SMOTHERED BAKED CHICKEN BURRITOS

 This is a recipe that I had been meaning to make for awhile but my grocery store seemed to not have green chilies so I had to go to another store to pick them up which seemed to take me forever. Now I wish I had done it much sooner!

This recipe was awesome and definitely one I will make again.

I made the chicken in the slow cooker on low for 6 hours to get it ready and I highly recommend making this specific chicken as it had so much flavour. Once out of the slow cooker I shredded the chicken and then drained it to get off the extra water based sauce so that the burrito didn't have too much sogginess. 

I topped the chicken with a mexican cheese before folding them up. I didn't add in any extra toppings but it would be awesome if you wanted to.

The green chili sauce is so tasty and I loved it! The sauce wasn't too thick when I initially put it on the burritos but it did thicken up after. 

You can find the link here: https://carlsbadcravings.com/smothered-baked-chicken-burritos-recipe/

Chicken Francese

 This was a recipe that looked unique and I really like the recipes I have previously made from this blog so I decided to give it a try.

I cut the chicken breasts that I had in half lengthwise to make them flatter which worked really well. I had never put egg on the outside of the breast after using flour so it was definitely something new for me. I liked how it kept the chicken nice and juicy. 

I didn't realize until after I had begun cooking that I didn't have any white wine so I used extra chicken broth. My sauce also didn't seem to thicken very well so that is something I would have to try again and see if I could get it right. I'm not sure where I went wrong with it. 

That being said the chicken was still really delicious and I will be trying it again to get it right!

You can find the link here: https://grandbaby-cakes.com/chicken-francese/

The Best Baked BBQ Hennessy Wings Recipe

This was a recipe that sounded awesome but I didn't have any Hennessy at home so I decided to switch it out for Bourbon instead.

Now I also decided to use a Chicken & Rib rub instead of the different spices because it was something I already had on hand and I am trying to use up more of those ingredients.

I love that these wings are baked and not fried but in all honesty there would be no way to tell with how incredible these turned out.

These had so much flavour and all three of us devoured them and I wished I had made more. 

This is a recipe I will definitely be making again!

You can find the recipe here: https://blackpeoplesrecipes.com/bbq-hennessy-wings/

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

 I was super excited to give this recipe a try as I love rice krispies and peanut butter is one of my very favorite things in the world!

I followed the recipe as directed and everything was super straightforward.

I liked adding in the m&m's into the rice krispies as it made them super colorful and fun to look at. I also liked the chocolate and peanut butter top.

Now the only thing I would have done differently is added more marshmallows as we found these crumbled and fell apart with every bite. They were good but didn't have that marshmallow texture that we love so much. I'm not sure why they fell apart so easily but we were disappointed.

I would try making it again with adding more marshmallows.

You can find the link here: https://www.thisisnotdietfood.com/peanut-butter-rice-krispie-treats/

Skillet Chicken Nachos

 I love trying new things in the skillet as it almost makes it seem more fun. That being said it is definitely something that is new to me and for certain things I am still trying to figure out all the ins and outs.

I love the idea of nachos in the skillet and being able to layer everything up but I do think this is something that I really need to figure out more.

I find that the chips and ingredients on the bottom get really cooked and that the stuff on top doesn't so I would love some input if anyone has any!

Anyhow, the nachos themselves were good when you got those perfect chips. There was more good ones that not but I still can't figure out how to cook the layers evenly. 

We used a pre-shredded chicken, beans, corn and onion as toppings and they were very tasty. The kids aren't huge fans of beans but I still like trying to put them on for that extra protein! 

You can find the recipe here: https://iambaker.net/chicken-nachos/

Teriyaki Grilled Shrimp and Pineapple Tacos with Candied Jalapeno and Bacon

 This was a recipe that looked so good to me but Mikaela will not each shrimp except for in sushi so I knew that I would have to wait for a night where it was just Bren and I. After trying this recipe I wish I had tried it sooner as it was amazing!

