French's Crunchy Onion Chicken

We've seen this on TV commercials for a while so I decided to make it for supper tonight.  It was very good.

What you need:

2 cups (4 oz.) FRENCH'S® Original or Cheddar French Fried Onions

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

4 (5 oz.) boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 egg, beaten 

Make it: 

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. I baked ours for 40 minutes.

Mozzarella chicken roll-ups

My husband couldn't stop talking about how good this was tonight.

2 oz. Cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves

1/4 tsp.  Garlic salt

1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

2 small boneless skinless chicken breast, pounded to 1/4-inch thickness

HEAT oven to 400°F.

MIX first 4 ingredients until well blended.

PLACE chicken, top-sides down, on work surface; top with cheese mixture. Starting at one short end, tightly roll up each breast, tucking in ends of chicken to completely enclose filling. Place, seam-side down, in 9-inch square baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is done (165°F).

Variations

 Mix in 1/4 cup finely diced green pepper with the cheese mixture. 

-OR-

Prepare as directed, topping the flattened chicken pieces with a layer of baby spinach leaves before topping with cheese mixture.

-OR-

Top chicken breasts with 1 cup spaghetti sauce before baking.

Turkey Burgers

Another recipe from the cookbook that we love!

What you need:

1 lb ground turkey

¼ lb mushrooms, finely chopped

1-cup Italian flavored breadcrumbs

¼ cup grated zucchini

1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbl ketchup

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Make it:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl mix everything together.  It will be moist.  Form into 16 or so little patties.

Coat large skillet with cooking spray and set over med-high heat.

When skillet is hot add oil.

Add burger patties and brown for 4-5 minutes.

Put burgers on cookie sheet and bake for 4-5 minutes

Baked Chicken Kiev

What you need:

4 boneless chicken breasts

½ cup dry breadcrumbs

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 ½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

4 Tbl butter- room temp.

¼ tsp garlic powder

4 oz cheese of choice – I used mozzarella string cheese

2 large eggs beaten with 2 Tbl water

Make it:

Place chicken breasts one at a time between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and flatten until ¼ inch thick.

In a shallow pan combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, 1 tsp of the oregano, salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a small bowl mash butter with garlic powder and remaining ½ tsp oregano.

Spread about ½ Tbl of the butter mixture on each breast about 1 inch from the lower edge; lay a piece of cheese on the butter mixture. Fold lower edge of breast over filling, then fold in sides and roll up to enclose filling.

Roll each bundle in egg mixture and let drip briefly; then roll in breadcrumb mixture until evenly coated. 

Place bundles, seam side down, without touching in 9x13 inch baking pan.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Bake, uncovered, in a 425-degree oven until done.  About 30-40 minutes.

Cold veggie pizza

What you need:

2 packages crescent roll dough (I like the butter flavored ones)

2 8oz packages cream cheese

2/3 cup mayo

1 package powered Ranch Dressing

Toppings:

Raw vegetables such as; broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green peppers, tomatoes, celery and mushrooms.

1 cup shredded cheese, cheddar or mozzarella

Make it:

Press dough onto large pizza pan (do not grease pan) and bake according to directions of package (400 degrees - 10 minutes until brown.) Cool

Mix cream cheese, mayo and dressing until smooth. Spread over cooled crust.

Finely chop vegetables and sprinkle on top.  Top with shredded cheese and press down firmly.

Quesadilla Casserole

What you need:
2 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Minced Onion
1/2 tsp Oregano
dash Crushed Red Pepper

1 lb ground meat (beef, venison, turkey etc)
1/2 chopped onion
2 cans (8 oz each) tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 3/4 oz) whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can (4 1/2 oz) chopped green chiles, undrained
6 flour tortillas (8-inch)
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

MAKE IT:

BROWN beef and onion in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn and green chiles; mix well. Stir in all of the spices except red pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes. Add red pepper to taste, if desired.

SPREAD 1/2 cup of the beef mixture on bottom of 13x9x2-inch baking dish sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Top with 2 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, beef mixture and cheese.

BAKE in preheated 350 degree oven 15 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Four-cheese pasta florentine

What you need:
3 cups mostaccioli, uncooked
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach
4 oz. (1/2 of 8 oz pkg. cream cheese
1 cup low fat cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 pkg. 8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Make it:
Heat oven to 375 degrees F
Cook pasta as directed on package.
Meanwhile, cook spinach as directed on package; drain well. Place in large bowl. Add cream cheese; stir until melted. Stir in cottage cheese and eggs until well blended.
Drain pasta. Add to spinach mixture with mozzarella; mix lightly. Spoon into 8- or 9-inch square baking dish; top with parmesan.
Bake 25 minutes or until heated through.

My picky 5 year old even loves this!

Loaded Nachos

We absolutely love to eat nachos. Especially during football season. We had spinach in the house last time we made nachos so I tore some up and put it on the nachos as well. It was delicious!

Loaded Nachos

What you need:
1 lb ground beef (We use ground venison.)
one sweet onion, diced
1 can refried beans
1 packet taco seasoning

tortilla chips

Toppings
sour cream
queso cheese sauce
shredded cheddar cheese
diced tomatoes (we love using cut up grape tomatoes)
your favorite guacamole

Make it:
1. Brown meat and drain any leftover fat.
2. Add onion and cook til soft
3. Add packet of taco seasoning and water called for on packet
4. Add can of refried beans and heat through

Put tortilla chips on plate and add meat mixture and toppings. Enjoy!!

