Chicken Fingers

For YEARS, my mom has believed that I only eat chicken strips when I go out to eat...this is partially true because I can't/don't make them at home and I really, really like them! Tonight I tried a new recipe, although not an original recipe at all, they were pretty tasty. The recipe comes straight from the back of a Bisquick box!

Ultimate Chicken Strips
Chicken strips (I made 10 strips from 2 lg. boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
2/3 C. Bisquick
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 T. butter

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix Bisquick, garlic salt, and paprika in a large ziploc bag. Dip chicken strips in egg and place in bag, a few at a time. Shake until coated and place on cookie sheet. Drizzle butter over them and bake 14-16 mins., turning halfway.

Dipping Chips

After attending many craft shows lately, I've ended up with quite a few garlic dips. (This fact alone is pretty funny, right Kari? We are cool!) While with a few girlfriends last weekend, we sampled some chips at a food market...there happened to be a lady refreshing the bowl when I went back for 2nds and asked her how to make the chips...she happily obliged and gave me the "recipe." I'm calling them "dipping chips" because they are awesome with my all my garlic dips!

Dipping Chips
1 pkg. flour tortillas
Olive oil (EVOO for Rachael Ray readers!)
Sea salt

Pull the tortillas apart into chip size pieces. Brush with olive oil and grind sea salt over the top. Bake at 350 for 4-6 mins., until lightly browned. Cool before storing.

**The market had theirs cut in to Halloween shapes...they had used a cookie cutter to cut them in to little ghosts and pumpkins. I'm not that fancy.......yet!

Ham and Bean Soup

I've been busy trying new recipes, but haven't found a whole lot of winners lately....tonight I made this for the 1st time. It was really a mixture from a few recipes. It was pretty tasty, and smelling it cook was nothing short of amazing! This was also my 1st time soaking beans, which really wasn't anything at all... I'm not sure why the whole concept scared me so much!


Ham and Bean Soup
1 lb. dried, mixed beans...mine was a 17 bean variety from Trader Joe's
4 cans of broth, I used 2 chicken, 2 beef
3 cans of water
1 pkg. Lipton onion soup mix
1 ham shank, I think mine was about 1.5 lbs.
1 t. minced garlic
1 c. carrots
1 c. celery

Soak beans overnight. Drain and rinse. Put all in a big pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for at least 45 minutes or until beans are tender. Remove ham shank and shred the ham and put the pieces back in the pot. Yummy!

***I did take a ladle full and mash some of the beans in my food chopper to thicken it up...this was mostly for the children's benefit!

Chocolate Chip Bars

Chocolate Chip Bars

2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9"x13" pan. In large bowl, combine sugar and melted butter; blend well. Add eggs, 1 at a time beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla.  Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread in prepared pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until set. Do not overbake. Cool before cutting into squares.


***This was a new recipe this week...very easy and yummy! These are thicker and softer than a normal batch of cookie bars.

BLT Pizza

This is my favorite new recipe of the summer! I've been working on perfecting it and think I finally have it down. I've made it numerous times lately because I always seem to have the ingredients on hand.


BLT Pizza

1 Betty Crocker pizza crust mix
1 C. mayo
1/4 c. bacon bits (the hard crusty ones)
1 T. Hidden Valley dry ranch dip
shredded lettuce
tomatoes, chopped
4 slices of bacon, chopped (I cheat...I've had the "real" bacon pieces on hand and just used them)

Prepare the crust mix according to the directions, and flatten thinly on the pizza pan. Bake at 450 for about 12 mins, until done/lightly browned. Cool completely. Mix the mayo, ranch seasoning, and bacon bits. Allow an hour or so for the bits to soften and flavors to blend. Spread on the crust and top with the lettuce, tomato, and bacon pieces. Refrigerate. YUMMY!

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

I found this recipe on a blog last week and tried it on the family last night...it was a hit! Kurt talked about it again tonight and wanted to make sure it made it to the "permanent" recipe box!

