YUM Broc&Cheese Casserole~

So this is the start of my Southern cooking segment :D I'm getting all of my recipes from

Jack Daniel’s The Spirit of Tennesee Cook Book By, Lynne Tolley and Pat Michanmore (1988). So many wonderful recipes most of which I've grown up with, and I'm sure you too if you grew up in the south.

Broccoli and Rice Casserole

·         1 large onion, chopped

·         ½ cup butter

·         1 10oz package frozen chopped broccoli

·         1 cup quick-cooking rice, uncooked

·         1 10 ¾ oz can cream of chicken soup

·         ½ cup milk

·         1 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Saute onion in butter; add broccoli, rice soup, milk and half the cheese. Pour into a greased 2-quart casserole dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  Top with remaining cheese and bake 10 minutes longer. Makes 4-6 servings.

Also if you want a tasty varriation is to cook some chicken and shred that and add it in before you put it in to bake. :D

beef empanadas

So i came across this recipe on the internet a couple weeks back and finally tried it and i have to say this has quickly jumped to the top of my list of favorite things to eat :D They're pretty easy to make and you can make these for a party, for friends, or just something to have on hand in the freezer since they keep up to a month. If you're on a tight budget you can leave out the cream cheese and peppers, and replace it with a can of rotel. Also you will probably need more than one package of pie crust if you want to use all the mixture you prepared. I'd say two packages would be enough but i'm not positive on that. Anyways this is a super easy one and it tastes amazing i totally recommend you trying it yourself!

Ingredients

• 1 pound of scrambled and cooked ground beef
• 1 (8-ounce) package shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheeseblend
• 4 ounces cream cheese softened
• 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie crusts
• Water

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Lightly grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef and next 7 ingredients. Unroll 1 piecrust onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 15-inch circle. Cut out rounds, using a 3-inch cookie cutter. Re-roll dough as needed. Repeat procedure with remaining piecrusts, making 12 to 15 circles total. Arrange 1 round on a clean, flat surface. Lightly brush the edges of crust with water. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken mixture in the center of the round. Fold the dough over the filling, pressing the edges with a fork to seal. Repeat with the remaining rounds and chicken mixture. (Up to this point, the recipe can be made ahead and frozen for up to 1 month). Arrange empanadas on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

Pineapple Chicken~

mkay so this is one of those late night i need to eat now let's see what's in the fridge and pantry.  it's turned out great, even though it might sound a little like a strange combination :)


Soo here's all you need:


1 can of pineapples, diced/sliced/chunks/whatever type
2-3 chicken breasts
2 cups of rice
BBQ sauce


Directions:


1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Fill the bottom of the baking dish with water and place the chicken breasts in the dish and into the oven. Let it cook for about 10-15minutes.


2. Take the baking dish out and drain the water from the pan leaving the chicken. Pour your can of pineapple over your chicken and cook for another 8-10min.


3. Pull the chicken out one more time.Push the pineapple chunks/slices out of the way covering your chicken with BBQ sauce of your choice. Place the chunks/slices back over the chicken and cook for a final 10-15 minutes depending on how well done you like your chicken and pineapple.

country bbq chicken

Okay so i lied in the last post lol the recipe i was going to make i forgot two important ingredients so i'm going to have to put that one off until i can afford to get the last two things haha but i did make something new that was super easy and delicious! a country dinner of bbq chicken and veggies~


ingredients:


corn on the cob husks intact (number depends on how many people are eating, about 1 per person)
1 lb of chicken breasts
1 can of green beans
1 tbs of butter per corn cob
2 cups of rice


directions:


1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  In an oven safe dish place your desired about of chicken breasts (cleaned and don't forget to cut out those silvery tendons they taste gross lol). You're only going to be cooking one breast per person, so for this instance let's say we're cooking for two.  Put the two chicken breasts in your dish and put about 1/2 inch of water in the dish so your chicken doesn't dry out too much. Go ahead and pop that in the oven. They need to cook for about 15-20 minutes to cook all the way through.


