Chicken Fried Rice {Gasp!}

Yes, that’s right. This white girl made Chinese food for the first time ever. And, let me tell you… it was unbelievably amazing! Plus, the kids are on a roll. They loved this one too! Husband said it was great. Like eating at a Chinese restaurant if ya ask me.


Totally took the pic after I was already eating it. It’s SO good!

So make some!

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked rice**
• 2 cups of chicken {I used my leftover rotisserie chicken from yesterday’s recipe. Easy peezy lemon squeezy}
• 2 Tbs sesame oil
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• ½ frozen peas and carrots, thawed {I used a can of mixed veggies because that’s how I roll}
• 2-3 Tablespoons soy sauce (more or less to taste)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 Tbsp chopped green onions (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat a large skillet or wok to medium heat. Pour sesame oil in the bottom. Add white onion and peas and carrots {or 3/4 of the can if you’re lazy like me} and fry until tender.
2. Slide the onion and veggies to the side, and pour the beaten eggs onto the other side. Using a spatula, scramble the eggs. Once cooked, mix the eggs with the vegetable mix.
3. Add the rice to the veggie and egg mixture. Pour the soy sauce on top. Stir and fry the rice and veggie mixture until heated through and combined. Add chopped green onions if desired.
   
   **Side note: this works better with not-freshly-cooked rice. But, I used freshly cooked rice because I don’t have time to wait! It was still perfect!
   
   Enjoy loves!

You Asked and You Shall Receive

My kids have become increasingly picky. And I’ve cooked less and less because of it. BUT I'm back at it because I was craving enchiladas and just went on a roll with recipes from there!

Kid Friendly Chicken Enchiladas



Ingredients

• 1 Rotisserie chicken shredded or cut up (about 2.5 cups shredded chicken, I saved the rest for tomorrow’s dinner)
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk (I used whipping cream instead just because)
• 1 can of mild, red enchilada sauce
• 1 Tbsp cilantro
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 cup onion, diced (I sautéed these before so they would be hidden from the kids)
• 8  flour tortillas
• 1/2 cup Mexican shredded cheese

                                                                              Instructions

1. In a saucepan, mix together sour cream, enchilada sauce, milk (or cream) and cilantro. Heat through and set aside. (This will boil quickly and make a huge hot mess if you don't keep stirring. I learned the hard way.)
2. Combine the chicken, tomatoes, and onions in a mixing bowl. (Or now you would sauté your onions if you want them soft and sneaky :) )
3. Fill each tortilla with about 3 Tbsps. of the chicken mixture.
4. Roll the tortilla up and place seam side down ( or they will unravel ) in an 8x11 dish ( or whatever you have ) sprayed with cooking spray
   (side note…  I like rubbing my pans down with butter. We never have spray. Ever.)
5. Pour/spread the sour cream sauce over enchiladas and top with cheese. ( One more side note, I like to cover all the tortillas, including the ends especially,  with sauce. Because if you don’t, they come out majorly crunchy and I hate that )
6. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melted.
   
   Yuuuum! Seriously so good. So so good.

The Best Chicken Spaghetti Ever!

Hi friends! I took a way-too-long break from cooking or posting my recipes! It’s sad. Mr. Spouse is probably more sad than anyone. Poor guy. I promised to him tonight that I would start cooking dinner again. I also promised my friends I’d start posting recipes again. So here’s to you guys!

So, there’s a lot of “stuff” in this spaghetti, BUT it’s super easy to make. So don’t fret when you see the ingredient list :)

Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients:
1 "Cut Up Fryer" (Basically, one lovely rotisserie chicken that someone else cooked for you. Makes mama’s life much better. Don’t you agree?)
Thin or regular Spaghetti (1-2 Cups)
1 can chicken broth (You’ll only use half the can)
2 Cans of Cream of Mushroom soup (You can use one can cream of mushroom and one can cream of chicken, if you’d like.)
1 onion chopped very finely (so the children can’t find them-mine don’t like onions)
1 green pepper (I don’t use the whole thing. I chop it up in little pieces and spread it all around so the kids can’t find them)
3 cups cheddar cheese
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt (about 2 teaspoons)
salt, pepper.

This is basic stuff, folks!

1. Boil a pot of water and the broth to a boil. When it’s boiling, break the spaghetti into 2-inch pieces until you have around 2 1/2 to 3 cups and let it cook according to the directions on the package.

2. I buy my rotisserie chicken the day I know I’ll make this and let it cool on the counter. It’s painful to tear up a hot chicken! So wash your hands, and start pulling chunks off the chicken. Maybe use a knife to cut them into smaller pieces if you’d like.

(Tip: You can use any cut of chicken you like. I like the whole chicken because it gives you a mixture of dark and light meat. If you’d like to do just breasts, that would work just fine! Also, if you are using a rotisserie instead of your own cooked chicken, be sure to add the canned chicken broth to the water before you boil the spaghetti. (I only use half of the can because it’d make the dish too salty.)

