Foodie Friday ~ Apple BBQ Chicken

Here is a super easy, tasty recipe for the heat of summer or the wintery weather. And with school coming up it's an easy way to get dinner on the table even with a slew of activities cluttering up the schedule.

Ingredients
8 skinned chicken drumsticks
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1/2 cup dried apples
2 Tbsp diced jalapeno peppers
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
Directions

1. Take the skin off the drumsticks and place in slow cooker.
2. In a medium bow mix remaining ingredients.
3. Cover chicken with mixture.
4. Let cook 4 hours or until chicken is tender.

Weekly Wrap-up

On Monday, I and LilyBear House announced the release date for Winter Song.

On Tuesday, you found out the end to The Mermaid's Pearl, on the Anna's Legacy blog.

Thursday I announced the Teen Writing Workshop, being held this Saturday. Totally FREE and there will be door prizes!!

 

 

And hopefully, on Friday I made your mouth water with my Taco Pie recipe.

 





Foodie Friday - Taco Pie

It was my turn to fix lunch for my Monday noon meeting, so of course I turned to Pinterest. As I scrolled through my board the recipes I wanted to try, my heart stopped at I read the header of my dreams - Taco Pie.

Of course, I had to make it my own. Far be it for me to actually follow a recipe, gotta spruce it up a bit. So here is my version of Taco Pie.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup milk
1 package taco seasoning mix
2 1/2 cups mashed potato flakes (you could also use left over mashed potatoes and omit the butter and milk)
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Garlic salt, onion salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and celery salt
Sour cream, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sauce pan, melt butter. Add milk and 2 tablespoon taco seasoning. Remove from heat and add potato flakes until incorporated. Press mixture into the bottom of a 10-inch pan.
2. Bake for 7-12 minutes until it just BARELY turns golden brown.
3. In a medium skillet, cook beef and onions until beef is browned and cooked through. Season with garlic salt, onion salt, garlic powder, onion powder and celery salt to taste. Drain. Add Salsa and remaining taco seasoning. Cook until bubbly.
4. Pour into crust. Bake for 15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
5. Let cool for 5 minutes. Top with cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. Cut and serve with sour cream.

Picture by Jennifer McMurrain

Strawberry Pound Cake w/ Strawberry Honey Glaze

Ahhh... spring time and the strawberries are bountiful (and in most cases on sale) at the store. I always get roped in by the deals and buy way too many strawberries. I don't mind though, extra strawberries means baking and I really love to bake. Is there anything better than the smell of strawberry cake cooking in the oven? Try out this recipe and you tell me.

© Mekt | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

 

 

Strawberry Pound Cake w/ Strawberry Honey Glaze

 

Ingredients

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs, separated

1 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped

 

for the Glaze:

2 Tbsp. powdered sugar (may need more)

1 cup strawberry puree

2 Tbsp. honey (may need more)

 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour (I use Baker's Joy, works like a charm) an 8-inch loaf pan.

 

For the Cake:
1. Cream the butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add the flour and blend well. Stir in the vanilla and almond extract, and set aside.
2. Add the salt to the egg whites, beat until you have stiff peaks. Delicately fold first the egg whites and then the strawberries into the batter, until blended.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave in the pan to cool. Once cool, invert onto serving plate.

 

For the Glaze:
1. To make strawberry puree, put 15 strawberries in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
2. In a small bowl, stir in honey and powdered sugar into the strawberry puree gradually until the icing reaches the desired consistency and sweetness (taste often, as if that's a problem). Drizzle glaze over top of cooled cake.

Tortellini Soup

As a busy mom with a toddler I'm always looking for easy, no mess fixes. Also, being that I have a picky toddler, I'm always looking for ways to shove veggies down her throat. So when I ran across this tortellini soup I knew it was perfect and again EASY.

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen tortellini
1 small bag of fresh spinach (frozen will work too)
2 cans of Italian style diced tomatoes, drained
1 box or 4 cups or chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you're going vegetarian)
1 block of cream cheese
1 can of artichoke hearts, drained
1 lb. of roll sausage, browned  (optional, if you're going vegetarian)
2 cloves garlic

Directions:

Brown the sausage with the garlic.
Put all ingredients in crock pot, chunking up the cream cheese.

Seriously, I can't say enough about crock pot liners. I luv them.

Cook on low for 5-6 hrs.

Cheese, of the Bacon & Jalapeno Popper Variety

"Cheese."

That's what I hear 99% of the time when I ask my 18 month old what she wants to eat, and by "cheese" she means a grilled cheese sandwich. My girl can't get enough of them (she gets that from her momma).  So when I asked her what Mommy and Daddy should have with our Red Pepper Gouda Soup (recipe on Oklahoma Women Bloggers) she automatically said, "Cheese."

Let's face it, her vocabulary is limited to "shoes", "ewww", "uh oh", "doggies", "daddy", "momma" and "cheese", so what else was she going to say? Let's have Red Pepper Gouda Soup with a side of shoes? (On a side note, I'm pretty sure I taught her how to say "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" today, that and "hi".)

But, I can't just make a classic grilled cheese sandwich to go with the rich, creamy yumminess that is Red Pepper Gouda Soup, no it needs to be spicy and meaty (cause Lord forbid we have a meal without meat). So I started digging through the fridge, butter (of course), bacon (yes, please), jalapenos (now, we're talking), leftover Gouda (why not, it won't get eaten otherwise) and cream cheese... YES! I can make a Bacon and Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich!! And now you can too!

Ingredients (for 4 sandwiches)

1 med can of sliced jalapenos

8 slices of bread (I used plain ol' sandwich bread, but any bread will work)

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 cups shredded Gouda (You can use other cheeses, but the smoky Gouda went really well with the bacon and jalapenos)

10 slices of cooked, crispy, yummy bacon

Butter

 

Directions

1. Take one slice of bread and spread an even layer of butter on one side of the bread.

2. Flip that same piece of bread over and spread on an even layer of  cream cheese.

3. Layer bacon on top of cream cheese, then 4 to 5 jalapenos (I suggest using gloves while handling jalapenos, I've heard some horror stories), and then a small handful of Gouda.

4. Take second slice of bread, spread on an even layer of cream cheese.

5. Putting the cream cheese side face down on top of the Gouda, then butter the remaining side of bread.

6. Place sandwich (it's messy) on griddle, Panini maker, or George Foreman grill (this is what I used) for about 5 minutes or until Gouda is melted and both sides of the bread are toasty brown. If you're on a regular griddle, you'll of course want to flip it half way through.

 

That's it, you now have a Bacon & Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich!! And don't forget to check out my post on Oklahoma Women Bloggers for the Red Pepper Gouda Soup recipe. Bon appetit!