2014 Top 5!

Wow, can you believe that we are already at the end of 2014?!  Seems impossible!  I want to take a minute to just thank you so very much for all of your support, likes, shares, comments, etc through out the past year!  I truly appreciate each and every one of you taking time to visit my little space on the internet.  Your presence here means the world to me.

I thought to wrap up the end of the year I would share the top 5 posts from 2014.  If you missed one of these be sure to check them out just by clicking on the pictures!  Here they are in order, starting with your most favorite:

Pantry Organization

Cookware Storage

Controlling Paper Clutter...an Update

House Number Post

Spicy Chicken Enchiladas

So there you have it!  I am looking forward to the new year and sharing some fun new things with you!  Hope you will join me in 2015!!

Taco Casserole

Hey guys!  I am so excited to be guest posting over at Table for Seven today!  Erin is an amazing food blogger and the creator of Share Your Stuff Tuesdays!  Such an honor to be asked to post there today!  Please stop by and be sure to follow her if you don't already-your mouth will water every time she posts!

I am sharing an easy weeknight recipe-Taco Casserole.  Click on the picture to take you to it.

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http://craftdictator.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
http://www.kitchendreaming.com/
http://loulougirls.blogspot.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/
http://goldenreflectionsblog.com/
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/

Chicken Scampi

Here is a quick and easy weeknight version of Chicken Scampi!

I originally found this recipe from Campbell's a few years ago, but have made a couple tweaks along the way to make it just right for our family.  Here's how I put it together:

You will need:

2 tablespoons butter

4 small chicken breasts (or 2 larger breasts cut in half)

1 can (10 3/4oz) Cream of Chicken soup

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons garlic powder 

1 package angel hair or spaghetti pasta

Directions:

1. Boil water and begin cooking pasta according to the directions on the box

2. Melt the butter in a 12 inch skillet over medium heat

3.  Add chicken and cook until lightly browned on both sides, then remove and set aside

4.  Add the soup, water, lemon juice and garlic powder into the skillet and mix well.  Once the mixture is boiling add the chicken back in to coat.  

5. Take the drained pasta and toss it in the sauce mixture until coated before plating 

ENJOY!

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http://www.kitchendreaming.com/
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Shredded BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

This is definitely a favorite dinner around our house!  This is simple to put together, and can easily be made for a large group as well.  My husband had a 'milestone' birthday last year, so we had a party and fixed a large amount of chicken in no time!

Cook the chicken how ever you prefer.  We prefer to smoke it, but on this particular night we were a little tight on time so we just grilled it.  While it is still hot, throw it into your stand mixer and use the flat beater to shred it.  

Then I add in our favorite BBQ sauce.

Some of my kids like it lighter on the sauce, so I add some to the top of mine at the end. You can use any type of bread, but our favorite is the Kaiser rolls, which I warm up just slightly in the microwave. 

And that's it!  Super simple!  Enjoy!

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http://craftdictator.com/

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http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/

http://cityofcreativedreams.blogspot.com/

http://kitchendreaming.com/

Smoked Mac & Cheese

I love food from the smoker, and I love mac and cheese, but I have never combined the two!  I have heard that it is great so I decided to give it a try.  After much searching online and in cook books for a recipe to use, I wasn't finding a combination that sounded good to me so I decided to experiment a little and made up my own.

-16oz. large shell pasta
-2 cans (10 3/4oz) Cheddar Cheese soup
-8oz Velveeta cut into 1/2 inch cubes
-2 cups whipping cream
-1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs; divided.

I started by ALMOST cooking the noodles all the way through.  I wanted to leave them a bit firm so they would continue to cook in the smoker.

I drained the water and quickly rinsed the noodles with hot water then returned them to the pot.  I added 2 cans of Cheddar Cheese soup.

Then I added the 2 cups of whipping cream and stirred it all up.

Stir in the cubed Velveeta.

Add 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs and mixed it into the macaroni.

Convert to a 9x13 dish (I used a tin baking pan for easy clean up since it was going in the smoker).

Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs on top.

We cooked it in the smoker at 225°F for about 1 1/2 hours.

Enjoy!  

-Emily

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http://organized31.com/
http://houseofroseblog.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://cityofcreativedreams.blogspot.com/
http://kitchendreaming.com/

Chicken Manicotti

1 can (10 3/4 oz) Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

1 1/2 Cups water

4oz Velveeta (cut up into 1 inch chunks)

Manicotti noddles, uncooked

1lb Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small strips

Parmesan Cheese (grated)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix soup, water, and Velveeta in a microwavable bowl.  Microwave on high for 4 minutes, stopping to stir half way through.

Cover the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with some of the mixture.

Stuff pasta with chicken strips and line up in the dish.

Cover pasta with remaining sauce mixture.

Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese on top.

Cover with foil and bake for 45-50 minutes.

I like to keep the sides simple so I usually do some frozen vegetables and garlic bread to go with it.

Enjoy!


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www.savvysouthernstyle.net
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www.thecharmofhome.blogspot.com
www.boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com
www.nancherrow.com
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/

Kid Friendly Lasagna

I found this recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook several years ago.  It is super simple to put togeher, and kid friendly in taste!

12oz Ground Beef

2 1/2 Cups Spaghetti Sauce

Dried Lasagna Noodles

1 1/2 Cups Cottage Cheese

1 1/2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Parmesan Cheese to taste (optional)

Coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with some of the spaghetti sauce.  

