Loaded Chicken & Potato Skillet

3 medium potatoes, peeled & cubed
4-6 strips of bacon, cooked & crumbled
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cups monterrey jack cheese, shredded
cajun seasoining-to taste

Topping:sour cream,green onions,salt & pepper

Cook bacon {I prefer baking it...so much easier!!}. While bacon cooks, peel and cube potatoes. Boil on stovetop and remove from heat when cooked {soft & mushy}. In a large skillet, cook chicken until brown on both sides and no more pink inside. Remove from heat & cut into cubes. In the same skillet, heat olive oil and add onions & peppers. Add potatoes to the pepper/onion mix and cook for another 3-5 minutes. {This is where I added a few dashes of my favorite cajun seasoning}
Add chicken, bacon, and cheese.
Cover the skillet with a lid and remove when cheese is melted.
Season with salt and pepper...serve & ENJOY

Slow Cooker Angel Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 8oz. pkg. baby bella sliced mushrooms
1 can condensed golden mushroom soup
1 stick of butter
1 pkg. dry Italian salad dressing mix
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 of an 8oz. tub of cream cheese spread with chive & onion
rice or pasta

First things first…

Melt butter in a saucepan and add the Italian salad dressing packet. Stir in the soup, chicken broth, and cream cheese until it combines and melts.

Place the mushrooms on the bottom of your crock pot and place the chicken breasts on top.

Pour the sauce mix on top of the chicken, cover with lid, and cook on low for 5 hours!!!! ( I cooked mine for about 3.5 hours and it was done!!)

Blueberry Sourcream Muffins-from scratch

Mommy's little helper

I have made these twice lately, they are delicious.
I think they taste like a shortbread muffin, delicious!

2 C all purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1 C sugar
4 T melted butter
1 1/4 C sour cream {10 ounces}
1 1/2 C fresh blueberries {or frozen}
1 T good vanilla

Set oven to 230 degrees. Spray muffin tin.
Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in bowl. Whisk egg in second bowl until well combined and light in color, about 20 seconds. Add sugar to egg until thick, whisking for 30 seconds. Add melted butter, sour cream and vanilla. When combined fold in blueberries. Scoop into your muffin tin 3/4 full.
{if desired you can add a crumb topping with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon}

Mini pretzel bites

Courtesy of get off your butt and bake

Take your roll, and cut horizontally and vertically.

You have four pieces.

Once your bites are all cut,

place on a large greased baking sheet.

Let rise until double in size.

Like this . . .

Pre-heat your oven to 375 Degrees.

Plop about 10 bites into that boiling water.

Toss gently so that all sides are shocked with the water.

You will boil for about 45 seconds.

Remove from water with a slotted spoon.

Let drain on paper towels.

Don’t worry if a few of them shrivel up funny.

They will recover nicely in the oven!
Remove them carefully from the paper towels.

Place on greased baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Roll in Parmesan and sprinkle with garlic and Kosher Salt.

Oh yum!

Breakfast burritos

So easy!
Brown regular breakfast sausage
cook shredded potatoes in an electric skillett
scramble 10-12 eggs adding cheese
combine all and roll in tortillas.
Add S&P to taste

Keep extra in fridge in a tupperware bowl
to warm up and put in tortillas.

Brown sugar & balsamic glazed pork loin

1 (2 pound) boneless pork loin

1 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup water
Glaze
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Directions:
Combine sage, salt, pepper and garlic. Rub over roast. Place in slow cooker with 1/2 cup water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. About 1 hour before roast is done, combine ingredients for glaze in small sauce pan. Heat and stir until mixture thickens. Brush roast with glaze 2 or 3 times during the last hour of cooking. Serve with remaining glaze on the side.

Creamy BBQ Pulled Pork

{Thanks Traci for giving me this YUMMY recipe}
Choose any of your favorite BBQ sauces.

What the pork looked like after shredding,
before adding cream cheese.

Adding 1 brick of cream cheese

All mixed together.
Creamy BBQ deliciousness!

1 pork roast
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce {any flavor}
1 brick, 8 oz Cream Cheese

In your crockpot put your pork roast in and cover with bottle of BBQ sauce. Cook on low until shreddable. I cooked mine on low for 7 hours. 30 minutes before done add your cream cheese and mix all together. The cream cheese adds a creamy tang. So good!

We served them on sandwich buns
{another Traci suggestion, we got the bakery hotdog buns
at Macey's and they were delicious!}

Homemade Guacamole

This is the only way to make guacamole trust me.

2 large ripe avocados
lime juice {fresh or bottled}
garlic powder
kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper

This is not a recipe at all, just a method to the freshest guacamole without lots of fillers.
Mash your avocados with a fork, squeeze lime juice over top, add garlic powder, salt and pepper. Start with smaller amounts then add more to taste.

