Foil-Pack Chicken and Broccoli Dinner

loved!

1 packageStuffing mix; chicken flavor

1 1/4 cupWater

24 ounceBoneless skinless chicken breast cutlets; 6oz each

4 cupsBroccoli Florets

1 cupShredded chedar cheese

4 slicesCooked bacon; crumbled

4 tablespoonRanch dressing - Oven to 400 - Spray 4 large sheets of heavy-duty foil with oil.

- Combine stuffing mix and water.

- Spoon 1/4 of the stuffing mixture onto the center of each foil sheet.

- Top stuffing with a 6oz. chicken breast half.

- Top chicken with 1 c. broccoli.

- Sprinkle with 1/4 of the cheese and 1 slice of bacon, crumbled.

- Drizzle with 1 T. ranch dressing

- Bring up foil sides and fold to seal, leaving room for heat circulation inside

- Place packets on a cookie sheet and bake 25-30 mins

- Remove packets and let stand 5 mins

- Cut sits in foil for steam before opening.

Beef & Broccoli {Crockpot}

I love setting up a meal and just forgetting about it. you have the freedom to do whatever you want while a delicious meal is cooking away!


INGREDIENTS:
 1 lb. boneless, beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips
 1 cup beef consumme or beef broth
 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
 1 tbsp. sesame oil
 3 garlic cloves, minced
 2 tbsp. cornstarch
 4 tbsp. sauce (from the crockpot after dish is cooked) Frozen broccoli florets, as many as desired. (i used fresh) add them in at the same time as you add the cornstarch slurry. cook 30 more mins. White rice, cooked
 INSTRUCTIONS:
 In the insert of the crockpot, whisk together beef consume, soy sauce, dark brown sugar, sesame oil, and garlic. Gently place your slices of beef in the liquid and toss to coat. Turn crockpot on low and cook for 6 hours. When done, in a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and cooking liquid to create a slurry, pour into crockpot, stir to mix well. Cook on low for an additional 30 minutes to thicken up the sauce. Toss in your broccoli florets then serve hot over white rice. I think it would be good to add any other veggie such as carrots, mushroom, onion, zucchini, bell pepper, celery, asparagus.

Birthday Cake Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups cake mix
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sprinkles
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 2 cups coarsely chopped Birthday Cake Golden Oreos

1. In a bowl of your stand mixer cream butter and sugar together for about a minutes until light and fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
2. With mixer on low add in baking soda, salt, flour and cake mix, stirring until mixture just comes together.
3. With mixer still on low add in sprinkles, chocolate chips, and chopped Oreos. Stir until evenly incorporated.
4. Chill dough for at least 2 hours, an overnight is better.
5. When ready to bake preheat oven to 350°
6. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and form dough into round balls, placing them 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
7. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes until edges are slightly golden.
8. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to continue cooling.              * I chilled the dough for these.  A few hours in the fridge at a minimum, a few days is even better.  I know.  You can’t wait that long:) This cookie dough  is so so good. As you can tell from my picture i left the sprinkles out. Enjoy! No need for a birthday!  

Cilantro Chicken

This was so good, made it yesterday and it was delicious!! So easy and great to eat off the grill.

2 1/2 pounds boneless/skinless chicken thighs, fat trimmed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup minced garlic
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro (a big handful)
3/4 to 1 cup sweet chili sauce

Directions:

1. Place chicken in a large zip baggie.
2. Place olive oil, garlic and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Process until the mixture is combined and smooth. Scoop the marinade into the bag with the chicken, press the air out of the bag and zip it closed. Knead the marinade into the chicken until it is evenly distributed. Marinate overnight or all day long.
3. Preheat the grill to medium heat and coat with oil or grill spray. Remove chicken from the bag and grill 4 to 5 minutes on the first side, until good grill marks are showing. Flip and grill an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
4. Remove chicken to a platter and brush the sweet chili sauce on top. ( We brushed it on while it was on the grill)

Crispy Quinoa Bites

I have been trying to find some good recipes with Quinoa. But I have had some hard trouble finding something that is really good until I came across this recipe. I could eat these all day.

