Chicken Fried Rice by Alex

My husband is obsessed with Chicken Fried Rice, so I tend to make it at least once a month! Also it is another one of those few times I can get my daughter to eat meat! I am a huge YouTube junkie, and I found this on there, I have tweaked it to our taste buds and you can too! 

The ingredients we use are as follows:

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Soy Sauce (to your discretion)

Oyster Sauce ( to your discretion)

2-3 cups of FRESH chopped broccoli

3 eggs

2 cups of 1 day old refrigerated white rice(important to be cold rice!)

2 cups of chopped mushrooms

1 cup of shredded carrots

2-4  cups of bite size pieces of chicken

You will cook in 1 POT & you will need a big bowl, also a mug.

Put your burner on medium high. add 1/2 tablespoon of oil and add in all of your chicken, also add in 6 shakes of soy sauce and about a teaspoon of oyster sauce. Cook the chicken until it is no longer pink on the inside of the largest piece. (any extra sauce/juice will need to go into the mug)

Put the chicken away into the bowl I mentioned above. Next saute your mushrooms and once those are about  done add 1/2 tablespoon of oil & and add the broccoli & the carrots into the pan with the mushrooms, ad 2-3 shakes of the soy sauce and at 1/2 a teaspoon of oyster sauce. I only cook those a little bit bc we still like a crunch on our veggies, but cook them as long as you wish.(any extra sauce/juice will need to go into the mug this time however leave just a little for the eggs to be cooked in)

Place those into the same bowl that the chicken got put in. Crack your 3 eggs into your pot and quickly scramble those, once those are done put them in the bowl as well.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pot and get your cold, left over(day old) rice and add it in, use all the extra sauce that you have stored away in a cup to season the rice with. Add in a little at a time, you don't have to use all of the sauce bc it can make the rice sauggie. Stir Fry the rice, it doesn't have to get black, just stir it and cook it as much as you like the longer you cook it the drier it will be. I suggest tasting the rice at different stages to see if it is at the tenderness you prefer.

Once the rice is cooked to where you like it add in all the veggies and mix it around. Taste it and if you think you need to add any of the extra sauce you can or you can just add more soy sauce!

Hope you enjoy this as much as my family does, it cooks really fast and you can be done with this entire thing start to finish in about 10 minutes!

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Chili by Melissa

I saw this recipe on GMA one morning and couldn't wait to try it. It seemed so simple and yummy!! You can find Stephanie O'Dea's Chicken Enchilada Chili here.

11/2 cups prepared enchilada sauce (I used red)

2 (14.5-ounce) cans tomatoes with seasoning (your choice: I used one Rotel and one Hunt's diced tomatoes)

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans with juice (Stephanie uses pinto or kidney beans)

1 onion, diced

1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tbsp. minced garlic

11/2 pounds frozen or thawed chicken (thighs, legs, breasts—your choice)

shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream for serving (optional)

In your crockpot, pour in the enchilada sauce, tomatoes, black beans. Drop in the onion, chili powder, garlic, and cumin. Stir. Push the chicken pieces down into the liquid, put the lid on, and set to low for about 6 hours for frozen chicken, 4 hours for thawed. Once chicken is cooked through, shred with a fork.

Top with cheese and sour cream if you prefer. Its that easy!! And its super delicious!!

King Ranch Chicken by Melissa

King Ranch Chicken is a go-to quick and easy meal for us. You'll find its the perfect meal when you have a million things you need to do at home because it doesn't take much attention. I got my recipe from Allrecipes.com. You can find it here. This is how I made ours.

Chicken:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Pepper
Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning
Cooking spray

I sprayed the chicken with cooking spray and then seasoned both sides with pepper and Mrs. Dash. Popped in the oven at 400 degrees for 30mins.


Once it was done, I cut it into bite size pieces.

The onion is LARGE so I only used half of it.

1/2 chopped onion
3 c. shredded cheddar
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
1 can rotel
1 bag chips


Crush the chips and layer them on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish (you could probably go smaller unless you're doubling this recipe - which I wish I'd have done). In a bowl, combine the chicken, 1.5 c. cheese, the soups, and the rotel. Pour over the chips. Top with the remainder of the cheese.


Pop it in the oven on 350 for about 15 minutes; just long enough to get everything warm and gooey.


Enjoy!!


P.s. It smelled so good and we were so hungry that I FORGOT the finished product picture! I'm so sorry!!!