Brushetta Chicken

Courtesy of: Is this really my life

Bruschetta Chicken
1 14.5-oz can Italian style diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 6-oz. package Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp dried basil leaves
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese…

…
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine tomatoes, garlic, stuffing mix and water and stir just until stuffing mix is moistened. Set aside.

Place chicken in a 9×13-inch baking dish and sprinkle with basil and cheese.
Top with stuffing mixture.
and bake 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Lani's Taco Soup

This is the best recipe for Taco Soup
most taco soups taste the same, but this kicks it up a notch!

4 cans beans rinsed and drained
these are any 4 beans you want
I usually use black, dark kidney, light kidney, and one more that looks good that day
1 lb ground beef browned {I also do this with ground turkey}
1 box beef broth
1 can rotel {tomatoes and chilies} I use the hot, but you can use mild
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 bag frozen white corn

Brown your ground beef add to all ingredients and cook in a crockpot during the day.

*My secret, I usually only use 3 cans of beans. Who needs the extra carbs.
I also use ground turkey. You will NEVER know. It is so much healthier.
I also buy low sodium beans. Garnish with cheese, chips and sour cream.

Grandma Bogard's Slaw

I did not grow up eating slaw, but whenever we eat at Jeremy's Grandma's house
she always has a yummy slaw. It is vinegary, and delicious!
All of Jeremy's family is such good veggie eaters, they ALWAYS have at least 2 with
every meal. I would have eaten more too if they tasted as good as they fix them.

1 bag cabbage mix {any you like, I like the one with carrots, etc}
1/4 cup vinegar {G'ma uses 1/2 white wine, 1/2 apple cider}
2 T oil. {G'ma uses 1 T olive oil, 1 T canola}
1 1/2 T sugar or splenda
1 t garlic salt
1 t caraway seeds

Salt and pepper your cabbage, then pour dressing over top.
I make it like Grandma, she uses 1/2 and 1/2 of oil and vinegars, so have to follow her right?
Grandma knows best. It is tangy and slightly sweet too, delicious!

Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins

2 Cups flour all purpose
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. kosher salt
1/2 cup plus 2 T. sugar
1/2 C butter (one stick)
1 cup whole milk
1 large egg, beaten
6 oz fresh blueberries (1 1/2 cups)

In large bowl whisk flour, baking powder, salt and 1/2 cup of sugar, make a well in the center. Melt the butter in saucepan over medium heat.
Once melts swirl the pan until the butter begins to brown and smell nutty, 2-3 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Pour the butter, milk and egg into the well of flour. Combine. Fold in blueberries. May be slightly lumpy. Pour into muffins tins you have sprayed with cooking spray.
Top muffins with remaining sugar.

Bake 400 degrees 16-20 minutes.

We absolutely love blueberries at our house. We probably eat them almost every day.
Ellie LOVES them on cottage cheese {sounds weird, but delicious}
So this is perfect for using up the end of your blueberries.

Grilled Balsamic Chicken

1/2 Cup olive oil
1/4 Cup balsamic vinegar
1 dry packet Italian dressing

mix all, marinade chicken and grill.
This is delicious! The balsamic almost becomes sweet when you
grill it.

Quiche with Asparagus, Mushrooms and Bacon

Quiche with Asparagus, Mushrooms and Bacon

1 9-inch pie crust
7 large eggs
3/4 cup half and half
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and chopped
1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained (you can use fresh, I just happened to have canned on hand)
4-6 slices bacon, cooked and diced
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Press pie crust into a pie plate and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half and salt and pepper. Add the chopped asparagus, mushrooms, bacon and cheddar cheese and stir to combine. Pour into pie plate and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until quiche is set (the center might still be slightly jiggly- that’s ok). If it starts browning too soon, cover it with a foil tent. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

*I like my asparagus slightly crisp, so I don’t cook it before putting it in the quiche; but if you like it really tender, you can blanch it in some boiling water for about 5 minutes before adding it to the egg mixture.

I have not made this yet, but I may bake the crust for 10-12 minutes before.

Spinach and Tomato Quiche with Potato Crust

Spinach and Tomato Quiche with Potato Crust

2 medium Russet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into very thin disks (less than 1/8 inch)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained of all liquid
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
5 or 6 cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
1/2 cup cheese (any cheese you have on hand- cheddar is always great)
7 eggs
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Layer the sliced potatoes in an even layer in the bottom of a pie plate or quiche pan, overlapping the edges a bit. Brush with the olive oil then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through and slightly crisp. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the red pepper, spinach, mushrooms and cheese. Spread mixture in an even layer into the potato crust, then place the tomatoes cut side down on top of the vegetables.

In another large bowl, combine the eggs, milk and salt and pepper. Whisk until totally combined. Pour over the the vegetables. Top with additional black pepper, if desired. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.