BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Ingredients:

1 1/2-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 bottle prepared BBQ sauce
1/2 medium white onion, sliced

Directions:

* Combine all ingredients in a crock-pot and cook on LOW 5-6 hours.

* Serve on toasted bread.

Hint: I added sliced tomatoes and sliced Colby cheese to my sandwich. We used whole-grain bread, toasted in the oven at 450 degrees F for 4 minutes. The longer the chicken cooks, the thicker the sauce will become. Stir often, and enjoy!

Pepperoni and Ziti Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 lb uncooked ziti
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 (26.5 oz) can prepared spaghetti sauce
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 (8 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1 (9 oz) package frozen, chopped spinach - thawed & drained
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 4 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 oz mini-pepperoni

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside to cool.
2. Brown ground turkey over medium heat until no longer pink - then drain.
3. In a large bowl, combine: browned ground turkey, large can spaghetti sauce, 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, chopped spinach, cottage cheese, Italian seasoning, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, and pepper. Mix well.
4. Fold drained pasta into the turkey mixture.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Prepare 2 baking dishes with cooking spray. (One to bake, one to freeze - if desired.)
7. Fill both baking dishes with ziti-turkey mixture.
8. Combine water with regular tomato sauce. Pour that combination equally over both pasta dishes.
9. Top with remaining shredded mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, and mini-pepperoni.
10. Bake the casserole at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes - OR - cover and freeze until ready to use.

Home Fried Pickles

Mmmmmm, fried pickles.

Not everybody likes them.

In our house only 3 of the 5 people living here, actually

admit to liking them.

I, am in the group that does like them.

I like them very much!

A while back, someone suggested I make my own.

I've seen them made on TV.

I've ordered them from restaurants and bought them

from food service stores...but until tonight -

I had never successfully made them.

But tonight - SUCCESS!!

I even got my husband to try and enjoy my version of fried pickles.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

thinly sliced pickles, or pickle chips

1/2 cup AP flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp cajun seasoning blend

oil for frying

*ranch dressing for dipping*

Directions:

1. Cut pickles into bite size pieces if not using dill chips. Once pickles are bite size, remove from brine and separate so that each piece can be dredged individually.
2. Combine AP flour, cornmeal, and cajun seasoning in a shallow dish.
3. Use a fork to dredge each pickle bite in the seasoned flour mix.
4. Heat oil to desired temperature, and drop covered pickles into hot oil one at a time - not overcrowding the oil.
5. Deep fry the pickle bites 1-2 minutes. Browning will occur in the frying process.
6. Remove deep fried pickles from the hot oil, and drain on a paper towel.
7. Serve with buttermilk dressing for dipping.