Christmas Feast 2011

We hosted Christmas at our house this year...making for a total of 9 people and 2 dogs in our house!  It was a little chaotic at times, but it's the holidays, right?!

Our pretty little Christmas tree!

(never mind the section in the middle that the lights went out :) )

On Christmas Eve we had a little feast of finger foods which included:

veggie tray

spinach dip

fiesta ranch dip

summer sausage, cheese and cracker tray

cocktail weenies

shrimp cocktail

peanut butter balls

Oreo truffles

chocolate-peanut butter fudge

sausage stars

jalapeno poppers

Recipes:

Spinach Dip:  This is something my parents have made for several years and I don't have the recipe...so I can't share it with you!

Fiesta Ranch Dip: A co-worker made this for a party we had and I fell in love!  I know, what?!!  I like something that's ranch?!  That's because it tastes nothing like ranch.  I didn't even know that they had this kind of ranch packets in the dressing aisle.  It's with the dry packets that you can just add to sour cream.  For this recipe: you'll need a 16oz container of sour cream, 8oz block of cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese,  and a fiesta ranch packet.  Mix together and enjoy!  Great on crackers, especially the honey wheat Wheat Thin stix.

Cocktail Weenies:  I use the only recipe I know...chili sauce, grape jelly, cocktail weenies and a crockpot!

Peanut Butter Balls:  All my cookbooks called for the recipe to be cooked...which I wasn't going to attempt on my day of prep...I wanted simple and quick results.  I found this recipe and cut it in half.  

Oreo Truffles:  This is another super simple recipe...a pack of Oreo's and 8oz of softened cream cheese.  Crush the Oreo's in a freezer bag.  Combine crushed Oreo's and cream cheese in a mixing bowl and mix until you have a thick chocolate mixture.  Put mixing bowl in freezer for 10-20 minutes...when the mixture is firm, it's much easier to work with and roll into balls.  I put them on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and put back in freezer while I'm melting the dipping chocolate.  Melt the white chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals (you don't want burnt chocolate).  Once chocolate is melted, dip the truffles and coat and put back on wax paper cookie sheet.  I usually end up dipping the truffles twice because the first time, chocolate bits get stuck in the white chocolate and they don't look as pretty.  So, once the first coating is dry, I melt more chocolate and dip again.  You can use any flavor of Oreo's...this year I used peppermint and the girls loved them!

 

  

  

Fudge:  I made easy (no marshmallow fudge), but used 3 different kind of chips...milk chocolate, semi-sweet and peanut butter.  The recipe calls for 3 cups of chips (I did 1/2 peanut butter and the remaining half was a mixture of mostly semi-sweet and milk chocolate).  After making a recipe of chocolate earlier, I realized that using all milk chocolate chips was a little overwhelming, so I decided to mix the chocolates so that I could get a good chocolate flavor and it worked!

Sausage Stars:  These are my little brother's favorite Christmas Eve treat.  And they're easy to make!  You'll need browned ground sausage, ranch dressing, shredded cheddar cheese and wonton wrappers.  Combine sausage, cheese and dressing to make the filling.  Add a little bit of dressing at a time...you don't want it too runny.  You can store the filling in the fridge until you're ready to make the stars.

I used a mini muffin tin, but you can use a regular muffin pan if that's all you have.

Preheat oven to 350.  Place a wonton wrapper in each opening and then spoon half a spoon of the filling into each wrapper and bake for 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Jalapeno Poppers:  I posted this recipe in a previous post.  I prepped the filling the day before which allowed the flavors to infuse the cream cheese more and made the poppers taste even more amazing!

