Cajun Chicken Alfredo

This is possibly the greatest recipe I've ever made. I am completely in love with it. Make it and you will see why.

Ingredients:
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (just depends on the size)
4 ounces of fettuccine

Cajun Seasoning:

• 2 tbsp of seasoning salt (or regular salt)
• 1 tsp of cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp of garlic powder
• 1 tsp of onion powder
• 1 tsp of paprika
• 1 tsp of pepper

4 tbsp of butter

1/4 cup of chopped green onion

1/4 cup of chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup of chopped green bell pepper

1/4 cup of chopped tomatoes (or sun dried tomatoes)

2 cups of heavy whipping cream

1/4 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of basil

1/8 tsp of garlic powder

1/8 tsp of pepper

1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup of Monterrey jack cheese

Directions:

Boil a pot of water for the noodles. Add the noodles, make sure to cook thoroughly or cook them to al dente. I don't like those words 'Al Dente' but a lot of people like there noodles that way, which by the way it means that the noodles will be a little chewier. 

Take the chicken breasts and rub the Cajun seasoning all over them until there is a good coat of it on each side. 

In a large skillet place the butter and turn the flame to medium heat. Allow the butter to melt before adding the chicken breasts, then turn the stove to low-medium heat allowing the chicken to saute properly and cook all the way through it should take only 5 to 7 minutes.

 Remove the chicken and set aside for later. Add in the onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, heavy cream, parmesan, monterey jack cheese, pepper, basil, salt and garlic.

Cook the sauce through so that it is a good consistency. Allowing all the flavors to develop.

 At this point, just taste the sauce, guarantee you will be so impressed with yourself. It was at this moment I realized how amazing this recipe was going to turn out.

Now drain the noodles in a colander. Server yourself up a bowl. I like to layer mine noodles, sauce, chicken, noodles, sauce, chicken. 

 If you don't love this recipe you are absolutely nuts!

P.S.

The only thing that I regret about this recipe is not making a bread to accompany it. 

Texas Roadhouse Butter

This is probably the easiest thing you will ever make and one of the most impressive to guests.


Ingredients:
1/2 cup of Butter (I prefer to use spreadable)
1 Tbsp of powdered sugar
1tsp of cinnamon


Directions:
Put the butter in a small bowl, along with the powdered sugar and the cinnamon.

Mix together thoroughly. At this point taste it and you can add more cinnamon or more sugar whatever you feel.

Voila! Your done , you now have some delicious butter that tastes like you stole it right out of the kitchen at Texas Roadhouse. To make this even better when making rolls or bread, spread some of this butter on top while in the oven and it will definitely be worth it.

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

So every time I have company over I feel that I have to impress them and pull out all the stops (dinner wise). I've developed a reputation as being a awesome cook that I have to live up to whenever we have friends visit. This recipe would be a product of that so hope you enjoy it because my guests did :)

Ingredients:


5 russet potatoes
1 stick of butter
1/2 package of cream cheese
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper
1 tbsp of garlic powder


Directions:


Peel the potatoes and wash them off in the sink. Then cut the potatoes into even sizes, this will allow them to cook more evenly.

 Next put the potatoes in a pot of water and allow them to boil until you can stick your fork in them and slide it out easily. 

Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them in a colander so to get all the water out. Then place them back in the pot. Mash the potatoes up with potato masher ( I don't own one so I just used a fork). You don't have to completely mash them up either Since you will be using a hand mixer later. Plus some people like there potatoes a little on the rustic side, so more chunky then creamy. I found out that my boyfriend prefers the rustic kind over creamy AFTER I had mashed them to an oblivion, but oh well can't complain because they were still super delicious!

 Now add the butter, milk, cream cheese, garlic, salt and pepper. Get out a hand mixer or yet again if you don't own one just do the best you can with a fork. If you are using the hand mixer I would only use it for 20 seconds maximum on medium speed because we don't want mushy mashed potatoes. 

 They should be a good consistency at this point. Now you can season them to your personal preference. I myself prefer more garlic.

