Crispy Baked Chicken Fingers

Source: Annie's Eats

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
3 large egg whites
1 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
Cooking spray
4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¾-inch wide strips

Preheat oven to 475˚ F. In a large skillet, toss the panko with the oil. Toast over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer the toasted crumbs to a shallow dish or pie plate.

In a second shallow dish, whisk together the flour, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne pepper. In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites, water, mustard and thyme.

Spray a wire rack lightly with cooking spray and place over a rimmed baking sheet.
Working in batches, dredge a few pieces of the chicken in the flour, then the egg whites, and finally the breadcrumbs to coat, shaking off the excess between each step. Lay the coated pieces on the prepared wire rack and repeat with the remaining chicken.

Spray the tops of the chicken pieces lightly with the cooking spray. Bake until the chicken is cooked through, 10-12 minutes. Serve warm.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, pounded very thin
1 cup of cheese, I used a mozzarella and cheddar blend
6 strips of bacon
2 tablespoons bbq sauce
seasoning

Season pounded chicken breasts on both sides. Put 1/2 cup cheese on one side and fold over, sealing closed with toothpicks. Repeat with other chicken breast. Wrap the slices of bacon around the chicken breast. Then I rolled them up tightly in wax paper and put in the fridge overnight, but that's optional.
When ready to cook, season lightly on the outside and place on a pan lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with no stick cooking spray.
Put 1 tablespoon bbq sauce on each chicken breast and back at 375 for 20-25 minutes, or until done throughout.

Basil Shrimp

2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/2 lemons, juiced
3 tablespoons dijon mustard (I used honey mustard)
1/2 cup minced basil leaves
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to tasts

Mix olive oil, butter, juice and mustard together. Mix well with a fork and add mustard and basil leaves. Add salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. Add shrimp and marinate in fridge for 1 hour.

Heat griddle (I used my indoor grill, but you could bake in the oven or pan sautee) and spread shrimp evenly. Cook until translucent.
My griddle has a drip pan, so I took all the sauce that cooked off, as well as what was left in the bowl, and cooked it down in a sautee pan. Then I tossed with a little bit of pasta. It was DELISH!!!!

Crawfish Fettucine

4 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
small package mushrooms, sliced (optional)
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 teaspoon flour
6 ounces Velvetta cheese, cubed
1 can Rotel, drained
1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Tony's
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound crawfish tails

Melt butter over medium heat and add onions, cook until soft and add mushrooms. Cook for about 2 minutes and add flour. Stir and cook down until flour is no longer clumpy. Add half and half and crawfish tails. Let simmer for 6-8 minutes, until the flour is completely cooked down. Add Rotel and Velvetta. Once Velvetta is melted, add cayenne pepper, Tony's and salt. Slowly add parmesean cheese. Let simmer for a few minutes until desired consistency is reached.
Serve over pasta.

Lemon Chicken

Adapted from: Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:
1/4 cup good olive oil
3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)
1/3 cup dry white wine (I used chicken broth)
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6 to 8 ounces each)
1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don’t allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine (I didn't have any wine, so I used chicken broth), lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 X 12-inch baking dish.

Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn’t browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices over pasta!

White Chicken Enchiladas

These were so delicious! And surprisingly, they heat up well. The only thing I will do differently next time is add more cheese to the top before baking.




White Chicken Enchiladas
Adapted from: Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

• 2-½ cups Cooked, Shredded Chicken
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  
• 2 cups water with one chicken bouillon cube
  
• 12 flour Tortillas
• 1 whole Large Onion, Diced
• 2 whole 4 Oz Cans Whole Green Chilies, Diced
• 1/2 of a Jalapeno, Seeded And Finely Diced
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• ½ cups Heavy Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 2-½ cups Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated
• 1 cup Monterey Jack/Chedder blend, shredded
  
• Salt And Pepper, to taste

Heat vegetable oill in skillet over medium heat. Add onions and jalapenos and saute for 1 minute, just to start the cooking process. Add chicken, one can of the green chilies, and 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Stir together. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and stir. Add cream and stir, allowing mixture to bubble and get hot. Turn off heat and set aside.

