Sour Cream Rice

This is from one of my favorite What's Cooking girls, Carrie or Carrie's Sweet Life. She originally got this recipe from Allrecipes then I got it from her!

1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 (8.75 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
salt and ground black pepper to taste
In a large pot, bring the rice and chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish.

In the pot with the cooked rice, mix the sour cream, green chile peppers, 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, corn, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish, and top with remaining cheese.

Bake uncovered 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.

Taco Pie

My mom got another Gooseberry Patch cookbook and I got a few recipes out of it to make. This is one of them. It was so very good and will definitely stay in the rotation! Forgot to take a picture but I'll get one the next time!

1 can crescent rolls
1 pound ground beef
(called for onion but we don't eat)
1 can tomato sauce (I didn't have so I used one can tomato paste and one can water)
1 package taco seasoning
3 tbl sour cream
1 cup shredded cheese
2/3 cups Doritos--crushed and seperated

Heat oven to 350.

Seperate crescent rolls and place in the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate to cover the bottom and up the sides. place 1/3 cup of the Doritos over the crescent rolls.

Brown ground beef, if necessary drain, add tomato sauce and taco seasoning, bring to a simmer over low heat, let simmer 5 mins. Pour in to pan over Doritos. Spread sour cream over meat. Top with cheese and then rest of Doritos.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. (I had browned my meat and added the tomato sauce the night before. Really needed about 5 extra minutes in oven since it was cold!)

Goat Cheese Chicken

This is another recipe brought about due to me having some goat cheese on hand. We absolutely love goat cheese and I thought what could be better than combining it with chicken!
1/4 of a log of soft goat cheese
3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded to 1/8"
3 Tbl marinara sauce (again I use Prego)
1/3 cup italian bread crumbs
1/3 cup parmesan cheese

Combine bread crumbs and parmesan cheese together in a shallow dish. Spread enough goat cheese to cover the chicken and then place 1 tbl of the marinara on each chicken breast. Roll the chicken up. Coat in the parmesan cheese/bread crumb mixture. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 for about 20 mins (I use a meat thermometer so I'm not sure on cooking time).

The BEST Appetizer EVER

Me and my mom once went to Carraba's Italian Restaurant and had the most wonderful appetizer that they call Scotty Thompson. I had a log of goat cheese that I was wanting to make for dinner and that's how these next two came about!

1 log of soft goat cheese
1/2-1 cup of marinara sauce (I used Prego)
6 slices Texas Toast
1 stick butter
1 tbl garlic powder

Heat oven to 400. Place log of goat cheese in pan sprayed with Pam. Cover cheese with marinara sauce. Bake for about 20 minutes until it's nice and melted. Meanwhile melt butter in microwave dish (I use a glass measuring cup) and then stir in the garlic powder. Place Texas Toast slices on a baking sheet. Cut off crusts and then spread the butter mixture over both sides. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Serve the toasts along side the goat cheese mixture. YUM!

Cheesy, beefy, rice and bean enchiladas

This recipe has some inspiration from one of my favorite blogs, Amber's Delectable Delights. She has 2 enchilada recipes on her blog and it reminded me that I should make some this week!

Crystal's Cheesy, Beefy, Rice and Bean Enchiladas

1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground turkey
Taco Seasoning packet
1 jar taco sauce
1 can black beans
enough white rice (I used Minute Rice) for 2 servings, already made
4 oz cream cheese
2 cups Mexi-Blend Cheese
6-8 flour tortillas

Brown ground beef and turkey together in skillet over medium heat. Drain. Return to skillet. Stir in packet of Taco Seasoning and make according to directions. Stir in 4oz of cream cheese and let melt.

Pour enough taco sauce in 9x13 pan to cover bottom. Drain and rinse black beans. In assembly formation take one tortilla and place it in the palm of your hand. Now place a scoop of ground meat in tortilla, then a spoon of beans and a spoon of rice in tortilla, top with shredded cheese, roll up and place seam side down in pan on top of sauce. Continuing rolling all enchiladas with meat, rice and beans. Cover with taco sauce and remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes until cheese is melted and browned.

