Brussel Sprouts with Apple and Bacon

Brussel Sprouts with Apple and Bacon taken from Basket 411

• 12 oz. brussel sprouts, quartered
• 1 fuji or gala apple, cut in 1/2" dice (I used 2) (I used 3-4 because I was scared of tasting brussel sprouts, never tried them because my dad hated them as a kid)
• 1 red onion, cut in 1/2" dice (I used a sweet onion)
• 3 slices applewood smoked bacon or good quality bacon, cut in 1/4" strips (I used Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon - trying to stay away from nitrates during my pregnancy)
• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 3/4 tsp. kosher Salt
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

It was surprisingly good. Brussel sprouts just remind me of cabbage. They do tend to have an after taste if you eat just one by itself. It was better to have a piece of everything in each bite. I ate mine with some Chicken Rice Sides.Place the oil, bacon, and onions in a sautee pan on medium heat. Stir constantly and cook 4-5 minutes to caramelize. The onions should be golden brown and fairly crispy.

Add the apples, brussel sprouts and salt and continue cooking for another 5-8 minutes. Stir occasionally, but you want to let sit in the pan long enough to sear and color.

When all are nice and seared golden brown, but brussel sprouts are still partially crisp, turn off the heat and add lemon juice. Stir and remove from pan to stop the cooking process. Serve warm.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

 Recipe from Pocket Full of Posies: Perfect Pocket Meal Planning.

Ingredients

• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 1/3 C. water
• 3/4 C. uncooked rice
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 C frozen mixed veggies
• 4 chicken breasts
• 1/2 C shredded Cheddar cheese (I probably used Colby jack)

Directions:

1.  Stir soup, water, rice, onion powder, pepper and veggies in a 2 quart baking dish (I used a 9x13 pan). 
2. Top with chicken. Season the chicken as desired.
3. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes until chicken is cooked through and rice is tender.
4. Top with cheese.
5. Let casserole stand for 10 minutes. Stir before serving.

Variation: Cooke rice according to package directions. Cook chicken and cut or shred. Combine cooked rice, cooked chicken soup, water, onion powder, pepper, and veggies in a baking dish; top with cheese. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until heated through.

I did the regular way because then technically I have to do less. =D. I'm lazy.

Chicken Salad

 Recipe from Pocket Full of Posies: Perfect Pocket Meal Planning.

Ingredients

• 1 can chicken
• grapes, halved
• 1 can mandarin oranges
• 1/4 C. sliced almonds, toasted (I used mixed nuts because I thought I had almonds but didn't)
• 2-3 stalks celery
• 1/2 C. Miracle Whip
• croissants, bread, crackers

Mix all ingredients. Serve on a croissant with lettuce.

I love them on those new Sandwich Thins bread! I ate like 4 in a day. =D

Forgot to take pictures of them on the bread, but here's it with crackers. So cute!

Homemade Pizza

 Recipe from Pocket Full of Posies: Perfect Pocket Meal Planning.

Ingredients

• 8 C. flour
• 3 C. water
• 2 TBSP yeast
• 1/2 C. sugar
• 1/2 C. olive oil
• 1 tsp. salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. 
• Mix all ingredients and kneed (I always mix yeast, then water and then sugar to make sure yeast is still good - turns kinda foamy. Then I add in the rest of the ingredients). 
• Roll out thin and place on well greased pizza pan. Fold up edges to make a crust.

• Bake in oven until lightly brown about 10 minutes. (Do not skip! otherwise your crust will be doughy in the middle).

• Then add desired toppings (I always just do 1/2 jar of Ragu veggie spaghetti sauce, 8 oz of shredded mozzarella cheese and pepperoni) 

****Note - Doing it this way, the dough is very thick and hearty almost too much bread (see above pictures). I've halved the recipe or make 2 pizzas, and I like it a lot better - more normal amount of crust.  But if you like a lot of bread, then try making 1 pizza out of the dough.
I'll post a picture of the pizza when I just use half the dough.

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

So easy I have this recipe memorized just from making it tonight.

Ingredients

• 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
• Half a pkg. of Taco Seasoning
• 1 C Sour Cream
• About 2 C shredded cheese
• 4 tortillas
• 1 small can green enchilada sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F.
2. Mix chicken, taco seasoning and sour cream together. 
3. Add half of the cheese to mixture.
4. Pour thin layer of enchilada sauce in bottom of 8x8 pan.
5. Spread into tortillas and fold up ends.
6. Place wrapped tortillas on top of enchilada sauce.
7. Top it off with remaining enchilada sauce and rest of cheese.
8. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

So delicious and super easy! I forgot to make some Spanish/Mexican rice (Rice Sides). It would have completed it nicely with some fresh pineapple too.

Tuna Patties

perfect especially if you're on WIC-they give you so much tuna!

recipe from Perfect Pocket Meal Planning - Love their Meal Planning - so simple!

