Bacon Chicken Ranch Bake

Ingredients:
3-4 Chicken Breasts
6-8 Tbsp Ranch Dressing
6-8 Slices of Bacon
 1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese

Prep Time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 - 35 min

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Place your chicken breasts in a baking dish. 
3. Spread 1-2 tablespoons of ranch dressing on each chicken breast. 
4. Slice bacon to fit chicken breast and layer on top of ranch dressing. 
5. Bake in oven for 25-35 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. 
6. Top with cheese and return to oven for 3-5 minutes. 
7. Serve with rice, mashed potatoes or vegetables.

 

My Comments:

This meal was pretty good. I had to cook the chicken a little longer than usual to make sure it was done. I am weird about chicken though and have to have it almost to the point where it is dry. The bacon was really limp. When I make this again, I might cook the bacon a little first before putting it on the chicken. Other than that it was a pretty good meal.

Ultimate Nachos

Ingredients:
1 lb of cooked hamburger
1 can of refried beans
1 can Old El Paso mild enchilada sauce
1 can corn
1 can black beans
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 avocado diced
1 roma tomato diced
2 tbsp chopped olives
1 bag of tortilla chips
Salt and pepper to taste

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Brown the hamburger and drain the grease.
3. Mix together all ingredients minus the cheese, tomato, avocado, and olives.
4. Grease an 8x11 pan and put the ingredients in. Then put the cheese on top.
5. Cook for 20 minutes.
6. Take out and garnish with tomato, avocado and olives.
7. Serve over chips.

My Comments:

I really liked this recipe. It was quick and easy and made a lot of food.  It was really good. I will definitely make this one again! :)

Meatloaf

Ingredients:

1 lbs of hamburger

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/3 cup steak sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

Salt & Pepper

Dash of garlic and onion powder

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
2. Mix ingredients together
3. Grease muffin  tins and scoop meatloaf into muffin tins
4. Cook for 20 min
5. Serve with veggies and mashed potatoes or rice 

My Comments:

I didn't measure everything out exactly because I thought I could guess but it ended up being a little too saucey.  Next time I will follow the directions a little closer.  I will probably add peppers and onions to give it a little more flavor as well. Over all loved this recipe! The meatloaf was even better for leftovers the next day!!

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

 2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (about 1 minute in the microwave will do the trick)

1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 11-12 min per pan

Directions:

1.      In a large bowl, sift together 2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

2.      In another bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 3/4 cup melted butter. Whisk until the sugars have dissolved into the butter. Add in the egg and egg yolk, and whisk. Then add in 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.

3.      Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Use a large wooden spoon to combine the ingredients together. Fold in 1 cup chocolate chips.

4.      Place the dough in a large bowl, cover, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. I chilled my dough overnight.

5.      When you’re ready to bake the cookies, pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees. Pull the dough out of the fridge and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

6.      Line baking sheets with parchment paper. The dough is going to be hard, and firm, and a little bit difficult to work with. 

7.      Use 3 tablespoons of dough for each cookie. Use your hands to form the dough into balls. Press a few additional chocolate chips onto the top of the dough ball.

8.      Give each cookie a good amount of space on the baking sheets. I was able to fit about 6 cookies per cookie sheet.

9.      Bake for 11-12 minutes. The cookies are going to appear under-baked. This is what you want!

10.  Allow the cookies to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring them to wire cooling racks to finish cooling.

11.  These will stay fresh for about 7 days. You will get about 16 cookies from this batch. If you’d like to make them a bit smaller, use 2 tablespoons of dough and bake for 10 minutes.

My Comments:
I always get several compliments whenever I make these cookies.  I like to make smaller cookies so I usually use about 2 Tbsp.  I also like to use semi-sweet chocolate chips. It is fun to mix it up sometimes and put the mini chocolate chips in too.  Overall, this is the easiest and yummiest cookie recipe. 

Stir Fry and Rice

Ingredients: 

1 Green bell pepper cut into strips

1 Orange bell pepper cut into strips

2 Chicken breasts cut into strips

½ cup water

5 Tbsp Teriyaki sauce (possibly more)

¼ cup Brown sugar

2 Tbsp Cornstarch

1 Tbsp Garlic Salt

Sesame seeds (as many as you like - optional)

1 can Water chestnuts (optional)

2 cups uncooked Jasmine rice

Cook Time: 25 min

Directions:

1.      Put rice and 1 ½ cups of water in the rice cooker.

2.      Put ½ cup water and raw chicken strips on the stove on medium high temperature. Sprinkle garlic salt on the chicken. You can also add some teriyaki sauce here to cook the chicken in.

3.      Cook until chicken is almost done and add the water chestnuts and bell peppers. Cook until the bell peppers are soft.

4.      Add the teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, sesame seeds and cornstarch.

5.      Take off heat and let the sauce thicken. You may have to add more cornstarch.

6.      Once the rice is cooked, serve over rice.

My Comments:

This one is one of our favorites. Sometimes we have to add more teriyaki or soy sauce than the recipe called for.  Sometimes I like to add other things like red peppers or broccoli.  This one is pretty easy to make.  I am sure other spices or sauces would make this even better. 

Beef Lo Mein

Ingredients:

8 Ounces of think spaghetti broken in half

1 tsp sesame oil

¼ cups boiled water

1 Tbsp Beef Better Than Bullion

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar

Oil for frying

1 pound beef

2 Large Carrots

2 cups broccoli

1 large onion

Cook Time: 45 Min

Directions:

Boil the spaghetti as directed on package. Into hot, boiled water add Better Than Bullion and brown sugar; stir to dissolve. Into the mixture, add soy sauce and set aside. Using a hot skillet, brown both sides of the beef. Let beef cool and slice it into two inch pieces. Add sliced beef into the same skillet, fry until completely cooked. Into the cooked beef, add sauce mixture, cook all together for about a minute, set aside. Dice carrots, broccoli and onion into two inch pieces. Using the skillet, where you've cooked beef, sautee onions until golden brown. Remove from the heat. In a separate oiled skillet, sautee carrots until softened, add broccoli and cook for about three minutes. In a large dish, combine spaghetti, vegetables and beef, together. Toss to combine, serve hot.

My Comments:

­­­Spencer and I loved this recipe however there were a few tweaks we will do next time. We thought it was too salty.  I'm probably going to add more brown sugar than it called for. Also the sauce was very watery. I will probably add some cornstarch to the sauce to make it thicker.  The meet was pretty good however we would like to marinate it overnight in the fridge. Overall, I would definitely make this recipe again!