Meow Monday

Sherbert

Jack

Marmalade

Creamy Chicken & Noodles

I've been following Jill's Southern Living Challenge blog.   She challenged herself to try 100 Southern Living recipes in 2010.  She made tons of recipes that I've had bookmarked for years.  This recipe has been on my "to make" list for a really long time.    I finally decided that I must make this recipe after Jill raved about it.  I can't believe that it took me so long to make this!  It was fantastic.  It even tasted great reheated the next day.  This is a recipe that I will be making over and over.  It doesn't photograph well, but, believe me, it is worth making!

Crustless Sausage Cheese Quiche

Chicken Legs love quiche.  I am not a breakfast person (or a morning person), so I usually make quiche for dinner.  This recipe is adapted from a recipe I found on Paula Deen's website.  The original recipe had spinach in it.  I switched the spinach out for sausage and it was right up our alley.

This was one of the best quiches that I've made.  It was light and fluffy and cheesy!  I actually preferred it to traditional quiche.  It took no time to whip together.  I threw everything in the food processor and it was in the oven in less than 10 minutes.  I went and walked on the treadmill while it baked and dinner was ready when I was done.  It was a good thing that I walked on the treadmill because we almost ate the whole thing!

Hot Artichoke Fontina Dip

I saw this recipe on the internet and I knew it sounded like something we would like.  I made this as a pre-dinner snack the night Chicken Legs got back from training.  This stuff is awesome!  It is creamy, cheesy and full of flavor.  Chicken Legs declared this the best artichoke dip I've made and one of the best dips in general.  This is so easy to make.  Everything gets blended up in the food processor - makes for an easy clean up too!   If you plan on sharing this with a group of people (maybe at your Super Bowl party), you better double it.  This won't be enough.  The two of us put a good dent into this portion.  Serve this with tortilla chips, wheat thins or even veggies.

Chicken & Roasted Garlic Risotto

This is a cheater recipe.  This recipe caught my eye on the Campbell's soup website because it uses instant rice to make risotto.  Risotto sounds fancy, but it is basically just creamy rice.  I love risotto, except it takes a while to make.  It isn't really possible for me to make it during the week.  I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out, but it was really good!  It was creamy and flavorful just like a traditional risotto.  The best part of the whole meal?  It only took about 30 minutes from start to finish.  These are my favorite kind of weeknight meals!  I would definitely make this again.   

Meow Monday

Sherbert

Jack

Marmalade

Creamy Chicken Piccata

We really like Chicken Piccata.  We already have an awesome recipe that we absolutely love, but I am always open to new variations.  I got this recipe at a Pampered Chef party.  (I have a slight Pampered Chef addiction) I was intrigued with this recipe because it had cream cheese and artichokes in it.  I thought that sounded very interesting.  

This turned out great!  We both loved it.  It was super easy to throw together.  I modified the original recipe and turned this into a true one-pot (skillet) recipe.  Less cleaning for Chicken Legs!  We halved the recipe below and there were no leftovers.  We both cleaned our plates!  This is definitely worth a try.

Almond Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chicken Legs had to go out of town last week for training, so I decided to surprise him with some cookies when he got home.  (I'm not really that nice; I was bored hanging out by myself with the cats and needed something to do.)  I looked in the pantry and saw that I had sliced almonds and toffee bits.  I decided to make almond toffee chocolate chip cookies.  It was the perfect for us because it combined my love of almonds and Chicken Legs love of cookies.

These cookies are wonderful!  We absolutely loved them!  You can really taste the almond extract in them, but it isn't overwhelming.  It was perfect - in my opinion.  We loved the crunch from the toffee and almonds.  We ate way too many of these.  I shared a few with some people at work and they didn't take any home to share with their family.  I think that says it all....

Risotto-Style Orzo with Prosciutto

I had some leftover prosciutto from the Parmesan Muffins with Prosciutto and Basil that I made, and I didn't want it to go to waste.   I had this recipe for a risotto style orzo bookmarked, so I gave it a whirl.  This sounds like a really fancy and complicated dish, but it isn't.  It was actually really easy.  There isn't alot of hands on time, mainly just stirring and waiting.  This was really, really good.  I think it would be good even without the prosciutto - if you didn't have any or didn't want to buy it. 

Lawhorn Chicken Fingers

I was recently given the opportunity to try Lawhorn's Signature Seasoning.  I was really interested in giving Lawhorn's a try because I am not a big fan of seasoning salt.  It is usually really salty and doesn't have a lot of flavor.  Well, Lawhorn's Signature Seasoning is the complete opposite of what I am used to.  In a word, it's  FANTASTIC!  It has tons of flavor and it is a lot less salty that other seasoning salts that I have used.  It is perfectly blended.  You can taste all the seasonings - garlic, pepper, paprika and onion.  

We used the seasoning on chicken fingers last night and they were great.  They were bursting with flavor.  We are already planning on using the seasoning on skirt steak and burgers this weekend.  I also think it would be a great dry rub for ribs.   I have finally found a seasoning salt that I like.  Look for it next time you are at the grocery store.  You'll love it!

Meow Monday

Jack

Sherbert

Marmalade

Make-Me-Crazy Grill Marinade

We grill year round.  It doesn't matter if it is 100 degrees or 17 degrees outside.  It doesn't bother me because I am inside making the side dishes; Chicken Legs is the one outside in the weather.  He doesn't mind grilling in this frigid weather, but he certainly prefers to grill in the summer! 