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 slices swiss cheese

4 large slices ham

1 10oz. can cream of chicken soup
1/4 c. milk
1 box herb bread stuffing
1/2 c. hot water
1/4 c. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Arrange chicken in lightly greased pan.  Top chicken with ham and cheese.  Combine the cream of chicken soup and milk and whisk until smooth.  Spread evenly over chicken.  Mix stuffing mix, water, and melted butter. Place over chicken breasts.  Bake for 1 hour.

Honey Salad Dressing

This is another oldie, but goodie from my mom's recipe collection. I've had the recipe for years, but didn't make it on my own until recently. I've shared this batch with friends and co-workers and everyone has loved it. I think the combination seems really weird, but it is so yummy! I use it for fruit salad (chop apples, bananas, strawberries, kiwi, and mandarin oranges and pour 1-2 Tbls. over it), but think it would also be good on chicken, as a sort of marinade.


Honey Salad Dressing

2 c. sugar
1 c. vinegar
1/2 sm. onion, grated
1 T. poppy seed
1 1/2 t. prepared mustard
1 1/2 t. paprika
1 1/2 t. salt
16 ozs. veggie oil
1/2 c. honey

Process in blender.

Crock-Pot Cheesy Potatoes

Kurt volunteered me to make Cheesy potatoes for his work potluck recently. I've only made them once before and resigned myself to letting G'ma make them because hers were so much better. Not anymore! These were great!

Crock-Pot Cheesy Potatoes 

10 oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup

8 oz. container sour cream

1-1/2 cups shredded Co-jack cheese (I also added a little Cheddar)

32 oz. pkg. frozen hash brown potatoes

salt/pepper, to taste

1 tsp. onion powder

Spray 4-6 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Combine soup, sour cream and cheese in medium bowl and mix well. Pour half of potatoes into prepared crockpot. Top with half of sour cream mixture. Top with rest of potatoes, then remaining sour cream mixture, spreading evenly. Cover and cook on high for 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours. (Mine were on low for about 6 hrs.)

Ice Cream Cupcakes

These are ADORABLE and SO EASY! I made a test batch this weekend before I make them for Teacher Appreciation Week at the beginning of May. I actually think they were easier to make than regular cupcakes because I didn't have to make the frosting look perfect!


Ice Cream Cupcakes
1 batch of 24 cupcakes (from your favorite recipe/box)
1 frosting recipe (below)
chocolate almond bark
sprinkles
red gumballs or red sour balls

Frosting Recipe: 
2 sticks butter, softened 
4 cups powdered sugar 
2 tsp. vanilla 
2 Tbl. milk

Blend butter, milk, and vanilla until fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar and beat for 1-2 mins. Chill for 1 hour. Scoop with a small cookie scoop and place on cupcakes. It looks just like ice cream!

Melt almond bark (about 1/2 a pkg.) Spoon over cupcakes. Sprinkle and add red gumball.


****I took the paper liners off my cupcakes and put them in small clear plastic cups. This seemed to work better when eating!

Fried Onion Chicken

These onions aren't just for green bean casserole anymore!
This is a great recipe I tried for the first time in the last month or so. It was a hit! I'm excited to try it out on Katelynn this summer because she has always loved when I make Shake n Bake.


Fried Onion Chicken
2 cups (4 oz.) FRENCH'S® Original French Fried Onions
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
4  boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Place French Fried Onions and flour into plastic bag. Lightly crush with hands or with rolling pin. Transfer to pie plate or waxed paper.
Dip chicken into egg; then coat with onion crumbs, pressing firmly to adhere. Place chicken on baking sheet.
Bake at 400°F for 20 min. or until no longer pink in center.

Copycat Thin Mints

OMG! This is my new favorite recipe of 2011! I just made these and had to sit right down and blog about them!


Thin Mints
1 pkg. Andes baking chips
Ritz crackers

Melt Andes chips. Dip Ritz crackers. Viola! Thin mints, any time of the year!