Turkey and Stuffing Meatloaf by Melissa

Hey friends! This summer has been awfully nuts so here's a meal to get you back to feeling wholesome and good. I base this recipe on the Allrecipes Meatloaf with Fried Onions and Ranch Seasoning. I make it the way its written usually, but this time I was short on a few ingredients so I winged it. It was still FABULOUS. I will write it like I made it last night.

Missing the meat, of course. :)

2 lbs. ground turkey
1 packet of ranch dip seasoning
3 eggs, beaten
1 pkg of stuffing mix
1/3 c. ketchup
1/3 c. fried onions (its all I had left)


Mix all the ingredients together making sure they are well blended. Put in a loaf pan and put in the oven at about 400 for 45-60 minutes. It TRULY depends on how well your oven cooks. I made this in my mom's at 350 for 60+ minutes and ended up putting it on 425 for another 30 minutes.




Going in!

 Melissa's almost famous mashed potatoes:
5-6 russet potatoes (enough for your family)
4-6oz. heavy whipping cream
1 stick butter
salt, pepper, garlic powder

Peel and and quarter potatoes. Boil for about 20 minutes (or until mushy). Add butter and cream, 1/2 tbsp of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Mash and stir. Finish seasoning to your liking. This is a good base recipe. You can also add cream cheese, real garlic, parsley, sour cream, bacon, cheese. Whatever you like! Get creative. And then post what you did different so we can all try it!


I also served this with some croissants and some canned corn.

Enjoy!

Beefy Rice w/ Mushrooms by Alex

Ok so this is a meal in my house...My husband loves it and it is probably one of the only times you will see my 2 year old eat meat! I like to consider this kind of a "goulosh" It's super easy and pretty yummy! But best of all it requires 3 ingredients!

So easy might I add, I forgot to take pics of those 3 ingredients! lol

Ingredients
1 lb of ground beef or turkey
1 bag of boil in bag white rice
1 can of cream of mushroom

Boil your rice as directed on the box and set aside when done

Brown your meat and add whatever seasoning you normally do. (I typically do s dash of garlic powder salt and cumin)

Once your meat is done, drain any grease, add the cooked bag of rice and the can of cream of mushroom. warm it all together until the cream of mushroom isn't so thick and viola! Easy peasy dinner! Hope you enjoy!

*I've never made sides with this, we usually just eat it with a slice of bread or dinner rolls.



Easy Shredded Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches by Melissa

Hey friends,

This is the easiest meal you will ever make... EVER!

3-4 frozen skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle of Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce
Sliced swiss cheese
Hamburger buns

Put the frozen chicken breasts in a crockpot and cover with half a bottle of the wing sauce. Put on low for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is tender enough to shred with a fork. Shred chicken about 30 minutes before serving time.

Toast buns, top with swiss cheese, add shredded chicken. You can also add lettuce, tomatoes, sliced white onions, avocado, mayonnaise, sour cream, or mustard.

Serve with potato chips!

Its easy, fast, and great for those busy nights that all moms have!

Enjoy!
Melissa

Parmesan and Sage Porkchops by Kayla

I am not a huge fan of porkchops but every now and then I will whip up this delicious recipe!

What you will need:

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

3/4 cup soft bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 teaspoons rubbed sage

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 pork loin chops

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Instructions:

In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt and pepper. In another small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, sage and lemon peel.

Place egg in shallow bowl.

Coat pork chops with flour mixture, dip in egg, then coat with bread crumb mixture.

Let stand for 5 minutes.

In a skillet, brown chops in oil and butter for 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a greased baking dish. Bake uncovered at 425 degrees F for 10-15 minutes

I usually serve with a vegetable and either homemade mac and cheese or a pasta.

Enjoy!!!

(crock) Pot Roast w sides

2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp dried oregno

1 tsp garlic powder

1tsp onion powder

1 stp salt

1tsp pepper

2 tsp olive oil

4 lb roast cover w water

cook on low for 8 hours(perfect for all of you working moms and dads! throw all this in before work and dinner is ready when you get home!)

For the mashed potatoes, I used Betty Croker instant...my husband is OBSESSED with instant, because it reminds him of his grandma! Today I used HEB's Super Sweet Corn, you just microwave-steam it in the bag and it's done, we just added a little salt and pepper!

Hope you enjoy!!

**On a side note, we ate all the sides this day, so with the extra meat, the following day I put it in a sauce pan and added 1/2 a cup of BBQ sauce and warmed it all together and we ate BBQ sandwiches!)