3. Cut up the veggies however you’d like.

4. Now, add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl. Since I don’t like dirtying up extra dishes, I mix mine all in the casserole dish and skip the bowl. It’s up to you! Add the spaghetti (drained), cut-up chicken, 2 cans of soup,  veggies, 2 cups of cheese, and your spices and mix it all together.

5. Bake it at 375 for 30 minutes. The last five minutes, spread the remaining cup of cheese and let it melt.



Yum!
Husband and kid approved!

Take it Easy

CROCK POT BAJA PORK TACOS

recipe from Chef in Training

1 {3lb} Boneless pork tenderloin

5 {4oz} cans chopped green chiles

2 tbsp. taco seasoning, reduced sodium

1 tbsp. ground cumin

flour or corn tortillas

Optional toppings

lettuce

cheese

pico de gallo

avocado

Directions:

Cut the tenderloin in half and place in crock pot. In a small bowl, mix together chiles, taco seasoning, and cumin. Pour mixture over pork, cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until pork is tender and easily falls apart. When it’s about ready, shred pork with a couple of forks. I didn’t remove the pork from the crock pot to shred it. I was able to shred it while it was still cooking. Ohmiword…it was SO tender!!!!!

Place a generous heaping of pork down the middle of your tortilla. Then, I load up on sour cream and cheese. Husband likes to add pico and gauc or avocados. I’m a simple girl myself.

The best part about this recipe was that it was ready when we got home from my pain injections. Good for husband because I was OUT. So good, y’all! And they were even better the next day!!!!

Daddy's Birthday Breakfast

This recipe is SO yummy. I do not like sausage pretty much at all, but especially not for breakfast. But blueberry sausage sounded like my thing so we cooked some up for husbands 27th birthday breakfast!

Blueberry Maple Breakfast Sausage




This takes maybe 5 minutes to throw together and will feed you for a while. Recipe can be halved, and adjusted to your preferences.


2 lb ground pork
1/4 c maple syrup
1 c blueberries chopped up
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 T sage, chopped up if fresh (or more to taste)

Mix everything together, then form into patties. Two pounds of meat makes about a dozen and a half small patties. Fry as many as you need, with a tiny bit of oil in a pan over medium heat (about 10 minutes). Freeze the rest, layered in between wax paper until hard, then transfer to zip lock bags or wrap individually (or in pairs) with plastic wrap. Thaw in the fridge overnight for the next day's breakfast. Serve drizzled with syrup.

Yummy Apple Crisp

Ingredients

• 7 apples, peeled, cored and sliced ( I had a lot of bags of the already cut up apple slices, so I used those)
• 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Method

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. In a mixing bowl, combine apples, lemon juice, and vanilla. Toss to combine.

2 Layer sliced apples in a 9 x 13-inch (or approximately the same size) baking pan.

3 Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and oatmeal in a bowl. Mix in the butter. Sprinkle sugar mixture over apples.

4 Bake 45 minutes or until topping looks crunchy and apples are tender.

Mmmmm SO GOOD!!

Cowgirl Cookies {Cookies for Santa}

We made these for Santa on Christmas Eve. They are seriously yummy cookies!!!

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup & leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooking oats
3/4 cup m&ms
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Stir all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Add:

1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup butter (melted slightly in the microwave)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Use the back of a large spoon to work it all together. You may even need to use your hands to get everything incorporated.
Then roll the cookie dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, place on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. I got about 26-28 cookies out of these.

Lots of baking!

Last week, I had 100 decorated cookies to bake/decorate, 100 Hershey Kisses Pretzel snacks to make, and 24 cupcakes for Hannah and Noah’s class for the last day of school. Also 24 ribbons and tags to tie onto 24 suckers and teacher gifts to put together! Phew!

Hershey Pretzel Bites:

Ingredients:

Bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels
Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug
M&M's candy {totally forgot these. oops}

Instructions:
1. Heat the oven to 170F. Set a number of bite-size, waffle-shaped pretzels (one for each treat) in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug.
2. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes (the white chocolate will melt more quickly), until the chocolates feel soft when touched with a wooden spoon. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and quickly press an M&M's candy into the center of each Kiss.
3. Allow the treats to cool for a few minutes, then place them in the refrigerator to set, about 10 minutes. Place handfuls of the candies in clear plastic bags and tie on colorful ribbons.



A close up of the 100 snowflake cookies I baked & decorated:


Here are all 100 drying!

And, sucker treats for Hannah and Noah’s Class…


24 cupcakes I baked and didn’t decorate very well!!

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

These yummy muffins are great for an on-the-go breakfast. This is the first recipe I made with my new awesome Kitchen Aid mixer! I love it!

