Faux Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

• chicken legs
• 2 cups crushed butter crackers
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 TBS garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 3 shakes of hot sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a baking pan with olive oil or cooking spray.
2. Combine half-and-half with hot sauce in a shallow dish to coat chicken legs one at a time.
3. In a second shallow dish, combine brushed butter crackers, cornmeal, garlic salt, and black pepper. Mix well. Roll chicken legs in dry mixture after being coated in the wet mix first.
4. Lay coated chicken legs in prepped baking dish, side by side. Cover with any remaining dry mixture.
5. Bake for 1 hour, at 375 degrees F. Test to make sure chicken legs have reached an internal temperature of 175 degrees F.
6. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes prior to serving.

This recipe is being shared at the Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange 4/24 over at Little House on the Prairie Living - go see what other great recipes are being shared!

Seafood Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb cooked shrimp, peeled & deveined
2 (6 oz) can crab meat, drained & flaked
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
4 TBS butter, divided
1 large white onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (4 oz) can mushrooms, drained
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 hot sauce
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar or colby blend)
1 cup butter crackers, crushed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Gather all needed ingredients and utensils.
2. Combine the cream cheese with 2 TBS of butter in a small sauce pan over low heat, stirring until smooth.
3. In a separate large skillet: saute onion, celery, and green pepper in 2 TBS butter until tender.
4. Add the smooth cream cheese mix to the sauteed vegetables in the large skillet, mixing well. Add shrimp, crab meat, cream of mushroom soup, drained mushrooms, garlic powder, hot sauce, cayenne, and cooked rice. Mix well.
5. Transfer combined ingredients to a prepared (use cooking spray) baking dish.
6. Mix crushed butter crackers with shredded cheese. Cover the mixture in the baking dish with the crushed cracker and cheese blend.
7. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, or until center reaches 165 degrees F.
8. (Best served hot.)

Hints: I was first introduced to this dish at a work potluck dinner. The cook used seafood paella mix instead of only shrimp and crab meat. I prefer that combination, but my boys do not. (I'm sure it's a visual thing - but whatever.) Another way to up the nutritional value is to substitute wild rice for the regular white rice. Definitely, definitely one of my all time favorites!!

*Also linked up to Food on Friday over at Carole's Chatter - go check it out!!*

Bacon-Chicken Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a favorite at our house, especially when I don't really feel like cooking. Instead of just sending the boys into the kitchen to make a sandwich - I can score mom points for having a hot meal that is both hand-held and delicious.

We have experimented a lot with tweaking several staple recipes in our menu to "Buffalo Chicken" flavor, and last night we tweaked our Quesadillas in the same direction.

These were devoured. No leftovers. None.

I consider that to be a good sign!

Ingredients:

2 fajita size flour flour tortillas per person (10 in our case)
1 large can chicken breast, drained
1/2 cup bacon crumbles
1/4 white onion, diced
1/8 cup ranch salad dressing
2-3 dashes hot sauce
1/2-1 tsp southwest seasoning
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

* Combine chicken breast, bacon crumbles, diced onion, ranch dressing, hot sauce, and shredded mozzarella cheese in a mixing bowl with a fork.

* Prepare cooking surface, preferably a griddle or shallow skillet by preheating after ingredients are assembled and ready to cook. These cook quickly, so be prepared. (I use a double burner griddle.)

* Place 1 flour tortilla on hot cooking surface, then top with filling mixture. Filling should not quite cover the tortilla and make sure to spread it out so that it will melt evenly as it cooks. The more filling, the harder it will be to flip and the cheese will not melt completely. Top with 2nd flour tortilla.

* Cook for 1-2 minutes on medium-high heat on preheated griddle. Tortillas will become crispy and cheese will melt as they cook.

* Cut with a pizza cutter and serve with ranch dressing for dipping...if the kids wait that long!

Enjoy!!



This recipe is linked up to Friday Food at Momtrends - go check out the other recipes linked up today!

Black Bean Tuna Melts

Ingredients:

1 (15 0z) can black beans, drained & rinsed

2 (5 oz) cans of tuna in water, drained

1/2 white onion, diced

1/2 tsp dry dill

2 dashes of hot sauce

1/2-1 cup of shredded colby-jack cheese

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

*sliced rye bread*

*butter or margarine*

* Combine rinsed black beans, drained tuna, diced onion, dry dill, hot sauce, shredded cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt & pepper in a mixing bowl with a fork.

* Heat griddle or grill to medium heat, and prepare sliced rye bread with butter or margarine for grilling.

* Place one slice of rye bread, butter side down, on griddle.

* Top with tuna mixture.

* Cover with a second slice of rye bread, butter side up.

* Cook on both sides until golden brown, about a minute on each side.

Hint: My husband and one of my sons added an additional slice of American cheese on to their sandwiches as I was loading our griddle. Big success at our house! A great alternative to traditional salad dressing with salad dressing or mayo.

Kicked-Up Cornbread

My husband loves Jiffy corn muffin mixes. Quick, simple, easy to use and very consistent.

Last week when we made a big crock-pot of ham & beans for dinner, I took on the task of making the cornbread. What is ham & beans without cornbread?

I'm not sure if it was more out of curiosity or boredom, but I decided to add some extras to the cornbread batter.

I wasn't going to tell my family, I wanted to see if anyone would notice. At the last minute I chickened out and told on myself.

Holey moley, you would have thought I broke the law! They complained and carried on as if it was the end of the world. I messed with their cornbread and they were not happy...not happy at all.

Well, until they ate it!

It was delicious!!

I added:

* 1 1/2 tsp hot sauce

* 1/2 cup shredded colby-jack cheese

* 1 TBS southwestern seasoning

That added to the batter, then allowed to rest 10 minutes prior to baking as directed on the package - and viola! Kicked-Up Cornbread was an absolute success!

This recipe is linked up to Friday Food - Click on the MomTrends for more of this weeks recipes!!

Rock Star Chicken Mac-N-Cheese

Why is it Rock Star Chicken Mac-N-Cheese? Because it's AWESOME!!

Me personally, I'm not really a fan of Mac-N-Cheese. Because I love my children, I include it in our menu. My youngest is faithful to order Mac-N-Cheese whenever we eat at a restaurant. I cringe at the idea of paying upwards of $5 for a small bowl of his favorite food, but it makes him happy and I know that it is something he will eat. In my mind the bigger problem would be me paying for chicken tenders or a burger and fries that he doesn't eat.

If my favorite restaurant served this....I would have no problem paying for it! I enjoyed this dish completely!!


Ingredients:

1 lb box of elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
1 (13 oz) can chicken breast, drained
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 large white onion, diced
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 cup prepared ranch salad dressing
1/4 cup hot sauce
1 can cheddar cheese soup
*paprika*

1 - Cook elbow macaroni in boiling water for approximately 8 minutes. Drain, return to pan.
2 - In a deep skillet - saute celery, onion, chicken, and butter until vegetables are beginning to become translucent.
3 - Add cheddar cheese soup, ranch dressing, hot sauce to chicken and vegetable mix. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes until contents are completely combined and thoroughly heated.
4 - Add cheesy chicken mixture to drained macaroni and stir well.
5 - Serve topped with paprika if desired.