Loaded Chicken and Potato Casserole

Once again the epic love of everything cheese and bacon rears it’s ugly, delicious, wonderful head! Here is another super quick and easy meal for your busy busy life!

Levi has a new shift that keeps him pretty late at work some days. So I love having a meal that I can throw in the oven and forget while I’m writing or playing with the dogs or gardening. And it’s ready right when he’s on his way home. I didn’t marinate the chicken for this one, but I bet that would add an amazing layer of flavor!

Speaking of potatoes….the garden is getting tantalizingly close to be ready to harvest!! We have quite a few potato plants that needed an extra layer of soil because the potatoes were starting to pop out of the ground!! I can’t wait to post a bevy of recipes from the fresh garden veggies!

Alright…let’s start cooking!

This recipe makes enough for about 3 servings.

• Ingredients:
• 3 – 4 medium Golden Yukon potatoes, thickly diced
• 2 Chicken breasts, diced
• 6 slices Bacon, bake in the oven for 25 minutes and then chop to bite sized pieces
• 1 cup Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded
• 2 Green Onions, sliced
• Handful of fresh Basil and Parsley, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• 2 TBSP butter, cut into small pieces
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

  In a lightly greased 8×8 pan lay down half the potatoes. Rub the diced chicken with the salt, pepper, garlic, basil and parsley.Place the chicken over the potatoes. Top with 1/2 cup of cheese and half the bacon. Spread the remaining potatoes on top, then cover with the remaining bacon, cheese and green onion.

Pour the cream over the top. Scatter the pieces of butter over the top. Cover with tin foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15-20 minutes. Your potatoes should be easy to stab with a fork. You can even sprinkle some extra cheese on top in the last few minutes of baking to get that extra melty yumminess.

 

 

 

No Bake Funfetti Truffles

This recipe is soooo easy!! And these little truffles will be a big hit with family, friends and co-workers! I even had one co-worker say it was the best thing he ever tasted…..wow!!

They are perfect for those with a serious sweet tooth, but they have a little bit of a salty bite to satisfy that palate as well.

And who doesn’t love sprinkles?!? These are a really fun project to do with a group of friends or kids. And you don’t have to wait for anything to bake!

Makes about 24 Medium Truffles

• 1 box Betty Crocker Funfetti Cake Mix
• 1 cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 cup Sugar
• 10 Tbsp Salted Butter- softened
• 10 Tbsp Unsalted Butter-softened — If you really love the salt then by all means use all salted butter. I did the first time I tried these and it was great!
• 3 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tsp Almond Extract
• Sprinkles- I used about 1/2 a bottle
• 20 oz White or Chocolate Almond Bark- much easier to melt than chocolate chips
• 2 tsp Vegetable Oil

In a medium bowl combine the cake mix, flour, sugar, butter, vanilla and almond extract and sprinkles. Use a mixer, spoon or your hands and mix the ingredients till combined. Put the mix in the fridge to cool for at least 5 minutes.

Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper. Melt the almond bark in a shallow bowl. Stir in the vegetable oil. Take your cake mix out of the fridge and start rolling it into truffle sized balls.

Using a fork roll the truffle in the almond bark to coat it. Place the coated truffles on the wax paper. Decorate with  your favorite sprinkles!

Place the truffles back in the fridge for at least 5-10 minutes for the bark to harden.

These can either be kept cool, or left at room temperature.

If you are looking for some yummy variations I have also tried Lemon Cake Mix and Lemon Extract mixed in the melted white almond bark. That was crazy good too!

Now it’s time to share them with the WORLD!! Lol….Enjoy 🙂

Grown Up Mac & Cheese with Bacon and Pesto

As a child Mac and Cheese was a staple in my diet! I was quite partial to Kraft Mac and Cheese. Even though my mom tried to broaden my horizons with home made Mac and cheese with like 3 or 4 different cheeses. I would have none of it! It was creamy golden sauce for me! I did allow add ins like hot dogs or my personal favorite was peas!!

So now as “young adults”(that’s what Levi calls us) it’s time to take the love of Mac and cheese to the next level. And what is more grown up than pesto? I love pesto…..that burst of flavor in every bite is a joy. I would even go as far as to say it’s my favorite pasta sauce! Levi was hesitant about food with pesto, but I needed it in my life. So I thought what better way to sneak it into a meal than have it with bacon and cheese?!? He loved it! Yay 🙂

 

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Macaroni elbows, prepared according to package instructions
• 6 slices Bacon, fully cooked, cooled and chopped or crumbled.
• 1/4 cup Butter
• 1/4 cup Flour
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• Pinch of salt and Ground pepper
• 2 Cups Milk
• 1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup Bertolli Pesto

In a medium saucepan add the garlic and butter over low heat. Slowly melt the butter then add the flour. Increase heat to medium and whisk for about 2 minutes until it starts to thicken and bubble. Add the salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in milk. Keep whisking until it also starts to thicken and boil. Add both cheeses.

Whisk until melted. Remove from heat. Your sauce should be thick enough to coat the spoon, but still easily stirs.

Add the pesto and bacon.  Finally stir in the prepared noodles!

Stir and serve warm!!

If you do have to let it sit for a little longer than desired, just add a little more milk and stir and reheat!

