Winter's almost here, get out the casserole dishes

Chicken 'n' Hash Brown Bake

1 package (32 ounces) frozen Southern-style hash brown potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups diced cook chicken
1 can (4 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
2 cups chicken broth or stock
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 teaspoons instant chicken bouillon granules
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped sweet red pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
Paprika
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Thaw hash browns overnight in the refrigerator.  Layer in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place chicken and mushrooms over the hash browns.  Stir together sour cream, broth, soup, bouillon, onion, red pepper, and garlic; pour over all.  Sprinkle with paprika and almonds.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until heated through.  Yield: 8-10 servings.

Since we are headed into winter, this was a good recipe to come out of the shoebox.  It is the time of year for casseroles.  This may not be the prettiest dish, but this recipe has good flavor.  I would cut down on the salt you add to the potatoes, it was a little salty.  And it turns out that Southern-style hash browns are really the little cubed potatoes, not the grated hash browns.  I used a rotisserie chicken I bought at Costco for the cooked chicken and that ended up being just about the right amount of chicken.  I also used a shallot instead of a regular onion and one small shallot is just about 2 tablespoons worth.  I also skipped the paprika and almonds because I didn't have any.  If I had to make any changes to this recipe, I would add some other vegetables.  Some frozen corn or green beans would probably taste pretty good.  This would be an easy recipe to alter and would probably turn out good.  Happy winter casserole cooking!

OMG!

Better than sex cake!

Step 1:
3 eggs
1/2 cup of oil
1 1/4 cup water
1 German chocolate cake mix
Combine all ingredients and cook in 9"x13" pan at 350 degrees.

Step 2:
Cool Whip
1 can Eagle Brand milk
3 Snickers candy bars
1 jar caramel topping
Poke holes in cake using handle end of wooden spoon.  Blend Eagle Brand milk and 1/2 jar of topping; pour over top of cake, filling holes as you go.

Step 3:
Spread Cool Whip over cooled cake.  Chop up candy bars into small chunks and cover Cool Whip with chunks.  Drizzle remaining caramel topping on top of candy.

I about fell over when I pulled this recipe out of the shoebox.  I cannot believe that my 91 year old grandmother ever cut out anything with the word sex on it!  HAHAHA!!! This recipe sounded terrible and way too sweet, but I had to make it based on the name alone.  Seriously, who's grandmother actually cuts out a recipe called "Better than sex cake!?"  It is just hysterical!  

Ok, so this recipe is insanely sweet.  Chocolate cake, sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand milk is a brand of sweetened condensed milk, by the way), caramel, Cool Whip, and Snickers bars.  Sugar overload.  It did not taste terrible like I was expecting it to.  Actually it was pretty good with all of the chocolate and caramel.  The sweetened condensed milk and caramel poured over the cake makes it a little soggy and hard to get a piece out of the pan, but that is really the only issue.  The recipe is quick and easy if you are looking for a desert to make and then laugh about when people ask you the name of the recipe.  I am not going to comment on whether this cake is in fact better than sex, but if anyone out there wants to run their own independent side-by-side comparison test, then go nuts!

Quick and easy

Turkey, Bacon, and Guacamole Wraps

1 ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and mashed
1 tablespoon taco sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
4 tortillas
8 oz. thinly sliced cooked turkey
8 slices precooked bacon
4 romaine lettuce leaves
1/4 cup drained roasted red bell pepper (from 7-oz. jar), large pieces cut up

In small bowl, mix avocado, taco sauce and garlic salt.  Spread about 1 tablespoon avocado mixture on each tortilla.  Top tortillas with turkey; spread with any remaining avocado mixture.  Top with bacon, lettuce and bell peppers.  Fold in sides of each wrap; roll up.  Cut each in half.  Serve immediately, or wrap each sandwich in plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving or up to 24 hours.  Makes 4 sandwiches.

Ok, I know postings on the blog have been a little sporadic, grad school keeps me a little busy, but this is a quick one that I couldn't pass up.  I used a packet of mild sauce from Taco Bell for the taco sauce, already cooked bacon that you pop in the microwave, spinach instead of lettuce, and I always buy raw tortillas that I fry up myself because they taste way better than any pre-made tortillas.  They are called Tortilla Land if anyone is interested.  These were super easy and they tasted great.  Perfect for a quick week night meal or, if you are like me, any night meal because I don't like waiting more than 10 minutes to eat when hunger strikes.  

