Chicken Fried Chops

My mom had given me a Taste of Home slow cooker cookbook for my birthday and I found this yummy recipe. It was super easy and oh so tasty!

Chicken Fried Chops

1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 teaspoons ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
6 pork loin chops (3/4 inch thick), trimmed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/3 cup water

In a shallow bowl combine flour, salt, mustard and garlic powder; dredge pork chops. In a skillet brown the chops on both sides in oil. Place in 3-qt. slow cooker.

Combine soup and water; pour over chops.
Cover and cook on love for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. If desired, thicken pan juices and serve with the pork chops.

Gravy I made with the pan juices. It was one of the best gravies I had ever made.

The final product with pork stuffing(from a box) on the side. Yield: 6 servings

My First Thanksgiving Dinner

My menu. I feel like my Mom and Grandma because they always make a menu list so they don't forget anything.

Rolls I made the night before. I just used Rhodes rolls which are so easy to do. Here's their website:http://www.rhodesbread.com/

The bird right before going into the oven. I didn't stuff with stuffing as it kind of grosses me out to eat stuffing after it's been inside the bird. I know, I'm weird. My 10lbs. Butterball beauty is done after about 3.5 hours of cooking.
Making gravy. I poured the turkey drippings into a glass measuring cup and skimmed off the fat. Then I placed drippings in pan and added some cornstarch and water until thick. It was really good.

My stuffing. Which was the first time I had ever made it. It's my Mom's recipe which I love to eat.

Stuffing:
1 stick butter
medium onion (chopped)
celery stalk (chopped)
2-3 cans chicken broth
1 Tablespoon poultry seasoning
Bread crumbs

Melt butter in large sauce pan. Add onions and celery (you can add as little or as much as you want) until translucent. Add poultry seasoning. Pour mixture over bread crumbs and add chicken broth until moist. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

My complete feast!

And don't forget the pumpkin pie. I used Libby's canned pumpkin with their recipe and for the crust I used Pillsbury pie crust.

Yummy!!!
Me with my daughter Mattie and son Tanner. Happy Thanksgiving!

What a Beauty!

This little gem was a surprise gift from my brother-in-law Craig. Last night at our Thanksgiving dinner I was asked if I had a mixer. Well, I did but it was just a very inexpensive hand mixer. I then turned around and what to my eyes did I see.....a 1960's vintage Hamilton Beach Stand Mixer!!! It's a beauty! I can't wait to make a cake and the first cake I make will be for Craig! Thanks Craig, who knew a mixer could make a girl so happy!!!

Baked Macaroni Cheese with Ham

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
6 tbsp butter
4 tbsps. flour
1 3/4 cups of half and half
1 1/4 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese (you can use less cheese if desired)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3 cups of diced ham
5 cups cooked macaroni
1 cup bread crumbs - half for the inside crunch and half for a topping
1/4 cup scallions, diced
pepper to taste

Using a large saucepan melt the butter and add the flour – stir and gradually stir in your half and half making sure to keep stirring as the entire mixture thickens.

Pour in your cooked macaroni. Add your shredded cheese and your Parmesan to the mixture - now you can add half the bread crumbs and scallions, and add the cubes of ham.

Stir well and pour into a well greased casserole or baking dish. Put the last of the bread crumbs on the top for a nice crunchy top layer. Bake at 350 degrees about 20 minutes or until the top is crisp.
recipe from http://southernfood.about.com/

Pulled Pork Sandwiches in the Crock Pot

This was my first time making pulled pork sandwiches and I loved them. I served them with corn from my dad's garden and fresh coleslaw from the deli. A great treat!!

Pulled Pork (Crock Pot) Recipe

1 day 30 min prep

SERVES 10

4 lbs pork roast (shoulder or butt)
2 large onions
1 cup ginger ale
1 (18 ounce) bottle favorite barbecue sauce (I like Bone Sucking Sauce)
barbecue sauce, for serving (optional)

Slice one onion and place in crock pot.

Put in the roast and cover with the other onion, sliced.

Pour over the ginger ale. Cover and cook on LOW for about 12 hours.

Remove the meat, strain and save the onions, discard all liquid. With two forks, shred the meat, discarding any remaining fat, bones or skin. Most of the fat will have melted away.

Shredding the meat.

Return the shredded meat and the onions to the crock pot, stir in the barbecue sauce. Continue to cook for another 4 to 6 hours on LOW. (I only cooked on low for another 1-2 hours or until the sauce was warm.)

My favorite BBQ sauce.

Cooking the meat with the sauce.

Serve with hamburger buns or rolls and additional barbecue sauce. recipe from www.recipezaar.com

Beef Noodle Bowl

This is one of our favorites and it's so easy to make.