Christmas Dinner

After homemade waffles were served and gifts opened, the cooking for lunch began!  Our lunch included:

ham

green bean casserole

cornbread corn

sweet potato casserole

broccoli mac and cheese

noodles

mashed potatoes

rolls
pumpkin pie
apple streusel pie

Paul started the ham in the roasting pan, which made room for everything else to go in the oven at various times.  I used a variation on this recipe for my green been casserole this year...I wanted to change it up a little bit and made it a little more fresh and homemade.  Cornbread corn is a recipe given to me by my college roommate and it's a favorite of one of my step-daughters.  Maybe next time I whip up a batch of the greatness that it is, I'll take some pictures and share it with you...maybe!

Paul requested sweet potato casserole this year, so the recipe search began.  I found this recipe on Pinterest, and after we made it I realized that something was wrong with the recipe, but it still turned out great and everyone enjoyed it!

Sweet Potato Casserole:  I'm going to share the recipe with you and then tell you where I think something needs adjusted (???).

   3 c sweet potatoes

   1/2 c sugar

   1/2 c butter, softened

   2 eggs, lightly beaten

   1 tsp vanilla

   1/3 c milk

Topping:

   1/3 c melted butter

   1 c brown sugar

   1/2 c flour

   1 c chopped pecans

1. Boil and mash sweet potatoes.

2. Beat in sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla and milk until smooth and creamy.

3. Put in 9x13 greased pan and evenly distribute the topping.

4. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

??? - If you mix the topping ingredients all together before distributing it on the sweet potato mixture, you'll get a gooey mess that won't spread on the sweet potatoes.  I think what was supposed to happen was: combine brown sugar, flour and pecans and stir to mix.  Then distribute evenly over sweet potato mixture, then pour melted butter over evenly.  And, I'm not sure we used a full 3 cups of sweet potatoes, my dad kind of just eyeballed it, so maybe that would have changed the mixture a bit.  So if you make this before I do, let me know how it turns out for you.

Thanks to Chef in Training for the recipe.

Broccoli Mac and Cheese:  This was a request of one of my step-daughters.  My mom made it for her and she fell in love and requests it several times a year.  It's just a homemade mac and cheese using small shell pasta, velveeta cheese, cream of mushroom soup, frozen broccoli, butter and bread crumbs.  It bakes up nicely and goes fast!

Wow, what a post!  Full of food...and it's making me hungry!

I hope you enjoy some of the shared recipes and that you can try some of them for your New Year's parties or other parties you have in the near future.

Happy baking and cooking!

The Prep

I'm a planner...really.  Ask anyone who knows me and they'll verify that info.  I'm a list maker...I like lists.  I recently downloaded a sticky note app on my phone so I can make lists that are always in the same place!  This being the eve of Christmas Eve, I did a lot of prepping for our Christmas celebrations which begin on Christmas Eve.

My family started a tradition when my brother and I were in junior high where we make a bunch of finger foods and candies to have on Christmas Eve before going to church and then get them all back out again when we get home.  I'm continuing that tradition and did a lot of prepping today.  Here are just a few of the things I started today...jalapeno popper filling, sausage star filling, cutting veggies, making candy, making ice, cheese dip, and the biggest prep - the house!  I'll be sharing some of the recipes and pictures with you, but they'll have to wait.

Happy prepping, cooking, and baking!

Merry Christmas!

Healthy Jalapeno Poppers!

I've just recently become a fan of jalapeno poppers, thanks to Buffalo Wild Wings who had a great appetizer this fall.  These little babies are much healthier, which makes them even more amazing!  If you haven't discovered wonton wrappers in the produce section of the grocery store, you're missing out.  These little squares make great little pockets and bake up nicely in muffin tins for little cups (I'll be sharing a recipe for this!).  They have the wonton wrappers and then they have the egg roll wrappers (larger squares)..which are good for making chimichangas (I'll get to that recipe later too!).  I got mine from Walmart, they're by the salad mixes and salsas in the produce chiller.  This is another little treat you're going to want to take to parties...everyone will love them!

 First you'll need to soften cream cheese by letting it come to room temperature.  When that's ready you can then dice some jalapenos.  I just bought a jar of jalapeno slices and diced them up, but if you make this in the summer you could use some fresh jalapenos.

