Sour Cream Noodle Bake

The Pioneer Woman has some really good recipes, but I always forget about the site. After seeing my friend post about this recipe, I decided to make it. Good thing is, if you can multitask, this can be done in 30 minutes or under!!

It was very filling so we definitely have plenty of leftovers. To me, it was a mix of a meaty Mexican/Italian food so I decided to serve it with chips, salsa, and guacamole. 

Ingredients:

1-1/4 lbs. Ground Beef

1 can (15 oz.) Tomato Sauce

8 oz. Egg Noodles

1/2 cup Sour Cream

1-1/4 cup Cottage Cheese (I used Ricotta Cheese instead)

1/2 cup sliced Green Onions

Sharp Cheddar Cheese 

Salt and Pepper

FEW PICTURES OF THE PROCESS

*1st layer down

*Part of the 2nd layer down

*Off to the oven!

What To Do:

• Preheat oven to 350F
• In a bowl, combine sour cream and ricotta cheese (Cottage Cheese if you decided to use that). Add plenty of ground pepper to it and mix well. Set aside or back in fridge if you prefer.
• In a skillet, start browning your ground beef
• Meanwhile while your beef is cooking, start boiling your noodles
• When you beef is done, drain and return back to pan. Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Mix well and simmer on low while you prepare the noodles.
• Drain your noodles and put back in pan. Stir in your sour cream/cheese mixture to the noodles. Add green onions and mix well
• In a baking dish, put down half of your noodle mixture-top with half of the meat sauce mixture-and sprinkle with cheddar cheese
• Complete with one more layer
• Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup has been sounding really good lately so I thought that I would try out my own recipe. I decided to have it cook in the crock pot because the chicken shreds so easily after cooking for awhile.

I have to admit, it was pretty good, but I could have added more of the seasonings and not so much water because I think the water made it a little bland. I used a cup of water so in the ingredients below, I am going to adjust the water, seasonings, and chicken broth.

*Getting ready to start cooking!!

Ingredients:

2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

6 ounces Enchilada Sauce

7 ounces Whole Peeled Tomatoes; mashed

1/2 of Red Onion; chopped

2 ounces chopped Green Chilies

2 cloves Garlic; minced

5 ounces Frozen Corn

1/2 can Black Beans

2 Tbsp. Cilantro; chopped

2 tsp. Chili Powder

1 Tbsp. Cayenne Pepper

1-1/2 tsp. Cumin

8 ounces Chicken Broth

1/2 cup Water

Salt & Pepper

Optional, but Necessary Ingredients:

Avocados

Tortilla Strips

What To Do:

• In a crock pot, combine all ingredients and mix together
• Cook on High for 4 hours (or I am sure it would work on low for 8 hours if you want to put it in before work)
• Take out Chicken and shred
• Mix Chicken back into the crock pot
• Serve with fresh avocado slices and tortilla strips

Bacon Jalapeno Cheese Ball

***UPDATE***

After making this cheese ball again at the lake for our family Christmas, I must say it was better the 2nd time. I talked with my Aunt and decided to put the jalapenos and the bacon, the outside portion, after the cheese had set in the fridge for an hour. It was a lot crispier and tasted a lot better to me!! Here is what it looked like the 2nd time:

I found this cheese ball after searching for recipes online. Thanks to Homesick Texan website for this recipe! 

Of course, I don't like pecans or any nuts so I left that off and just added more bacon & jalapenos to accommodate it. My grandmother really liked the cheese ball and had asked me to make it when we do our Cocktail night at the lake for Christmas. I might add more Bacon this next time to make it look crisper on the outside.

Ingredients: (My version)

8 ounces Cream Cheese; room temperature

1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

2 Tbsp. chopped Cilantro

1 clove Garlic; minced

1/4 tsp. Ground Cumin

Pinch of Cayenne

1 tsp. Lime Juice

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

3 Jalapenos; diced and divided

8 pieces cooked Bacon; crumbled and divided

Salt to taste

Crackers for serving

Ingredients: (Their version)

8 ounces Cream Cheese; room temperature

1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

2 Tbsp. chopped Cilantro

1 clove Garlic; minced

1/4 tsp. Ground Cumin

Pinch of Cayenne

1 tsp. Lime Juice

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 Jalapenos; diced and divided

6 pieces cooked Bacon; crumbled and divided

1/4 cup chopped Pecans; roasted

Crackers for serving

What To Do:

• Mix together the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, cilantro, garlic, cumin, cayenne, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, half of the diced jalapenos and half of the crumbled bacon
• Taste and adjust seasonings and add salt 
• Place the remaining jalapenos and bacon (*And Pecans if you choose to) on a plate
• Stir together so mixed well
• With your hands, roll the cheese mixture into a ball
• Place on the plate and roll in the jalapeno/bacon(pecan) mixture until covered
• Chill covered for at least an hour before serving
• Serve with crackers!

Garlic Pesto Chicken w/ Tomato Cream Penne

Another good find thanks to Southern Girl Cooking! I love Pesto, but never really make anything with it for some reason so when I saw this...it was perfect!!