Easy but bland

Southwestern Chicken and Corn Dinner


Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon flour inside a large foil bag (like Reynolds Hot Bags or another brand).  Sprinkle 4 bone-in, skinless chicken breasts and 4 thighs with 2 teaspoons Mexican seasoning blend.  Arrange chicken and 3 ears fresh or frozen corn-on-the-cob (cut into pieces), 1 each medium red and green bell peppers (cut into 1-inch pieces) and 1 medium onion (cut into eighths) in an even layer inside bag.  Sprinkle 2 more teaspoons seasoning blend over vegetables.  Double-fold end of bag and place in 1-inch-deep pan.  Bake 50-55 minutes.  Open away from your face to allow steam to escape.

As the heading of this post suggests, this recipe was super easy (for the most part), but pretty bland.  I cut the recipe in half because it's just me and I don't need that much chicken.  I made my own foil bag because I couldn't find any in the grocery store and when I opened it up after cooking, there was quite a bit of water in the bottom.  This could have contributed to none of the seasoning sticking to vegetables.  I am wondering if I should have cut slits in the bag to let steam out.  Maybe that would have helped.  Here is what my bag looked like.

I used fresh corn on the cob and the only hard part to this recipe was cutting the corn into pieces.  Do you know how hard the middle of the cob is?!?  You practically need a chisel to get it to break.  Or maybe I just need sharper knives.  That was by far the most difficult and longest part of the prep work.  If any knows of an easier way to cut corn on the cob into pieces, please let me know.  As for the Mexican seasoning blend, could not find anything with that name in the grocery store so I bought Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning blend.  Since most of it probably dissolved in the water in the bag, I couldn't really tell you what it tasted like, but it smelled really good.  If anyone has any ideas on how this recipe could be improved, let me know.  It was easy and has potential.  

Linda, this one is for you!

Ravioli with Mushroom Sauce


1 lb. frozen cheese ravioli
2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
2 Tbs. butter or margarine
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dry sherry or chicken broth

Cook ravioli according to package directions, adding carrots during last 2 minutes of cooking time.  Meanwhile, in skillet melt better over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms and scallions; cook until mushrooms begin to give off some liquid, about 2 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium.  Stir in flour and pepper; cook, stirring 1 minute.  Stir in broth, milk, and cheese.  Bring to a simmer.  Stir in sherry; cook until thickened, about 2 minutes.  Drain ravioli and carrots.  Gently toss with sauce to coat.

So, I haven't posted in a while.  Life has been little busy, so my apologies.  But I have been getting hassled by quite a few people about not having posted anything and since the latest has come all the way from Lincoln, Nebraska (and I'm on break from school), I decided I better get on it.  So Linda, since you were the last to ask about the blog, this recipe is for you!


If you like mushrooms, pasta, butter, and Parmesan cheese, then you need to make this.  Super easy and super tasty.  I used the chicken broth at the end instead of the sherry and I did not add any carrots because I'm just not a big carrot fan.  I added some extra Parmesan cheese on top at the end (because you can never have too much cheese).  Although I should have taken the picture first before adding the extra cheese so you could see the mushrooms. Oh well, you can make this yourself and see all the mushrooms you want.  Enjoy!

Perfect with a glass of milk

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Chip Cookies


2 1/4 cups Gold Medal All-Purpose Flour
1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  In large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy.  Add eggs; beat well.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating well.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired.  Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set.  Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  About 5 dozen cookies.

Who doesn't love homemade cookies right out of the oven?!?  Especially chocolate cookies.  I did not add nuts, because why would I want to ruin a perfectly good chocolate cookie with nuts?  These were super easy cookies to bake and would be great for any chocoholic out there.  There is nothing else left to say besides, pour me a glass of milk!

This isn't Manwich

Super Sloppy Joes


2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 celery ribs with leaves, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1-2/3 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon steak sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon paprika
8 to 10 hamburger buns, split

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, cook beef, onion, celery, and green pepper until the meat is no longer pink and the vegetables are tender; drain.  Add the next nine ingredients; mix well.  Simmer, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Spoon 1/2 cup meat mixture onto each bun.  Yield: 8-10 servings.

The shoebox is back at it this week after a brief hiatus.  Sorry for the lack of recipes over the last couple of weeks.  Sometimes life just gets a little too busy.  But I'm back this week with sloppy joes!  Manwich ain't got nothin' on these bad boys.  I halved the recipe because It's just me and I don't need 8 to 10 servings of sloppy joes.  They weren't quite as sloppy as I was anticipating and could use a little more liquid I think, but the flavor was great.  It was an easy recipe to throw together If you're looking for a quick homemade meal.  

