The rest of March

Recipes listed First. Life updates listed second.


I don't have to cook that often, so maybe thats why I enjoy doing it. My husband is really only home on the weekends which means I only have to plan a few meals each week. With traveling to CA and Adam's birthday this month, my oven didn't get much lovin'. Here are the new recipes I tried:


Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

2 Whole Chicken Breasts
1 12oz bottle Buffalo Sauce
1lb Elbow Macaroni
1 Cup Sour Cream
8 Ounces Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
8 Ounces Montery Jack
4 Ounces Blue Cheese (not a huge fan so unless you like it I would recommend leaving this out)
3 Tablespoons Butter
3 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
3 Cups Milk
1 Cup Breadcrumbs

Prep ahead of time:


Cut chicken breasts into very small pieces. Toss in a bowl with enough buffalo sauce to coat plus a little extra, and let sit for at least an hour. Stir it every now and then. The chicken will start to look like it’s just slightly cooked; that’s the acid denaturing the proteins. It’s normal.

Cooking:

Simmer the whole bowlful in a pan, sauce and all, on medium heat until the chicken is cooked. Drain the cooked sauce/chicken liquid from the chicken and toss the chicken bits with a little more buffalo sauce. Set this aside to cool some while you do the sauce and pasta.
Shred the extra sharp cheddar, Monterey jack and crumble the blue cheese into a big mixing bowl. Set aside about a half cup of the cheeses in a separate bowl to make the topping later. Stir the rest in the big bowl together with sour cream and some black pepper to taste.

Heat the oven to 350F. Start a pot of boiling salted water for the pasta.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat and when melted, whisk in the flour. Keep whisking while it cooks and bubbles for about 2 minutes. (This is called a roux.) Whisk the milk into this mixture and stir often.
When the mixture is starting to get hot, put the pasta in the boiling pot to cook for about 8 minutes. During this time, keep whisking the milk sauce until it’s thickened. (At this point, you’ve now made a bechamel sauce!)

Mix the sauce into the cheese and sour cream in the big bowl and stir well to get the cheese mostly mixed into the sauce. Stir in the pasta. Fold in the chicken. Pour into a 13×9 casserole pan.
Using a fork, mix the breadcrumbs, the small bowl of cheese and a drizzle of buffalo sauce, adding more sauce as needed until it has a crumbly texture. Sprinkle this topping over the macaroni and cheese.
Bake for about a half hour or until the sauce is bubbling around the edges and the topping is starting to get browned.



Chicken Crescent Rolls ( Definitely going to make these again! My huband loved them)

2 Whole Chicken Breasts

1 Can (8 oz) Crescent Rolls

1 Cup Colby Montery Jack Cheese

3 Ounces Cream Cheese

1/4 Cups Diced White Onion

2 Tablespoons Milk

3 Tablespoons Butter

1/4 Teaspoon Seasoned Salt

Pepper to taste

Paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the chicken, either by baking or boiling it, and cut it into cubes. Combine the cream cheese, onion, milk, 1 tablespoon of butter, and seasoned salt and mix well. Add the chicken and shredded cheese and mix until chicken is well coated. Add pepper to taste.
Prepare the crescent rolls to make four squares. Fill each square with the chicken-cheese mixture. Bring all four corners together over chicken-cheese mixture and pinch until closed.
Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and spread over the crescents rolls. Sprinkle with paprika
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.


Bow-tie Lasagna  (failed to take a pic)

1 Pound Ground Chuck
5 Cups bow-tie noodles
3 Cups spaghetti Sauce (used Prego with sausage)
1 Tablespoon Oliv Oil
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/2 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 Cups Sour Cream

Fry ground chuck in small pan. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions.

Can't believe tomorrow is April!  I think I will try out our pool. It is suppose to be 90 degrees :)
After noodles are cooked, drain and drizzle with olive oil. Mix in your spaghetti sauce. (I can’t guarantee your results on this, because I’m spoiled; I am a “home canner” and have the BEST sauce on my shelf, a home canned marinara sauce that I use for lots of stuff—pizza, spaghetti, and of course, THIS.)



Add your fried hamburger, seasonings, cheese, and sour cream. Fold together and allow it all to combine and melt together, over low heat, for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.


Easy Mexican Crockpot Meal

2 Cans Black Beans
2 Cans Whole Kernel Corn
1 Jar Salsa of Choice
3 Pieces Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

Dump everything in and place chicken on top. Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours. Add sour cream, avocado, chips, cheese, etc and you can turn it into tortilla soup.

Chocolate Silk Pie

Ingredients:



Dough for 1 9-inch pie crust
For the filling:

1 cup heavy cream, chilled

3 large eggs

¾ cup sugar
2 tbsp. water
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened and cut into 8 pieces

Freshly whipped cream, for serving


Directions:


Roll the chilled pie dough into a 12-inch circle. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the dough. Trim, fold and crimp the edges. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375˚ F and adjust an oven rack to low-middle position. Line the chilled pie shell with parchment paper so that it lays over the edges of the dough. Fill with pie weights and bake until the surface of the dough no longer looks wet, 20-25 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment paper and return the pie crust to the oven. Bake until the crust is golden brown, 10-12 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

To make the filling, add the cream to the bowl of an electric mixer. Whip on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate.

Combine the eggs, sugar and water in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (the water should not touch the bowl). With a hand mixer on medium speed, beat until the egg mixture is thickened and reads 160˚ F on an instant read thermometer, about 7-10 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and continue to beat until the egg mixture is fluffy and cooled to room temperature, about 6-8 minutes.

Add the melted chocolate and the vanilla to the cooled egg mixture and beat until well blended. Beat in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time until well combined. Using a spatula, gently fold in the chilled whipped cream until no streaks remain. Transfer the filling to the baked pie shell. Refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours. Slice and serve with freshly whipped cream as desired.


Life Updates:

Adam is planning on going back to school. He is thinking about studying Criminal Law. We just talked about it the other day, and think that would be a great fit. I am pregnant! Well, I just thought I would throw that out there for fun. I really am not, but I am getting more comfortable with the idea. I actually just quit my job on Tuesday. It was an okay job, but the responsiblities just kept piling on. The atmosphere was pretty stressful at times, especially when I was left by myself to cover everything (my job+ my boss's job). When I was told that I could no longer plan church things or anything else on my days off that could keep me from filling in last min for my boss, I threw in the towel. This was just a part time job for me, not a career. I was told this after I covered everything myself Monday b/c my boss couldn't come in. Instead of a thank you, I got scolded b/c I handled a stituation differently than my boss would have (even though it was a more efficient choice). I couldn't come in the next day b/c I had visiting teaching (couldn't reschedule b/c it was the end of the month) and my mother in law was in town (we had made plans). The other girl who has the same position as I use to came into work (b/c it was her day), but wasn't up to speed on how to run everything. My boss had been leaning on me, instead of training her. When she called me after the work shift had already started and found out I couldn't come in, I was lectured. Needless to say, I am relieved I don't have to work there anymore. Glad I don't have to deal with the stress anymore. Plus, my boss was a nice person in general, but got upset really easily. When she was mad, she would say things that were hurtful in a condescending way to customers or whoever upset her. I really liked her, but the pattern of blow ups were hard to deal with. Especially when she took her frustrations out on me. I think she is a great a person, and that this job is just too stressful for her too.


On a happier note, here is the pretty flower Adam got me for Valentines day. We bought it after our CA trip b/c we weren't sure what plant we would end up with, and didn't want to worry about it while we were gone. We could have got this Orchid beforehand though, because they don't need much care.