Crockpot Chicken Parm

Super Easy, Super Yummy! 
Another great meal the family loved! We made garlic noodles and mixed veggies to go with!

Ingredients:
1 1/2lbs. Boneless skinless chicken breast
1 jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce (I used Mama's Special Garden Sauce)
1 cup shredded fresh Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
1. Place chicken in chicken in the crockpot (frozen or thawed, I thawed it out enough to separate them.
2. Pour sauce over chicken.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
4. Remove chicken onto dinner plate and sprinkle Parmesan Cheese on top.

My Grandma's Green Bean Casserole

 Since I can remember this dish has been made each year for Thanksgiving and sometime Christmas. It is one of those dishes that fills the air of the house with memories of family cutting, chopping, baking and cooking in the kitchen together. Sitting around the table laughing, talking, giving thanks and enjoying great food. All the while I would sit secretly hoping there was enough of this left over for seconds. There was never any leftovers of it (after seconds, and sometimes thirds) and I would find myself scrapping the sides before washing the baking dish out. 

As the wonderful smell currently envelopes the house while I make this for the Thanksgiving Dinner at the Barracks event on base for the hubby's guys, my tummy and taste buds are going crazy! (I've doubled the recipe for this event and tend to add more bacon and cheese to it when I make it, this is the original recipe though).

Ingredients:

2 bags regular cut green beans

4-6 slices bacon chopped

3 inches of velvetta cheese cubed

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

4-6 mushrooms washed and sliced

Directions:

Pour Beans in hot water until completely thawed

Completely strain water from beans

Cut bacon into small pieces

Add soup, mushrooms, bacon and cheese to green beans

Get your hands dirty and mix it all together (remember to take off rings! I have cooked my rings before in with this meal!)

Bake for 60 min at 325 degrees

ENJOY!

Homemade Chicken and Dumplings

 My girlfriend made our families an awesome meal tonight! It was my hubby's FIRST time having Chicken and Dumplings (that were not from an MRE)!!! Our oldest and he chowed down on it like there was no tomorrow. I managed to get a few bites in... ;) The hubby scrapped the bottom of the pot. Needless to say, I snagged the recipe from her to be able to share with all of you AND make here at home for the bottomless pit family I have. :)

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

Half an onion chopped into big pieces

Butter 2 tablespoons of

Italian seasoning (3 teaspoons)

2 garlic cloves cut into 4's

Chicken Broth 62 ounces (1 1/2 boxes)

6 Chicken Bouillon Cubes

Half bag of baby carrots

4 stems celery chopped

Dumplings:

Bisquick for dumplings 2/4 cup

Milk 2/3 cup

Directions:

1. Boil chicken for 2 hours with water just covering the the top of the chicken with:
Onion, Butter,  Italian seasoning,  Garlic cloves added

2. Shred chicken inside pot after boiling

3. Put in chicken broth after 2 hours with bouillon cubes, baby carrots and chopped celery

4. Boil for 30-45min

5. Bisquick  2/4 cup mix and 2/3 cup of milk; it will be thick make sure you get all of flour mixed together

6. Take globs of batter and throw it into soup

7. It will all settle to the top use spoon to mix it in with the soup

8. Let it cook with the soup for 15 minutes on med-high to let dumplings cook through.

Pork Chop and Potato Skillet

Ingredients:
6 Pork Chops (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can (4 ounces) mushroom pieces and stems, undrained
1/4 cup of water
4 tablespoons apple juice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh or dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
6 medium new potatoes or red poatatoes, cut into fourths
1 package (10 ounces) frozen green peas, rinsed and drained

Directions:
1. Spray large skillet or electric skillet with cooking spray; heat over med-high heat. Cook pork in skillet, turning once, until brown.

2. Mix soup, mushrooms, water, apple sauce, thyme, garlic powder, and worcestershire sauce; pour over pork. Heat to boiling, stir a few times throughout; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 min.