Now it does take awhile to make as there are many parts of it that come together to make such a masterpiece.

I started off by making the candied jalapenos. I only had about a pound of jalapenos so I did a third of the recipe. I was surprised at how good it made the jalapenos and I could now tolerate them! That being said I cut them with gloves on and my eyes did water. I had a really bad jalapeno experience years ago so it is very rare that I actually bring them into the house!

Next I marinated the shrimp in the homemade teriyaki sauce. These were so good and simple. I loved how much flavor they held! As the shrimp was marinating I began the salsa. I cut up everything and then once the pineapple went on the bbq we were good to go.

We cooked the pineapple on the bbq and then once that was done we moved onto the shrimp. 

I used a chipotle mayonnaise on the tacos and then we used a coleslaw mix and then topped with feta cheese! 

These are so delicious and well worth the effort! 

You can find the link here: https://www.closetcooking.com/teriyaki-grilled-shrimp-and-pineapple_25/ 

Chicken Ranch Macaroni and Cheese

 There are some days where I feel like I am the only person in the house who craves comfort food and that for me is Mac and Cheese. There are those times where I just want a basic mac and cheese but of course I need to try new things so this recipe looked amazing as it has so many of my favorite things!

I really liked mixing the chicken with the ranch dressing ahead of time so that each piece of chicken had ranch flavoring to it and you could really taste it. I also love cooking bacon in the stove as it cooks so much better and in the long run really saves time when you are getting other things done at the same time. 

I did use a 1% milk instead of whole milk as that was what I had on hand so I'm sure it wasn't as creamy as it could have been but it was still really good.

This is a recipe I would make again as I loved the combination of flavors!

You can find the link here: https://iamhomesteader.com/chicken-ranch-macaroni-and-cheese/

Egg Roll Bowl

 Egg Rolls are something that I think my son for sure could live on. This was a recipe that looked awesome so I knew I had to give it a try.

The good think is that this recipe is very straightforward and ingredients that are easy to find or that you already have on hand.

Instead of buying cabbage and carrots I used a coleslaw mix to save time and I used a small package. I unfortunately skipped the bean sprouts as the store didn't have any. Other than that I used the ingredients that were called for.

This recipe was really good and it is something that I would definitely make again and would be great to prep ahead of time for lunches.

I topped mine with sweet chili sauce and it was so good!

You can find the recipe here: https://www.kleinworthco.com/egg-roll-bowl/ 

CHICKEN QUESADILLA

 I love ranch and bacon together so this was a quesadilla that I knew that I had to try. Mexican is one of those foods that we generally have once a week and sometimes it will just be plain tacos and other times we try and fancy it up and put more effort into it. 

Quesadilla's are also one of Brendan's favorite foods to make on his own and generally he just makes cheese ones but if I have other things in the fridge he will through that in too.

For these I used a pre-shredded chicken to save myself some extra time as I can't seem to find enough time lately to do anything. 

I used a pre-shredded Mexican cheese mix as well as I couldn't find the queso cheese on it's own. This can be made with any type of cheese that you have on hand if needed!

I loved how quick this recipe was to put together and the kids loved it!

Looking forward to making it again!

You can find the link here: https://www.smalltownwoman.com/chicken-bacon-ranch-quesadilla/

Peanut Chicken Zucchini Noodles

This was a recipe I had wanted to try for a long time as a lot of people have switched to a vegetable noodle instead of using pasta. This recipe has peanut in the name so I knew I had to give it a try.

I bought the zucchini already spiralized to save myself some time and I also used bagged coleslaw instead of getting cabbage and carrots. This worked well for me and saved me some prep time.

I also used shredded chicken that I had in the fridge as it sis also a great time saver.

The sauce was awesome and I loved the combination of all of the different ingredients. 

This was a great healthy meal and I will be making it again! 

You can find the recipe here: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/peanut-chicken-zucchini-noodles/

BACON WRAPPED HOT DOGS WITH QUESO

 This was a recipe I was eager to try but due to awful weather we weren't prepared to stand in the rain in to BBQ so we cooked everything inside instead.

