Easy Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Last night I had only taken out 3 chicken breasts before I left for work.  I made sure I had taken out the meat to make chili for the following day and drew a blank completley for last night. 

I ended up just grabbing things I had in my fridge and doing the best I could and everyone actually liked it.

You start out with some spaghetti sauce.  I had some leftover italian style in a jar so I put it in the bottom of the baking dish.

Next you will take chicken breasts, however many you are choosing to cook and make sure they are thawed out.  Take a knife and slice a hole in the middle of them- making sure not to cut through to the bottom of the chicken, just enough to stuff it.

Next I got out some Ricotta cheese, blue cheese crumbles and shredded mozarella and put it in a bowl and mixed it together.

(The spaghetti sauce just happened to make it into the picture)

Next, take the mixture and use your spoon/fingers to push it into the slice you created in your chicken. 
After that I just poured the rest of my spaghetti sauce and some basil on the chicken

I baked this at 400 degrees for about 40-45 minutes or until the chicken was fully cooked in the middle.
It was pretty good and it did not take me too long.  I hope you all enjoy it and can come up with other ideas of what to stuff chicken with now that you see how easy it was.  Let me know if you find a new creation!

Macaroni and Grilled Cheese Sandwich

My older son loves grilled cheese but I get tired of seeing him eat the same types of food so I switched it up a bit, and it was a hit..and of course it's simple.  I used boxed macaroni and cheese but those of you who are organic or don't use boxed food can use noodles and cheese.

Boil the noodles and cook the Mac'N'Cheese as you normally would.  Then get out your Foreman grill or however you decide to grill it and just spoon some of the Mac'N'Cheese on to the slice of bread..

Then spray or butter the top part that is going to shut on the other piece of bread, so it doesn't stick and be ready for cheest goodness.

I know my little monkey eats it up!

Cilantro Fiesta Eggs

So this morning my husband woke up after we didn't get home until pretty late, and he was craving some delicious food.  Good thing he is married to me, right? ha! This recipe is to die for and much easier than I originally had thought it would be. 

So first thing is first.  Here is what you need to do. 

• Cut up half an onion and sautee it in a skillet for about 5 minutes with some oil.
• Then add about 4 chopped tomatoes and 1 can of black beans and some chopped cilantro (I did about 5-8 pieces)
• Put in a tablespoon of chili powder and a tablespoon of cumin, and a tablespoon of garlic. Cook on medium heat and it should look like below.

You will want to bring this to a "boil" once you have added all those ingredients and then let it simmer for 10 minutes or so.  After 10 minutes of simmering this sauce should of thickened.

The above is not a great photo but it will have to do.  You will spoon 1/2 the sauce into a baking dish

and then you will crack 4 eggs on top of the sauce.  Then put the remaining sauce AROUND the cracked eggs.  Put this in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes (or until the eggs set) then you remove the dish and top with cheese.  Once the cheese melts, enjoy!

Have a great morning!

White Girl Enchiladas

Today I am posting a recipe for enchiladas that I call "White Girl Enchiladas."

I only called them that because I am a white girl cooking a hispanic dish, so if it is not "authentic" I can just say "Well, they're white girl enchiladas."  Fear not, they are still VERY good.  It's the first dish I ever cooked for my husband before he was my husband so it's close to my heart.

Anyway, here are some things you will need.

PRE HEAT your oven to 350 degrees.

Items you should have:

So I am going to tell you what is in the above.  Shredded cheese (I use monterey jack but if you want to get into the culture of it, you can use fiesta style or mexican cheese) flour tortillas (soft taco size) I used a rotisserie chicken and just pulled the meat off, and green enchilada sauce.  If you prefer red, get the red, but I prefer green. Next..

Open the can of sauce and pour it in whatever dish you are using for these.   I normally would use a clear pyrex dish but it broke and I have not purchased a new one yet.  So I am using a casserole dish.

Place the shredded chicken and cheese in the middle of the tortilla and roll it up like a small burrito.

Place it in the dish with the sauce.  Then you will just continue to add more enchiladas next to that one until your dish is full or you run out of chicken.

Cover with another layer of sauce and then cheese (add as much or as little sauce as you prefer, I like mine moist) and you can garnish with chopped green onions if you would like. 

Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese melts (because everything is already cooked)

Then get out your cerveza and enjoy!!

Thai Peanut Chicken in the Crockpot

Good Morning!

