Italian Chicken & Potatoes

Yesterday when I went to the store I forgot my shopping list which was not good. I managed to remember most things but forgot a couple of things so I wasn't able to make one of the dinners I had been planning. So, I decided I was time to try and make my own dish up and it was GREAT :) What I came up with was basically the same a recipe my family LOVE but I put my own twist to it. The other recipe uses the crock put and just chicken but I didn't want to use the crock pot and I wanted to use up some of the potatoes we had. I think it turned out really well, well apart from the fact it overflowed all over my oven, whoops ;) Anyway I think this will become a family staple, now I just can't wait for Steve to get home so he can try it too, I think he's going to LOVE it, YUMMY!!!3 chicken breasts cut into strips
1 lb. butter gold potatoes, cubed (you could use any kind of potatoes, these are what I had)
1 (8 oz.) box cream cheese (I used neufchatel cheese because it's less fat)
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 c. milk
1 pkg. dry Italian dressing

Preheat oven to 375F. Put chicken and potatoes in a 9x13 dish chicken and potatoes. Combine all other ingredients and mix until combined well. Pour soup mixture over chicken and potatoes. Cover dish with foil and bake for around 1 1/2 hours. I had the oven set at 400F which made the soup mixture bubble too much and go everywhere. I took the foil off for the last 10 minutes but you don't really need to do that. I mainly did that so it would stop bubbling everywhere, hahaha! I served this with TONS of vegetables which I LOVE, enjoy :)

This recipe had about 1715 calories in it the way I made it which isn't too bad I don't think. It was 286 calories for 1 serving (when you divide it by 6).

Banana/Strawberry/White Chocolate Chip Bread

One of my favourite desserts is banana bread. The other day I came across this recipe so I had to try it because it looked so DELICIOUS :) The recipe called for raspberries but I didn't have any so I used strawberries instead, I think you could really use a variety of berries and it would taste great.

(This picture was taken a while after I made this bread so the strawberries were a little soggy)

1 c. flour

1 c. whole wheat flour
2/3 c. white sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c. vanilla yogurt
1/4 c. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. fresh raspberries (I used strawberries which I cut into small pieces)
3/4 c. white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray (I used 3 mini loaf pans). In a bowl combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, mix the eggs, bananas, vanilla yogurt, oil, and vanilla until well combined. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet mixture until well blended. Fold in white chocolate chips then add most of the raspberries (I used strawberries) and fold them gently into the mixture as well. Pour the batter into the loaf pan then push the remaining raspberries (strawberries) into the top of the loaf. Bake in the oven for 55-60 minutes (It only took 45 minutes for the mini loaves) or until a tester comes out of the center clean. Let the bread cool and ENJOY :)

I think next time I make this recipe I will try another kind of berry and maybe not use the brown flour. I really like brown flour but I think my husband prefers just the white. I maybe even just use this idea with my usual banana bread recipe too and see how that turns out.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I've been meaning to make this recipe for a couple of weeks and finally got round to it tonight. It was WAY easier than I thought it was going to be as well which was nice. Even though I'm loving trying to recipes sometimes I get put off when the recipe seems like it's a lot of work. The thing that kept putting me off this recipe was making the meatballs, I don't know why. Anyway they were SOOO easy and it was fun doing something I had never done before. This is another recipe from the school cookbook, it was submitted by Shari Bruce. My kids LOVED the meatballs but really aren't fans of rice. They ate the meatballs SUPER fast but it took them a while to eat the rice but I'm a mean Mom and I make them eat everything. I thought it was REALLY yummy too but it was quite high in calories, luckily I hadn't eaten tons during the day so I had enough calories to spare. The whole meal was 2308 calories. I made 24 meatballs so I just divided the calorie amount by that and just multiplied that number by how many meatballs I ate so I guess the meal could have been less but I was hungry :) You'll have to add the rice too, I used brown rice so for 1/2 c. it was 150 calories.
1 1/2 lb. raw hamburger
1 beaten egg
1/2 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
dash of garlic salt
dash of onion salt
dash of nutmeg
2 slices of bread (I used 3 slices of whole wheat bread)

Mix ingredients together and form into balls (I made 24 meatballs, they were a good size). Bake meatballs for 20 minutes at 350F. Drain well.

1 15 oz. can pineapple tidbits, drain and reserve liquid (I used a 20 oz. can)
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. vinegar
1 c. reserved pineapple juice and water (I just used all the reserved juice)
2 tsp. beef bouillon granules
2 T. soy sauce

On top of stove, combine cornstarch, bouillon, vinegar, sugar, salt, soy sauce and pineapple juice. Cook until bubbly and thickened. Add green pepper and pineapple tidbits. Add meatballs to pineapple mixture and stir gently until all meatballs are coated. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve over rice. Freezes well so you could double the recipe and freeze half for another day. To freeze put meatballs into a freezer bag and pour cooled sauce over meatballs. When ready to use thaw and simmer for 15 minutes.

