Mexican Chicken with Jalapeno popper sauce

This recipe came along just in time for my bumper crop of jalapenos. I found it on On my menu, where I find all kinds of great recipes. I was excited to try this one out and it lived up to all my expectations. Shane told me he wanted me to make it again. The next day I had more sauce and no more chicken but I was craving the sauce. So for breakfast I made myself an open faced scrambled egg sandwich with the sauce on top. It was soo good. I still have some sauce left and I can't wait to have the same breakfast tomorrow.

Ingredients:
3 Chicken Breasts
A Sprinkle of Cumin per Breast
A Sprinkle of Chili Powder per Breast
A Sprinkle of Salt per Breast
2 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
3 Jalapenos, Seeded and Chopped
8 Oz. of Cream Cheese
2 Cups of Chicken Broth
3 Slices of Bacon
3/4 Cup of Shredded Cheddar or Colby Jack
1 Tbsp of Fresh Cilantro, chopped + more for garnish

Directions:
Fry bacon until crisp. Remove to paper towel-lined plate.
Sprinkle chicken with seasonings (I mixed 1 tsp of the cumin, chili, and salt together and then sprinkled that on the chicken) while the bacon crisps. Add the chicken to the hot bacon fat in the skillet. Cook chicken, turning every few minutes, until juices run clear and no longer pink. Remove from skillet and keep warm.
Add chopped jalapenos to the skillet and cook for a couple of minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds to a minute more, until fragrant.
Add chicken broth, deglazing pan. Bring to a boil.
Add cream cheese and stir until melted and smooth. Add in shredded cheese and bacon, stirring until the cheese in melted. Turn off heat and stir in cilantro.
Serve chicken on a bed of Mexican or Taco rice (I made cilantro lime rice) and topped with sauce. Garnish with additional cilantro if desired.

Jalapeno Snacks

Ingredients:
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 (1oz) pkg dry ranch salad dressing mix
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
20 large jalapenos, halved and seeded
1 lb sliced bacon, cut in half

Directions:
Preheat to 400. Stir together the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, ranch dressing mix, and garlic powder in a mixing bowl until evenly blended. Spoon some of the cheese mixture into each jalapeno half, wrap with half a bacon strip, and secure with a toothpick (I didn't need to do this) Arrange the wrapped jalapeno halves onto a broiler pan (I put them on a cooling wrack on a sheet cake pan). Bake in oven until bacon is no longer pink and beginning to brown, about 20 minutes.

Yogurt Sauce on a Falafel Sandwich

I'm mainly posting for the yogurt sauce--it's the white stuff between the flat bread and the lettuce. This is a really yummy sandwich but there really isn't a recipe to it. I just had store bought falafels and flat bread. One day I may try to make them myself but I'm not up for it yet. In fact I barely tried a falafel this summer when I was visiting my sister in law and she made us these sandwiches. She found the recipe for the cucumber yogurt sauce on cooks.com. Which wow, I love this sauce so much. I've dipped veggies in it, put it on my quesadillas, and put it on these sandwiches. It's just kind of a great all around dip or sauce. I think what really wins it over for me is the cumin, I've realized I love the flavor of cumin. I've had this with the cucumbers added and without and it's great both ways.

Ingredients:
1/2 med. cucumber peeled, seeded & chopped fine
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1/4 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. ground pepper

Directions:
Stir all ingredients together and enjoy!

Rice, Spice, and Everything Nice Creme Brulee

My daughter entered into a local rice cooking contest and her dessert won 1st place! She worked for weeks coming up with and perfecting her recipe. After tasting it I thought the judges would be crazy if they didn't give her first place. Of course they weren't crazy and that is exactly what she got! Here is her award winning recipe.

