Creamy Stuffed Chicken Breast

Here, is my latest inspiration. We're finally a little settled into our new place so I got myself back into the kitchen. This one was delicious and so easy. I was saving this one for after we went to the grocery store but to my pleasant surprise we had everything we needed (which doesn't happen often). Of course, I made some minor alterations to the recipe linked above. This is what we ended up with. Creamy deliciousness. Get ready.

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts

1 clove of garlic (minced)

1/4 cup of cream cheese

1/3 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp Italian seasoning (just a random one we have in the cupboard)

1/2 tbs olive oil

Step One: Mix together garlic, cream cheese, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

Step Two: Make a slit directly into the middle of the chicken breast. This is where you are going to stuff the cream cheese-y goodness. Make sure you leave about an inch or so in either side of your slit so you have a solid "pouch". Also, make sure that you slice as far into the chicken as you can (making sure not to break through). 

Step Three: Now, you're going to stuff that chicken. I was totally grossed out by this part, but don't worry. Just get in there real nice and deep like... Also, remember how delicious this is going to be. So shove all that cream cheese filling as far down as you can into the chicken. Once you've gotten all your breasts stuffed... Sorry, but that is the most awkward phrase ever, but you know what I mean. It's time to move onto the next step. Seal those things up with a few toothpicks. Poke them in real nicely, closing the chicken as much as possible.

Step Four: Now you're going to fry these into a golden brown, crispy deliciousness. Put a pan on the stove top with a little olive oil and throw 'em in. Well, set them in gently with love and care. You don't want them exploding just yet. Try to keep all the creamy goodness inside the chicken. You'll see why later. Make sure that you get the chicken cooked all the way through. About five minutes or so on each side. You want them to be brown and crispy and oh, soooooo yummy. This is where you start to drool.

Step Five: Plate up and enjoy.

This was seriously so good and so easy I can't even believe it. It's definitely something that I will continue to make. The cream cheese melted into the chicken perfectly and the Parmesan was so gooey and delicious. The rice was also perfect as a side dish for this meal. It honestly doesn't get much better than this. I finished off the night with some tea and passed out into a food coma. 

Hasselback Potatoes; Mac 'n' Cheese; Pop Tarts; Chocolate Ice Cream; Mozzarella Sticks; AND Green Eggs and Ham!

Well I've done it again. We have an overload of goodness. I just can't keep up with all this cooking. And it's starting to get nice out. It's tough to be productive behind the computer. But I'm getting started. That's what counts.

So here we go. Get ready for a plethora of magnificent foods. All fast, easy, and yuuuuuummmmyyyyy!

Hasselback Potatoes: Or as I'd like to think of them... Hasselhoff potatoes. Don't ask... But don't deny that you want to call them that too.

Ingredients:

potato (the bigger the better)

minced garlic

~ 1 tsp. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

other toppings optional

Step One: Carefully slice your potato like you're making chips BUT only cute through about 2/3 of the way.

Step Two: Lather that baby up with some olive oil. Making sure to get in between all of the different potato leaves.

Step Three: Shove some garlic in. The more the merrier.

Step Four: Toss on some salt and pepper and throw into the oven at about 425 for roughly 45 minutes.

Step Five: Take out and top with anything you'd like. I went with some cheese.

Mac 'n' Cheese:

Ingredients:

package of elbow noodles

~ 1tbs. oil

~ 3-4 c. grated cheese

~ 1/2 c. milk

~ 1 tbs. flour

~ 1/4 c. butter

salt and pepper to taste

Step One: Cook noodle until they are basically done. Just a tiny bit under cooked.

Step Two: Toss drained, cooked noodles into a greased cake pan (or whatever).

Step Three: Add cheese or your liking, oil, butter, milk, flour, salt and pepper and mix well.

Step Four: Toss in the oven to let the cheese melt. I'd say just about 15 minutes at 350.

Step Five: Give a solid taste testing and see what needs to be done. Salt and pepper can do wonders. I also recommend throwing on some Sriracha, which is delicious on anything and everything. If you don't have some already you're missing out, big time.