Brown the ground beef in a skillet.  

 Drain any fat and stir in the remaining spaghetti sauce. 

Layer dried noodles in the baking dish.

Add half of the meat and sauce mixture.  

Layer half of the cottage cheese on top of the noodles. 

Add a layer of half of the mozzarella cheese.  

Add a second layer of noodles, meat, and cheeses. Add Parmesan if desired.  

Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour at 350°F.  

ENJOY! 

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http://saving4six.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Spicy Chicken Enchiladas

There are only 2 times that I allow the kids to eat something different than what I am cooking-when we have steaks (for obvious reasons), and these enchiladas, because they are quite spicy.  But they are so good!  You can alter the spice level a little if you don't want as much of a kick.  To tone it down a little use just the chipotle sauce.  You can either strain it out of the can or we have actually found smalls cans of just the sauce-often labeled Chipotle Salsa.  

3T Vegetable Oil

1 1/2 lbs. Chicken Breasts

Sale & Pepper

2t Cumin Powder

2t Garlic Powder

2t Taco Seasoning

1C Corn

5 Canned Green Chilies, Chopped (or small can all ready chopped)

4 Canned Chipotle Chilies, Chopped (or 2 cans of Chipotle sauce)

1 Can (28oz) Stewed Tomatoes

16 Tortillas

4 Cans Enchilada Sauce, Mild or Medium

4C Cheddar Jack Cheese

 Coat a large skillet with oil.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Combine cumin, garlic powder, and taco seasoning and sprinkle on both sides of the chicken.  Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through.

Shred the chicken finely.  I like to pull out my big Momma mixer (6qt, I also have Baby 4.5qt) and use the flat beater for this.  It is SO much faster than shredding by hand!!  Just make sure the chicken is warm when you put it in to shred.

When the chicken is shredded, add some of the chipotle sauce and mix in.  (You can skip this step if you want to tone down the spice level.  Just add it in the next step).

 In the same skillet that you cooked the chicken in, add corn, green chilies, chipotle chilies,  and tomatoes.  Allow that to simmer for about 5 minutes.

Then add in the chicken and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan with some enchilada sauce, then begin to assemble your enchiladas.  Dip the tortilla into enchilada sauce then spoon the chicken mixture in and sprinkle in a little cheese.  Roll it up and place in the pan.  Do this until the pan is full (we usually fit 6 in each pan).  

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.  Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.  

ENJOY!

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http://www.nancherrow.com

http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com

http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Butter Baked Chicken

Here's another super easy dinner idea for you!

1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 Sticks of Butter
3-5 Chicken Breasts (cut in half long ways to shorten cooking time)

Melt the butter in a sauce pan on the stove, and add the lemon juice and garlic powder.  Stir so it is well  mixed.  Dip each chicken breast in the mixture and then place it in a 9x13 baking dish.  When all the chicken is in the dish drizzle with the remaining sauce.  Bake uncovered at 400°F for about 30 minutes.

Note:  You can switch out the chicken breasts for legs, thighs, etc to mix things up.  Just watch your cooking times as they may differ.  

ENJOY!


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Crock Pot Lemon Pepper Chicken Breasts

Well, after a few strange dinner planning flops that have happened this week, I was determined to get today's dinner started early so we didn't run into any issues at the last minute that would cause us to order out in a panic (again).  I have made whole chickens in the crock pot before and love them, but today I only had chicken breasts on hand, so I thought I would give my Lemon Pepper Chicken recipe a try with them instead!  I had to adjust a few things, and really watch the cook time, but they turned out great!

Here's what I used:

-3 lbs Chicken Breasts (this was about 4 breasts)
-16oz Chicken Stock
-1 Tbsp Lemon Juice (I didn't have any fresh lemons on hand so I just used juice; in the future I would add fresh lemon slices instead)
-1 Tbsp Lemon Pepper Seasoning
-1/4 TbspGarlic Powder

I put the stock and lemon juice in the pot, added the chicken, then sprinkled the seasoning and garlic powder on top.  Cook on low for 2-3 hours.

Note: If you have never used Crock Pot Liners you need to go out and get some TODAY!  Best thing ever!

Hope you enjoy this quick and easy dinner idea!


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CROCK POT TACO SOUP

1 can of tomato sauce

1 can kidney beans-drained and rinsed

1 can of corn-drained

1lb ground beef

1 package taco seasoning

Tortilla chips (optional)

Sour Cream (optional)

Shredded Cheese (optional)

Cook the ground beef according to the directions for making tacos on your package of taco seasoning.  Add tomato sauce, kidney beans, corn, and cooked ground beef with taco seasoning into a large crock pot.  Let it cook on low for 3-6 hours.  Serve with tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheese and allow everyone to customize their own bowl!  

I love to use the chips to scoop up the soup, but some of my family prefer to crumble them on top and use a spoon-each person can make it their own way!  Perfect for a cool Fall evening!

*Note: this is easily doubled to feed more people.  I double this and cook it in my 6qt. crock pot with no problem.

*Tip: If you are in a hurry to get this put together before you head out to work in the morning, cook the beef and taco seasoning up the night before and keep it in the fridge overnight.  Then just toss it all in the crock pot in the morning!

ENJOY!

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