Pepperoni and Cheese Bread

I was doing my usual surfing on all of the wonderful food blogs that I frequent and came across this recipe not only once, but twice! The first was on Amber's Delectable Delights and the second on Mrs Sac's Purple Kitchen. I thought if these two wonderful women like it then we must too! They did not disappoint and I have another pizza dish to add to our Pizza Friday rotation!

Pepperoni and Cheese Bread

Ingredients:

1 roll refrigerated french bread dough OR 1 loaf frozen bread dough (thawed)
Regular or turkey pepperoni
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Dried Italian seasoning
My pizza sauce---I used Prego three cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Roll out bread dough, and drizzle with olive oil, a few small dollops of sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses, Italian seasoning, and place pepperoni on top of the cheese.

Carefully roll the bread dough into a cylinder shape. Pinch ends and top to seal. Brush top and sides with some olive oil.

If desired, top loaf with cheese, pepperoni, and/or Italian seasoning. Make a few diagonal slices in top of loaf for air to escape while cooking.
Bake at 350 for ~20 min. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

Serve with pizza sauce.


I also made breadsticks with a can of Crescent rolls I had on hand. I seperated the crescents into the 4 rectangles that they naturally fall in. I cut each one in 1/2 and then into 1/2 again so each rectangle gave me 4 sticks. I then twisted each strip and placed on a foil lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. I then sprayed the twists on cooking spray and then sprinkled parmesan cheese over them. I baked at 375 for 14 mins (which was a min or 2 too long) and then brushed them with 1/2 cup of butter that was melted and had 1 tsp of garlic powder added. They were very good!

NYE Apps

We decided to just do an appetizer night for New Years this year. It was great! We snuggled into our lounge clothes and I tried to keep Kevin awake til midnight. Well we did end up toasting at 11:00 with the Disney count-down (yes I'm a huge Disney fan, I love Hannah, the Wizards of Waverly Place, yep I'm a dork) and then Kevin went on to bed. I started watching a Lifetime movie and stayed up til 1 am.

Here is what we made:
both of these are from the Pilsbury website!
Italian Pinwheels
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (2 oz)
1/2 cup sliced pepperoni, finely chopped (I used turkey because I had it on hand and will never make it like that again, it tasted funny all chopped up)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves--I used a tsp of Italian Seasoning
1 egg yolk
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
1 egg white, beaten

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix cheese, pepperoni, oregano and egg yolk. (I doubled this mixture due to other reviews and was glad I did)
2. If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate dough into 4 rectangles. Firmly press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.
3. Spread each rectangle with about 3 tablespoons pepperoni mixture. Starting at shortest side, roll up each rectangle; pinch edges to seal. Cut each roll into 6 slices. Place, cut side down, 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg white. (I then sprinkled with some parmesan cheese).
4. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.


I made these at Thanksgiving and they got rave reviews so I made them again!
Cheese Crescent Triangles
4 oz tomato-basil feta cheese, finely crumbled (1 cup)
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions (2 medium)
1 egg, well beaten
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix feta cheese, green onions and 3 tablespoons of the beaten egg.
2. If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate into 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.
3. Press each rectangle into 7 1/2x5-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle into 3 rows by 2 rows to make 6 (2 1/2-inch) squares. Top each dough square with slightly rounded measuring teaspoon feta cheese mixture. Fold dough over filling, forming triangle; press edges to seal. On ungreased cookie sheets, place triangles 2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining 3 dough rectangles and feta cheese mixture.
4. Brush tops with remaining beaten egg. Sprinkle lightly with Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.


Buffalo Chicken Dip

and Bacon Wrapped Goat Cheese Stuffed Dates
I totally winged this idea after getting the idea from the girls on the What's Cooking board:
I made about 12 dates
Slice Dates 1/2 way open, remove pit and discard pit, place about 1 tsp on goat cheese on inside of date.
Slice 4 slices of bacon in thirds roll a date inside a slice of bacon.
Sprinkle with some brown sugar and bake for about 25 minutes at 350!

