The Bread by Pioneer Woman

This recipe is from the Pioneer Woman's website. The Bread is a staple menu item for her.  The first time I made it I had a VERY hard time committing to using that much butter, but with a little convincing from my Mother-in-Law and Sherrie I gave into the peer pressure.  When my husband and Father-in-law saw this come out of the oven, they asked me why I was serving them burnt toast.  But after they took one bite they were amazed by the flavor.  They could not believe that it was just bread and butter!

Ingredients:

• Loaf of French bread- sliced in half lengthwise 
• 2 sticks of salted butter (I think you can adjust it depending on the size of your loaf of bread, just make sure you use at least twice the amount of butter that you think is appropriate;)

Preheat oven to 350.  Spread one stick of butter on each half loaf of bread.  Next, Place the bread on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.  Last turn on the Broiler and broil bread for additional 3-4 minutes.  It is very important to keep your eye on the bread the whole time (trust me I walked away once and it was not a pretty sight or sound).  Remove the bread from the oven when it has begun to brown and blacken.  Make sure you don't under broil it.  The key to the flavor is to make sure the butter is cooked.  Slice and serve right away

This recipe was featured on our 30 Days of Dinners June Menu, Make sure to check out all of the other great recipes on this month's menu!

Krazy Korn!

My iPad keeps wanting to autocorrect the title of this recipe to Kraft Korn every time I type it, but it is in fact Krazy Korn. It's a delicious twist on a basic vegetable side dish. You can be really adventurous and use corn that you cut from the ear, but I just make with canned corn. When served with Disney's Ohana Maui Scalloped Potatoes.

Ingredients:
Can of corn
Butter
2 Tbsp. diced sweet onion
1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
Dash cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper

Melt butter and sauté onions until translucent. Drain corn and then add to pan. Sauté corn until it starts to brown a little, then add sugar, cayenne, salt and pepper. Cook until the sugar starts to carmelized (about 3-5 minutes), stirring frequently.
This recipe was featured on our 30 Days of Dinners June Menu, Make sure to check out all of the other great recipes on this month's menu!

Lean Mean Chicken Bacon Machine (Gluten Free)

I know, bacon is not healthy. But if you use a healthier version, like turkey bacon or uncured bacon, it's not gonna kill you. And this recipe grills it so you don't get all of the fat you normally would by pan frying the bacon. Believe it or not, each piece of this delicious dish has less than 250 calories, so serve it with a salad and low cal dressing, and that's pretty healthy for such a flavorful dinner.

Ingredients:
1lb. Chicken breast (cut into thirds lengthwise or just buy the tenderloins)
Uncured, gluten free bacon- one slice for each piece of chicken
Chili powder
Garlic powder
Cayenne pepper
1Tbsp. Brown sugar

Season your chicken with the chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Wrap a piece of bacon around the tender in a spiral.

 Sprinkle the chicken tenders with brown sugar. Grill for 10-15 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked and no longer pink.

This recipe was featured on our May Menu.

Skinny Suiza Enchiladas

This is a low fat version of my Easy Suizey Enchiladas. Still has all the flavor but with  a lot less fat!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. boneless chicken breasts
• 1 Tbsp. GF taco seasoning
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper (if you like things spicy)
• 1 can Ro-tel diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1 cup fat free sour cream
• small can diced green chiles
• small can diced jalapenos
• 1/2 cup fat free or light shredded cheese

I usually make my chicken in the crockpot. I just sprinkle with the taco seasoning and cayenne pepper and cook until it is shreddable.  But you can just as easily use leftover chicken breast or rotisserie chicken. The key is adding the spices to it though before you put it into the tortilla. If using already cooked chicken, just add it to a skillet with a little bit of oil and spices and maybe some water and let simmer 10 minutes or so so the chicken can absorb the spices. Remove the cooked chicken (from crockpot or stove) and place into a dish and shred with a fork. Add Ro-tel and stir.

Heat the oil in a skillet and add the tortillas one at a time just enough to soften them. If you don't so this they will break on you when rolling up with the chicken. Remove from pan after about 15 seconds on each side. Place on paper towel lines plate and blot some of the oil off each one.

To assemble the enchiladas: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add the chicken mixture to the tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in a casserole dish. In a large bowl, add the sour cream, green chiles and jalapenos. Stir or whisk gently until blended. Pour the cream mixture over the rolled tortillas. Top with cheese. Bake in oven until cheese starts to lightly brown on top.

Chicken Parmesan- One for tonight & One for the Freezer

If I can cook once and eat twice or even three times I am a happy girl.  This is one of the first recipes that I started freezing. (Don't worry I will be sharing more!)  And many years later I am still making it.  It's awesome to have a meal that tastes so good in only the amount of time it takes to cook the spaghetti.  