They were so delicious which means a lot coming from me because before this recipe I did not like mashed potatoes at all! 

My Daddy's Brown Sugar Honey BBQ Porkloin

Ingredients:


Porkloin
Lawrys seasoning salt
Pepper
1cup of Brown Sugar (more if you would like)
1 cup of Honey BBQ sauce (or more if you want its a personal preference)
Aluminum Foil


Directions:


Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. lay out a piece of foil double the length of the porkloin.


Cut off some of the excess fat on the porkloin (the white parts), then take a fork and tendorize by stabbing it repeatedly all the way down the length of the porkloin; flip over and do the same. Lay the porkloin on top of the foil so that later you can seal it for cooking int he oven.


Then season generously with the seasoning salt and pepper rubbing it in with your hands. Cover the porkloin in the brown sugar and rub it in with your hands. 


Then pour the BBQ sauce all over the porkloin as well. Depending on how much excess sauce you want you can use more of the BBQ sauce than I have listed (sometimes I like to use a entire bottle!). 


Now pull your foil over the top of the porkloin and fold it around to seal in the juices. 


Allow to cook for a full hour.


Pull out of the oven remove foil carefully not to burn yourself. Slice up the porkloin. I personally like to take the sauce and drizzle it over the pieces after I cut them so they soak up the flavor and stay moist.


Enjoy!


Pictures to be added later!

Cherry Chipotle Short Ribs

Ingredients

5 pounds pork ribs

• Salt and black pepper
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 dark beer (recommended: Guinness, but you can use whatever beer you want)
• 1  onion, cut into chopped
• 1/4 cup molasses 

Cherry Chipotle Sauce:

• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 (15-ounce) can tart cherries (pie filling cherries)
• 1 (15-ounce) can cherries (sweet, I like maraschino cherries-no stems)
• 1 tablespoon chipotle paste
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

Pat the ribs dry and season generously with salt and black pepper, to taste.

In a large braising pot or large skillet, heat the oil over high heat. Add the ribs in batches, so as not to crowd.

 Brown them deeply on each side and when all have been seared, remove them from the pot and add 1/3 of the beer to deglaze the pan. Turn off the heat and scrape the chunks (fat residue) from the bottom of the pan.

To create the sauce, strain the fat from the pan or pot leaving only the juices and return the pot to a medium-high heat. 

Add the onions and cook them until they are soft. 

Then add the garlic and red pepper flakes, cook for 2 minutes more, then add both cans of the drained cherries. Bring to a simmer, add the chipotle sauce and molasses. 

Cook the mixture for 10 minutes at a simmer. At this point you can strain for a more elegant sauce, then add the butter, or just add the butter and leave rustic ( I prefer the more rustic sauce).

Put the ribs back in the pot or pan, add the remaining beer. Cover and roast, turning the ribs every 20 minutes. 

After 1 hour, drizzle in the molasses, return the lid and roast for 1 hour more or until ribs are a dark red color.

Transfer the ribs and the sauce to a serving dish and serve.

Apple Filled Pull-Apart Loaf

Ingredients:

3 packages of crescent rolls or cinnamon rolls if your feeling extra adventurous
2 medium size Granny Smith apples (I originally thought you would need more as seen in picture above but I was wrong)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 tsp of nutmeg

The Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
3-4 teaspoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring


Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.


Pull apart the crescent rolls (no need to unroll them) to make little balls.


Peel the apples (two is definitely the the number of apples I would use, I experimented with it and peeled 5 before realizing that I could barely fit three in the pan). Chop the apples up. 

Combine apples, sugar, nuts and cinnamon. 


Flatten each ball into a 2-3-inch circle. Place 1 teaspoon apple mixture in center of each dough circle. Pinch edges together to seal, forming a ball. Place filled balls the loaf pan. Spoon remaining apple mixture evenly over the top. 

Place in the oven....

... and bake for 45-50 minutes.


 Cover with foil last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over browning.

 Cool for 10 minutes. 

Remove from pan and place on wire rack to cool.


