Campbell's Cheesy Chicken Casserole

I'm not a usually a huge casserole person, but every once in a while I'll throw one together because they can save a ton of time and dishes! I tried this recipe last night, and it was good. I did 1.5x the recipe because we had company coming over and I wanted some leftovers for later in the week. It also took my casserole a little longer than 50 minutes to cook, I think it was closer to 60 minutes. Just make sure your chicken is cooked all the way through and that the rice is done, too.

Campbell's Cheesy Chicken Casserole

1 can (10 3/4 ounces)Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1 1/3 cups water
3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cup frozen mixed vegetables (I used frozen broccoli cuts)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat the oven to 375°F. Stir the soup, water, rice, onion powder, black pepper and vegetables in a 2-quart shallow baking dish.

Top with the chicken. Season the chicken as desired (I used salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and then topped the breasts with the cheese called for in the recipe rather than adding it later). Cover the baking dish.

Bake for 50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender. Top with the cheese. Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes. Stir the rice before serving.

Grandma King's 100% Whole Wheat Bread

This is another great bread recipe that has been made for a couple of generations in my family. I made it for the first time last week, and it seemed to take a lot less work than the traditional white bread that my Grandmommy used to make (if you don't count the work it took to grind my own wheat!). This is also a versatile bread- we used it for lots of different things, and all of them were yummy! (My favorite is toast that is broiled in the oven.) Do be careful with how much flour you put into the dough because too much will make the bread dry and tough after it's baked. The dough will be sticky, even after enough flour has been added! I forgot to do this, but you can spray your hands with pam or get them wet with water to help the dough not stick to your hands as much. One last note- my family is not used to eating 100% whole wheat, so I used 1/2 of my flour as regular white bread flour and it still was wonderful!

Grandma King's 100% Whole Wheat Bread

4 1/2 Cups of Hot Tap Water (really, it just needs to be warm enough to activate your yeast)
2/3 Cup Canola Oil
1 Cup honey
2 Tbl Salt
2 TBL Yeast dissolved with 1/2 Cup warm water
* Whole Wheat flour add enough flour until dough starts to pull away from the sides of your mixing bowl. (about 10 cups of flour and 1 cup of vital wheat gluten. See note below...)

Mix dough in your mixer for 10 minutes and then let then dough rest 10 minutes. Spray 4 loaf pans with pam and then shape dough into loafs and let rise until the dough reaches the lip of the bread pan. NOTE:The dough will be slightly sticky so just spray you hands with Pam or water when forming the loaves. Bake at 350 * for 30 to 35 minutes.

*You will use more flour if using freshly ground wheat. The wheat gluten helps to keep the bread fresher longer as well as helping create a nice texture. My mom does not use the wheat gluten and her bread is amazing. (This note is from my mom, and I didn't use the wheat gluten, but she says it not only helps the quality of the bread, it helps it to stay fresher for longer amounts of time.)

Simple Pan-Fried Pork Chops

This recipe comes from the Pioneer Woman, and it was delicious! I love to drool over her beautiful food pictures, but rarely do I make anything of hers. These pork chops were so delicious and not dry at all! I think the frying really helps to lock in the juices. I used regular pork chops that were boneless and not cut as thin as they should have been, but they still turned out well.

Simple, Pan-Fried Pork Chops

• 7 pieces Or 8 Pieces Breakfast Chops (very Thin Bone-in Pork Chops)
• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
• 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper To Taste
• ½ cups Canola Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• Extra Salt And Pepper, To Taste

Rinse pork chops. (Yes, I rinse my pork chops. Please don’t be hatin’.) Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops.

Combine all dry ingredients. Dredge each side of the pork chops in the flour mixture, then set aside on a plate.

Heat canola oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add butter. When butter is melted and butter/oil mixture is hot, cook 3 pork chops at a time, 2 to 3 minutes on the first side; 1 to 2 minutes on the other side. (Make sure no pink juices remain.) Remove to a plate and repeat with remaining porch chops.

Hot Beef Sandwiches

Eating Hot Beef Sandwiches is my favorite way to eat leftover roast & fixings. It's an open faced sandwich and all you do is layer a piece of bread (or you could use rolls that have been split open) with leftover mashed potatoes topped with roast beef and gravy. Of course, you don't have to only eat this as leftovers, you can also make your roast, potatoes and gravy and purposely serve it this way. My husband, the one who dislikes roast, said this sandwich was even better than the roast itself!