Today's recipe is pretty simple, I like to keep it that way on FRIDAY'S!!

Thai Peanut Chicken in the crockpot.  Sound good?  It sure did to me.  It's pretty simple.
Here is everything you will need (except the chicken!):

In case that image was not suffice for you, I will explain what is in the photo.

• Soy sauce- 3 tablespoons
• Jar of salsa (entire thing)
• Lime juice (4 tablespoons)
• Creamy (or crunchy) peanut butter (3 tablespoons)
• Chicken Broth (1/2 cup)

You can use whatever type of chicken you want.  I used 3 breasts and they were still frozen when I put them in there.  HOW EASY is that?!

Cook on low for 4-5 hours!


Optional: Before you serve you can put some coconut milk, about 1/2 cup while it warm.  I didn't have time to find coconut milk so I cheated and used some coconut shavings and a little regular milk (ha!)

Then you can serve it over rice and garnish with peanuts. 

Here is the finished product:

Raspberry, Pear, Bacon Grilled Cheese

Now, when some of you hear this you may think "fruit with my bacon? noway." WAY! It is so good! I promise you.  My 8 year old and my husband both enjoyed this.  So just try it!


Here is what you will need.  Grainy bread (or bread that is pretty sturdy) Raspberry preserves, pears, (I used canned because I don't enjoy skinning pears) and then cut the pears long ways to fit the sandwich, muenster cheese and some bacon.

Next you should get out your FOREMAN grill if you have one, unless you are doing it "the old fashioned way" in a skillet..

So anyway, butter the side of the bread that is going to be touching the pan, spray that sucker so it doesnt stick with some PAM or whatever you choose, spread raspberry preserves (also known as jelly to most) and put the pears on top the jelly

Then place the bacon on top of the pears, and the muenster cheese on top of the bacon..

Then place the other pieces of bread (OPPOSITE side should be buttered) and close the grill..

and can I just say this is ONE GOOD sandwich??? I hope you enjoy!

Crispy Fried Goat Cheese Wedges

Have you ever had goat cheese?  It is something that you have to be sure you like before you decide to try this recipe.  It has a unique taste that I love but not everyone does. 

Here is what you will need: bread crumbs, garlic, basil, salt, oregano

Put all these seasonings into a bowl..

Then you will need to get out 2 eggs, crack them into one bowl, and a bowl of flour.  Your counter should like something like this. 

Okay so goat cheese is not the easiest cheese to work with.  You will need to probably put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before you want to cut the wedges.  After EVERY slice, you need to take a paper towel and wipe off the cheese before slicing again or it will flake apart.

So once you slice a wedge of goat cheese, you will dip it in the flour

Then you will dip it into the egg..

and then the seasoning/bread crumbs.
Heat up the skillet with some olive oil and throw these babies in! THEY COOK fast! I learned the hard way as a couple of mine burnt.  So stand there with your spatula and flip every couple of minutes.  THEN EJOY!

My Recipe Featured on a NY News Website!

I was so excited to see this and just had to share this with my followers! How exciting!  My "NY Giants Support Punch" was featured on a NY News website:


http://webster-penfield.whec.com/news/61686-your-super-bowl-recipes

I have only been launched for 5 days and so far, so good!  Thanks everyone for reading!

Cheesy Cauliflower Hashbrowns

I promised more cauliflower recipes, and now I am here to deliver on that promise!  If you are looking for a healthy snack recipe, you have come to the right spot.

Do you have a rice cooker? If you do, cut up your cauliflower into florets and toss it into the rice cooker but hit "steam" (like if you were steaming the rice) otherwise, you will just have to steam your cauliflower the old fashioned way with a little water in the bottom on the stove in a pot with a lid or however you prefer.

Once the cauliflower is done steaming you will take it out and put it in a bowl

There is the cauliflower in the rice cooker. 

Next you will take out the cauliflower and put it in a bowl and mix it with some bread crumbs, 1 egg, a pinch of cayenne pepper, a pinch of salt, and some grated cheddar cheese!

It does not look too appetizing at this point but don't be so judgemental. 

The next step would be forming patties and making sure you have enough bread crumbs on the patties to keep them together.  The duty of the bread crumbs and egg is to keep these together.  Put them in a skillet with a little olive oil on medium heat and cook on each side for about 6-8 minutes and VOILA! Deliciousness!!

