Cheesy Chicken Tator Tot Casserole

Posted on April 11, 2013 by jgisvold

Chicken, Cheese, Bacon, Tator Tots, repeat. How can that be bad? There is also some milk that you pour over every thing in the crock pot, but I’m also wondering what some cream of chicken soup mixed in with the milk would taste like? The whole entire recipe would probably be a lot creamier that is for sure. I thought it could also have used some type of seasoning. Maybe some Lawry’s Seasoning Salt or some sriracha? It’s up to you to decide. Ben just said this recipe was ok. He likes the Bubble Up Enchilada casserole recipe the best.

Note: You do not need to make this recipe in the crock pot like it calls for. You can also layer everything in a baking dish like I did. Just make sure you cook the chicken previously, because it takes a little bit longer to bake in the oven if you throw it in there raw. (which is ok)

Recipe from The Country Cook

Ingredients:

1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots
1 (3 oz.)bag bacon pieces
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

Layer half of the frozen tater tots on the bottom of the slow cooker.

Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon pieces.

Add diced chicken on top. Season with salt & pepper.

Now add 1/3 of the bacon pieces and another 1/3 of shredded cheese.

Put the rest of the frozen tater tots on top.

Finish with the remaining 1/3 cheddar cheese and remaining 1/3 of bacon pieces.

Pour 3/4 cup milk all over the top.

Cover and cook on low about 4-6 hours.
Please note: Some slow cookers run at different temperatures. If you are using an older slow cooker (older than about 6 years old), your cooking time may take longer. Newer models run a bit hotter so keep an eye on this around the 4 hour mark. You want to make sure the chicken is cooked thoroughly (to 165F degrees).

Chocolate Lasagna

Posted on April 6, 2013 by jgisvold

Two months ago I joined the gym, and I am so glad that I did! I like to exercise in the pool on the weekdays and do classes like Cycling and Zumba on the weekends. So far since joining the gym, I’ve lost almost 2 inches around my waste and I now can fit into a size 8 jean. Used to be 10. That is pretty awesome I think. I haven’t changed much of my eating habits, and just eating what I normally ate before. Made me wonder why I wasn’t losing any weight, but now I’m losing inches and that makes me happy, happy for swim suit season to come too.

If you’re looking to lighten this dessert up you could go ahead and do that. They have reduced fat oreos, cream cheese, and cool whip but I just don’t think it would be the same. I saw this on foodgawker a couple weeks ago and my friend had shared the recipe on her facbeook page. Made me want to try making it this weekend and I’m glad I did. I liked the different textures from the layers. I’ve seen chefs on Food Network make real chocolate pasta and now I’m really wanting to try that as well. I have a pasta machine. Just trying to think of different fillings you could put in the middle of the layers.

Recipe from centercutcook.com

Ingredients

1 package regular Oreo cookies (Not Double Stuff) – about 36 cookies
6 Tablespoon butter, melted
1- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cold milk
1- 12 ounce tub Cool Whip, divided
2 – 3.9 ounce packages Chocolate Instant Pudding.
3 1/4 cups cold milk
1 and 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Begin by crushing 36 Oreo cookies. I used my food processor for this, but you could also place them in a large ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. When the Oreos have turned into fine crumbs, you are done.

Transfer the Oreo crumbs to a large bowl. Stir in 6 tablespoons melted butter and use a fork to incorporate the butter into the cookie crumbs. When the butter is distributed, transfer the mixture to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator while you work on the additional layers.

Mix the cream cheese with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add in 2 Tablespoons of milk, and sugar, and mix well. Stir in 1 and 1/4 cups Cool Whip. Spread this mixture over the crust.

In a bowl, combine chocolate instant pudding with 3 and 1/4 cups cold milk. Whisk for several minutes until the pudding starts to thicken. Use a spatula to spread the mixture over the previous cream cheese layer. Allow the dessert to rest for about 5 minutes so that the pudding can firm up further.