Crock Pot Roast Beef

Sunday I made this wonderful dish (the picture doesn't do it justice!). It was very tender and not dry at all! The funny thing is that I didn't realize how much I was wanting roast until I ate it! My husband, who is a roast hater, said it was the best roast he's ever had and that he wouldn't mind eating it every once in a while. I felt like all of the ingredients seasoned the beef perfectly- we didn't need to add anything to it! And the juices make an excellent gravy, too! I have posted how I made my gravy just below the recipe. Also, I only made a 2.5 pound roast, so I cut everything in half and it worked beautifully. This recipe comes from The Sisters Dish.

Crock Pot Roast

5 pound boneless rump roast (any other cut will work, too)
1 Tbl garlic powder
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I didn't have any, so I just sprinkled my roast with black pepper)
1/2 tsp oregano
1 onion, chopped (I left this out)
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
2 cups beef broth (I dissolved beef boullion- 1 cube per 1 cup water)

Put everything together in the crock pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

Note from The Sisters Dish: This is also great for French dip sandwiches. Shred your meat, place in on bread of your choice and dip in the juice. We like to butter crusty rolls, sprinkle on some parmesan cheese and place under the broiler for a couple of minutes(until the cheese melts) before we put our meat on them and then dip.

Simple Gravy

2 cups roast drippings (if you don't have 2 cups, add enough water to your drippings to make 2 cups)
2-3 Tbl cornstarch (the more cornstarch, the thicker your gravy)
1/2 cup cold water
seasonings

Place drippings in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, combine cornstarch and water. Once boiling, add cornstarch mixture to drippings. Whisk frequently until it returns to a boil. At this point, you can put it on simmer until it's time to eat and adjust the seasonings to your liking.

Broccoli Quiche

I see poor Tari is stuck posting sweets, which I totally understand! I for once actually have a bunch of main dishes I've been meaning to put up, but always neglect. (Sweet things are ALWAYS what I'm trying out.)

Here's a recipe for broccoli quiche (amazing, I know, since that's the title of the post). I know some men wont eat quiche, so I suggest making it and telling them if they don't want it they can make their own dinner. My husband loves it!

1 onion, minced

1 t. garlic, minced (or 1/2 t. garlic powder)

2 c. chopped broccoli (or any kind of veggies, like mushroom and tomato in the pic above)

1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

4 eggs, well beaten

1 1/2 c. milk

salt and pepper

1 T. melted butter

1 9-inch pie shell

Preheat to 350*

1. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, sautee onion, garlic, and broccoli until broccoli is tender. Spoon veggies into pie shell and sprinkle mozzarella cheese over them all.

2. Combine eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in melted butter.

3. Pour egg mixture over the veggies and cheese in the pie shell. Bake for 30 minutes or until the center has set.

Easy Microwave Toffee

I know I've been posting a lot of recipes for desserts, but desserts are the easiest thing for me to want to try new recipes for! I'll do my best to start trying new main courses, breads, and side dishes! However, this toffee is really good! It's butter and crunchy, and the best part is you don't need a candy thermometer and it's all done in the microwave. You just have to make sure you keep a good eye on it so you don't burn the toffee. But even then, it's pretty easy to make this yummy treat! I did find the amount of chocolate called for was a little much, so next time I think I'll cut it in half. This recipe came from my parents' ward cookbook.

Easy Microwave Toffee
Courtesy of Yvonne Harman

1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt (if you use salted butter, leave this out!)
1/4 cup water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I left these out)

Line and 8"x8" baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside. Put the butter, sugar, salt, and water in a 2 quart microwave safe casserole dish. Do not stir. Put the dish in the microwave for 7 minutes. Check to see if the mixture has changed from yellow to a light tan color. If not, continue cooking a minute at a time (I think I had to do a total of 7 extra minutes, so be patient if it seems like it's taking forever). You need to watch it here to keep it from scorching and remember, don't stir. Once mixture has reached the light tan stage, pour into prepared baking dish. Let sit for one minute. Sprinkle semi-sweet morsels on top and let sit for one more minute, or until morsels have softened. Using a spatula, spread the morsels over the toffee. Top with chopped pecans. Place the baking dish into the refrigerator until the toffee has cooled completely. Lift out the aluminum foil and break the toffee into bite-sized pieces (I just used my hands).