In a separate large skillet, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together and cook over medium heat for one minute. Pour in 1 1/2 cups chicken broth. Whisk together and cook for another minute or two. Stir in the other can of the chilies. Reduce heat, then stir in sour cream. Add 1 1/2 cups grated Monterrey Jack cheese and stir to melt. Add 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.

To assemble, spoon chicken mixture on top of tortillas, one by one. Top with plenty of cheese and roll up. Place seam side down in a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Pour cheese mixture all over the top of the tortillas. Top with extra cheese if you’d like, then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:
6 medium/large potatoes, baked and cooled
5 slices of bacon
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 TBSP butter
6 cups milk
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
salt and pepper
cheese, green onions for garnish as desired

Cook bacon in pot until crispy. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving the fat in the pot. Set bacon on paper towels to drain. Add the butter and onions, cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more.
Add the flour and stir until well blended. Add the milk and slowly cook until incorporated. Using an immersion blender, blend up the ingredients in the pot until well incorporated.
Let this cook down for about 10 minutes on low heat, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Spoon the cooked potato out of the skin and add to the soup, do this for only FOUR of the six potatoes. Use the immersion blender again until the soup is fairly smooth and the potato is pureed into the soup.
Add the sour cream and cheese and let cook for a few minutes. This is where you want to taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
Take the remaining two potatoes and peel the skin off. Carefully cut into chunks and add to the soup. Stir well to incorporate. Spoon into bowls and garnish with the cooked bacon, green onions and more cheese (if desired).

Praline King Cake

I hit the jackpot with this one, it was PERFECT! Now I did cheat a little, using a boxed dough mix. But the filling was homemade and the end result was just delicious!

1 box of Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup melted butter

Mix all ingredients except for butter. Slowly add butter until the mixture is crumbly.

Icing:
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter
dash vanilla extract
water as needed

Mix all ingredients, adding water as needed. You want the icing to be thin enough to drizzle on the cake, but not too thin that it won't stick to the cake. You can add water if too thick, or more confectioners sugar if too thin.

Colored Sugar:
1 cup sugar, divided into 4 parts
4 different food colorings

Put 2 drops of food coloring into the sugar and stir until well blended.


For the dough:
Make dough according to box. After kneading, let rise for about 30 minutes.
On a well floured surface, roll dough out into a rectangle.
Spread the filling evenly all over the dough, leaving about a half an inch from the sides.
Slowly roll up the dough, starting with the widest end. Roll up as tight as possible, like a jelly roll. Make sure your surface was well floured, or the dough will stick.
Place roll on a well greased baking sheet. Form into a ring and let rise until doubled in size, about an hour.
Cook at 375 for 15-20 minutes, until brown on the outside. Remove the cake and brush with a bit of melted butter.
Immediately ice the cake, and top with colored sugars.

Hassleback Potatoes

These delicious potatoes were a great way to change up a plain baked potato!

Hassleback Potatoes
Adapted from: Carrie's Sweet Life

6 small Yukon gold potatos
salt
pepper
garlic powder
2 tablespoons softened butter
parsley
olive oil

Wash potatoes well. Cut slices into even intervals. I popped them into the microwave for 6 minutes to get the cooking started.
Mix butter, salt, pepper, parsley and garlic powder together, making a paste. Place potatoes on a baking sheet lined with foil. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil. Spread the butter paste over each potatoe, stuffing some down into the cuts.
Bake at 400 for about 25 minutes, or until tender and brown.
If you don't microwave, cook for 45 minutes in the oven.

Southwestern Egg Rolls

These are actually little won-ton's, but it's the same concept. They were really good. A little time consuming to make, but worth it!

Southwestern Egg Rolls
Adapted from: Annie's Eats

1 can corn, drained
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles, drained
4 green onions, chopped
½ tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 packages won-ton wrappers (or can use egg roll wrappers, but they will be bigger)

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine everything but the egg roll wrappers. Mix well to blend.
Take a won-ton wrapper and place a small amount of filling in the middle and fold the corners in. Wet fingertips with a bit of water to seal the folds. Place seam side down on a greased cookie sheet, do not overlap. Bake at 425˚ F. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly brown. I served with ranch dipping sauce.