Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

If you are in need of a quick and easy dinner that is also DELICIOUS I have the solution!!! :-)

While talking with my friend Leah tonight she told me she was cooking dinner for her boyfriend. The conversation naturally turned to what she was cooking...Chicken Pillows. Now, I had never heard of Chicken Pillows...so should I have been surprised that Leah found the recipe from Pinterest!? I'm convinced that all good things come from Pinterest ;-) The original recipe can be found at The Girl Who Ate Everything I decided that I didn't have dinner set in stone yet so I was going to check it out. Luckily I had the majority of the ingredients necessary! It sounded like it would be good so I decided to give it a try! Let me tell you...I am SO GLAD I did, and so is the Hubster!

Now I'm going to give you the original ingredients/directions (in blue) VIA The Girl Who Ate Everything and tell you what I substituted/omitted! (in pink!) Just because I didn't do everything exactly like she said!

Ingredients/Directions

Mix Together

8 ounces cream cheese, softened {I only had 4 ounces}

½ cup sour cream {Omitted}

{Added some of the cream of chicken soup, shredded cheese, dash of milk, and Parmesan cheese}

Add In

½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 ½ Tablespoons dried chives
1 ½ Tablespoons fresh onion minced {Omitted...was feeling yucky and didn't want to deal with onions ;-)}

3 chicken breasts, cooked and diced (around 3 cups) {Used one can of canned chicken...again, didn't feel good and was feeling lazy}

Assemble Pillows

2 (8 ounce) cans Pillsbury crescent rolls {Used one can of grands biscuits}

1/4 cup melted butter
Italian bread crumbs (around 2 cups) {Didn't have any...made my own}

***At this point scoop a spoonful of chicken mixture into flattened biscuit and fold up, dip top into butter and roll in breadcrumbs. Then place on baking sheet.***

Gravy

1 (14.5 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 (0.87) package chicken gravy mix {Omitted...just used water to mix with soup}

Seriously y'all...these were SO GOOD! The hubster kept saying that this was his new favorite dinner over and over! Now, I love my husband and he usually has nice things to say about my cooking but he went on and on and on about these. I take it he liked them a little more than our usual dinners ;-)

I served ours with some mixed veggies. YUM! We also had a salad before dinner.

I HIGHLY recommend these..does this not make your mouth water!?

Needless to say I'm so glad I chatted with Leah this evening! :-) I think the Hubster would say he is MORE than grateful! Seriously...what did we do before Pinterest?! HA! And just for good measure...here are the links for this scrumptious meal one more time.

{Pinterest Link}

{Original Recipe VIA The Girl Who Ate Everything}

Homemade Crock-Pot Applesauce

I just have to say that there's nothing better than applesauce made from fresh apples! I was somewhat skeptical at first, and wasn't sure how it would turn out...but it was WONDERFUL!

Ingredients

8-10 Apples

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I actually used less)

1 cup water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

1. Wash apples.

2. Peel apples.

3. Cut apples into small pieces.

(didn't actually get a picture of this step...but you get the idea!)

4. Combine apples, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and water in crock pot.

5. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

I let mine cook until it was "mushy" enough for me! ha

ENJOY! :-)

 Oh and it also helps if you have a little assistant in the kitchen...

 Gracie got a little taste of the applesauce as well and she loved it too ;-)

 

Taco Soup

First, thank you SO MUCH for all of your wonderful suggestions and advice about Emma Claire's name! I can't wait to announce what we're going to do! :-)

I'm going to share one of my most favorite soup recipes with you tonight, and bonus...it's just about the easiest soup you can make!!! :-) And as always, feel free to alter the recipe to suit your needs! For example, I use half a can of corn and beans, but you could use the whole can if you have more people to feed! That's the beauty of this recipe, you can make it feed as many people as you need it to!

Taco Soup

Ingredients

1 small onion

1 clove of garlic

1 tablespoon butter

1lb Ground Beef OR Chicken

1 can diced tomatos

1/2 can black beans

1/2 can kidney beans

1/2 can corn

1 small can diced green chilies

1 can chicken broth

1/2 packet taco seasoning

you can use the whole packet, I just don't like a strong taco taste to my soup :-)

Directions

1. Dice Onion and Garlic.

2. Add onion, garlic, and butter to skillet.

3. Cook until onions are clear.

4. Add beef or chicken.

***I used canned chicken when I made it last, SO quick and easy! I just drained and then added the chicken to the onions and garlic and cooked until the chicken was all broken apart***

5. Once meat is cooked add to crock pot.

6. Add all other ingredients. (I drain the corn and beans but not tomatos)

7. After adding the diced tomatos fill can with water and add to soup mixture.

8. Stir and turn crock pot on! I set mine yesterday to low, but you can cook it on high as well!

Enjoy!

So healthy and SO GOOD! :-) I'm about to go have a bowl for dinner! It's even better the next day!

  

Happy Tummies=Happy Home

Lately the Hubs and I have been getting back into the swing of things, including cooking! I think that the smell of home cooked food really makes a house feel more like a home. While I did do some cooking before he came home, it was hard to cook for one so my meals were much simpler and easier was better :-) Now that he's home I've had fun cooking for him again! Cooking is one of my favorite things to do at the end of a long day. I know that sounds like the opposite of how most people feel, but it really does help me to relax! Our "first meal" together at home was pan seared tilapia, wild rice and green beans. Seriously the easiest dinner EVER! It took all of about 20 minutes!

I used Wegman's pan searing flour to cook the tilapia, if you have a Wegmans near you...go get some of their pan searing flour! It is wonderful!!! It gives you a "fried" crunch without actually frying the food! Genius!

