Sour Cream Slow Cooker Chicken

Oh no! I missed a day! I could give you lots of reasons why I forgot to blog yesterday, but the fact is...I just forgot.

Well here is what I had planned to blog about yesterday:

I found this recipe on Pinterest.

Sour Cream Slow Cooker Chicken

10 slices bacon
5 chicken breasts
1 cup sour cream
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup flour

Wrap each chicken breast in 2 slices of bacon and place in the slow cooker.
In a bowl, mix the sour cream, soup, and flour then pour over the chicken.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

This turned out really good. The chicken was a little dry in the middle but the sauce was amazing and the bacon added a lot of flavor! This recipe is definitly a keeper.

31 Days Challenge - Day 7 - Updated Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Here is my original recipe for Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas. I made it again recently, but slightly altered the recipe. I liked it better this time. I made a double recipe and took one pan to a new mom. She also commented that she liked it. Here is the new recipe:

Ingredients:
1 can cream of chicken soup
Taco seasoning
1 cup sour cream
3/4 lb. cheddar cheese
3 boneless chicken breast
12 small flour tortillas

Directions:
Cook chicken as instructed on the seasoning packet.
Combine soup, sour cream, chicken and most of the cheese.
Fill each tortilla with mixture and roll up.
Place filled tortillas in greased pan.
Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
Cover and refridgerate overnight.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Meatball Subs

#9 on my 30 B4 30 list is done! I have "perfected the meatball sandwich." OK...so "perfect" is certainly based on personal preference...so I guess I shouldn't say it's perfect...but it's super easy to make, so it's perfect for me! I found a few different recipes online and simplified them to make them easy enough for me. Here's how I made mine:

Ingredients:
1 lb italian sausage
1 cup italian bread crumbs
1 egg
1 jar marinara sauce (I used a 4 cheese flavor)
provalone cheese (which I forgot to buy, so I used parm)
french bread hoagies

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Mix meat, bread crumbs, and egg in a bowl. Really the only way I could get it well mixed was to squish it with my hands.
Form the mixture into balls and place them into a well greased casserole pan.

Bake the meatballs for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the marinara sauce in a large skillet.
Take the meatballs out of the oven and spoon them into the bubbling sauce.

Gently shake the pan to stir, as using a spoon may break the meatballs.
Simmer for another 20 minutes.
I did not toast our hoagies, but it would be easy to throw them in the oven after the meatballs if you want to.
Spoon the meatballs on the bread and top with cheese.

If you try them, let me know what you think. Jake loves them!

Crock Pot Beef Burritos

I love crock pot recipes, and this one is a dump it in and leave it all day kind.

Ingredients:

a hunk of beef about 2 pounds (we got what was on sale...I think a shoulder maybe?)
a jar of salsa
tortillas
sour cream

Directions:

Put the meat in the crockpot.

Pour the entire jar of salsa on top of the meat.

Cook on medium heat for about 6 hours.

The juices will come out of the meat to make the salsa soupy. Use 2 forks to shred the meat. Then cover and cook another 2 hours.

Serve on tortillas with sour cream. Yum!



Pizza Mac

I found a delicious and easy recipe for Pizza Mac last year. It has become one of our favorite meals.

Ingredients:

1 box mac and cheese

1 lb ground beef

1 jar pizza sauce

1 pack pepperonis

1 lb italian mix shredded cheese

Directions:

Brown beef, then drain

Meanwhile, prepare the macaroni as directed on the package

spread the mac and cheese on the bottom of a casserole pan

spread half of the cheese on top of the mac and cheese

 spread all of the beef on top of the cheese

 spread the entire jar of pizza sauce on top of the beef

 top with a layer of pepperonis

 top with the other half of the cheese

 Cook at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes until the cheese on top turns golden

Enjoy!

Easy Beef Burritos

I'm a lame blogger. I haven't posted in over a year, but I finally have internet at home, so I'm planning to try to get back into blogging.

As my first post back, I would like to start off with an awesome easy recipe. Jake found this crockpot recipe and it became a new favorite.

