White Chicken Chili

My family loves this recipe so much that they want it weekly...even during the SUMMER!  That's how good it is.  Don't pass on this EASY crockpot meal.  I love when I get to make this because it is so easy to make and everyone loves it.  Plus, you get to put sour cream and cheese on it.  That's just plain goodness right there.

My sister was just here visiting with her family and we partied hard! My whole family would get together every night for dinner and one of the nights was my turn.  I had about 20- 25 people to feed.  I tripled this recipe and put it into two crockpots and everyone loved it.  There wasn't much left over because almost everyone had seconds...even when it was 100 degrees outside.  Make it!

1 1/4 lb chicken breasts
2 cans (15oz) white beans  (My family likes when I use once can of black beans but you can use norther or navy beans)
1 can corn
I envelope taco seasoning
1 4oz can green chilies
1 can cream of chicken soup
14 oz chicken broth.

Throw it in the crockpot and cook it on high 3-5 hrs until done or low for 8-10 hrs.  I never have enough time to do it slow but haven't had any complaints on the flavors not being there when done on high

Seriously, don't miss out on this recipe.  Great for just the family and for big groups.

Lemon-Blueberry Crumble Bars

The story of how these came to be...
I was at Costco and we needed cream cheese.  I didn't want to go to another store so I bought the 3 lb block of cream cheese they sold.  Well, let's just say after that I told my family we'd be eating a lot of dinners and some desserts that had cream cheese in them.  For a great dinner with cream cheese check out my recipe of Creamy Italian Chicken .

I saw this recipe on the side of the cream cheese 3 lb box.  When I saw it I knew I needed to make them. Don't they sound delicious?  Well, they are!

Preheat your over to 350 degrees
Line a 9x13 pan with foil with extra on the sides so you can pull it out.

Crust-
1/2 c melted butter
Yellow cake mix
1 egg

Mix together and push into pan to cover the bottom.  Save some for the crumble on top.

Cream Cheese Lemon Filling-
16 oz cream cheese
1 egg
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbps lemon zest
1/2 c sugar

Pour over unbaked crust.  Then pour 2 1/2 cups of blueberries over the filling.  Use the rest of the crust to add in bits on top of the blueberries.

Bake for 55 min-1 hr.  When a toothpick comes out clean they're ready and worth it!

Marinated Steak Kabobs

These were a last minute thought for dinner.  Thank heavens I thought of it because it was a huge hit!  I looked up some marinades and found the perfect one.  We were all in love with this recipe.  The meat was perfectly flavorful and juicy the vegetables slightly charred and still had a slight crunch.

You can use any protein you want of course.  We went with a stir fry steak that was sliced thin and in strips. (SO yummy!) I added the meat to the marinade and let it sit for about an hour.

The vegetables I went with were  zucchini, onions, yellow and orange bell pepper.

I alternated the vegetables and meat and then brushed some marinade all over the vegetables.  We then grilled it until it was grilled to our liking.

If you don't try this recipe then you're seriously missing out in a great summer dish!

Tips!
-Soak your skewers in water before making the kabobs. This way they won't start a fire on the grill.
-Put some oil on a rag and wipe down your grill before placing the kabobs.  This way the kabobs won't stick.

Creamy Italian Chicken

This has been a family favorite for years. My mom taught me how to make this.  I didn't ask for a long time how to make it because it was so good and I was afraid it was too hard.  I don't like too hard.  Guess what? It was crazy easy! It has cream cheese in it too so that right there is a good sign.

I think this is a pretty popular dish, but those who don't know about it need to know.  It's a crockpot meal so it's a set it and forget it meal.  I love set it and forget it meals.

I put 2-3 frozen chicken breasts in a crockpot

I then blend together :
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of milk
1 package of dry Italian dressing

After blended well together I pour over the chicken and turn on my crockpot to high for about 4 hrs.  By this time the chicken is usually cooked.  We like to shred it and put it back in the sauce.  Some people like to cut it up into pieces.  It's up to you! After we've put the chicken back we give it another hr or so on low and then keep it warm until dinner time.

