Monday, August 8, 2011

Homemade Lasagna

So, I decided I would finally try to make lasagna. I've never tried before, and honestly lasagna scares me! :) But, I looked at a few random recipes, and created in my opinion the PERFECT lasagna! :) Enjoy!
Homemade Meat Lasagna
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 pound italian sausage
1 package lasagna noodles
1 15 oz container cottage cheese (I used lowfat)
1 15 oz container ricotta cheese (I used fat free!)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used the kind in the shaker can, it's all I had!)
2 jars favorite marinara sauce (I love RAGU roasted garlic)
2 TB parsley
1 TB basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs

What-to-do:
1. Boil pasta according to directions, but take off 2 minutes. I baked mine 8 minutes, instead of 10. Drain, and lay out on a piece of wax paper.
2. Brown ground beef and sausage, until well cooked. Add pasta sauces, and bring to a low simmer, and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Mix ricotta, parmesan, and cottage cheese in a bowl. Add two eggs, parsley, basil, and salt and pepper. Mix really well. This will be the cheese filling. DO NOT ADD THE MOZZARELLA CHEESE! :)
4. Spray a 9x13 pan with pam, and let's get layering! Lay four noodles on the bottom of the pan, then put half of the cheese mixture and spread it evenly across the noodles. Then, sprinkle some mozzarella cheese over it evenly. Then add about a third of the meat sauce and spread evenly. Add four more noodles and repeat the layering process. Finally, add another layer of noodles, and the rest of the sauce on top. Sprinkle just a little mozzarella cheese on top.

5. Put in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly and heated through!
6. Serve it up, and enjoy with some garlic bread and salad!

Tips to wanna be chefs: I knew we wouldn't have been able to eat a whole pan, so I actually did this in two small pans, and only cooked one of the two. The other pan I put straight into the freezer, and I'll get it out in a week or two, defrost, and cook!



Saturday, July 30, 2011

Only the best recipe in the entire world.

Greg comes home tomorrow. I am so excited. I asked him what he wanted me to make for his first dinner home. He requested the Pioneer Woman's White Chicken Enchiladas. These are TO DIE FOR. Seriously, the best things in the entire world! Creamy, delish, amazing, and just wonderful. I will be making them on Monday for dinner and just wanted to share the recipe with the whole world! I do not change a thing, and do not wish to!

Also coming in the next week or so,

Lasagna (I've actually NEVER made lasagna before, so I looked at a few recipes, and am going to see how it goes!)

Apricot Chicken (It's already featured on my blog)

Pizza :)

Sunday, July 24, 2011

White Chicken Chili

My awesome friend Aimee made some crockpot white chicken chili, and posted it to her food blog. You can find it here. It looked delish, so I decided I would make it! I altered it just a tiny bit, but man was it good!
White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:
1 lb of chicken (I used 5 tenderloins, I didn't actually measure it though!)
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 4 oz can diced green chiles
1 can corn, drained
2 tsp chopped garlic
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cheese (I used taco shredded cheese)

cilantro
tomatoes, diced
tortilla chips
more cheese
more sour cream

what to do:
1. Put all ingredients, except sour cream and cheese into the slow cooker. Stir together, and close lid.
2. Cook on low for about 6-8 hours
3. Remove chicken breasts from slow cooker and shred with 2 forks.
4. Return chicken breasts to slow cooker and add sour cream and cheese.
5. Stir everything together.
6. Cook for another 30 minutes to hour.
7. Top with cilantro, tomatoes, more sour cream, or whatever you might want.

This chili was superb. Very flavorful! Thanks for the recipe Aimee!!! :)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Tomato Cream Pasta Sauce

This pasta sauce has always been my favorite. I finally decided I needed to learn how to make a pretty simple version of it at my house so that I could eat it on any pasta! Well, I discovered the perfect (in my eyes at least) recipe. Let's share!
Tomato Cream Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:
2TBS olive oil
1/4 of an onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce (mine is Ragu roasted garlic)
salt and pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
Parmesan cheese

What to do:
1. Heat olive oil on medium heat and add garlic and onions and saute until light brown.
2. Add tomato sauce, heat until bubbling (constantly stirring)
3. Add heavy cream slowly while stirring. Dash with a bit of salt and pepper, and sprinkle a handful of parmesan cheese.
4. Pour over your favorite pasta or tortellini!

ENJOY! :)

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

BBQ Chicken and Potato Quesadillas!

I made this Sunday night and it was AWESOME! I got the idea from a place in TX called Tin Star. I don't really like the place, but I love the bbq chicken quesadillas. These are easy, fast, and delicious. Also, you can use the leftover chicken for whatever you want!