Stuffed Bell Peppers and Non-Traditional Potato Salad by Melissa

I was trying to find a fun recipe for me and the hubs to try while the kids are gone to their Dad's and we decided to try stuffed bell peppers. We've done stuffed everything else, so, why not?

1 box Zatarrain's dirty rice - prepared. We used ground venison, but you can use ground beef, sausage, or turkey! All are very yummy!
1 onion
garlic salt, pepper, chili powder - whatever seasoning you like - taste as you go.
1 can rotel tomatoes
2 tbsp. olive oil
6 green bell peppers

Heat the oil in a small skillet on medium high heat. Meanwhile, dice the onion. Once the oil is warm, saute the onion until translucent. I like to let them get a little brown. Drain the oil and then dump the onions into the prepared dirty rice. Add the can of rotel and season to your liking. We added more chili powder for a spicy flavor.

Cut the top of the bell peppers off, keeping the tops. Rough cut the insides out - it doesn't have to be perfect. Stuff the bell peppers with the rice mixture. I squished mine down tight to make sure they were really stuffed. Lay the tops on.

Grill the bell peppers over indirect heat for about 15-20 minutes. Once the skin gets a little wrinkly and soft, they are done. Keep a close eye; you don't want them to get squishy.

You can serve them with some chopped cilantro on top and/or a dollop of sour cream! SOOO YUMMY!!

Melissa's Potato Salad
Okay I didn't do this but I learned that you should from making this... PEEL the potatoes!!

6 medium russet potatoes - quartered, PEELED, boiled about 20 minutes, and drained
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. mayonnaise
2-3 chopped green onions
2-3 chopped sprigs of mint
seasonings - again, whatever you like. I used about 2 tsp each of garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika, and a few dashes of cayenne pepper.

Mix the sour cream and mayonnaise with a splash of milk so it isn't so thick. When its really thick, it mashes the potatoes and we want to keep them cubed. Add the seasonings to the sour cream and mayo mixture. Stir into the potatoes. Top with onions and mint and give it a quick toss.

This is one of the best dinners I've ever made! And it was fun! I hope you try it!!

Melissa

Sloppy Joes by Kayla

Sloppy Joes are one of the easiest, most delicious recipe's known to man. 

What you will need:

2 pounds ground beef

2 medium onions, chopped

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 cups ketchup

1 cup barbecue sauce

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons mustard

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon pepper

hamburger buns ( I like to buy the ones from the Kroger Bakery)

                                                (I forgot to add the ground beef and buns, sorry!)

What to do:

In a large skillet, cook beef, onions and garlic over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the ketchup, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, Italian seasoning, onion powder and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Serve about 1/2 cup meat mixture on each bun.
Serve on buns.

I use potatoe chips as a side, but have also made potatoe salad

Enjoy!!!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

If your from Richmond/Rosenberg, you know of Sandy McGee's! I am not going to say this compares to her Broccoli Cheese Soup! But It is pretty good!! I got this recipie from the Parade insert in the Sunday paper back in May. Here you go!!

3 cups chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
4 cups broccoli, chopped
Dash of garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar
Slices of crust bread

1. In a large saucepan, mix chicken broth, onion, broccoli, garlic powder, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 minutes, or until vegetables are soft.

2. Removes bay leaves and pour mixture into a food processor. Pulse until smooth, approximately 1 minute.  Reserve in a bowl.

3. In the original saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour, salt, and a little pepper until a thick paste forms. And millk and cook, sitrring constantly, until mixture thickens. And milk and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. And cheddar; stir until dissolves.

4. Pour in borccoli mixture an cook until blended. If necessary, add more chicken broth to thin. Season with additional salt and pepper. Salt with bread for dipping.

Paula Deen's Grilled Tilapia with Peach BBQ Sauce by Melissa

I wanted to try something new for my Tilapia rather than just seasoning and throwing on the grill - which is good, too - so I tried this Paula Deen's Peach BBQ Sauce found here. I hope you will all be inspired to go find a "designer" recipe and try it, too. It was fun! Report your results back here so we can all try it!

Peach BBQ sauce:
3/4 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons prepared mustard
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
Pinch garlic salt
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
2 cups fresh or canned peaches
Mix all but the peaches in a skillet over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes (I did it at least 20 minutes). Meanwhile, puree the peaches. Once the sauce is cooked, stir in pureed peaches.

I used about 10 frozen tilapia filets, thawed. It makes a LOT of sauce, so, unless you plan on freezing 3/4 of it, I suggest halfing the recipe. Also, the sauce is hard to get the oil and vinegar to mix in with the rest of the ingredients. Perhaps half of each of those and water would make it a little thicker also.