A few days ago we got a little cool front and the temperatures dropped down into the 50's at night and low 60's during the day so of course I had to make SOUP!

Potato soup is one of the Hubsters favorites, I love it too! There's just something about this soup that I LOVE! Maybe it's the cheese and bacon we get to add on top ;-)

You can't have soup without grilled cheese! I made these with fresh french bread and they were amazing! Much smaller than with regular bread but that's okay!

Since it was cool outside and I had all of the windows open I just HAD to bake something "fall" for dessert. I grabbed some apples, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla and pie crust and made my own version of an "apple braid" that I found HERE on Pinterest! She made hers with homemade bread, I used pie crust. I also added more ingredients, I wanted some sugar in mine! ;-) It turned out WONDERFULLY! I was somewhat skeptical, but I was surprised! The Hubster LOVED it! I think I'll be making this a lot more this fall!

I had some extra pie crust and filling so what did I do? Make mini apple pies of course!!! :-) They were TOO CUTE and super easy!

If anyone wants the "recipe" for the apple mixture I'll try to do another post about it! I didn't really pay attention to how I made it this time, I just kept adding ingredients until I liked the taste!!! I'm going to make this again and write down how I made it so I can share!

Easy Peasey Peach Trifle

 I realized I've done a lot of posts lately about food...but with Kelly, over at Kelly's Korner, doing her "Show Us Your Life Fridays" about food lately...I just can't help it! And everyone loves getting new recipes, right?! Today Kelly is hosting SUYL: Desserts! YUM!

This peach trifle is one of my all time favorite desserts! :-) I love any kind of trifle, but this one tops them all! I am going to apologize in advance because I have NO idea on exact measurements for anything...because it's a trifle I just layer the ingredients until the trifle dish is full! Also...if you can get your hands on some true south Georgia peaches it absolutely makes the dessert!!! Granny's version of this trifle is always twenty times better than mine...but since she's all the way in Georgia I have to try my best to imitate hers!

Ingredients

Fresh Peaches (peeled and cubed)

Vanilla Pudding

Angel Food Cake

Cool Whip

Directions

1. Peel all skin off peaches and cut up.

2. Cut up angle food cake into cubes.

3. Make vanilla pudding according to box directions :-)

4. Layer ingredients into trifle dish. I usually put angle food cake on the bottom, then peaches, then pudding, then cool whip...and repeat until dish is full!

This dessert is easy peasey and fun to make! :-) It also is so pretty when you get it in the trifle dish!

Enjoy!

Chicken Spaghetti

This is one of my all time favorite meals :-)

We had it last night for dinner and I just have to share it with y'all!

Ingredients

1/2 Yellow Onion

1 Clove Garlic

1lb Chicken

1 Can Diced Tomatoes

1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce

Pasta

Directions

1. Brown chicken in a pan with olive oil, salt, pepper, and basil.

2. Boil water and add pasta to cook! For this recipe I use elbow maccaroni, but you can use whatever you want! :-) As for the amount of pasta...I think I cooked a cup? You can have more/less depending on how many people you're feeding!

3. Dice onion and garlic, add to skillet to sautee with a pat of butter. Cook until onions are tender.

 4. Add diced tomato's to onions and garlic

Allow this mixture to cook until onions are clear. (About 5 minutes)

 5. Add cooked chicken.

6. Add in 1 can of spaghetti sauce. My favorite is Wal-Mart's "Great Value"...I know, it's the cheapest one....but I just love it! I've tried so many other kinds, but I keep coming back to this one!

Here's a little trick that I use when making this recipe...

Add a little bit of water to the jar to get all of the sauce out!

***At this point you can just combine the pasta and sauce and enjoy! I however like to put everything in a casserole dish and top with cheese and bake at 350* for about 10 minutes! This works perfectly if you have bread to warm!***

This also makes it easy to store...just cover with foil, place in the fridge and enjoy the next day! The Hubster actually claims that he likes it even better the next day!!!

Favorite Main Course Recipe

Kelly, over at Kelly's Korner, is hosting Show Us Your Life Fridays: Favorite Main Course Recipe. I'm also linked up at Funky Junk Interior's Saturday Night Special!!! Today I'm sharing my rice casserole, it's the Hubsters all time favorite meal that I make. It's SUPER simple, quick, and easy. Who doesn't love that! :-) I would love to take credit for this whole recipe, but I actually found it on the back of a Campbell's Soup can a couple of years ago. That recipe has since disappeared and I've adapted it to my own special recipe! I really think that y'all should try this, it's so easy to add/take away ingredients and really make it your own!

Ingredients:

1/2 Yellow Onion

1 Tablespoon Butter

Bag of Frozen Mixed Vegies

1 Can of Diced Chicken (Swanson White Chicken Breast)

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 Cup Milk

Uncle Ben's Long Grain Wild Rice (Fast Cook is Best!)

Cheddar Cheese (to your liking!)

French's French Fried Onions

Directions:

1. Pre-Heat Oven to 350 degrees.

2. Dice onions and cook on medium heat with butter until clear.
3. Add bag of frozen Veggies.
4. Cook for about 5 minutes
5. Add in Can of Chicken and stir.
6. Stir in 1 can of cream of chicken soup.

7. Add in 1/2 cup milk.
8. Cook rice. Once cooked add in with chicken/veggie mixture.

9. Pour mixture into a casserole dish. I usually use a 13x9in pan!

10. Sprinkle cheese on top.

11. Add French's Fried Onions to the top as well. Add as little or as few as you want. This is the Hubster's favorite part :-)

12. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 Minutes.

Enjoy!