And I made my mom's Hot Chocolate (I have no idea where she got this recipe, she's made it for years!)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup baking cocoa (I use Hersheys)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
6 1/2 cups hot water (I will half this with heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2 if I have it on hand to make it creamier)
Mix all of the ingredients and heat through in a pot on the stove over medium heat and then reduce to low if you will be drinking on it all day. I also make this in the crockpot and it works just fine, just mix all ingredients in crockpot place on high until everything gets mixed together well and then put on low. I like it in the crockpot better, if you place it on the stove it begins to get a film on the top but once moved aside the hot chocolate is still wonderful!

Ina's Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

Ina is my new hero. Such simple ingredients and easy instructions. My mom gave me her Back To Basics cookbook for Christmas and I had seen the episode where she makes these for breakfast and looked so good. I tried one straight out of the oven and they are soooooo good!

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup cold buttermilk, shaken
1 cold extra-large egg
1 cup grated extra-sharp Cheddar
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water or milk
Maldon sea salt, optional

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place 2 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.

Combine the buttermilk and egg in a small measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork. With the mixer still on low, quickly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix only until moistened. In a small bowl, mix the Cheddar with small handful of flour and, with the mixer still on low, add the cheese to the dough. Mix only until roughly combined.

Dump out onto a well-floured board and knead lightly about 6 times. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 10 by 5 inches. With a sharp, floured knife, cut the dough lengthwise in half and then across in quarters, making 8 rough rectangles. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops with the egg wash, sprinkle with salt, if using, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the biscuits are cooked through. Serve hot or warm.

Blue Cheese and Walnut Spread

I wanted to make a cheeseball for our Christmas Celebration but ended up making this as a spread instead. I had all of the ingredients on hand so it was perfect! This was very tasty and everyone loved it!

Adapted from recipes I found on allrecipes.com

1 package cream cheese--softened
about 4 oz blue cheese--more or less depending on your taste
1/4-1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix all ingredients together. Serve with french bread or crackers.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

This dip is also known as Crack Dip because it is so darn addicting. I finally made it after seeing all of the girls on the What's Cooking board making it. I knew my dad would love it so I made it for our Christmas with my family. I was right my dad loved it along with my sisters and hubby!

Buffalo Chicken Dip
adapted from the What's Cooking board
I got it off cookingthisandthats blog

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts cooked and shredded
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup blue cheese or ranch dressing
3/4 cup hot pepper sauce (I like the Frank's Buffalo sauce)
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and blue cheese dressing. Cook, stirring until blended and warm. Mix in the cheddar cheese and transfer to a 2 quart baking dish.
Cook for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Quick, easy and yummy dinner

The girls on my board, What's Cooking through the nest, have been talking about this recipe for a month. Seeing that I absolutely LOVE Laughing Cow Cheese I decided to make it finally. I am so glad I did because it will stay in the rotation!

Laughing Cow Cheese
found on lovedeliciousness
Unknown original source

Ingredients


* 2 chicken breasts, my chicken was pretty thin so I pounded down first
* 2 wedges Laughing Cow light cheese (one per breast)
* Italian seasoning to taste
* 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs (we used seasoned)
* Handful grated parmesan cheese
* Cooking spray


Directions


1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spread one wedge of Laughing Cow cheese on top of each piece of chicken. Sprinkle italian seasoning on top to taste. Roll chicken starting at large end.
3. Mix together bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a shallow dish. Spray each chicken breast with cooking spray and then dip in bread crumb mixture to coat. Place on baking sheet. If needed you can use toothpicks to hold chicken in shape.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.




Roasted Garlic Fries
While I was looking for the Laughing Cow Cheese Chicken and I was on lovedeliciousness's blog I found her recipe for Garlic Fries. Since I had a bag of potatoes that needed to be used up I thought I would make them. I am so glad I did they were a perfect match for the chicken!

Ingredients


* 2-3 potatoes for two people
* Garlic powder
* Salt and pepper
* EVOO


Directions


1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.--I did it in a 400 degree oven with the chicken
2. Cut potatoes into french fry strips. Toss with EVOO, salt, pepper, garlic (and any other seasonings you like!)
3. Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes or until crispy.

