Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Buffalo Chicken Tortillas

We've have some friends that invited us to tailgate with them before the high school football last weekend.  I wanted to find something easy to make, didn't need to stay warm to be good and everyone would like.  I had found this recipe online and had to try it.  I had some of the hot sauce left over from the Red Hot Chicken Dip I made a while back.  I made them the night before and cut them right before we needed to leave.  I found my football tray to put them in and they turned out great.  I had nothing left to bring home but an empty tray.  So they must have been yummy!


Buffalo Chicken Tortillas
8 Tortillas
1 can (5 oz) white chicken chunks, shredded
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
2 packages of  cream cheese
1/2 cup of Frank's Hot Sauce 

Combine cheddar cheese and cream cheese until creamy. Add hot sauce and mix well. Mix in chicken.  Spread onto Tortillas evenly. Roll up tight and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate and slice after at least 1 hour. Eat the ends.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Fast and Easy Breakfast Casserole

I wanted to throw a quick breakfast together for my kids that wasn't cinnamon rolls from the can or frozen waffles.  I have several breakfast casserole recipes but all of the sausage that I have on hand is the roll kind that I keep in the freezer.  I have to be thinking ahead to get it out and defrosted so I can use it.  I realized that we did have frozen sausage patties that you cook in the microwave.  We have them on hand for my son to make homemade "bagel sausages" as he calls them.  I will have to do a post on them the next time he makes one.  So, here is my adaption of using frozen sausage patties in my casserole.
 
I cooked them according to the directions (3 at a time on the plate) and drained them on a paper towe.  Then I cut them up into bit size pieces and added them to my casserole vs using my sausage roll defrosted and browned.  It saved me a lot of time and it was so easy to throw together. 

 
Hope you enjoy!
 
 

 
Fast and Easy Breakfast Casserole
6 frozen sausage patties
6 eggs
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
1 pkg cresent rolls
pepper to taste
Unroll cresent rolls into a 9x13 baking dish.  Press seams to seal and fill the entire bottom of the dish.  Cook sausage patties according to directions and cut up into bite size pieces.  Sprinkle on top of cresent rolls.  Mix milk and eggs in a bowl and add pepper to taste.  Pour on top of sausage and cover with cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Red Hot Chicken Dip

My brother in law and sister in law brought this to a cookout last weekend.  It was wonderful and I had to have the recipe.  My brother in law told me its from the Frank's Red Hot Sauce bottle.  So, I found it at the store and bought whatever else I didn't have on hand.  They had served it in the crock pot so I put it in there while I was fixing the other items for dinner.  I think I ate most of it that night, but put some in a container for lunch the next day.  It was just as good heated up the next day for lunch.  

Enjoy!

Red Hot Chicken Dip
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing
1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot sauce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 can chicken chunks, drained

Place in crock pot and mix together.  Put on low for 1 hour and serve with tortilla chips.

OR

Stir cream cheese until smooth.  Add salad dressing, hot sauce and cheese.  Mix until combined.  Add chicken and put into baking dish.  Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

I used the crock pot and my cream cheese was still pretty solid.  Watch it in the crock pot, it can burn easily. 

Here is the link to the original recipe from Franks.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Broccolli Rice Casserole

This has been a staple for every family event we've had forever!  It is my favorite and I realized last night that I haven't fixed it in ages.  My son loves it but my girls really don't like it.  My husband and I ate enough for all of them.  It is super easy to make and I always have the ingredients on hand.  This is perfect for a potluck or family event.




Broccoli Rice Casserole

1 jar cheese whiz
1 cup rice, cooked
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 bag of frozen broccoli, cooked



Cook broccoli according to package directions.  Cook Rice according to package directions.  Mix all 4 ingredients together and pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish.  Cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees or until bubbly.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Chicken Spaghetti

I have wanted to try this recipe multiple times but it has never worked out.  Finally hubby has figured out that the "modified atkins" is really not the way to go.  Eat less, exercise and eat a more well rounded diet is the way to go.  So, I am able to try more things.  My 4 year old thought this sounded great but was not happy to see it on her plate.  All of my children ate their "no thank you" allotments and that was it.  We have instituted the rule you eat xx of bites based on your age.  4 year old - 4 bites, 8 year old - 8 bites.  My 11 year old was not happy but she ate her 11 bites and then grabbed a yogurt. 

Hubby and I really liked this.  The rotel gives it a kick.  But I think I will drain part of it away and not pour it all in.  Hubby isn't too big on spicy and this was a little too much for him.  I used fettuccine vs angel hair pasta and it was great.  All the cheesy goodness clung to those bigger noodles.  I put the remaining into containers and I am looking forward to eating mine for lunch today!

Chicken Spaghetti
8 oz pasta
2 cups chicken, cooked and chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles), undrained
8 oz sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Boil pasta as package directs and drain.  Mix all ingredients (except cheese), add to cooked pasta and put into a greased 9x13 pan.  Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Sprinkle with cheese and return to oven to melt (about 5 more minutes).

Serve with salad and garlic bread.

Bacon, Chicken & Rice Bake

Here is a recipe that I wanted to try but I don't think it turned out that great.  I have tried alot of recipes that I have found on Pinterest and they don't always live up to their recipe or photo.  I followed the directions and didn't add all the milk and it was still soupy.  I need to lower the chicken stock I think more next time and add more rice than it calls for.  It tasted WONDERFUL but was a little more runny than I would have liked.  The rice just didn't soak up as much of the liquid as I thought it should. 

I wanted to add this even though it didn't turn out like I expected.  That way you realize that cooking isn't always about perfect recipes.  There have been some real duds in my years of cooking.  My hubby braves them well and I throw the recipe out after if it was truly awful.  I have only done that once and it keeps my recipe box cleaned out :)

All ready to eat!
Bacon, Chicken and Rice Bake
4 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion , chopped (about 1 cup)
2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
4 tbl flour
3 ½ cups chicken stock
3 ½ cups milk
1 ½ cups uncooked long-grain rice
3 cups cooked chicken , cubed
2 cups cheddar cheese , shredded
1/2 cup cooked crumbled bacon



Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat and cook onions until translucent. Add garlic, seasoned salt, and pepper. Add flour and mix well. Cook until starting to color. Stir milk and stock into flour mixture.Turn heat to medium high and add one cup cheese and continue to whisk as mixture comes to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add rice and lower heat to medium low. Cook until the rice absorbs most of the liquid and is tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add chicken and bacon to the rice and sauce mixture. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 inch casserole. Sprinkle remaining cup of shredded cheddar on top of the casserole. Place in oven and cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbling.
 
Let me know if you find a way to make it less soupy for you.  I would love to figure this out.  When I make it again with some more adjustments, I will update this post.

Freezer Bacon

I finally had to use the bacon that I had precooked in the oven and froze the other day for an appetizer that I had made.  It came out perfectly.  I pulled the bacon from the freezer and thawed it for an hour in the fridge.  It looked like bacon I had just cooked.  Plus it was easier to chop and add to my recipe.  I didn't use all of the bacon and threw it into the fridge.  My daughter found it the next day and warmed it up in the microwave and had it for breakfast.  She said it tasted wonderful.

I will be cooking it again in the oven and freezing some more.  What an easy way to use up the bacon before it goes bad in the fridge.  How many times do you cook up bacon but not the entire package and put it back in the fridge.  I am going to cook the entire bag from now on and freeze it. 

Here is the link to the directions on how to cook the bacon in the oven and the link to my Breakfast OAMC post about how I froze the bacon. 

Enjoy!