2. Next you should start shucking your corn, pull out all those corn silk fibers, after all nothing is more annoying than trying to pick those out of your teeth haha. After you wash off your corn AND your corn husks sprinkle the corn with salt and pepper, you can go ahead and put your butter on now if you like but i prefer after it's cooked. Wrap your salt and peppered corn in the the cleaned corn husks so that the corn is totally covered. This is going to steam the corn, if you want the burn marks on your corn just leave the corn husks off. Pop these in the over along with your chicken.


3. Now as you're putting the corn in the water in your chicken dish should have cooked out of the dish now. If there's still some left that's good that means you don't need to add anymore, if there isn't any left add just enough water to cover the bottom. This keeps your bbq sauce from sticking to the bottom of your pan and making it a pain the ass to clean lol. Once you've added in the little bit of water (or not)  pour your bbq directly onto your chicken. If you have a sauce brush just brush that bbq sauce around until the chicken breasts are covered completely. Now put that back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.


4. Okay we're almost done, here's the easy part. Take the green beans from the can, rinse, and put into a microwave safe bowl covering with water. Sprinkle some salt in for taste. That goes into the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes. Now for the rice. After you take the green beans out put your 2cups of uncooked rice and 4cups of water in the microwave, covered and cook for 6 minutes...i think...i can't remember at the moment XD check the box it'll tell you lol. 


5. Okay your corn and chicken should be done by now along with your green beans and rice! So plate it up and enjoy! Also if you want to try something tasty put some of that bbq sauce on the corn ;D silly i know but sooo tasty lmao Hope you had fun! Enjoy!

Summer themed tasty chicken!

It's been awhile! sorry bout that! things have been pretty hectic at home so not a whole lot time to be typing up recipes :( but i've been watching the food network, a cooks best friend, and i saw the yummiest looking chicken recipe today on 30minute meals.  I'm going to improvise on that one due to some picky eaters in my family haha i'll post the final recipe later on tonight :D so im off to the store! woo!

Lasagna Casserole~

mkay this is another one of my quick-n-easy self made recipes.  I came up with this one back in high school because one of the things my dad loved for me to make was lasagna, but the problem is lasagna noodles are a pain in the butt to cook with.  I never seem to have a pot deep enough to cook them in, so one night I decided to use shell noodles instead (since they are my favorite lol).  Personally I think it's a heck of a lot easier to cook lasagna this way! and this should be something you'd be able to cook in the dorms :D ...well except for the beef, I'm not sure how to pull that one off :(   (also forgive me for misspelling any of the ingredients lol)

Ingredients:


1 box of shaped pasta
1/2 small container of ricotta cheese
1 small jar of pasta sauce (I use prego traditional)
1lb of beef
1/2 cup of grated parmasan cheese

Directions:

Stove 1.  Start scrambling the beef and put your water onto boil (remember you need 4 cups of water for every cup of dry pasta). Cook pasta until desired tenderness, should take 8-12 minutes

Dorm 1.  Put your water (same amount in stove) and past into a covered microwave safe bowl (make sure the steam has somewhere to escape to) and cook on high for about 10-12 minutes per cup of pasta. Keep an eye on it, if you're water level goes lower than your pasta level then stop and add more water.

Stove 2.  Once your pasta is finished cooking the meat should be too, so drain the water and add the meat to the pot of noodles then add your jar of pasta sauce and half of the container of ricotta and stir. Once the sauce is warmed completely through sprinkle on the parmasan and you're ready to eat!

Dorm 2.  Once the pasta is done remove the lid of your pasta sauce and pop that in the microwave for about 3 minutes (i'll be honest i've never warmed pasta sauce this way, but it should work just fine) keep warming at intervals of 3 minutes and stirring after each one til the sauce is warm.  Then add to your noodles and half the container of ricotta stir it up then sprinkle on the parmasan and you too are done! :D

Sorry for no recipes lately!

I've been super busy with studying for tests so i haven't had time to post any new recipes but I promise they're on the way!  Some of the yummiest things i've ever eaten were dishes my grandmothers have made and i'm planning to grab a few of those recipes when i head home this weekend :D because there's nothing better than some home cookin for those times you can't make it home :D