Pop Tarts: So I saw these just about everywhere after finding them on smittenkitten, and I absolutely had to try them. As do you. Get ready for some awesomeness; you're going to love these. The best part is you can stuff them with anything; jellies, chocolate, cinnamon and sugar, eggs, veggies, the list goes on. I've been testing out different things in here for awhile. I really like the savory pop tarts; with mushroom, garlic, and cheese, yuuuum. Really you can throw just about anything you have in this little pastry crust and make the most delicious thing you've ever tasted. I'll say it again, you're going to love these. Also, you're going to wonder how in the world you've been eating store bought pop tarts all your life. Enjoy. P.S. I cut out a stick of butter; I'm sure they are d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. and oh, so flaky with two sticks of butter, but I just can't bring myself to put two sticks of butter into such a little pastry crust. Do as you wish, but your heart will thank me, and you, later.

Ingredients:

2 c. flour
1 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) of butter
1 egg
2 tbs. milk

Step One: Mix together flour, sugar, and salt.

Step Two: Mix in butter. I recommend using two butter knives and kind of slicing the butter up real small. You want to end up with pea sized chunks. You could also use a fork, your hands, a food processor, other handy gadgets, whatever you want really; just get it evenly distributed.

Step Three: Mix in egg and milk; stir well. Get your hands in there and knead it up a little bit to ensure even distribution of this magic.

Step Four: Ok, now here is the fun part. Putting these puppies together. You can also refrigerate your dough for a day or two if you have the will power to sit around and wait for these. You're crazy if can actually do this though. Anyway, for us normal impatient beings, decide what you want to fill your pastry. Refer to this list below for some ideas (these are just a few I've tried) or be creative and use what you have.

Jelly Filling:

~ 3/4 c. of your favorite jelly/jam

1 tbs. corn starch mixed with 1 tbs. water (I've always skipped this step, but be warned, if you do they will be really runny) **We did try some tapioca flour and it worked perfectly; I just sprinkled a little in**

Bring this to a boil for a couple minutes. Let cool before filling pop tarts.

Savory Filling:

~ 1/4 c. mushrooms

~ 1/4 c. shredded cheese

~ 1/2 tsp. garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Cook up mushrooms and garlic a little bit. Place in pastry crust and add cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. **You could also try adding in some eggs. We are doing this as I type. Just scramble them up first and throw them in**

Step Five: Once you've decided what you want to stuff in here; gauge how many pop tarts you want/can make with the amount of dough you have. This depends on how big (or little) you want these to be. I made 8 decent sized pop tarts with this, but you could make them bigger if you'd like more filling or smaller if you'd like them for something like an appetizer. Either way decide, divide your dough, and get some rectangles, squares, circles, whatever shape you want, rolled out about 1/8 in. thick. Place your filling to one half and fold. Make sure to seal the edges. Use a fork or just press together well with your fingers.

Step Six: Place into your heated oven, which should be at 350 degrees, for roughly 30 minutes. Here's the hard part. Waiting. Our monster oven usually keeps the wait at about 10 minutes. We also turn it down a hefty amount. It's set at about 300 today, we'll see how it goes.

Chocolate Ice Cream: I must say, out of all the ice creams, this just may be my favorite. It's soooooo yummy. And so chocolaty. I love it. I also want to make a note that all these ice cream recipes (vanilla and dulce de leche) I use are the ones you can throw into a bag and shake for like 15 minutes and BOOM! ice cream. I just haven't tried it yet.

Ingredients:

1 pint half and half
1/2 c. whipping cream (honestly this time I just did 1 cup I was sick of having half a cup sitting around. It still tastes the same. Who knows maybes that's why it was so delicious)
~2 tsp. vanilla (you can do more or less or none, whatever)
3/4 c. sugar
pinch of salt
1 bag of chocolate chips (I used semi sweet)

Step One: Whisk all ingredients together (except chocolate). Make sure that all the sugar dissolves.

Step Two: Melt chocolate chips. Stir into liquid mixture. Make sure to distribute evenly.

Step Three: Cover and freeze. Come back and whisk well about every 45 minutes roughly 3 or 4 times; until it looks like ice cream. Eat and love.

