Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

Hello my hungry people. It's been awhile......September exactly since you had a tasty recipe from me.  Work got hectic and though I didn't stop cooking I did not keep up with recording the creations we were enjoying.

Today I want to share with you one of some very delicious warm winter meals over the next few weeks that are quick fixes for during the week meals.  Hopefully these will make for a easy and delicious meal for you and your family as we approach the holiday season.

Today I'll show you how in my Ninja Cooking System to make this cheesy favorite of my husband's in one pot.  Easy clean up!

The Ninja Cooking System is an all in one slow cooker, oven and stove that can be your all in one for fixing a meal.  It is available at many stores including Wal-Mart, Amazon, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and QVC.




Here's what you will need:

Ingredients

• 2-3 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 (8 oz) boxes of frozen broccoli
• 2 jars Heinz chicken gravy
• 1 carton (2 cups) chicken broth
• 2 cups rice (uncooked)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• Garlic Powder
• Crushed Red Pepper

Sear chicken

• Set the Ninja to Stovetop High and cook the chicken until done.
• Shred or cube it and add it back into the pot.

Looking yummy!

 

• Pour in the uncooked rice, the carton of broth, season with garlic powder and crushed red pepper.
• Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until rice is done.

Almost ready........

• Add in the frozen broccoli, cheese and both jars of gravy.
• Set it to Oven at 325 and cover and cook for another 15 minutes.

Hopefully I will see you all soon with my next delicious dish.  Enjoy!

White Bean Turkey Chili

Nothing is so delicious on a chilly fall day than chili.  A variation of the normal chili is made with turkey, chilies and portobello mushrooms.

In my Ninja cooking systems, set it to Stovetop Medium and sautéed an onion and about 5 jalapeños until they are soft.  Then I add 2 pounds of ground turkey and continue to sauté until browned.  

Season the turkey with cumin, pepper and salt to taste.  Add two cans of white kidney beans, 2 cans of diced green chills and 8 ounces of chopped portobello mushrooms.  Set to Slow Cooker High and continue to cook for 2 hours.  Top with extra diced jalapeños and shredded monterey jack cheese.  

Apple Bars

Fall is just around the corner and my sister laughs that I am that person that goes crazy for fall; pumpkin this, apple that.  Today, I want to share with you a favorite of my family since I was in first grade.....apple bars.  Serve warmed with vanilla ice cream and a little carmel sauce and they are to die for.  These are one of my favorite things.  You can tell from the picture at the bottom that I can barely wait for them to get out of the oven.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 baking dish.  

In one bowl sift together 1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon.  In  separate bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup of melted butter, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, one egg and 1 tsp vanilla.  Stir in the flour mixture.  then stir in one peeled and diced tart apple and 1/2 cup chopped pecans.  Press into prepared dish and bake for 30 minutes.

Preserving Tomatos

Just like everyone else who grew tomatos this year, we are overwhelmed with the amount that are being produced.  After eating more BLTs than ever before, my hubby and I spent a day just preserving tomatos.  I remember my grandma working to can her tomatoes in quart Ball jars.  Unfortunately, I don't trust my abilities enough to process them so we went for freezing them so they could be pulled out throughout the year whenever we need diced tomatos.  The following steps will help you quickly prep a large amount of peeled, diced tomatos.

What You Need:

Large Pot of Boiling Water

Strainer or Ladle

Quart Freezer Bags

2 cup measuring cup

Start by getting a large pot of water boiling.  My hubby works this part.

Take the tomatos and slice an x into the bottom.  

Then drop four or five into the boiling water for about 10 to 15 seconds. 

Fish them out with the strainer or ladle.  Allow them to cool enough to be handled.  

The peels will start to curl off around the x cut and just continue to pull the away.

I pick up where my hubby finishes up removing the peel with the dicing, measuring out in two cup increments and pouring into quart bags.  

In just two hours we managed to process through about 4 dozen tomatos and have the taste of fresh tomatos all year long!

Fiery Mac & Cheese

Yummy, delicious and a little bit of heat makes this the perfect side dish to a big juicy steak!  This delicious recipie is easy to make and tastes like you spent hours working on it.

What You Need:

1 2/3 cups elbow noodles (cooked and drained)

4-5 seeded and diced jalapenos (I've also used 1-3 habaneros depending on the heat)

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 can Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk

1 cup water

2 Tbsp butter

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 2 quart casserole dish.

In a small saute pan, add canola oil and diced jalapenos.  Saute until soft and set aside.  