Pizza Bake

One of my and my hubby's favorite dishes is the Hoagie Bake. We make it alot of Friday nights. It's either that or pizza. Well I thought I could combine the two. This is what I came up with and man are we glad I did because it was EXCELLENT!

2 cans Recipe Creations
30-40 slices pepperoni
3 slices provolone cheese
1/3 cup mozzerella
1/3 cup shredded Pizza combo cheese
6 Tbl spaghetti or pizza sauce

Preheat oven to 375. Spray bottom and sides of a 9X13 pan.

Place one can of dough in bottom of pan. Spread 3 Tbl of sauce over top. Sprinkle with mozzerella then place 15 pepperoni over the cheese. Place the 3 slices of Provolone over the pepperoni cutting to fit. Place the rest of the pepperoni over the cheese. Spread rest of the sauce over the pepperoni followed by the shredded cheese. Place the second roll of dough over the cheese.

**I used the glass pan that is smaller than the 9X13 and just rolled the dough to cover all the sides and top and make a little bit more of a crust.

Bake 18-20 mins until browned.

Crystal's Turkey Casserole

This originated off a Rachel Ray recipe I had cut out her magazine, who knows how long ago. However there were a lot of ingredients I just didn't want to use so I made it to our tastes. This was a GREAT meal and we will make it again and again!

1 pound turkey breast fillets
2 cups mexican cheese
2 cups crushed tortilla chips (basically enough to balance the turkey)
1 cup taco sauce (we use this instead of salsa you could sub that)
1/2 cup chicken broth

Bake and then cut turkey into bite size pieces. (I had the oven on already baking something so I threw the turkey in a pan and baked it alongside).

I used the same pan (a 9x13 glass pan) that I cooked the turkey in and placed the cut up turkey, tortilla chips and taco sauce all together and mixed all together. Pour chicken stock over the top. (It's basically to keep the tortilla chips soft).

I then placed the cheese over the top. (I wish I had mixed it in, I will next time).

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes until the cheese is golden.

My mom's lasagna

My mom has been making this lasagna for as long as I can remember. It's the best lasagna I have ever tried (it even beat out my grandmas). I made 2 of these one to leave at home for my hubby to have a hot dinner while I am at the In-Laws for the weekend where I am taking the other one. Sorry for not taking a picture I promise to next time I make it! Okay I remembered to get pictures while I made it this time, however I still don't have one of the complete product, but with as much as I make it I'm sure I'll be able to get it!

1 clove garlic
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
Brown together and drain.

Stir in 1 32oz jar Prego, 6 oz tomato paste
Simmer for 20 minutes




Cook lasagna noodles (this is the first time I am trying the no-boil noodles, I'll update how it goes)

Cheese mixture: 2 tbl parsley flakes
1/2 to 3/4 cup cottage cheese
8 oz mozzerella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Layer noodles, meat sauce and cheese mixture ending with cheese mixture in 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly. Let sit 10 mins. before serving.

Homemade Mac N Cheese

This is a mixture of recipes I found on Allrecipes. I tweaked it to what I had on hand.

16 oz bag of small shells
1 box of Velvetta Cheese
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1 package of ham
1 can of peas
1/2cup italian bread crumbs

1. Bring pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and boil about 8 mins. till al dente.

2. Place 1/2 and 1/2 with the soup in a pot and heat through, then add Velvetta cut into cubes, heat through, add ham and peas.

3. Pour cheese mixture into the pasta and then transfer all of it to a buttered dish, I used a glass 9X13 pan. Sprinkle bread crumbs all over the top of the mixture.

4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 mins.

Cheese & Bean Tortellini Soup

Another great one from my Gooseberry Patch Speedy Suppers cookbook. I will definitely make this one again!

