Smokey Mesquite BBQ Meatball Sliders

Hey everyone it’s Wednesday, over the hump day for those who work Monday through Friday, only two more days until the weekend begins!

I have a treat for you today….a non-chicken recipe!!  Yes, I know, I seem to be bombarding you with chicken recipes lately but we, well at least I, really like chicken and there are just so many more ways to cook chicken and serve it.

This is another one of those recipes that I pinned and kept passing up when I was preparing my weekly menu plan.  I knew it looked tasty, I really did think that we would like it, I just thought it was too much food for two people.  I was wrong….sort of.  I ate two, Walt ate six (yes six at one time), and then he took the other four for lunch the next day.

With every slider he ate, Walt made sure to tell me that he liked them….a lot.  I served them with a pasta salad which was a nice cool contrast to the smoky taste of the sliders.  Don’t misunderstand, these are not spicy or hot, they merely have a sweet smoky flavor and the cool salad was a great accompaniment to them.

I made them exactly to the recipe and the they turned out perfectly however next time I am going to make one minor change, I am going to start out by rolling the meat into a meatball then flatten them and fry them with the onions instead of baking them, hoping they will have a little more of a “slider consistency and fit the bun a little better.

You could serve these for dinner like we did or make them as an appetizer, I promise they’ll be a hit either way.  Try them…..they won’t disappoint!

 SMOKEY MESQUITE BBQ MEATBALL SLIDERS

What You’ll Need:

1 pound ground beef

1 Kraft Fresh Take Smokey Mesquite BBQ variety package

1 egg

1/3 pound bacon, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 cup Kraft Hickory BBQ sauce

3 slices Kraft Big Slice cheddar cheese

12 Hawaiian Rolls

Instructions:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F and line a lipped baking sheet with parchment paper and non-stick spray
• In the Kraft Fresh Take bag, use your hands to mix and combine the bag contents, ground beef and egg until evenly distributed
• Roll the mixture into 1-1/2 to 2 inch meatballs and space evenly on the baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.
• While the meatballs are baking, fry the bacon until crispy over medium-high heat. Remove bacon from skillet, leaving the grease in the skillet.
• Add the onions to the skillet and reduce heat to medium, stirring often until tender.
• Cut rolls in half and add one meatball to the bottom portion of each roll.
• Brush the tops with BBQ sauce.
• On top of the meatballs add the cheese slices, bacon bits and grilled onions.
• Place under the broiler next to the roll tops for 2-3 minutes until cheese is melted.
• Top the meatballs with the rolls and serve.

Source:  http://foodfamilyfinds.com/smokey-mesquite-bbq-meatball-sliders-recipe/

Cracker Cheddar Chicken

A gorgeous Tuesday here in Michigan, picture perfect, I wish we could have 365 days a year like today.  It always amazes me how quickly things go from a dreary grey/brown to bright lush green, how it seems that the bare trees pop their leaves overnight and the flowers secretly break through the ground.  Everything is fresh and new….a taste of summer which is on its way.

I have another tasty chicken recipe for you today, Cracker Chicken.  I know, there are tons of recipes out there for chicken using Ritz crackers and all of them tasty.  I do something just a little different, instead of dredging the chicken through egg or milk I spread Miracle Whip over the chicken breasts before I roll them in the cracker/cheese mixture.  Miracle Whip you ask….yes, the Miracle Whip will help keep the chicken moist.

This recipe has only 5 ingredients, ingredients that most people have on hand.  Plus it is so easy to put together your family will think you spent some serious time in the kitchen creating it.  You can serve it as is or make a quick chicken gravy to go with it.  It pairs well with mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes or even ranch potato salad and corn on the cob!!  Try this, I bet it’ll be a hit at your house too!

CRACKER CHICKEN

What You’ll Need:

4 – Boneless/Skin-less Chicken Breasts

1/4 Cup Miracle Whip

24 Ritz Crackers – crushed fine

6-8 oz. Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Lawry’s Seasoning

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil – spray with cooking spray
• In a bowl mix crushed crackers with shredded cheddar cheese
• Spread Miracle Whip on chicken breasts
• Season with Lawry Seasoning Salt
• Roll chicken breasts in the cracker/cheese mixture to cover chicken
• Place on baking sheet
• When all chicken breasts are covered….spread some of the remaining cracker/cheese mixture over the chicken breasts
• Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink
• Serve and enjoy

Source:  N. Rezich

 

 

 

Slow Cooker Chicken and Stuffing

Welcome to Monday everyone!!  Our perfect spring weather continues here in Michigan slowly, steadily wiping away our memories of cold, snowy, rainy, dismal days.  Days like today and the last two are what I look forward too once we get through the Christmas holidays….these are the days that I wait for and literally count down to.