Chicken/Pasta/Chicken Casserole

I have been so good at making new recipes lately but today I wasn't in the mood so I decided to make one of my old faithful recipes :) A few years back my mother in law put this recipe together and ever since then this has been one of our family favourites, it's SUPER YUMMY and very easy :)
3-4 cooked chicken breasts, cubed or shredded
1 (12 oz.) bag wide pasta ribbons (I used whole wheat pasta tonight)
1 (26 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
1 c. sour cream (I used fat free)
2 c. frozen mixed vegetables (you could use any or none at all)
1 c. grated cheese (as much as you like depending on how cheesy you want it. I didn't use any today)
1 box chicken stuffing, prepared

Preheat oven to 400F. Start cooking pasta (I usually have already cooked the chicken before or at the same time as cooking the pasta). Mix together soup, sour cream, vegetables and grated cheese. Once pasta is cooked add that and the chicken to the soup mixture. Place mixture into a 9x13 dish and cover with stuffing evenly (I used 2, 8x8 dishes tonight so I could freeze one for another day). Cover with foil and bake for around 40-45 minutes. Take foil off and cook for another 5-10 minutes, or until stuffing starts to brown.

For this whole recipe there was 3480 calories. That doesn't include cheese though, that would make it more. Also if you used regular pasta it would be more too but not by too much. I think this recipe makes about 12 servings or more depending on how much you eat.

Monster Cookies

Today I was in the mood to make cookies so I decided to make one of my old faithful recipes that I used to make ALL the time. These cookies are my daughters favourite cookies so I knew she would be excited when she got home. As soon as she walked through the door after school she said she could smell cookies, then she ate about 10 of them and wanted more. She's so mini but can eat TONS, I wish I could do that ;) This recipe came from a cookbook my ward put together a few years back, it was submitted by Heather Carter (thanks Heather, we LOVE this recipe). I used to use a medium size scoop to make these cookies but today used my new small one and I think it was better. I was able to make 7 dozen cookies with this recipe so I had plenty to take to neighbours which we always like to do :)1 c. light brown sugar
1 c. sugar
3 eggs
1/2 c. margarine
1/2 T. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c peanut butter
1 c. mini M&M's
1 c. mini semi sweet chocolate chips
4 1/2 c. quick oats

Cream together brown sugar, sugar, eggs and margarine. Add corn syrup, vanilla, baking soda, salt and mix well. Add peanut butter (I use the measure all cup for this which I think is GREAT) and mix well again. Stir in M&M's, chocolate chips and quick oats. Spoon onto cookie sheet and bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes (cook time is 4-5 minutes longer when you use the medium scoop).

You could use ANY kind of chocolate chips you have for this recipe. Maybe these will become one of your family favourites too, ENJOY :)

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

I've been meaning to make this meal for the past couple of weeks and tonight I finally got round to it. It was super easy to make which is always good. I was just a little frazzled while making it because Steve wasn't home, Austin was awake and not too happy because he had missed a nap, my other kids were all over the place and Maddie was meant to be home so she could go to volleyball but she was off with her friend cleaning out window wells for money ;) Luckily I have a WONDERFUL neighbour who went to find Maddie for me, thanks :) Anyway this meal turned out good, I wish it had been a little more cheesier, our family LOVE cheese! The good thing about this though was that it wasn't as grainy as other alfredo sauces I've made in the past. I think the next time I try and make an alfredo sauce I will just try adding more cheese to this recipe. This recipe was from the school cookbook again, it was submitted by Judy Ritter.
3/4 lb. fettuccine noodles
1/4 c. butter
2/3 c. heavy cream
2/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 c. cooked chicken, cubed (I just grilled chicken breasts and sliced them)
salt and pepper to taste
ground nutmeg (I didn't use this)

When pasta is almost done cooking, melt butter in a saucepan. Add cream and 1/3 c. of the parmesan cheese. Simmer over very low heat for 4-5 minutes until sauce starts to thicken. The recipe said to put the pasta in a dish, place chicken and desired vegetables on top and then pour alfredo sauce over everything. Then it says to sprinkle with remaining cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Instead I just mixed the alfredo sauce with the pasta and served it that way. Then I put the chicken and vegetables on the side. We had broccoli and corn as our vegetables, I always have LOTS of veggies and not as much of the main dish. I figured out the calories for the noodles and sauce, for the whole dish it was 2200 (then divide it by however much you have).

Layer of Love Chocolate Brownies

Before I write anything else about this dessert I want to let you know that these brownies are SUPER rich but also VERY good, hence I ate about 4 pieces, NOT GOOD!

This has been something I have wanted to make ever since I found this blog, Cupcake Diaries and I finally got round to making them for Sunday dinner. I ended up doubling the recipe because we were having a big family dinner. This recipe originally came from Very Best Baking which is now another site I really like. I think the next time I try this recipe I won't add quite as much cocoa and maybe not as much caramel either. This is one of the main things I'm loving about cooking, figuring out what I can do next time to make the recipes I try suit my family better next time or just be able to make my own recipe from the recipes I try, it's GREAT :)3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. baking cocoa
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter, cut in pieces (I used margarine)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
3 eggs, divided
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. chopped pecans (I didn't use these)
3/4 c. white chocolate chips
1/2 c. caramel ice cream topping
3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8 square baking pan, (I used a 9x13 dish when I doubled the recipe). Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar until creamy. Add 2 eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Add vanilla extract and mix well. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Take aside 3/4 c. of the batter. Spread the rest of the batter into the greased baking pan. Sprinkle the nuts and white morsels over the batter in the pan. Then drizzle the caramel over the top of that. Beat remaining egg into the batter set aside until the batter is light in color. Stir in the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Spread evenly over the caramel layer. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the center is set (longer if doubling the recipe, I cooked it for a little too long though). Cool completely and cut into bars.