Mozzarella Sticks: I came across these little guys on penelope's oasis. I love mozzarella sticks in a bad way so I had to try these. They are super easy, way healthier than anything you're going to buy, and they are soooooo yummy.

Ingredients:

~ 10 cheese sticks (you know, those delicious little string cheeses, they're about to get even better)

1/2 c. flour

2 eggs (the other recipes calls for whites, but I was too lazy to separate them out)

1 c. panko, bread crumbs, whatevers clever.

seasoning (like garlic salt, salt, pepper, you know)

dipping sauce

Step One: Chop cheese sticks in half and toss them in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Step Two: Mix panko and seasonings. Or whatever kind of crumb you choose.

Step Three: Get your bowls of flour, panko, and egg (mixed all up) lined up and ready for dipping.

Step Four: Dip cheese into flour, egg, and panko. I did some double dipping for extra coverage. Lay out on a greased cookie sheet.

Step Five: Put in oven for about 10-15 minutes at 300 degrees. Sit and wait impatiently. It's so worth it. They are golden, crispy and delicious. 

Green Eggs and Ham: Last, but certainly not least, I made green eggs and ham for Dr. Seuss Day. It took me straight back to second grade. Everyone should enjoy these on Dr. Seuss Day. I took some time to read some Dr. Seuss quotes as I ate. I absolutely love Dr. Seuss; you're never too old to enjoy his rhymes. What's your favorite Dr. Seuss quote or book?

Ingredients:

2 eggs

ham (I just tore up a slice of sandwich meat ham)

~4 tbs. milk

cheese

a drop of green food coloring

salt and pepper to taste

Step One: Mix together eggs, milk, salt and pepper, ham, and food coloring (I did mine after cooking, but I think you should do it before).

Step Two: Cook over medium heat and stir frequently until eggs are cooked. Throw some cheese on top and let melt. Smile and enjoy. 

Once again I'm super sorry for the terribly long wait. And I hope that it doesn't take too long to get some more things going. Once things are settled expect a heavy flow of recipes coming your way. I hope you enjoy. 

Bagels, Ice Cream, Omelettes & Dumpling Soup!

So. I've been holding out on you. I've been losing sleep over blogging this for weeks now. Sorry.. But here it is anyway. Finally.

I've at least been doing some cooking in this time off... Well a little bit.

We've got bagels (Serrano, garlic & herb, and onion); vanilla ice cream; broccoli mushroom omlette; and vegetable dumpling soup.

Are you ready for an overload of goodness?

Wheat Bagels:

I looked around everywhere for some more bagel recipes. I've made them about three times now and I'm trying to get perfect bagels. They've all been delicious don't get me wrong, but I like to explore. We also have been topping our bagels in the past. This time we went a different route; stuffed. We gathered our usual go-to bagel toppers; a Serrano pepper; garlic; and onion. I must say I was once again pleasantly surprised with these. They were super dense though, thanks to the wheat flour. I think that going half and half with the wheat and the white flour is going to be our next adventure. Anyway. Here it is.

Ingredients:

~ 4 c. flour (Wheat, white, whatever. We used wheat)

2 1/4 tsp. yeast

1/2 c. warm water (I loved the tip that was given on Heavenly Homemakers blog. If it hurts your finger it's too hot for the yeast.)

~3 tbs. honey

1 tsp. salt

1 diced Serrano pepper

~ 1 tbs. minced garlic

~ 1/4 c. diced onion

~ 1 tsp. dried basil

Step One: Stir together 2 c. flour, yeast, and salt. Then add in water and honey.

Step Two: Add in remaining flour, kneading and adding more flour as needed to create a smooth dough ball.

Step Three: Let your dough rest and rise for about 10-15 minutes.

Step Four: Divide dough into twelve equal parts.

Step Five: Fold in each different ingredient to bagels (we did four of each kind). You want to make sure that it gets mixed in evenly.

Step Six: Roll into balls and stick your finger through the middle. Stretch about two inches wide. *Start boiling a pot of water*

Step Seven: Let them rise a little more. I put mine into the warm oven (I preheated to the lowest temp. and put the bagels in after I turned it off and let it cool a bit). Just about 15 minutes was perfect. I recommend flipping them while they are in there so they are fluffy on both sides (I didn't do this so one side had my finger prints).