Of course warmer temperatures has brought an increase in utilizing our bbq grill.  This past weekend we spent time outside in the yard cleaning up and uncovering things so a quick hot dog or burger as we moved through Saturday and Sunday was perfect for us and tasty.

Grilling though did bring up a quick conversation on whether or not to leave the slow cooker out or to put it in the cabinet downstairs for the summer.  For right now I’m opting to keep it out and use it at least once maybe twice a week during the summer.  My reasoning is to use it instead of the oven in order to keep the kitchen cool.

Today, I have a tasty slow cooker recipe for you.  When I first found this recipe and saved it I went back to it several times before deciding to give it a try.  I hesitated because I just wasn’t sure how well a stove top stuffing would turn out in a slow cooker I was afraid it would either be undercooked or that it would turn to mush.

I’m happy to say that this chicken and stuffing dish turned out fantastic and I’m happy to share it with you today.  The chicken was tender and the stuffing was nice and moist.  We served it with mashed potatoes and peas and it was a delicious meal.  Walt, not generally a fan of boxed stuffing gave it two thumbs up which means it will be a keeper in our house.

I found this recipe on http://team-t-adventures.blogspot.com/2010/01/easy-crockpot-chicken-stuffing.html through Pinterest.  Give it a try, let us know how it turns out for you.

 

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN AND STUFFING

What You’ll Need:

4 thawed chicken breasts

1 6 oz. package of Stove Top Stuffing Mix

1/2 cup of sour cream

1/4 cup of water

1 can cream of chicken soup

Directions:

• Spray you slow cooker with non-stick spray
• Lay chicken breasts on bottom of slow cooker – Season (I used Lawry’s seasoning)
• Open the envelope of stuffing and pour evenly over chicken (yes – uncooked)
• Whisk sour cream, soup and water together in a small bowl
• Pour the mixture evenly over the stuffing (you may have to spread it a little)
• Cook on LOW 4 hours until chicken in cooked through
• Fluff and serve

The Weekend

Weekends don’t count

unless you spend them

doing something

completely pointless

~Bill Watterson~ 

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND – WE WILL!!

Baked Chicken Fajitas

It’s no secret, Walt and I love Mexican food, so it should be no surprise that I would be drawn to this recipe posted on Pinterest by Six Sisters  http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/p/about-us.html.

I will admit that at first I was just a wee-bit skeptical that baked fajitas could be as tasty as traditional fajitas but these were delicious!!  I will also admit that we both helped ourselves to one more than we should have, I’m going to justify that with the fact they are baked.

The only draw back to this recipe is the diced tomatoes.  Even having drained the tomatoes first, I still ended up with a little more liquid at the bottom of the dish than I would have liked but it did not take away from the taste or quality of this dish.

Try them, let us know how they turn out for you.  Enjoy!!

BAKED CHICKEN FAJITAS

What You’ll Need:
1 pound boneless, skin-less chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies
1 medium onion, sliced
1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced
2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 flour tortillas, warmed to serve

Directions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees
• Grease a 13×9 baking dish
• Mix together chicken, tomatoes, chilies, peppers, and onions in the dish
• In a small bowl combine the oil and spices
• Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and toss to coat
• Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender
• Serve with warmed tortillas and enjoy!

Source:  http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/baked-chicken-fajitas-recipe.html

 

Easy Pasta Salad

With temperatures in Michigan creeping up little by little I wanted to make a little pasta salad to go with our burgers.  There are so many dressing combinations for pasta salads, mayo or miracle whip with sour cream, mayo or miracle whip with milk, the list can go on and on.  This time I wanted to do something a little different, well different from my traditional Miracle Whip whipped into pasta and a few vegetables.

This time I left my comfort zone and added a little sweet relish, mustard (which I usually only eat on a hot dog), and a little bit of vinegar and a sprinkling of sugar.  I was happy with the final result and Walt loved it.  Try it, let us know what you think!