Ingredients:
2-3 lb boneless beef chuck shoulder
large jar of salsa
flour tortillas
optional toppings (we had shredded cheese and sour cream)

Directions:
Cook beef and salsa in a crockpot for 8-10 hours on medium heat.
Take beef out and pull apart with two forks, then mix back in the salsa.
Cook another 2 hours on high. (we only cooked an additional 30 minutes because we were hungry!)
Serve on tortillas with your choice of toppings.

Bavarian Chicken

If you remember my Oktoberfest post, I LOVED the chicken we got there. We decided to try to make it, and found an incredibly easy recipe online. It said to stuff the inside with a huge handful of parsley and put lots of butter on the skin. How much easier could it be?

Well, again our Commissary failed and had absolutely no whole chicken, frozen or fresh. We decided to settle with a few frozen cornish game hens. We stuffed them full of parsley and rubbed butter all over them. It did taste good, but Jake thinks that was just because of all the butter on it. It still wasn't anywhere near as good as the Oktoberfest chicken.

I served it with french fries, just like they do at Oktoberfest, and the meal was incredibly filling, so we put the leftovers in the fridge. The next day the skins looked so wrinkly that I couldn't bring myself to eat it anymore. I don't know if I'll ever try to make it again with a big chicken. I might just let myself remember the chicken we had in Germany as the best chicken ever and never try to match it!

Vegetable Soup and Grandma Jack's Sweet Milk Rolls

I got a very easy recipe for Vegetable Soup from church friends Charlie and Beth Brandhorst and this Homemade Roll recipe from my Grandma Jack.

Vegetable Soup:

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion (chopped)

30 oz. spaghetti sauce

2 cups water

1 can beef broth

salt & pepper to taste

16 oz frozen vegetables

Brown ground beef and onion, then combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer on low for 10 minutes.

It was very good, but almost too much spaghetti sauce. Next time I might try less tomato sauce and maybe more beef broth.

Grandma's Sweet Milk Rolls:

1 package yeast (the regular kind, not the quick one)

2 cups warm (not hot) milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. melted butter (and more to grease the pan)

1 tsp. salt

4-5 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in milk, when bubbly add sugar, butter, and salt. Mix well. Add 3 cups of flour, beat smooth, then gradually add more flour until soft dough forms. Knead 6-8 minutes. Let rise double, about 30 minutes. (I let mine rise about an hour)

Butter bottom and sides of dish. Punch down dough. Make into 12 balls and spread out in the pan. Let them rise double again.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and butter the tops.

Jake and I both loved the rolls! In fact, I've made them 3 times in this past month. I am also planning to take them to our Thanksgiving feast at a friends house.

This whole meal was great for a cold and foggy day!

Calzone Take 2

A while back I tried a recipe for a Calzone made with frozen bread dough. The one I made was with refridgerated french bread dough and ended up tasting great but looking like a mess. This time I tried it with 2 loaves of the refridgerated french bread dough, so I would not have to stretch the dough so thin. It was much more successful and I was so proud of how it turned out that I feel I can now share pictures of it!

The two loaves flattened side-by-side

After twisting strips together over the filling
Fresh out of the oven!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

I made this recipe and then we ate it for dinner on Friday and lunch on Sunday, and I never took a picture! I can't believe I did that! It turned out pretty good, but I've already decided the next time I make it I will use a seasoning on the chicken. It was great, just a little under-flavored (if that is a word!)

Ingredients:
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 Tbs. diced green chilis
1 cup sour cream
3/4 lb. cheddar cheese
3 boneless chicken breast, cut up and cooked
12 small flour tortillas

Directions:
Combine soup, chilis, sour cream, chicken and most of the cheese.
Fill each tortilla with mixture and roll up.
Place filled tortillas in greased pan.
Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
Cover and refridgerate overnight.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Tamale Pie

I got this recipe from the internet. I can't remember what website.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground beef

2 packets taco seasoning

1 small can olives

1 small can green chilis

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 small boxes corn muffin mix (milk and eggs also needed as directed on the box)

Directions:

Brown and drain the ground beef.

