Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Awesome Chicken Nuggets Recipe

This recipe for chicken nuggets was taken from Paula Deen and boy is it good! She uses crushed sour cream and onion potato chips as the breading and it gives such an awesome flavor! My kids ask me to make these all the time, a definite must try! By the way, don't skip the sauce, it really makes the dish!




Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce


1 bag sour cream and onion potato chips (crushed as fine as you can get them so they will fully coat the chicken)
3 chicken breasts, cubed (or you can use chicken tenderloins)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Honey mustard dipping sauce, recipe below


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the eggs and milk in a shallow dish and also put the crushed chips in a separate shallow bowl. Make a little assembly line. Take the chicken, dip in the milk and egg mixture, then press into the chips to coat really well. Place the chicken in a single layer on a cookie sheets. Drizzle the tops of the chicken with melted butter. Bake for 25 minutes. 


Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce


3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
juice from half a lemon
1 teaspoon horseradish (I use the creamy kind from Kraft)
1-2 tablespoons orange juice


Stir together the mayonnaise, honey, mustard, lemon, and horseradish. Then stream in the orange juice to thin out the sauce to the consistency you like. Place in refrigerator until ready to use. 


*This recipe was tweaked a little from the original (I increased/decreased ingredients to what worked for me). You can find the original recipe on food network: 
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/chicken-nuggets-with-honey-mustard-dipping-sauce-recipe/index.html







Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Grandma's Apricot Bars

So my grandma is famous for her baked goodies but infamous for not measuring her ingredients, which makes it hard for me to replicate and archive! However, I got this one down pretty good! These are the best crumbly apricot bars you'll make at home! Mouth watering just thinking about them!







Apricot Bars

2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups apricot preserves (you can try any fruit preserve, I just prefer homemade apricot when available)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift flour, baking soda, salt together. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add flour mixture and blend well. Press half mixture in bottom of 13x9 inch bar pan. Spread jam and then sprinkle with remaining flour mixture.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden.

Enjoy :)

Yummy Pasta Bake!

Need something warm and comforting and yummy all in a spoonful!?
Fear not! 
This easy-peezy Pasta Bake is ready in less than an hour and both adults and kids love it!



Pasta Bake

1 pound pasta (I use ziti or penne)
1/2 pound ground beef (or go meatless)
1/2 onion, diced
2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
1 jar marinara sauce (I prefer Emeril Lagasse's marinara or make your own)
6 slices of provolone
8 ounces sour cream
2 cups mozzarella, shredded or sliced
basil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 
Cook pasta according to package directions. 
Cook ground beef in a skillet. Add onions, mushrooms, and zucchini and cook until tender. Add marinara sauce. Once the pasta is cooked and drained toss with the pasta sauce. In a 9x13 casserole baking dish put half the pasta then cover with the provolone slices. Now spread the sour cream over the provolone and put the remaining pasta in the dish. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and strips of basil. Bake for 25 min or until cheese is melty and bubbly. 

Enjoy :)



Keeping Bows/Barrettes Organized!

My daughter has a container full of little bows and barrettes for her hair. In an attempt to keep them organized we pinned a piece of ribbon on her vanity and clipped them all. Now they look nice, neat, and organized!!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Cake Deco..

As a way to make extra funds, I bake and decorate cakes! I didn't go to school or take classes for this, so it's not perfect but here they are! :)



























Monday, December 19, 2011

You'll never eat fruit alone again ;)

This fruit dip is absolutely the best fluffy concoction. My sisters swear you don't even need fruit, just a spoon! Always a hit! 



Fluffy Fruit Dip

6 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. cool whip
small container of marshmallow fluff
An assortment of fruit (bananas, grapes, nectarines, and pineapple are my faves!)

Mix the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth, add cool whip, then add marshmallow fluff. Chill and serve with fruit.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Only In New Mexico..well mostly :)

Biscochitos are a New Mexican tradition. They are delicate, flaky, and perfectly sweet! I know they aren’t good for you since the recipe calls for lard, but this is the authentic way to make them and they are so good just the way they are!



Biscochitos

2 cups Lard
2 Eggs
1 cup sugar + 1 more for the cinnamon sugar mixture
6 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp anise (optional)
6 tbsp orange juice

2 Tbsp Cinnamon and 1 cup sugar mixed together in a shallow bowl. Set Aside.

Combine the flour, baking, powder, and salt together. In a separate bowl, cream the lard, eggs, and 1 cup sugar together. Add dry ingredients and mix with mixer on low speed, mixture will be crumbly. Add the orange juice and mix with your hands or with the paddle mixture until combined. At this point you can add the anise if you prefer. Press dough together to form a ball and roll out dough to about 3/16 of an inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Then place cookies face down into cinnamon and sugar mixture and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool cookies on cooling racks and then recoat the face side with more cinnamon and sugar. Store in cool dry place.
*Do not put cookies in a sealed container or in a Ziploc bag because you don’t want cookies to have any moisture.