 

EASY PASTA SALAD

What You’ll Need:

8 oz. Shell Pasta

2 Cups Miracle Whip

1 Tbsp. Yellow Mustard

1/4 Tsp. White Vinegar

1/4 Cup Sweet Relish

3 Hard boiled Eggs

Pinch of sugar

Directions:

• Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and rinse with cold water
• Place cooled pasta in a large bowl
• Chop two of the hard-boiled eggs add to pasta
• Add the sweet relish to the pasta
• In a separate bowl mix together the Miracle Whip, mustard, vinegar and pinch of sugar
• Fold dressing mixture into pasta
• Mix well and chill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grandma’s Next Top Model

I just could not resist giving Eric his own post when I saw these photo’s of my little Eric hamming it up for the camera.  Those high paid, underweight fashion models have nothing on my baby.  Yesterday he held his own little photo shoot, he’s such a little doll!!!

     

   

Isn’t he a little ham??  Eric absolutely has his own little personality and sense of humor.  He is going to sweep the girls off their feet and keep his momma on her toes as he gets older.

He makes me smile………..

Continue To Hope….Continue To Pray

We have had an unbelievable week in our country and as we get through Thursday people are almost afraid to say “What could possibly happen now?”

My heart continues to go out to the people of Boston and those affected by the senseless bombing at the Boston Marathon, such a senseless act of cowardice.  I am always moved by our ability as a nation to move forward, to take care of our own and our ability to become even stronger than we were before.  I pray that those responsible are found soon and brought to justice.

I have fond memories of Boston.   During my very first visit many, many years ago on a beautiful July day, I actually ate my very first whole lobster.  During our stay in Boston we even visited the Bull and Finch Pub (the name has been changed) on Beacon Street made famous by the hit TV show “Cheers” well at least the exterior was made famous by the show.  The people of Boston were warm and friendly, I felt like it was home.

The explosion in West, Texas hits a little closer to home in an indirect sort of way.  Having been married at one time to a fire fighter for many years (my first husband) I feel the anxiety of the wives, husbands, children and parents of the fire fighters, first responders and police personnel directly involved in fighting that blaze.  I know only too well the dedication of these volunteers, men and women who at the sound of a siren, a beeper or a phone call drop everything they are doing to respond.

I can’t recall the number of interrupted dinners, holidays, parties, family outings and more that were disrupted when the siren sounded or the number of times I would sit holding my breath listening to the scanner as my then husband and our friends fought house fires, responded to auto accidents or worse yet runs made to the hazardous material handling facility in our town.

I sat and openly cried when the wife of a volunteer firefighter was interviewed last night on the Pierce Morgan show.  It was a telephone interview, her husband insisted that she leave town to go to her brothers home in a nearby town.  After making several attempts to reach her husband by cell phone, she finally connected with him and begged him to come to her, he told her he could not, he was needed, there was a job to do he needed to stay with his guys.  You could feel her agony and her fear in her words, in her voice.

Keep these volunteers and their families in your prayers, they do this as a “calling” an answer to their need to give to their community.  Although these “volunteers” do go through extensive training and testing fire fighting is not their source of income, many are teachers, business owners, factory workers, engineers, ministers and more.  Their dedication and commitment to saving lives and their community is no less than those who do it full-time.

With all that has happened this week we can’t allow any of it to force us to live in fear….if anything we should strive to embrace life more openly, forgive those who we feel have done us any wrong and most importantly hold those you love a little tighter and say “I love You” a little more often.

Have a great Thursday everyone, I hope it’s filled with family, friends and love.

Enchiladas…..Just Like Mom’s

Hi everyone, yes I’ve been away for a while.  We’ve been cooking up a storm in our kitchen but somewhere along the way I seemed to have lost desire to make the time write.  It really is my mission to get back on track…again.

Some of you may recall that several months ago my mom, Leona, was a guest blogger.  Mom talked a little bit about herself and shared a recipe for Easy Beef Enchiladas which she found through her membership to the Campbell’s Soup recipe site .  I think it’s awesome that my mom makes a mexican dish at this time in her life because when we were kids I never recall my mom making homemade taco’s, burritos’ or enchilada’s.  Mom created a lot of great meals as I was growing up, she cooked everyday, I just don’t remember anything mexican in her rotation.

I was a little nervous making the enchiladas because my mom’s are so delicious.  I know, some may think “hey how can you screw up a recipe?”  I really do believe that two people can follow the same recipe exactly and come out with two different results.  Maybe I had a little more hamburger than mom did resulting in less flavor being distributed through the meat by the seasonings, maybe I used a different brand of enchilada sauce or refriend beans.  The taste could even be altered by the brand of taco seasoning I was going to use.  There was a potential for several variables.