My husband ate them with ketchup.  I think they would be good with some sour cream too.  I ate them plain and they were very tasty and so much healthier than potatoe hashbrowns.  Enjoy!

NY Giants Support Punch

Well, today is the day we find out if the Giants go to the superbowl.  In my house, this is a big day.  My husband is going to be yelling, my baby is going to be freaking out, and we need to have some good things to eat and drink during the havoc. 

My first superbowl appetizer treat for today is NY Giants support punch.  I'm not going to lie, it can be tricky.

You will start by locating a CLEAR glass drink container like this:

Then you are going to have to basically get AS MUCH ice as you can.  I cannot stress to you the importance of ice.  If you are some sort of magical ice wizard and can find a BLOCK of ice that will fit in the top to layer the colors that would be much better, otherwise...get a lot of ice.

I used 5 bowls of ice like the above.

Next you will need your blue and red drinks.  So, my husband did not care if red was on top or blue was on top but I wanted the red over the blue. 

So first I put in my blue hawaiian punch

Then I added A TON of ice...I mean as much as I possibly could to create a layer between the colors.  Then I poured the RED hawaiian punch over the blue but you must be careful to pour the second layer slowly onto the ice cubes so they do not mix.  If you add the second layer quickly and do not have a thick enough layer of ice, it will mix.

The end result?

Depending upon how much ice you have it is supposed to last up to 4 hours. 

Important things to note about this:

• Whichever color you want on the second layer must have LESS sugar than the BELOW color.  You have to check the sugar grams and make sure they have different amount of sugar. 

• If you want to add WHITE to this drink you can use diet 7up.  You must make sure that they do not have the same level of sugars in each drink or it will mix.

• You can use whatever colored drinks you want but you need to pay attention to the sugar levels.

ENJOY! GO GIANTS!!

Garlic Toasted Chickpeas

Are you looking for a healthy dinner recipe?  Something for you or your hubby to munch on while throwing back a few cold ones?  Garlic toasted chickpeas were made for this.  They would also be good as just a snack, but these can easily take the place of peanuts and are much less expensive than peanuts.

Here are the ingredients you will need (flashback to the spicy roasted cauliflower??)

Next you are going to open the chickpeas and rinse them and drain them.

Then you will take a paper towel and blot the chickpeas dry from water as best you can.

Then you will combine some olive oil in a bowl with the garlic powder and chili pepper (you can use whatever spice you prefer, such as cayenne) I added probably 4 tablespoons of olive oil for one can of beans.

Next you thrown the chickpeas in the mixture and use your hands to coat them in this mixture.


The last thing you do, is put the pretty beans on a baking sheet and baked at 400 degrees for about 50 min or until the beans are crunchy.  I use foil on the baking sheet because it means less to clean up afterward.

After your timer beeps that the beans are toasted, if they are ready you will put them in your mouth and ENJOY! These are also a great snack for kid's lunches.

 I will be posting more gameday food for tomorrow, later this afternoon.  Get your chickpea on!

Crispy Salmon Patties

Good morning!

Today's recipe I am posting is crispy salmon patties.  This recipe is good because not only is canned salmon  a lot less expensive than salmon fillets, and salmon is healthy for you, but I personally cannot afford to eat salmon all the time living in Texas where there is not a bunch of salmon to be caught.. ( canned salmon can be found near the canned tuna, but make sure you get BONELESS and skinless because tiny bones are annoying..)

Anyway, here is what you will need.

(depending on the amount of people you have or their appetite)

I used

•  3 cans of salmon (for 4 people)
• 2 green onions chopped
• 1 egg
• a small bowl of seasoned bread crumbs
• a pinch of garlic (optional! but I heart garlic!)

Start by draining the salmon and putting it into a bowl

Then you can chop up some green onions..

Then you can mix the green onions and salmon (with your hands, you will smell so good.) 

Add an egg to this mixture

roll into the bread crumbs, or put bread crumbs onto the surface you are using to create patties..

Then you will put these beauties into a skillet on medium with a minimal amount of oil (because you dont want to be a fatty!)

and cook each side for 6-8 min...fish cooks quick so dont go playing with your baby or leave the room...

Then you remove and.... voila! Serve with veggies and rice! (Or french fries if you are Tessa!)

If you want to add salt you can but I don't because..well, if you've ever been in an ocean you know what it tastes like so fish is pretty much naturally salty (in most cases)