Spread the remaining Cool Whip over the top. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips evenly over the top. Place in the freezer for 1
hour, or the refrigerator for 4 hours before serving.

Easy Chicken Cordon Blue

Posted on April 4, 2013 by jgisvold

I’ve been messing with different camera lenses lately. I really do like how close up I can get to the food pictures I take using my macro lens, but then I also like my 55 mm lens. You can pretty much do anything with your picture if you have a 55 mm lens. That is if you have the largest file size setting your camera can go pixel wise. The part I like most about using my 55mm lens is being able to zoom in really close to something, almost as if I was taking pictures with my macro lens and just crop the picture how ever I like it.

I made some chicken in the crock pot the other day ago, and the 2 main ingredients were apricot preserves and Catalina dressing. The recipe also called for a package of onion soup mix, which I didn’t have. The recipe was so so, makes me wonder how much of a difference the chicken would have been if I used onion soup mix? I hate it when that happens.

I do like this chicken recipe that I tried today a lot better. Who isn’t a fan of chicken cordon blue? I was nice to my husband and left off the Swiss cheese. Loved the cream sauce that went over this as well. Someone at work made a chicken cordon blue lasagna and it was FANTASTIC. I felt like I was part of a really exclusive supper club at work.

Recipe from Life as a Lofthouse

Ingredients

3 large boneless skinless Chicken Breasts, cut in half lengthwise, to form 2 thinner cutlets. (In total you will have 6 thin chicken breast cutlets)
12 slices deli Ham
12 slices thinly sliced Swiss Cheese
1 cup fresh Bread Crumbs
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted

FOR THE PARMESAN-DIJON CREAM SAUCE:
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Chicken Bouillon granules (or 1 bouillon cube, crushed)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan Cheese

DIRECTIONS: Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs and melted butter. Set aside.

Lay the cut chicken breasts in a single layer in the baking dish. Layer each chicken breast with two slices of ham, overlapping so they cover entire breast. Then over the ham layer two slices of swiss cheese overlapping to cover ham. Repeat over all chicken breasts. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the tops of the chicken.

Bake the chicken for 30-35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and cheese is bubbling, and bread crumbs are golden brown.

While the chicken bakes, in a medium saucepan on medium heat, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter. Stir in the flour, whisking constantly. Cook for about a minute. Slowly pour in the milk, still whisking constantly. Stir in the chicken bouillon granules, and salt. Continue to whisk constantly until the mixture begins to simmer and thicken, about 3-5 minutes. Once the sauce has thickened, turn the heat down to low and stir in the mustard, worcestershire sauce and Parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted. Keep the sauce warm until chicken is finished cooking.

Cauliflower “Rice”

Posted on April 1, 2013 by jgisvold

I’ve read about people replacing rice with ground up cauliflower so I decided to give it a try finally. It still has that cauliflower taste to it, but if you are looking to replace carbs in your diet this a good way to go. I don’t know if I can continue eating cauliflower because when I ate this with Trader Joe’s Mandarin orange chicken, I ended up having an asthma attack. Right after that, I googled can cauliflower cause asthma attacks and sure enough it was listed as a food that can cause that. I’ll have to ask my doctor about that when I go there next time.

If you don’t own a food processor, then this might be quite difficult to make. You just pulverize the cauliflower in a food processor until it looks like rice. The next thing I want to try making is the cauliflower pizza crust. That looks fantastic.

The best part about this is you can count it as 0 points plus per 1 cup.

Update: 4/2/2012 – WARNING: Cauliflower makes your house smell horrible! My house reeked this morning.

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower

Directions:

Break up pieces of the cauliflower so that they can fit easier into the food processor. Pulse the cauliflower until it resembles rice.

Cookie Bars

Posted on March 31, 2013 by jgisvold

Happy Easter! I love making cookies, but I have found a new way to make them. Turn them into a bars instead! I can’t believe I’ve never really tried this method before until now. I know it’s been around awhile too. One thing I don’t like about making cookies is all the different batches you have to bake in the oven. These cookie bars just go in there once and they’re all done together. Cut them up into fancy shapes or sizes, and use different colored M&M’s for each Holiday. They’re so good!

