King Ranch Chicken

This is our version. We call it Rotel Chicken, but if you Google that it's a completely different thing. I started with the recipe off the Rotel site and tweaked it.

Preparation: Preheat oven to 325. Spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray.

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 can (10-3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can (10-3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cans (10 oz) Rotel tomatoes, undrained
1 can (7 oz) chopped green chilies, undrained
1 can (10 oz) water or chicken broth, use to rinse out the other cans
4 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
12 corn or flour tortillas (6 inch), torn into bite-size pieces
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add bell pepper and onion; cook and stir about 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in soups, undrained tomatoes and chilies, water and chicken. Mix well.
Layer half each of tortillas, chicken mixture and cheese evenly in dish. Repeat layers. Bake uncovered 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

Variations:
* Use different heat levels of tomatoes. Our favorite is a can of mild and a can of hot.
* Instead of tortillas, use Nacho Cheese Doritos. Don't crush - just spread in an even layer.

Braunschweiger Pate

My sister-in-law gave me this recipe years ago. I just looked it up in  y e-mail and am parking it here for future reference. 

Ingredients:

·         8 oz. liverwurst or braunschweiger

·         8 oz. cream cheese, softened

·         2 small green onions, minced

·         1.5 tablespoons dried onions (or 1 tablespoon fresh onion, finely minced)

·         ¾ teaspoon dried dill weed

·         1/4 -1/2 teaspoon garlic granules (or one small garlic clove, minced)

·         Ground pepper (to taste)

·         1-2 tablespoons capers (to taste)

Instructions:

·         Thoroughly blend together all ingredients except capers.

·         Fold in capers, reserving a few for garnish.

·         Cover mixture and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.

·         Garnish as desired.

·         Serve with Melba toast, crackers, or sliced baguettes (I use pork rinds or sliced cucumber or celery, when eating low carb)

Serves 6-8 as an appetizer.

Lemon Blueberry Dump Cake

I love Dump Cake. It's so easy and yummy! I also love blueberries. One of my favorite desserts from my childhood was lemon blueberry Bundt cake. It came in a mix, with a glaze and a little can of "real Maine blueberries!!" I asked for it almost every year for my birthday cake.

They don't make Bundt cake mixes anymore, and I haven't seen any mix combining lemon with blueberries. We went out blueberry picking this past weekend and I started to crave the flavor. I decided to make a dump cake.

I was concerned that the fresh blueberries wouldn't provide enough liquid, so I added a little by mixing the berries with lemon and sugar and letting it sit for a bit. This works to draw out the juices for other berries, so I was hoping it would do that here. I don't know if it did, but the cake worked so I don't really care. :)

The result was as good as I had hoped! We will definitely make it again. Enjoy!!

LEMON BLUEBERRY DUMP CAKE

4 cups fresh blueberries
2 T lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar

1 box lemon cake mix

1 stick butter

Toss the berries with the juice and sugar, and let it sit for about 15 minutes.

Place the berries in the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan. Dump the cake mix over the berries and spread evenly, but don't stir. Cut the butter into pats and spread evenly on the top, but don't stir.

Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. it should be slightly brown on the top. You may need a few more minutes. It's normal for the berries to break through the top.

Notes:

You can use any size pan you like, but watch the time. I used a 12" round dutch oven and it took close to an hour.

You could substitute frozen berries or even canned.

Try different cake mix flavors if you don't want lemon.

Of course you can sub margarine for butter, but why would you want to?

A trick we learned in Girl Scouts is to omit the butter, and pour a 12-ounce can of lemon-lime soda over the top. it works the same and tastes great.

Peanut Sauce, Peanut Butter Chicken

I've discovered PB2 - powdered peanuts that lets you have peanut butter without the fat and sugar! I actually ordered it awhile back and forgot I had it. I found it in the back of the pantry recently and have been playing around with it. Here's a peanut sauce I made that was fabulous!

Ingredients

8 Tbsp PB2 powdered peanut butter
2 tsp Apple Cider vinegar
2 tsp Rice Vinegar
1 tsp Lime Juice
1 tsp brown sugar, packed
¼ tsp red chili sauce (I used sriracha)
3 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce


Instructions

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Add water as needed to thin as desired.

One of my kids' new favorite is "Peanut butter chicken". I simply bake chicken tenders in the oven, brushed with this sauce. Temp was 350 and I don't remember how long (I'll update next time I make this). Serve more sauce for dipping on the side. Enjoy!

Hawaiian Chicken

Yummy. I tried it without the cornstarch to save carbs, but it would be much better if thickened, so I will add it next time.

8-10 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
1/2 cup sugar (or your sweetener of choice)
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can (20 oz) unsweetened pineapple chunks or tidbits, undrained
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vinegar (I used apple cider)

Grease a 9x13" pan and place the chicken thighs in it. Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch and seasonings. Stir in the pineapple, soy sauce and vinegar until blended. Pour over chicken. Bake, uncovered, 20-30 minutes longer or until done, basting occasionally.

Serve over rice.

Baked Chicken and Rice Soup

We visited our son in Tennessee this past summer and he took us to eat at a lovely place called Demos. At his urging, we ordered soup instead of salad with our meal. "It's the best soup ever!" he claimed.

The whole family got it and we all loved it! Such a simple soup, quite unlike what I usually make. I had to find the recipe, so I searched online. Apparently they do not share it, but many have tried to duplicate it! I found one that claims to be spot on, and altered it slightly. The original used canned broth and bouillon. I tried it this way, but the soup base made it way too strong and salty (besides being full of artificial crap). I now use homemade broth. You can concentrate it if you want a stronger flavor by cooking it down. Be careful - it's really easy to end up too salty! Add the salt after concentrating it. I did use a rotisserie chicken for the meat, skin included for flavor.

I can't guarantee this tastes exactly like Demos', since we can't compare. But I can promise you it is totally delicious comfort food!!

Baked Chicken and Rice Soup

• 2 quarts chicken broth (after concentrating, if you are)
• 1 can water
• 1 cup milk or cream 
• 1 cooked rotisserie chicken, bones removed and thinly sliced (leave skin for more flavor)
• pepper to taste
• garlic salt to taste
• fresh parsley, for garnish

• cooked rice

Put broth in a stock pot and add chicken. Boil until chicken is tender.

Add milk and heat through.

Spoon rice into bowls as desired. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with fresh parsley.

Hot Chicken Dip

We tried this at a wine tasting and it was excellent! I think I might try Rotel tomatoes, and I will certainly use finely chopped cooked chicken rather than canned. They served it with crackers. Mmmm.

HOT CHICKEN DIP

Ingredients:

1 can chicken
1 can diced tomatoes
12 oz cream cheese
1 Tbsp spices (Italian, Parmesan pesto, etc)

Method:

Use slow cooker, oven or microwave to heat.