We have served this over rice and noodles.  Both are equally delicious!

This makes about 6 servings

Make this one!  It's so worth it.

Red White & Blue Trifle in Mason Jars

This trifle is so much fun and such a great idea for a 4th of July dessert! I got this idea from seeing a trifle and seeing a 4th of July cake I wanted to make.  I decided to mix the two and came up with this trifle.  I am sure it's been done before but I don't care.  I had a good time making it.  

I used the cake recipes from the Betty Crocker website.  Click on the recipes and you'll find them there. Instead of the white cake I used cream cheese frosting as the white stripe.  Why?  Because cream cheese frosting is delicious!  My 4 year old said, "Mom I love the white cream. Good job Mom."  It's a good sign when the 4 year is complimenting you.

My blue cake was cooked a little too much on the bottom, so instead of cutting them out like the red cake I broke it apart and it turned out really cute.  You can always fix mistakes to look like it was meant to be!

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 c butter

8 oz Cream Cheese

4 c confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)

1 tsp vanilla

Whip the cream cheese and butter together (both should be room temperature, if not you can microwave them for a few seconds until feeling like room temperature)

Add sugar and vanilla and whip until fluffy

I cut the red cake into circles that were slightly smaller than the mason jar (8oz).  You can do this with a cup or cookie cutter.  Whatever you find that is the right size.  I piped the frosting around on top of the cake to show the white stripe.  You continue to do this until it's almost to the top.  I added the crumbled blue cake on top and added a dollop of more frosting.

So cute and patriotic, don't you think??

Triple Chocolate Mint Brownies

I've never made mint brownies before and I've always wanted to.  I've also never made a chocolate ganache before and it was so easy!  My husband and I wanted to take some treats to some neighbors so I decided to go ahead and make these brownies.

We had a really busy day yesterday so I went for a boxed brownie mix.  I didn't have any! What?!  I always have brownie mix for times like this.  During my search I did see that I had triple chocolate fudge cake. Hmm...could I use cake mix to make brownies? Sure!  Let's give it a shot.
Spoiler: I will make brownies this way from now on.  SOOO yummy and a great texture. It was a brownie/cake texture so it held up great to the frosting and ganache.

Brownies
1 box triple chocolate fudge cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 c vegetable oil
1/2 c melt butter (1 stick)
2 tbsp water
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl -EASY!
Cooked in 9x13 pan at 350 for 25 min

This is on a sheet pan.  I doubled the recipe. I did not double the mint frosting recipe and felt it was perfect for the double brownie recipe.

Mint Frosting
1 c softened butter
3-4 cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
2 tbsp heavy cream
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp mint extract
Whip sugar and butter together.  Slowly add the sugar so it doesn't cover you and the kitchen. (this may have happened to me)
Add all other ingredients until whipped to a nice fluffy texture

Chocolate ganache
1/2 c heavy ceam
9 oz chocolate chips (dark, semi-sweet or milk)  I used milk chocolate.
Warm your cream on the stove until just before boiling point.  You just want to scald it.
Pour over chocolate
Let sit for a few seconds to let the milk melt the chocolate
Mix until all chocolate is melted and you get a silky texture.

Waalaa!  Mint Brownies.  You will impress :)

Raspberry Meringues

I have had this on my "make one day" list for a while now.  I thought these sounded and looked delicious. Plus, they were really fun to make! My kids enjoyed watching the egg whites get bigger and bigger. :)

I didn't add enough food coloring so I didn't achieve the color that was on the recipe picture.  I wish I had because the pink on the recipe is a gorgeous color.  I had a light pink come through.