Patty Ingredients:
1 can tuna
1 egg
1/4-1/2 C bread crumbs
sourdough bread (any bread will do really)
tomatoes, sliced
salt & pepper

Cucumber Sauce Ingredients (probably enough for 2-3 sandwiches):
1 cucumber peeled and chopped
1/2 C Miracle whip

Directions:

1. Mix tuna, egg, and bread crumbs. 
2. Form into patties. 
3. Cook on griddle, both sides.
4. Serve open faced on toasted bread topped with tomato and cucumber sauce. (I forgot to put my tomato one because I was so excited to eat it =D )

Quite delicious!

Green Beans with Bacon and Onions

First a lesson on fresh green beans.
If your green beans are drying out, stick them in a pot of water for a day until you're ready to use them. Fresh green beans won't last more than a couple days.

Break off ends of green beans. Then break any so that they're the size of the green beans you find in a can.

Green Beans with Bacon and Onion (a southern recipe from my Grandma)
Cook Bacon (1 package) in large skillet. Take bacon pieces out and set aside, leaving grease in skillet. Saute onions (1 small) in bacon grease and add green beans.  (You can add bacon pieces after green beans have cooked a little, but it's better to wait until the end so they don't turn too black like mine.)

Cook, stir mixture frequently for 20 minutes on medium. Green beans will turn a darker, greasier color when done.

***Notes - I didn't have any uncooked bacon, only microwaveable bacon so I didn't have enough bacon grease so I added about 1-2 TBSP butter to help it.


Reminded me of stir fry, so I served mine with rice.

Pretty good - my 16 mo. old had trouble eating the green beans this way because they were greasy and crispier than green beans from a can.

Chicken Rolls

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened.
1/4 cube butter
1/2 medium size onion, chopped well
2-3 ribs celery, chopped well
2 (8 count) packages crescent refrigerator rolls

In small sauce pan, saute onion and celery in butter. In cowl, mix chicken, cream cheese onion and celery. Spread onto crescent rolls and roll them up. Cook according to package. This is really good with mashed potatoes and gravy!

Mom's Meatloaf

2 lb hamburger
2 eggs
2 slices bread (torn apart)
2 tablespoons mustard
1/4 c. ketchup
1/4 c. salsa

Mix all the above ingredients together and put in bread loaf pan. Mix together sauce and pour on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
Sauce:
2 tablespoons white sugar or 1/2 cup brown sugar. Mix ketchup and sugar together and spread over meatloaf.

Chicken Salad (w/ Fruit)

Makes about 6 servings

2 lbs Raw chicken breast
2 cups Chopped celery
3 Bread and Butter pickles, (abt 24 slices), diced
3 Green onions, chopped
15 oz Pineapple tidbits, drained
2 oz Sliced almonds, toasted
1 ½ cup Seedless red grapes
1 Apple, chopped
8 oz Water chestnuts, drained
1 cup Mayonnaise
2 tsp Sugar
½ tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper

Boil raw chicken in salted water for one hour; drain water and de-bone chicken. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. In a large bowl, combine chicken, celery, pickles, green onions, pineapple, toasted almonds, grapes, apple and water chestnuts. Set aside. In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise and sugar. Stir into chicken mixture; add salt and pepper. Cover; refrigerate several hours.

Chicken Salad

Makes 10 servings

5 cups Chicken breast, cooked, shredded
6 Hard-boiled eggs, chopped
3 cups Chopped celery (4 lg stalks)
¼ cup Minced onions
¼ cup Lemon juice
2 cups Real Mayonnaise
2 cups Shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups Salted cashews
Craisins (opt)

Mix together all ingredients except cheese, cashews, and Craisins. Add cheese and cashews just before serving. Serve with Craisins on the side, and with fresh bread, or serve in pita bread.

Creamed Eggs

Makes 4 Servings

4 TBS Margarine or butter
4 TBS Flour
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Pepper
2 Cups Milk

Boil 6 eggs until hard-cooked. Peel eggs, then slice each egg in small chunks.
Heat margarine in 1 ½ quart saucepan over low heat until melted. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Add egg slices to sauce. Heat a few more minutes, until eggs are warmed. Serve over biscuits or toasted bread.

Beef and Broccoli

Tastes like Panda Express
(Makes 6 servings)

1/2 lb Beef (thinly cut, not roast)
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
1 large head Broccoli
3 TBS Oil
1 TBS Minced Garlic
½ tsp Pepper
½ tsp Celery Seed (opt.)
1 ½ tsp Sesame seeds (opt.)
1 TBS Brown Sugar
1 tsp White Sugar
2 TBS Cornstarch
1/4 Cup Water
Serve over rice

Cut beef into thin strips and marinate in the soy sauce for 30 minutes or more (however long you would like).

Boil Broccoli for about 10 minutes (cooked, but not soft), and strain out the water.

Put Oil in a large frying pan or wok along with the meat and marinade on low. Sprinkle garlic, pepper, celery seed, and sesame seeds on top0 of the cooking meat. If there is not enough liquid, add a little soy sauce or water to keep the meat juicy and tender. Cook the meat until it is not pink. Sprinkle on the brown sugar and white sugar.

Mix cornstarch and water in a separate cup until cornstarch is dissolved, then add by spoonful into cooking meat sauce until sauce is desired consistency. Then add the broccoli to the meat. Mix the broccoli in well with the meat and cook until the broccoli is ready (about 10 mins). Then serve over rice.

