Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole

Had a sick little babe this weekend and needed a quick meal to put together before flint and Al got home from church. This worked out perfect and was delicious. not like all of those dry, bland casseroles I have tried before. definitely a keeper :) Enjoy!ingredients

• 1 10 3/4 ounce can  cream of chicken soup

• 1 cup water

• 3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice

• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 2/3 c. frozen peas

• 2 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

directions

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Stir the soup, water, rice, onion powder, black pepper and vegetables in a 2-quart shallow baking dish.
2. Top with the chicken. Cover the baking dish.
3. Bake for 70 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender. Top with the cheese. Recover and cook 10 more minutes. Stir the rice before serving.

Chicken Marsala

Can I just start out by saying that I hate when recipes say they are "quick" and "easy" and they're really not? Well, I must say that this recipe truly was! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, in search of a yummy way to use up the rest of some mushrooms. Not only was it super delicious, but even my little Allie ate it up, which is quite the triumph lately. My husband loved it as well. I cooked some pasta, that was perfect topped with the wonderful marsala sauce, and steamed some broccoli on the side. I didn't have any marsala wine on hand tonight, so I subbed red cooking wine with a couple pinches of sugar. I also had no sherry, so I subbed white cooking wine. I'm sure it would be even better done right :) Enjoy this dish! So easy and good. 

Ingredients:

1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. oregano
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
4 T. butter
4 T. olive oil
1 c. sliced mushrooms
1/2 c. marsala wine
1/4 c. cooking sherry

Directions:

1. In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown. Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms. Pour in wine and sherry. Cover skillet; simmer chicken 10 minutes, turning once, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Peanut Butter Brownies

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law Janetta who I love :) She made them around the same time we found out Kale had a small peanut allergy.... I was breastfeeding the sweet baby boy at the time and let's just say my husband talked me into just tasting one... I then wanted the whole plate!!! Lucky for both Kale and I he has grown out of his allergy. I would hate for him to miss out on wonderful peanut butter brownies and all of their deliciousness! Has NOTHING to do with my OWN love for the stuff.... :) Enjoy! You will LOVE these. So moist and just yummy! Way better than peanut butter cookies.

Ingredients:

1 c. sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 lg. eggs
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 T. milk

Frosting:

1/3 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. powdered sugar
4 T. milk

Directions:

Mix sugars, eggs, butters, milk and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix w/sugar/butter mixture. Spread into lightly greased 9x13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 min. Cool and frost. Enjoy!

Chocolate Lasagna

I have made this recipe from mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com on numerous occasions. Everyone goes nuts over it, including me.... It is the perfect combination of flavors and textures. Love it. Just a note... I have changed the recipe to my liking by subbing my own whipped cream for the cool whip. Nothing is as good as the real thing! But if you must, you must. No hard feelings :)

Ingredients

1 (15.5 oz.) package of Oreo cookies

1/2 c. butter, melted

2 pkg. (3.9 oz each)  Chocolate Instant Pudding

3 1/4 c. cold milk 

1 pint heavy cream, whipped & sweetened with powdered sugar & vanilla to taste

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 c. powdered sugar

Directions

Crush all Oreo cookies in a food processor until crushed. Save 1/2 c. of the crumbs for the topping. Pour the remaining crumbs into a 9x13 dish and add the melted butter. Stir and press into the bottom of the dish to make a crust. In a bowl, whisk together the pudding mix and milk. Set in the fridge for now. Blend cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar. Mix and fold in half of the whipped cream. Spread over the crust. Add pudding and spread over the cream cheese mixture. Top with the remaining whipped cream. Sprinkle the 1/2 c. Oreo crumbs over top. Chill and serve! SO ADDICTING!!!

Favorite Homemade Rolls w/Raspberry Butter

I just couldn't help myself this week and had to make these amazing rolls with this amazing butter. I have made many different roll recipes, but always come back to these. SO DELICIOUS. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do :)

Sweet Dinner Rolls

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1/2 c. warm water
1/2 c. warm milk
1 egg
1/3 c. butter, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3-3 3/4 c. flour (you can use all-purpose, but I like to use bread flour if I have it)
1 pkg. active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp.)
1/4 c. butter, softened (optional)

Directions:

Dissolve 1 T. of the 1/3 c. sugar in the warm water. You don't want your water HOT, JUST WARM. Stir in yeast. Cover and let proof 10 min. Meanwhile, place milk, egg, 1/3 c. butter, sugar, and salt in mixing bowl (I use my kitchen aid standing mixer). When yeast is nice and foamy, add to bowl and begin kneading. Add flour until dough is smooth, but still a tad sticky to touch. The first few times I made them they did not turn out as soft as I would like and I found that I had been adding too much flour. So leave the dough a little sticky, but manageable. (I usually only use 3 c. flour) Knead 5-10 min. more. Place dough in oiled bowl. Cover and let rise 1 hr. Shape rolls into desired shapes and dip into 1/4 c. butter if desired. (I don't do this because of humidity in NC). Place in greased 9x13" pan. Cover and let rise 1 hr. more. Bake at 375 degrees for about 12-14 minutes. Depending on your oven, oven temp and time may need to be adjusted. If you didn't dip your rolls in butter before, I often brush mine with butter once I take them out of the oven. (I don't do this in NC either)

Raspberry Butter

Adapted from thesisterscafe.com

1/2 c. raspberry jam w/seeds (I don't like to use Smuckers. The generic walmart brand is good :)
1/2 c. softened butter
1/4 c. powdered sugar

Beat with hand mixer till smooth. Enjoy! Store in refrigerator.

