BBQ Chicken Dip

BBQ Chicken Dip

16 oz (1 lbs) cooked chicken, chopped
1 (8oz) block cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup BBQ sauce (use a spicy one)
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (use pepper jack for more spicy flavor)
1 green onion, chopped, optional
add ins: black beans or corn

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl combine chicken, cream cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, and 1 cup of cheddar cheese.  Pour Mixture into a lightly greased 8x8 baking dish.  Top the dip with chopped green onions and remaining cheese.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.

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Chili

CHILI

1 medium onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbls butter

1 lbs Hamburger

3 (15 ounce) can chili beans

2 (15 ounce) can kidney beans

1 (46 ounce) bottle spicy hot V8

2 Tbls chili powder

pepper to your taste

Brown hamburger, drain and set aside.

In a large pot, melt butter and cook onions until soft.  Add in the garlic at the end of cooking time.

Add the meat and the rest of the ingredients in the large pot, simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours.  Stir every 15 minutes.

serve with shredded cheese and crackers or bread.

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Lasagna Rollata Al Forno

This recipe is a Olive Garden copycat recipe that I modified and made a little different.

I made the roll ups and froze them in the freezer.  Then when I came home from work I made the sauce and took the frozen rolls out of the freezer and put it together and baked it.  It was so easy!!

Lasagna Rollata Al Forno

Marinara Sauce

2 cups marinara sauce

2 cups alfredo sauce

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Filling

1 lbs jimmy dean italian sausage drained and cooked, cool

1 egg

15 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese

1 (8 ounce) mozzarella cheese, grated

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup asiago cheese, grated

1/2 cup romano cheese, grated

1 tablespoon italian seasoning, blend

salt and pepper, to taste

Noodles

1 lb lasagna noodle

1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs

1 cup Italian blend cheese

Directions:

Blend first two marinara ingredients together in a large saucepan. Add remaining ingredients and heat on medium, stirring frequently. The cheese will melt and the sauce will become creamy. Keep warm.

 Beat egg into a large mixing bowl and add all remaining ingredients, blending well. Keep refrigerated until you are ready to use.

Cook lasagna exactly according to package directions. Drain and rinse immediately with cold water so they are cool enough to handle.

When ready to make, spread about 1/4 cup of marinara sauce in a large 9×13 baking dish. Based upon the number of noodles in your 1 lb of noodles, divide the filling accordingly. Lay one lasagna noodle in baking dish and spread with filling along noodle. Loosely roll the noodle up, jelly-roll style. Decide if this looks about right to you. If so, keep rolling the rest of the noodles. Otherwise use more filling per noodle and discard the extra noodles.

Continue with each lasagna noodle until all noodles are rolled and cut each roll in half and arranged in baking dish. Cover each roll with remaining sauce, the remaining mozzarella cheese and top with Italian breadcrumbs.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degree for about 35 minutes.

I made my lasagna rolls and then i froze them in the freezer on a cookie sheet.  Once they were frozen, I added them to a ziplock bag.  When i was ready to cook them, i assembled the dish and I baked it longer, for 50 mins. 

I also ended up with lots of left over noodles, so I blended up the filling again and made another batch. 

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Cheeseburger Soup

cheeseburger Soup

1/2 pound Ground Beef

3/4 Cup chopped onion

3/4 cup shredded carrots

3/4 cup diced celery

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

4 tablespoons butter, divided

3 cups chicken broth

4 cups diced peeled potatoes (1-3/4 pounds)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups (8 ounces) process cheese (Velveeta), cubed

1-1/2 cups milk

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup sour cream

Directions

• In a 3-qt. saucepan, brown beef; drain and set aside. In the same saucepan, saute the onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 tablespoon butter until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the broth, potatoes and beef; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
• Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt remaining butter. Add flour; cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly. Add to soup; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the cheese, milk, salt and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from the heat; blend in sour cream. Yield: 8 servings (2-1/4 quarts).

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Homemade Chicken Stock

HOMEMADE CHICKEN STOCK

1 whole chicken cut up

8 garlic cloves 

1 bunch of fresh parsley

5 carrots peeled and cut in large chunks

2 celery stalks cut in large chunks

1 large onion, cut in large chunks

2 bay leaves

10 peppercorns

3 roma tomatoes cut in large chunks

1 tsp kosher salt 

Put everything in a large cooking pot, add water to cover by 1 inch.

boil for a few mins, then turn down to a slow simmer.

after 1 hour of a slow simmer, remove the chicken.

let the chicken cool, then remove the meat and set aside for later.

return the bones and skin back to the pot and simmer for 1 hour.

strain the stock.

put the stock in containers. 

after the stock has cooled, skim off the fat.

you can keep in the refrigerator for 3 days for in the freezer for 3 months.

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 Put everything in the pot and add water.

 After it has simmered for 1 hour remove the chicken

 Shred the chicken and put aside for later and return everything else back to the pot to simmer for 1 more hour.

 Strain the stock

 you will be left with lots of little bits

 This is the liquid gold you end up with.  It is so good and low in sodium.

Black Raspberry Cream Cheese Tart

PASTRY CRUST

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch pieces

1/8 to 1/4 cup ice water

In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/8 cup water in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube until the pastry just holds together when pinched. Add remaining water, if necessary.  Do not process more than about 30 seconds.  Turn the pastry out onto your work surface, gather it into a ball, cover with plastic, and refrigerate for about one hour to chill the butter and allow the gluten in the flour to relax. 

Once the pastry has chilled, remove from refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry into a round. To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards to get uniform thickness). 

CREAM CHEESE 

4 oz cream cheese at room temp
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 egg yolk (save the egg white for brushing on the crust)
1/2 C powdered sugar

With a whisk beat together the cream cheese, vanilla, lemon zest, egg yolk and powdered sugar. Mixture will be thick and yellowish in color. 

FILLING

2 cups fresh raspberries

4 tablespoons granulated white sugar

2 tsp lemon zest

mix the fresh raspberries with sugar and lemon zest

TO ASSEMBLE

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

spread the cream cheese on the rolled out pastry crust leaving an inch around the outside. Put fruit on top and gather the sides up crimping it as you go. Brush the crust with egg white and sprinkle with sugar if you want.

Bake pastry for 30 minutes until golden brown.


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Zucchini Pizza Bites

I got this recipe from www.skinnytaste.com.  My daughter loves zucchini, so I made them and we all fell in love with them.  So quick and easy.  It would be a great appetizer for when company come over. 

RECIPE:

• 4 slices large zucchini 1/4" thick (or 1 medium zucchini cut on diagnal)
• Spray olive oil or pam spray
• 2 tbsp pizza sauce
• 1/4 cup part skim mozzarella (or jazz it up and use pepper jack cheese)
• salt and pepper

Directions: 

Cut zucchini about 1/4 inch thick. Spray both side lightly with oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil or grill for about 2 minute on each side. Top with sauce and cheese and broil for an additional minute or two. (Careful not to burn cheese) 

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