BBQ Chicken and Potato Quesadillas

For the BBQ Chicken:
3 chicken breasts
1 cup of your favorite barbeque sauce
2 cloves garlic
what to do:
1. Throw the ingredients into the crockpot and cook on low for 5 hours. Take out and shred and cook another hour. TADA! You now have the chicken for the quesadillas

For the Potatoes:
3 large potatoes (clean and scrubbed)
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
garlic and herb seasoning
Salt and Pepper
what to do:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Cut the potatoes into 1 inch pieces and put into a bowl. Drizzle olive oil all over them, as much as you want. I don't use much, I just barely put enough to make each one a little wet. Then throw two cloves of chopped garlic into the bowl. Mix around. Then pour into a pyrex dish then sprinkle garlic and herb seasoning all over potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste.
Cook for 30-35 minutes or until golden on the tops.

For quesadilla assembly:
Cheese (I used Monterrey Jack and Cheddar)
Potatoes
Chicken
Tortillas
Sour Cream
Salsa
BBQ Sauce
what to do:
1. Put chicken and potatoes across the tortilla. Cover with cheese and heat in a pan on the stove. Serve with bbq sauce, sour cream, and salsa!

YUM!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Family Apricot Chicken

This recipe has been in my family for years. It's so simple, and so delicious! You seriously just need 4 ingredients. I made it for my father in law when he was here one time, and he loved it

Family Apricot Chicken
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1 small bottle russian dressing (or catalina)
1 small jar apricot preserves
1 packet lipton onion soup mix

what to do:
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Mix the soup mix, apricot jam, and russian dressing in a bowl.
3. Put chicken in a pyrex dish and pour mixture over chicken. Cook for 30 minutes or until chicken in no longer pink.
4. Serve with potatoes, or serve over white rice for a sweet and sour chicken type dinner.

ENJOY!


Sunday, April 3, 2011

I like Mexican Food. Do you?

My favorite type of food is mexican. Could it be because I lived in Mexico growing up?
Who knows, but, I make tacos almost once a week, and usually like to play with it until I find a recipe I love.
I've already posted some on here, but I discovered some new mexican chicken tacos that I LOVE!
They are different, and easy! AND DELISH!
And you could easily make chicken enchiladas with them, with a sour cream or cheese sauce,
or tacos,
or taco salad,
or burritos...
the possibilities are endless!

Spicy (ish) Chicken Taco Filling

(the assembly of tacos)
Ingredients:
4 large chicken breasts
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 14.5 oz can enchilada sauce
2 cloves garlic (I just use minced garlic from costco)
1 T chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste
2 T olive oil
what to do:
1. In a bowl, mix tomato sauce, enchilada sauce, garlic, cumin, sugar, and oregano. Set aside.
2. Salt and pepper the chicken breasts then cut into strips (I just did this to cook faster and it was yummy). Pour olive oil into a skillet over medium high heat and let get hot. Put chicken breasts in, and let cook for about 5 minutes, flipping over halfway through, just to brown the chicken a bit.
3. Pour mixture into the skillet and make sure to cover all chicken. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through.
4. Take chicken out onto a cutting board and either cut or shred the chicken. At this point, I poured about half of the leftover sauce out of the skillet and threw it away. Although you could use it as taco sauce if you want. Just leave enough of the sauce in the pan to mix well with the chicken.
5. Put chicken back into skillet and mix well. Let cook another 10 minutes.
6. Serve with warm tortillas or hard shells. Also you may top it with homemade spanish rice (I will put this recipe on another time!), cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.

ENJOY!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Sweet Potato, Black Beans, and Rice Burritos

Greg and I have been TRYING to eat better, and Greg loves sweet potatoes. So I decided to try a new recipe. We love black beans and rice, so I figured why not combine the three and see how it turns out? Well, it turned out great! :)

Sweet Potato, Black Beans, and Rice Burritos
Ingredients:
1/3 cup of uncooked brown rice
2/3 cup of chicken broth
1 bag of the sweet potato steamers (you can always make sweet potatoes the traditional way but this was much faster!)
I can black beans drained
3 T lemon juice
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1 T vegetable oil
1 clove garlic
1/8 of an onion chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Burrito size tortillas
1 cup of white cheese (I used my Monterrey Jack)

what to do:
1. Cook brown rice according to directions with the chicken broth instead of water. For most brown rice you get it to boil, then simmer for 50 minutes, then let it sit for 10 and fluff!
2. In a bowl, mix the beans with the lemon juice and seasonings. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the onions and garlic 2-3 minutes until soft. Add the bean mixture and warm through.
3. Make the mashed sweet potatoes. (I used the steamer ones in the frozen isle. All you do is microwave it in the bag, then pour into a bowl and mash SO EASY!)
4. BURRITO ASSEMBLY: Layer ingredients down the middle of tortilla in this order: Cheese, rice, beans, sweet potatoes. You can put as much of each ingredient as you would like. Fold the top and bottom then roll up so that it is a closed burrito. Put on a baking sheet. Brush with some olive oil and broil until brown and crispy :) I think it took 12 minutes in my oven. Serve with sour cream, salsa, or whatever! YUM!

