S'more Crescent Rolls

Adapted From: Realist Mom
http://www.realistmom.com/2011/07/24/sunday-sweetness-smore-crescent-rolls/

We almost never make dessert but with family in town for the long weekend it seemed like a great idea. You already know my love for crescent rolls and combined with marshmallows and chocolate this is to die for! We first made it for my birthday and when we went shopping for dessert, I remembered how awesome they were. We added the graham crackers to the original recipe. It gives it a very nice flavor and makes it taste closer to summer camp smores. They are also very kid friendly because the crescent roll holds all the mess inside. Everyone gave them a thumbs up!

The Fixin's
1 Can Crescent Rolls
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Mini Marshmallows
2-3 Graham Crackers

Let's Cook Dessert
Pre-heat oven to 375
Unroll crescent rolls onto non-stick pan
Place 10 chocolate chips and 6 marshmallows on each crescent roll

Roll up
Crush 2-3 graham crackers until fine

Roll each crescent roll in graham cracker mixture

Bake for 11-15 minutes or until golden brown

Chicken Lime Taquitos

Adapted From: Chef in Training
http://www.chef-in-training.com/2012/02/baked-creamy-chicken-taquitos.html

Remember Chef in Training? This is another one of her awesome creations. I have also seen it floating around pinterest. If you have been reading the blog, you have probably seen the recent recipe for buffalo chicken taquitos, this recipe is similar but with a more Mexican feel. I adapted the ingredients in these taquitos more than I normally do when trying a recipe. It was mostly by accident because I did not read the recipe clearly and partly because I do most of our shopping at Aldi and cannot always find exactly what I'm after. I substituted green salsa for green enchilada sauce and then added rotal tomatoes to give it texture. I also left out the cilantro because the Mr. is not a fan. The "fixin's" list looks long but don't let that hold you back. Chances are you have most everything at the house already. If you like spicy, I would suggest cooking the chicken seasoned with chili power. This gives the mixture an extra kick!

The Fixin's
6 oz Cream Cheese
1/4 cup Green Enchilada Sauce
1/4 cup Rotal Tomatoes
1 tbsp Lime Juice
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
2 cloves Minced Garlic
2 cups Shredded Cooked Chicken
1 cup Shredded Cheese
1 Package Small Flour Tortillas

Let's Cook Dinner
Preheat your oven to 425˚F
Season chicken with chili powder if desired
Cook chicken until no longer pink

Shred chicken into small pieces
Soften cream cheese
In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, enchilada sauce, rotal, lime juice, ground cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic.
Add the chicken and cheese to the bowl and stir until well mixed

Heat tortillas for 20 seconds in microwave
Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto tortilla

Roll the tortilla tightly
Place the rolled tortilla seam side down on a greased baking sheet
Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt
Bake for 15 -18 minutes or until golden brown

Crescent Roll Mini Pizza

Adapted From: Bo’s Bowl
http://www.bos-bowl.com/2012/01/pepperoni-pizza-crescent-roll-ups.html

I seriously love this meal. I wish I could make it everyday. The Mr. and I joke that this blog might become a blog about only crescent roll recipes because I use them to cook with so often. Really, pretty much anything wrapped in a crescent roll tastes 100x better than it does plain. I do have a special place in my heart for crescent rolls though because the first recipe I ever succeed at cooking was crescent roll dogs...you know the ones from the Christmas commercials? Since then we have found a few dozen other recipes that we like to cook on nights we don't have a lot of time. The recipe can easily be doubled by purchasing two cans of crescent rolls. A standard package of pepperoni is plenty for two batches and chances are you are not going to find individual mozzarella string cheese sticks and you will have to buy the 12 pack.

The Fixin’s

1 Can Refrigerated Crescent Rolls

40 Slices Pepperoni

4 Mozzarella String Cheese Sticks

1 Jar pizza sauce

1 tbsp Garlic Powder

Let’s Cook Dinner

Preheat oven to 375

Unroll crescent rolls and separate into individual triangles

Place 4 to 5 slices of pepperoni on each crescent roll 

Cut each piece of string cheese in half

Place string cheese half onto pepperoni and roll up

Sprinkle crescent rolls with garlic powder.  