Beef Noodle Bowl

1/2 lb. linguine, uncooked
3 cups broccoli florets
3 carrots, peeled, sliced (I sometimes use frozen carrots)
2 tsp. oil
1 lb. beef sirloin steak, cut into strips
1/4 cup zesty Italian dressing
1 Tbsp. teriyaki sauce

Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding vegetables to the boiling water for the last 2 min.

Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet. Add meat; cook until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. Stir in dressing and teriyaki sauce; cook 2 min. or until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally.

Drain pasta mixture; place in large serving bowl. Add meat mixture; toss to coat.

The finished product. Yum, yum good!!!!

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie

I always wanted to try to make a pot pie but thought they were too hard. But I found this super easy recipe and loved it. I served it with potatoes from my Dad's garden and chicken gravy. Oh and I won't lie the gravy came from the jar!

Fresh potatoes from the garden.

My kitchen helper Mattie. She wanted to help wash the potatoes.
Potatoes peeled and ready to boil.

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose baking mix

Heat oven to 400°F.

Cook cream cheese and broth in large saucepan on low heat until cream cheese is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently with whisk. Stir in chicken, vegetables and garlic salt.

Spoon into 9-inch pie plate. Beat egg and milk in medium bowl with whisk until well blended; stir in baking mix just until moistened. Spoon over chicken mixture. Place pie plate on baking sheet.

Bake 25 to 30 min. or until golden brown.

(recipie from kraftfoods.com)

Getting ready to go into the oven.

All done!!!

Cheesy Manicotti

I usually hate ricotta so I never make Manicotti even though my husband loves it. So finally I braved it and found an easy recipe. Low and behold I actually liked it.

Cheesy Manicotti

1 pkg. (8 oz.) sliced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 egg whites
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1 container (15 oz.) part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/3 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) manicotti shells (14 shells), cooked, drained
2 cups spaghetti sauce

Heat oven to 350°F. Heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat. Add mushrooms and garlic; cook 5 min., stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Beat egg whites in medium bowl. Add mushroom mixture, spinach, ricotta cheese and 1/2 each mozzarella and Parmesan; mix well. Spoon evenly into manicotti shells (*see picture below).


Place in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with spaghetti sauce.

Bake 40 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan; bake 5 min. or until mozzarella is melted.



(Recipie from kraftfoods.com)



*Instead of spooning the mixture into the manicotti shells I placed mixture in a large plastic bag and cut the end off of it and used it like a piping bag. It worked great and made the hassle of stuff shells so easy.

The finished product!! Yummy!!

Recipe Recommendation

South-of-the Border Chicken & Pasta Skillet

I made this the other night and it was pretty good. My picture I took doesn't' do it justice so please don't judge it on appearances.

2 cups medium-size pasta, uncooked
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 jar (16 oz.) salsa
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, cubed
1/4 tsp. ground cumin (I honestly left this out)
1 cup KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese, divided

COOK pasta as directed on package.

MEANWHILE, cook and stir chicken in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 6 min. or until done. Add salsa, corn, cream cheese and cumin; simmer on medium-low 6 min. or until cream cheese is melted, stirring occasionally.

DRAIN pasta; add to skillet with 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Simmer 3 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining shredded cheese; cover. Remove from heat. Let stand until melted.

(taken from kraftfoods.com)

Squash

I baked my first ever squash the other night. Although it wasn't as good as my mom's but it was good for my first try.

Cut squash in half and scrape out seeds and strings. Since the squash was so big I decided I would try 2 versions; sweet and salty.

I sprinkled salt & pepper on one of the halves and sprinkled brown sugar & butter on the other. I then placed in oven safe dish with about 1-2 inches of water in bottom of pan and baked at 400 for over an hour. I think it wouldn't have taken so long if the squash would have been a little more riper.

The finished product. It was very good and my husband even ate it!

Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies

Andes Creme de Menthe Chunk Cookies

1/2 cup salted butter-softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 package (10oz.) Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips
2 2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Blend butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until mixed. Stir in Andes Baking Chips and then flour. Chill approximately one hour in refrigerator. Measure out approximately 1 oz of dough. Form ball and slightly flatten. Raise oven rack one level above middle and bake on non-stick baking pans. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Cool on pans for two minutes before removing.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
(taken directly off the Andes Baking Chips package)

Yummy!

Fried Mushrooms

Not the healthiest but definitely the yummiest.

First wash your mushrooms under cold water thoroughly.

Then you want to prepare the batter according to the package. I couldn't find any mushroom batter so I just used onion ring batter.
Next carefully place mushrooms into fryer. I'm never sure how hot my oil is so I always sprinkle a few drops of water into oil. If it makes a nice popping sound then I know my oil is ready. Pull out of oil once mushrooms are golden brown and place on plate with paper towels. Serve with ranch or cheese dip. Yummy!!!!