Bacon and Feta Stuffed Chicken

My sister in law started freezer cooking. Well, I thought about it, and that is really not for me. But freezer crockpot cooking is. Prep, place your ingredients in a gallon zip lock bag. Then the night before, pull out your bags to semi defrost & then place in crockpot the next morning & you are good to go. This was one of the first recipes I tried & really liked it.

Ingredients
4 boneless & skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup bacon (cooked)
1/2 cup feta cheese
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried basil

Directions:  Mix bacon and feta together in small bowl. Cut a 2 to 3 inch slit lengthwise in the side of the chicken breast creating a pocket, and fill with mixture. Secure shut with toothpicks. Place stuffed chicken breast in ziplock container & freeze. To serve: thaw contents in bag, place chicken in slow cooker, then add tomatoes and basil. Cook on low for about 4-6 hours or on high 1-3 hours, until chicken is no longer pink. Serve with mashed or baked potatoes.

Mexican Chili

So, one of my friends brought this dip over to one of our parties & we loved it! Not only did we like it, but my 1 1/2 year old loves to pick out the beans & eat them. Now, I am not a big cilantro fan, I actually hate it. But, the dressing masks the flavor of it, making it very tolerable.

Ingredients
2 cans black eyed peas - 14 oz (drain & rinsed)
1 can hominy - 15 oz (drain & rinsed)
2 tomato's (chopped)
4 green onions (chopped)
1 medium green bell pepper (diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced, I double this)
1/2c fresh cilantro (to taste)
1 bottle Kraft Zesty Italian dressing - 18 oz

Directions:  Mix & chill. Drain before serving. We like to serve with tortilla chips or the kettle cooked jalapeno chips.

Moscato Chicken

Well, if you can't tell by now, we eat a lot of chicken in this house. When i found this recipe, I wanted to try it really soon. It was a great recipe. The nuttiness of the chicken from the rolled outs gives it great flavor. I would have never thought about doing it with oats or oat flour. We served it with rice, but you could also do some sort of noodles. We thought it could have used some sort of garlic bread. Of course, Jon thought it could have done without the mushrooms. Happy Eating!!!

Ingredients:

1 # chicken, cut up into chunks
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup ground oats or oat flour (I used a coffee grinder)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
6-8 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup white Moscato wine (I used Barefoot)
1 teaspoon oregano (basil or parsley would work too) (optional)


Pour ground oats or oat flour onto a plate and lightly coat chicken.
Heat skillet & add 1 teaspoon of oil and 1 teaspoon of butter. Once hot, place coated chicken in pan and cook until done (about 7 minutes on each side.)

Set aside chicken in a warm oven while you prepare the Moscato mushrooms.
In the same pan that you cooked the chicken, add the leftover oil and butter (there should be 1 teaspoon of each.) Add minced garlic and be careful not to let it burn.

Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper if desired. Stir for about 3 minutes until mushrooms are cooked.
Add wine, vegetable broth, and oregano. Stir the mixture occasionally until the mushrooms soak up most of the liquid.
Add warm chicken to the mixture let chicken simmer to absorb some flavor & serve with rice.

Beef and Horseradish Sauce Sandwich

This is one of our all time favorite recipes. When I was pregnant with number 2, we ate this a lot. We served it with a bowl of french onion soup to dip the sandwich in. So good! We particularly like the sauce on the sandwich, but we add a lot more horseradish then what the originally recipe calls for.

Serves 4

BEEF

2 -3 lbs flank steak
1 tablespoon unsalted butter , room at temperature
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons fresh coarse ground black pepper

SAUCE

3/4 cup good mayonnaise (Hellmans)
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1/2 teaspoon white prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons sour cream
kosher salt

FOR THE SANDWICH

Hoagie Rolls
arugula or chopped Romaine
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

For the Beef:
Place the beef on baking sheet and pat the outside dry with a paper towel. Mix the unsalted butter and mustards together in a small bowl and spread the mixture over the beef with your hands. Sprinkle evenly with the salt and pepper. Grill until you desired steak temperature is done. We like ours medium. Place steak on cutting board and cut across the grain into thin slices.

SAUCE:

Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Serve at room temperature.