Mix taco seasoning with beef as directed on the packets.

Allow water to boil out.

Meanwhile, mix corn bread as directed on the boxes.

Add olives and chilis to the beef.

Pour meat mixture into a casserole.

Cover with shredded cheese.

Cover with corn muffin mix.

Cook at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until corn bread is done.

Jake really liked this dish. He said he liked that it is hot and then you get a nice taste of sweet with the corn bread. I think it ended up VERY hot! I used the hottest taco seasoning packet, olives in jalapeno juice, and mexican velveeta. I may have overdone it on the spicy-ness!

Loaded Baked Potato Chowder

I got this recipe from Pampered Chef.

3 large baking potatoes (or I just used a bag of Ore Ida Steam & Mash)
3 cups milk
4 oz cream cheese
2 tbsp butter
3 green onions (sliced)
4 oz cheddar cheese (grated)
salt & pepper to taste
4 strips bacon (cooked and chopped)
1 steam bag of broccoli

The recipe says to microwave potatoes, then chop. I just used the steam and mash and microwaved then poured the potato cubes into the soup mixture. The only down side to using the steam and mash was that I put them in while the mixture was cooking and they were stirred to much and mashed a little too much. Next time I will wait and put them in at the last minute so they will stay cubed.

Whisk cream cheese, milk, and butter.
Cook in a pan until warm.

Meanwhile, steam broccoli in the microwave and fry the bacon.
Add in cheese, onions, bacon, and broccoli.

Add in potato cubes.

We enjoyed our soup with grilled cheese.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

My mom used to make chicken salad alot when I was still living at home, so I asked Jake if he would like for me to make some. He claims that he doesn't ever remember trying any, so of course I had to make it!

Mom never used a recipe or any set measurements, so I didn't really keep track of how much of each ingredient I put in. As she said though, you can't really mess it up!

4 chicken breast (boiled and cubed)
2 spatula scoops of miracle whip
2 spatula scoops of sour cream
a few teaspoons of cumin **correction...it was actually curry powder that I used** (they both start with a C, I get confused by spice names)
about 20 grapes (quartered and "de-seeded")
2 stalks of celery (cut)
a handful of pecans

Mix it all together and serve on bread or croissants or in wraps.

Onion Soup Mix Meatloaf

We had meatloaf tonight. I used the recipe from the box of onion soup mix.

Ingredients:

1 envelope onion soup mix

2 lbs ground beef

3/4 cup plain bread crumbs

2 eggs

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup ketchup

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a big bowl with your hands.

Form into a loaf on a baking sheet.

Bake 1 hour in 350 degree F oven.

Let stand 10 minutes.

Another meal Jake liked, which is good because I'm leaving him with lots of leftovers! I'm leaving tomorrow to go visit my sister's family, and I keep asking Jake what he will eat while I'm gone. He keeps reminding me that he did live alone for two years after he got out of the dorms, so I guess he can take care of himself again.

Tatortot Casserole

I got this recipe from my cousin, Staci Wood.

Ingredients:
1 lb. hamburger
1/4 lb. velveeta
1/2 cup milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz. sour cream

Directions:
Brown and drain hamburger
Microwave velveeta and milk
Add soup and sour cream
Mix with hamburger and pour into 9"x13" dish
Line up frozen tatortots on top of mixture
Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-60 minutes, until tots are crunchy

It was so yummy! Jake liked it too! The only problem I had is that I don't have any of my kitchen stuff here in Italy, and Jake only has a 9"x9" dish here, so the mixture barely fit and started to bubble over the edge before the tots were crunchy.

Beef Stroganoff

While cleaning out Jake's cabinets, I found a packet of Beef Stroganoff Sauce Mix, so I decided to try it out. I just used the ingredients on the back of the pack.

1 1/2 lbs. boneless beef sirloin, trimmed and cut into thin strips (I don't think my strips were thin enough)
2 Tbsp oil

1 cup water

1 cup sour cream

1 packet beef stroganoff sauce mix

Prepare noodles as directed.
Heat the oil in a skillet.

Add beef and cook until no longer pink.

