Chicken, Bacon Ranch Mac and Cheese

12 oz Elbow Macaroni
6 slices bacon (I use turkey bacon and olive oil)
About 10 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1 Tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 can reduced sodium Cream of mushroom soup
1 cup Italian blend shredded cheese
3/4 cup colby-jack cheese
1 packet Ranch dressing mix

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain
Cook bacon over medium heat  until crisp. Remove from pan and finely chop; set aside. Increase heat to medium high and add chicken to bacon drippings. Cook about 6 minutes or until done.
Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat and add flour, stirring constantly with whisk. Combine milk and soup with whisk and add slowly to butter and flour mixture. Continue to stir with whisk and bring to a boil, cooking about 2 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Add Italian cheese and ranch mix and stir until cheese melts. Mix cheese sauce, pasta, bacon and chicken in a casserole dish coated with cooking spray and sprinke with colby jack cheese. Broil 3-5 minutes, or until cheese melts.

I did not take a picture but it is so amazing! Next time, I will take a pic!

Sloppy Joes

I am not a Hamburger Helper kind of gal. I hate the aftertaste that it has. Most canned Sloppy Joe mixes are the same to me, leaving a strange after taste that I do not enjoy. I like to make things from scratch so I know what is going into it and can adjust the recipe to my own taste. This one was great! I did not have the time to let is simmer as long as I would have liked so that it could thicken up a bit more, but it was still very good.

Sloppy Joes

About 2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced small
2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 can tomato sauce
About 1 cup chicken stock (beef would also work)
4-6 split hamburger buns (I toast mine)

Heat oil over medium high heat and cook onions until softened, seasoning with a little salt and pepper. Add garlic and stir while cooking about 1 minute. Add meat and cook, breaking with a wooden spoon or spatula, about 3-5 minutes or until brown. Add Brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce and stock of choice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes or until desired thickness. Serve over toasted hamburger buns.

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

This was a pretty good dinner! I love pulled pork, especially in the summertime, and the crockpot is certainly the best way to make meat tender for pulling when it is hot outside! This recipe is very simple and great!

Pulled Pork

3-5 lb Pork roast
2 large onions
1 can Ginger Ale
Barbecue sauce of your choice (16 oz)
Additional Barbecue sauce for serving
6 hamburger buns

Place sliced onion to cover the bottom of the crockpot. Add Roast followed by additional onion slices. Cover all with Ginger ale and cover. Cook on low for about 8 hours.
Remove meat to carving dish and drain all liquid from crockpot. Shred pork roast with two forks and return to crock pot with the onions. Cover with 16 oz Barbecue sauce and mix. Cook on low an additional 1-2 hours and serve on buns! I often toast the buns, but it is not necessary. This is a great summer meal served with baked beans and corn on the cob!

Pot Roast Italian style

I have done pot roast the same way as far back as I can remember. Onion soup mix, potatoes, carrots, onions and water in a crock pot and cook it all day so that it falls apart. YUM! This time, however I decided to switch it up a little bit and it turned out to be amazing! Here is how I did it...

Italian Style Pot Roast

14.5 oz can whole tomatoes
1 can Giner Ale
1 Cup chopped onions
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic pepper salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoon tomato paste
1 1/2 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
3 pound chuck roast
2 tablespoon olive oil

In a large bowl, combine tomatoes in their juice, ginger ale, onions, garlic pepper salt, pepper, tomato paste, and italian seasoning. Stir until mixed well and seasonings are dissolved.
In large pan or dutch oven, brown meat in olive oil about 10 minutes each side. Place meat in crock pot and cover with tomato mixture. Cook on low about 10 hours.
This turned out very tender and so yummy!

I went missing!

It has been a while! I went on a little vacation and was not able to post. We took a family trip to Chicago and it was amazing! I considered posting where we ate there, but was not able to while on the road, so decided to keep with home cooked dinners instead. However, I do want to say that if you are ever in Chicago, you must try Giordanos and Portillos. WOW! Amazing food! Now I am hoping to get back to posting!

SO YUM Steak Soft Tacos

We had some leftover steaks from last night, so what better way to use them than steak tacos. These were so good!  We had about 2 1/2 steaks leftover that were precooked to about medium rare. Here is the recipe we used...

Steak Soft Tacos


Ingredients:


Leftover steak (about 20 oz precooked)
About 1 cup beef broth
1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
pinch salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 Tbsp onion powder
Mix broth and seasonings together and cover steaks in a frying pan. Cover with lid and simmer on low for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Slice steaks and serve! I used soft tortillas, sour cream, cheese, shredded lettuce, cheese and salsa and they were amazing! (Like the Mickey Mouse plates?)  :-)

Steak with Mushrooms, asparagus and mashed potatoes YUM!

Tonights dinner was so amazing! The weather was very nice, so we decided to use the charcoal grill this evening! For the mushrooms, we used sliced mushroom and sauted them in a little garlic and butter for about 15 minutes on medium low heat. The asparagus was also slow cooked over medium low heat with some garlic and butter. I like mine to be a bit soft (I know, rule is to keep it crisp). The mashed potatoes were a package of Idaho Potatoes. I cheated tonight! We used some cheap skirt steaks, but I am telling you that I could not tell the difference! They were wonderful! Leftovers will be used tomorrow night for fajitas. This steak marinade is absolutely fabulous! Truely the best steaks I have ever had were made with the recipe. I have also used this for shrimp and it is fabulous as well!

Amazing Steak Marinade

Ingredients:

2/3 cup soy sauce                                               
3/4 cup olive oil                                      

2 tablespoons garlic powder

4 tablespoon dry basil
1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon pepper
2 1/2 tablespoon dry parsley flakes

Mix all together. Pour over meat, cover and refrigerate two hours to overnight, turning occasionally. Cook as desired!

This makes a lot of marinade. You may want to cut recipe in half if you are only making a couple steaks or shrimp.