Rootbeer Pulled Pork

This is a crockpot recipe and I got it from some random site that I can now not find the link too and I hate that. If you find it, all I know is that part of their logo was a cupcake... This is super easy.  First, place in your crockpot a pork roast with really good marbling.  That's the fat that's going to allow for you to shred the pork later.  Add about 12 oz of root bear, the naturally caffeine free kind (A&W or Mugs).  Let that go for about 6-8 hrs.  The last hour, using two forks, shred the pork and then add in some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, like almost the entire bottle and let it sit for a bit... OMG! This is soooooooo good!!!!

The Perfect Homemade French Fry

No pics with this post, but these are my tips on the perfect french fry, based on something I saw on Food Network.  First, stop with the Russet potatoes.  I use Yukon Gold for fries and most things actually.  Second, whether you cut the potatoes thin or thick, make sure you soak them for at least 5 minutes.  Then, you will want to place them, in a single layer, on paper towels and pat them dry.  Make sure you oil is hot enough, but below the smoking point.  After the fries are to your idea of done, put them on a layer of paper towels and add that Lawry's cuz it is AWESOME!  Make sure whatever seasoning you use, it has to be while they are still wet with grease.

One Dish Chicken Pasta

I had some chicken strips that needed to be used and was feelin kind of lazy, this is what I did.

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken, cut into strips or cubed, rinsed
favorite Italian seasonings
2 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes, I used a basil, garlic, oregano variety
pasta, about 1.5 cups uncooked

Steps:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
In a baking dish (I used 8x11 sized dish), place cut up chicken, season chicken
Put broth, tomatoes, and pasta in dish, make sure pasta is mostly covered
Cover dish w/ foil and put in oven
Depending on your altitude (higher elevations take a bit longer), should take 30-45 minutes.  Dish is done once chicken and pasta are done.

Serve with cheese, garlic bread, and a nice salad.

It's not super quick, but it's tasty and healthy option for that chicken sitting in your freezer/fridge

Creamy Pesto Chicken and Pasta

Another Campbell's Kitchen adaptation.  I like the recipes on this site, but rarely use actual Campbell's products due to added things like high fructose corn syrup and gluten that's added to their products.  With that said, their recipes are easily adaptable to any dietary guidelines you personally follow.  I try to cook as much gluten free food as my husband and I both get plenty in our beer and his sandwiches.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of butter (you can use olive oil instead)
1 lb chicken, cooked and cubed
an Italian seasoning for your chicken
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup (I used an organic option)
1/2 cup pesto
1/2 cup milk (I have not tried it, but unsweetened/flavored soy milk may work)
1/2 of a 1 lb bag of your fave pasta, cooked and drained (I use gluten-free pasta only)

Steps:
1) cut chicken and cook in the butter/oil with seasoning over medium-high heat.

2) While you cook your chicken, bring water to boil and cook pasta

3) Stir in soup, pesto, and milk and heat to a boil

4) Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (though it really should already be cooked)

5) Stir in pasta and cook until mixture is hot and bubbling.

6) Serve with homemade garlic bread or cheddar biscuits (recipe to come)

This was super yummy!  When I said I was definitely making this again, my hubby thought I said I wasn't and started pestering me why lol.

Thinking on my toes

Last night as I planned on fixing chicken alfredo.  I placed a pot of water on the stove to boil with just a splash of olive oil and bit of sea salt.  Then in my big pan, started cooking my chicken.  I'm SOOOO glad I bought the thin sliced chicken strips for this meal!  As the chicken cooked, was almost completely done actually, the power went out!  There was still heat on the stove so I stirred the chicken to finish the cooking process.  As the last of the heat left the pan I made my husband bring me my phone (it's got a flashlight) so I could look at the chicken.  It was all cooked!  He then asked what I planned to do if the power didn't come on soon.  To my own surprise I said "we can have chicken tacos or wraps".  We both were kind of impressed with how quickly I said that.  We waited for the power to come on for 30 minutes but nothing, so with a bit of mayo (for my husband, not me), lettuce, tomato, and a wee bit of shredded cheese we had chicken wraps.  I'm glad I keep tortillas on hand at all times!

The moral of this story: always have a backup of what you can do with what you're cooking in case of power outages, especially on nights where you have heavy rain or severe storms.

Oven "fried" Chicken Chimichangas

My adaptation of this recipe from Campbell's website.

Ingredients:
2/3 cups Pace picante sauce
taco seasoning mix
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup shredded cheese, either cheddar or Mexican mix
2 green onions, chopped
6 8-in tortillas
2-3 tablespoons melted butter

Steps:
Preheat oven to 400°F
Cut chicken into cubes and cook in a skillet with olive oil and taco seasoning, cook until cooked through
In bowl, mix picante sauce, cumin, oregano, cheese, and green onion

Add cooked seasoned chicken.

Place about 1/2 cup of chicken mixture in the center of tortilla, place on cookie sheet
Brush butter onto each chimichanga, making sure tortillas each have a nice coating.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Great sides are black beans and Spanish rice!

Taco Seasoning

You know what I hate? Prepackaged spices like taco seasoning.  Half the time you can't make out what is exactly in it and the other half there is just too much salt in it.  So here is my old reliable taco seasoning mix.  I use it for more than just tacos as well.  

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon minced onion 

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions:

mix all ingredients together.  

Use all and a bit of water to make delicious tacos from a pound of ground beef.  Also use it to season chicken used in Mexican dishes, such as the oven fried chimichangas recipe I will post later.