It may not be summer, but I'm ready to BBQ

Barbecue Chicken

Cut a 3 1/2 pound chicken in serving pieces, salt and pepper.  Heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil in skillet.  Brown chicken and place in roasting pan or casserole.  Sauce: combine in bowl 1 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup worcestershire sauce, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 1 small white onion finely chopped, 1 clove garlic finely minced, 1/4 cup A-1 sauce.  Blend well and pour over chicken.  Bake in preheated oven, 350 degrees, covered 1 hour.  Uncover and bake 20 minutes longer or until tender.

One word: YUMMY!!  I was a little leery about making homemade BBQ sauce, but I was pleasantly surprised when this dish came out of the oven.  I did not buy a whole chicken however.  I used half a package of chicken breast tenderloins and cut the sauce recipe in half.  This turned out perfectly!  Especially since it's just me.  I had enough for dinner tonight and just enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  I heated up some green beans and some baked beans and had quite a wonderful little dinner.  

When the moon meets your eye like a big pizza pie . . .

Pizza Dough


2/3 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package (1/4 oz.) yeast
1/3 cup oil, preferably olive
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
cornmeal

In large bowl combine water, sugar, and salt.  Sprinkle yeast over mixture.  Let stand until foamy and bubbling, about 15 minutes.  Stir in oil and 1 cup flour until well combined.  Stir in most of remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until soft dough forms.  Dough will be slightly sticky and will pull away from the sides of the bowl.  Oil large, clean bowl.  On lightly floured work surface knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, using remaining flour as needed to prevent sticking.  Place in oiled bowl; cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.  Divide dough in half.  When ready to assemble pizzas, oil two 12" round pizza pans or two 15"x10" jellyroll pans.  Sprinkle each pan with cornmeal.  Press half the dough into each pan.

If you've never made any kind of dough from scratch, then you are missing out.  There is something wonderfully therapeutic about kneading your own dough.  Plus it's a great workout for your arms.  This dough was simple to make.  I cut the recipe in half, since it's just me and I don't need two whole pizzas.  I bought pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and pineapple chunks to make pineapple and pepperoni pizza and it was yummy!  Since the recipe didn't tell me how long to bake the pizza or at what temperature I had to google it.  So here it is, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake for about 15 minutes.  Slice and enjoy!

Flawed, but has potential

Double Chocolate Candy Cashew Bars

1 package (18 oz) refrigerated chocolate chunk cookie dough

1 cup white baking chips

1 1/2 cups cashew halves and pieces

1/2 cup caramel topping

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 cup miniature candy-coated milk chocolate baking bits (from 12-oz bag)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.  Cut cookie dough into 1/2-inch slices.  Arrange slices in bottom of pan.  Press dough evenly to form crust.  Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.  

Sprinkle white baking chips and cashews over warm crust.  In small bowl, mix caramel topping and flour until smooth; drizzle over baking chips and cashews.  Sprinkle with milk chocolate baking bits; press lightly.  

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until topping is bubbly.  Cool completely, 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, before cutting.  For bars, cut into 6 rows by 6 rows.  36 bars.  

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): In step 1, bake 12 to 17 minutes.

You know that feeling when you try a new recipe for the first time and it comes out of the oven looking amazing and you feel so proud of yourself?  And then when you cut into it and you realize the middle is a gooey undercooked mess the only words the comes to mind are "oh crap"?  Well if not, then you should have been in my kitchen today. 

What a disaster.  I let these sit for two hours to cool completely and when I cut into them, I could immediately tell something was wrong.  And when I tried to get them out of the pan, my suspicions of failure were confirmed.  The middle was soggy and the entire pan was really greasy on the bottom.  I don't know why it didn't dawn on me that the directions for spraying the pan were weird.  You don't ever spray a cookie sheet when you're making cookies, so why would you need to spray a cake pan if you're using cookie dough for a crust?  Too bad this little nugget of wisdom didn't come to me before I started making these.  

After I got them all out of the pan, I put them on a cookie sheet and put them back in the oven for about 10 minutes hoping that would harden up the cookie dough on the bottom, but I think that only added to my troubles.  It just remelted the chocolate and the caramel so now the top and bottom were gooey.  So after they cooled a bit, I put them on a cooling rack.  Hopefully that will let some of the grease drip off and let them harden up a little.  

You can even see how much grease from the cooking spray was on the cookie sheet after I took them out of the oven for the last time.  Gross!  Despite my disaster, I think these could have potential as long as you don't spray your baking pan.  Seriously, what was I thinking.  This recipe was from Betty Crocker.  Makes me wonder if they actually test their recipes before they print them.  