This weekend I went shopping and picked up a few bacon items. I got bacon bandages and lip balm. Lip balm is kind of strange if it has a bacon flavor to it. I don’t know if I like it as much.

I also picked up some egg rings. I’ve been looking around for them and found a set of 4 at Williams Sonoma. Now I can make my own egg sandwiches. I told my family I liked having the Jimmy Dean D-Light egg sandwiches for breakfast and they freaked out and said “Do you know how bad for you those are? They are so processed.” My response was f-you. That is pretty much the only processed thing I eat. I do love those sandwiches, and now I can make my own.

Servings: 24
Recipe from Fearless Homemaker

ingredients

2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 12oz bag M&M’s, divided
directions

preheat the oven to 325 degrees. adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position. grease a 9×13 pan + set aside.

in a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, + baking soda; set aside.

in a large bowl, beat the butter + sugars until light + fluffy. add the egg, egg yolk, + vanilla + mix well. using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. fold in 1 cup of M&M’s + turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. sprinkle the remaining M&M’s on top + press in slightly.

bake 25-30 minutes, until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, + edges start pulling away from sides of pan. cool completely before cutting.

Winter Minestrone Soup

Posted on March 27, 2013 by jgisvold

I don’t know about you, but I’m so sick of Winter. Where I live we have 3 seasons: Winter, Flooding, and Construction. There are huge piles of snow every where and that is finally starting to melt. I can barely see where I’m drivng, you have to keep on inching forward in your vehicle hoping that you don’t get hit. I need to get a taller car some day.

This will probably be my last batch of soup for awhile since the weather is starting to warm up. I love how this soup starts off with cooking some bacon. You know anything is going to be good if a recipe starts off that way. I also love the smell of onions and bacon cooking together in a pot. Someone needs to make a candle smell like that. The addition of pesto was very nice in this soup too. Ina was spot on putting that in there. The only thing I wish I would have had, was a nice piece of crusty bread to go a long with it.

Recipe from Ina Garten

Ingredients

Good olive oil
4 ounces pancetta, 1/2-inch-diced
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
2 cups (1/2-inch-diced) carrots (3 carrots)
2 cups (1/2-inch-diced) celery (3 stalks)
2 1/2 cups (1/2-inch-diced) peeled butternut squash
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 (26-ounce) can or box diced tomatoes, such as Pomi
6 to 8 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups cooked small pasta, such as tubetti
8 to 10 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup good dry white wine
2 tablespoons store-bought pesto
Garlic Bruschetta (recipe follows)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven. Add the pancetta and cook over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Add the onions, carrots, celery, squash, garlic, and thyme and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the tomatoes, 6 cups of the chicken stock, the bay leaf, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Discard the bay leaf. Add the beans and cooked pasta and heat through. The soup should be quite thick but if it’s too thick, I add more chicken stock.

Just before serving, reheat the soup, add the spinach, and toss with 2 big spoons (like tossing a salad). Cook just until the leaves are wilted. Stir in the white wine and pesto. Depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock, add another teaspoon or two of salt to taste. Serve large shallow bowls of soup with a bruschetta on top. Sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, drizzle with olive oil and serve hot.
Garlic Bruschetta:

1 French baguette
Good olive oil
1 clove garlic, cut in half lengthwise

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Slice the baguette at a 45 degree angle in 1/2-inch-thick slices. Brush both sides of the bread with olive oil and bake for 6 minutes, until lightly toasted. Take the slices out of the oven and rub the surface of each one with the cut clove of garlic.