Step Eight: Set water to a simmer. Sprinkle some salt into the boiling water and add in bagels (I did three at a time). Let them boil on each side for the better half of five minutes. *Start preheating oven to 350*

Step Nine: Put boiled bagels onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for about 25 minutes (I'd give them a flip about halfway through).

Take out and enjoy in every way possible. I saw these bagels paired with multiple different things over the last few days. Including; Serrano, cream cheese, and strawberry jelly; Serrano, cream cheese, and summer sausage; and multiple egg, cheese, cream cheese bagels. I love bagel sandwiches. In kind of a bad way. They are incredibly tasty though and I just can't resist. Start making some. Now.

When you're done with those wonderful bagels get started on some ice cream. Because everyone loves ice cream.

This time I went with vanilla. Of course it was magnificent because you can't go wrong with vanilla.

Vanilla Ice Cream:

Ingredients:

1 pint half and half
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
~4 tsp. vanilla (you can add some more if you want)
3/4 c. sugar
pinch of salt

Step One: Mix all of the ingredients; making sure that the sugar dissolves completely.

Step Two: Cover and place in the freezer.

Step Three: Come back about every 30 minutes and mix the ice cream really well. I used a whisk. Do this about three or four times (You'll know when it's ready, it's ice cream not rocket science).


All you have to do is cover this back up and throw in the freezer until it's all gone. It saves pretty well (especially if you stirred it a lot). You could always out it into another container too. We just kept it in the bowl. Whatever floats your boat.

Next, here is a little omelette I whipped up for dinner. Nothing special, but it was quick, easy and delicious.



 Broccoli Mushroom & Cheese Omelette:

Ingredients:

~ 2 tsp. oil
~ 3 mushrooms (sliced)
~ 1/4 c. broccoli
~ 1 tsp. minced garlic
2 eggs (you can use more or less)
~ 3 tbs. milk
A few slices of cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Step One: Put mushrooms into a pan with oil and heat on about medium. Cook the mushrooms on each side for a minute or two.

Step Two: Mix in broccoli, eggs, milk, garlic, salt and pepper.

Step Three: Let cook for a few minutes. I slide my spatula along the sides to let the juices from the top fill the gap and cook. I do this until there isn't really any juice left on top.

Step Four: Now here is where things get serious. Flipping time. I always get a little nervous, but to my surprise I've had good luck the last few tries. I recommend sliding the spatula around the sides and then trying the flip it. If you have a well greased pan it usually works perfectly (I even managed a throwing flip one time!).

Step Four: Add some cheese slices and fold in half.

Now you can add whatever else you want too (or you could throw it in the middle before you fold). Maybe some hot sauce, ketchup, whatever. It's delicious any way you eat it.


Ok. Now, last but certainly not least.

Vegetable Dumpling Soup:


Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen vegetables (whatever sounds good; we used the Fiesta bag this time)
1 onion, chopped
2 cans vegetable broth (or chicken) [we actually used veggie bouillon cubes this time]
Bisquick- for dumplings (I think you need milk and maybe an egg for this too I don't remember; it says it on the box)
salt and pepper to taste.


Step One:  Place chopped onion in a pan with oil and cook. Let them get translucent, at least mostly.

Step Two: Put your broth (or bouillon cubes and water) into the crock pot. Set to LOW.

Step Three: Mix in veggies and cooked onion.

Step Four: After a few hours of cooking (about four) it's time to get the dumplings going. So mix together some Bisquick or whatever it is you use for dumplings. I like Bisquick, it's quick, easy and yummy. We also use the heart smart Bisquick. You should too. P.S. the box has a dumpling recipe don't worry.

Step Five: Drop dumpling mix into the crock pot (like tablespoons full). Turn to HIGH for an hour.

Step Six: Serve; salt and pepper to taste. You could also add cheese... whatever you want. It's all scrumptious.