Then sprinkle in some bacon pieces (everything's better with bacon, right?!) and shredded cheddar cheese.  Mixing time, since the cream cheese is soft, you can just use a spatula.  If after mixing, you notice you don't see a speck of each thing added to the cream cheese, then add some more!

Here's your popper filling!  Ok, so I kind of had both hands busy while putting these little things together, so I didn't get a picture of the wonton filling process, oops!  But it's super simple.  I used a regular spoon and got a scoop of the mixture that was about half of the spoon, then dolloped it in the middle of the wonton square.  (Have a cup of water near by so you can easily seal the wonton and move on to the next.)  Dip you're finger in water and get two of the edges, connected by a corner, wet.  Then fold the opposite corner over and press edges together, making a little triangle.  After you've used all your filling, place poppers on a sprayed cookie sheet.  To get a crisp, golden brown top, give a quite spray of cooking spray to the tops of the poppers.

Heat oven to 375 and bake for 15 minutes.

I served mine with sweet and sour sauce that you can get in the Asian food section at Walmart.

Since their baked and not fried, you can enjoy a few more with out all the grease!  I bet you can't eat just one!

Jalapeno Poppers

   16 Wonton wrappers

   4 oz cream cheese, softened (I used the reduced fat kind)

   1 1/2 Tbsp jalapenos, finely chopped (I didn't use an exact measurement)

   1 Tbsp bacon bits (again, I didn't use a measurement, just sprinkled some in)

   1/4 c shredded cheese (approximate)

   Sweet and Sour sauce

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.

2.  Mix cream cheese, jalapenos, cheese and bacon together.

3.  Place Tbsp of mixture in wonton wrapper.  Dip fingertip in water and wet 2 edges of the wrapper, fold over to form a triangle and press to seal.

4.  Spray lightly with cooking spray for crispy golden brown.

5.  Bake for 15 minutes.

6.  Serve with sweet and sour sauce and ENJOY!!!

Thanks to Pinching Your Pennies for this delicious little snack!  The recipe you'll find on the linked site is a smaller portion than mine, but I was making mine for a party.

Happy baking!

Cookie Dough Dip

Like we need more sweets this time of year...but I think you're going to want to make this one for your holiday parties.

I didn't take pictures of this process or even the end result.  I also didn't follow the recipe because I was trying to remove some of the calories from this creamy dip.  I'm guessing the substitution I made is why mine turned out a little gooey, but that's okay, the girls enjoyed it as a snack today.

Cookie Dough Dip
   1 - 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
   1/2 c butter, softened
   1 c powdered sugar
   2 Tbsp brown sugar
   1 1/2 tsp vanilla
   1 c chocolate chips
   1 c toffee bits

1. Cream together cream cheese and butter.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.
3. Serve with graham crackers, chocolate graham crackers, animal crackers or the healthy choice - apples!

Thanks to Add a Pinch for the recipe!

Happy cooking!

Breaded Tenderloin and Homemade Mushroom Gravy

So...it was just yesterday that I made it my goal to make at least one new recipe dinner for me and Paul.  Goal met!  A little trip to the deep freezer lead to the discovery of some venison tenderloins and AH!  the recipe was decided.  I love my deep freezer :)

I grew up on a crop farm with a dad that hunts deer.  Some people can't stand the taste of venison, but growing up I didn't even realize that what we had in our freezer was different than what they sold at the grocery store...probably because the only time my mom bought ground hamburger was when we ran out of deer meat.  I'm fortunate enough to now have a dad and brother who hunt and help stock our freezer.  One of my favorite winter meals growing up was my mom's breaded tenderloins with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes.  As soon as I saw the packages of tenderloins that comfort food came to mind.

I'm not sure the exact process my mom used to make this meal for us, so I kind of made up my own.

Thawed tenderloins next to the dredging mixture.