Enjoy!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Really good Chicken Taco Meat

This meat was so moist and soft and good. Just trust me.
Easy crockpot chicken and totally healthy!
Sorry no picture :/
Sweet Chili-Lime Chicken Taco Meat

Ingredients:
1 T brown sugar
4-6 frozen chicken breasts (It really doesn't matter, I used 4 big costco size ones)
1 T chili powder
fresh lime juice from about 2 limes

What-to-do:
Throw the chicken in a crockpot. In a bowl, add ingredients and stir. Pour over chicken. Cook on low 6 hours or high for 3. Take chicken out and shred it then cook another hour.

Serve on warm tortillas, with some lettuce, onions, beans, sour cream, and cheese.
YUM!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Best cookies ever.
The end.
My beautiful mother taught me to make these oh so perfectly. I have to give her credit :)

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
4 cups of flour
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 sticks butter flavored crisco
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
4 Tbsp (or 1/4 cup) milk
2 Tbsp (plus a little extra) vanilla
2 cups or so of chocolate chips (I NEVER actually measure them though)

what to do:
1. Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl add flour, salt, and baking soda.
2. In your kitchen aid (I'm sure you all have one! If not, then use a different bowl) add crisco, brown sugar, milk and vanilla. Blend until creamy.
3. Add eggs, and beat for 2-3 minutes. (This is key. I have learned that it helps make the cookies fluffy)
4. Slowly add the flour mixture one cup at a time. Once that is all mixed, hand stir the chocolate chips in.
5. Make 1-2 inch balls and put on a pan. Bake for 6-7 minutes. When you take them out, they will still look like they need to bake. DO NOT PUT THEM BACK IN! Let cool for about 2 minutes then take off the cookie sheet.
EAT THE DELICIOUS COOKIES.

Greg would like to say:
"Everytime Chelsy makes these I turn into the cookie monster and go cookie cookie cookie gobble gobble, then they are gone!"

Embarrassingly easy chicken enchilada soup!

In a hurry for some dinner? Look no further! This recipe takes all of 15 minutes from start to finish, it uses all cans of stuff from your pantry, and tastes delish! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 can chicken (the big ones from Costco if you don't have that use 2 small ones)
1 can black beans drained
1 can corn drained
1 can nacho cheese soup
1 can enchilada sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup

What to do:
In a pot put all ingredients in. Heat over medium heat until simmering stirring occasionally. Serve with sour cream, chips, cheese, tomatoes, and guac!

That's it! So easy and yummy!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Barbeque Chicken Mac and Cheese

Erin Martin. This post is for you. I haven't cooked in a long time, so, I am putting a few of my favorites up :)
If you have ever heard of Picky-palate, that is where I got this idea. I have adjusted the recipe a bit to my liking (and I think it's perfect!) It makes a lot of food so bring it to a pot luck or barbeque! YUM!

Barbeque Chicken Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:
1 lb of elbow macaroni noodles (you can use any noodles actually)
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
1 whole egg beaten
2 Tbsp (heaping!) dry mustard (you can add up to 3 Tbsp and it will still be delish!)
4 cups of milk (I usually use 1 % or 2 %)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
6 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2-3 cups precooked chicken (I usually just boil mine in some water and a couple bouillon cubes)
1 bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce!

what-to-do:
1. Take boiled chicken and shred it with two forks until you have 2-3 cups of it. Pour your favorite bbq sauce over it until moist and as much sauce as you want. Set aside.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, cook pasta according to directions (al dente). I usually take mine out about 2-3 minutes before the full time. You still want your pasta to be tough because we will be cooking it more in the oven! Drain, set aside.
2. Whisk egg in a bowl and set aside.
3. Melt butter in a dutch oven or pan over medium heat on stove. Whisk in flour and cook for 3 minute stirring constantly. Pour in milk and mustard and whisk until very thick and smooth (about 5 minutes). Reduce heat to low
4. Now take about 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly whisk it into the beaten egg. Whisk constantly so that the egg will not cook. Stir until it's smooth. Pour and stir this egg mixture into sauce until it's smooth.
5. Slowly add 5 cups of cheese stirring constantly. Then add salts and pepper. Taste sauce to make sure it is salty enough :) You can always add more salt!
6. Pour cooked, drained macaroni into the pot and stir. Make sure to cover all of the noodles. Now pour into a pyrex pan (or you can use the same dutch oven if you used that) and top with bbq chicken and the other cup of cheese.
7. Bake for 25 minutes until bubbly and delicious.

