I know I’m not the first to make this. It’s one of those recipes that there’s a hundred versions of floating around out there. Here’s my version.

• Chicken (I went with thin cut breasts, boneless and skinless)
• Panko bread crumbs
• Ranch dressing (I made homemade using a Hidden Valley Harvest Dill packet)
• Jalapeno, bacon, and green onion cream cheese (something I’ve recently discovered is awesome to have a jar of on hand)
• Shredded parmesan

Now my parmesan isn’t pictured because I forgot about it until the chicken was already in the oven. I went back and sprinkled some on one piece for me since Thom hates cheese. But really it would have tasted better had I mixed the parm and panko together. This is really one of those eyeball recipes, but for the four pieces of chicken pictured here I used about two tablespoons of cream cheese (which I softened in the microwave for about 20 seconds) and a cup of the dressing. I mixed the two together and dredged the chicken. Then rolled it around in the panko and put it in a dish I had sprayed with olive oil spray. I had the oven preheated to 375 and I baked the chicken for 30 minutes. The panko wasn’t turning golden brown so I kicked the broiler on and browned it up a bit for a couple of minutes.

Pretend this chicken is paired with pretty side dishes like roasted broccoli and/or crispy fingerling potatoes. Pretend I didn’t puss out and make chicken only for dinner.

And if you want to make the cream cheese spread, which is great on burger, here you go.

Enjoy!

• 8 oz of cream cheese (I prefer whipped, it’s easier to spread)
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 1-2 tbl of bacon bits
• one green onion, chopped

Soften the cream cheese and mix or fold in the remaining ingredients.

Awhile back I saw this recipe on Tasty Kitchen for customizable breakfast bread bowls. I knew I wanted to make them. I just kept not finding the right kind of bread. Finally, I ended up going to Panera for them. And since you can pretty much put anything you want in them, here’s what I did.

I hollowed out the roll to become a mini bread bowl. Then I did a shmear of this awesome cream cheese spread I made.

• 1 container whipped cream cheese
• 1 diced, seeded jalapeno
• 2 tbl bacon bits
• 2 tbl green onion

I made this spread to go on burgers, but I thought it might taste pretty good here too.

Then I put a piece of bacon in a skillet to cook. I scrambled one egg with a little more chopped green onion and some shredded parmesan and muenster and then crumbled the piece of bacon in there. I poured it into the bread bowl and then stuck it in the oven.

I wasn’t sure how to long bake it. I ended up cooking it for 20 minutes uncovered and then 10 minutes covered in foil on 350.

It sure does look pretty.

And it tastes good too. That cream cheese shmear was a good idea.

This past weekend I had a wild hair and I really wanted to make exciting new dishes. Beef Wellington came to mind as my friend Amanda had recently blogged about making it. So I’m standing in the grocery store googling it so I could find out what cut of meat to buy. Then I read (via wikipedia) that Beef Wellington is made when you take a filet of beef and smear foie gras (or pate) all over it. And then I stopped. Hell to the no. I don’t eat pate and I sure don’t eat foie gras. So I didn’t buy a filet. I did end up buying some puff pastry shells. Surely I could do something creative with them right?

I thought about some more and decided that I would use seasoned beef chunks wrapped in bacon instead. Bacon makes everything better right?

So my meat seasoned overnight in my special House Spice blend. Which is basically a cute jar I bought from Anthropologie and dumped a whole bunch of spices in. (garlic powder, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic & herb powder, seasoned salt, lemon pepper seasoning, italian seasoning) It’s a crazy hot mess blend, but everything I use it on tastes great.

So then I took two chunks and wrapped them in half a piece of bacon. I put them in the pastry shell and then stuck one of the pastry puffs on top. I put them in a 375 degree oven for ??? minutes. I confess: The oven was already on 375 for some biscuits I was baking. And I didn’t pay attention to the clock. I just waited until the puff pastry looked done.

My husband and a friend of his showed up just as I started writing this post. So I sat them down and made them be guinea pigs. They were happy to oblige. Thom, of course, got out the horseradish sauce for his. They gobbled them up quickly. I ate one as well. I didn’t actually eat the bacon since it was floppy and not crispy. But it gave the meat a wonderful flavor so you wouldn’t want to skip that step.