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on March 26, 2013 by jgisvold

I recently had to make a batch of my bacon chocolate chip cookies that were featured in the 50 Shades of Bacon Cook Book for a possible client. Instead of using all butter for the fat which normal cookies call for, I opted to replace some of the fat with bacon grease. I do keep a jar of bacon fat in my fridge, and yes, I am one of those crazy people that do that. If you have some bacon grease lying around the house use it up in these cookies. The other secret ingredient is the box of instant vanilla pudding. I think that really helps the flavor come out.

I am excited for this weekend to come because I get to actually go to a diner that Guy Fierri went to in Minneapolis MN, called the 1029 Bar. My brother said they have excellent shrimp po boys there but my main interest is the lobster rolls and lobster mac and cheese I saw when that bar was featured on the show. Oh yah, and I also get to make a pit stop at Trader Joe’s too. I so love that store.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of butter
2 tablespoons of bacon grease
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of white sugar
2 eggs
2 cups of flour
1 package of instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp of baking powder
1 cup of chocolate chips
5 strips of bacon, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

In a stand mixer, beat together softened butter, bacon grease, and sugars. Gradually add in one egg at a time.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, and vanilla pudding mix. Stir together and with the mixer still on, gradually
add in the flour mixture.

Gradually add in the chocolate chips and chopped bacon.

Bake cookies for 9 to 11 minutes.

Note: You may have to press down on the cookies a bit, so that they spread out.

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

Posted on March 20, 2013 by jgisvold

I don’t know what happened to my one plug-in for all my recipes. I have Get Me Cooking and it’s a plug-in that keeps track of all your recipes and you can format it to put them in a fancy box like I have been doing for quite awhile now. I’m guessing that it won’t let me do that any more because it’s at the number of recipes it can hold. If that’s the case then I am bummed. Until then, I’ll just be posting recipes without it, until I can figure out what is going on.

I am going to come out and say, I do not like corn tortillas. I decided to give them another try since I haven’t for awhile, and I’m just going to stick with flour from now on. I assembled my pork tacos as you normally would with any taco, and since the pork ends up really juicy and moist in the end, the corn tortillas kind of just fall apart after awhile. I can’t stand that! Even with a soggy taco crust these pork carnitas were just delicious. Very spicy too and they’re pretty low in calories. Can’t wait to make some quesadillas with the leftover pork. I topped mine with cilantro,avocado, and pico de gallo. These are also Weight Watcher friendly!.

I got some of this syrup. I will be trying out many alcoholic drinks with it soon!

Recipe and Nutrition Info from the Slender Kitchen

Points Plus: 6
Nutritional Info: 224.9 calories, 7.7g of fat, 1.3g of carbohydrates, .1g of fiber, 25.8g of protein
Servings: 8

Ingredients

2.5 lbs. pork shoulder,lean only, trimmed of fat
1 onion, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1-2 diced chipotle peppers and 2 tbsp adobo sauce
3/4 cup light beer or chicken broth
1-2 bay leaves

Instructions

Season the pork with salt and pepper. Place it in the crockpot.
Mix together the remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over the pork.
Cook for 6-8 hours on low until the pork is fork tender and easily shreds.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Lay pork out in a single layer on a non-stick baking sheet. Roast for 4-5 minutes until the edges become crispy and toasted.

Breakfast Cupcakes

Posted on March 19, 2013 by jgisvold

I attempted to take more pictures of the different steps to make the recipe and this is all I got.

I swear, I’ve been meaning to take more pictures like this, but I just keep on forgetting about it. I will try my best next time, I promise.

I did get this lovely picture of bacon though.

I’ve been on this egg kick lately. I’ll eat them wrapped up in a tortilla, on a piece of toast, on top of pizza, and also in cupcake form, like these little guys.

Aren’t they cute? I layered some hash browns in some cupcake pans like the picture above and baked them until they were golden brown. Make sure to fill them up pretty full because they end up being half that size. Once the hash browns have cooled, mix together about 8 egg yolks in a bowl, some cooked bacon, cooked sausage, scallions, salt, and pepper, and cheese. Whatever you want really. Then divide the egg mixture between the 12 cupcake holes and bake for an addition 10-15 minutes or until the eggs look like they were cooked through.

