Chicken Noodle Casserole

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

6 ounces egg noodles

1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup

1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

salt and black pepper to taste

1 cup crumbled Ritz crackers

½ cup butter

Add large chicken to a large pot of simmering water. Cook until no longer pink in center, about 12 minutes. 

Remove from pot and chop into bite size pieces and set aside. 

Bring chicken cooking water to a boil and cook pasta in it. Drain. 

Add noodles back into pot and mix with chicken pieces.

In a separate bowl, mix together mushroom soup, chicken soup, and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cream soup mixture with the chicken mixture and stir to combine. 

Melt butter in microwave. Add the crumbled crackers to the butter and stir until all coated. Place the cracker mixture on top of the casserole.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until heated through and browned on top.

Hamburger Beef Stew

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

4 potatoes, peeled and cubed - bite size

28 oz stewed tomatoes, plus juice

10.5 oz beef broth, and then possibly an additional 10oz or more

2 Tbsp. parsley flakes

2 Tbsp, tapioca

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 - 5.5oz cans of v-8 original

1 head of cauliflower, chopped - bite size

1 can peas

Brown ground beef with onion until the meat is no longer pink.

Meanwhile, chop other ingredients.  Set cauliflower aside. 

*Note I decided I should have cut potatoes smaller - more bite size after this batch!

Add all ingredients into the crockpot, except cauliflower, canned peas and 2nd portion of beef broth. Keep bay leaves on top for easy removal later.

Cook on low of 8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.  

Add cauliflower, canned peas and 2nd portion of beef broth (as much as needed for the consistency that you prefer) the last cooking hour.

I served this with frozen dinner rolls that I popped into the oven the last 15 minutes of cooking with a little bit of melted butter on the top.  

Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowls

Ingredients:

for the sauce:

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 Tablespoons rice or apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 cloves garlic minced

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

additional:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders, cut into bite size pieces

salt and pepper

1 Tbsp oil

rice

broccoli, cut into bite size pieces

Cook rice according to instructions on packaging.

Add broccoli to a pan with about an inch of water. Add lid and bring to boil to steam broccoli for about 5 minutes.

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper and place in large non stick skillet with oil.

Cook until no longer pink, stirring often.

In a small bowl or a measuring cup, combine brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, vinegar and cornstarch. Whisk together until there are no cornstarch lumps. 

Add sauce to chicken and cook stirring constantly, until it thickens into shiny glaze.

Remove from heat and serve immediately with rice and steamed broccoli. I add chow mein noodles and a bit more soy sauce to my own plate.

Seven Layer Magic Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. Graham Cracker crumbs
1/2 c. butter, melted
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
6oz butterscotch chips
6oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/3 c. flaked coconut
1 c. pecans, chopped

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Either spray 13x9 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter.  Mix will then press mixture into the bottom of pan.  Use the bottom of a measuring cup to pack the mixture tightly to the pan.

Pour sweetened condensed milk over crumb mixture. 

Layer with remaining ingredients - press down again with bottom of measuring cup. Make sure top has some chips on the top.

Bake 25-30 minutes.  While bars are warm, loosen the sides from the pan or lift parchment paper out of pan.  Let bars cool completely before cutting into bar size pieces. Store in airtight container.

Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:

3/4 cup uncooked wild rice blend

1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 small onion)

1 cup diced carrots (2 medium)

1 cup diced celery (3 ribs)

7 Tbsp butter, diced, divided

1 large garlic clove, minced (1 1/2 tsp)

4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 tsp of each of the following dried seasonings: thyme, marjoram, sage and rosemary (or 1 tsp fresh, minced of any)

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts halves (I used frozen boneless/skinless tenders)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy cream (or half and half - not shown in photo - woops fail!)

1 tsp lemon zest

In medium pot, prepare rice according to directions listed on package. Meanwhile, chop carrots, onion and celery.

Halfway through the rice cooking, in a large stock pot, melt 1 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and celery and saute 4 minutes, add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer.

Add chicken broth, thyme, marjoram, sage, rosemary and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Increase heat to medium-high, add chicken and bring mixture to a boil.

Cover stock pot with lid, reduce to medium-low heat and allow mixture to simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 12 - 16 minutes (rotating chicken to opposite side once during cooking for thicker chicken breasts - if they don't fully immerse in broth).

Remove chicken and set aside on cutting board to cool 5 minutes then shred into small bite size pieces. 

Leave soup covered over warm heat.

Meanwhile in a separate medium saucepan, melt remaining 6 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook 1 1/2 minutes, whisking constantly.

It will get thick! Then while whisking vigorously, slowly pour milk into butter/flour mixture. Whisk in heavy cream. Cook mixture, stirring constantly until it thickens again. It takes some time but does eventually thicken - just keep stirring or you'll scorch the bottom portion!

Add milk mixture to soup mixture in pot along with cooked rice, add in chicken and lemon zest. And stir. 

 

Serve with a crusty bread or in a pinch saltine crackers. Add more salt or pepper to taste.

Thanks for passing the recipe onto me Jaime J!

Collard Greens

Ingredients: 

Collard greens (about 2 pounds), large stem portion removed (if desired) and rinsed well (discard any yellow leaves) 

2-3 ham hocks (about 1–1/4 pounds) 

1 tablespoon brown sugar 

4 cups low sodium chicken broth (32 ounces) 

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon black pepper

Rinse collard greens- even the precut bagged variety. Stack 3 to 4 collard leaves on top of one another and chop into 2-inch pieces. Place the collard greens in crockpot (6-quart capacity or larger) and add remaining ingredients. Stir to coat leaves with the chicken broth.

Cover and cook on high heat for 5 hours or low heat for 10 hours, or until collards are tender to your liking, but do stir 2 to 3 times throughout cooking time. Remove ham hocks and roughly chop or shred (be sure to remove all pieces of bone; some can be very small). Discard bone and skin. Return meat to slow cooker and stir to combine. Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.

Note: the last time this was made 5 hours on high was not long enough per JT. Ended up being on high atleast another hour.

Rolo Pecan Pretzels

Pretzels - the bite size kind but not any stick kinds

Rolos - do yourself a favor and buy the ones that are unwrapped unless you want to give a youngster a task

Pecans - whole 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread out pretzels and add a rolo to each.

Bake at 250 for no more than 5 minutes. Ideally you want the rolo to be soft but still holding its shape.

Pop a pecan on top of each softened rolo pressing down into the pretzel. Transfer the pan into the freezer until they have set - about 10 minutes. Store in an air tight container.

Sausage Egg Bake

Ingredients:

1 pound package pork breakfast sausage

1 (8-ounce) tube refrigerated crescent rolls

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

6 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan.

Cook sausage in a pan, crumbling it with a wooden spoon. Drain.

Unroll crescent roll dough into pan, spinch all of the seams.

Sprinkle the cooked sausage and cheeses onto the crescent roll. Make sure to get even coverage so that each bite has all ingredients! 

Whisk together eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Pour over sausage and cheese.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

I like to serve with a quick fresh fruit salad for breakfast.