I used flour (which I think is the only thing my mom used), bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and garlic salt.  I gave the dredging mixture a little stir and then coated the meat.

Heat skillet with a couple of tablespoons of butter.  While frying up the meat, I realized that I didn't have enough butter, so I added some olive oil to the skillet...it would probably be better to just add both in the beginning.

Fry the meat, you're wanting to get a golden brown crust on the down side and then turn.  This is when I started preheating the oven to 350...to keep the meat warm while I prepared the potatoes and gravy.

Once the meat is browned on both side, put in baking dish and pop it in the oven.  Don't discard the drippings in the skillet...they will be come the gravy that takes this meal to the top!

Open a can of mushrooms, drain, finely dice and toss in skillet with drippings and another couple of tablespoons of butter.  After butter is melted, add a couple tablespoons of flour to make a rue.  Once you have a rue, add milk - about a 1/4 cup at a time.  Stir milk into rue...if still too thick add more milk.

While working on the gravy, I heated water for the mashed potatoes.  I very rarely make mashed potatoes that aren't instant...so to add just a touch of homemade-ness, I add butter to the heated water before stirring in the potatoes, add milk while stirring everything together and then before serving, add a couple of teaspoons of sour cream to make them rich and creamy.  For these mashed potatoes, I also added some garlic salt to carry over a little flavor from the meat.

I probably should have made another side, but oh well!

It was even better than it looks...try it!

Happy cooking!

What's next?

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks and it's kind of driving me a little crazy.

My goal this week is to make a new recipe for at least one dinner with Paul.  I don't know what that recipe is going to be or even the main ingredient...?!  I have two appetizer recipes I'll be making for a party on Friday night and I'm really excited about both of those...I'll be sure and share those with you because you're going to want to try them for your holiday parties.

The other thing I wanted to say in this post was that I don't make everything for meals from scratch or even make it.  During the week and every other weekend, it's just me and Paul and we're fans of quick and easy meals...so we have Hamburger Helper in the pantry and frozen pizza in the freezer.  It's not always easy or quick to make dinner from scratch...which is why I'm trying to find recipes that fit the descriptions of quick and easy, to not only bulk up my dinner menu, but so those who are reading my blog will get some meal ideas that will fit into their busy lives.

So I'm asking YOU to comment to this posting with a recipe or a meal idea that you would like to see on here.  Now, because of the holiday that is quickly approaching, I won't be working on any of those ideas until after Christmas.

Be watching for new post and I look forward to seeing some of your ideas.

Happy cooking!

What to do...?

If you're like me, you stocked up on pumpkin before Thanksgiving...I know Christmas is around the corner (yay!) and pumpkin pie is a favorite at Christmas as well, but here's a really easy recipe that you can make anytime during the holidays or after.

Literally, 2 ingredients...you most likely have both in your pantry right now.

Told ya it was easy!

Dump both ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined.  It was a little thick, so I added a couple splashes of milk and mixed again until it was a mousse like batter (sorry, forgot to take a picture of this step...next time I whip up some of these I'll be sure take a picture).  I always spray my cupcake liners before filling...it seems to help them release the goodness I've baked in them.

Pop them a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

 light and fluffy..."it's so fluffy!" : )

I also whipped up some cream cheese icing to drizzle over the one (or two) I had.  The amazing thing about these muffins, even though pumpkin is one of the two ingredients, you can't taste the pumpkin!

Go ahead and experiment with whatever flavor of cake mix you have in the pantry...I'm going to and can't wait!!!

Thanks to Sweet Verbena for the helpful way to get rid of that extra pumpkin!

Happy baking!

Easy Eggs

The first thing I remember being put in charge of as a kid in the kitchen was the deviled eggs.  It's not a job you take lightly when deviled eggs are a tradition at every family holiday meal.

Over the years, I got tired of the messy filling and the egg white tearing when trying to fill them using a spoon.  That's when I discovered the secret to easy filling and pretty deviled eggs.