In a large pot, mix the cornstarch, salt, dry mustard, and pepper.  Whisk in the evaporated milk, water and butter.  

Cook, stiring consantly until the mixture comes to a boil for one minute.  Stir in 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese and the sauted jalapenos.  

Stir in the cooked noodles and pour into the greased casserole dish.  

Top with remaining shredded cheese and a few jalapenos for decorations.

Bake for 20-30 minutes and enjoy!  The leftovers heat up really well the next day too!

Ninja Roast Beef

This was the most tasty roast beef I have ever made. Ask my husband, there was a really bad one when we were first dating that will never happen again. This is easy and delicious. 

Ingredients:

1 3-5 pound rump roast

Salt, pepper and rosemary to taste

1 carton of low sodium beef broth

3 cups water

Using the ninja and seasoned the beef with salt, pepper and rosemary then seared all sides  in the Ninja in Stovetop High setting. After browning all sides, place the roasting rack into the Ninja and set it to Oven 325 degrees. Pour in the water and broth. Place the beef into rack and cover. Cook for 1 hour 20 minutes or until the level of doneness is reached. 

Afterwards, remove the roast with its rack and cover with foil. I turn the Ninja back to Stovetop High and thicken the remaining broth. Enjoy!

Jalapeños

Canned and ready to sit (please ignore all my other junk!)

Two posts in two days!  You guys are some lucky readers. I love, love, love jalapeños pickled for my nachos. Nothing quite like the vinegary, spicy tang these babies pop. If you love these as much as I do, give this quick and easy recipe a try. I can't stress enough that you will need to make sure to wash and sterilize your jars. 

Sterilizing Canning Jars

Wash all jars, rings and lids with hot soapy water. I dry my jars in my oven at 250 degrees. I just fill my cake pan with my jars for easy removal from the oven. Dry the metal rings thoroughly. The metal lids I out in a small pot with lightly simmering water on my stove. Just remove them as needed. 

Slice up all your jalapeños and pack them into your clean jars. Set aside. 

Next mix 1 cup white vinegar, 1 cup water, 4 TBSP canning salt, 2 TBSP sugar, and 2 cloves of garlic. Bring to a boil and stir until all the sugar and salt are dissolved. 

Pour the hot mixture into jar and seal immediately. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. 

Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

Tomato season and the question plaguing my mind is what to do with all that deliciousness.  Thanks to the recipe my mother in law sent, I have a delicious, never eat Campbell's soup again treat. 

What you need:

Tomatoes (chop them up, don't peel or anything else)

1 onion

1 carton low sodium chicken broth

Garlic salt

2 cans Rotel Tomatos with Chilies

2 tsp butter

2 tsp flour

Balsamic Vinegar

Sugar

Tools Needed:

Large Soup Pot

Skillet

Blender or Stick Immersion Blender 

Fill your soup pot with about 12 cups of chopped tomatoes. I really didn't measure, just chopped until it was full. Add a chopped onion and half the box of chicken broth.  I let the tomatoes cook down for about 30 minutes. At this point you could transfer to a blender or food processor but I'm all for minimum clean up. I used my handy immersion blender to purée EVERYTHING (seeds included) right into the pot. 

Next I mixed up a roux to thicken the soup. In a small skillet, melt the butter and then whisk in the flour. Let it start to get bubbly. Then take one ladle of tomato soup purée and add to skillet while still whisking. When it's fully incorporated, add another ladle of purée and follow the same procedures. 

Next, begin whisking this into the pot of tomato purée. Once it is all incorporated, stir in approximately 3 TBSP of basaltic vinegar and 3 TBSP of sugar. Enjoy!

Poule au Pot

Tonight's dinner was simple, delicious and oh so healthy. Gene looked so confused by the vegetables I was getting as he had never heard of them let along had eaten them. The Poule au Pot is a simple French way of boiling chicken with a richly flavored broth. Hopefully next year I will have all these vegetables growing in our garden and not just the carrots and onions. 

You need:

6-8 chicken thighs

1 carton low sodium low fat chicken broth

4 carrots

15 pearl onions

1 shallot

4 cloves garlic

1 turnip, peeled & cubed

2 parsnips, peeled & diced

2 large leeks, chopped & rinsed very well (they can be gritty inside)

A dash of rosemary, thyme, sage & pepper

I turned my Ninja cooker to Stovetop High and seared the chicken 5 minutes on each side to brown the skin. Then, turn the Ninja to Oven and set it to 350 degrees. Add all other ingredients and our the lid on. Cook for an hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked thoroughly. As it cooks it will reduce and leave a delicious broth that can be served over rice or egg noodles. 