Place rolls on baking sheet with the seam down

Bake for 12-15 minutes

Warm pizza sauce and serve on the side for dipping

Bubble Up Enchilada Bake

Adapted From: Plain Chicken
http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/07/bubble-up-enchiladas.html

Plain chicken is my favorite food blog of all time. You really need to check out her blog and all her amazing ideas. I had been following a few food blogs when I first got married but the recipes we always way to complicated for a novice cook like me. Everything I tried ended up ruined because it was just "out of my leauge". The recipes on Plain Chicken are easy to follow, require easy to find and mostly inexpensive indgredents, and she does a great job laying out the recipe step by step. Bubble up enchilada bake is one of our favorites. We tend to eat a lot of tacos, soft tacos, etc. and this was a great way to mix up our mexican fair.

The Fixin’s
1 lb Ground Beef
1 Packet Taco Seasoning
8 oz Tomato Sauce
10 oz Can Enchilada Sauce
12oz Can Refrigerated Biscuits
2 cups Mexican Cheese Blend

Let’s Cook Dinner
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook ground beef in a large pan
Drain fat
Add the taco seasoning, enchilada sauce, tomato sauce and 1 cup of cheese to the pan

Stir to combine.
Cut the refrigerated biscuits into fourths and place them in a mixing bowl

Pour meat mixture into mixing bowl and stir till the biscuits are coated
Pour meat and biscuit mixture into large, grease baking dish

Bake for 25 minutes.
Add one cup of cheese on top
Bake an additional 10 minutes

Fish Tacos

Adapted From: My Mother-in-Law

My mother-in-law is a wonderful cook and has set the bar really high when it comes to cooking for the Mr. She has also been an amazing resource in helping me learn to cook. When she came to visit us in the fall, she made these fish tacos and we have made them at least every two weeks ever since. They are super easy and fish is a nice change from all the chicken that we eat. We use frozen tilapia but I am sure that you could use any small, white fish. The first time we had the meal we purchased a spicy ranch dressing but because salad dressing is expensive, I like to make my own. I follow the directions on the dry ranch dressing packet and then add a few tablespoons of hot sauce to give it a kick.

The Fixin's
1 Bag Frozen Tilapia
Cajun Seasoning
1 Package Small Tortillas
1 Bag Cole Slaw
2-4 tbsp Hot Sauce
1 Packet Dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
1 Cup Sour Cream

Let's Cook Dinner
Thaw tilapia according to directions
Season both sides of fish with cajun seaosning until well covered

Cook fish in frying pan with oil for 3- 5 minutes on each side or until fish is flaky and cooked through
Prepare ranch dressing, adding 2-4 tbsp of hot sauce
Heat tortillas under wet paper towl for 20-30 seconds
Wrap a piece of fish, spoon full of cole slaw, and dressing in tortilla.

Ranch Pork Chops

Adapted From: Real Mom Kitchen
http://realmomkitchen.com/287/ranch-house-crock-pot-pork-chops-with-parmesan-mashed-potatoes/

This meal makes a regular appearance in our house. I love it because it can be cooked in the Crockpot and because it only requires a few ingredients. We often buy pork chops with the intent to break out the grill, but one thing leads to another and we get too busy. This is the perfect way to enjoy pork chops without all the hassles. The original recipe only calls for one can of cream of chicken soup, but I use two. I think one can doesn't make enough gravy for the mashed potatoes. Real Mom Kitchen has a recipe for garlic mashed potatoes that looks wonderful but we just served these over the regular boxed kind and no harm was done. I will admit, this meal doesn't look very pretty when it's cooking but don't let that fool you, it tastes as wonderful as it smells!

