BBQ Meatloaf

I love meatloaf, but John is really not a fan.  It took me several years to find a recipe that we both liked, but I finally did!  It's not exactly the most healthy meal on the planet, but everyone, including the boys, likes it.  You can find the original recipe here, I do make it just a little bit differently.

Ingredients:
2lbs Ground Beef
3 Eggs
1 Onion chopped (I use frozen diced and add to taste.)
1 C yummy BBQ Sauce
3/4 - 1C Bread Crumbs
1 C Crushed Potato Chips
3/4 tsp Liquid Smoke
3/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt (I use sea salt)
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder (I use the refrigerated minced kind to taste.)  
1 Pinch Cayenne Pepper
Bacon bits to taste (I cook fresh bacon, crumble it, and add about half of the package.)

some of the ingredients, and yes that is a half gallon jug of BBQ sauce...don't judge!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl combine all the ingredients.
On a greased pan or cookie sheet, shape mixture into a loaf shape.
Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until meat is cooked through.
Enjoy!

Pizza Casserole

Pizza casserole is quickly becoming a favorite of the boys'.  John grew up eating it, and now the boys really enjoy it too.  It's super easy and always a hit.

yum!

Layer the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with potato puffs (or french fries, your preference).  Cook as directed on package.

While that is cooking, brown 1lb ground beef, adding your favorite seasonings.  I add frozen diced onion, garlic, and italian seasoning.  Once that is done cooking, I add one large jar spaghetti sauce directly onto meat.  Stir together, then spoon evenly over cooked potato puffs.

Recently I have been adding a thick layer of pepperoni on top, then cover with your favorite cheese.  I used a mozzarella-cheddar pizza blend.  Then pop into the oven until cheese is melted, approx. 10 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy!
 

Homemade BBQ Chicken

Last week I made some homemade BBQ Chicken and salad for dinner.  For the salad I just threw together some romaine lettuce, bacon bits, red onion, croutons, and a shredded white cheese blend.  I topped it with the special house dressing from Olive Garden which we found at Sam's Club (score!).  The Olive Garden salad at home has been a big hit.  Lately we have been giving the boys a small salad of their own and they actually ask for more!

I made my BBQ Chicken in the crock-pot and it was super easy.  I know for some this may be pretty self-explanatory, but I would have loved something like this when I first got married.  Our first year of marriage we ate a lot of potato puffs and chicken breasts cooked on the foreman (George Foreman Grill) because that was pretty much all I could cook.  Over the years I've been pretty much learning as I go, and calling my parents for recipes and help a lot.

Crock-pot BBQ Chicken:

Ingredients:
-2-3 lbs chicken
-1 Cup Water
-BBQ Sauce, enough to cover chicken


Place chicken in the crock pot, add water.  Cook on high about 4 hours or low for about 6 hours or until chicken is done at 165 degrees.  Half way through remove most of water and add BBQ sauce until it covers the chicken well.  Cook until chicken is done, then enjoy!


When I made this I didn't decide to make it until about 2:30pm that day.  I grabbed some drumsticks I had in the freezer that I had gotten on sale super cheap.  I put a liner in my crock pot, although not necessary, I love them, they make clean up such a breeze!  I tossed my chicken in frozen, added 1 cup water, and set the crock pot to high.  It only took about 4 hours to cook.  Although still wicked yummy, it could have benefited a bit from cooking on low for longer.  After 2 hours I took out as much of the liquid in the crock pot as I could leaving only a little left in there and added my favorite BBQ sauce.  I tried this once with some cheap sauce I found on sale and it wasn't very good, so make sure you use a sauce that you know you really like.  Our favorite is Sticky Stuff made by Fatboy's, it's even made right here in Nebraska!  I let it cook another 2 hours, and it was pretty much perfect.  I pulled the chicken out, removed the bones, and then using two forks I shredded the chicken.  After it was all shredded I put it back in the crock pot and mixed it in the with sauce well.  I kept the crock pot on warm and we had our shredded bbq chicken on sandwiches with salad and bbq beans.  It was a hit with everyone.     