All in all this was a neat little dish, but probably not something I would make again. I only made four of these since I wasn’t sure how they would turn out. I’ll probably just throw the rest of the beef chunks in a hot skillet and make steak bites instead.

I do not like coleslaw. Probably because I do not like cabbage. My husband loves it though. So I decided to make him some. I’ve watched so many episodes of Chopped lately, so of course I would be awesome at this right? Right. I just took a bunch of stuff that he loves and threw it in a bowl and fed it to him. And he loved it.

• Red cabbage
• Cilantro
• Carrots
• Green onion
• Horseradish dijon mayo
• Regular mayo
• Honey
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Balsamic vinegar
• Tabasco sauce

I shredded the carrot and chopped everything else and just starting adding things until it looked right. He ate some on its own and also put a bunch on his pulled pork sandwich. I didn’t even try it. Instead I made a side of macaroni and cheese for myself. (the food he hates most in the world)

For the sake of a (somewhat) good photo, I plated everything to show it off.

Good stuff.

Man, I’m so creative with my recipe titles. Basically I just dreamt up something that I thought would sound good and tested it out. Turns out, I was right.

Not pictured, one small chopped onion, which I threw in a non stick skillet with about a tablespoon of the minced garlic and olive oil. Then I shook in some dry Italian herbs. You know, the kind that just says “Italian seasoning” on the bottle. Once the onions start to get translucent add the can of tomato sauce. Then add a giant heaping spoonful of the Philadelphia Cooking Creme and stir until it’s well blended. Then you can add your cooked pasta to the pan. I went with fettuccine. (I only used half the box of pasta)

I hope you’re a good multitasker. Because while you are doing all of this you’re also making your chicken. Or you can cheat and make the chicken first. Whatever. This new Kraft Fresh Take is basically a bag of shredded cheese(s), bread crumbs, and herbs. The idea is that you open it up and throw your raw chicken in there and “shake and bake”. I also threw in about a cup of crushed french fried onions because I love using them with chicken. Now you can take your coated chicken and either bake it in the oven for the healthier option, or throw it in a pan with some oil and fry it up. I’m sure no one is surprised that I didn’t bake mine. In my defense I had just watched Adam Richman on Man VS. Food eating some insanely delicious looking fried chicken. And that sounded so good to me.

So the end result was this:

I was worried Thom wouldn’t eat it because of the cheese in the coating on the chicken. It turns out he really liked the chicken. It was the pasta he wanted nothing to do with. He’s such a weirdo.

This recipe made about four servings.

Last night was going to be just another boring dinner night in my house. I had some chicken and some potatoes and was planning on doing nothing special with them. Then I thought maybe I could make a pan sauce to eat with the chicken. Then from there things started to snowball and I ended up with a pretty tasty dish. I didn’t measure anything, but here’s a general recipe so that you too can enjoy this tasty dish.

• Chicken: I went with boneless skinless chicken thighs that I had broiled in my oven.
• Cream cheese: I used an entire 8oz block
• Rotel: One can. It can be hot or mild or regular. Depends on how hot you like your food.
• Onion: I used one small yellow onion, diced.
• Garlic: I minced one large clove
• Corn: one can, drained
• Thinning liquid: Milk, chicken broth, wine… your choice. I used milk because it’s what I had.

Now at the last minute I converted this into a pasta dish, but it didn’t start out that way. It just looked like it was begging for me to add pasta, so I did.

I started by putting a little olive oil and butter into a large non stick skillet. Then I added the onion and garlic and sauteed for a few minutes. Then I dumped in the entire can of Rotel. I didn’t drain any of the liquid out first. I let this simmer for a few more minutes and then I got out my potato masher and squished the tomatoes until it was less chunky and more saucy. I did this because I don’t like tomatoes. I just like what tomatoes have to offer. Then I started adding in the cream cheese, a pinch at a time. Then I added the corn. Keep stirring until all of the cream cheese is melted. Then you’ll need your thinning liquid. Just start pouring in your wine or broth or milk until you’ve thinned the mixture to your liking. So of course this means sampling along the way. Adding salt and pepper to taste. From there I added my chicken to the pan. I added whole pieces, but you could chop or even shred. Or just plate your chicken and pour the sauce over it. Obviously I boiled up some spaghetti and added it to the mix. I still made the crash hot potatoes that I originally planned to make, and my husband added a few to his bowl.