The secret...sandwich baggie.

I use a small measuring cup to hold the baggie while I fill the bag with the coveted golden filling.

tada!



Snip one of the corners of the baggie off and you're ready!  (sorry for the sideways photo)

Now you can easily fill the whites without tearing them up and making a mess!

Glorious!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy cooking!

Holy Fudge...It Worked!

So when I posted about the really easy, no marshmallow fudge, I knew I would have to find ways of using the same recipe to make other kinds of fudge.  Fudge Experiment #1: easy peanut butter fudge

First, a special thanks goes to the inventor of peanut butter, some say it was George Washington Carver, while others say that the Aztecs were buttering the peanuts long before George came along...who cares?!  Genius!!

Second, a special thanks goes to the person who decided that peanut butter needed to be made into a chip form...Reese's were the only kind I saw at Walmart, but maybe there's another company out there somewhere.

It's the same recipe as before, just with peanut butter chips.  (Don't worry, I'll post the recipe again.)

Throw everything in a microwave save bowl, one large enough to allow for stirring.  Then pop it in the microwave for 2 minutes on half power, remove and stir.

Put it back in the microwave for another 3 minutes at half power.  When done give it a good final stirring, making sure to get all peanut butter chips incorporated, then pour in prepared pan (8x8, lined w/ foil, spray with cooking spray).

Put it in the fridge for a couple of hours to chill.

tada!

Easy Fudge

   3 c. peanut butter chips

   1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
   1/4 c. butter
   1/8 tsp salt
   1 tsp vanilla

1. Prep 8x8 pan with foil overhanging, spray with cooking spray.
2. Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl on half power for 2 minutes, stir, then microwave again for 3 minutes on half power.
3.  Give one final stir, making sure to get a consistent, smooth texture.
4. Pour into prepared pan and refrigerate until set.
5. Cut and enjoy!
6. Refrigerated any leftovers.

Fudge Tip:  Remember, you'll have to refrigerate the leftovers because this fudge wasn't cooked at candying temperature, you can't let it sit at room temperature without becoming a mess.

Be watching...Fudge Experiment #2 coming soon!

Happy cooking!

S'mores for Breakfast...French Style

Vacations when I was a kid were packing up the camper and visiting a state park for a week or so.  It wasn't always easy as packing the camper...no, we started with a truck and a tent.  My parents slept in the back of our truck with a mattress while my brother and I slept in this little bitty orange tent my parents got, possibly as a wedding gift.  Our first big camping vacation was through the state of Missouri...we spent a week touring the state, stopping each night to camp.

Our cab and a half truck with a topper, was loaded to the brim with all of the stuff we would need for the week...when I say it was loaded, I mean, stuffed, really stuffed.  Each time we stopped for the night, everything had to come out of the back of the truck and in the morning, it would all have to go back in.  We got so good at packing the truck, by the end of the week we had a whole 2 feet of space that was empty.  Growing up camping, my brother and I grew very fond of s'mores and it's the kind of treat that can take you back to when you had your first s'more sitting around a campfire.  Memories.

I was on my favorite site (Pinterest) the other day when I came across S'mores French Toast...ahhhahha! (angels singing)  I love s'mores and I love stuffed french toast, why didn't I think of this?!

As you can probably already guess...I didn't follow the recipe exactly.  I didn't have any mini marshmallows in the pantry, but I did have regular marshmallows.  So the hazelnut spread is the generic version of Nutella, just as yummy, not as expensive.  If you don't like the flavor of hazelnuts, you could probably just use some chocolate ganache...I'll give you a recipe for that too.

I just cut 3 regular marshmallows in half, but if you have mini marshmallows or marshmallow fluff, those will work too.

Here's where using marshmallow fluff would work the best.  Regular marshmallows are almost too big to really be affected by the little amount of heat that they're getting sandwiched in between the chocolate and bread.  While cooking up my s'more stuffed french toast, I put my 12 inch lid over stop, to help trap some of the heat so the marshmallows would feel the heat.