So I baked the bacon in the oven and cooked the hotdogs in the pot and then put it all together. For the queso I used an epicure queso mix that I had and it was really good. 

I liked these hot dogs as they were a great combination of flavours although I know they would have been even better on the BBQ! 

Looking forward to trying these again in better weather! 

You can find the link here: https://www.lemonsforlulu.com/bacon-wrapped-hot-dogs-with-queso/?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-pug

APPLEBEE’S ORIENTAL CHICKEN SALAD RECIPE

 This was a recipe that had been on the menu for awhile but never seemed to get made between the kids schedule and my work schedule. I finally had time to make it and was so happy that I did!

Now I did make some quick alterations due to time but I don't really think that it cost much in terms of flavor. Instead of frying the chicken myself I bought chicken fingers and baked those up. I also used a coleslaw mix for the cabbages and carrots instead of buying the separate ingredients. Huge time saver and much more affordable!

The dressing was absolutely amazing and I would make it to go on all my salads! It was so good and both of the kids loved it as well! 

I definitely would make this again and highly recommend it!

You can find the link here: https://lilluna.com/copycat-applebees-oriental-salad-4/

Oven Baked Chicken Taquitos

 This is another recipe that I have decided to try for the kids lunches.

This recipe is super easy to make and has the bare minimum of ingredients so it's quick and wonderful in that account but I think it needs a little bit more personally. I think next time I would fry up some onion and maybe some bell peppers to go in as well as the kids found them a little bit dry without the salsa and sour cream as that is hard for them to eat at school. 

What I loved is how easy it is to make and that it doesn't take too much time.

I would definitely make this again with the couple of changes. 

You can find it here: https://nerdymamma.com/easy-oven-baked-taquitos/?utm_content=buffer733c4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches with Cheddar Cheese Sauce

 We don't have an Arby's locally and I remember eating it a long time ago but I really don't know if my kids have ever tried it so I decided to try making the roast beef sandwiches at home. Roast beef isn't something we typically have but I thought I might as well give it a shot!

The meat was super easy to cook up and I made sure that the buns I bought matched!

The cheese sauce to me felt a little salty and definitely didn't look as good as what hers did and I don't know if it's because the only cheese I had was old so I used that instead of a mild cheese. That may account for the difference and more salty taste. That being said I loved how easy it was to make the cheese sauce so this is something that I would definitely try again but using a mild cheese to see if that accounts for the saltiness.

I loved how fast these sandwiches were to make and for us it was something different. 

I will definitely try these again to see if I can get it right! 

You can find the recipe here: https://www.girlgonegourmet.com/hot-roast-beef-sandwiches-with-cheddar-cheese-sauce/

Mini Taco Hand Pies

This is one of the recipes that I am trying out for school lunches. It is such a struggle to get the kids to eat lunch so I am trying to go outside of the typical "sandwiches" and try new things.

So the first thing to know is that this is a time consuming recipe with having to make each of the pies and stuff them. Give yourself ample time to get these made. 

Now I made the recipe as directed but I did use a taco seasoning that I had on hand instead of all the different spices. I still found that they were full of flavour and really good.

I think next time I would add a little bit more cheese onto them as I found they were a little dry with the pastry and just needed a little bit more of something when they were on their own. When mixed with salsa and sour cream they were great. 

Super easy recipe but time consuming! 

You can find the recipe here: https://www.lemonsforlulu.com/mini-taco-hand-pies/?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-pug

Sunday Night Adventures

I love when I have the chance to cook a nice Sunday dinner but as I have said multiple times before that when you work shift work it's not easy. We now get our schedules two weeks in advance which is great but when I am planning meals once a month I never know what I am going to get. There's something nice about having leftovers to last during the week as well and I am finding that I am putting everything into "to go" containers right away which is making the leftovers easier to take with you although I do find that it fills up the fridge faster and I have a fridge that is terrible for space. 

