Gift Wrapped Chicken

Oh man do I have a delicious recipe for you today! This one comes compliments of my Memaw. I had it a couple of times at her house and then just had to get the recipe from her. It is a chicken dish that is delicious, I don’t usually eat a lot of meat (I focus more on the sides) but I clean my plate with this meal.

Ingredients:
– 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
– 16 oz. can whole berry cranberry sauce
– 8 Tbs butter, divided
– 16 oz phyllo dough, defrosted in the refrigerator
– 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:
1. Cut each chicken breast in half the short way and pound each piece to lightly flatten.
2. Place one tablespoon cranberry and one tablespoon of butter on one half of chicken breast and place the other half on top, do this for all pieces
3. Cut dough in half the long way
4. Stack cut strips of dough to make a star shape, just layer two strips to make an X then add remaining two on top to form a +, brush each piece with melted butter as you stack them
5. Place filled chicken in center of your dough star and pull ends up together in the center, pinching them closed at the top like a beggar’s purse (Note: This dough is very thin and breaks easily but as long as you aren’t going for perfection it will still taste delicious even if it doesn’t look great)
6. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, temp chicken to ensure it is fully cooked
Serves 4

This recipe is delicious, the cranberry and chicken inside the buttery dough is so yummy! The dough is sometimes a bit tricky to work with but you just have to not worry about what it looks like and go for it. It is delicious. Let me know if you try this recipe out and what you think? We love it!

Roasted Red Potatoes

I thought you might enjoy a delicious and easy side dish to go with the Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin. These are a favorite in our house, easy and delicious.

Ingredients:
-Red Potatoes (For the two of us we generally use 6-8 and have leftovers)
-1/4 cup Olive Oil
-1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
-1 tsp salt
-1 tbsp parsley
-1 tbsp oregano
-Garlic to taste

Directions:
-Cut the potatoes up into small pieces
-In a bowl mix olive oil, salt, parmesan cheese and spices
-Put potatoes in the bowl and toss around with mixture
-Spread potatoes in one layer on a cookie sheet (We cover ours with foil and spray the foil with Pam)
-Cook at 425 for 45 minutes then test to see if they are done

And ta-da a delicious side dish! I thought I would post this for a little Tuesday bonus. It’s been a long day already. I had to text Tyler to find out all of the ingredients because he is the master behind making these delicious potatoes! These are just estimates of how much of each ingredient, he just kind of throws it all together. So take this and make it your own and enjoy! Let me know if you make these and if you add anything different?

Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Before we get to the recipe I am so excited to say I have a guest post going live today at 31 Million Seconds. Kristen writes a great blog over there and is on her honeymoon right now so I was excited to get to share a post while she is enjoying a much needed vacation! So go on over and check it out!

Now to a delicious recipe, this is a meal we love and it is usually reserved for special occasions or rare occasions. We had it this past Saturday night and it was as always delicious. It is a Paula Deen recipe so you know it has to be scrumptious! I will show you the recipe here and include the link below. I hope you all enjoy this!

Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin (we use 1 1/2 lb)
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon drive rosemary

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl
2. Rub the ingredients into the pork loin
3. Place the pork loin on a roasting rack
4. Roast the pork for 30 minutes at 475
5. Turn down oven to 425 and roast for 30+ more minutes (This will vary by the size of the pork loin)
6. Check the internal temperature and when it reaches 155-165 remove from oven and allow to sit 20 minutes and it will continue to cook. (I have the required temp for meat on my meat thermometer, I make sure it soars past the well done number and then I pull it out because I am picky about my meat being well done)

See how easy that is? We always have two delicious side dishes with this meal, macaroni and cheese and roasted red potatoes. I hope you all enjoy this easy and delicious pork tenderloin recipe.

Adapted from: Food Network

Crock Pot French Toast

This meal made me so happy! It was my first crock pot breakfast success. After a failed attempt at crock pot oatmeal and crock pot grits I decided I could not give up. So I tried again with crock pot french toast and it turned out delicious! I have not had monkey bread in awhile but this reminded me of monkey bread. Delicious, you must try it!