French toast perfection!

No syrup needed, not that I would use it anyway (just another sauce/topping that I despise).

Okay, so here's the other way that I didn't follow the recipe...the graham crackers.  The recipe calls for the sandwich to be dipped in egg and then in crushed graham crackers before cooking.  The graham crackers would have made the french toast a little more crunchy, but I don't think crunchy and french toast go together.


S'more French Toast
   bread
   mini marshmallows or marshmallow fluff
   chocolate-hazelnut spread or chocolate ganache
   egg
   crushed graham crackers
   

1. Spread chocolate spread on to both slices of bread.
2. Sprinkle mini marshmallows onto chocolate spread.
3. Lay one slice of bread on top of the other, making a sandwich.
4. Whisk egg in dish.
5. Crush some crackers and pour into a dish for dipping.
6. Dip sandwich in egg, turning to coat.  Then dip in graham crackers, turning over to coat.
7. Cook in skillet until lightly browned and marshmallows are melted.

Click here for the printable recipe...thanks to Buns in My Oven for the quick breakfast idea!


I told you I'd give you another little recipe that is sure to change your life...Chocolate Ganache.

Chocolate Ganache
   8 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (or you could use semisweet chocolate chips)
   1 1/2 tsp unsalted butter
   1 c. heavy whipping cream

1. In a saucepan, heat cream slowly for about 4 minutes until boiling (don't stir)
2. Have chocolate and butter ready in a metal or glass bowl.  When cream begins to bubble up the sides of the saucepan, pour it over the chocolate in the bowl.  Don't stir yet...let the chocolate soften.
3. After a couple of minutes, whisk the chocolate until melted completely.  Chocolate should be smooth.
4. It can be used to frost cakes, dip fruit, a dollop over ice cream or spread on bread for s'more french toast!

Click here for the printable version of the recipe...Thanks Cooks.com!

Happy cooking!

Frito Pie

Thoughts on Sunday lunch....it should be simple, quick and still have a lot of flavor.  This recipe may be the easiest Sunday lunch I've ever made...seriously.

Here's just how simple it really is...3 ingredients.

I didn't take any pictures during the building process, but here it is.

S-I-M-P-L-E.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Dump Frito corn chips in 9x13 pan.  Spoon dollops of chili on top of the fritos (dollops beside one another will give you complete chili coverage, because spreading is impossible).  Sprinkle cheese on top of chili.  Put in oven for 20 minutes.

Done!

The recipe calls for 3 cans of chili, but 2 seemed to be enough.  After dishing it out, we topped it off with sour cream.  This easy dish received great reviews from everyone.

Frito Pie

   1 bag of Frito corn chips

   3 cans of chili (w/ or w/o beans)

   1 c. shredded cheese

Click here for the recipe.  Thanks, Chef in Training!

Happy cooking!

Crispy Cheddar Chicken and Cheesy Ranch Potatoes

This was a weekend for cooking at home.  I had several recipes I wanted to try and this was the weekend.  I found this recipe on, where else, Pinterest.  Ok, so when it comes to cooking, there's something you should know about me...I very rarely follow the recipe.  Baking is another story...there's too much science involved in baking to mess to much with the recipe and get a good ending result.

One of my favorite foods is crispy chicken, so when I find a recipe for crispy chicken I'm eager to try it out.

This dish calls for one of my favorite cooking techniques - dredging.  I have no idea why, but I love to dredge.

First you start by crushing the crackers...my tool of choice is a rolling pin.

The dredging station...this step is all about organization (which I love!).