Recipe: Candied Chicken Breasts

The other night I made one of my favorite dinners, candied chicken breasts, mmmm...  I'm pretty sure the sauce and the frying negate all the healthy aspects of the chicken.  You can find the original recipe here.  After making this many many times I have made some changes to fit our family's tastes and this is how I make it.

Ingredients:
1 package of chicken (between 1 and 2 lbs, or 3 to 4 chicken breasts, it's usually kind of what ever I happen to have on hand.)
2 Cups dried bread crumbs (I usually never wind up using all the bread crumbs, so I cut it to 1 cup the other night and I didn't feel like it was quite enough.  Also I use the Italian flavored kind.)
1-2 Eggs mixed with a little bit of milk (to help make the bread crumbs stick to the chicken better, I like my chicken extra crispy.)
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (at this point I usually just eyeball it.)
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons black pepper  (again with the just eyeballing it.)
Vegetable oil (what ever you feel is enough to fry your chicken in, I always end up using more than I probably need to.)
Sliced pineapple rings (Used as a topper.  I never cook the pineapple with the chicken.  If I happen to have some on hand I'll stick it on top when the chicken is done.  I've made this with and without the pineapple and I don't think it really makes much of a difference.)

Sauce Ingredients:
1 & 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 cup prepared mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Onion powder to taste (I usually use a few tablespoonsful)
3/4 cup water


Directions:
1- Cut up chicken breasts into smaller chunks.
2- Mix together bread crumbs, flour, Italian seasoning, and black pepper.
3- Dip chicken into egg mixture, then coat with bread crumb mixture.
4- Brown chicken on both sides then place in a baking dish
5- Mix together well the first 6 ingredients for the sauce, then mix in water.  
6- Over low heat bring sauce to a boil (it takes forever.)
7- Pour sauce over chicken
8- Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 to 60 minutes. (Or until your chicken is cooked through.)

9- Let cool and enjoy, top with pineapple if you would like. 

I took this photo with my phone so it's not the greatest.  That plate is glass, you know, for the adult who can't stand having their foods touch. =)

Chicken Bacon Mac & Cheese and Cake Mix Cookies

I made one of our favorite dinners tonight, chicken bacon mac & cheese, we got the idea several years ago after eating at Dave & Busters.  I also made cake mix cookies for dessert, yum! 

We found the base recipe for the macaroni and cheese here.  For some reason I have a hard time finding monterrey jack cheese, and usually just end up using a colby-jack blend.

For this dinner I actually cook the bacon instead of just using bacon bits.  I really don't like cooking bacon, but I have gotten much better at it, and it tastes so much better.  I crumble the bacon once it has cooled and I just kind of eye ball the amount of bacon I want to add, (or whatever is leftover after we've snacked on it while cooking) approximately half the package.     

I use 2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut up into bite sized pieces, and pan cooked.  I cook it in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil with some onion, garlic, and italian seasoning.  I usually make extra chicken so I can use it on chicken alfredo pizza later in the week.  (I make my own dough for the pizza, usually adding a few extra seasonings)

I mix in the bacon and chicken before I add the macaroni, then bake as directed in the recipe.  Super yummy!  Even though this dinner is usually in our rotation, for some reason it still takes me quite awhile to make.  So make sure you give yourself plenty of time if you decide to make this.

For dessert I made these cake mix cookies, I found the recipe on one of my new favorite blogs.  These were by far the easiest cookies I have ever made, and they were delicious!  I used devil's food cake mix and added some Reese's peanut butter chips to the dough, I cooked them for 12 minutes and they came out perfectly!   Since dinner was so time consuming, I wanted something quick and easy for dessert.  I can't stress enough how easy and yummy these are!  I did underestimate a bit how much these cookies would spread while baking, so make sure to space them a good distance apart.  I yielded just over 2 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!