Quick and Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

(Taken from Yummy Yummy for your Tummy) To me it tastes similar to Progresso soup


With Fall here and Winter on the way, it also becomes soup season! I love easy-to-make soups. This is one I make quite frequently--it is super easy to make and doesn't take very long.

4-5 cups chicken broth
1-2 cups water
2 cups carrots, sliced
1/4 cup dried onion (or 1/2 cup onion)
4 stalks celery, sliced
1 cup peas
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz wide egg noodles
salt
pepper
2 TBSP parsley (optional)

Combine your broth, water, vegetables, chicken and seasonings in a large pan and bring to boil on medium heat. Cook until vegetables are just tender (25-30 minutes). Add egg noodles and boil for 6-8 minutes, or until noodles are done. (You may need to add a little more liquid--just add water a bit at a time.) Add cream of chicken soup. Cook until heated through.

Mini Meatloaves

Another recipe steal from the blog Make and Takes This looks yummy to me....

Well, these Mini Meatloaves in a Muffin Tin are perfect for dinner served with little mini carrots and baby asparagus!

This idea came from the magazine Kraft Food & Family. I subscribe to their quarterly magazine and it’s FREE! It has great easy recipes with lots and lots of pictures (every recipe book needs pictures!) They do advertise using almost all Kraft products, but I just use whatever I’ve got at home already.

Mini Meatloaf Recipe:

• Favorite Meatloaf recipe
• bbq sauce
• salt & pepper
• cheese - cheddar, or something stronger would be yum

Spray your muffin tin with cooking spray. Place in a handful of prepared meatloaf into each muffin tin. Press your thumb into each meatloaf ball, making a space for toppings. Squirt a dollap of bbq sauce into the space and salt and pepper. Bake in a pre-heated 375* oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through (160F). Add your favorite cheese and bake for another 5 or so minutes.

Now serve these on a mini plate on a tiny table in your smallest room with your cutests kids and enjoy!

Chicken Stuffing Dish

I took this recipe from Yummy Yummy....It tastes pretty good; I did mine over rice. The stuffing really helps give it extra flavor.

3 Thawed Chicken Breasts (you can cut them up or leave them whole)/canned chicken
2 Cans Cream of Chicken
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1 Box Stove Top Stuffing

Mix soup and sour cream. Pour into a pan and put chicken on top. I cut my chicken into chunks. Spread a thin layer of soup mixture on top of chicken. Sprinkle dry stuffing on top. Cover and bake at 375 for 45 min or until chicken is done. Serve on top of rice or potatoes.

Empanadas (Lindsay Style)

Ingredients
Deli Sliced Ham
Sliced cheese
I can of crescent rolls (makes 4)


Pinch 2 crescent rolls together.

Put a slice of cheese and ham and some mustard (if desired) on one half of roll.

Fold over and seal with a fork.

Heat oven at 375 and bake for 11-13 min.


From Lindsay Miller

Chicken Pillows

1 whole chicken or 4-6 chicken breasts

1 8oz pkg. Cream Cheese

Corn Flakes

4Tbs. Butter or Marg.

1 stick of Butter

Croissant Roll in tubes

Chicken Bouillon

Cook Chicken with water Chicken Bouillon, salt, and pepper. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Soften cream cheese. Add cream cheese, 4 Tbs. Milk and chicken and stir together. Separate rolls spread w/ marg. And top with chicken mixture (you only need a small amount in each roll) Roll up and pinch together. Melt 1 stick of butter. Crush cornflakes (fine) Dip each roll in melted butter and roll in cornflakes. Bake @ 375 for 15-18 minutes.

Gravy

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup chicken broth (from pot)

1 Beef Bouillon

Combine together on stove then pour over chicken pillows.

From Danielle Hite

Upside Down Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients

• About 7-10 small red potatoes
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 small chopped onion
• 1/4 Cup sour cream
• 1/3 to 1/2 Cup Ketchup
• Parsley
• Frozen mixed veggies or veggie of your choice (thawed)
• Grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Spray 1 1/2 Quart ceramic or glass baking dish or deep dish pie plate with non-stick cooking spray. Make mashed potatoes to your liking. Press potatoes onto bottom and up side of casserole dish. Bake potato crust for 10 minutes or until edge is slightly golden.

Meanwhile, heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and onion and cook. Drain any grease. Reduce heat to low. Stir in ketchup, sour cream and parsley.

Now place a small layer of grated cheese on top of mashed potato crust. Add mixed veggies or veggie of choice. Spoon meat mixture on to top. Sprinkle top with remaining grated cheese. Reduce heat to oven to 350 degrees F and return dish to the oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.


From Erin Murdock

Beef Taco Skillet

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 can tomato soup
  
• 1/2 Cup salsa
  
• 1/2 Cup water
• 6 flour tortillas cut into 1" pieces
• 1/2 Cup shredded cheese

1. Cook beef in 10" skillet until browned
2. Stir in soup, salsa, water and tortilla. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. Stir.
3. Top with cheese. Makes 4 servings.

Sorry I'm not the best food picture taker, but this is really good!

From Emily Young