Recipe #19: Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes

Source:  Quick Dish by tablespoon via Pinterest

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast, poached and diced
1 14.5 oz can cream of chicken soup
1 cup frozen mixed veggies
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbls. Herbs de Provence
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
2 cans Pillsbury Grands biscuits

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked chicken, cream of chicken soup, frozen veggies, cheese, herbs and spices.

Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin and place the Pillsbury biscuits into each cup, pressing into the bottom and up the sides.

 Evenly spoon the pot pie mixture into each biscuit cup. Slide into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Check at the 12 minute mark.

Let rest for about 3 minutes and dig in!
   
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This recipe intrigued me.  There are an awful lot of recipes these days for cooking food in muffin cups.  It seems like an interesting idea, but probably not one my husband would probably not one hundred percent embrace.

 

But since he is still gone, I figured why not?  Plus, I had 3 rotissiere chickens from the grocery store.  (I buy them when they are marked down and then take the meat off the bones and freeze it.  Perfect for those times you needed some cooked chicken for a recipe such as this.

 

I mixed up the filling early in the afternoon and put it in the refrigerator.

 

 

I used a combination of cheddar and monterey jack cheese that I had already shredded earlier in the week for tacos.

When it was close to dinner time, I put the biscuits in the muffin pan.  It was pretty quick to press the biscuit dough into the pan - I had seen in the comments of this recipe that some people had had some issue with this, but I had no trouble at all.

Into the oven and 15 minutes later, dinner was ready!

 

The kids ate these like muffins.  They were a little leery of them at first, I think the name threw them off, but once they came out of the oven, both kids seemed interested.  I put some gravy I had over the top of mine and used a knife and fork.  They were pretty good.  

 

I'm not sure how these can be called cupcakes, since they are biscuits to me. 

 

I have a few still in the refrigerator.  I'm not sure how they'll heat back up, but I'll let you know! 

 

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Ratings

Special Ingredients Needed:   None 

Ease of Preparation:  Easy. 

Taste:    Good.   A little heavy maybe with the biscuits and the cream of chicken soup, but definitely filling.

Overall

Recipe #18: Slow Cooked Pulled Beef Sandwiches

Source:  makeaheadmealsforbusymoms.com

Ingredients
3 lbs. beef chuck roast
1 cup Bull’s-Eye Original Barbecue Sauce
1/2 cup Ketchup
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 tablespoons spicy mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
 
Directions
1.  Turn the slow cooker on high heat.  Rinse the beef under cold water and place in the slow cooker.
2.  Combine the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl and pour over the beef.
3.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. 
4.  When the beef is done, place the beef on a plate and shred it with 2 forks.  Return the beef to the sauce and mix well.  Serve on a hamburger bun.
Makes 8 sandwiches

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Where do I start with this recipe?  Let's start with the big thing:  I did not make this in my slow cooker.  My slow cooker was slightly out of commission as I spent 3 days trying to get burnt honey out of it.  But I had this chuck roast and needed to get a dinner set for tonight.  So I did an Internet search on "converting slow cooker times to oven times", and wouldn't you know?  There is actually an eHow page that helps you figure out how long to cook something in the oven that's from a crockpot recipe. 

So I cooked this for 2-1/2 hours at 325 in a 9x13 pan covered tightly with foil.

After it cooked, I let it cool and shredded the meat and put all the meat and the sauce left in the pan in the refrigerator.  We had it for dinner tonight and it was very good.  I really like pulled pork and this was a decent alternative.  I served it on hamburger buns, and I of course added a slice of cheese, because why not?  

(I took the cheese off for the picture, so you could see how it actually looked.)

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Ratings
Special Ingredients Needed:   None 

Ease of Preparation:  Easy. 
Taste:    Very similar to pulled pork.  The sauce was excellent.  The flavor was very good the next day.

Overall:  9 out of 10 

Recipe #17: Slow Cooker Parmesan Honey Pork Roast Recipe

Source:  Six Sisters' Stuff via Pinterest

Ingredients:
1 (2-3 pound) boneless pork roast
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup honey
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp dried basil
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place roast in slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the cheese, honey, soy sauce, basil, garlic, oil and salt; pour over pork. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160°.

Remove meat to a serving platter; keep warm. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan. Bring liquid to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice roast; serve with gravy.

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So, my first foray back into new recipe land was not so great.  This recipe sounded great, but sometimes, you need to pay attention to the comments you find.  Several people commented on this recipe that they didn't care for the smell of the meal, and I have to say, I agree.  And that's a major turn-off for me.

The honey was burned onto the crock pot.  I followed the directions, but I suspect this is not a "set and go" crock pot recipe.  If I had been home and been able to keep a close eye on it, I think it would have been OK.  But because it was left all day, it just wasn't very appetizing looking when I got home.  Maybe this sauce would be better in an oven, where you can baste the pork and cook it for less time.  I may actually try it, now that I say that.

We pitched it and had pizza instead. 

They can't all be winners, right?

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Ratings
Special Ingredients Needed:   None 

Ease of Preparation:  Easy. 
Taste:    We actually never tasted this.