tips to wanna-be-chefs: How to boil chicken? Put about 4 or 5 chicken breasts into a pot. Add water until all breasts are covered, add 2 or 3 bouillon cubes and boil for 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. If you don't have time for this step, just get a precooked chicken from the store and shred that (I just don't have that kind of money!) Also, if you want to add a half teaspoon of paprika to the cheese sauce it's delish too! Have fun! You'll never make kraft mac and cheese again!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Fail.

So, I fail as a "wanna-be-chef"

I'm sorry.

Not that anyone really ever reads this :)

But, I have started school, and alas, have not been able to update.

Or cook.

Hopefully I'll have time soon!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Chicken Tostadas

As I was walking through the grocery store, I came across some tostada shells, and I thought, man, I haven't had those in so long! I love me some tostadas. So, I decided to buy them, and make some yummy chicken tostadas. I homemade the refried beans as well, because I like black beans, and it was actually really easy! Here are the recipes for both! ENJOY!

Chicken Tostadas
Ingredients for chicken:
6-8 chicken breasts (frozen works great!)
1 T of chili powder
a squeeze of lemon juice
1 can green enchilada sauce

Other Ingredients for tostadas (use anything you want!):
Tostada shells (just flat corn tortilla chips is what they are)
Refried beans (recipe below)
cheese
guacamole
sour cream
onions
tomatoes
olives
lettuce

what to do:
1. Put it all into a crockpot, and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Take chicken out of liquid and shred. Put shredded chicken back into the crockpot and cook another hour. There's your chicken!
2. Spread beans on the shell, put some chicken on top, then top with whatever other toppings you feel like it! SO GOOD!

Refried Beans
Ingredients:
One can of black beans, rinsed and drained
about a half cup of water
2 large cloves of garlic
2 T olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1 T chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

what to do:
1. Put the black beans, water, garlic, paprika, and chili powder into a small pot on the stove over medium heat.
2. Let it get to a boil, cover and cook about 7-8 minutes
3. Blend or mash it with one of those hand mixers (pictured above) if you don't have one, then mash with a fork!
4. Salt and pepper as much as you want.
5. Put on your tostada!

tips to wanna-be-chefs:
I had never made homemade refried beans before and I just made that recipe up! They turned out wonderful, but you can do whatever seasonings you have available! :)

Sunday, January 9, 2011

"Healthy" Lemon Cake!

This was really good! It was SUPER moist, and I substituted a whole bunch of stuff to make it healthier. Lemony, sweet, moist, and delicious. Enjoy!

Healthy Lemon Cake
Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 (4 serving) box lemon pudding mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup applesauce
1 cup water
for glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
juice from one lemon

what to do:
1. Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 cake pan.
2. In a big bowl,throw in cake mix, lemon pudding, oil, eggs, applesauce and water. Blend until no chunks are left. It will be pretty runny, you will be able to pour it out of the bowl.
3. Pour batter into cake pan. Cook for 35 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
4. While it is in the oven make the glaze! Combine the powdered sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice, adding a little juice at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.
4. While still hot, poke holes into the cake with a toothpick. Then pour glaze all over the cake and let cool.
5. Serve and enjoy!

tips to wanna-be-chefs: If you don't want to make this healthier version, the real ingredients are 4 eggs and 1 cup of oil, no applesauce. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream! DELISH!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Party Queso Dip

We went to a party at Caroline and Jordan's house on Friday and I told caroline I would bring some kind of chips and dip. So, I decided to whip up some chili con queso seeing as I'm from TX and it's DELICIOUS!!!!
Party Queso Dip
Ingredients:
1 block of velveeta cheese (it may be a gross processed cheese, but it makes the BEST queso)
1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilies; 10 oz)
2 small cans of diced green chilis (8 oz total)
1 pound breakfast sausage (JIMMY DEAN! I used mild, but you can use hot if you like heat)
1 yellow onion

what-to-do:
1. Cut the velveeta cheese into 1-inch blocks and throw into a crockpot
2. Dice the onion, and throw into a skillet along with the sausage and cook until sausage is brown.
3. Throw the cooked onion and sausage into the crockpot along with the cheese.
4. Throw the tomatoes and chilies into the crockpot (juice and all!)
5. Let cook about an hour, but make sure you stir it every 10 or so minutes.
Take to a party in the crockpot to keep it hot! YUM!
ENJOY!