Breakfast Pizza!

I love those Red Baron Breakfast pizzas. Seriously love them. However they are a bit pricey and while I'm not one to be overly concerned with what's in the food I'm sure they have a lot of salt. Figured I could try making one myself and searched for some copy cat recipes. I ended up kinda winging it but it turned out great. 

This is easy but there is some prep time. I made a small one since I didn't know if it would turn out but after this I'll double this recipe to make more. 

1 can refrigerated crescent roll dough

Country gravy

4 eggs, scrambled

4 strips cooked bacon, crumbled

shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Cook your bacon. Cut/crumble it up. 

2. Pull apart the triangles of crescent roll dough and lay in your pie pan (8-9 inches for this). Press the triangles into the pan and pinch all the seams closed. Bake according to package (about 13 minutes) until golden brown.

3. Cook your eggs. 

4. Cook your gravy. I use those packets you can buy at the store. 

5. Spread about a quarter to half a cup of your cooked gravy onto your cooked crust. Spread eggs, bacon, and shredded cheese on top. 

6. Bake at 350 for 5-8 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

7. Cut into slices. Yum! 

Of course you can top it with whatever you want; this is just what my family likes. I may try it next time with biscuits for the crust just to see how it tastes.  

Enjoy! 

Chicken and Rice Casserole

Yum! Hubby wanted chicken and rice. I wanted something simple. Quick internet search and I had this one ready to go. It's based on Paula Deen's recipe. 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups Cooked, shredded chicken

1 can Cream of Celery soup

1/2 cup Mayo

1 can Green beans

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp Onion, Onion

Shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup cooked brown rice

Salt and pepper

Crispy fried onions or plain Panko bread crumbs (optional topping)

Directions

1. Melt butter. Stir in about a Tbsp of Onion, Onion. Let sit for a couple minutes. 

2. Stir in a can of green beans (we like French cut), can of Cream of Celery, brown rice, chicken, and cheese. 

3. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

4. Pour in a greased casserole dish (this recipe makes less than a 9x13). Top with fired onions or bread crumbs if desired. 

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until bubbly. 

Santa Brownies

Here's a stupid easy but adorable one for y'all! I'm sure you've seen these around the Internet. :) 

Ingredients

Brownies cut into circles

Strawberries

White frosting

Directions 

1. Bake your brownies, allow to cool, then cut into small circles (or bake them in mini muffin tins). 

2. Cut the tops off your strawberries (so you have a little hat). 

3. Squeeze some frosting on top of the brownie and place the strawberry on top. 

Done! :) 

*I use a ziplock bag to apply my frosting. Put a few spoonfuls in a bag, squeeze the air out and close it. Snip a very small corner off and squeeze the frosting out. 

Super Easy Chicken Salad

This is, of course, a very simple chicken salad recipe. Yes, I use canned chicken but I just don't have time to cook chicken breasts to shred when I have children trying to kill each other playing in the other room. Please feel free to cook up those chicken pieces and shred them if you have the time. Y'all understand. :) This recipe does use one of my Tastefully Simple products. It does NOT contain mayonnaise for those of you with picky eaters that don't like mayo.

Maybe one day I'll learn to take GOOD photos of food!

Ingredients

1 large can chunked chicken

Vidalia Onion Dressing

red grapes, halved (optional)

Directions

1. Shred the chicken.

2. Pour desired amount of Vidalia Onion Dressing over your chicken.

3. Add in some halved red grapes if desired.

4. Mix. If you'd like it a bit wetter, add a little more dressing until you get the consistency you like. If you like it a little drier, add less dressing. 

5. Enjoy!

Baked Vidalia Onion Bacon Chicken

Yummm!!!! I can't take credit for this recipe. My Senior Team Mentor posted it on her Facebook page a couple days ago and I HAD to make it! Heads up, this is one of my recipes that DOES require a Tastefully Simple product. It was so simple to throw together and was so tasty! This one doesn't really have but one "measurement" for this recipe; just use as much chicken and bacon as you need to feed your family. As usual, please forgive the picture quality...cell phone, ya know? :)

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 strips uncooked bacon of your choice
1/2 cup Vidalia Onion Dressing

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wrap each chicken breast with a strip (or 2) of bacon so the chicken is pretty much completely covered.