2 T olive oil
4 cloves garlic minced
1 T fresh Thyme chopped
1/4 t red pepper flakes
6 C chicken broth
8 oz pkg refrigerated cheese tortellini
15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c parmesan cheese

Heat oil in large soup pot over medium-high heat; add garlice, thyme and red pepper flakes. Cook until garlic is fragrant. Add chicken broth; increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Stir in tortellini; reduce heat to medium and simmer for 4 minutes. Add beans. Simmer until tortellini is tender, about one minute. Ladle soup into bowls; sprinkle with cheese.

Originally recipe calls for onion and spinach but hubby won't eat either.

Taco Chicken

I had a recipe for Taco chicken, but decided I needed to spice it up a little so I combined ideas from a different chicken recipe to come up with this! It was wonderful. I served it with a can of black beans mixed with a can of corn, with a Tbl of a cilantro mix I have from TasteFully Simple, I heated it up and it was a great addition it will definitely stay in our sides rotation! Sorry about the photos, all I had at the time was my camera phone!


4 boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded as thin as you can get them
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend)
1 taco seasoning packet
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the sour cream with the shredded cheese. Spread an over-flowing tsp of mixture on each chicken breat. Roll up starting with smallest end. Combine parmesan cheese and taco packet together on a plate. Roll chicken through this mixture to coat. Place on sprayed cookie sheet and bake 20 mins or until 160 degrees.

Homemade Meatballs

I had a couple of recipes marked in my "to make" pile for meatballs and after spraining my ankle I was looking for something relative easy I could throw together. So I finally made homemade meatballs. It was a combo or recipes and what I had on hand. They turned out wonderful! I had a package of the "pasta sides" stroganoff pasta and made that to go along with them and some green beans.

1/2 # ground beef (I use the most lean I can find)
1/2 # ground turkey
about 2/3 of a sleeve of Ritz crackers
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp salt
2 tbl parsley
about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese (I used a 2% Mexican blend I had on hand)

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix all ingredients together using hands then take about 2 Tbl and roll into balls (I got 16 balls), place on a sprayed cookie sheet and bake on 350 for about 20 mins until it reaches 160 degrees.

Mom's Best Enchiladas

These are the best enchiladas in the world. My mom made them when I was growing up, I was craving them so I got the recipe off her. This is how I made it!

1 lb ground beef-browned
10 tortillas (flour, like 10 inches)
1 Tbl Crisco
1 Tbl flour
1/2 package Williams chili seasoning
2 cups chicken broth
1 can black beans (rinsed)
1 lb shredded cheddar cheese

Mix the ground beef and black beans together. Heat the Crisco in a skillet over med heat, when clear mix in flour and chili seasoning. Add chicken broth. Stirring occassionally let heat until thin gravy consistency.

Now to make them. Spray a 9x13 pan with pam. Take one tortilla and dip then turn over in the gravy, now put a spoonfull of beef mixture on the tortilla and cover with a handful of cheese. Do this with the 10 tortillas. Roll them like a burrito and line in the 9x13 pan. (it is easiest to dip then put the tortilla directly in the pan, then roll). Cover with remaining sauce and cheese.

I put mine in the fridge while we ran some errands and then heated up when we were ready for dinner. It took 30 mins on 350 degrees. This can also be made casserole style with layering the ingredients instead of rolling them.

If I can get our darn camera to work tonight I will take a picture when I get home!

Cheddar-Potato-Steak soup

I always love meals my husband goes back and gets seconds of, always makes me know he likes it! This was one of those meals. I have admited on here I am not a soup fan, however even I liked this one! The original was from Gooseberry Patch once again, but I made some alterations.

1 30 oz bag of frozen hashbrowns
2 cans chicken broth
1 cup water
***we didn't use but it calls for celery and onion at this point****

Mix above ingredients together and place on low for 6-8 hours.

8 oz bag shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
3 Tbl flour

Mix flour into milk. Then add cheese and milk mixture to crockpot and stir. Place on high for 20 mins, until cheese is melted.

I then added another 3/4 can of chicken broth because it was to thick for my liking. I added about 1 1/2 lbs of cooked steak cut into bite size pieces & I added one small bag of frozen corn (which was quite tasty in it). And put it on low until it was time to eat dinner.

Top with bacon bits and chopped green onions.