Pepita Crusted Cheddar Jack Southwest Chicken Mac

Ingredients:

1 pound dry elbow pasta noodles

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped white onion

1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed

2 cups cooked shredded rotisserie chicken

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 (14-ounce) can tomatoes with green chiles, mild version

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

5 cups whole milk

2 1/2 cups shredded medium Cheddar

2 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack

1/2 cup shredded smoked Cheddar

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup plain panko bread crumbs

1 cup coarsely ground roasted salted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Directions:
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add dry elbow pasta to boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes or until al dente, drain and reserve.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add onion, bell pepper and jalapeno. Saute for 4 to 5 minutes or until tender. Add chicken, cilantro, salt, cumin, pepper and tomatoes; saute for 3 to 4 more minutes, remove from heat and set aside.

In a separate large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Remove from heat and whisk in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Place back on medium-high heat, slowly whisk in milk and bring to a boil while continuously whisking. Reduce heat and stir in Cheddar, Monterey Jack, smoked Cheddar and cream cheese until melted and smooth.

Stir in cooked elbow noodles and chicken mixture. Pour mac and cheese mixture into a greased 3 quart casserole dish. In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter and bread crumbs. Toss to coat and sprinkle crumbs and pepitas over top of mac and cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crumbs browned. Enjoy!

The Results:

Ok, so I really wanted to try something new. I really do get scared when I try something new because I hate to fail at something. I have made the chicken filler to this meal before and it was super good. I thought this mac and cheese was a total twist on mac and cheese and it was really good. It makes SOO much though. You would definitely have to feed a crowd with this. I got the recipe from http://pickypalate.blogspot.com/search/label/mac%20and%20cheese. I love trying out recipes from Jenny's blog. She makes everything look so good. It was creamy and a total comfort food. Thanks Jenny!

P.W. Chile Con Queso, Revved Up

2lbs package of Velvetta Cheese

1lb package of Hot Breakfast Sausage (Jimmy Dean's)

1/2 large onion (chopped)

1 regular can Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chilies)(either regular or hot)

1 7-oz can of diced green chilies

1 to 3 diced jalapeno peppers, according to preference

Directions:
Chop the onion and brown with the breakfast sausage. Drain excess fat so you won’t have a
coronary. Cut Velveeta into cubes and add to warm skillet. Add Rotel and green chilies, and stir
together over low heat until mixture is melted. Add finely diced jalapenos, stir together, and serve warm with tortilla chips. During serving, Queso needs to be kept warm, either in a fondue pot,chafing dish, or Crock Pot.
Queso can be frozen flat in Ziploc bags and reheated.

The Results:

I really liked this. I think the hot breakfast sausage gave it a good texture and taste. I would have added another jalapeno though. I just added one jalapeno. I'm sure I will make it again so next time I will probably add 2 jalapeno's maybe even the third one. I like hot stuff though. So taste it before you go throwing another one in. I did as Pioneer Woman said and I Ziploced the rest of the queso. Try this and check out P.W. website on how she did it step by step.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chile_con_queso/

Deluxe Pizza

Pizza Toppings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Prego Marinara Sauce

small can olives

1 green bell pepper (chopped)

1/2 small onion (chopped)

Pepperoni

6 mushrooms (sliced)

2 cups Pizza Cheese Blend (Cheddar Cheese and Mozzerella)

Cornmeal

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 cup very warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbs yeast
3 Tbs oil
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp salt

Dissolve sugar in warm water then sprinkle yeast on top and float for 1 minute. Stir in yeast and proof (let it sit) for 10 minutes- yeast should foam. Stir in oil, salt and flour and knead for 10 minutes. Place dough in oiled bowl and let rise for 1 1/2 hours.

How to put together:

Preheat oven to 400. If you have a pizza stone (they make the best pizzas), put it in the oven to preheat as well. Remove hot pizza stone from oven and sprinkle with corn meal. Roll or toss dough and place on stone. Once dough is on the pizza stone place the marinara around pizza. Then add on pepperoni, green bell peppers, onion, mushrooms and olives. Cover with Pizza Cheese Blend. (Cheddar cheese and Mozzerella) Bake 17-18 minutes or until crust is golden brown. (That time is for a pizza stone - if you are using a cookie sheet, it may be a shorter time.)

Skillet Noodle Lasagna

Click on Skillet Noodle Lasagna to get the recipe.
The Results:
This really is quick, easy and good. Served with garlic french bread. I used sausage in this one and I made my own Spaghetti Sauce .But I have made this exactly how the recipe is before and it is just as good.

Biscuits and Gravy

Ingredients:
Breakfast Sausage
Flour
Milk
Salt
Pepper
Canned Biscuits

Directions:
Here are the step by step directions: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/09/biscuits_and_gr/ or you can you the PDF recipe she has set up.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/recipes/biscuits-and-gravy.pdf

The Results:
My husband really liked this. I think next time I would use a Hot Breakfast Sausage though. Everything went really good together.

Peach Cobbler

1 large can of peaches (drained) or 2 small cans

1 box of white cake mix

1 cup of sprite

1 stick of butter

cinnamon

The Directions:

Dump peaches in 9x9 pan. Next pour Sprite over the peaches. Add cake mix on top. Sprinkle some cinnamon on top.Slice the stick of butter and place pieces all over top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

The Results:

This is super good. My sister in law made this for us last night. I have actually had this before except without the sprite. My mom just didn't dump out the juices from the peaches. So if you wanted instead of using Sprite just dump the peaches WITH the juices in. This is a quick and super easy dessert. Served with vanilla ice cream of course.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
Filling:

2-3 chicken breasts (cubed)
2 TBS butter
1 small onion (chopped)
2-3 cloves of garlic (minced)
2 carrots (chopped)
2 celery sticks (chopped)
3 small red potatoes (boiled and chopped)
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
3/4 cup of milk
salt and pepper

Directions:
Boil the chicken for 20 minutes. Until done and no longer pink. Boil potatoes for 5-7 minutes. Take out and chop. Chop the carrots and celery. In a large pan put in a 2 TBS of butter. Saute carrots and celery until carrots are fork tender. Then add the onions and garlic in. Saute for 2 minutes. After that is all done. Add in the potatoes, corn, peas, cream of mushroom, cream of chicken and milk. Salt and pepper everything to taste.

Pie Crust

Ingredient:

One-Crust Pie (9-inch)
1 cup all purpose or unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening
3-4 tablespoons cold water

Two-Crust Pie (9inch)
2 cups all-purpose or unbleached flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening
5 to 6 tablespoons cold water

Directions:
Mix flour and salt in medium bowl. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender or crisscrossing 2 knives, until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).
Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface.

Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish. Add your filling and then top with the crust. Put a couple knife slits in the top and Bake at 425 for 35 minutes or until golden brown. You can make 9 inch pie pans if you would like.

The Results:
This was Awesome. I made up the filling for the pot pie and I got the pie crust recipe for my Betty Crocker cookbook. This meal was yummy. With the leftover pie dough I did what my mom always did for us. I rolled it out and cut it up in strips and put cinnamon and sugar on it and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes. It was my sons dessert. I made a glaze to go with it out of powdered sugar and milk. So easy and he loved it. I loved this chicken pot pie and will probably be making it again soon. So easy and good.