TO MAKE THE SANDWICH:.
Slice open hoagie roll, spread the rolls thickly with the Mustard Horseradish Sauce. Top with slices of beef and arugula/romaine and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Burgundy Beef

Mmmm...burgundy beef. Yummy! Sounds great to me. We had some friends stay with us & she made this for us for dinner one night. I was good, a keeper in our book.

2lb Stewing beef
1 can French Onion soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can Cream of Celery soup
1/2 cup of Burgundy (or any red wine)

Place everything into Crockpot and mix. Cook on high for 4 hours (or use 4 hour setting if you have one). This can also be made in a casserole dish in the oven (bake for 3 hours at 350). Tastes great over egg noodles, rice or mashed potatoes. Don't forget your crusty bread.

Chicken Caesar Wraps

Well, sorry for no picture, but you can get the idea, if you go & look at the gyro burger. Once again, meat free dish. It was good, but not super filling. I needed more than 1 to fill me up. Would be good with real chicken too!

Serves 2

2 frozen BOCA Meatless Original Chik'n Patties or the spicy ones would probably be good too.
Caesar Dressing
lettuce
Flat bread or pita bread

COOK patties as directed on package. CUT patties into strips; place on pita bread. Top with lettuce & however much caesar dressing you want.

Gyro Burgers

Well, for use finding recipes that are meat free to use during lent is hard. You can't just say, "well, lets cook up some fish" since I cant eat it. So, when I ran across this recipe. I wanted to give it a shot. I am glad I did. It was really good. I wouldn't say it was the most filling dish (probably could have eaten 1.5), but the flavors are good! Chips, onion rings or tater-tots make a great addition to this.


Serves 4
4 frozen BOCA Brushetta Burgers
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1 clove garlic, minced
4 foldable pita breads or flat breads
2 plum tomatoes, sliced
1 cup shredded lettuce
1/2 cup chopped cucumbers
1/4 cup crumbled Feta Cheese

HEAT grill to medium heat.

GRILL burgers 8 min. or until cooked through (160ºF), turning after 4 min.

MEANWHILE, mix sour cream, garlic and cucumbers until blended.

CUT burgers in half. Top pitas with tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber cream sauce, burgers and cheese; fold in half.

Guaca-Macaroni

Another one of those recipes where the name intrigued me, so I had to try. Its an interesting recipe. Worth trying & I thought it tasted even better reheated for lunch the next day. Of course we topped it with diced jalapenos.

Serves 4-6

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup onion diced
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 small can diced green chilies
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup guacamole
1/2 pound macaroni
1/3 teaspoon cilantro

Heat water on high in a large saucepan for pasta.
Brown ground beef with onion in a skillet over medium heat.
Add macaroni to boiling water and continue cooking on high heat. Stir.
Drain off fat from beef mixture
Add sour cream and guacamole to skillet. Stir to mix.
Add tomatos & diced chilis and reduce heat to medium-low.
Drain and rinse macaroni and add to skillet.

Spinach Dip Soup

Well, this lent I have been looking for new recipes to try. Something different, so when I ran across the name of this recipe, I had to put it in my "to try pile". Please see note at bottom of recipe about the bread bowls.

Serves 6

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 container (16 oz) spinach dip
1 jar (12 oz) sliced roasted red bell peppers, drained, chopped
1 box (9 oz) Green Giant® frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed to drain
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (3 oz)

In 3-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic in butter, stirring occasionally, until tender.
2 Stir in broth, spinach dip, roasted peppers and spinach; cook until thoroughly heated. Top each serving with cheese.


Now, I made my own bread bowl for this recipe & if your up for a small challenge I say go ahead & try it. I will warn you...the bread recipe is really easy! However, if you don't have time to make your own bread bowls, you can either put it in a bowl or you can make your own bread bowls out of the pillsbury french loaf. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray (or for easy clean up, line sheet with foil). Remove dough from can. Cut loaf into 3 pieces; shape each into ball, placing seam at bottom so dough is smooth on top. Place dough balls, seam side down, on sprayed cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F. for 22 to 26 minutes or until golden brown. With sharp knife, cut small portion off top of each loaf. Lightly press center of bread down to form bowls, or pull out the bread leaving a little in the bowl. Use bread that has been pulled out to dip into soup. Place each bread bowl on individual serving plate & fill with soup.

