Red Velvet Cookies

My sister Winnie posted on her Facebook that she had hot Red Velvet cookies ready at her dorm for anyone who wanted any... Being 3 1/2 hours away going to get one from her wasn't an option. But she shared the recipe with me!!

Ingredients -

One box cake mix (you don't have to just make red velvet you can make any flavor you want!)

1 stick of butter

1 egg

2 tablespoons water

1/2 bag of white chocolate chips (This can be changed based on your cake mix flavor)

Melt the butter and then wait a minute or two... Why?

Because don't want to a)cook your egg when you add it to the hot butter or b)melt your white chocolate chips when you add it all to the mixer.

Mix everything together!

You will get a nice thick mix.

Place on a cookie sheet...

I don't know about you but the cookie looks soo good and I haven't even baked it yet!

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until done.

Enjoy your cookies!!!

3-2-1 Cake

One of our favorite summer treats is as easy as 3-2-1...

But you need one minor pre step to get there...

1 box Angel Food Cake Mix and 1 box any flavor cake mix (we have tried this with chocolate as well as yellow cake mix)

Pour both of these cake mixes into a large zip lock bag (or air tight container). Shake the bag to mix the two cake mixes together.

Now it is time for the 3-2-1.... 3 Tablespoons of cake mix, 2 tablespoons of water, stir then 1 minute in the microwave.... Top with some light cool whip and fresh fruit or just enjoy your warm piece of cake!

Sprite Cobbler

In trying to find ways to still be able to have some sweet treats without breaking the calorie bank I found this recipe.

 

Ingredients

Two 12-oz bags frozen mixed berries or peaches (I used berries

1 box white cake mix

1 can of diet 7-up or Sprite 

 

 

Place frozen fruit in a 9x13 baking dish. Add dry cake mix over the top.

 

Pour soda slowly over cake mix. DO NOT stir the cake mix and the soda  - this will give you a 'crust'. If you stir the two, you will have a cake like topping. 

 

  Bake 350 for 45-50 min or longer until berries are cooked.

 

 

You can eat your cobbler plain... Or my favorite is topping it off with some sugar free ice cream!

Zesty Shredded Chicken Barbecue - Crockpot

 

Zesty Shredded Chicken Barbecue - in the Crockpot!

From the Crockin Girl Cookbook

 

Ingredients -

6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Frozen

1 (12 oz) bottle barbeque sauce (the flavor of your choice)

1/2 cup Italian salad dressing

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1-2 onions, sliced (I chunked mine)

Sandwich/Sub Rolls, Toasted (make sure you toast it... I didn't the first time and it wasn't the same!)

 

 

Place frozen chicken in the crockpot. It is ok if they sit on top of each other.

 

In a bowl mix together the barbeque sauce, Italian dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce.

 

  Slice/dice desired amount of onions and put in crockpot.

  Pour barbeque mix over the chicken.

 

 

Cook on low for approximately 4 hours.

 

  Remove chicken and shred... You can use a fork to do this or... You can use my favorite method for shredding chicken... My KitchenAid mixer.

  Return chicken to crockpot and cook an additional 1-2 hours on low.

Put shredded chicken and onions on a TOASTED roll. Remember what I said... Make sure you toast it! You can also just eat the barbeque chicken and pass on all that bread too!

Spanish Chicken

This recipe I found in my Ultimate Chicken Cookbook by Taste of Home.

 

Spanish Chicken

 

Ingredients -
2 Chicken Breast, cut in half
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper (I used canned ones)
1 garlic clove, minced (my cooking BFF is already minced garlic)
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup water
3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
2 teaspoons (or cubes) chicken bouillon
1-3 teaspoons chili powder (I only used 1 thinking 3 might be too much.... 1 was not enough!)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup picante sauce (I didn't measure this out, just spooned directly from the jar until my chicken was covered.
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can black olives

 

In a large skillet, brown chicken in the oil for around 2-3 minutes on each side.

 

You are wanting them to be lightly browned on both side, remove from heat.