Overall:  1 out of 10  (because I don't feel I can honestly give this a 0 since we didn't try it.)

Where Am I?

I'm still around and I haven't abandoned this project already.  Honest!

My husband is traveling this month and the truth is, the kids and I tend to eat out fairly often while he's gone.  So I haven't tried any new recipes since he's been gone, though I am hoping to try some of these cookie recipes I've got stashed away.  :)

Hang in there!  I'll be back - I promise!

Recipe #16: Shrimp Tacos with Cilantro-Lime Sour Cream

Source:  Lifesambrosia.com

• 20 medium prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 corn tortillas
• oil for frying
• shredded lettuce
• diced tomatoes
• sliced avocado
• cilantro lime sour cream (recipe follows)

1. In a bowl whisk together olive oil, garlic, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper (if using). Add in shrimp and toss to coat completely. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes to give the flavors a chance to marry.
2. Cook shrimp in a skillet on medium heat until pink and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and cover to keep warm.
3. Use enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of a small pan, about 2 tablespoons. Heat over medium-high heat. Cook tortillas one at a time until soft, about 30 seconds on each side. Fold over to make a taco shell. As you cook each tortilla, place them on paper towels to absorb any of the oil left over.
4. Spoon 5 shrimp into each taco shell. Top with lettuce, tomato, avocado and cilantro-lime sour cream.

Cilantro-Lime Sour Cream

• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• juice and zest from one lime
• salt to taste

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl.

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So I was in a seafood mood last week again and shrimp is always my go-to for seafood.  A lot of times, my grocery store has shrimp from the seafood counter pre-packaged and marked down and I will snatch that up and find something to make.  Shrimp cooks so quickly that it makes it an easy ingredient for a weeknight meal.

Also apparently, I was so hungry I neglected to take any pictures of this dish.  Again, sorry.

It was very good.  The shrimp on it's own had a bite to it, so the cilantro-lime sour cream really helped to balance that.  My husband enjoyed this as well, and he's not as big of a shrimp fan as I am, nor does he care much for cilantro.  Cilantro is one of those things that some people really don't care for.  I enjoy it myself, but I know quite a few people who won't eat something if it has cilantro in it. 

I used prepared lime juice, instead of fresh.  So there was also no zest.

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Ratings
Special Ingredients Needed:   I don't usually have cilantro in the house. 

Ease of Preparation:  Easy. 
Taste:    Very good.   

Overall:  9 out of 10

Recipe #15: South of the Border Sandwiches

Source:  The Girl Who Ate Everything via Pinterest

1 loaf French bread, cut into 3/4" thick slices

½ cup olives, chopped
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup lite mayonnaise
1/3 cup nonfat sour cream
1/3 cup green onions, chopped
1 pound sliced turkey
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 ripe avocados, sliced
¾ cup cheddar cheese, shredded
¾ cup pepper jack or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, combine olives, chili powder, cumin, and salt; set aside 2 Tablespoons of this mixture. Add the mayonnaise, sour cream, and green onions to the remaining olive mixture.

Place bread on an ungreased baking sheet and spread 1 Tablespoon of the mayonnaise mixture on each slice. Top with slices of turkey and tomatoes. Spread with another Tablespoon of mayonnaise mixture (I didn't add this because I didn't think it needed it). Top with avocados and cheeses. Sprinkle with the reserved 2 Tablespoons of olive mixture. Bake @ 350 for 15 min. Makes 8-10 servings.

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Okay, our final snack.  These took a little bit more work. 

I did not put the olives in the spread because I cannot stand olives.  Also like the website said, I didn't add the extra spread on top.  I used it all on the first layer.

Also, our supermarket apparently has a different definition of french bread than what I've grown up with.  So this made a lot of sandwiches and they were bigger than I had expected.  This is more of crowd snack.

They were okay.  I'm not sure I'd go to the trouble to make them again.  Especially since you really have to eat them right away - once they cool, they really aren't very appetizing.

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Ratings
Special Ingredients Needed:   None. 

Ease of Preparation:  Average.  A lot of slicing and layering. 
Taste:    Good.   

Overall:  6 out of 10.

Recipe #14: Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites

Source:  Skinnytaste.com via Pinterest

1-1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
10 slices bacon, cut into thirds

Preheat over to 375.  Wrap a piece of bacon around each piece of chicken.  Secure with a toothpick.  Place on a baking sheet.  (I lined mine with parchment paper for easy clean up.)  Bake on lower rack of oven for 25 minutes, turning halfway through.  Serve immediately.

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Another super easy, super good Super Bowl snack.  These little bite-sized chicken wrapped bacon pieces were great.  

It really didn't take much time at all to wrap and secure the chicken.

After baking:

I served these with duck sauce and BBQ sauce.  The kids even heated these up and ate them the next day.

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Ratings
Special Ingredients Needed:   None. 

Ease of Preparation:  Easy. 
Taste:    Good.  Pretty much anything wrapped in bacon is a success in our house. 

Overall:  9 out of 10