Pulled Pork Green Chili Enchiladas

So, Jon smoked a couple of pork butts the other day & we froze most of the meat to heat & eat for a later time. We were munching on pulled pork sandwiches and we were both getting tired of it. So, before we threw out the pork, I thought I would try something a little different. I just made a small batch, one enchilada each for dinner, and one to eat the next day for lunch.
PS- I forgot to take a picture of this one- sorry!
Servings- 4


About 2 cups pulled pork
1 large can green chili's (drained)
1 can green enchilada sauce
1-8oz bag of Mexican cheese (divided, I also added a couple of crumbled slices of pepper jack cheese
Flour or corn taco shells

Mix the pork, green chili's, and about 1/2 the bag of cheese together in a bowl. Place filling in the middle of your shell (I used flour taco shells (4). Place in a sprayed pan & pour 1 can green enchilada sauce over the top. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes & then top with remaining cheese from bag & bake 15 more minutes.

Rarebit Smash Burgers

So, on this rare occasion I got to watch Rachel Ray. She had made these burgers that looked so tasty & let me tell you, they were. They were very moist & flavorful. We weren't a big fan of the potatoes, so when we make them next time, we will skip the potatoes. Now, while this recipes calls for bacon, you only use the fat to fry the potatoes in it. We thought that was a waste of bacon & crumbled it on top of the burger & potatoes.

Serves 4

2 large Russet potatoes
EVOO, for the pans
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 clove garlic, finely grated or pasted
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Splash of half-and-half or whole milk
2 pounds 80-percent ground beef (if you grind your own, use 1/2-pound each skirt steak, brisket and sirloin)
About 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or 2 teaspoons hot sauce
1 small white or yellow onion, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup Irish stout, such as Guinness
1/2 pound sliced Cotswold or extra-sharp yellow Cheddar
Brioche or potato rolls, lightly toasted
Bread-and-butter pickles, for topping
Watercress, for topping

Directions

Peel the potatoes, then slice into thin wedges or cut into 3/4-inch dice. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add a drizzle of EVOO. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, then drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Add the potatoes to the fat in the skillet and season with a little salt and lots of pepper. Cook until browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Cover with foil and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the foil and cook until crisp, 7 to 8 more minutes.

Mix the sour cream, chives, dill, garlic, horseradish, 2 tablespoons parsley and half-and-half or milk in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix the beef, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard cayenne or hot sauce and the remaining 2 tablespoons parsley in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and lots of pepper.

Heat a cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Brush with oil, then add the beef mixture in 4 loose balls of equal size (do not shape them with your hands). Flatten with a spatula into 3/4-inch-thick patties. Scatter the onion slices over the top and press in with the spatula. Cook for 3 minutes, then flip and press the onion into the patties. Cook for 2 more minutes. Douse the pan with the beer and lay the cheese over the patties. Cover and cook until the cheese melts, about 1 minute.

Serve the burgers on the rolls with pickles and watercress. Drizzle the horseradish sauce over the potatoes and serve on the side.

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff in the crockpot, sounds pretty yummy. This recipe is pretty good. I know that sometimes crockpot recipes don't always look all that appealing. Some are bland looking, some are chunky and some of the sauces just are not smooth. This sauce is not smooth, which bothered me. I could not get the cream cheese to dissolve all the way into the sauce. It made me mad. However, the little specks of cream cheese did not affect the taste.

Serves 6-8

3 pounds cubed stew meat
2 cans Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup
1 largish onion diced
2-3 tabls of Worcestershire
1/2 cup water
8 oz of cream cheese
1 tsp Garlic Salt (I used granulated garlic)
couple dashes of Hot Paprika

In the slow cooker stir in all the ingredients, except the meat AND the Cream Cheese, together. Once combined add the meat and mix together.

Cook on Low for 8 hours. Cut up the cream cheese into cubes just before serving and turn crockpot on high. Stir the cream cheese in until all combined. You might have to put the lid back on and leave for 10 minutes.

Serve over egg noodles, or mashed potatoes & don't forget the bread to mop up the sauce.

Bacon Cheeseburger Taco's

Now, the name of the recipe is what caught my attention. Something a little different on this particular dinner night. Now, while this recipe is good, and I suggest you give it a try. I honestly think this is a better dip recipe, than a dinner recipe. But, that is just my opinion.

