Bacon, Broccoli, Mac and Cheese

 The original recipe for this can be found here.

However, I found I didn't have enough patience after work to go through a few extra steps, and I didn't want to add onions, so here's my (sl)easy work night version...

Ingredients:
6 C broccoli, steamed, but still a bit firm
2 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 box of pasta (I used the veggie mix pasta)
3 C low fat milk
1 cup shredded cheeses (1/2C sharp cheddar, 1/2C your choice)

 Directions:
1. Heat up milk and pasta in a pot over medium heat.  Cook until pasta is al dente.
2. Stir in 1 cup of cheese shreds until smooth.
3. Toss in broccoli and bacon.
4. Serve and enjoy.

You can play around with this recipe, add more or less, change out broccoli for spinach or a different green veg, etc.  I made 6 good sized servings, and they're just as good for leftovers as they are that first night!

Cranberry Chicken - from a crock pot!

 Four ingredients (plus sides) and dinner is ready.

Ready?  Let's Go!

The Cranberry Chicken recipe comes from here originally.







Here's what I did...







Ingredients:
1 dry packet of onion soup
1 can of cranberry sauce
8 oz of Catalina ("sweet & tangy French") dressing
Mix them together, pour over 5-8 chicken thighs/breasts (depending on their size.  I had 5 large...)

Bake on high for 4 hours in the crock, or at 350 for 1.5-1.75 hours.

 It turns out super juicy and AMAZING!

served with (leftover) brown rice and steamed broccoli - YUM!

A new style of Broccoli...

The importance of following directions lie in this recipe for Broccoli Cheddar Gratin.



My biggest problem about the way it turned out was how the bread crumb mixture was just everyone, but the cheese wasn't.  See?  I mixed the crumb mix in the broccoli, but put the cheese on top.  Turns out, it was all supposed to be that way.

Oops! Sorry, y'all. Maybe it'll turn out better when you actually follow the directions, and try not to do it from memory for a group of people!!

Also, it might have helped if I made it more like au gratin potatoes and added a cheese soup to it.

Hmm...sounds good.  Maybe tonight will be an au gratin kind of night!

Better luck next time!!

Asian Persuasion Part 2: a success!

After the great Spring Roll debate of 2011, I was a little leery to try out another Asian inspired recipe from Pampered Chef.  Blasphemy?  Blashphe-you, my friend, I was down-heartened and it took everything in Thomas' power to get me to finish up dinner in the kitchen.  Truth be told, it wasn't that bad, I just took so long to roll all of those spring rolls that I didn't want to go back and do anything else.

Luckily, I have a great partner in crime husband who was willing to stir fry the beef for me to get me started.  In fact, he is such a sucker loves me so much that he put the beef in our Ginger Wasabi sauce the night before to marinade.  He fried it up, and it was perfect!  Such a great taste, and it was ready for me to continue on with the recipe for Asian Beef Noodles (I just didn't add any extra ginger since there wasn't any fresh in the house, but there was some in the sauce).

The best part about this recipe is that it was ready within 10 minutes, start to finish.

Second best: the taste!  After our less than stellar spring rolls, this was very flavorful, and exactly what I was looking for.  (The taste would have been the best part about this, but I was spent and 10 minutes for an awesome meal was exactly what I needed.)

Third best?  The leftovers.  Not only did I have four dishes of lunches, but they really re-heat well and are a good filler for your mid-day snackage.

And finally - when (since college/your post high school experience) can you say you endorse ramen noodles for a filling meal??!  On a scale from cupcakes to Capricorns, I'd give this recipe two thumbs up!

One Pot, Meal in a Skillet

Hello, everyone.  I'd like to start this evening by introducing myself.  My name is Jessica, and I am a fan of one-pot dishes.

I know that they are uninspired, and generally predictable.  In fact, even Thomas was unimpressed by this meal.  Not because it wasn't enjoyable, mind you, but because it was everything in a pot all at the same time, and he's used to seeing these meals come out of my kitchen.  (hehe, my kitchen...  I couldn't even pretend to hold that title in our house!)

Regardless, I always look for a flavorful recipe when doing a one-pot dish.  Otherwise, you could be burdened with a whole pot of bland.  Also?  As an added bonus?  You can usually score tons of leftovers with a one pot dish, so you don't want to be riddled with bland lunches for the week.

The Recipe: Cheddar Broccoli Chicken Skillet

The Tweaks: 

* I didn't have any Cheddar soup, so I used cream of chicken.

* Also, I added bell peppers and a can of Rotel (with the juice), both of which I had on hand.

* I replaced the instant rice with Jasmine rice, which we always have in the house.  This changed my timing because it wasn't instant rice, so I had to add water twice to ensure that the rice was cooked through.  If I had broth, I would have used that instead.  Oh well.  I'm a firm believer in going with what's on hand whenever possible.

* I probably also used way more cheese than the recipe called for due to 1) lack of cheddar soup, 2) I'm from the Midwest... extra cheese is a given

* The other given - fajita seasoning.  It's a great, all around flavor for chicken.  As of late, if there's any chicken to be prepped in the house, it has fajita seasoning thrown in for good measure.

The Verdict:  

This was an extremely easy week night meal to make.  I would have taken more pictures, but it was truly so easy that I forgot to take photos along the way.  Don't let the lack of pretty pictures, or the idea of a one-pot dish scare you.  I'd definitely give this one a thumbs up, and Thomas agreed, too. That being said, as a follow up to my broccoli chicken braid, it was unimpressive in its presentation.  It's a little give and take, they can't all be braided nights, but we can always have good food!

Reading Comprehension

Reading strategies?  Sure thing.  How to comprehend what you're reading?  You betcha!  Blazing scores on standardized tests?  Say ya to da UP, eh!  Me following directions?  Yeah...  not so much.

I've made the taco ring.  That was pretty straight up.  I get it: make a sun and tuck it in.  No big whoop.  However, when I read the directions for the Chicken & Broccoli Braid, I seriously scratched my head.  I kept reading and re-reading the recipe thinking that I had surely missed something.  Then, I thought to get my cookbook with the photos in it.  Fair enough.  Generally, I can get the jist from a picture and not worry too much about it.

Even an image search with other make at home types wan't cutting it.  In the end, I just had to fake it. I rolled it out, cut it, re-rolled the middle, stuffed and braided.
 The stuffing itself was an easy mash up.  I added more chicken, broccoli, and cheese.  No dill in the house, but used some Fajita Seasoning since we do have that (in abundance). 

As you can see, I used way more stuffing than was physically possible for a pretty braid.  Didn't stop me from trying.  (Oh, and as a random side note, I stopped and gave pause to all of the crescent roll containers I have been going through as of late.  Maybe it's due to my recent trip?)

Or maybe it's because they're buttery goodness makes everything taste better!

Regardless, it's been a blast using crescent rolls in so many recipes as of late.  I even have more that I might try this week.  I like how versitile they are. 

The "braiding" was the easy part, just pull the dough half way, twisting somewhere before they ends meet each other in the middle.  Alternate sides to make it look authentic.  As I once described braiding in college (to a boy, of course) it's kind of like playing double dutch, just keep moving end over end!  Anyway, I braided up, baked, and this was awesome even as leftovers, and believe me (even though I had to fight my husband for them), there were leftovers! 



added bonus: even though the broccoli wasn't pre-cooked, it didn't taste too "raw."  LOVED IT!  Oh, and perhaps I omitted the almonds because we didn't have any in the house... 

You gotta fake it until you make it!

Bon Appetit!