Smothered Chicken Casserole

I love this recipe made with a few modifications. I put it in the crockpot, minus the flour. I used thin spaghetti instead of angel hair. I made the caesar dressing from a packet.
I wasn't able to let it marinade as long as I wanted so extra caesar dressing went in with the rest of it!

Ingredients

1/2 cup prepared caesar salad dressing
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts


4 slices bacon

8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 cup onion, diced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated

2 C fresh tomatoes, diced
1/4 C fresh parsley, minced

1 lb thin spaghetti

Instructions

Marinade chicken breasts in caesar dressing for at least 3 hours, up to overnight.
Cook bacon until crisp, remove from pan and drain off all but about 2 tbsp of the fat. Heat pan to medium-high heat.
Remove chicken from marinade and cook in bacon fat until well browned. You don't have to cook the chicken through, just get some color on it. Remove chicken from pan and place in casserole dish.
Drain off all the bacon fat from the pan and add 3 tbsp of butter. Once melted stir in the onion and mushrooms. Cook until soft and starting to caramelize- 5-7 minutes.
Stir 3 tbsp of flour into the onions and mushrooms and cook for 1 minute.
Stir broth and cream into the flour mixture, bring to boil -constantly stirring- for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in salt, pepper, lemon juice, cheese, and parsley and pour over the chicken in the casserole dish. Top with fresh tomatoes and bake, uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and chicken is cooked through.
While the chicken is baking, cook 1 lb pasta on the stove-top and drain.
Remove chicken from the oven, stir pasta into the sauce and serve topped with crumbled bacon and more fresh parsley.

snow day and s'mores

Several inches of snow have been dumped across Midwest and I am loving it... Sadly I'm stuck inside for the most part. I really would rather not fall on anything slick with my little mister on my hip.
So I am enjoying it from afar and where it's much warmer...

And I made some s'more goodness. 

Yes, you want to know how to make this.

4 squares of semi-sweet baking chocolate

2 tbsp of butter

Melt on low in a saucepan. Stir every couple minutes.

1 package from a box of graham crackers 

1/2 a bag of mini marshmallows

Line a 9x13 pan with wax paper or foil.

Break the graham crackers into their indicated quarters and then each of those quarters in half and spread them out in the pan. Don't crush them. 

Sprinkle with marshmallows.

Scoop melted chocolate in small spoonfuls onto crackers and marshmallows. (don't be exact, just scoop out the chocolate evenly over all of it, not one pile in the middle.) 

Gently stir mixture with your chocolate spoon. Keep mixture spread out.

Freeze for 45-60 minutes or until chocolate hardens. 

Break mixture into smaller pieces (chocolate will melt on your fingers so do this quickly). 

Pop the mixture in the fridge until you want to serve it. 

Make sure everyone gets some. This is like food crack.

Quesadilla Casserole

Another Pinterest recipe! (I have no idea where it originated (sorry!) it was repinned like crazy from lots of places- I bet it's in a Betty Crocker cookbook somewhere)
This one was another relatively easy one- I just cooked up all the meat saucy goodness when I was prepackaging my freezer meals.
This recipe does usually call for a can of black beans, but since my hubby is severely allergic to beans I have left them out.

Meat/Saucy Goodness:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp minced garlic, can use dry or fresh
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp oregano
15 oz. can of tomato sauce
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of chopped green chiles

4-6 flour tortillas*

2 cups cheddar cheese

*I used a smaller pan and cut the tortillas down to fit the 9"x9" casserole dish. You can use a 9"x13" pan and cut and overlap the tortillas to fit.*

Brown ground beef in a large pan or dutch oven. Stir in onions. Cook on low for 5 minutes. Add Seasonings. Stir in canned ingredients, simmer for 5 minutes.

 ~At this point you can either continue the recipe and finish it for a meal now or freeze for later.~

Spread a heaping scoop of the beef mixture on the bottom of a casserole dish. Top with tortilla(s). Sprinkle with cheese. Repeat until you run out of the beef mixture. Top with remaining cheese.
Bake at 350 for 15- 20 minutes.

For freezing: Allow the beef mixture to cool for about 15 minutes and then bag it in a labeled Ziploc. When you wish to complete the recipe, thaw for a few hours and then reheat in a large pan and continue with the instructions.

Mexican Chicken

I found this recipe on Pinterest, it's everywhere so you can't miss it. In fact I think I had already pinned it 3 times before I actually tried it. Should have done it sooner. When there's only a few simple ingredients, it's an easy throw together dinner. And come on, who doesn't want that. every day.