Servings 6-7 Taco's

1 pound lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 package (1 oz) Old El Paso® 40% less-sodium taco seasoning mix
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup Old El Paso® Cheese 'n Salsa dip (from 15-oz jar)
1 box (7.4 oz) Old El Paso® hard and soft taco shells (6 hard corn shells and 6 soft flour tortillas)
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped (1 cup)
6 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled

In 10-inch nonstick skillet, cook beef and onion over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in taco seasoning mix and water. Reduce heat to medium; cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened. Stir in dip until well mixed.
Heat taco shells and tortillas as directed on box.
Fill heated taco shells and tortillas with warm beef mixture, lettuce, tomato and bacon.

Note- Can't find the Cheese 'n Salsa dip (in the chip isle)? Try 4 oz Mexican prepared cheese product, cubed, or another soft cheese that melts easily. If you prefer less spice, use regular prepared cheese product.

Pepperoncini Chicken

So, while looking for new recipes, I ran across this recipe. I thought it sounded interesting....so, why not try it. The original recipe called for beef, but i am sure you can use beef, pork or chicken. I am sure you could substitute banana pepper rings in place of pepperoncini's. I served the chicken mix on onion rolls with some tater tots & green bean fries. We also thought it need some cheese to balance out the sandwich.

Serves 4-6

1.5-2 Pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 Packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dry Dressing Mix
16 oz jar Pepperoncini- Diced; Reserve Liquid
Sliced cheese of your choice; swiss, colby, cheddar (optional)

Directions:

Place chicken breasts, diced pepperoncinis, some of the pepperoncini juice (about half of what is in the jar) and the ranch packet in slow cooker. Turn to low; cook for 4 to 5 hours. Drain juice and reserve. Shred chicken with a fork and add reserved juice as desired. Serve as sandwiches on a nice, fresh bun or roll.

Potato Soup

Well, I'm not going to say I have the best potato soup recipe, but it does taste pretty tasty. The last time I made it, the girls were fighting & I got distracted & added a can of cream of chicken soup instead of cream of celery. Well, it was a very tasty mistake. Please note, all cream of soups are interchangeable. You can use what your family likes. I really like to have bread to mop up the "sauce" that is left over in the bowl.

Serves: 5-6

1 medium onion; diced
2 ribs of celery; diced
1 tablespoon veg. oil
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup 1/2 & 1/2 or milk
5-6 baking potatoes; peeled & diced
4 oz velveeta cheese, chunked

Garnish (optional)
Cheddar cheese
Green onion
Bacon (I really recommend the bacon)

Saute the onion & celery in the vegetable oil until soft, about 4-5 minutes. Add cream of soup, chicken stock & 1/2 & 1/2 or milk & potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are soft or just firm to the bite. Add velveeta cheese, serve once cheese is melted. Top with cheddar cheese, onion & bacon & maybe some cheese-it's if you want.

Mini Thai Chicken Pies

This was a simple, easy & quick dinner recipe. Something a little cheesy with some Asian flare. Please note- while this recipe calls for Thai curry paste, it did NOT have any curry flavor (I don't like curry). Serve these mini Thai Chicken Pies, with a side of Pad Thai noodles. Makes for a yummy meal.

Servings: 3 (Three pies each, because 2 was not enough)

Thai Chicken Mixture

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup sliced green onions (4 medium)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I omitted this because I don't like cilantro)
1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)

Baking Mixture

1/2 cup Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs

Garnishes (Optional, but I did like it on the pies)
1/2 cup salted cocktail peanuts
1/4 cup sliced green onions (4 medium, if desired)


Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 12 regular-size muffin cups with cooking spray.
In 10-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in oil 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink in center. Add onion; cook 2 to 3 minutes. Add green onions, cilantro, red curry paste and lime juice, stirring occasionally, until mixture is heated through. Cool 5 minutes; stir in cheese.
In medium bowl, stir baking mixture ingredients with whisk or fork until blended. Spoon 1 scant tablespoon baking mixture into each muffin cup. Top with about 1/4 cup Thai chicken mixture. Spoon 1 tablespoon baking mixture onto Thai chicken mixture in each muffin cup.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and tops of pies are golden brown. Ten minutes into baking, carefully open oven and sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon peanuts on top of each muffin. Close oven door and finish baking. Cool 5 minutes. With thin knife, loosen sides of pies from pan; remove from pan. Serve with sliced green onions.