Ritz Cracker Chicken Crunch

A feel-good kind of meal for using up some chicken!

Ritz Cracker Chicken Crunch
2 cups diced, cooked chicken. (I sprinkle mine with Onion Salt for some added flavor)
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
8 oz. Sour cream
1/4 cup Butter
1 pkg. Ritz Crackers

Cook up the diced chicken and layer in a 9x13 baking dish.
Mix the cream of chicken soup and the sour cream and spread over chicken.
Melt the butter and crush the Ritz crackers. Brown the crackers in the butter and then spread over the top of the creamy, soupy, chicken pieces.

Bake at 350F for 30-45 minutes.

Serve with rice. (We like it with brown rice! Makes up for all the creamy, fatty goodness!)

Meant to get a picture of it before we all dug in, but...didn't happen! It's just one of those meals! : ) I got the recipe from my Mom-in-law and since it's her birthday today, Happy Birthday Mom!, we made it in honor of her! Not sure where she got the recipe from....Taste of Home??  


Caleb loves it too! He's learning how to use a spoon and fork these days...it's too cute sometimes to see him try to coordinate it all! He's doing well though!

Chicken Parmigiana

This is one of Joel's favorites!!

Ingredients:
3-4 Chicken breasts, sliced in half & cut into two pieces, (so 3-4 smaller pieces each breast)
(in 3 different bowls for dipping the chicken, arrange)
1 cup flour
4 egg whites
1-1/2 cup bread crumbs with 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning & 1/2 tbsp salt
2 Jars (your favorite) pasta sauce
1 box Rotini Pasta
1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese

Instructions:
Dip each piece of chicken in the following, flour, egg whites then seasoned bread crumbs, brown in oil. Pour pasta sauce in a 9x13 pan & place chicken on top.
Bake at 350(F) for 20 minutes or until sauce is bubbly. Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese on top of chicken pieces and bake for another 10 minutes or so.

Serve with cooked Rotini pasta.
As you can see in the picture, sometimes I cook the pasta before and put it in the pan as well, then the pasta sauce & chicken. And sometimes I do 1-2 cups of Mozzarella on top of the whole thing, making it more cassarolly. You can do it however you want! Enjoy!!

Caramel Popcorn

I got this yummy recipe from my best friend, Gina! It's super yummy and super easy! I made it yesterday for a Fourth of July party and thought I would share the recipe!

Directions:
Step 1: Pop 2 bags of microwave popcorn (butter flavored is fine to use), remove unpopped kernels.

Step 2: Boil for 2 minutes:

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup Karo Syrup

Remove from heat & stir in 1/4 tsp baking soda.

Step 3: Stir into popcorn, then bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees (F) for 5-8 minutes. You want it to look a little crisp, not super gooey. Let it air out/dry out and enjoy!

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup mini chocolate chips


Mix the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl. In a small bowl, combine bananas, oil & egg; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350(F) degrees for 20-25 minutes or until test done. (I actually bake them about 18 minutes in my oven.)

Enjoy!

Mouth-watering Mongolian Beef

This is one of those meals you take seconds of just because it tastes so good, not because you're still hungry!

Ingredients:
1 tsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound beef round steak, cut into thin strips (slicing tip I learned from my friend Lori: freeze, partially thaw and it's easier to get super thin slices and! more beef for your buck! : ) Okay, so really, it's not more beef, but it is more slices which makes the meal go further!

3/4 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp white sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
1 carrot, thinly sliced (I use a mandolin slicer for paper thin slices)
1 bunch, green onions, cut into 2 inch pieces

Directions:
In a dry skillet, over medium heat, toast sesame seeds for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the seeds begin to turn golden brown; set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp cornstarch and minced garlic. Stir in beef strips. Let stand for at least 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix together water, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 1/2 tsp cornstarch, sugar, sesame seeds and red pepper flakes; set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Cook and stir beef in hot oil for 1 minute; remove and set aside. Heat remaining tbsp of oil in the same pan. Saute carrots and white part of green onions for 2 minutes. (We omit the white part of the onion and just saute the carrots and onions together for 1 minute or so.) Stir in green parts of the onion and saute for 1 minute. Stir in sesame seed mixture and beef. Cook and stir until sauce boils and thickens.

Serve over rice. Also, we toast some extra seeds to sprinkle on top on individual plates.

It's a super easy meal to make, takes about 30-45 minutes from start to finish and is so, so good! If you're ever had chinese food in Slovenia, it's just like the Mongolian Beef from the restaurants here! Super yummy! You gotta try it!

Super Bowl Party Recipe!

Okay, I think this is a funny post since we live in Slovenia and will not be having a Super Bowl Party. Joel will be watching the game, however, it will either be during the middle of the night here or the next day. I've been wanting to post this recipe though, my Mom made it when we were growing up. It's a total crowd pleaser so maybe someone else might be able to make it for their Super Bowl Party!

I don't have a fancy title for it...just NACHOS!

1 can Refried Beans
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkt. taco seasoning
(Cook the ground beef like you would for tacos, drain any water)
2 cups mexican cheese blend or plain cheddar
1 small can diced green chilies
1 jar (about 2 cups) salsa

In a 9x13 layer:
Refried Beans, taco seasoned ground beef, diced green chilies, cheese, salsa

Bake at 350 for 30 -45 minutes, until it's bubbly on the sides.

Top with diced black olives, diced tomatoes, sour cream or even guacamole!
Eat with Tortilla Chips (I like the Doritos plain tortilla chips the best!)

Enjoy!!

Apple Chips

I made these for our JV Christmas party last night and thought I would share this recipe! I got the recipe years ago from Martha Stewart and I've been making them every year! They are so good...they just melt in your mouth and they're really easy to make!

Slice off the end of a Granny Smith apple and using either a mandolin or an electric slicer, slice it very thin (almost paper thin) from the top of the apple to the bottom. (Cutting it that way gives you the star in the middle from the core.) Place them on a cookie sheet covered with a Silpat or parchment paper, sprinkle with powdered sugar and bake in a 100 degree oven for an hour. Remove and transfer to cooling rack to become crispy. Enjoy!

Oh my, these are so yummy, you'll be hooked as well!

Gorgonzola Cream Chicken

I've been reading this blog and have been encouraged by so many things. Recently they posted a recipe contest with the prize being Starbucks Coffee! That's always a fun treat to have over here, so I thought I would enter.

So here's my recipe:

Gorgonzola Cream Chicken
2-3 large chicken breasts
2 small wedges of Gorgonzola Cheese
2 cups sweet cream
Salt

Slice chicken breast in half and cut into thirds. Brown in oil and season with salt. Remove from pan and set aside.

Slice gorgonzola cheese into cubes. Add to pan and melt. Replace chicken in pan with cheese and add cream. Stir together. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes on low.

Enjoy!

(We like it with mashed potatoes and use the sauce for gravy.)