Add water and sauce mix.

Bring to a boil.

Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream.

Mix in drained noodles.

Yum!

Calzone

So, I found a recipe on another woman's blog that looked like an easy way to make a calzone. I really tried to make it work! Sadly, mine is not nearly as pretty as the other woman's but it was sure good! Because I am a bit of a perfectionist, you will not see a photo of my calzone, but you can look at the *F* *O* *O* *D* blog to see how it is supposed to look. You will notice I made a more simplified version.

Ingredients
- 2 loaves frozen bread dough, thawed (I think this is where I went wrong with mine, there was absolutly no frozen bread dough at the commissary, so I had to make do with refridgerated french bread dough, which did not want to stretch, so you lucky folks in America who have Walmart and other BIG grocery stores, go for the frozen dough!)
- 1 small can spagetti sauce (I got one with Italian flavoring)
- shredded mozzarella cheese
- pepperoni
- sliced mushrooms

Directions
- flatten both loaves on a cookie sheet to form a rectangle of dough
- spread sauce down the middle, leaving at least an inch of dough on each side
- cover sauce with cheese
- cover cheese with pepperoni
- cover pepperoni with mushrooms

- cut strips along each side of the dough
- take a piece from each side and cross together (the refridgerated french bread will break at this point, and the sauce will ooze out, so hopefully there will be better luck with different dough)
- once all of the strips are coving the toppings cook at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes
- allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing

I promise even if it oozes out and doesn't look pretty, it still tastes great! Like a pizza on bread!

Chicken Pot Pie

I found another meal that Jake really liked! I got this recipe from the Food & Family Magazine

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1/4 cup Zesty Italian dressing
4 oz. cream cheese
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 refridgerated pie crist

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cook chicken in dressing in large skillet on medium heat 2 minutes. Add cream cheese (cubed) cook and stir until melted. Add flour, mix well. Add broth and vegetables, simmer 5 minutes.

The recipe says to pour the mixture directly in the pan and cover with pic crust, but I like to put on pic crust in the pan, then pour in the mixture, then cover with the other pie crust.

Flute the eges and cut 4 slits to allow steam to escape. Bake 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Finally something Jake LOVES!

With every dinner I make, Jake will say it's "Not bad." I've always known Jake is a pretty picky eater, but I was starting to think that there would never be something that he just out right claimed to actually like! Well, he loves White Castle hamburgers and it is always the first meal he wants when he gets back to the US to visit. A church friend from back home, Beth Klenke, gave me a recipe for homemade White Castle burgers, so I tried it out tonight. Jake actually said it was great! GREAT! I'll admit, it did taste just like the White Castle burgers, just without all that nasty grease!

2 lb hamburger (brown & drain)
8 oz. cheese whiz or velveeta (I used velveeta)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope onion soup mix
12 dollar rolls

Just mix all the ingredient in a skillet, and scoop onto dollar rolls.

Seriously, that easy!

Poppy Seed Chicken

I got this recipe from a church friend back in MO, Megan Matthews. It is not so healthy, but it is easy and fantastic! Megan recommends using the reduced sodium or low fat versions of the ingredients to help make it a bit more healthy.

5 cups chopped, cooked chicken

1 (10.5 oz) can of cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cup crushed Ritz crackers

1 tsp. poppyseed

1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the chicken (chopped) in a 9x13 baking dish.

In a separate bowl, stir together the soup and sour cream. Pour over chicken.

In a separate bowl, stir together the crushed crackers, poppy seeds, and melted butter. Sprinkle over the chicken and sauce.

Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the casserole is browned and the sauce is bubbly.

When I made this, I noticed one "tube" of crackers was a little more than 1 1/2 cups, but I did the whole tube anyway. Also, it seemed too buttery when I reheated, so the second time I made it, I used less than the 1/2 cup. (closer to 6 tablespoons) I also use way more than 1 teaspoon poppy seeds.

Jake seemed to like the poppy seed chicken, but he did NOT like the brussel sprouts I made as a side dish.

I forgot to take a picture before dinner, so you get to see our leftovers!