**You need to marinate the chicken overnight so make sure you do it a day before you are ready to make it.

Ingredients for Marinade:

1/2 bottle Lawrys Herb and Garlic Marinade

1 large spoonfuls of Pesto

2 boneless Chicken Breasts

Ingredients for Sauce & Pasta:

8 oz. of Penne Pasta

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

3 cloves of Garlic

2 spoonfuls of Pesto

1/2 cup Chicken Broth

8 oz. Tomato Sauce

1 cup of Half-and-Half

*I added 1 Tbsp. Parsley and 1/2 Tbsp. Oregano

What To Do(NIGHT BEFORE):

1. Cut Chicken into strips and then make slits into the chicken
2. Pour Lawrys marinade and pesto over chicken
3. Marinate overnight

DAY OF:

• Boil water and start your noodles
• In a skillet, pour entire batch of chicken, marinade and all, into it and cook chicken fully
• In another pan, heat olive oil and cook garlic
• Add pesto
• Simmer in chicken broth until half has cooked down
• Add tomato sauce, oregano and parsley
• Then add half-and-half
• Simmer for 5 minutes
• Toss pasta in
• Place chicken on top & serve!!

Crispy Cheddar Chicken Tenders

YUM is all I can say. Thank you to Plain Chicken for this wonderful recipe!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Chicken Tenders

1/2 sleeve Club Crackers

1 1/2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 tsp. Ranch Dressing Mix (oops..I used the whole packet, but I will next time also)

dash pepper

2 Eggs

2 Tbsp. Milk

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 Tbsp. Sour Cream

1/4 cup Milk

1 Tbsp. Butter

2 pinches of Parsley

1/4 tsp. Pepper

What To Do:

• Preheat oven to 400
• In a food processor, combine crackers, cheese, ranch mix, and pepper
• Pulse until crumbs are fine and pour into a shallow bowl
• In another bowl, whisk together 2 eggs and 2 Tbsp. milk
• Dip chicken tenders into egg mixture and then coat in cracker crumbs
• Place chicken on foil lined baking pan
• Bake for 12-15 minutes (We baked ours for about 25 minutes to get really crispy)
• While chicken bakes, whisk together soup, butter, sour cream, milk, pepper and parsley
• Bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is done
• Spoon sauce over baked chicken

Jalapeno Stuffed Burgers

I wanted to keep dinner simple, but yet flavors that Kyle loves. I made the Jalapeno Stuff Chicken a couple of times and it is one of Kyle's favorites. This recipe is almost exactly the same to the Chicken, but in a burger instead. It serves 2 people so you may want to double the recipe if you are expecting more people to join for dinner.

It was harder for me to get a good picture after the burger was cooked so here is what the burger looks like before I stacked the other patty on top.

Ingredients:

1 lb.Ground Beef

4 oz. Cream Cheese; softened

1 Jalapeno; chopped and diced (w/ seeds for spice)

1/4 cup Shredded Cheese (I used Colby Jack)

1-2 slices Bacon; chopped 

Salt, Pepper & Garlic to taste

Plus any toppings you like, we used:

Lettuce

Onion

Avocado (perfect for this burger)

What To Do:

• In a bowl, combine your chopped jalapeno, bacon, cream cheese and shredded cheese
• I put in the microwave for about 10 seconds to get the cream cheese a little softer
• Divide your ground beef into 4 even slices and form patties
• Add cheese mixture to the center of one patty
• Place the other patty on top and press the edges together so they close
• Season burgers with salt, pepper and garlic
• Grill each side for about 5 minutes 
• Top with your favorite toppings!!

Chicken & Ravioli Carbonara

YUM YUM YUM!! Thanks to Plain Chicken for this wonderful recipe!! This was the perfect Italian Sunday meal & I can't wait for lunch today..leftovers :)! I doubled the recipe so that it would feed 3 of us for dinner and I could have just enough for lunch the next day. If it is for two of you, then this amount below is perfect!

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 cup cooked, chopped Chicken

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning (I used Thyme, Basil and Oregano)

1 clove Garlic

1 package (9 oz) refrigerated Cheese Ravioli (I used Spinach and Cheese Ravioli)

3/4 cup Chicken broth

1/2 cup Half-and-half

4 slices Bacon, cooked and chopped

Parmesan Cheese

Parsley

*I also added Crushed Red Pepper flakes for a hint of spice

What To Do:

• In a skillet, heat oil over high heat
• Add chopped up chicken and Italian seasoning to skillet
• Heat for about 2-3 minutes
• Add Garlic and cook for another 30 seconds
• Add broth and ravioli. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium
• Cook uncovered for about 4 minutes (if you double the recipe, cook for about 6-7 minutes)
• **The broth will have mostly evaporated
• Stir in half-and-half; reduce heat
• Simmer uncovered for about 6-7 minutes so that sauce can thicken
• Sprinkle with bacon, cheese and parsley

*I served all three plates and then sprinkled with bacon, cheese and parsley