Ingredients:

1 cup quick cooking oats
3/4 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup butter (melted) or canola oil
2 eggs
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 apple (peeled, shredded – at least 1 cup)

Optional Add-ins:

chopped nuts
raisins
dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 (F).
In a bowl add sour cream to oats.

Stir in milk. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat two eggs and add vanilla. Set aside.

Peel an apple.

Chop into quarters and remove core.

Use a box grater to grate the apple quarters.

In a large mixing bowl, add brown sugar and whisk to remove any lumps.

Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to brown sugar.

Combine thoroughly.

Add cinnamon and nutmeg to mixture and combine.

Create a well in the center of dry mixture.

Pour beaten egg mixture and melted butter into well. NOTE: Make sure melted butter is not hot or it will cook your eggs!

Fold dry mixture into egg mixture until combined. Mixture will be stiff.

Add oat-sour cream-milk combination.

Fold until combined.

Add shredded apple and all juice that comes from it.

See the pool of fresh apple juice?

Stir just until combined and your batter is done.

Fill muffin cups with batter. These muffins are dense and do not rise too much, so fill the cups fairly full, if not brimming :)

Bake 375 (F) for 20 – 25 minutes.

Allow muffins to cool in tins on a rack for about 10 minutes before attempting to remove from tin. Makes 12 regular sized muffins or 24 mini-muffins.

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I didn’t really have anything planned this night, so I pulled what I had out of the refrigerator and it turned out to be really good!!


Ingredients:

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts (halves)
salt
pepper
Mrs. Dash Tomato Basil Seasoning
15 oz. ricotta cheese
10 oz. spinach (frozen chopped, thawed and drained)
1 clove garlic cloves (minced)
2 beaten eggs
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese (divided)
16 oz. spaghetti sauce

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees  (175 degrees C).
-Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste. Slit open on the side for stuffing; set aside.
-In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, spinach, garlic, tomato basil seasoning, eggs and 3/4 of the cheese. Mix well and stuff each breast with 1/4 of the mixture; secure with toothpicks and place stuffed breasts in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour sauce over all and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
-Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 60 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.

Butternut Squash Ravioli

This recipe was super yummy and pretty healthy too! I love squash and so do the kids so it was perfect for us! I served it with chicken breasts and marinara.

Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash - halved lengthwise, peeled and seeded
• 2 teaspoons butter
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 50 wonton wrappers
• 1 teaspoon egg white, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh sage leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place the squash cut side up on a baking sheet. Place 1 tablespoon butter in the hollow of each half. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cover the squash with a sheet of aluminum foil tucking in the edges.
3. Bake squash in preheated oven until tender and easily pierced with a fork, 45 to 65 minutes.
4. Scoop the cooked squash into a bowl, and mash until smooth. Mix in the allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and Parmesan cheese until well blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Fill a deep pot with lightly salted water and bring to a boil.
6. To make the ravioli, place a wonton wrapper on a clean, flat surface. Brush edges with the egg white. Place about 1 tablespoon of the squash mixture in the middle of the wonton. Cover with a second wonton wrapper. Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers and squash mixture until all have been used.
7. Drop the ravioli into the boiling water, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Remove, drain, and keep warm until sauce is prepared.

Rainbow Birthday Cake

This is the super cute and fairly easy cake I made for Hannah’s 4th Rainbow Birthday! It was a huge hit! All the kids {especially Hannah} loved the cake and it tasted great too! I love all the colors! Please note that I used pink in place of the red layer because red wasn’t really going with our girly theme!


{Mini bunting made by me and info is available here}

Ingredients

• Vegetable shortening
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/3 cups sugar
• 5 large egg whites, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups milk, room temperature
• Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple gel food coloring
• Vanilla Frosting (5 cans)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush six 9-inch-round cake pans (or as many 9-inch cake pans as you have, reusing them as necessary) with shortening. Line bottom of each cake pan with parchment paper; brush again and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. Slowly add egg whites and mix until well combined. Add vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Add flour mixture and milk in two alternating additions, beginning with the flour and ending with the milk. Mix until well combined.
3. Divide batter evenly between six medium bowls. Add enough of each color of food coloring to each bowl, whisking, until desired shade is reached. Transfer each color to an individual cake pan. Transfer to oven and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, about 15 minutes (working in batches if necessary).
4. Remove cakes from oven and transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto a wire rack; re-invert and let cool completely.
5. Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate or lazy Susan. Place the purple layer on the cake plate. Spread a scant 1 cup buttercream filling over the first layer with a small offset spatula so it extends just beyond edges. Repeat process with blue, green, yellow, and orange layers.
6. Place the remaining red layer on top, bottom-side up. Gently sweep away any loose crumbs with a pastry brush. Using an offset spatula, cover the top and sides with a thin layer of frosting (also use any of the excess frosting visible between the layers). Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
7. Using an offset spatula, cover cake again with remaining frosting.
   