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

Can I just say that I love my ice cream maker? Holy moly homemade ice cream is simply amazing. The occasional beautiful weather in Utah this last month has really gotten me craving a summery treat. My parents are stopping by on their way through town tomorrow, so I decided to whip up this strawberry deliciousness. I use a cuisinart ice cream maker and first got this recipe out of their recipe book. Best strawberry ice cream I have ever had. Enjoy!

Ingredients

3 cups fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-1/2 cup sugar, divided
1-1/4 cups whole milk
2-3/4 cups heavy cream
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine the strawberries with the lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Stir gently and allow the strawberries to macerate in the juices for 2 hours. Strain the berries, reserving juices. Mash or purée half the berries.
In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed to combine the milk and remaining granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream, reserved strawberry juice, mashed strawberries, and vanilla. Turn the machine on; pour the mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. Five minutes before mixing is completed, add the reserved sliced strawberries and let mix in completely. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

My Favorite Versatile Dough

This is a recipe of my mom's, who has always been an amazing cook. She uses this dough for all kinds of things, scones, navajo tacos, cinnamon rolls, pizza crust, you name it. One of my sweet little Allie's favorite things to do is help me make cinnamon rolls. And let me just say, she is SO much help :) So glad I had a girl to help me in the kitchen. Finding all of the leftover butter/cinnamon sugar mixture is her specialty. Love her and her little sweet tooth :) The dough is slightly sweet and raises nicely. Makes a lot of dough, so I like to divide it in four after it has raised once and freeze it for whenever I need it. Usually takes about 6-7 hours to thaw at room temp. I took mine out to thaw yesterday morning and we had a yummy pizza that night. My kids gobbled it up! Enjoy!

1/2 c. butter, softened
1 qt. hot water
1 c. sugar
1 T. salt
3 T. active dry
yeast in 3/4 c. water w/1 T. sugar
12+ c. flour

Dissolve 1 T. sugar in 3/4 c. warm water. Stir in yeast. Cover and let sit for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine 1 qt. hot water, 1 c. sugar, 1 t. salt and 1/2 c. softened butter in mixing bowl (I use my kitchenaid standing mixer).When yeast is nice and foamy, add it to the bowl. Begin mixing and add the flour slowly to the bowl until the dough it still a tiny bit sticky to the touch, but manageable. Be careful not to add too much, or the dough will be dry. Knead for 5-10 minutes. Transfer to a greased bowl. Cover and let rise 1 hr. Punch down and form dough for whatever your purpose...cinnamon rolls, pizza crust, etc. Cover and let rise for 1 hr. more. Makes 4 dozen cinnamon rolls, or atleast 4 cookie sheets full of pizza crust. Yum!

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

Let's just start by saying me and the crock pot have a love hate relationship. Love that it is so convenient, hate that it's hard to find crock pot recipes that I love. Found this super easy recipe on pinterest the other day. Worked out great for me on Sunday when I was busy keeping kids occupied during General Conference. Flint and I loved it, plus, I just happened to have everything on hand :) Enjoy!

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast tenderloins
1 c. pineapple juice
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. light soy sauce

Mix it all together in the crock pot. Cook on low 6-8 hrs. (If you have a bigger crock pot like me, I suggest checking it at 4 hrs.) I made some white rice and gravy to go with ours. When chicken is done, pour juices into a saucepan on med. high heat. In a small bowl mix together 1-2 T. corn starch with a little bit of cold water. Slowly stir the mixture into the saucepan of juices. Remove from heat when it has reached your desired consistency. Now just pour over top your chicken and rice! Enjoy!

Easy & Delicious Meatballs

I wanted to make a crockpot stroganoff tonight, but the recipe called for meatballs.... which I don't have hanging around. Being carless... I improvised and made my own. Turned out DELICIOUS! I have a feeling my husband is going to be very happy around 5 o'clock tonight :) Found this recipe on allrecipes.com Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds ground beef
• 1 1/2 cups Italian-seasoned dry bread crumbs
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
  
  
  
  

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
2. Mix together the ground beef, bread crumbs, cream of mushroom soup, eggs, Parmesan cheese, and onion soup mix. Shape the mixture into balls about the size of a golf ball. Arrange on the prepared baking sheets.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 30 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

Oatmeal Pancake Mix

We have been on a pancake kick at our house lately... Probably because both of my kids eat them so great! Found this recipe that I LOVE from thesisterscafe.com. It is so delicious, pretty healthy and convenient. You will LOVE them too :) Enjoy!

Oatmeal Pancake Mix

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups rolled (quick) oats
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 cup vegetable or canola oil

Directions

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixer with a paddle (or by hand). If desired, grind the oats in a blender or food processor before adding to the other dry ingredients for a smoother mix. With mixer on slow speed (or gently by hand), drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running. When all the oil has been added, stop the mixer and squeeze a clump of mix in your hand. If it stays together, it is just right. If it is still crumbly, add another tablespoon of oil at a time until the consistency is correct (I’ve never had to add additional oil). Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer.

To make the pancakes: whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1/2 to 1 cup buttermilk* (depending on how thick you want your batter), and 1 egg. The mixture may seem thin at first but the oats will soak up the milk as it stands while the griddle preheats. Heat a griddle and drop the batter onto it. When the edges look dry and bubbles come to the surface and don’t break, turn the pancake over to finish cooking on the second side. As a sidenote, buttermilk can be frozen indefinitely for future batches of pancakes, so it’s worth keeping it around!