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ habanero pepper
3 tablespoons cocoa
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ cup cooked minute rice
1 egg, 2 egg yolks, beaten
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter
4 tablespoons Turbinado sugar (Sugar in the raw)

Directions:
Put heavy cream, 1 cup of milk, ½ cup heavy cream, 1/3 cup sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and half a habanero pepper in saucepan. Cook on medium for 25 minutes, stirring often. Take out pepper and pour mixture into a handheld, fine mesh strainer. Pour back into another medium sauce pan, add 3 tablespoons cocoa, ¾ teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 ½ cup cooked minute rice. Cook on medium until thick and creamy. Add beaten eggs and ½ cup milk. Cook 2 minutes longer. Add ½ teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon butter. When butter is melted, put the mixture into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour through another handheld strainer to ensure that there isn’t any unblended rice left. Scoop into six 3 inch ramekins, cover in saran wrap and cool for 2 hours. Take off saran wrap, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of turbinado sugar on top of each evenly, and torch to caramelize. Enjoy!

Snickerdoodles

I should probably rename my blog to my favorite recipes from Allrecipes.com. Unless they are old recipes that is usually where they came from. I just really like their rating system and most of the recipes that are 4.5 to 5 stars are really fantastic. I always like to read the comments too because they give you some good ideas on how to tweak the recipe for the better. These are another 5 star rated cookie from that site and they are so yummy.


Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon


Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs, and vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda, and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls. Mix the 2 Tbsp sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8-10 min, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Pumpkin Pancakes

I got this recipe from my niece, Lia. She's kind of a picky eater so the recipes she post on her blog are usually pretty good. At least I haven't tried a bad one yet. These pancakes were very good and so great as I'm trying so hard to bring on my favorite season, Autumn. Even though it very much feels like summer still, I'm still going eat like it's fall. She had a buttermilk syrup with hers, but I didn't have buttermilk when I made the pancakes. Next time I plan to try it because Lia said it was really good.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cup milk
4 eggs separated
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup canned pumpkin

Directions:
Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, salt, and brown sugar. Combine the pumpkin, milk, and egg yolks. Add the flour mixture and melted butter. Stir to blend. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks and fold into the batter to blend. Preheat griddle at 350. Pour batter and cook until richly browned

Sour Cream Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (you could use chicken too)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 small can chopped green chiles

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 pint sour cream

shredded cheese

corn tortillas

1 T oil

Directions:

Brown ground beef. I cooked my onions with the beef but I think my mother in law just uses raw onion. Place chicken soup, chopped chiles, and sour cream in a saucepan and heat to boiling point. Meanwhile, place tortilla one at a time in hot oil, let fry just until hot, place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. On tortilla add sauce, cheese, onions, and meat. Roll tortillas and place in 9x13 baking pan. Pour leftover sauce over rolled tortillas, sprinkle with cheese. Place in 350 oven to heat through and cheese to melt.

Italian Saute

This is a recipe I've had for a long time. I used to make it quite frequently but Shane started complaining about all of my spinach recipes. I'm a big fan of spinach, the rest of my family--not so much. It was nice pulling this recipe out of retirement. I liked it as much as I remembered and no one complained about the spinach.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (I put in a lot more than that)
1 0z can tomato sauce
2 T parsley flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 10oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup low fat cottage cheese
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

Directions:
In large skillet cook ground beef and drain off extra fat. Add onion and mushrooms and continue to cook until moisture is absorbed. Add tomato sauce, parsley flakes, garlic powder, basil, oregano, and seasoned salt. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Combine spinach and cottage cheese. Sprinkle 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese over meat mixture. Spoon cottage cheese mixture evenly over meat. Spread remaining mozzarella cheese on top. Cover skillet and simmer 15 min. Serve.

Chicken Tettrazzini

This is a recipe I've been making for years. It's a simple meal to put together that most everyone in my family will eat. The one that won't eat it is vegetarian so she doesn't reallt count.

Ingredients:
2 T butter
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
1 26oz can cream of chicken soup
1 1/4 cup milk
3 cups cubed cooked chicken (I just used one can, we aren't big meat eaters here)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 tsp pepper
4 cups hot cooked spaghetti (8oz)

Directions:
In skillet over medium heat, in hot butter, cook mushrooms and onion until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. In bowl, combine soup, milk, chicken, cheese, parsley, pepper, and mushroom mixture. Add spaghetti; toss to coat. Spoon into 3 qt. Oblong baking dish. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbling. Stir. Sprinkle with additional cheese if desired.