For this Sunday I decided to go with Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken with Asparagus and Easy Oven Roasted Broccoli Recipe. I also had some potatoes on hand that were in one of the packages from the store so I knew that would fit in perfect.

The chicken recipe looked fantastic as who doesn't want prosciutto and asparagus in one dish?? The recipe was so easy to follow and I bought a basil pesto pasta sauce to mix in with the cream and it was so good! I think next time I would add even more prosciutto as it just turned out so good. I roasted the asparagus before hand as I don't have a proper steamer and they turned out really good.

The broccoli was super easy to follow again and tasted so good. I have no idea why I don't have it more often as it was so tasty when roasted up and so healthy! Now I did use frozen broccoli like she suggested and never thawed it and it was so good! I was absolutely shocked at how well it turned out and will definitely be using ehr method again! 

This was an awesome meal but unfortunately there were no leftovers as someone stole the last piece of chicken!! That way I really knew how good it was! 

You can find the recipes here: 

Chicken: https://thefoodcharlatan.com/prosciutto-wrapped-chicken-and-asparagus/

Broccoli: https://thefoodcharlatan.com/oven-roasted-broccoli/

Bacon and Goat Cheese Aioli Burger with Crispy Onions

 This is one of the recipes that intrigued me and then blew my mind. 

You need to seriously try this recipe as it was so freaking good and both of my kids loved it! All of the toppings together were just incredible and it is definitely something I could get use to having on a regular basis.

Now I did cheat and not make my own crispy onions due to a lack of time and I know it would have been even better with it but I am still happy with the way they turned out.

The lemon aioli was a great change and it tasted so good on the burger!! I could make it again for sure and use it on a shrimp sandwich.

You can find the recipe here: https://thefoodcharlatan.com/bacon-and-goat-cheese-aioli-burger-with-crispy-onions/

CARAMELIZED ONION AND BACON PASTA BAKE

 This is another awesome pasta recipe and I definitely have lucked out lately with the pasta recipes that I have been trying. 

This one is a little bit more time consuming due to having to caramelize the onions but still really worth the time. So I recommend planning ahead a little bit as you need to make sure you have the time! 

The sauce is a little bit different with a mayonnaise base but it was so creamy and delicious and I could have eaten the whole pot.

The bacon and caramelized onions together is so comforting and once baked it takes everything to an even higher level of awesome! 

This is another recipe that I would definitely have again! 

You can find the recipe here: https://www.foxvalleyfoodie.com/cheesy-caramelized-onion-and-bacon-pasta-bake/

Tropical Pineapple Scones

 I absolutely love scones! I love how easy they are to make and the combination of flavors that you can find that seem to turn into a masterpiece.

This recipe really intrigued me with the pineapple and coconut as I love coconut so much and the recipe kinda reminded me of a Pina Colada!

I followed the instructions as directed except that I didn't use a cutter and instead shaped the dough into a circle and then cut them into triangles. This was me being a little lazy and not wanting to search for the cutters.

I topped the dough with milk and then the almonds. I did also add the icing on top and they were so good and soft!

These were great and it makes me want more!

You can find the link here: https://xoxobella.com/tropical-pineapple-scones/

ROASTED VEGGIE TACO RECIPE

 In the spirit of Taco Tuesday which has evolved to Mexican Tuesday's at our place I saw this recipe that I really wanted to try. Recently we went out for tacos and I had a cauliflower taco which was absolutely phenomenal so I wanted to give this one a try.

I used acorn squash, zucchini and red pepper roasted in addition to the chickpeas. These tasted great roasted and I think next time I would add in some cremini mushrooms but I have to hide them as the kids don't like them. 

On top of the tacos I used feta cheese and I used a pre-made balsamic vinegar reduction which I already had.

These tacos were so amazing and I loved taking them for leftovers!

This is a recipe that I would definitely make again!   

You can find the recipe here: https://www.lemonsforlulu.com/roasted-veggie-taco-recipe/