3. Add potatoes. cover and simmer 15 min. Stir in peas. Cover and simmer about 10 min, stir a few times until peas are tender and pork is slightly pink when cut near bone. 

Homemade Sweet Potato Fries

 Tonight we decided to make Patty Melt's for dinner, on the way to get the ingredients we decided homemade sweet potato fries would be a PERFECT side for this meal.... And maaaaannnn we're we right!!! These were AMAZING!!!!!! (And perfect addition to a paleo diet or meal).

 Ingredients:
2 Large Sweet Potatoes
3 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
1/2 Tablespoon of paprika
1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
-Chop sweet potato into slices

-In a large bowl, mix all the spices together with the coconut oil and then toss the sweet potato slices with the oil mixture until they are all evenly coated

 -Line a large cookie sheet or two medium sheets with tin foil and evenly spread the slices in the foil

-Bake for 30-45 minutes, turn the slices over halfway though the cooking time

Paleo Meal: Breaded Baked Chicken and Butternut Squash Soup

One of the hubby's Marines puts on a Paleo potluck about once a month. In an effort to try out a few recipes prior to and seeing which one might taste best we have decided to dig into a few of our Paleo cookbooks and give some meals a try. (That and the hubby is a health nut, we are getting pretty bored with a number of meals, and I am attempting to eat healthier while exercising as well.) This particular meal turned out wonderful and was actually extremely filling!!! I got the recipes out of the book Everyday Paleo that you can get HERE if interested. It has great meals and a cool meal plan for an entire month written out weekly with a shopping list PLUS workouts to do with your kids, workouts for kids, by yourself and with a partner!

~Chicken~
Ingredients:
3 eggs (we use egglands best because they have a lower amount of fat and are much healthier)
1 cup almond meal
1 cup coconut flour
1 tablespoon garlic powder
Black pepper to taste
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
Coconut oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the eggs in one dish and in a separate dish mix almond mean, coconut flour, garlic powder and black pepper.
2. Dip chicken pieces one at a time into the egg. Next, roll the chicken in the breading mixture until both sides are covered.
3. Place the chicken in a glass baking dish that has been lightly greased with coconut oil. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the chicken juices run clear.

~Butternut Squash Soup~
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
2 garlic cloves
1/2 white onion
2 cups gluten-free chicken broth
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Cook in a pressure cooker for 20 min. (We steamed it for 30 min because we don't own a pressure cooker)
2. Scoop the squash out of its skin and into a food processor (we have an attachment to our blender and used that).
3. Add the garlic and onion into the food processor with the squash and process until completely smooth.
4. Transfer to a large soup pot and add the remaining ingredients. Mix well and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
5. Turn down to low and let the soup simmer, stirring often for 10-15 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Dirty Rice

Ingredients:

3 Cups White or Brown Rice
6 Cups Water
1 lb 97/3 Hamburger meat
Garlic Salt

Directions:

Place 3 cups rice in rice cooker or pot via stove top, pour in 6 cups water.
Cook rice
Brown meat while adding garlic salt to taste. I usually do 3 good shakes into the meat while it cooks.
Once both rice and meat are done mix them together in a bigger pot.
Add more garlic salt to taste.

Enjoy!

Garlic Cheddar Chicken

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, and cook the garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.

In a shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Cheddar cheese, oregano, pepper, and salt.

Dip each chicken breast in the garlic butter to coat, then press into the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in a glass baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.

Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Yummy Mac & Cheese Quick Lunch

Ingredients:
1 Box Kraft Deluxe 4 Cheese Macaroni & Cheese
1 12.5 oz Can Chicken Breast in water
1 Small Can diced mushrooms  in water
Black peppercorn grounder

Instructions:
Cook Noodles per instructions
Drain and add cheese
Drain chicken breast meat
Cut meat into smaller pieces with a spoon
Drain Mushroom slices
Add chicken and mushrooms- mix together
Pepper to taste