 Combine icing ingredients and drizzle over loaf.

Bonus if you used cinnamon rolls you have lots of icing for extra deliciousness!


Enjoy!!

Blondie Bars! (good for the troops)

This is another recipe that is dedicated to our friend Dupont who is in Afghanistan. You will be getting these within a few weeks! Hope you like them!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter (replace with shortening flavored butter, the conversion will be on the box)
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup extra chunky peanut butter
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 
  
• Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rectangular pan with parchment paper (its not that big of a deal if you don't have the paper, just spray it with pam or rub with butter).

In a bowl combine the butter (or shortening) and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the vanilla and peanut butter until it is smooth. 

Mix together the flour and baking powder and then combine with the peanut butter mixture. 

Finally mix in the chocolate chips. 

(For those of you who enjoy cookie dough this is absolutely one of my favorites)

Spread the dough out flat in the pan. Place in the oven, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the tops of the bars look dry. Cool in the pan and then cut into squares.

This is another recipe that is awesome for shipping when using the shortening instead of the butter recipe.

Snickerdoodles (good for the Troops)

This one is dedicated to our friend Dupont. You will be getting these in a few weeks hopefully, cannot wait until you get back! Stay safe! 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened (if making these for shipping purposes use shortening flavored butter it will give you the exact conversion on the package)
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons white sugar
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 
  
• Directions
• 
  
• First preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Get out a baking sheet and place a sheet of foil over it (no mess!). 
• 
  
• Combine the butter, shortening, sugar, eggs and the vanilla. Its important to use either a whisk or hand mixer to make it smooth.

At this time in a separate bowl combine the flour, cream of tartar, soda, and salt. Then combine both mixtures together. Mix until the dough forms a big ball. 

In a small bowl mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Then use your hands to roll individual round balls, roll them in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place them on the baking sheet (keep them 1 to 2 inches apart). 

Leave them to cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. 

These are awesome cookies, they are super delicious and will last a really long time if made with the shortening instead of butter. Everyone loves them though!

Enjoy!

Chicken and Rice Bake

Ingredients:
3 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (defrosted)
1 package of Rice Sides (they are like 89 cents at HEB) Garlic or Creamy Chicken flavor
1/2 cup of fresh broccoli (carrots can be substituted here)
1 can of peas
1 can of corn
2 cans of chicken broth or cream of chicken(60 cents a piece at HEB)
1 tsp of garlic powder
1/2 tsp of season salt ( I prefer Lawrys season salt brand)
1/4 tsp of pepper
2 cups of water
optional:
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese
1/4 cup of plain bread crumbs


Directions:


I absolutely love this dish, last time I made it we ate the leftovers for probably over a week. It heats up awesome and its really a fast lunch. 


First of all empty the contents of the chicken broth cans into a rectangular oven pan. followed by 2 cups of water. Stir in the garlic, salt, and pepper as well. 


Then you can add in your rice side. I love buying those instead of just a bag of rice because they come with their own seasoning. Followed by your canned veggies! I personally prefer my broccoli in smaller bits rather than big bites so I like to tear mine into small pieces, but it is really personal preference. I normally add carrots to this as well, helpful hint: you can buy the baby carrots and still use them for cooking or for a quick snack with some ranch rather than buying the large fresh carrots. 

Now for the chicken. I buy probably 2 bags of chicken at a time just because I use it in so many dishes and its fairly healthy for you depending on how its prepared. I slice mine into long strips before putting it in the dish , it really cuts the cooking time down and ensures for fully cooked chicken. Lay the strips in the dish like so...

Then bury the chicken under the mixture...


This is where I like to put my breadcrumbs over the top layer and/or cheese (it really gives it a nice crust on the top layer).


Then place inside the oven on the middle rack for 40-45 minutes. Or until when you check the chicken it is no longer pink but white all the way through.


Pull it out of the oven and set on some racks to cool or the stove top. 

Stir it up and slice the chicken into bite sized pieces.

At this point your good to go. 
Enjoy! I definitely am!