I found this recipe on the Epicurious app on my trusty iPad.  This marinade reminded me a lot of the Mojo marinade we bought a while back. It has the same smoky citrus flavors going on.  The chicken was extremely flavorful and tender.  We loved it.  We made extra chicken so we could eat it for lunch later in the week.  This would make a great chicken fajita marinade as well. 

We used the marinade on chicken, but it is a very versatile marinade.  You could also try it on pork, fish or shrimp.  I have plans to use it on a pork roast very soon.  I am thinking pork tacos and quesadillas would be good.

Butterscotch Bars

This recipe is from my Fat Witch Bakery cookbook.  I love all the recipes in this book, mainly because they are "one-bowl" recipes.  Chicken Legs appreciates this fact too, as he is responsible for cleaning the kitchen.  

I had such great success with the Original Brownies and Peanut Butter Bars that I decided to give another recipe a try.  I decided on these butterscotch bars.  The bars are very moist and buttery.  They were sweet, but not overly sweet.  I really liked the combination of butterscotch and chocolate chips - it helped keep the butterscotch from being overwhelming.  These bars are especially good when they are slightly warm.  I didn't have any ice cream at the house, but I bet it would have been really good on top of one of these butterscotch bars!  

Parmesan Muffins with Prosciutto and Basil

I have become a really big fan of the NPR app on my iPad.  I am a news junkie, and they have a wide variety of articles.  I really like the Arts & Life section, especially the food section.  They have articles on food trends, companies/specific brands and a ton of mouthwatering recipes.  I get hungry every time I open the app.

I had great success with the first recipe I tried from NPR.com, Creamy Limoncello, so I decided to try another recipe.  I picked these muffins because I loved every ingredient in the title - parmesan, prosciutto and basil.  What's not to like?! These were simple to make, and they were packed with a ton of flavor.  I served them with some Italian grilled chicken and it was perfect.    

Crack Potatoes

One of our favorite dips is Cheddar Bacon Ranch dip, or what I refer to as "Crack".  I usually only make it during football season because it is HIGHLY addictive.  I only made this once this football season and  I forgot to take it to the tailgate.  I left it in my parent's refrigerator!  I was devastated!  

I took the dip back home and started thinking about what to do with it - other than eat it all by myself.  I decided to mix the dip into a big bag of frozen hash browns.  The result? A fantastic potato casserole!  We absolutely love this!  Chicken Legs requests this all the time.  I divided the potatoes up into 3 disposable foil pans and froze them so we always have potatoes when we need them.  We just finished off the last pan, so I guess I need to add this to my grocery list this week.

Meow Monday

Marmalade, Jack, Sherbert

Top to Bottom

The only time they can all get along!

Caramel Apple Dumplings

We had a pretty uneventful New Year's weekend.  We ran some errands and ate at home all weekend.  We grilled steaks, made lasagna and had the most amazing dessert - caramel apple dumplings.  Now, these aren't any apple dumplings, these are the most amazing apple dumplings ever!  Who would ever think that apples, crescents rolls and 7UP would bake up into this amazing soft, warm and crispy goodness?  So simple, but SO GOOD!

This really was one of the best desserts that I've ever had.   I could have eaten the whole pan by myself, but I shared them with Chicken Legs.  This would be a great dessert for a casual dinner party - just double the recipe.  I can't imagine anyone that wouldn't like this recipe.

Weeknight Pizza Dough

Pizza is probably my all-time favorite food.  I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and never get tired of it.  I don't care if it is homemade, frozen, delivery, cheap or expensive.  I'll eat it (as long as it only has meat and cheese on it). 

I try and limit my pizza intake to only one night a week.  Not for health reasons, just so Chicken Legs doesn't get tired of it.  I usually buy a Chef Boyardee pizza kit (oh, the horror!) and add cheese and toppings.  We both really like it.  I really like it because it is quick and making pizza dough takes too long for a weeknight.  Well, not anymore.  I found this recipe and it takes less than 20 minutes - mixing and rising.  That is perfect!  We like thin crust pizza, so I only used half of the dough.  I used the extra dough for garlic knots.  This will be our regular pizza night recipe from now on.

Butter Dips

This is one of my new favorite biscuits.  I've made them three times over the last week. They are super quick and easy.  These reminded me of the 7UP Biscuits that we love to make.   One plus over the 7Up biscuits is that you don't have to cut them out - just press into the pan and cut into squares directly in the pan.  This really helps when you are pressed for time.  These were even really good reheated the next day; I had one for breakfast and it was great!   

I changed these up a little last night and added some garlic powder to the butter and Italian seasoning to the dough. It was great with our lasagna. Give these a try next time you realize that you don't have any crescent rolls in the fridge - you'll be glad you did!

Taco Rice

This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite blogs, Frosted Bake Shop.  I have made several of Amy's recipes and loved them all.  I especially love that they are made for real life - quick and easy.  I need quick and easy recipes to ease back into my daily routine after the holidays!

I love Mexican/Tex-Mex food.  I prefer to eat it at home - I don't stuff myself silly like I do at the Mexican restaurant.  I am always looking for a way to mix up taco nights and this was perfect.  It took less than 30 minutes from start to finish.   It makes a ton, so we had it two nights.

Meow Monday

Jack

Sherbert

Marmalade