3. Place in an 8x8 baking dish (I always line mine with aluminum foil).

4. Drizzle Vidalia Onion Dressing over the chicken.

5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove cover and bake for another 15 minutes or until they reach your desired level of brownness.

Pina Colada Bread Pudding

Hubby and I spent our 10 year anniversary in November in Honolulu (only affordable because hubby works for Delta!). On our last morning there we went to the breakfast buffet at Duke's right on Waikiki Beach. It was really good and my favorite thing was their Pina Colada bread pudding. I was determined to recreate the recipe once we were home. Took a couple months but I finally had the time to do it (happens when your ENTIRE STATE is closed because of snow and ice....). It was actually really easy to throw together and the boys ATE IT UP. Like, 3 helpings each ate it up. I'd call that a victory. My recipe will make a 9x13 sized dish. I also used lactose free milk so the hubby could finally have some bread pudding. Too bad he didn't get to enjoy it as he still hadn't made it home from the airport...

Ingredients

1/2 loaf of white bread, cubed (or whatever bread you want)
5 eggs
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup cream of coconut
1 cup crushed and drained pineapple (save the juice)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbs white sugar
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp coconut extract
butter

Directions

1. Put the cubed bread on a cookie sheet and bake at about 300 degrees for 10 minutes or until a bit crispy and dry.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter/grease a 9x13 casserole dish.
3. Mix eggs, milk, cream of coconut, brown sugar, white sugar, pineapple juice, vanilla, and coconut extract together in a large bowl.
4. Once you take your dried bread cubes out of the oven mix them with the crushed pineapple in the casserole dish.
5. Pour the egg mixture over the bread crumbs and push them down so most of it is covered. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. Dab the top with some butter.
6. Bake uncovered for about 30-35 minutes or until the top is getting golden brown.

Enjoy!!

*Yes, I know bread puddings are supposed to have a rum sauce but since it was just me and the boys I didn't make one.
*I'll be making the coconut rum sauce tomorrow and I'll try to remember to post that part of the recipe!
*The recipe can easily be doubled. :)

Gingerbread Cookies!

Yes, I know, I know. Its after Christmas now and y'all probably aren't looking for a great gingerbread recipe at the moment. Sorry. With two kids the season gets a bit chaotic (more than usual!) and I just didn't have time to sit down and post this recipe. But, ta da! Here it is! Pin it or save it or whatever it is you prefer to do so you can find something later. I have never made gingerbread before. Honestly, I never even LIKED gingerbread. However, I really loved this recipe and I ate A LOT of these cookies! I'm thinking its because its not overly ginger-y? I don't know but its really good. I baked a batch of the big gingerbread men for my preschool class (they devoured them and if 3 year olds will eat them...) and another batch with all the different shapes to take to dinner on Christmas. This recipe WILL take some time to finish (and if you want to decorate them that will take even more time) but believe me, in the end, they are so worth it!

Ingredients

3 c flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c butter, softened
3/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c molasses
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
cookie cutters

Directions

1. Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg, and vanilla; mix well.
3. Gradually beat in flour mixture (to butter/sugar mixture) on low speed until well mixed.
4. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight!!
5. Heat oven to 350.
6. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness on lightly floured work surface.
7. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters.
8. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown.
9. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes.
10. Remove to wire racks; cool completely before frosting.

Can be stored in an airtight container for about 5 days.

*I did not come up with this recipe. I got it from my children's minister who used it for our Cookies with Santa day at church.
*The green frosting in the picture is from the store. The white and yellow is homemade buttercream. The rest of the decorations are from the store.

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I'm Still Alive!!