Here you can find the exact recipe I followed and I would gladly make them again!  So good!
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/raspberry-meringues

About the point I started adding the sugar very slowly

                                   Ready to pipe or spoon!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Another family favorite! My 4 year old asked for seconds and my 2 year got upset when he thought his Dad was going to take a bite of his.  He said "Is mine!"  So, that right there tells you a little about this dish.

We can thank my sister and food network for this recipe.  I did a mix n' match between the two recipes to come up with a flavor aimed towards my family's likes.

I love the flavor of soy sauce so I used 1 tbsp more than the recipe said.  I also used 1/2 c of chicken stock instead of 1/4 c because I love how it balances out the flavors with a little more.  Those were my preferences with the recipes.

You can find one recipe at allofourtwists.blogspot.com (a blog started by my sister and friends that has many great recipes. ) and foodnetwork.com is where you'll find the other one.

Here you will find mine! :)

Frozen meatballs (follow directions on bag to cook) We like turkey meatballs by Foster sold at Costco.
(We make 3-4 meatballs per person)
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C Chicken stock
3 tbsp Soy Sauce
3 tbsp vinegar
1-20 oz can pineapple tidbits w/juice
1/2 green pepper 1/2 red or orange pepper (for color)
4 tbsp corn starch
4 tbsp water

I started cooking my meatballs in the oven as directed on the bag.
I cut my peppers in strips and cooked them in a little olive oil on the stove for 3-5 minutes (depending on crunchiness that you want)
I mixed my stock, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and pineapple +juice together in a bowl. (You can also just dump all these in the pan with the peppers without mixing in a bowl first)
I put the mixture in the pan and let simmer for a few minutes.
I mixed my water and corn starch together and added until desired consistency is achieved.  If you feel it's too thick you can add a little water to it until it's where you want it.

I added my meatballs and let it all heat up together.  I serve this over rice.  So so yummy!

Makes about 6 servings

My favorite chicken base.  I get this on amazon.com.  I haven't found a chicken stock yet that has the same flavor.

Creamy Chicken Pesto Lasagna

I saw a picture of a pesto lasagna and I wanted to make it.  My husband LOVES creamy chicken pesto as a pizza, on noodles or I'm sure would use it as a dip of some sort.  For this reason I changed the recipe to accommodate my family.  I turned a pesto lasagna I saw into creamy chicken pesto lasagna.

I needed to find a really good creamy pesto recipe because my husband has become an expert on the creamy pesto (I know this from a previous attempt where I failed, but he was kind about it).  I found a recipe from Campbell's soup.  I was hesitant at first but went with it.

He loved it!  He kept telling me how good the lasagna was and that he could eat it, "Everyday, and twice on Saturdays."  I finally confessed to him how I made it after dinner was over.  He was majorly impressed. So, here you go, the recipe that won over my creamy pesto expert husband.

1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 c pesto from a jar
1/2 c milk

12 lasagna noodles
2-3 shredded chicken breasts
Parmesan cheese
Mozzarella cheese would be good in the layers too!

I cooked the noodles and chicken before assembling.  Layered with noodles, sauce, chicken, and sprinkled parmesan cheese.  On top put sauce and parmesan cheese.

Cooked at 350 for 25 min or until pesto is bubbling and the cheese has slightly browned.

Double Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Double chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. 

You can all blame my sister for sending me this recipe.  She calls these devil cookies because they are ridiculously tempting.  She took these "devil" cookies to a church function once.  We thought that was kind of funny...get it "devil" cookies at church...okay, moving on.

Anyway, the recipe came down a line to where she got it from which is 

www.melskitchencafe.com/double-chocolate-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies

My husband tried these and told me if I didn't eat one right away I was doing myself a disservice.  They are scrumptious!  

A couple of tips I have for making cookies.  

 --In this recipe it says semi sweet chocolate chips.  If you love semi sweet then go for it.  BUT I will tell you that my mother-in-law introduced me to the best chocolate chips ever known to man.  Guittard milk chocolate baking chips. I have been told time and time again that I make the best cookies and I know these chocolate chips have a lot to do with it.  Trust me, they make a difference.