What I might do different next time? Add in some of that Philadelphia cooking creme they have now instead of plain cream cheese. It’s thinner and pre-seasoned. You could easily cut the cream cheese in the recipe by half and still have a delicious dish.

So now I just have to figure out what to call this dish.

Over the weekend I had a party at my house. Since it had been about nine years since we’d had a party in our house, I felt like we were long overdue. Of course now that I’m older I wanted less of a party and more of a structured evening with adult friends who are fun to be around. So that’s how Game Night came to be.

We played Cards Against Humanity which is just like Apples to Apples, but with a bit more pop culture and adult cards added to the mix. There was lots of food and booze and no one spilled anything on my almost white carpet.

I made caprese salad bites because I saw them on Pinterest and thought they would appeal to the masses. I was right.

I also made some stuff called Cowboy Caviar. Now I read a lot of different recipes for this and each one was a little bit different. In the end I made up my own based off of the foods that my husband loves. So here’s the recipe:

Cowboy Caviar

2 cans of black eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 small red onion, diced

1 can corn, drained

1 can rotel, drained

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Put all of that in a bowl with some salt and pepper and let it hang out while you make your dressing.

1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil

2 tbl lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)

Mix those four ingredients together and then bring them to a boil for a minute or so. Just long enough for the sugar to dissolve. Once it cools completely pour it over your salad and serve.

Call me an idiot, but I forgot to eat any food the whole time. I did not, however, forget to have drinks. The Adult Arnold Palmers were the cocktail of choice for the night. (half Simply Lemonade and half sweet tea vodka)

I made each guest a mixtape cd and we did a drawing for a door prize. But the best part of the night were my friends. We had a great time and lots of laughs. Even if it did get a little inappropriate at the end of the evening. Oh who am I kidding? Inappropriate is what we do best.

I wish I had taken more photos, but sometimes you just have to be in the moment instead of trying to capture the moment. They were great moments though and I can’t wait for the next Game Night.

In an effort to keep my stress levels lower this holiday season, I decided not to go anywhere for Thanksgiving. The family my sister works for invited us to join them so I said yes. Then I found out that there will be 50 people there. Man, those people know how to party.

Then I remembered that hello? I have new appliances this year. Why am I not cooking my own dinner? So I decided that I would cook a simple turkey dinner so that we could feast off of the leftovers for days. So we’ll have late lunch at the party house and then a nice dinner later at home.

Menu:

• turkey & gravy
• dressing (cooked outside of the turkey)
• cream cheese corn
• green beans
• mashed potoates
• banana cream cheese pie
• hawaiian sweet rolls

I might add a can of jellied cranberry sauce, but only if Thom wants it. I don’t eat the stuff.

So what’s on the menu at your house? Are you keeping it traditional, or trying something new?

That’s what we’re calling this dish. A hot mess. Because a) it’s hot and b) it doesn’t look like anything you’d want to put in your mouth.

The recipe is from The Larson Lingo and it reminds me a lot of my Chicken Corn Chowder.

I modified her recipe just a smidge. Here’s what I used.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lbs of frozen chicken, boneless and skinless (I used both white and dark meat)
• 1 can Rotel (or tomatoes and green chilies for those of you who don’t know what Rotel is)
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 block cream cheese
• 1 tbl cumin
• 1 tbl salt
• 1 tbl pepper

If you’re putting this on and heading to work for 8 hours, go ahead and put your crock pot on low. If you’re around the house to monitor it, I say put it on high for 4 hours then switch to low for another 2-4 hours.

You can serve it over rice, but I had mine in a bowl with tortilla chips. I imagine it would also make a good layered casserole with corn tortillas. Next time I make it I will probably add chopped onion. It’s pretty good stuff. We’ve been eating on it for three days now. It really doesn’t look appetizing at all, but if you can get past it long enough to taste it, it’s delicious.

image from Larson Lingo

I miss cake. And cookies. And butter.

I’ve never eaten so many bananas in my life.

If I win I’m booking a trip to Seattle.