Crockpot Fiesta Chicken

This recipe came together from a need for yummy shredded chicken for tacos later tonight and not wanting to stand over the stove all day.  Voila!  Fiesta Chicken in a crockpot.  This is super easy and tasty.

Ingredients:

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cans Rotel

1 can diced tomatoes

1 jar salsa verde

1 can shoepeg corn

1 can black beans

Squeeze of lime juice

Lay the chicken in the bottom of the crockpot.  Mix all remaining ingredients together and pour on top. Cook on high for 6-8 hours or until you can shred the chicken between two forks.  We put it into burritos and crunchy taco shells with lettuce & fresh avocado. Top with your favorite salsa and sour cream. Enjoy!

Shrimp Boil

Well all, I'm back from our honeymoon and the wedding is all wrapped up so we can finally settle down and enjoy some of my great cooking adventures. I will say, we found some wonderful places to eat in Destin. If you're ever there, I highly recommend Captain Dave's and Kenny D's. We can not wait to go back.

One of my favorite souvenoirs is food so it comes as no surprise that we brought back seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. I can't thank the people of Destin Ice Seafood Market enough for how well they packed our shrimp for the 13 hour drive back home.  Everything arrived in perfect shape ready to be shared and eaten. We kicked off our first night back from our honeymoon with a yummy shrimp boil and cornbread.

What you need:

2lbs Royal Red Shrimp (these are not peeled or deveined)

2 lbs New Potatoes

3 ears of Corn

Onion, Celery, Lemon

Zataran's Extra Spicy Seafood Boil Bag

In a large pot, fill about half way with water and add the juice of two lemons.  Don't forget to throw in the squeezed lemon halves! While this is getting started, I began working on the shrimp. This is the most time consuming part of the process. There will be no picture because I really didn't need any lingering shrimp smell on any cameras. Super easy to clean the shrimp:
1.  Get a pair of sharp kitchen scissors and cut up the back of each shrimp until the tail.
2.  Remove the vein and any other fun surprises.
3.  Judgement call time. I left my shells on and peeled as we ate. You can peel at this point if you would like. 

Next add 3 ribs of celery cut into large pieces and one red onion cut into quarters.

Toss in your boil bag of seasoning and bring the whole pot to a boil for 10 minutes.

Next add your potatoes and boil for 10 minutes.

Then your corn and boil for 5 more minutes.

Finally you toss in the shrimp. Very important to only cook the Royal Red shrimp for 90 seconds.  These are the most perfect little shrimp and they taste like little pieces of lobster.

Last but not least, ENJOY!

Gooey Butter Cake

This is by far my most favorite go to recipe for any potlucks or picnics.  It is always a huge hit and super tasty.  Presenting Chocolate Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Bars (warning, lots of calories!).

I can’t take credit for this. It’s a Paula Dean recipe that I tweaked a little bit.

Grease a 9 x 13 cake pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix:

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 egg

½ cup melted butter

Pat into bottom of prepared pan.

Mix:

1 8 oz block of cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Then add 1 lb box of powdered sugar.  Finally slow pour in a ½ cup melted butter.  Pour on top of the prepared crust in pan and sprinkle chocolate chips on top.  Bake for 40-50 minutes.  Watch carefully and do not over bake.

Diaper Cake

Love, love, love making this diaper cake. So much easier than rolling individual diapers.  I just use my three different sized spring form pans and start spiraling the diapers inside.  I can't take credit for the design and how to. Get all directions from this fabulous website. 

http://www.sweetaprils.com/2012/06/fondant-style-diaper-cake-tutorial-diy.html

French Onion Soup

Today I cranked out one of my favorite soups for dinner. Using low sodium broth keeps the salt of a normally high meal much more manageable. 

Ingredients

Olive Oil

5 lbs Vidalia Onions, sliced

2 boxes of Swanson 50% sodium Beef Broth (approx. 8 cups)

1 cup Pinot Grigio

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp Thyme

1 bay leaf

Ermenthler Cheese

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat and sauté the onions for ten minutes. Then sprinkle a little sugar and continue to sauté for another 30 minutes until the onions start to carmalized. Add the garlic and sauté for a minute. Add in the wine, broth, thyme and bay leaf. Reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes more. Serve with Ermenthler (Swiss) cheese grated on to and toast in the broiler. 

We enjoyed ours with a hot roast beef sandwiches and treated it like a gourmet au jous-soup.