Easy Taco Soup

Ingredients:
1lb hamburger (or shredded chicken)
1 small onion, chopped
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
4 cups water
4 cups spaghetti sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp salt
shredded cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips

Directions:
Brown the hamburger. Place hamburger in crock pot. Add onion, water, spaghetti sauce, taco seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir. Cook on ow 3-4 hours. Serve in individual bowls, top with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream. This could also easily just be made on the stovetop and let it simmer for a little while with all the ingredients.

"MY" kind of potatoes

Today is my dad's birthday. In honor of him I'm posting his original recipe (I think?) for potatoes. When my mom wasn't home to make dinner, this is what my dad would make. Very possibly the only thing he really cooked. Actually, his looked a lot better than mine do. I'm thinking I should have cooked the corned beef longer, I remember his being more browned. My son absolutely loved them, I think he ate half of them himself. They are super easy to make too.

Ingredients:
5 potatoes, sliced
1 can corned beef
1 onion, diced
1 Tbsp oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Add potatoes and onions to skillet. Cook until onions are translucent and potatoes nearly done about 10 minutes. Add corned beef and chop up into small pieces. Cook an additional 5-10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Oreo Dessert

If you love Oreos, you'll love this dessert. And who doesn't love an Oreo?

Ingredients:
1 pkg Oreos
8 oz cream cheese
1 tub cool whip
1 cup powdered sugar
1 stick butter
1 pkg chocolate instant pudding (the bigger box)
2 1/2 cups milk

Directions:
Crush Oreos, reserve 1/2 cup of oreos for topping. Add 1 stick of melted butter to crushed oreos (but not in the 1/2 you've saved for later use). Mix well. Layer in the bottom of 9x13 dish with just a little pressure. Do not pack the Oreos in the crust as this will cause the crust to be too hard to scoop out. Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add as next layer. Make chocolate pudding according to recipe for pie filling (beat with 2/12 cups of milk). Add as next layer. Spread cool whip on as the next layer. Sprinkle with remaining Oreos. Refrigerate one hour.

Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 lb sweet italian turkey sausage
3/4 lb lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6oz) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5oz) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp white sugar
1 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles (I like oven ready)
16 oz ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 lb mozzarella cheese, sliced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


Directions:
In saucepan cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Drain out the fat. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, pepper, and 2 Tbsp parsley. Simmer for an hour 1/2.
If you don't use oven ready noodles this would be where you would boil the noodles until al dente and set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese (or substitute cottage cheese) with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 tsp salt.
Preheat oven to 375.
To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange noodles lengthwise. over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil. Bake in preheated oven for 25 min. Remove foil and bake and additional 25 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup canola oil
3 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin (2 cups)
2/3 cup water

Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1/2 lb powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp Nestle's quik (not vital for the recipe)

Directions:
Sift flour, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and baking soda in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the oil, sugar, vanilla, eggs-one at a time, pumpkin, and water. Add the first mixture to the second. Pour into a Bundt pan you've coated with baking spray (I love Baker's Joy). Cook at 350 for 60-70 minutes
Frosting:
Allow cake to cool. Soften 1/2 pkg (4oz) cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter to room temperature. Cream together with 1/2 lb of powdered sugar and 1 1/2 tsp nestle's quik. Add more powdered sugar if the frosting seems too thin. Frost cake.

Apple Dip

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Ingredients:
8oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup + of caramel ice cream topping
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup toffee bits

Directions:
Place cream cheese, caramel sauce, and vanilla in a bowl. Mix together until smooth. Stir in toffee bits and then sprinkle a few on top. Serve with sliced apples and enjoy!

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
1 3.8 oz Golden Curry sauce mix
1 1/2 lbs chicken (beef or pork would also work)
2-3 large potatoes, chopped
1-2 stalks of broccoli, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3-6 carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped
optional: mushrooms, cauliflower, pineapple, or any vegetable
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cut meat into bite size pieces. In a little oil, brown the meat with the onions. Pour 4-5 cups water into a large saucepan. Cut potatoes and carrots and add them to the meat. Boil for 5 minutes. Add the other cut vegetables to the pan. Simmer about 3 min. Add cut up pieces of curry to the mixture. Simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring constantly. The sauce should thicken during this period. Pour curry over rice and serve.