BBQ Cheeseburger Pie

The first time I served the Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie (from the Bisquick box) they were ready to request it again.  This is my spin on the already approved recipe.  Once you've tried this recipe, you'll be able to come up with some yummy creations that will suit your family's tastes!

What you'll need:

   1 lb ground beef

   1/2 c or more shredded cheese

   1 box of cornbread mix

   ingredients to make corn bread (for Jiffy: 1/3 c milk and 1 egg)

   

Preheat oven to 400.

Brown a pound of ground beef and drain off grease.

Place beef in baking dish and stir in your favorite bbq sauce...make sure that all the beef is coated with sauce.

Evenly distribute beef in dish and top with shredded cheese (I used cheddar, but you could use whatever kind you like best or have in the fridge).

Whip up a box of cornbread (I usually have Jiffy on hand).

Pour cornbread mixture over cheese and gently spread cornbread to completely cover cheese and beef.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Happy baking!

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!

1st Official Recipe...Chicken Breasts with Creamy Mushroom Gravy

My first from-scratch meal in awhile...it's been a little crazy at our house the last couple of weeks.  Usually we throw something in the oven like little rolls of pizza (yummy) or just thaw some hamburger and add the other ingredients for "the helper" in and it's dinner time, BUT not tonight.

I found this recipe on the Betty Crocker website and have been wanting to try it for awhile now and tonight was finally the night.

As you can see, I had several things going at once.  I served the chicken with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans.  After the chicken was golden brown, I put it in the oven to finish cooking...no one likes pink chicken.  The recipe calls for the chicken to be gently pounded until about 1/4 inch thick...I skipped this step, but if you don't, you won't need to warm up the oven to finish the chicken.

You then use the skillet with the drippings to make the gravy...the recipe calls for fresh mushrooms, but they can be expensive and not easily stored in my pantry, so I used the kind from the can.  If you've never made a rue, then you're in for a treat because that's how you start the gravy to this dish.

I was a little worried that the from-the-can mushrooms wouldn't give as much flavor as fresh, but they're a perfect addition to this gravy that's really flavored with soy sauce.

Here's what your gravy will look like after adding the Bisquick, milk and soy sauce.  (The recipe calls for green onions, but I don't like onions and my husband is allergic, so they're out of every dish I make.)  After finishing everything I had going at once (not-from-scratch mashed potatoes, steamed the real green beans, got the chicken out of the oven), here's what the finished product looked like...

This little creation got excellent reviews from my husband and I even gave myself a pat on the back for the delicious meal.

Chicken Breast with Creamy Mushroom Gravy
   4  boneless skinless chicken breasts (4 oz each)
   1/2 c. Original Bisquick mix
   1/2 tsp garlic powder
   1 egg
   3 tbsp vegetable oil
   1 1/2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms (or 3/4 a can)
   3 tbsp Original Bisquick mix
   2 medium green onions, sliced (2 tbsp)
   1 c. milk
   1 1/2 tsp soy sauce

1.  Between pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper, place each chicken breast smooth side down; gently pound with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/4 in thick.
2.  In a shallow dish, stir 1/2 c. Bisquick mix and the garlic powder.  in another shallow dish, beat egg.  Dip chicken in egg, then coat with Bisquick mixture.
3.  In 12-inch non-skillet, heat 2 tbsp of the oil over medium head.  Add chicken; cook about 3 minutes or until golden brown.  Turn chicken; cover and cook 4-6 minutes longer or until chicken is no longer pink in center.  Remove to serving platter; cover to keep warm.
4.  In same skillet, heat remaining 1 tbsp. oil over medium heat.  Add mushrooms; cook 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until browned.  Add 3 tbsp Bisquick mix and the onions; cook and stir until mixed.  Stir in milk and soy sauce.  Cook until mixture is thick and bubbly.  Serve over chicken.

Makes 4 servings

Click here for the recipe from the Betty Crocker website.

Happy cooking!