Zesty Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken

Taken from All Recipes:

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

-Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.
-Cover, and cook 3-4 hours on High or 6-8 hours on Low.
-About 1 hour prior to serving time, shred chicken and put back in sauce and stir to let it soak up the sauce.
-Serve on toasted buns with some spicy pepper jack cheese.  YUM!!!

Spicy Black Bean and Corn Tortilla Pie

Taken from (and changed a bit)...http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com

1 Yellow Onion, diced
Olive oil for sauteing
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed
1 small can corn, drained
1 10 ounce can Rotel diced tomatoes with lime and cilantro
1 4 ounce can diced green chilies
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 heaping cup sour cream, light
8 flour tortillas
2 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Tortilla chips, crushed
Shredded lettuce, black olives, avocado or guacamole and sour cream for serving

1. In a large skillet saute onion in enough oil to cover bottom of pan over medium-low heat until tender and translucent.  Add garlic and saute until fragrant.  Stir in black beans, corn, tomatoes, green chilies, spices, salt and pepper.

2. Turn off heat and stir in sour cream.  Mixture will be loose but will thicken as it cooks.  Taste and re-season with salt and pepper if needed.

3.  Lightly grease a 7x11 inch pan.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

4. Place one of the tortillas on the bottom of the pan, and cut the second to fill in the spaces the first one doesn't cover.  Spread 1/3 of the mixture evenly over it.  Sprinkle with 1/3 cup cheese.  Repeat with another tortilla layer, 1/3 of the mixture and 1/3 cup cheese.  Repeat again.  Add another layer of tortillas, sprinkle with remaining cup of cheese and the crushed tortillas.

5. Bake about 25 minutes.  Let set for 5 minutes before slicing.  Best sliced right in the pan.  Serve with desired fixins.

Harlan & Lil’s Salsa

Why would I ever buy store bought salsa again?  Eloise made this for us a few years back and she is actually friends with Harlan & Lil, who gave us this fresh salsa recipe:

2 to 4 each jalapeno peppers, unseeded

1/3 to 1/2 of medium bell pepper

1/3 of medium onion

1 clove garlic

Pulse in food processor and add:

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon + a little more lime juice (1 small lime or 1/2 large lime)

Pulse processor and add:

1 can tomatoes (11 oz) drained well (I used homegrown tomatoes, skin off with the juice and seeds squeezed out)

1 small can tomato sauce

1 teaspoon salt

Pulse and adjust seasonings.  Start with 2 jalapeno peppers first then add more at end if not hot enough. 

Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

From CampbellsKitchen.com...

1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup Pace Picante Sauce
2 tsp. chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
6 flour tortillas (6"), warmed
1 small tomato, chopped
1 green onion, sliced

-Stir the soup, sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder ina  medium bowl.
-Stir 1 cup picante sauce mixture, chicken and cheese in a large bowl.
-Divide chicken mixture among tortillas.  Rollup the tortillas and place seamside down in a 2-qt. shallow baking dish.  Pour remaining picante sauce mixture over filled tortillas.  Cover baking dish with foil.
-Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until enchiladas are hot and bubbling.  Top with tomato and onion.

This is a very easy way to make enchiladas!  It can be healthy, too, if you make some minor changes.  Use 98% fat free cream of chicken soup, lite sour cream and 96% fat free flour tortillas and it would cut down on a lot of calories.

Makes 6 servings.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

From my friend, Sandra:


2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth
1 can corn (drained)
2 chicken breasts, shredded
2 cans Rotel
1 2lb. pkg. Velveeta, cubed

Sitr together all of the ingredients until cheese is melted.  Simmer stirring often.  Serve with tortilla chips.  ENJOY!

Sugie's Dressing...

From my grandmother, Sugie...

3 Corn Kits cornbread packets, mix per recipe and bake
3 slices of white bread, toasted
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 raw eggs
1/2 stick butter
1 bunch green onion, chopped
1/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper
Poultry seasoning
1 1/2-2 tsp. baking powder
Shredded chicken
Chicken broth

Melt butter in a pan.  Add 3/4 of the green onions to the pan to soften.  Crumble cornbread in a big bowl and tear toasted white bread into small pieces.  To the cornbread mixture add, shredded chicken, cream of mushroom soup, eggs, flour & baking powder.  Mix well.  Also add chicken broth until it is the right consistency. (I used nearly all of a box of broth)  Mix well.  Add salt, pepper and poultry seasoning to taste.

Bake at 350 degrees until set...maybe 30-45 minutes.  Keep an eye on it...you don't want it to get dry.

For Gravy...
Boil 2 eggs and chop.  Add to this 1 can cream of mushroom soup,about 1/2-3/4 cup raw dressing mix, the rest of the green onions and some chicken broth.  Salt, pepper and a little poultry seasoning if desired.  Simmer until dressing mix in gravy is done, stirring often.