I promise I haven't forgotten about y'all! Truly! But...its that time of year when there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. Don't get me wrong! I love this time of year...but I could seriously use about 5 more hours every day! I should be able to get a few recipes posted (okay...maybe at least one!) after I get through this week (trust me...its a doosy!). I made some AH-mazing gingerbread cookies and I can't WAIT to share!

Corn and Black Bean Soup

It was freakishly cold here in Georgia this past week. I know, I know, to those of you north of the Mason-Dixon line 20 in the morning isn't that cold but to us down here, that's COLD! Especially in November! Pretty much unheard of in these parts. Anyway, cold weather means soup or chili and this time I made soup. This soup is AH-mazing!! It does have a little kick to it but it is not overpowering or anything that will make your eyes water. :) Heads up, it does require Tastefully Simple products, but this seriously some of the best soup I've ever had AND I think its good for those veggie only folks out there (enjoy it...this is probably the only time you'll see something like this on my blog lol!).

This makes A LOT of soup so you could easily freeze some of it to enjoy later!

Ingredients

1 jar Corn and Black Bean Salsa
2 Tbsp Onion Onion
1 tsp Fiesta Party Dip Mix
16 oz can crushed tomatoes with juice
3 cups black beans, rinsed and drained
2 (14.5) oz cans vegetable broth (low sodium if possible)
3/4 tsp cumin
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
2 cups cooked brown rice

Directions

1. Combine the first 10 ingredients in a large pot; bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Serve! Can garnish with some cilantro if you want.

*Makes about 10 CUPS of soup!
*If its thicker than you'd like, add a little water until you get the consistency you like.
*This is a slight variation of the recipe found on the TS site; that one has chicken added.

Monster Pudding Cups

I probably should have posted this BEFORE Halloween but...The "faces" on these could probably be changed to suit Christmas parties. I made these for my 2 year old's Halloween lunch at preschool. Aren't they ADORABLE?! :) I'd seen these floating around on Pinterest and thought they looked easy. They WERE! This will make 12 cups of cuteness.

Ingredients

2 large boxes instant vanilla pudding
6 cups of cold milk
green food coloring
Oreo cookies (crushed)
clear cups
Sharpie marker

Directions

1. Draw your faces on your cups. Make sure they're fairly low down so they'll actually be on the pudding.
2. Make the pudding according to the packages.
3. Add green food coloring until you get the tint you want.
4. Scoop about a 1/2 cup of pudding into each cup.
5. Using a food processor (if you have one), crush the Oreo cookie until its in little pieces. Don't use the whole package of cookies; start out with about 12 cookies (you can always crush up more if needed).
6. Sprinkle the crushed cookies on top of the pudding until you have a thin layer.

Enjoy! :)

Crock Pot Ranch Chicken

This is a "twist" (if you can call using chicken instead of pork a twist) on a recipe I saw floating around on Pinterest last year. The recipe calls for pork chops and I've made it several times; its really, really tasty (honestly, the gravy is to DIE for...if you like gravy I suppose). I wanted to make it this evening, opened the freezer, and DOH! No pork chops...but I did have chicken! I love these easy "dump them in the Crock Pot and let them cook" recipes. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 - 3/4 of a packet of Italian Dressing mix
1 lb boneless chicken breasts

Directions

1. Mix the soup and dressing mix together in a bowl. I don't use the entire packet of dressing mix because, in my opinion, it makes it too salty.
2. Put a little of the soup mixture in the bottom of your Crock Pot. (I NEVER use mine without those handy Crock Pot liners you can buy in the store!!)
3. Lay your chicken breasts in your cooker and then pour all the soup mixture on top, making sure the chicken is covered.
4. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Your cooking time is going to depend on how hot your Crock Pot cooks (mine seems to cook hot) and also on how much time you have until dinner (haha!). Start checking it after 2-3 hours just to see how its doing - you don't want dried out meat.

Serve with mashed potatoes (the gravy is amazing on taters!)!

*I couldn't get a "good" picture of this...I should've used a blue plate!