Ingredients:
1 loaf of bread (You can use any kind, I bought a loaf of french bread)
7 eggs
2 1/2 cups of milk
1 tsp. cinnamon (I just sprinkled the cinnamon in, I didn’t measure so I probably used more)
Filler & Topping
1/2 cup butter softened
3/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (once again I just sprinkled to my hearts content)

Directions:
1. Chop up the bread into cubes
2. Spray crock-pot with cooking spray
3. Place the first layer of bread in crock-pot (Use half of the cubed bread)
4. Pour half of the Filler and Topping onto the bread
5. Put the rest of the bread in on top
6. Pour the egg mixture over the bread
7. Pour the remaining Filler and Topping over the mixture
8. Cook on Low for 6 hours (I started mine at about 10 pm and we ate it about 9:30 am and it was fine to sit staying warm in my crock pot over night)

I was so excited when I came downstairs Saturday morning and tasted it and it was so yummy! I turned it back on low and let it cook without the top to try and make the top a little crisp while I made the grits to go with it. It was a delicious and easy breakfast! It would also make a delicious crock pot dessert, whatever your preference. I hope you all enjoy my first breakfast crock pot success. I hope there will be many more to come. Do any of you have good breakfast crock pot recipes? I am always open to new ones to try as I am trying to expand my recipe collection in that area!

 

Adapted from: Today’s Creative Blog

Creamy Crock Pot Spaghetti

Pasta + a crock pot = YUM! Two of my favorite things and it was delicious. I found this recipe and just knew I had to try it out. I did it a bit different then the recipe and it was delicious. So here goes!

Ingredients:
1 26 oz jar Spaghetti Sauce (I used Ragu)
1/2 lb angel hair pasta
1/2 ground beef
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 oz. cream cheese

Directions:
Brown the ground beef and drain fat
Pour half the jar of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of the crock pot
Place uncooked pasta noodles on top of the sauce, break the noodles so that they fit
Pour ground beef over the pasta
Sprinkle 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
Cut cream cheese into cubes and place on top
Cover with the last half of the jar of spaghetti sauce
Cover and cook on high for 3 hours
After 3 hours, stir it, it will be thick. Mine I thought was delicious and needed nothing more added but if you found it to be too dry then you could pour more sauce on it.

This is the recipe, there were additional steps and ingredients to add that I did not do because I thought it tasted fine after doing this. The link to the recipe I adapted this from is below. The only problem I encountered were that some of the noodles stuck together. I am not sure what would have prevented this? Maybe cooking it longer on low rather than on high or maybe being home to stir it? But since this is a crock pot meal I don’t want to have to do anything to it during the day. But it made a lot and for the two of us there were plenty of delicious noodles that hadn’t stuck together. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to prevent the noodles from sticking together?

This was a yummy, easy meal and the cream cheese really added something creamy and yummy to regular old spaghetti. And in the crock pot, win win! I hope you all enjoy this meal!

Adapted from: Picky Palate

Swiss Cheese Chicken

or Patty’s Chicken as it is known in our house, but I thought I would give it a name that reflected the deliciousness that is in it! If you have never made this then you need to make it. We had it last night and it is delicious, another family favorite.

Ingredients
-4-6 boneless chicken breasts (for the 6 of us my mom would cut three in half)
-Swiss Cheese slices (6 or more, it’s your choice)
-1/4 cup white cooking wine
-1 can cream of chicken soup
-1 cup Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing Mix (I use the one that is the blue and white bag)
-1 stick margarine, melted

Directions
-Grease or spray baking dish
-Place chicken in dish and lay swiss cheese slices over to cover
-Combine white wine and soup on small bowl; spread over cheese
-Sprinkle stuffing mix over top
-Drizzle melted margarine over top
-Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, uncovered

When my mom makes it we have it over mashed potatoes and it is delicious. I don’t ever have the time to make homemade mashed potatoes and I don’t care for the taste of instant mashed potatoes, so last night we had it over rice and that was delicious. It makes a delicious creamy sauce to go over the rice or mashed potatoes. It is also good with broccoli for the vegetable.

Hope you all enjoy this dish, it is scrumptious (a word I’ve picked up from the many Fancy Nancy books I read at my job).

Quick and Delicious Chicken Spaghetti

This is a recipe I had posted a link to before but wanted to share with you all how I make it. It is so easy and delicious. I can come home from work and easily prepare it and have a fast and delicious dinner.

