 cup of sauce and used it like fondue for the rest of the beer bread, it was yummy! If you don't want extra sauce, just reduce the amount of milk and cheese you add, or make more pasta for a bigger casserole.

ENJOY!
~Mandy

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

It's been a while since I've posted! I've been a little busy, but I've got a treat to share.

This meatloaf is loaded with cheese, wrapped in bacon, and glazed with barbecue sauce. It's DELICIOUS. I modified it (a bit) from this recipe I found on allrecipes.

Mmm melty cheese, bacon, caramelized barbecue sauce...

I didn't get pictures of the whole process, because I was dealing with raw meat, and didn't want to get all that gunk on my camera.

Anyway! To make this you'll need:

2 pounds ground meat (I used beef and pork)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce (or ketchup) + enough for glazing
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, thyme, chili powder, ground red pepper (to taste)
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 small green bell pepper, diced
6-8 slices bacon
1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded (divided)

Preheat oven to 375*F

Step 1: In a large bowl, mix the meats and the wet ingredients together (Meat, eggs, barbecue sauce). Wash your hands really well, then dig in. It's messy, but it's the easiest way.

Step 2: Mix in the dry ingredients (bread crumbs, seasonings, chopped veggies, and 3/4 cup cheese) until everything is pretty well incorporated.

Step 3: Line a 9x13 baking pan with foil, then lay out bacon slices across the width, overlapping slightly.

Step 4: Transfer meat mixture to the baking pan, and form into a loaf shape over the bacon strips, then wrap the bacon strips around the meat-loaf and brush a thin layer of barbecue sauce over the whole loaf.

Step 5:  Bake for 1 hour, to 1 hour and 15 minutes... or until the middle reaches 165*F.

Step 6: Top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese, and place back in the oven for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.


Let the meatloaf sit for a few minutes before cutting and enjoy!

What can I say, I like melted cheese.

This meatloaf is DELICIOUS. I will be making it again! I know the picture up there looks a bit like it's burned all over, but that's just caramelized barbecue sauce, and the crispy ends of the bacon.

Number of slices depends on the shape of your loaf, and the width of your slices. The leftovers will make excellent sandwiches!

Enjoy!
~Mandy

Lasagna and More!

I'm a bit slow with the pictures. Sorry about that.

Anyway, here's the lasagna (recipe from Taste of Home, minus cottage cheese), the pull-apart garlic knots (from Comfortable Food) and the Blueberry Dessert (modified from CentsLessDeals):

The table setting:

It was Valentine's day, so I went a little fancy. Cloth napkins, wine goblets for our water. Croutons and sunflower seeds for the salads. And a foil pan for the Lasagnas. Ha! I made 4 of them. We ate that one, I gave one to a friend of mine who was trying to balance being a full time student, her job, being a single parent, and battling a sinus infection (poor lady!) and stuck 2 in the freezer. So we have freezer meals for later. Yum.

That plate next to the lasagna is the Balsamic and Basil dipping oil from Tastefully Simple and was excellent to dip the bread in. This bread... Oh man, this bread:

  

 

Just looking at the picture makes me wish there was still some left over. There's just something about (successfully!) making bread from scratch that gives me an awesome sense of accomplishment.

Don't you just want to reach in and grab a piece? It was crispy cheese, and chewy cheese, and garlicy buttery yeasty goodness. And those little brown crumbles on the top? Parmesan. I was in heaven with this bread. So very proud of how it turned out.

And then there was this bit of yummy deliciousness:

I was smelling the sauce all day long.  I was so ready to eat this when it came out of the oven I had to smack my own hands when I went to pick at the cheese on top! I don't use any cottage cheese in my lasagna. I use the 15oz tub of ricotta, an egg, some milk and mix it with some grated parm. It's good stuff.

Then we had this for dessert, and I felt like I was going to pop. Next time I make this, I will modify the butter/sugar on the top... I think it was too much. I'll just brush it, instead of pour 1/2 stick melted butter and reduce the amount of sugar on top. It was still good, it was just *too* much.