--Always whip your butter and sugar at the beginning.  Whip it and whip it good. I usually do this for about 2 minutes until it becomes very light and fluffy.  

--You want to bake your cookies with a cold cookie dough.  This will make it so your cookies don't spread and go flat.  I usually stick my dough in the refrigerator after I've made it, and I stick it back in the refrigerator between baking turns.  

I would definitely recommend trying these!  They are worth the time and people will love you for it.

I love this tool for cookies.  It makes your cookies come out the same size and that helps them to cook evenly

                    You can thank Betty Crocker for the cookies tips below

Symphony Bar Pastry

When I saw this video on instagram I knew immediately I had to try this.  It looked too easy and good not to try it.  You'll see in my pictures that things don't look nearly as perfect as you think they should be, but we have to remember that people don't necessary want perfection when it comes to food.  People do like the rustic homemade look.  Also, you can cover up mistakes and flaws. :)  You'll see I have done that with almonds and powdered sugar which made it look oh so yummy!

I chose a symphony bar as my candy bar of choice because I LOVE them.  Don't ask me if I could eat a whole giant symphony bar in one sitting...okay, I'll admit it, I can and have.

Anyway,  I took a puff pastry and thawed as directed. I cut almonds and sprayed my pan.

I cut the pastry down the sides and cut the corners off so it could fold into each other. I put my candy bar in the middle and proceeded to fold the pastry.  As you can see it didn't come out perfect, but it still turned out looking pretty good!

I egg washed (1 egg and splash of water mixed) the top of the pastry and topped with almonds.

I baked it at 375 for 25 minutes.

I sprinkled powdered sugar on top and then ate more than I thought I would.  Yep, it's good.

Beans and Rice

We've been making this dish for years.  My family absolutely loves it.  It's so quick and easy to make.

1 lb sausage (your preference)
We use turkey sausage because it's has less calories and we like it!
1 1/4 C Herdez mild or medium salsa.  You will want to use the Herdez brand.  It has the best flavor but of course you can use whatever you have.
1 can Black Beans
1/2 C Chicken Stock

Makes about 6 servings

                                   Best tool to break up meat while cooking (found mine at Walmart)  

Cook your sausage and then put all the other ingredients into a pot.  Let it simmer until a you get a thicker sauce.  See SO easy!

We put this over white or brown rice.

Great toppings and add ons
-Sour Cream
-Cheese
-Tortilla Chips

Puff Pastry Apple Cinnamon Flower

Okay, so I love apple desserts, so when I saw this one on instagram I really wanted to try it.  It was a video in another language so I did my best to interpret what was going on.

Things I would do differently next time.
-Not spread at much butter (I know...not as much butter?? What?? But yes not at much butter by just a little bit)
-Cut my apples thinner.  I already thought I cut them pretty thin, but you want them cut thin enough to be able to roll them without breaking.  I did have quite a few cut like that but not enough so some of my apples broke.

1 sheet of puff pastry
About 3 tbsp sugar and 1-2 tsp cinnamon mixed together. (The cinnamon really is your preference)
About 2 tbsp butter (Room temperature)
1-2 apples
Lemon juice
(Makes 5 flowers)

Follow thawing directions on puff pastry box
Preheated my over to 375 degrees
Cut my apples and put lemon juice on them so they wouldn't brown
Sprayed a cupcake pan
Mixed my cinnamon and sugar together
Rolled out my puff pastry to help any cracks come back together.
Cut it into 5 strips (the video did 4 strips)
Spread the butter
Sprinkled the sugar mixture
Placed the apples on half the sheet and folded over.  I pinched the sides to they wouldn't open
Then rolled it up. Placed in a cupcake pan
Cooked for 35-40 mins.
Sprinkled powdered sugar.
Ate two of them...oops!! :)