   

MIA

Sorry I haven't been around lately! We’ve been having lots of baked chicken, steak and pizza. However, I will return with some yummy new recipes this week!

Marzipan Apple Cookies

 {adapted from The Cookie Jar}

I found this recipe on Sweet Sugarbelle’s blog! I thought it would be a really sweet way to welcome back the teachers at Hannah and Noah’s school and thank them for being SO wonderful!

Ingredients

• 8 oz almond paste {marzipan} If you live in my area, you can find this at Market Street or Whole Foods.
• 1 cup of butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp almond emulsion or extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Americolor tulip red gel color
• whole cloves {Spice section at any grocery store}

Instructions

1. Soften the almond paste in the microwave. About 20 seconds should do. Combine the butter and almond paste and beat until well combined. Add both sugars and beat until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and enough of the gel paste to tint the mixture red. Finally sift together the flour and salt and add it to the creamed mixture, mixing until a soft dough forms. If the dough is not dark enough, add more coloring.
2. At this point,use a small cookie scoop {1 1/2 teaspoon size} to make little balls. Drop them onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Use your thumb to make a light impression on top of the cookie, and then insert a clove as the stem.
   
   Tip: Poke the cloves in pretty well so that they do not fall out after baking or  it’ll become a little annoying trying to shove them into baked cookies.
3. Chill for one hour.
   
4. After chilling, bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
   
   

They turned out really well {for me being the one making them!} I’m NOT a baker! I just recently learned how to decorate cookies, so let’s just say I’m not the greatest. I’ve received lots of advice from my wonderful sister-in-law! So, even though she didn’t make these, I’m going to give her most of the credit! Thanks Christy! You can find her blog here and more photos of her work here. She’s AH-MAZING!!




The leaves were made with a Leaf Tip by Wilton. They take a very small amount of practice to get the hang of it, just make sure your RI is very firm. I could have thickened mine up a little more and the leaves would have been more defined.


Change the color of the dough to orange and these would make super cute little pumpkins as well!!

Free Teacher Printables found here!
You can find the itsy bitsy cookie scoop I used here
Americolor Tulip Gel can be found here

I’ve been baking up a storm, so more pictures of my decorated cookies coming soon!

Lemon-Scented Carbonara

Definitely was so hungry the night I made this that I totally forgot to take a picture! But, my brother, husband and I thought it was very good!

Ingredients:

• Salt and coarse black pepper
• 1 lb. egg tagliatelle pasta
• 3 tbsp. EVOO
• 1/3 lb. pancetta, finely chopped
• 1 bunch thin scallions, finely chopped whites and greens separated
• 1 small fresno chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 large ripe organic lemon
• About 1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
• 3/4–1 cup dry white wine
• 3 large organic egg yolks
• A handful flat-leaf parsley, very finely chopped
• A couple of handfuls freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• A couple of handfuls freshly grated pecorino-romano cheese
• Shredded basil and diced yellow tomato, for garnish

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving about 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water. While the pasta is working, in a large skillet, heat the EVOO, 3 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the pancetta, season with 1 tsp. black pepper and cook until lightly browned. Stir in the scallion whites, chile pepper (if using) and garlic. Zest the lemon over the pan, stir in the thyme and cook for 3 minutes. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the heat to low.

2. In a medium bowl, beat the reserved pasta cooking water with the egg yolks to temper them. Add the juice of the lemon, the parsley and scallion greens to the skillet.

3. Add the pasta to the skillet, turn off the heat and pour in the tempered eggs. Sprinkle in a small handful of each of the cheeses and toss vigorously for 1 minute until the sauce coats the pasta and is thick and shiny. Serve in shallow bowls with a little extra cheese, the basil and tomato on top.

Mediterranean Chicken Salad Pitas

This recipe is seriously amazing. I could eat these everyday and never get tired of them! Husband said they are so good he would order them from a restaurant!! :)

 
Ingredients:

• 4 pocketless pitas
• 3 cups Pulled Chicken
• 1 cup chopped Roasted Peppers, chopped
• 1 large tomato, seeded and diced
• 1 cucumber—peeled, seeded and diced
• 1/4 cup minced red onion
• 2 tbsp. EVOO
• 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper
• 4 romaine lettuce leaves

Directions:

1. Place pitas in stack in 350° oven to warm. In large bowl, combine chicken, peppers, tomato, cucumber, onion, EVOO, vinegar and 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper. Toss well. Top each pita with a lettuce leaf, fill with chicken salad and fold to enclose.
   
   ** Instead of preparing the veggies as stated above, I mixed them all together and made a salsa out of it because I like my veggies non-crunchy like. Let me tell you, it was the BEST salsa I have ever had!!!!**