The taste was still amazing, but the amount of butter on top all pooled in the middle and left the crescent dough still a bit raw. So a lesson for next time: brush, don't pour, the butter... and sprinkle the sugar. Also, I was supposed to add 2 tbsp of vanilla to the cream cheese mixture. I did not. I added 1/2 tsp of lemon extract and it was more than enough. I wanted lemon berry and I got it. :)

So that was Valentine's dinner. Yesterday I did my nails again, with the water marble method, so I could get a more uniform look on my hands. I think I'm getting better with this. I used a rainbow theme, and these were the results.

Right hand:

Left hand:

I think they came out well! I love that they are all different and I'm not getting bored with them quickly.

That's all for now. :)

~Mandy

What a Crazy Week!

Monday wasn't so bad, then the rain come on Tuesday, the ice came on Wednesday, the thaw came on Thursday, and the earthquake came on Friday. I live in South Carolina. Ice and earthquakes are not normally on the menu!

Now it's Saturday, and while hubby is at work, I'll be preparing our Valentine's day feast. :)

First though, pictures of the crazy ice:

Seriously, ice everywhere. If you want to see the rest of my "I like to point my camera at things and push the button " pictures they are here.

During the icy nasty mess, I saw a picture thing pop up on Facebook about dripping nail polish into water, and then making designs and having it stick to your nail. The comments called it water marbling, and so I searched Youtube, and found this awesome video about how to do it, and decided I want this chick to be my friend. She's so happy! Also, the nail art looked fun.

We ventured out to the store yesterday, so I picked up a few new colors (mine are old and had thickened, the polish needs to be thin enough to drip off the brush easily). And then last night I tried it on my own, with a bunch of different polishes to see if they'd work. This is what I came up with:

Left Hand

I don't know which one is my favorite! I really like the pink/black/white combo on the pinky, the blue/green on the thumb... and the pink/purple/white on the pointer seems good for Valentine's day!

Right Hand

And on this one? I don't know either! I like the pink/black/orange on the thumb, the red/white/blue on the pointer, and hubby is a big fan of the green/white/yellow on the middle finger, because he's a Green Bay Packer's fan. :)

Anyway, if I can do it, I think anyone can... And that was my first attempt. It took me about an hour, but there was some panic in the middle of that hour about the random earthquake that shook my apartment. (Seriously Mother Nature, what gives?)

And now for tonight's (ice-delayed) Valentine's Day feast!

My husband and I... We're not big on crazy celebrations. We prefer to celebrate at home. So on most of the romantic dates (Valentine's Day, anniversary, birthdays, etc), I tend to make a more time consuming meal (the effort is part of the gift!) and we have a 'dinner and movie' date at home, courtesy of my kitchen, and Netflix!

Our main dish will be my husband's favorite food, lasagna. I base my recipe off of one I found on Taste Of Home a while back, but I tend to fancy up a traditional pasta sauce in my own way, rather than from a recipe. I wing it every time, no joke! Also, I skip the cottage cheese, and just use a whole 15oz tub of ricotta with the parmesan and egg. Seems to work well, and I don't end up with leftover ricotta or cottage cheese in my fridge, because I rarely use them outside of lasagna. I also make it in several small foil pans, instead of one huge dish, so I can freeze a couple of them, and we can have lasagna later, without the fuss.

And with pasta, you have to have garlic bread right? So I'll be trying my hand at these Pull Apart Cheesy Garlic Knots from scratch! Wish me luck on that, I don't work with yeast very often, so that might be tough.

And for dessert, I'm going back to the "yummy stuff between crescent rolls" easy option after all the work I'll be putting into the meal. The only sub I'll make to this recipe is the pie filling used. Instead of cherry, I'm using blueberry, because it's my husband's favorite.

I'll probably throw together a quick salad to go with it, so I can use my fancy hand painted bamboo salad bowl and utensils that my mother in law got for me for Christmas!

I'll take pics and post them in a follow up post.