Stuffed Green Peppers

Stuffed Green Peppers

2 - 4 servings

What you need:
2 medium green bell peppers
1 lb. mild italian sausage
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 C white rice (Minute rice)
1 C water
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes (reduced sodium or no salt added)
Worchestire Sauce
Italian Seasoning
Minced Garlic
1 C shredded cheddar cheese (I use extra sharp)

Make it:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Fill a large pot with water and put on to boil. Cut each pepper in half, lengthwise. Clean out the seeds & membranes. Place halved peppers in the boiling water until tender (3-5 minutes, usually). Remove from boiling water & place, inverted, on a paper towel to drain.

Brown the sausage & chopped onion in a skillet. Once browned, drain off the excess fat. Pour in the rice and water (always use a 1:1 ratio, but you can add more rice if you'd like more stuffing). Add in the can of tomatoes (do not drain), several shakes of Worchestire Sauce and Italian Seasoning and a generous scoop of minced garlic. (Note: I truly do not measure the spices - start out with a little, taste the mixture, add if needed.) Cover & simmer on medium heat until rice is cooked (about 15 minutes).

Place peppers cut side up (so, like a bowl) in a baking dish. An 8x8 usually works well for 4 halves.

When the stuffing mixture is cooked through, add half of the shredded cheese (if you're using it) stir, and fill each pepper half. If there's leftover stuffing, add it to the same baking dish.
Top the peppers with the remainder of cheese (again, optional) and pop in the 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes (until warmed through.)

Turkey Chili

What you need:
3 cups shredded turkey (I used leftovers from Thanksgiving)
1 onion, chopped
1 (28 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (28 oz) can dark red kidney beans (undrained)
1 Tb garlic, minced
2 Tb chili powder
1/2 tsp each:
paprika
dried oregano
ground cayenne (red) pepper
salt
ground black pepper
1 pint jarred cherry tomatoes (We can ours from the garden. Any canned tomatoes would work.)

Make it:
Now here is the hard part.... combine in crock pot and heat on low for 5-6 hours.
We serve ours topped with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Tator Tot Casserole

1 lb ground beef

2 can green beans

1 26 oz can cream of mushroom soup

1 1/2 cups milk

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

32 oz tator tots

onion powder (season to taste)

Morton's seasoning salt (again-season to taste)

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Brown ground beef in large skillet.

While meat is cooking add onion powder and seasoning salt.

When meat is done drain off any liquid.

Stir in green beans, cream of mushroom soup and milk.

Transfer to 9x13 inch baking pan.

Top with shredded cheddar cheese.

Then line up the tator tots on top.

Bake for 45 minutes or until tator tots are nice and brown.

Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo

1/2 of a 16oz pkg linguine pasta

1 cup fresh or frozen broccoli florets

2 Tb butter

1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Prepare linguine according to package directions.

Add broccoli during last 4 minutes of cooking time. Drain well.

Heat butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken & cook until well browned, stirring often.

Stir soup, milk, cheese, black pepper & linguine/broccoli mixture into skillet.

Cook until mixture is hot & bubbling.

Meatloaf

We love meatloaf in our house. My husband used to be the one to make it, until I took a shot at it. Now we use my recipe. Well, tonight we didn't have the ingredients that I usually use so I had to come up with something new. Now I have 2 recipes for meatloaf, #1 is tangy and #2 is sweeter.

Recipe #1
1 cup ketchup
1 Tb Worcestershire sauce
3 Tb brown sugar, packed
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 lbs ground beef (we use ground venison as my husband is an avid deer hunter)
1 1/2 cups fine bread crumbs
2 large eggs
couple shakes Morton's seasoning salt
couple shakes tomato-basil-garlic seasoning

Grease loaf pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce & brown sugar until smooth. Put 1/4 cup mixture aside.

Mix remaining sauce with the onion, ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs & seasonings.

Put in loaf pan & place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Spread remaining sauce over meatloaf, bake for 15 minutes longer.

Recipe #2
1 cup ketchup
1 Tb honey
3 Tb brown sugar, packed
1 packet dry onion soup mix
2 lbs ground beef
1 1/4 cups fine bread crumbs
2 large eggs
couple shakes Morton's seasoning salt
couple shakes basil flakes
couple shakes garlic powder

Grease loaf pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine ketchup, honey & brown sugar until smooth. Put 1/4 cup mixture aside.

Mix remaining sauce with dry onion soup mix, ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs & seasonings.

Put in loaf pan & place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Spread remaining sauce over meatloaf, bake for 15 minutes longer.

Chicken Spaghetti

Thanks go out to our good friend Leanne for this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chicken (I shred & skin a whole rotissierie chicken for a nice mix of white/dark meat)
2 cans Cream of Chicken and Mushroom soup
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 finely diced green pepper
1 finely diced medium white onion
1 4oz. jar diced pimentos, drained
3/4 - 1 box thin spaghetti, broken
2 cups chicken broth
Lawry's Seasoned Salt (I don't measure - just taste and add...start with 1 tsp.)
Cayenne pepper (again, taste and add, start with 1/8 tsp.)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 add'l cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Assembly:
Cook the spaghetti until al dente - do not overcook. Meanwhile, skin and shred the chicken. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with all ingredients except the one add'l cup of sharp cheddar.

Place in casserole dish and top with remaining 1 cup of cheese. You can freeze for up to 6 months, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days, or bake immediately at 350 for 45 minutes until bubbly. You can cover with foil if the cheese starts to get too cooked.