Ingredients:
-8 oz. angel hair pasta
-Canned chicken-I just used one small can, it’s really how much chicken you prefer in your casserole
-1 can cream of chicken soup
-1 can cream of mushroom soup
-1 can (10 oz) Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained (I use mild but this can be whatever you prefer)
-16 oz. sour cream- the recipe I got this from calls for 8, I like mine extra creamy so I use 16.
-Sprinkling of Parmesan or Mexican Blend Cheese (I use the Great Value, Fiesta Blend Cheese)

Directions:
Boil Pasta and drain
Mix into pasta all other ingredients, except the cheese
Place in a 9×13 casserole dish
Cover with foil and bake on 350 for 30 minutes or until warm and bubbly
Remove from oven, uncover, sprinkle with cheese and return to oven to melt cheese

Serves 4
Is also great leftover!

And then it is ready. It is so delicious and so easy!

Adapted from: The Boomer Brief

Three Cheese Pasta Bake and a Guest Post!

Today I am so excited to share with you guys that I have been given the honor of doing my first guest posting on another blog. Like Mother, Like Daughter is a great blog that shares all kinds of yummy recipes. I have found my new favorite meal from this blog Creamy Chicken and Broccoli over Rice which we are still having almost every week.

I wanted to share a recipe with you guys that we had on Sunday night. It is all about pasta and cheese, lots of cheeses. We found the combination of cheeses to be a little much but some people could love this combo. I added a few things to it and even feel like a few variations on this recipe would be good as well.

Ingredients:
-1 (16 oz) package ziti
-2 (10 oz) containers refrigerated Alfredo sauce
-1 (8 oz) container sour cream
-1 (15 oz. container ricotta cheese
-2 large eggs, lightly beaten
-1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
-1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
-1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
{Optional} – This is what I added to it
-chopped pineapple
-chopped bell peppers (I sautéed mine but that is optional)
-canned chicken

Directions:
Prepare ziti according to package directions; drain and return to pot
Add chopped pineapple, chicken and bell peppers

Stir together Alfredo sauce and sour cream and toss with ziti until evenly coated
Spoon half the mixture into a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish

Stir together ricotta cheese and next 3 ingredients; spread over pasta mixture in baking dish
Spoon remaining pasta mixture over ricotta cheese layer; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly

We had this dish and Tyler gave it a 6.5 but I wanted to share because I feel like there are people who would love it. I also thought it could have been really good before you added the ricotta cheese mixture. When reading the reviews on the recipe I also saw people who had substituted cottage cheese for the ricotta. I think there are many versions of this recipe that could be delicious. I hope you enjoy it and let me know if you make your own version of it!

Source: Southern Living

Poppyseed Chicken Casserole (sans Poppyseed)

So how many of you have had Poppyseed Chicken Casserole before? I’m sure a lot of you have had one version or another. If not then you need to try this casserole! It is delicious! I didn’t have my moms version so I used one I found online and changed a couple of things, including the fact that I didn’t have any Poppy seeds so that kind of negates the name but its basically still the same.

Adapted from: My Recipes

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts, cooked and chopped

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

16 oz. Sour Cream

1 roll of Ritz crackers, crushed

1 stick of butter, melted

Instructions

1. Boil chicken until done and then chop up

2. Combine chicken, cream of chicken soup and sour cream

3. Spred mixture in a lightly greased casserole dish

4. Melt butter and then mix in crumbled crackers

5. Spread cracker mixture over chicken mixture

6. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly and hot

So that is the way that I made it. It turned out delicious and we always eat it over rice. It is an easy, delicious comfort food. Enjoy!

Give me some more, Spaghetti Amore!

 

I FINALLY remembered to take a picture of this meal. I set an alarm in my phone and everything. This is one of my favorite casseroles and it is a comfort food for me because I got this recipe from my mom. It is delicious and easy. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion (Once again I always leave out onion)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can tomato soup
1 can water
1 minced garlic clove (or garlic powder)
1/2 lb. spaghetti

Directions:
Brown beef and onion
Add soup, water, garlic- heat
Blend in 1/2 cup of cheese and cooked, drained spaghetti
Pour into 3 quart casserole dish and top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese
Bake at 350, uncovered for about 30 minutes or until bubbly
Serves 4-6
Can be frozen and reheated

I love this recipe as does my husband and my family and in my nanny experience I have found it to be kid-friendly. I hope you enjoy and let me know if you do 🙂