Ingredients:

• Parmesan Cheese
• Shredded Mozzarella
• Shredded Parmesan
• Boneless Chicken Breasts
• Garlic Powder
• Seasoned Bread Crumbs
• Eggs
• Milk
• Olive Oil
• Marinara Sauce
• Spaghetti

I am sorry, I forgot to measure while I was making this.  The amount of each varies depending on the amount of chicken you are making.  

Combine bread crumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, and garlic powder.

Cut large chicken breasts in half.  Place in between sheets of wax paper and pound them to about 1/2 inch thick.

Beat a couple of eggs (you can add a splash of milk if you would like).  Dip chicken in egg.

Dredge chicken in bread crumb mixture until completely covered

Heat olive oil in skillet.  Lightly fry chicken on each side.  It doesn't have to be cooked all the way through because it will finish cooking in the oven.  

When the chicken is done place the portions you are going to eat tonight in a baking dish and the others on a plate to cool.

After the pieces for the freezer are cool place them in a freezer bag, label, and place in freezer.  

Back to the portion for tonight...Preheat oven to 350.  To finish cooking bake chicken for about 10-15 minutes.  Take chicken out of oven and sprinkle a little grated Parmesan on each piece of chicken, put a small layer of sauce, then a little bit of shredded Mozzarella and shredded Parmesan.  Place chicken in oven for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Serve over spaghetti with your favorite marinara sauce.

 When you are ready to eat the portion from the freezer, simply thaw chicken in refrigerator and follow the directions above.

This recipe was featured on our Appetizing April Menu. Check out the entire April menu for a variety of dinner ideas!

Peppered Steak Salad with Low-cal Blue Cheese Dressing

Blue cheese dressing and blue cheese crumbles are a great addition to a salad, but the amount of fat and calories that it adds are not ideal.  So I decided to come up with a lighter option.  Blue cheese has a very strong flavor so a little bit goes a long way.  By putting the cheese crumbles in the food processor and mixing with another creamy cheese I created a healthier alternative.  

Ingredients:
Low Calorie Blue Cheese Dressing

• 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Blue Cheese Crumbles
• 1 Laughing Cow Wedge
• 2 Tablespoon of Skim Milk

Makes enough dressing to serve 3-4 people

For dressing- combine all ingredients in mini food processor and blend for about 20 seconds.  Refrigerate for at about 30 minutes.  You may want to add another splash of milk if the dressing is too thick.

Makes 2-4 Servings depending on salad size you are dressing

Marinade for Steak

• 2 Tablespoons Fat Free Italian Dressing
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Montreal Steak Seasoning

Combine marinade ingredients in ziploc bag.  Marinate the steak for about an hour.  Grilled to desired temperature

Salad

• Romaine Lettuce
• Pepperocinis 
• Tomato
• Cucumber

Creamy Mushroom Angel Pasta

Pasta, chicken, wine, and mushrooms- How can you go wrong?  This is a very simple dinner that tastes like you put way more effort into it than you did.  My father-in-law often suggests that we have angel hair pasta for dinner, but the rest of us favor spaghetti or rigatoni.  This is one dish that we can all agree upon.  Something about the wine and the mushrooms in the sauce make for a delicious combination.  Great now my tummy is grumbling... good thing I have a little left over!

Ingredients:

• 3 Boneless Chicken Breasts (cut in half)
• 1 Package of Dry Italian Dressing Mix
• 1/2 Cup of White Wine ( I used a Reisling because that is what I had open already)
• 1 Can of Golden Mushroom Soup
• 1 lb box of Angel Hair Pasta (or other pasta)
• 1/4 cup of Butter
• 4 oz of Chive and Onion Cream Cheese
• Two handfulls of sliced Mushrooms (this is my favorite part so I could easily double this)

**I had the spinach in the picture because I was serving with a spinach salad, but you could throw some in and it would be good too!

Makes 6 servings

In a saucepan, over low heat melt butter.  When butter is melted stir in the contents of the dressing mix packet.  Then stir in wine and golden mushroom soup until smooth.

Add in cream cheese.  If you add the cream cheese in pieces they will melt faster.  Make sure they melt, but do NOT boil mixture.  Stir in mushrooms.  Preheat oven to 325.  Place chicken breasts in baking dish.  Pour the sauce over the chicken.  The sauce will be thick, but will thin as the chicken cooks.

Bake chicken for about 50-60 minutes.  About 20 minutes before chicken is done begin the water for the pasta.  Serve pasta with sauce and chicken.

This recipe was featured on our Appetizing April Menu. Check out the entire April menu for a variety of dinner ideas!