Breakfast Pizza

Posted on March 17, 2013 by jgisvold

A couple weeks ago, I made a fantastic breakfast pizza. It had two different kinds of cheese on it, bacon, and over easy eggs for toppings. I was telling people at work about it, and I had accidentally told them that I baked the pizza for 500 minutes. That should have been 500 degrees, not minutes. We all got a good laugh out of that and people are still making fun of me for that. I’ll probably never hear the end of it.

Ben told me to try making one with scrambled eggs and sausage this time (and bacon of course). My favorite pizza dough recipe is from Alton Brown. I just browned up some sausage, cooked some eggs, and then some bacon. Layered everything on top of the pizza with no sauce and it was amazing. Almost like the breakfast pizza that Pizza Corner makes here. I still do however, like the one where you just crack the eggs on top of the pizza cause I like it how the yolk just oozes over the pizza. You bake it at 500 degrees for only 10 minutes and its done! I’ve got to try using a pizza stone sometime here. People keep on telling me about those.

Two Timing Pasta Bake

Posted on March 14, 2013 by jgisvold

I recently posted on my facebook page how Alfredo sauce in a jar tastes like crap. One person said that it smells like feet and I would have to agree with that. People were also asking questions on how to enhance alfredo sauce and I think this recipe does a good job of that. I like the combination of alfredo sauce and marinara sauce together and with extra added cheese this dish will not smell like feet! I guarantee it! It almost reminds me of pasta dish I had once at Bocca de Beppi’s.

I’ve been really sick of Winter lately. The first day of Spring is in a couple of days and we are still expecting a lot of snow here. I’m ready for thunderstorms, the tall hills of snow banks to go away so that we can see where we’re driving at when we turn a corner, planting my garden, and wearing my new jean jacket that I just love. Heck, I might as well just wear it and not wait for Spring to get here. It’s so cute and goes really well with colored denim!

Recipe from Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour

Two Timing Pasta Bake

Print recipe

Ingredients

1 box 16 ounces of penne pasta
1 jar 15 oz alfredo sauce (your favorite)
1 jar 24 oz marinara sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

Step 1
Cook pasta according to directions and drain. Mix the sauces together in a large bowl.
Step 2
Add the mozzarella and stir to combine. Then toss in the penne and toss to coat.
Step 3
Pour pasta into 9x13 baking dish and cook on 350 for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly. Add extra cheese on top and bake until melted if you wish.

Skinny Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes

Posted on March 7, 2013 by jgisvold

Did you know when you cream bananas and sugar together it almost looks exactly like it would when you cream butter and sugar together? Not to mention, it’s a lot healthier too! I want to try this method out on cookies, and I plan on making a batch this weekend using bananas and sugar. I love it when I can find a healthy recipe for baking that doesn’t make something taste like crap. I had these cupcakes for breakfast this week. There is protein in the peanut butter, bananas, and some greek yogurt for even more protein. Why would you not have these for breakfast? They are awesome!

Servings: 12

Calories: 226, Fat: 8.57, Carbs: 36.36g, Protein: 5.23g, Fiber: 3.2g

Recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes

Print recipe

Ingredients

2 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg whites or 1 large egg
3/4 cups greek yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla exract
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (melted )
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup peanut butter chips

Directions

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Line a muffin tin with baking cups. Set aside.
Step 2
In a large bowl mash the bananas with a fork or use a hand mixer. Mash them very well – no big lumps. Stir in the sugar, egg whites, greek yogurt, and vanilla extract.
Step 3
Sift* the flours, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Slowly stir in the wet ingredients, being careful not to overmix. Fold in chocolate chips. The batter will be a little chunky.
Step 4
Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups – fill them all the way to the top. Take 1 teaspoon of melted peanut butter and spoon it on top of the batter. Swirl it around with a knife or a toothpick. Sprinkle with peanut butter chips. Repeat with all 12 cupcakes.
Step 5
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Muffins stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

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