Some Pretty Sweet Recipes

And by sweet I mean cool. Hope you didn't think I meant actual sweets. Oh you did? Sorry. Well, now you're here so it won't to take a look at these awesome (there that's less deceiving) recipes.

I'm always looking for/trying new recipes so I thought I would pass these along to those of you who are tired of fixing lemon pepper chicken (that used to by my ONLY dish). Also, I don't fix things that are hard, it's just not worth it for me. I'm usually out of the mood to eat by the time I get done cooking anyway, so the easier the better in my opinion. Plus when I find recipes on pinterest I wish there was a disclaimer from people saying whether or not they actually fixed it and if it was decent. Because they ALL say "the best recipe I've pinned on pinterest" and I'm a pretty big skeptic so I doubt that all recipes on pinterest are "amazing."  Okay, here goes:


Okay this one isn't from pinterest, it's from Taste of Home Magazine (yes a magazine lady showed up at my door and momentarily seduced me so I figured I needed to get my money's worth from the overpriced magazine subscription to Taste of Home).

Shrimp Corn Cakes with Soy Mayo

Not super easy, but I did it so it is not impossible.

Sauce
1/2 cup mayo
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp. Ketchup
2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. pepper

Shrimp Corn Cakes
1/2 Cup chopped onion
1 Tbsp. Oil
2 Minced Garlic Cloves
1/2 lb. uncooked peeled and deveined shrimp, finely chopped
3/4 cup All purpose flour
1/4 Cup Cornmeal
1 Tbsp. Cornstarch
1 tsp. Baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup cream style corn
1 cup whole kernel corn
1 egg slightly beaten

1. In a small bowl, combine ingredients for sauce, cover and chill until serving.
2. In a large skillet cook and stir onion in oil over medium-high heat until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add shrimp; cook and stir until shrimp turns pink. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, meal, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix the corn, egg and shrimp mixture; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
4. In an electric skillet (which I don't have so I fixed mine on the stove), heat 1/4 in. of oil to 375. In batches, drop corn mixture by rounded tablespoonfulls into oil; fry 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with sauce.

I'm not a big shrimp fan but if I were I know I would love these. I loved the breading and the crispiness and the sauce. Just not the shrimp. So Drew took care of most of these bad boys. I may just make this same recipe without the shrimp sometime for myself.

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos/Burritos

Omgoodness, super easy. I will even trust Drew with this.

2-3 Tablespoons Taco Seasoning
3-4 Chicken Breasts
2 Cans Undrained Diced Tomatoes w/ Chillies

Throw it in your crockpot. Leave it for 4 hours on low. And there you have it. We put lettuce, sour cream, cheese and rice on our tortilla shells. Delish and easy. The recipe also said to add avocado and corn, that would be yummy.

No picture, sorry. But chicken tacos are pretty standard.

French Bread Pizzas

props

I made this while Bryce was here thinking he could help me, yeah right. He wouldn't even eat it. But it is (in most cases) kid-friendly and easy peasy.

French Bread Loaf
Pizza Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Toppings of Choice

If you can't figure it out from here, you should probably just call Domino's. But seriously, cut the bread in half, pizza sauce, cheese, toppings. Bake at 500 for 5-7 minutes.

No Boil 3 Cheese Manicotti

props

Freezer Meal Alert! Another meal you can trust hubby with.

Filling Ingredients-place in gallon size freezer bag
2 Cups Cottage Cheese
1 1/2 Cups Mozzarella
1 1/2 Teaspoons Italian Seasoning
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper

Remaining Ingredients
1 8 oz. package manicotti
1/2 cup mozzarella
1/4 cup parm.
Jar marinara sauce ($1 can of Hunt's is the perfect choice)
Cooking spray

Also I suggest disposable pans, this makes 2 small servings (each one feeding 2 approx. 2 people).

Knead filling ingredients in freezer bag.
Clip a small corner of the bag.
Spread 1/4 cup of sauce in each pan. Pipe filling into manicotti shells. Top with mozzarella and parm.
Cover shells with remaining sauce.
Label foil and spray to prevent sticking.
Baking Day: Thaw 24 hours prior to baking. Bake covered at 375 for one hour.

I usually make one right away and put the other in the freezer for a rainy day. No pics here either, sorry.

Buffalo Chicken Garbage Bread

props

Health conscious friends, read no further. This is not for you. But seriously, which of these recipes is?? Not really a dinner meal, more like a football game main course with other junky side foods.

2 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 tsp. Olive Oil
1 Pizza Dough
8 oz. Mozzarella Cheese
3 oz. Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup Wing Sauce
1/3 cup ranch dressing

Cut chicken into cubes. Add olive oil to skillet and heat, add chicken. Cook chicken completely, then add 1/4 cup wing sauce. Stir to coat chicken and let sit for 1-2 minutes. Let cool.
Preheat oven to 425.
Spread pizza dough on floured surface. Spread ranch dressing and remaining 1/4 cup of wing sauce on pizza dough. Add chicken and cheeses.
Roll the dough like a pinwheel, tucking in the ends so it doesn't ooze.
Spray baking sheet and bake 20-25 minutes.

The link has pictures to make it a little more clear if you need guidance.


There are more I'd like to share but I'm tired and you probably stopped reading 3 recipes ago. I'll post more another day.
Hope you all try some of these and like them. Feel free to comment with questions. Let me know which ones you try! :)

Things to come....

Lots'o exciting things are happening in our lives right now. Drew starts his new job on Monday, we have been house hunting and found the perfect little place for us and Ikey for the next few years, and I've decided to undertake a "challenge."

Drew accepted a job in Tazwell, Virginia with Caterpillar or CAT as I prefer to call it. For as long as I have known this boy he has talked of CAT and we both knew better than to pass up this amazing opportunity for him. This is a job we feel like he could keep for the rest of his life and it us such a great compay. He has worked his tail off for the past 5 years and we are pumped for his graduation. I'm already in the process of planning that shindig. Gotta love a good partay!

As far as the house goes, we knew we needed more space. Not us personally but our company (namely my sister and Drew's dad) liked to complain about the lack of guest quarters in our 1 bedroom apartment. We looked online for weeks but only saw 2 properties in person before deciding. I'm not one to continue to keep looking after finding what I like. It's a cute little house built in the '40's and we love it. Pictures to come...move in date May 2012 (can't wait to surprise our guests at Drew's graduation party that it's also a moving party, they will be thrilled!).

Now onto my boring life.....or is it? Of my own accord I have decided to undertake a pinterest challenge. It is easy to continue pinning day after day and never actually undertake the tasks you pin. Therefore beginning on Monday February 27 I am doing 30 days of pinterest, both recipes and diy projects. In some respects I hope to use it as an outreach to give some of my little goodies away to neighbors, friends, or strangers but in other ways its a way of making myself do some of the things I've wanted to do but have continually put off. I started out with the really lofty idea of 100 days, ha! I knew I would burn out. Then I went on to 60 but then I remembered we will be moving so I went with the realistic 30. Maybe next time I will up the ante a little. Any tips or pins you suggest would be greatly appreciated. Stay tuned!

I will be going home next week to spend some time with family and play caretaker with my mom for my grandmother and dad so once I return home, let the challenge begin! Until then I'll be choosing which pins I want to do and gathering supplies. I haven't had a real challenge since college so I'm looking forward to it. Bring it on!

Here is the link to my challenge board and the pins I'm considering so far: http://pinterest.com/meghanem1/challenge/ we will see how many of them change before I begin.

 

Jesus Never Fails.