Fiesta Layer Dip

Like I said in a previous post, I love Mexican food, especially those yummy dips! I was craving some so I whipped up this very quick and easy layer dip this afternoon for a snack. Hubby ate most of it (of course!). This has the leftover chili from my post a few days ago (you can see the recipe for that here). I didn't measure anything so the amounts in the ingredients will be a bit "generalized;" just use enough to feed whomever you are feeding and to suit your tastes!

Ingredients

chili (homemade or canned)
1 can refried beans (cooked)
shredded cheddar
shredded colby jack
sour cream (for the dip)
mayonnaise (for the dip)
Fiesta Party Dip

Directions

1. Make the Fiesta Party Dip according to the directions on the bottle. Let it sit at least 2 hours.

2. Put a layer of chili in the bottom of a microwaveable bowl.

3. Sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese.

4. Put a layer of refried beans.

5. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds.

6. Put a layer of Fiesta Party Dip.

7. Sprinkle a nice layer of shredded colby jack on top.
(You can start the layers over again if you want a thicker dip for more people)

8. Heat in the microwave for about 2 minutes or until its bubbling along the edges.

9. Heat for another 30 seconds or until the cheese on top is mostly melted.

Macaroni and Cheese

Who doesn't love some good mac and cheese? If you don't, you probably don't need to be on a food blog anyway. :) This is a recipe my mom made when I was growing up and she passed it on to me (such a good mommy). It will take a little more time and ingredients than what comes out of the blue box but it is soooo worth it! My sons eat this up like there's no tomorrow.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups macaroni
3 Tbs butter
2 Tbs all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/4 cups of milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (approximately)
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

Directions

1. Cook macaroni and drain. Set aside. Heat oven to 350.
2. Put butter in a large microwaveable dish (needs to be able to hold a few cups of liquid) and microwave for 30 seconds or until melted.
3. Stir in flour, salt, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and pepper.
4. Put milk in a microwaveable dish and microwave for 1 minute or until warm.
5. Gradually stir milk into the flour mixture. Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes, stir, then cook another 1 1/2 minutes. Stir. If its not smooth and thickening, microwave for another minute.
6. Add 1 1/2 cups of the cheese and stir until melted.
7. Combine the cheese mixture and the cooked macaroni noodles in a 1 1/2 - 2 qt casserole dish. Top with the remaining cheese and the bread crumbs.
8. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese on top is melted.

*I usually use more cheese than this because...well, because we like cheese!

Chicken Enchiladas

I love Mexican food. I think I could sit at a table in a restaurant with nothing but a glass of Coke, a basket of chips, a bowl of salsa, and a bowl of that glorious cheese dip. Yum. But, as I have two small terrorists boys, going out to eat is usually not something I want to inflict on the poor, unsuspecting diners at our local restaurant. I wanted enchiladas but not the headache of taking my kids out - so I searched the internet until I found some recipes that I could alter and make with what I had at the house.

NOTE: This will probably make more enchiladas than your 9x13 pan will hold. You can either cook two pans OR wrap each enchilada in some cling wrap and then aluminum foil SEPARATELY, put in a freezer bag, pop in your freezer, and you have an easy meal for another evening. 

Ingredients

corn tortillas
1 cup shredded, cooked chicken (I used canned chicken that was in my pantry)
1-2 cans of enchilada sauce (depends on how much sauce you like)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375. Spray some non-stick cooking spray in a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Heat the chicken, one can of sauce, and 1 cup of the cheese in a pan on the stove until heated through.
3. Wrap your corn tortillas in a slightly damp paper towel and warm in the microwave for a few seconds (this helps keep them from tearing as much as you roll them up).
4. Spoon some filling into each tortilla and roll them up, placing them seam side DOWN in your pan.
5. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over them and top with remaining cup of cheese.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Serve with chips or refried beans or Spanish rice or whatever you like. 

* You can cook some chicken to shred for this but I'm lazy.
* Some of that mixed shredded Mexican/taco/quesadilla cheese they sell in stores would be yummy, too.
* I loved having the leftovers in the freezer for a second, super easy meal for the family when I had to go out for the evening.