The "Fixin's"
3 or 4 Pork Chops
1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning
1 tbsp Milk
2, 10 oz cans Cream of Chicken Soup

Let's Cook Dinner
Spray Crockpot with cooking spray
Place pork chops in Crockpot
Stir together soup straight from the can (without adding water), ranch dressing seasoning, and milk in bowl until smooth
Pour over pork chops

Cook on high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours
Serve over mashed potatoes

Hawaiian Chicken

Adapted From: Chef in Training
http://www.chef-in-training.com/2012/04/crock-pot-hawaiian-chicken-freezer-meal-2

Chef in Training is one of my favorite food blogs. She has so many easy recipe ideas and TONS of dessert ideas that I have to literally force myself not to try. One reason I love her blog is that she posts a good amount of Crockpot meals. This recipe can actually be cooked in the Crockpot but I didn’t get around to starting dinner early enough to try it. I opted to bake it in the oven and it was wonderful. The pineapple definitely makes this VERY sweet, but in a good way. I added the pineapple chucks per directions with about 20 minutes left in the baking process, I think it made the sauce a bit watery even though I drained it. I don't think it damaged the sauce but next time I will wait a bit longer.

The “Fixin’s”
4 to 6 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. yellow mustard
1/2 cup crushed pineapple with juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 can pineapple chunks, drained

Let’s Cook Dinner
Preheat oven to 350
Mix together ketchup, yellow mustard, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce, and crushed pineapple in small bowl
Place chicken in greased baking dish and cover with sauce

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes
**Crockpot: Cook on low for 4-6 hours**
Add drained pineapple chunks with 10 minutes left to bake
Remove chicken from pan and cut into small chucks
Stir into sauce, coating chicken and pineapple
Serve over white rice

Parmesan Chicken Bites

Adapted From: Mrs. January Frugal Living Made Easy
http://www.mrsjanuary.com/easy-recipes/easy-recipes-parmesan-chicken-bites/

When my husband was little his favorite food was his great grandmother’s chicken nuggets. He has described these as magical although he later found out they were frozen chicken fingers from the store! I am not a frozen chicken nugget kind of person and all the talk about pink slime didn’t really help. Once I discovered that pretty much anything baked and covered in breadcrumbs tasted awesome, I was super excited to try this recipe. I didn’t make any changes from the original but I did use fresh parmesan cheese and Italian style breadcrumbs. People swear by Panko bread crumbs but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Aldi brand breadcrumbs. If you don’t shop at Aldi, you are really missing out! I served these with ketchup and ranch on the side with rice and a salad. They are super easy to make but I was surprised how long it took me to bread all the chicken pieces.

The “Fixin’s”
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Let’s Cook Dinner
Preheat oven to 350F
Cut chicken into bite sized chucks

Melt butter in small bowl
In separate bowl, mix salt, pepper, cheese, and breadcrumbs.

Dip chicken into butter and then into the breadcrumb mixture

Place covered chicken on a greased baking sheet
Bake for 15 minutes on each side or until chicken is cooked

"Fried" Pickles

Adapted From: Schilling Times
http://joshandkinze.blogspot.com/search?q=pickles

About a year and half ago we moved away from Georgia. Among the many difficult adjustments was the lack of “southern cooking” in our new community. If you have ever been to the south chances are you have had a variety of deep fried vegetables. I swear, if you can deep fry it, you can find it on a menu. My favorite is fried pickles and I have been craving them since they day we packed up the U-Haul. I found these on pinterest and I must say, I was skeptical at first. For one thing these pickles are baked instead of fried but I miss southern cooking so much I was willing to give it a try. They are AWESOME and I feel less guilty about eating them since they are not cooked in a deep fryer. The original recipe calls for the use of Panko bread crumbs. While I have heard magical stories about them, I opted for Aldi brand Italian style bread crumbs that I had around the house and I have no complaints. At most restaurant, fried pickles are served with a dipping sauce. We used a dash of Frank’s hot sauce in ranch dressing, but plain ranch works great too.