 

In the same skillet, sauté onions, green pepper, and garlic until tender.

Stir in the tomatoes, water, rice, bouillon and seasonings. Bring it to a boil.

Carefully pour into a greased pan/

 

Top with chicken, cover and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until rice is tender.

 

Uncover, top chicken with picante sauce.

 

Then sprinkle on cheese and black olives. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. I turned the oven off when I pulled it out to add the toppings and put it back in the warm oven.

 

Serve and enjoy!

Cheesy Broccoli Rice Chicken Casserole

The last week or so I have been wanting a casserole that had chicken, rice, and broccoli in it. But I couldn't find what I wanted. I found this recipe, but it didn't have chicken. Then I found this one; but I didn't want the crackers on top. So I decided to take the ideas from both of these recipes and make my own up as I went along!

Ingredients: 

For Broccoli - 

1 head of broccolii

2 Tbsp butter

2 cloves of minced garlic

salt and pepper

Other Ingredients - 

12 oz chicken breast, or 1 large chicken breast, cooked and shredded

2 cups uncooked instant brown rice (I used minute brown rice but you can use white rice)

1 3/4 cups chicken broth (I used the chicken broth from cooking the chicken, however you can just use water to make the rice)

4 Tbsp butter

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour

2 cups of milk

1-2 tsp Dijon mustard (I used squeezed the bottle one good time)

1/3-1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, I used fresh grated but you don't have to use fresh

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper

Because I can never make good broccoli on the stove top, I looked to the internet for a way to try it in the microwave and found this one from Taste of Home; I didn't completely follow it... Yes, I am not a complete recipe follower! I just used the broccoli, butter, garlic, salt and pepper I listed above, covered and ran it for 4 minutes. Super easy and yummy too!

After the broccoli was done in the microwave I cooked the rice in the microwave for 9 minutes. I decided to use the chicken broth from when I cooked the chicken, because everyone knows rice cooked in chicken broth is way better than rice cooked in water!!

While the microwave was doing its part to cook dinner I started making the cheese sauce. Sauté garlic and butter. Add flour and whisk it together. Slowly add milk... note... slowly! Add mustard, salt, and pepper. Turn off heat and add cheese. Then your cheese sauce is done! 

In the dish I cooked the broccoli in I added the shredded chicken, cooked rice, and stirred it all together.

Add the cheese sauce to the mix and stir it up good! Top with cheese. I baked it at 350 for 10 minutes... Basically until the cheese was all melted.

Serve and enjoy... And yes, I might have had a second helping!!

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup

I found the idea for this soup from this post here. While I used her general suggestions for the ingredients I changed how much I used of what!

Ingredients - 

2 Tablespoons or more of butter (I ended up using more butter, it just varies on how much onions, celery, and carrots you use)

1 chopped onion

1 handful finely chopped carrot (I used a good handful of baby carrots and chopped them up)

2-3 celery stick, finely chopped (I like celery in my soups... But feel free to add less)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic (I have a jar of pre-minced and just got a large spoonful out... You can never have too much garlic)

4 cups chicken broth (This time I used 4 chicken bullion cubes to make the 4 cups, the second time I made it I used homemade broth)

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup milk

2 cups chopped broccoli (I didn't measure this... Just filled the bowl, chopped up, and went with it!)

2 cups or more shredded cheddar cheese (if you like it cheesy add more...)

Chop up the celery, onions, and carrots. Melt butter in pot.

Saute onions, celery, and carrots in butter. I ended up adding extra butter because of the amount of veggies I was sauteing.

Add garlic and cook for another minute or two.

Add chicken broth...

And potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, mix the flour and water together.

After potatoes are tender, add the flour water mix and allow soup to thicken slightly.

Add milk... 

And Broccoli...

Cook until Broccoli is tender!

Add cheese and stir up. I turned the heat off before adding the cheese... It is hot enough to melt the cheese without needing anymore heat.

Serve up! You can top with sour cream or even bacon or eat just how it is... Enjoy!