Happy Saturday! :)
~Mandy

Chilidog Bake

Do you ever just get a craving for something awful for you? I did yesterday, and it was chili-dogs. But I didn't have any buns on hand, so I decided to get a little bit creative.

I've seen multiple dessert recipes that call for putting yummy filling between two layers of crescent rolls (Like this Cherry Cream Cheese Bake from CentsLessDeals), and that's what I decided to do for this. It's insanely easy, and really not healthy, but sometimes those types of dinners are exactly what you need. It's not good for my physical health, but totally uplifting to my mental health.

Anyhoo. This recipe is so easy. You need:

1 tube crescent rolls
4 bun length hot dogs (or 5 regular hot dogs)
1 15 oz can chili (no beans)
1/2c shredded cheddar cheese (or more if you'd like)
1/4c diced onion (or however much your taste buds prefer)
Olive oil, butter, or egg wash (to brush the top)

and... probably a roll of antacid tablets for later :P

Heat oven to 375*F

Put half the tube of rolls in the bottom of an 8x8 dish (4 triangles) so they cover the bottom, and bake them at 375* for 8 minutes, or so. They don't need to be completely done, but this way you don't end up with the bottom layer still doughy when the rest of it is done.

While that's going, chop your hot dogs into 1/2" pieces, and you can probably dice your onion here, too. When the bottom layer comes out of the oven, spread the hot dogs over the top:

Then top it with the can of chili:

Then top it with cheese and onions:

Then put the other half of the crescent rolls over the top and pinch the seams together, and brush with olive oil, melted butter, or egg mixed with a little water (I used olive oil):

Then bake at 375*F for about 20-25 mins (my oven always takes a little longer, so check at 20 mins), until heated through and the crescent roll dough is golden.

Then, dig in and enjoy! :)

It's not healthy, so have a salad with it, and some fruit for dessert, it'll alleviate (some of) the guilt!

I'm sure you could healthy this up a bit in various ways, using turkey dogs, reduced fat crescent rolls, making your own chili (or using vegetarian/reduced sodium chili), skipping the cheese, etc.

You could probably also use a can of biscuits, too. Not that that would make it any healthier, but it would be a slightly different taste, and thicker breading.

If you want to a larger dish (more than 4 servings), just double the ingredients and bake in a 9x13 dish.

Enjoy!
~Mandy

Creamy Shrimp Enchiladas

Last night for dinner I made one of my favorite main dishes. It's an edit of the first "blog" recipe I ever made for a meal. I got the idea from Cassie Craves - Cream Cheese Enchiladas. She prepares them with shredded chicken and corn, and made that way, they are fantastic.

One evening a while back, I wanted seafood. And I wanted Mexican. I couldn't figure out what I really wanted and decided to see if I could find a recipe that fit both cravings. I kept looking at this one thinking "that would be pretty good with shrimp..." and so that's where this modification came from.

The original recipe calls for 2 cups of shredded chicken, but instead, I got a 1-pound bag of the extra small frozen shrimp, and one of those small 'snack packs' of imitation crab meat... krab, if you will. I mixed that up together with some frozen corn and added the chili powder, some cumin, a little onion powder, and omitted the salt and pepper figuring there was plenty of both in the salsa. I also omitted the scallions, mostly because I forgot to buy some (oops!). I also used a full block of cream cheese and a little extra sour cream (because I had accidentally picked up 10-inch tortillas, instead of 8 and needed the extra filling), I also added a splash of white wine vinegar (completely optional, it was a whim and they will be delicious without it).

This recipe is highly adaptable for whatever your taste buds are asking for. It's also excellent with shredded chicken, black beans instead of corn, and a little lime juice.

Anyway, this was was when I pulled it out of the oven:

Couldn't wait to dig in...

And this is when I cut into it on my plate:

So much creamy goodness.

And this is the recipe, as I made it last night (Modified from Cassie Craves)!

8oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
2 cups salsa (I used medium, but go with your taste buds)
Splash white wine vinegar
1 cup shredded colby jack (or mild or sharp cheddar)
1 cup shredded pepper-jack (or mozarella + a sprinkle of ground cayanne or red pepper flakes)
1lb frozen small shrimp, thawed
1/3 cup imitation crab meat, chopped (optional)
1 cup frozen corn (I don't thaw it first, so they don't get smashed when I'm stirring)
chili powder
cumin
onion powder
salt & pepper (optional)
8 10-inch flour tortillas (you can use 8 inch, or corn, or whatever, I had 10 inch on hand)

Heat oven to 325

Mix together cream cheese and sour cream until smooth, then add 1/2 cup of salsa, 1/2 cup of each of the cheeses, vinegar if you are using it, and mix until everything is blended. In another bowl, add your meats, corn, and seasonings. Make sure everything is well incorporated, then add to the cream cheese mixture and mix it up.

Spread 1/2 cup of salsa (I mixed mine with some sour cream, too) on the bottom of a large casserole dish (9x13 was too small for mine, believe it or not!). I had to use this dish. Then use 1/3c (or so) of the filling mixture for each tortilla, roll up burrito style, and place seam-side down in the prepared dish. Top with the remaining salsa (again, I mixed mine with a little sour cream to stretch it), and the rest of the cheese.

Bake at 325F for about 25 minutes, until heated through, and cheese is melty.

Let cool for just a few minutes, then serve and enjoy! I know we did.

This makes 8 meal-size servings, unless you are a bottomless pit like my husband, who ate two.

Tonight's dinner is a chicken dinner for two, courtesy of Taste of Home, with a side of zucchini and onion. Mostly healthy eats tonight. :)

~Mandy

Pepperoni Biscuits

Today, as I'm sitting in my home staring at the snow on the ground that has South Carolina shut down, I've been perusing various food blogs that I love for some yummy food ideas.

I was scrolling through the various offerings on my Facebook feed (I 'like' so many food blogs, my feed is a steady stream of food porn - it's glorious), and came across this recipe from The Slow Roasted Italian - Bite  Sized Pepperoni Puffs. I thought "That sounds perfect!" Only I didn't have everything the recipe called for, so it inspired me to create something along the same lines, with what I had available.

Because I'm addicted to a certain brand of biscuit mix, I always have it on hand, and I've got a copy-cat recipe for Red Lobster's biscuits using it... I thought I'd use that item and that knowledge to satisfy my taste buds. They were awfully demanding after seeing the pictures.

SO addicting. I think it's the shortening flakes. The biscuits come out so fluffy.

It smelled pretty fabulous as I was mixing it up, so I put a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of cheese atop each little mound of dough, and stuck it in the oven.

I'm not really "exact" with my cooking.

This is one I tore into as soon as they cooled enough to touch.

Mmm.... Cheesy.

I took one to my husband, and he inhaled it. He said they were delicious.

Also, I am aware my photography needs work, but I'm of the mind that food shouldn't be *too* pretty, because then I won't want to eat it... And I do enjoy eating.

How to make these yummy things:

2 cups biscuit mix (if you use Bisquick cut in some cold butter first)
3/4 c milk
1/4c shredded colby jack
1/4c shredded mozzarella + extra for topping
Mini Pepperonis (I didn't measure, I used what was left in the bag. maybe 1/3c?)
Pepper Jack (if you want a little spice, optional)
Grated Parmesan
Olive oil - for drizzling
Italian Seasoning

Pre-heat oven to 450. Yes, 450, these bake quickly.

In a large bowl, add biscuit mix, milk, cheeses, and pepperoni. Add red pepper flakes, or ground cayenne, if you want to add a little heat. Stir until combined, dough will be thick and sticky.

Drop onto greased cookie sheet (I line mine with foil first) and smooth down any pointy bits sticking up so they don't burn while baking.

Drizzle each biscuit with a little olive oil, top with a pinch of mozzarella, and then sprinkle with Italian Seasoning.

Bake at 450 for 8-10 mins.

Remove and let cool for a few minutes so you don't burn your tongue like the first bite of pizza, then enjoy!

I really like these, and thanks to the folks over at The Slow Roasted Italian for the inspiration!

~Mandy