I seasoned the filets with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and then sprayed a sheet of foil and put the fish on top and then put the fish on the grill. Once the fish were about a minute away from being done, I basted them with the bbq sauce. I saved about 3/4 c. to pour on after they were cooked as well.

I also decided to try my own hush puppies! They were sooooo yummy!! I didn't have any corn meal so I used a box of Jiffy cornbread mix instead.

Hush Puppies
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1/2 finely chopped onion (I cheated and used the chopper)
1 tsp. garlic powder, salt, pepper, Tony's Chachere's, paprika
1 tbsp. horseradish mustard

Mix all ingredients together. Get out your Fry Daddy, let it heat up, and then drop spoonfools into the hot grease. Let them reach a light golden brown on each side and then pull out with a slotted spoon. Drain on a paper plate covered with paper towels. They were excellent!

You can serve another vegetable with the fish and hush puppies to balance out your meal. I served a can of green beans.

Sorry there are no pictures. I got going really quickly and completely forgot!

Stuffed Shells and Cheese by Kayla

It is truly hard to find good meals my oldest son Gavin will enjoy because he is such a PICKY eater!  So about a year ago I was searching new recipes to try, and I came across this one at allrecipes.com.  I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine has.

Here's what you will need:

1 (12 ounce) package jumbo pasta shells

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed

1 onion, chopped

1 egg

1 cup dry bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. Separate shells and let stand, so they are not touching, on waxed paper or foil.
In large skillet over medium heat, combine chicken, onion, egg and bread crumbs. Cook until chicken is no longer pink. Season with oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Stir in three-quarters of the shredded mozzarella and cheddar; cook until cheeses melt.
Fill shells with chicken mixture, using a tablespoon, and place in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Cover the shells with the tomato sauce and top with the reserved cheese. Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes, or until lightly browned and bubbly.

I serve this with a side salad, green beans and texas toast.

Enjoy!!!!

Crock Pot Chicken & Rice

My sister Nikki made this years ago and I gladly eat the left overs...FINALLY I asked for the recipie a couple of years ago and here you go!

4-6 Chicken Breast
1 can cream of Chicken
1 can cream of Celery
1 can cream of Mushrooom
4 cans of water
pepper to taste.

Cook on low all day about 6 hours or longer. Take chicken breast out and shred while adding small box of minute rice(I usually add 2 bags of rice) to the crockpot. Add the chicken back into the crock-pot and wait until the rice is finished cooking (about 20 minutes on high)

Crockpot Lasagna by Melissa

Hey friends!
Today's recipe is Crockpot Lasagna. I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com, of course! One of my favorite sites for recipes for my family. You can find the recipe here.

It looks like a lot of ingredients but all the seasonings in the middle are for the meat. I like mine very flavorful!

The recipe calls for 1 lb. of lean ground beef, but I use ground turkey every chance I get. Its healthier and it tastes just as good, if not better.
1 (675 ml) jar pasta sauce
1 can diced tomatoes of any flavor (I used roasted garlic)
1 15oz. tub ricotta cheese

1 3/4 cups Italian shredded cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

6 lasagna noodles, uncooked

seasonings for meat (salt, pepper, garlic powder, Tony Chachere's, onion powder, parsley, etc.)

Brown meat in large skillet. Drain grease and return to pan. Season meat and then add pasta sauce and diced tomatoes. In a separate bowl, stir together ricotta cheese, 1 1/2 c. Italian shredded cheese, 2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese, parsley, and egg.

Spray your crockpot with cooking spray so the meat-sauce and cheese doesn't stick to the sides. Makes for easy cleaning later. Put about 1 c. of meat-sauce in the bottom of the crockpot and later with uncooked noodles, broken to fit. On top, layer the cheese mixture. Repeat. Top with remaining meat sauce. Place the lid on the crockpot and set on low for about 4-5 hours. My crockpot cooks rather quickly, so any longer than 4 hours and mine is crusty. About 10 minutes before its done, sprinkle with remaining Italian shredded cheese and Parmesan cheese.

Serve with warm garlic bread and a side salad! YUM! And so easy!

Melissa

Chili Cheese Enchiladas by Kayla

So a very good friend of mine (Amy) first introduced this to me while at her home years ago.  I completely forgot about the recipe until today when her twin sister (Evelyn) stopped by and we were talking about what I was going to cook for dinner.  She reminded me of this recipe and how simple it is to make that I decided to give it a whirl since I had all the ingredients ( I had no tortillas so Amy sent her son over to bail me out!  Thanks Amy, your the BEST!!!)  I reminded Evelyn that I am not a big fan of canned chili, I prefer homemade, but she insited I was going to LOVE this dish so much I would be making it again soon.  So here it is...