The flavors in this dish just pop! I really love it….let me know what you think 🙂

Smoothie Bomb

After an awesome morning Yoga session we were feeling invigorated and ready to start tackling a big job. Building the base for our backyard shed! It was a really nice day out. Finally a day without pouring rain or scorching heat!

We also weeded the garden and planted more green bean seeds since the first round of seeds we planted only gave us one plant 😦

But the corn, potatoes, carrots and raspberry plants are all doing great!! Yay!! I cannot wait to cook my first meal with my homegrown veggies 🙂

Well back to the smoothie, it was kind of a last minute thought. So we just grabbed a bunch of stuff out of the fridge and freezer and threw it together. And it ended up being really delicious!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Quick Oats, finely ground
• 1 Cup Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt
• 1 Frozen Banana
• 6 Frozen Strawberries
• 1 Cup Frozen Raspberries
• 1/2 Cup Kale, chopped
• 1 1/2 Cup Orange Juice

Look at all this yummy goodness! If you the green stuff scares you….I promise that you can’t even taste it over all the tangy fruits. And the health benefits are off the charts 🙂

Blend that sucker up and kick back and relax in the sun! Garnish with a few fresh raspberries 🙂

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatloaf

So I had thought that I had posted a similar recipe last year, but now I can’t find it. The last one I made in a crockpot and this one I made in the oven. And it is super delish!

Sometimes even in the heat of summer you just crave some supper yummy comfort food! And the nice thing about this meal is that the prep is really low maintenance. There are so many different ways to make a meatloaf that it can be really overwhelming to decide which one to try.

This recipe is really moist  and flavorful! I hope yours turns out just as lovely!

Makes about 3 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Ground Beef
• 1 Cup Bread Crumbs
• 1/2 Cup Onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 Cup Garlic and Parmesan Tomato Sauce, my favorite brand is Bertolli
• Fresh Basil and Parsley, finely chopped. I only had about a handful in the garden but I would’ve wanted to use about 1/4 cup
• 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder or 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 Eggs
• 4 slices of Mozzarella (the soft kind)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add all the ingredients (except the cheese) to a medium mixing bowl. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together. Lay out a 12 inch sheet of wax paper on the counter top. Spread out the meat mixture on the wax paper. It should be about 1/2 inch thick.  Lay the slices of cheese in the middle of the meat.

Roll the meat by lifting the long end of the wax paper and starting to fold it over. Pinch the sides close.

Place the meatloaf in a small baking dish or a meatloaf pan. Bake for 60 minutes.

As soon as it’s done baking remove from the pan and let it rest for a few minutes. Then slice it up and enjoy!!

Look at all this cheesy goodness! Yum yum yummy!

Shredded Chicken for Mexican or Italian Recipes

So I use shredded chicken in several recipes and I like to make it myself instead of buying a rotisserie chicken and just shredding that.

So here is my versatile recipe for making shredded chicken.

For Mexican Food recipes:

• 4 Chicken breasts
• 4 cups Milk
• 1 Onion, quartered
• 1 Green Pepper, sliced
• 1 cup salsa (either picante or green chile)
• 1 Tbsp Salt

 

If you are doing an Italian recipe I would omit the salsa and instead, use some of the following:

• 1/4 cup Ranch Dressing
• Basil
• Parsley
• Rosemary
• Oregano

Add all ingredients in a large pot and boil over medium heat for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the internal temp of the chicken is 165 degrees. Remove from liquid and shred using forks or an electric beater.

Milk expands when heated so it’s not necessary to cover the chicken in liquid.

You can substitute some milk for chicken stock if you want.

 

 

Creamy Pasta and Sausage

So the weather has been crazy hot lately!! But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to make a nice dinner 🙂 But it does make me want to have a meal that isn’t too heavy. This pasta was really flavorful but only has 7 ingredients! Levi was really surprised when I told him that the sauce is just Greek Yogurt. I am also loving this fresh basil from the garden box we set up on the deck!! I put parsley in there too, but I just can’t seem to figure out how to care for that.

I have grown really fond of using Greek Yogurt for sauces instead of sour cream or cream cheese. Here is one tip for cooking with Greek Yogurt, make sure you mix it until it’s smooth before adding it to any heat.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Sweet Onion, finely chopped
• 1 Clove Garlic, minced
• 1 lb Mild Italian Sausage (I added some oregano and thyme to the meat)
• 1 lb Penne Pasta, prepared to package instructions
• 1 bag frozen Corn Kernels
• 8 oz Plain Greek Yogurt
• 6 leaves fresh Basil, finely chopped
  

In a large non-stick skillet add the sausage and spices, cook over a medium heat breaking the sausage into bite size pieces. After 2 minutes add the onion and garlic. Continue to cook stirring occasionally until the sausage is browned. Remove from heat. Drain off the grease.

While the sausage is cooking boil the water and cook the pasta. Add the corn to the pasta when there is 4 minutes left. Cook the pasta to al dente (a little firm). Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Drain the reset of the water and add the pasta, corn and reserved water to the sausage. Stir in the Greek Yogurt until everything is coated. Add the basil and gently toss.

Then you ready to go!! I hope you love this super easy and tasty dinner 🙂 Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments!