Bacon Frito Dip

I was asked to bring appetizers to a cookout with old daycare families and I thought I would try something new.  I had found this and wanted to see how it tasted.  One thing I have learned lately is that adding more bacon than a recipe calls for is not always a good thing.  More bacon gives things a hickory taste and sometimes it is a little overpowering.  Just remember, everything with Bacon is better just don't put in more than called for in recipes :)



Bacon Frito Dip
16 oz sour cream
1 pkg ranch dip mix
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup bacon bits

Mix well, chill for one hour and serve with Fritos

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

My 4th meal last week was this fabulous recipe that I found that the picture just made me hungry.  I had everything in my pantry, fridge or freezer and it was super easy to throw together.  I made it when I got home from work and threw it into the fridge to put in after we got home from football and cross country practice.  My hubby used a "little" more cheese on the top than it asks for.  But who could blame him.  Cheese makes most things just that much better.

I have several enchilada recipes in my collection but this one has to be my favorite.  The salsa really gives it just the right punch.  Plus, there is no cooking on the stove before hand.  You mix it together and fill tortillas.  Right up my alley.

Hope you enjoy.  My photo isn't anywhere near the one I found online but it tastes really good :)

My family started dinner before I could get a good photo

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
2 cups cooked chicken - diced
1(10 3/4oz) cream of chicken soup
3 oz cream cheese, soft
1/2 c sour cream
1 c salsa
8 flour tortillas
1/2 c cheddar cheese
1 tomato chopped (garnish)

Mix soup, cream cheese, sour cream and salsa.  In a separate bowl, mix chicken, cheese and 1 cup of salsa mixture.  Place 3 tbl of chicken mix in each tortilla.  Roll up and place seam side down in a greased 9x13 casserole dish.  Pour remaining salsa over filled tortillas.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Top with cheddar cheese (how every much you like) and return to oven for 5 minutes.  Top with tomato and a little sour cream.

More OAMC Cooking

I did some more Once A Month Cooking today.  I keep calling it OAMC but I don't do it once a month for a full day.  I do it for a couple hours whenever it fits in our schedule.  Today happened to be one of them. 

School starts in a week and I wanted to get some more banana bread made and muffins done for the freezer.  It makes mornings so much easier if I have something I can pull out that is homemade for my kids.  It makes me feel better when I know they have good, heathly choices in the morning and not sugary cereal or poptarts every morning.  I try to even that out by having other options for them.  But it can be hard to stay ahead of it. 

Banana Bread, muffins & precooked bacon

I made 2 packages of blueberry and chocolate chip muffins to pop in the freezer.  That way I can defrost as many as I need or the entire container at once. 

I also made 2 loaves of banana bread using my sisters recipe.  You can find it by clicking here. I had banana's going brown on the counter and I hate to throw them out.

I also tried something completely different this month.  I had found a pin to walk me through cooking bacon in the oven.  It was super easy.  I folded the cooled bacon in half and stored them in a freezer bag.  I am going to see how they turn out next week.  I have lots of recipes that call for crumbled bacon and I hate using bacon bits.  We shall see if my experiement works.  I will pull it out and defrost it as I need it.  Look for a post on that sometime soon. 

Here are the steps to cook bacon in the oven:
Line a cookie sheet with foil.  Lay bacon on foil touching buy not overlapping.  Set oven to 400 degrees and pop bacon in for 15-17 minutes.  (You do NOT need to preheat the oven)  Cook longer if you like really crisp bacon.  Remove bacon and drain on paper towels.  Once cool, use the paper towels to soak up grease on foil and discard.

Applesauce Pork Loin

Meal 3 of the week was a huge hit with most of the crew.  Just wish my hubby would have made it home before 9:30pm to enjoy it right out of the oven :)  I have really enjoyed the recipes I planned for the week and trying something new every night.  My kids have really branched out and told me what they like and don't like. 

This was so easy to make and really tender.  I had a pork loin in the freezer that I pulled out on Monday so it was ready to go on Wednesday night after work.  It was 4lbs with a bone in and I added an additional hour to the cook time and it was really worth it.  My son and daughter both told me it was DELICIOUS!  My little one refues anything that isn't shaped like a chicken nugget or noodle.  But she did have 2 "No Thank You" bites and liked it. 

I served it with scalloped potatos (from a box) because that is what I had, a veggie and rolls.  It was very moist and tender.

Editor will not allow me to rotate my photo.

Hope you enjoy it as much as my family did.

Applesauce Pork Loin
1 pork loin (3lbs)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbl veg oil
1 cup applesauce
3 tbl dijon mustard
1 tbl honey

Sprinkle roast with salt and pepper.  Brown roast on all sides in oil.  Place in roasting pan. 
Combine remaining 3 ingredients and spread over roast.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.  Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

* I added an additional hour to my bake time for my additional pound.