Cornflake Wreaths

From my sweet grandmother, Sugie...

This is one of my favorite memories from childhood.  My Sugie has made Cornflake Wreaths with us as long as I can remember.  She has even taken time each year to make them with my boys.  This year in mid-November she broke her hip which meant it was my job to make the Cornflake Wreaths.  At Thanksgiving the boys and I made them and they kept saying "that's not how Sugie does it!"  Cute!

1 stick of butter
1 package of small marshmallows
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 bottle green food coloring
5 cups of Corn Flakes
Red Hots for decoration

Melt stick of butter in a pot on medium heat.  While butter is melting put cornflakes in a big bowl that has been buttered and butter a big spoon.  Add marshmallows to melted butter and NEVER STOP STIRRING.  They will melt in a few minutes but keep stirring a few minutes more so they will "cook" longer.  If you don't let them "cook" longer your mixture will be VERY sticky and hard to work with.  Add your vanilla and food coloring and stir again.  Once the coloring is all stirred in pour the marshmallow mixture in the big bowl with the cornflakes and mix until all the cornflakes are coated with green.  Using your big spoon put scoops of the mixture on wax paper.  Then go back using buttered hands and form the wreaths.  Use the red hots for decoration to look like holly. 

Makes about 9 good sized wreaths.  We always make a double batch. :)

Chicken Lasagna

Taken from Southern Living Cookbook and modified a bit:

2-3 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
Lasagna noodles
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of celery soup, undiluted
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8-9 lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 (8-ounce) loaf process American cheese, cute into 1/4-inch slices, divided
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Cook lasagna noodles in water with 3 chicken bouillon cubes according to package directions.

Cook garlic in butter in a skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Add celery soup, 3/4 cup reserved chicken brother, oregano and pepper.

Spoon a small amount of sauce into a lightly greased 11x7x1.5 inch baking dish. Layer with half each of lasagna noodles, sauce, chicken, and American and mozzarella cheeses. Repeat procedure with noodles, sauce, and chicken, reserving remaining cheeses to add later.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes; top with remaining cheeses, and bake 5 additional minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.

Sugar Crusted Almond Pound Cake

From: my Mom

1 Duncan Hines Golden Butter Recipe Cake Mix (no substitutions)
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
Pam spray
1/4 cup or so extra sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray bundt pan with Pam and "flour" with the extra sugar. Mix all other ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes on high. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Cool 15 minutes in pan, then remove.

YUMMY!

Squash Dressing

This recipe is from my friend, Jenny. The first time she made this I knew I loved it. I made it for Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. We ended up having this for our dressing at Christmas...mmmmm!

2 cups squash-cooked and drained
1 stick of butter or margarine
1 small chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 pkg. mexican cornbread mix, cooked according to directions.

Crumble cooled cornbread. Saute onions in butter. Mix with squash and cornbread. Add soup and mix well. Stir in eggs. Add black pepper to taste. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Bake in a small casserole dish. Double recipe to fit in a 13 x 9 inch pan.

Chicken and Dumplings Casserole

3 rolls of reduced-fat crescent rolls, divided
2 chicken breast, shredded
1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
1 can chicken broth
Pepper and garlic powder, to taste

Preheat over to 400 degrees.

Dump the cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup and can of chicken broth into a bowl and combine. To soup mixture, add pepper and garlic powder to taste. Put shredded chicken breast in another small bowl and add some of the soup mixture to the chicken just until moistened.

Roll out the cans of crescent sheets and separate into diamond shaped sections. Place a small handful of the chicken mixture on each diamond, fold dough over as best as possible to create a dumpling and place in a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Cut up any excess dough into strips. Place strips in a crisscross pattern on the top of the dumplings and soup mixture and bake until the dumplings are cooked through and the top is bubbly and brown, about 30 minutes.

Monkey Bread

Found this recipe on All Recipes:

2 8-count cans Grands biscuits
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cups raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan so the bread will not stick.

Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Cut biscuits into quarters. Shake 6 to 8 biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the prepared pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and placed in pan. If using nuts and raisins, arrange them in and among the bisuit pieces as you go along.

In a small saucepan, melt the margarine with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the biscuits.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Do not cut! The bread just pulls apart.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

From my mom:

2 cans crescent rolls
2 8oz. pkg. cream cheese (low-fat fine)
1 1/2 cups sugar (divided-keep out 3 Tbsp.)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 stick butter, melted
1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 inch pan with Pam. Spread 1 can crescent rolls into bottom of pan. Mix cream, sugar and vanilla and spread on crescent rolls. Spread 2nd can crescent rolls on top of mixture (it may not completely cover cream cheese mixture). Mix together cinnamon and 3 Tbsp. sugar and sprinkle over top. Pour melted butter over top. Bake for 25-30 minutes.