MMMMMMMMMMMMM. Yuuuuuuummmmmmm. I loooooooove this soup. I love soup. I love dumplings. I love dumpling soup. I really like how much you can switch this up. Like I said we used a Fiesta bag of mixed frozen veggies. It had liiiiike beans, broccoli, grean beans, who knows whatelse it was delicious. I kind of think that we added that can of corn now that I think about it... You can do that too. We've made this a few times and the other time we used a different veggie mix. It was a little more practical and didn't sound as crazy as this. They were both epically delcious though. You know you want some. You can add in meat. Like chicken... That's what the little recipe in my crock pot cookbook called for. But we went the vegetarian route. Because I like to cook with my roommate and eat meals together. And I don't mind skipping out on my meats every once and awhile. I think that if you add meat you should cook it first that way you don't have to cook this all day long. Because the faster the better.


On another note. I'm beyond pumped that I finally finished this post. I'm sorry I've been such a d-bag and haven't been posting. Like I said, I procrastinated. But whatever. Here it is. I hope you enjoy. I have another post ready to be made as well. Another pizza :) get excited. It's another crazy one too. I'll get to typing soon. But my fingers are burning and I need to spend my Saturday away from the computer ;)
Also, sorry that I keep changing the formatting of the posts. I can't decide how I like it (looks and ease of making). Anywho. Get to cooking and eating these wonderful creations.

Vegetarian Lasagna

My roommate and I had been talking about making lasagna forever. I mean, why not? It's delicious (I feel like I'm always calling things delicious... I need to come up with some new adjectives). So. We made some lasagna. A vegetarian lasagna. And for my first ever attempt at making a lasagna, I've got to say, it went pretty well. As always you can make any tweaks. One I'll recommend right off the bat is, if you like saucy lasagnas, add more sauce. This was in no way, shape or form super saucy. I personally don't really love sauce and I maybe would even add a little more next time. Other than that you could do anything like add meat (ground beef or whatever you like). There are always a wide variety of ways you can go with your vegetables too (as always, we used what we had on hand).

Vegetable Lasagna


Ingredients:
1 box of lasagna noodles... minus two noodles. (don't ask)... Ok if you must know, we broke up two of the noodles for the avocado pasta just to make sure we had enough.
~ 1 tsp. minced garlic
~ 1/2 tsp. dried basil
~ 3 c. cheese of your choice (we just used shredded pizza cheese)
~ 1/4 c. mushrooms
~ 1/2 c. fresh basil
1 can tomato sauce (I don't know how many ounces, it was the bigger one though... maybe 16 oz? You can use whatever your favorite sauce is.)

**These are all approximate, I didn't actually measure anything. And like I said before, I recommend more sauce. Add some meat or other veggies too, if you want!**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Step One: Pour your sauce in a pan and heat at about medium. Add in garlic and basil (and anything else you want, or don't do this at all if you already have another sauce). You want to get this bubbling, then just turn it to low.

Step Two: Cook the lasagana noodles (we cooked ours all the way so we only had to get the cheese melted in the oven).

Step Three: Put a layer of noodles in your greased pan.

Step Four: Cover noodles with a layer of sauce and cheese (you can add meat, veggies or whatever else you might have here).

Step Five: Layer with noodles again. Add another layer of sauce and cheese (and any other desired ingredients). This is where we added mushrooms and started with the basil (because we didn't have much).

Step Six: Add the last layer of noodles, sauce and cheese (and whatever else you may have or want).

Step Seven: Pop this bad boy in the oven and wait for that cheese to melt! (About 15 minutes or so).

Take out and enjoy.



Yum yum yummmmmm! I think that our first lasagna turned out pretty dang good! It tasted delicious, and it was pretty easy to make too. I always thought that making lasagna took foreeeeeever. Maybe it was frozen? Or maybe you really aren't supposed to cook the noodles so much... then cook it longer with meat and stuff... I have no idea I'm no lasagna expert. But I liked doing it this way because it was fast. And I was really hungry... And even if I were to be adding meat I think that I would cook it first too, and then cook the same way. I'm just rambling now. Go make yourself some lasagna so you can contemplate the best ways to prepare it too :) P.S. Another ramble... I think what I like most about this (and about almost everything I cook) is that you can go any direction; meat, no meat; veggies, no veggies; red sauce, white sauce, pesto sauce! Endless possibilities! Anyway. Get to cookin' and figure out what you like best! Leave a comment and let me know how it goes :)