Crispy Quinoa Bites

Ingredients

• ½ cup uncooked quinoa
• ½ cup uncooked black rice
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup Vidalia onions, finely chopped
• 1 cup dairy-free shredded mozzarella cheese
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup fresh basil, finely chopped
• ⅓ cup grape tomatoes, diced
• ½ tsp. sea salt
• ½ tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 2 chives, finely chopped, for garnish
• 2 cups of homemade tomato sauce, for serving

                                                                    

Instructions

1. Cook quinoa and rice according to package directions. Prepare muffin pan with nonstick baking spray.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. In a large bowl, combine cooked quinoa and rice with remaining ingredients, except chives and pasta sauce; mix well to combine.
4. Transfer quinoa and rice mixture to prepared muffin pan. Using a tablespoon, fill each muffin cup to the top, then using a spatula, press down on the mixture to create a flat surface.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven; set aside to cool for 15 minutes. Using a teaspoon, gently remove rice and quinoa snacks from the muffin cups.
6. Transfer to a serving platter; serve with a sprinkle of fresh chives and a side of tomato sauce or Marinara for dipping.
    

Chocolate Eclair Cake

Mom and Dad Butler were in town last night! We had dinner and a relaxed evening at the park! I took this! 

Ingredients:
Crust:

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup flour
• 4 large eggs

Filling:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 large box (5.1 ounces) vanilla instant pudding
• 3 cups milk

Topping:

• 1 8 oz. container cool whip (just enough for a thin layer. or one batch of homemade whipped cream (i used homemade)
• chocolate syrup or homemade chocolate sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease a 9"X13" glass baking pan.
2. For the Eclair Crust: In a medium saucepan, melt butter in water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Mix in one egg at a time, mixing completely before adding another egg. Spread mixture into pan, covering the bottom and sides evenly. Mixture will be very wet. *If the sides of your pan are too greased you won't be able to get the mixture to stay up the sides so make sure to just lightly grease. No big deal but I like the crust to go up the sides a bit.
3. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown (Mine only took 25 minutes.) You may want to check it occasionally-you don't want to overcook the crust, it will ruin the cake! Remove from oven and let cool (don't touch or push bubbles down).
4. For the Filling: Whip cream cheese in a medium bowl. In separate bowl make vanilla pudding by beating the pudding mix and the milk for 3 minutes and put in the fridge until set. Make sure pudding is thick before mixing in with cream cheese. Slowly add pudding to cream cheese, mixing until there are no lumps. Let cool in fridge.When the crust is completely cooled, pour filling in. Top with layer of cool whip however thick you want it and serve with a drizzle chocolate syrup. *If you want to make this even better use homemade whipped cream.

Enjoy!!

Fall Off The Bone BBQ Ribs

It has been a crazy couple months in our household!  With all this craziness going on, my poor family had been eating out or having cereal way too often:)  I finally got around to making a new recipe, and it was delicious. This was definitely a crowd pleaser! 

Ingredients:
1 (2-3 lb) rack of ribs (I used pork loin ribs)
3 1/2 cups pineapple juice (reserving 1/4 cup for later)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 (16 oz) bottle BBQ sauce (I used Famous Dave’s Rich and Sassy sauce)

Directions:
Spray the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray (or use a slow cooker liner to make clean up a breeze!).

Take your slab of ribs (make sure that they are defrosted) and cut into individual slabs (about 2-3 ribs each). Throw the ribs into the slow cooker.
Mix the pineapple juice and brown sugar together and pour over the ribs. Put the lid back on the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 7-8 hours or LOW for 10-12 hours.

After they are done in the slow cooker, use tongs to gently pull them out (they will literally fall apart when you touch them). Turn the grill on medium heat. While the grill is warming up, mix together the bottle of BBQ sauce and the 1/4 cup of pineapple juice you saved from earlier.

Place the ribs gently on the grill and and brush with BBQ sauce. Turn the ribs twice, slathering with more sauce each time. they will take about 10-15 minutes to glaze over (as soon as that sauce starts to turn sticky, you know they are done!).

Serve immediately and enjoy!

I served with homemade french fries!