The one thing that I know I did differently and yes, it did make a difference, was the fact that I used the red enchilada sauce instead of the green that mom uses.  The red enchilada sauces has just a little bit more bite to it than the green.  So if you like spicy use the red, less spicy use the green.

I am happy to say that my enchiladas turned out fantastic, better than fantasic….Walt and I both loved them and had wished we could have eaten more than two at the time but we’re happy to have leftovers which reheat wonderfully in the microwave.

Instead of repeating the recipe here, I’ve posted the link to my mom’s guest blog entry and the recipe.

http://rezichfamilykitchen.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/please-welcome-my-mom-to-our-blog/

Here are the photo’s of my mom’s enchiladas and mine are underneath…..a pretty good match in both look and flavor. This recipe made 10 enchiladas and I have to say two are definitely filling.  I think these enchiladas would make a great pot luck dish if you have baking dish with a warming bag or the ability to reheat in a microwave.  Try these I promise you won’t be disappointed.

DISFRUTAR!!! – ENJOY!!!!

 

Mom’s Easy Beef Enchiladas

My Easy Beef Enchiladas

Destiny?

Destiny…..”The hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future; fate.”  I truly do believe that things happen for a reason; the detour, the lost keys, a last-minute change in routine.  Events that happen to either put us in the right place at the right time or events which happen to keep us from being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  When the outcome is positive it’s because it was meant to be, when the outcome is negative I believe it’s because we’re meant to learn something from it.  Some of us learn from those experiences…some of us don’t.

I was scheduled to start a new job on Friday with Home Depot as a sales associate.  Yesterday at 1:00 p.m. the human resources person for the location I’ll be working at called to confirm my appointment on Thursday to complete employment paperwork and confirm my orientation at a sister store on Friday.  At 2:00 p.m. the phone rang again and it was the HR person informing me that orientation has been cancelled and could potentially be scheduled for next week, she’ll call me back.  I inquired as to whether or not I should still come in on Thursday to fill out the papers and she said no.  She said that they were undergoing some “changes” and that I would be notified of a new orientation date.  I will admit I hung up confused, disappointed, frustrated and yes, I will admit, even a little angry.

Has destiny stepped in?  Is there a reason for this delay that will alter my future or is it making sure I’m not in the wrong place at the wrong time?  Will another position present itself to me in the next few days that I would rather accept?  Perhaps my job board stalking will finally pay off?  I know, now you’re wondering what a “job board stalker” is, let me explain; a job board stalker hangs out on all the popular job boards sites all day, each board open on the lap top and as soon as a job is posted, not yet one second old, you immediately hit the send button with your resume attached hoping your resume is at the top of the heap.

For whatever reason, I am not starting a new job this Friday.  Will I ever actually become a Home Depot employee?  Only my “destiny” knows what it has planned for me, I’ll wait and see what she has in store.  For now I’m still looking, still hopeful that my resume will spark interest with the right person, at the right time and for the right place.

Today I am going to leave you with a recipe for “Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Stew” which I found on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Chicken-Pot-Pie-Stew/Detail.aspx.  This recipe is great when you know you have a taste for chicken pot pie but know you won’t have time to whip one up when you get home after a long day.  Throw everything into the crock pot in the morning, come home and bake a roll of your favorite Pillsbury biscuits and you’ve got dinner on the table.

Of course I made some minor modifications to mine, well actually some major changes which is reflected in my recipe below.  The link above will take you to the original recipe on allrecipes.com. which inspired my version.  Enjoy!!

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN POT PIE STEW 

 What You’ll Need:

4 chicken breasts cut into cubes

5 large red potatoes – washed and chopped into small pieces

1 small onion chopped

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1-2 cloves of garlic minced fine

1/2 tsp. Tarragon

1 – 16 oz. bag frozen mixed vegetables

1 can Pillsbury Country Style Biscuits

Directions:

• Spray crock pot with cooking spray
• Place into crock pot in this order; chicken, onions, garlic, potatoes
• Mix tarragon with the cream of chicken soup and spread over the top of the potatoes in the crock pot
• Cook on High for 5 hours
• Add the bag of frozen mixed vegetables
• Cook on High an additional hour
• When ready, bake biscuits as directed on package
• Serve pot pie stew over hot biscuits

Source: N. Rezich – adapted from allrecipes.com