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

This is the 2nd meal of my new meal a night challenge this week.  It was super easy but I tried to make it harder.  I didn't realize that the chicken I had planned to use was with rib meat.  Slightly problematic.  Had to cut the breasts off the bone before putting them in the crock pot but we survived.  I only found one bone in my chicken when I ate it.  I also should have shredded the chicken sooner but wasn't home as soon as I wanted to be.  Eating at 8pm is not great but we all sit down together then so I will take it :)  So, mine looks a little soupy.  The taste was great!

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos
6 frozen chicken breasts
1 can chicken or turkey gravy
1 can chicken broth
1 pkg ranch dressing mix
1 pkg taco seasoning.

Place FROZEN chicken in crock pot.  Add seasonings, broth and gravy to crock pot.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours.  Shred chicken put back in crock pot and cook another 45 minutes.

Serve on tortillas with sour cream, tomato's, cheese and lettuce.

I had some left over and I plan on making chicken enchiladas with it and putting them in the freezer for another meal!!!

Blog Update

I haven't really posted alot to my blog lately and I have been trying to figure out why that is.  Besides being super busy, I haven't cooked a whole lot of new things lately.  I have been making a lot of what is already on here because my family really likes it or I forget to take a photo of whatever it was I made.  By the time I remember, it's all gone or whatever photo I could get would be terrible.  My photos are not always the best but it can be really hard to get a photo of some of the things I make.  Plus we have traveled alot this summer.  Not any huge vacation, but a couple weekend trips to keep us busy - Wisconsin Dells, St Louis, Lake of the Ozarks, home to Quincy.

My family enjoying the Magic House in St Louis last month

I have been doing more freezer cooking and that is really going well.  I have found what works for me and makes me happy.  I would love to find the time to do the day long marathon, but that doesn't work for my family.  I make a few things when I have an hour and it restocks my freezer.  I have chicken cooked and cubed in the freezer but I need to buy another bag of chicken and do it again this week.  I plan on using all that is currently in my freezer in meals this week.

I have also meal planned this week for the first time ever.  OK.  I guess I should say I am planning on making 5 new meals I have never made before this week.  I plan meals when I grocery shop - hamburgers, brats, pork chops, barbecue beef, spaghetti.  But I am making 5 new things I found on pinterest this week.  I had all but 2 things in my pantry, freezer or fridge to make them all.  Now that makes me happy. 

My kids are tired of hamburgers and brats.  Me too, but it's so easy to hand my hubby a platter of meat and ask him to cook it on the grill.  Weeks and weeks of over 100 degree days does not make me want to turn on my oven at all.  So, I planned for the week.  We shall see how it goes.

Thanks for reading and hopefully you find some recipes on here that you can use to make your life easier.  I LOVE to cook and try new recipes.  So, I plan to keep on working on this more and have more things for you to try too!

Honey Glazed Bacon Wrapped Chicken

How can you go wrong with anything that has bacon wrapped around it?  I made these last night for the first time and they were gone in no time.  They were super easy and had lots of flavor.  I paired it with my kids favorite side (butter egg noodles), a salad and fresh strawberries.  The recipe calls for chicken breasts but I used chicken tenderloins and they were the perfect size.  Made this even easier to create.

Honey Glazed Bacon Wrapped Chicken
1 bag of chicken tenderloins
1 package thin slices of bacon
3 Tbl honey
2 Tbl honey Dijon mustard
1 Tbl lemon juice

Mix honey,mustard and lemon juice.  Wrap bacon around chicken and place in a 9x13 baking dish.  Brush chicken with half the marinade.  Bake at 425 degrees for 10-13 minutes.  Flip over and brush with remaining marinade.  Bake another 10-13 minutes.

Kid Friendly Fettuccine Alfredo

Here is the recipe for my kids all time favorite fettuccine that I can throw together in 15 minutes.  Perfect for that crazy week night that you need something quick and don't want to do fast food.  I have tried it with all kinds of pasta but this seems to be my kids favorite.  Of course they love my 4 Cheese Fettuccine but I don't always have the time to make that. 

Enjoy!!!

Kid Friendly Fettucine Alfredo
1 box farfalle pasta
1 jar Alfredo sauce
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to directions.  Add Alfredo sauce and chicken to a sauce pan and heat thru.  When pasta is done and drained, add to sauce pan.  Stir to combine and add cheese.  Cook until cheese melts. 

Serve with salad and bread. 

Tip: I pull the chicken from my freezer so it's super quick.  I pre-cook a 5 lb bag of chicken every 2 weeks.  Cube it and store it in 2 cup containers.  It makes week night cooking a snap.