When you see the recipe, you'll notice that I'm missing another bowl for the dredging station...the cheese.  (Next time I plan on making the recipe with the cheese, but this time I was also fixing Cheesy Ranch Potatoes and didn't want to have cheese with sides of chicken and potatoes for dinner.)  I also didn't use the milk to start the dredge...I used 2 whisked eggs (maybe this is why I didn't get the crisp that I wanted?)  You'll notice in the picture below that my chicken pieces look smaller...that's because I used chicken breast tenderloins.  I had them in the freezer and that's what I pulled out...it also saved the step of cutting the chicken breasts into chunks.

Here's the final product...

Even after putting the chicken back in the oven without the foil, the top didn't crisp like I thought it would (possibly because I used egg instead of milk in the dredging process...hmm?), so I put it under the broiler for several minutes.

The recipe also calls for a sauce, which I didn't make for the dinner, but made it for the left over chicken.  When I made the sauce, I added more sour cream and some milk to thin it out some.  (The step-daughter who had some of the left over chicken said the sauce was good...yay!)

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

   4 large chicken breasts

   2 sleeves Ritz crackers

   1/4 tsp salt

   1/8 tsp pepper

   1/2 c. milk

   3 c. cheddar cheese, grated

   1 tsp dried parsley

Sauce

   1 can cream of chicken soup

   2 Tbsp sour cream

   2 Tbsp butter

1. Cut each chicken breast into 3 large chunks.

2. In a small food processor grind up the Ritz crackers.

3. Pour the milk, cheese, and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans.  Toss the salt and pepper in with the cracker crumbs and give a little stir.

4. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk then the cheese and finally the cracker crumbs.

5. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan.

6. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken.

7. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.

8. Into a medium sauce pan, combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk.  Stir over medium heat until the sauce is hot.  Serve over the chicken.

Click here for the printable recipe, thanks to Jamie Cooks It Up!

Cheesy Ranch Potatoes

Now you're probably going to freak out when I tell you this, but I HATE ranch...anything ranch.  I always have.  I've tried it several times over the last couple of years and have no idea what all the craziness is with putting ranch on absolutely everything you eat.  I have my sauces of choice and they are probably ones that you detest...most of my family does too.  It's okay, I don't mind being different.

Again, I didn't follow the recipe exactly...red potatoes were $2.49 for 5 lbs and russets were $1.39 for 10 lbs.  I'm a bargain kind of girl, so I went for the cheaper, bigger bag.

Spray the baking dish with cooking spray and then start cutting the potatoes into chunks...make sure they're all about the same size, this helps with making sure all of the pieces are cooked evenly.  Then add a couple of dollops of butter, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and I added a dash of steak seasoning...it has a couple of more savory spices that I love and give just a bit more seasoning to the potatoes.  Then cover the potatoes with foil and pop them in the oven to roast.

After an hour of roasting, pull the potatoes out of the oven and remove the foil.  See that little dish?  That's my dish of potatoes WITHOUT ranch.  I added ranch dressing to the other potatoes, stirred and then added the cheese.  Gave everything one last toss and then threw on some bacon crumbles.  Put the potatoes back in the oven for about 15 minutes just to melt the cheese.

Potatoes on the top rack...chicken on the bottom

tada!

Cheesy Ranch Potatoes

   3 lbs potatoes, diced

   dash of salt

   dash of pepper

   dash of chili powder (or steak seasoning)

   4 Tbsp butter, divided

   Shredded cheddar cheese

   Ranch Dressing

   Bacon crumbles

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Spray 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

3. Dice potatoes and put in baking dish and season potatoes with seasonings.

4. Put the divided putter on top of the potatoes and cover dish with foil.

5. Bake potatoes for an hour.

6. Remove potatoes from oven.  Eyeball it when putting on the ranch dressing...you can always add more.  Stir potatoes to coat with dressing.  Sprinkle cheese (you can also just eyeball this...I think I used about a cup).  Stir one more time and then add the bacon (optional) to the top, and put back in the oven, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes to melt the cheese.

Click here for a printable recipe, thanks Mrs Happy Homemaker!

Happy cooking!