The “Fixins”
1 jar pickle slices
2 eggs
1/3 cup flour
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

Let’s Cook
In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and flour until smooth
Add Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, garlic powder, Cajun seasoning, and pepper
Mix until well blended.
Place bread crumbs in a separate dish.
Dunk each pickle slice into the egg mixture, then into the bread crumbs

               ***Tip: Use one hand to dunk the pickles and the other hand to bread the pickles, this way one   hand stays dry***

Place breaded pickles on a greased baking sheet

Place pan in the middle rack of the oven.
Broil on high for 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Peperoncini Pork Sandwhich

Adapted From: A year of Slow Cooking
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2011/01/peperoncini-beef-sandwiches-slow-cooker.html

You already know that I LOVE the crockpot and this meal was no exception. It’s so nice throw everything in before work and come home to the smell of dinner! A pub we frequent serves a sandwich known as “boomers” and when I came across this recipe I hoped and prayed it would taste similar so we would stop eating out! I was in luck, this meal is awesome. The Mr. has asked that it make a regular appearance in the meal menu. We substituted pork for beef and I seasoned it with some garlic, salt, and pepper. The original recipe suggests that mozzarella cheese would also be a good option. The pepperjack really adds a kick, so if you don’t like spicy it might be a good idea!

The “Fixins”

1-2 lbs. pork roast
1 jar peperoncini peppers
2 cloves garlic minced
Salt and peper to taste
Sliced Pepperjack Cheese
French rolls

Let’s Cook Dinner
Place pork roast in crock pot
Season with salt and pepper and minced garlic around top of pork
Pour jar of pepperoncini peppers on top of pork including the liquid

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

When pork is finished cooking shred meat and stir in juice

Set oven to broil. 

Cut french rolls in half and set on baking sheet. 

Spoon pork and pepper mixture onto bottom slice of roll.

Place on slice of cheese on top

Broil in oven until bread is crisp and cheese is melted.

No Bake Energy Bites

Adapted From: Give Me Some Oven 
 http://gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites

I am always looking for something quick to eat before a workout and these little puppies do the trick. Not only are they super easy to make, they are so much cheaper than buying Powerbar bites for pre/post run snacks. I have even taken them with me running in my race belt and they did great. You need to keep them in the fridge after you make them, but they should do fine in a lunch box. If they can make it through an 18 mile run, they can make it to lunch! The original recipe called for coconut flakes and flax seed. The Mr. doesn’t do coconut and for the life of me I cannot find flax seed at a reasonable price…so we just added an additional cup of oats. No harm done! I think there are a lot of ways you could tweak this recipe. I am looking forward to trying raisins and maybe nuts.

The “Fixins”
2 cup dry oatmeal
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla

Let’s Cook
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until the oats thoroughly coated. This is messy and you will need to use your hands.

 Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.

After 30 minutes, pack the ingredients into small balls, it should make about 20.

Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Buffalo Chicken Taquitos

Adapted From: Deal Wise Mommy
http://www.dealwisemommy.net/2012/05/dinner-idea-buffalo-chicken-taquitos/

When my best friend Tara introduced us to “buffalo chicken dip” a few years ago, we fell in LOVE with Frank’s hot sauce.  I saw this recipe on pinterest and could not resist. I’m happy to report it was as amazing as I had hoped. It didn’t take long to make at all and the chicken mixture could easily be prepared ahead of time. The Mr. likes his food a little on the spicy side, so I seasoned the chicken with Cajun seasoning when I cooked it. We are also “sauce people” so I used the extra Frank’s to mix with a few tablespoons of ranch dressing for a dipping sauce. The picture just doesn’t do it justice.

The "Fixins"
4 cups of chicken
10 small flour tortillas
2 cups of Mexican cheese
6 ounces of Philadelphia cream cheese
1/3 cup of Frank’s hot sauce
1/3 cup of milk
2 tbsp. of butter
1 tsp. of Cajun seasoning
1 tsp. of garlic powder
2 tbsp. of vegetable oil

Let's Cook Dinner
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Cook chicken and shred into pieces
Place chicken and Mexican Cheese in mixing bowl and set aside
Over medium low heat, melt butter in small pot
Add garlic powder and cajun seasoning
Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute
Add cream cheese and stir until melted
Stir in hot sauce and milk
Simmer for 5 minutes
Pour mixture into bowl with chicken and cheese, stir until mixed
Warm tortillas in the microwave for a few seconds
Spoon several tablespoons of mixture onto tortilla and roll tightly
Makes 10 servings
Place on greased baking sheet
Spray tops with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.