Chicken Pot Pie

This is one of my favorite comfort foods my mom made growing up. I made a couple of changes to make it a little more economical, but trust me, it doesn't degrade the taste! I use the flakiest pie crust recipe I've posted previously for the crust to my pot pie. I was also able to get 2 whole pies out of this recipe, but if you have a larger pie plate, you might only get 1.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 cup chopped onion
1 bag frozen peas and carrots
2 cups diced potatoes, cooked until tender (I used 2 large baking potatoes)
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cup chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half (milk should work fine, too, but I'd use 2% or whole)
2 cups cooked, diced chicken
pie crusts (I was able to get 2 whole pies from this recipe, which means 4 crusts, or 2 double crusts)

Saute onions, peas and carrots in butter until tender. Add flouur and stir until smooth. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth and half-and-half. Cook, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly. Stir in chicken and potatoes.

Place 1 crust in pie dish and fill with chicken mixture. Place second crust on top and cut vents. Repeat with other crust. Bake at 375* covered, for 35 minutes then uncovered for 20 minutes.

Notes: You can use any vegetables you want, you should just have at least 4 cups total. My mom's original recipe called for 4 cups chicken- I cut it in half and substituted potatoes to make it less expensive. If you want to freeze the filling or a whole pie, do not use the potatoes in the filling. Use 4 cups of chicken for the potatoes and chicken.

Chicken Croissants

This another recipe I remember my mom making when I was growing up, and I think it came from Pampered Chef. It is also a really easy dinner to pull together, especially if you cook your chicken ahead of time, cube it up, and then throw it in the freezer. It's also really kid friendly. If you notice from my picture, I didn't use the canned crescent rolls, I just made some of the Debbie's Roll dough that I have previously posted and used that instead. But I have used the canned crescent rolls before, I just find it cheaper and more filling to make my own dough.

Chicken Croissants

2 cups cooked chicken, cut into cubes
1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/8 tsp pepper
1 (4 oz) can mushrooms (these are optional, but I never use them)
2 cans crescent rolls

Stir cream cheese, butter and pepper together. Fold in cooked chicken and mushrooms. Roll out rolls (put two triangles into a square) and put a big glob of the mixture in each roll and seal (so you'll end up folding the rectangle you created with your triangles in half). Cook at 325*F for 20 minutes or until golden brown on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Caramel Apples

I'm sorry there haven't been very many posts lately. I've been dealing with a sick husband and a sick 16-month old, and when one gets better, the other gets sick! However, I have decided that I'm going to try to post 1-2 times a week via the scheduled post feature. So hopefully, there will be a more consistent selection of new recipes started.

I thought to start my new conviction to blogging, I would share a recipe that definitely makes me think of fall. These caramel apples are so yummy! I remember making them as a young women group and we gobbled them up. It does make quite a large batch (at least a large batch for just 2 people who can eat caramel apples), so if you don't want 12-15 apples, cut your recipe in half, or even better, make the whole thing and share with your neighbors. It's also a great time for these recipes because apples are in season, and you can get them at a great price! I thought I'd be creative and go back to when I made them in YW's and drizzle chocolate on them. But I learned a great lesson- if you want to do this, fine, but wait for the caramel to cool a little bit first. Otherwise you end up with a large pile of chocolate and caramel at the base of your apples. Mine didn't look very pretty, but they still tasted good!

Caramel Apples
Courtesy of Juilana Lookhart

1 cup butter (I used salted butter, and omitted the salt)
2-1/4 cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup sweetened condensed milk (this is a little less than a can, so measure it out!)
1 tsp. vanilla
12 to 15 Granny Smith apples, washed with stems and stickers removed (I used 15 small granny's and could have still done more. You could also use different apples. Granny Smith's are just tart and go well with the sweet caramel.)

Melt butter in large heavy pan. Add brown sugar and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until well mixed. Add corn syrup. Mix well. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly. Cook and stir to 115* C (or the soft ball stage). Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Sprinkle powdered sugar on a cookie sheet. Put sticks into apples and dip apples in caramel. Place apple on the cookie sheet. After dipping apples you can dip them in cookie crumbs, cinnamon, or any topping.