Farfalle is Italian for butterfly . . . and American for bow tie pasta

Italian Vegetable Farfalle


8 ounces Barilla farfalle
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
salt and pepper
1 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped
1 medium yellow squash, coarsely chopped
1 jar (26 ounces) Barilla Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce
Grated parmesan cheese

Cook farfalle according to package directions and drain.  Meanwhile, heat olive oil in large skillet.  Add chicken; cook and sir over medium-high heat until cooked through.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add zucchini and yellow squash to skillet; cook and stir 5 minutes.  Reduce heat; stir in pasta sauce.  Cook 5 minutes.  Pour sauce over hot drained farfalle.  Sprinkle with cheese.

For all of my loyal readers out there (some of you are reading right?), sorry for not posting a recipe last week.  Who knew going to the rodeo, homework, and getting sick wouldn't leave time for cooking and blogging.  Well I'm back in action this week with a simple yet tasty recipe that can be whipped up in no time.  Seriously, this could not have been easier to cook.  Minimal ingredients and quick cooking time, I'm all over that.  You could probably sub out the zucchini and squash for other veggies if you had a preference.  This basic recipe could really be changed up to be whatever you wanted.  I'm guessing this recipe was from a Barilla advertisement considering it lists buying their brand of pasta and sauce.  I'm sure you could use whatever brand you wanted if you were feeling rebellious.  Oh, and in case you were still wondering, farfelle is bow tie pasta.  

This week's real recipe

Carrot-Banana Bread


1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas (3 medium-sized)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped nuts

In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs.  Mash bananas in small bowl.  Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Blend in flour mixture alternately with bananas.  Combine mixture with egg-butter-sugar mixture.  Stir in carrots and nuts.  Turn into greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.  Bake in 350 degree oven 50 to 60 minutes, or until cake tester inserted comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes, turn out of pan and cool completely.  Makes one loaf.

This is a very sneaky way to eat carrots for someone like me who doesn't really care for carrots. A tasty recipe, however I like my own tried and true banana bread recipe better (if anyone is interested in that recipe, just let me know, I'm more than happy to share).  I did not add the chopped nuts because I don't believe nuts belong in bread.  I am a bit of a bread purist.  I had some issues getting the loaf out of the pan.  I greased and floured it since the flour tends to help that, but part of it still got stuck and the loaf broke apart.  

Even when I tried to slice it the slices crumbled.  The bread was plenty moist, so I'm not sure what was going on.  It just didn't hold together very well.  

Better late than never . . . and it's not really a recipe

Italian Bread Crumbs

2-3 cups bread crumbs
3 cloves garlic, minced (or more to taste)
3 green onions, minced
3/4 cup grated romano or parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf oregano

Combine in a food processor and pulse until mixed.  Store in a zip-locked bag in the freezer.


Ok, no picture for this one.  I didn't think anyone would want to see a ziplock bag of bread crumbs.  This was the recipe I picked last week and as I have been reminded by some, I didn't post last week.  Sorry, the week kind of got away from me.  But I'm back at it so here it is.  The only thing I can say about this one is that is smelled good.  I didn't taste them.  A spoonful of bread crumbs just didn't sound appetizing.  I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with a big bag of bread crumbs just yet.  I have some leftover chicken in the freezer, maybe I can make chicken fingers with marinara for dipping.  If anyone has any other ideas on how to use these bread crumbs, please feel free to share.  These are definitely going to last me a while.  If I still have the bag in my freezer a year from now, you will all be the first to know.  

New year, new recipe

Macaroni and Cheese


1 (1 lb) package elbow macaroni, uncooked
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
pinch black pepper
2 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Cook macaroni as package directs; drain.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In saucepan melt butter, stir in next 4 ingredients.  Blend in milk and worcestershire.  Cook, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly.  Add 1 1/2 cups cheese, stir until melted.  Combine macaroni and cheese sauce, blend well.  Pour into a 2 quart casserole, bake 20-30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.  Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese, broil just until light golden.

Well, after a break last week for the holidays the shoebox is back in action for the new year, randomly throwing out recipes in this culinary adventure.  And if this recipe is any indication of how the new year is going to go, then 2012 is going to be a bland year.  This recipe had no flavor . . .  at all.  And I was so excited when I pulled the recipe from the box.  For those of you who know me, macaroni and cheese is one of my favorite foods.  However, this version of macaroni and cheese is not.  I've never made mac and cheese from scratch and I'm not even sure what I would do to change this up to make it better.  If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.  Or if you have a better mac and cheese recipe you're willing to share, that would be even better!