I put it in the crockpot while I was prepping some other meals. So it ended up with some additional ingredients.

I'd give this 4 stars (maybe 5). one for easy. one for crockpot. one for juicy chicken. one for flavor.

So here's their version: 

MEXICAN CHICKEN 

1 pound boneless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon Seasoning for Tacos
Salt, to taste

1/2 cup enchilada sauce
4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
3 green onions, chopped
Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with taco seasoning; grill or sauté. Cut the chicken into cubes and place in a greased 8x8" baking dish; season with salt to taste. Add the enchilada sauce and toss to coat the chicken. Sprinkle the cheese over the chicken and bake at 350º for 10-20 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Scatter the green onions over the top.
Makes 4 servings
Can be frozen
Per Serving: 266 Calories; 12g Fat; 33g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

And my version:
1 pound boneless chicken breasts
1/2 package of taco seasoning
1 tsp minced garlic
1 can enchilada sauce
1/2 can of chopped green chiles
2 tbsp of chopped green peppers
3 green onions, chopped

Pour all ingredients except chicken into crockpot. Stir to combine all ingredients. Add Chicken. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 or more.
Serve on a warm tortilla and top with cheese. I also topped mine with lettuce and tomato.

Finished Nursery

What a long process! But it's as done as it's going to get until he grows out of the crib.  

The pictures finally hung above his bed. I got it in the heart shape I wanted but it didn't look like what I was thinking it would. Still I like it better than any other idea I came up with.

 Just chilling in his rocking chair. The map sliced in 3 and framed as such is probably my most favorite thing in the room besides my little man.

 the pictures are maps i printed out and accessorized with scrapbooking stickers

 The giraffe puzzle that took forever to put together is now hanging in the frame my hubby made.

Happy November!

Has it really been 2 months since my last post? Well there's a baby now, another love in my life! We "finished" the nursery just in time! By "finished" I mean I'm waiting for my studly hubby to hang some pictures for me.

How quickly life has changed in the past two months and how quickly it's gone by. I thought I had 8 weeks to clean up the guest room. Now I have 3 days! Oops.
And look at my little man! He's getting so big- already!!!

I've also gone to new extremes with Pinterest. Rather then just re-pinning, now I'm actually doing projects and recipes from it!

I was jotting down ingredients I need to get for each recipe plus the name of it in my little notebook, and commenting "not so much" or "heck yes" next to them- then I realized "DUH! I have a blog!"

So the next few posts will be recipes and a finished nursery (when we finish it).

the nursery - it's almost done.

Yup, I'm past my due date... and my little guy doesn't seem to care.
Mowed our entire lawn this morning.
Ran errands all afternoon.
Walked another mile plus tonight.
Obviously my body thinks this is all very funny. So... what else to do but blog??
You remember the nursery before, right?


What a relief to have it almost done. And when I say almost, I mean there's some wall art- still in progress- that needs printing and framing, but there's a place for him to sleep!

Chair - already had
Blue Foot Stool - $12, antique store

Map - $8, picked up at an antique store

Frames - $36, $12 each at Michaels

Vintage Suitcase - $10, antique store

Fabric for curtains - my hubby insisted he knew what he was talking about when he said we should make them. I found out I knew more about sewing than him and honestly the stress wasn't worth it. Just buy them. And if you need to make them thicker, buy flannel sheets/fabric to back them. That's what I would have done. 

Giraffe pillow - $3 travel pillow from Walmart. $5 fabric at Hobby Lobby

Clock -$7.50, Dollar General

Zebra Print Lamp - $14 at Walmart

Giraffe - $10 Gordmans

Alphabet letters - $.35 each 

Wicker Bench - already had

Bookshelf - Stole it from my hubby's office, he didn't need it

wallpaper - $.50 at another garage sale, (lots of pieces so plenty of potential for many projects should I desire)

Crib - free on the curb at a garage sale!

Bed skirt - $13 from target -my mom helped me transform a rectangle tablecloth into a bed skirt!

Paper Lanterns - $12, $5 for the 3 green and brown at Sears. $7 for the blue at Hobby Lobby

Changing Table/Dresser - $40, Craigslist and somehow the guy went from $75 down to $40. Don't mind if you do!

Globe - $25, antique store, It's going to be hung from the ceiling, someday!

Wall art to come - $15, (2) 3pks of 5"x7", (1) 2 pk of 8"x10" Target.