What you will need:
1 package Corn Tortillas (you can use flour, but I just LOVE corn tortillas)
1 can Chili
1 bag of shredded cheese (Evelyn said she uses Kraft singles and it's even more awesome; mental note taken for next time!)

  (picture shows flour because I accidentally threw away the corn tortilla package)
Directions:
Remove tortillas from package and microwave for 30 seconds, then flip them over and heat for an additional 30 seconds.
Heat chili in a pan adding water (I filled half the can with water and poured it in)
Allow to come to a simmer and remove from heat.
Fill your torllias with cheese (not too much) roll and place in baking dish.
Once all tortillas have been rolled with cheese and placed into your dish add chili and sprinkle with cheese.
Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or until all cheese is melted (you can also place this in the microwave for 2-3 minutes in a microwave safe dish)

I served this with refried beans and rice and all three of my boys gobbled it all up!!!  I will definately be making this again soon!

ENJOY!!!!!

Meatloaf by Kayla

If there is one meal that screams all time American favorite, it's meatloaf!  Here is a recipe my sister shared with me that I am sure you are going to love.

What You Will Need:

2 lbs. Ground Beef
2 Eggs
1/4 c. Plain Bread Crumbs
1/2 c. Milk
1Small Onion Chopped
1/2 Chopped Bell Pepper
1 Packet McCormick Meatloaf Seasoning
1-2 c. Ketchup
Cooking Spray

1 Bread Baking Dish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F
Lightly spray
Slightly beat eggs and add all above ingredients EXCEPT for the ketchup. 
Bake for one hour or until cooked completely
Last 5-10 minutes, add ketchup on top of loaf and place back in oven

I serve this main dish with mashed potatoes, corn and dinner rolls,

ENJOY!!!

Skillet Pork Chops and Apples by Melissa

Normally, I'm a huge couponer. But, honestly, I have not had the time lately. Literally. NO TIME! So, yesterday, me and the hubs finally finished cutting all our coupons and headed to the store. We've been without food for at least 3 days now and eating out because we didn't have food was really starting to wear on our digestive systems, as well as our wallets. After our trip to the store last night, I decided to make this meal. I got the recipe from Cooks.com. You can get this recipe, "Pork Chop Apple Casserole" as they call it, here.

Poor onion powder got left out of this picture. Sorry onion powder! Next time, next time.

I used 2 very large butterflied pork chops about 1" thick
3 tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. each onion powder, garlic powder, paprika
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. butter (optional)
1/2 c. chopped onions
3 apples, cored and sliced (peel on)
3 tbsp. bbq sauce
3 cloves minced garlic
Salt and pepper

Heat olive oil and butter in large skillet on medium high. In a shallow container, blend the flour, onion & garlic powders, and paprika. Season pork chops with salt and pepper and then dredge in flour mixture. Place chops in skillet and brown on both sides.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, place apples, onions, bbq sauce and garlic. Stir until coated. Once chops are brown, pour mixture over chops. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

I served this with Zatarrain's Wild Rice, a can of baked beans, and some buttery Pillsbury biscuits. This dish was super yummy! I wish I would have planned my sides a little better, but for 10 o'clock at night, after a day full of coupon cutting and grocery shopping, it was fine.

I hope you love these pork chops like me and the hubs did! :)

Bow tie pasta w Chicken, Broccoli, Mushrooms, & Alfredo Sauce by Alex

Ok so the other day I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner. I hadn't gone grocery shopping yet and I just had "left over" groceries that I probably just bought because they were on sale and I had a coupon...so I opened the pantry and saw Wacky Mac Bow Tie Pasta & Alfredo sauce...well I ALWAYS have chicken, so I was like wow I will just make Chicken Alfredo. Well then I remembered I had mushrooms and broccoli, (because we got through a box of mushrooms and a head or 2 of broccoli a week) So Here is what I made! Thus it not having a fancy dancy title. lol

Ingredients:

1 Jar of Classico Light Creamy Alfredo

2-3 cups of Wacky Mac Bow tie pasta(or any pasta you like)

3-4 boiled & shredded chicken breast

1 head of broccoli chopped

1 cup of water.

Ok so I boiled the chicken and then shredded it and left it in a bow, you could probably do this a day before if you want!

Then boil the water and make you pasta like you normally would. While you are doing that, get a sauce pan and put a little bit of oil(doesn't matter what kind you use) and then add in the broccoli and mushrooms, I chopped my mushrooms to be smaller. Saute those for a little bit. I did it until the mushrooms got tender, because I don't mind chard broccoli! :)

From there add in you chicken (it is totally ok if the chicken is cold or room temp, it doesn't really matter because you are going to reheat it now in the pan) and also had the jar of alfredo then put a cup of water in and just mix it all up. I forgot to say that you are just putting this on medium low after you saute, because you don't want to cook the chicken or sauce, you are just warming it.

After your noodles are done, drain the water and put them back into the same pot you used, then add the alfredo mixture and mix it all together.

Here is what my finished product looked like, I added sliced black olives, because my daughter will eat anything that has black olives on it and I just love them, I thought it actually complimented it well!

Enjoy!



Becky's Surprise Burgers by Alex

Okay if you're like my husband you say, "What the heck are Surprise Burgers" and my reply will be, only the most delicious burger ever!! lol I was introduced to them when I was probably about 16...so yea about 11 years ago!

My first thought of seeing a surprise burger was, YUCK, they serve those things in the lunch room at school and bleh! they were sauggie and just gross! I went to my good friend Heather's house and her mom was making dinner...eventually I asked her mom what was for dinner and she said surprise burgers. Oh goodness, I'm pretty sure as a dumb 16 year old I said yuck I'm not eating that, but I can remember Becky and Heather telling me to just try them that I would like them. So I did and they were amazing!

After High School, I craved them about a million times and then again during my pregnancy!! I haven't eaten them in years!! Finally Becky gave me her recipe and of course now I am sharing it with you!! (With Becky's approval)

Ingredients:

1 lb of Beef

1 Can of cream of mushroom

Mozzarella to your liking (I ran out of shredded cheese w the Green Chicken Enchiladas so I used 4 cheese sticks cup up)

1 egg

"soft butter"

1 box of Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix

Make the Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix according to the box.

While they are rising you will brown your pound of beef, drain the oil out then add in your mozzarella and can of cream of mushroom and just mix it well and let the cheese melt.(sorry I thought I took a pic of what the meat looked like)

After the rolls rise, put them on a floured counter top and roll them out like tortillas:

Then you put a spoonful of your meat mixture and then fold over the sides of the dough. I folded it like a a burrito. Then you place it on a cookie sheet, seem side down. Repeat until you use all the meat.

Bake them according to how the Hot Roll Box says, I believe it was at 375 for 20 minutes. When you pull them out they look so yummy!!

I served mine with tator tots and here is the final product:

They were just as delicious as I remember them 11 years earlier!! And now that I know how to make them I am sure I will be making them at least once a month!! Thanks Becky for your amazing recipe!!

**I can easily see this being made with turkey meat or w vegetarian meat crumbles!!**

Mexican Casserole by Melissa

Okay this is SOOOO yummy!! I hope you like it as much as we do.


Use at least 1/2 lb chicken prepared anyway you like it. Remember: we have a family of 5 and this fed all of us. If there are fewer of you, you can cut the ingredients slightly, but why do that? You can freeze whatever is left for leftovers. I used 2 large chicken breasts sprinkled with Mrs. Dash Salt-Free Fiesta Lime seasoning blend. It gives the chicken that taco/fajita taste: perfect for this dish. I popped it in the oven on 350 degrees for about 30 minutes and then shredded the chicken.

You can also use half of the Crock pot Roasted Chicken (recipe found here). 


Moving on.

1 tub Philadelphia Cooking Creme: Santa Fe blend
1 can green Enchilada Sauce
1 can Rotel (you can see mine is leftovers)
1 can black beans
corn tortillas
shredded cheese (Cheddar or any Mexican blend that you like)


In a skillet heat to medium, stir in chicken pieces, black beans, cooking cream, enchilada sauce, and Rotel. Stir and heat until cooking cream is well blended with all ingredients.


Spray bottom and sides of a 9x13 glass baking dish. Cover bottom of dish with corn tortillas. Layer chicken mixture on top of tortillas, spread evenly. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Add another layer of corn tortillas, chicken mixture, and shredded cheese. Repeat. I recommend at least 3 layers so you get enough corn tortillas in each bite. Pop in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes to melt everything together.

This is one of our favorite meals at our house. We LOVE Philadelphia Cooking Cremes. They are so fun and easy to play with!


Enjoy!