Grilled Chicken Packs

This is a super quick and easy recipe as we gear up for summertime. We love to grill out for the healthiness of it and for the ease of preparing a grilled meal. This super simple recipe was born out of using what I had left in the refrigerator and has since become a staple on the menu list. It's also a great way to use up any leftover pesto in the fridge (I talked about my love of pesto in this recipe.)

Another great thing about this recipe is it is great for camping! We love to go camping and I'm always looking for easy recipes to make over a campfire besides the general hash or soups/chilis. I've also found it hard to incorporate chicken recipes into camping, so I am thankful to have this one in my recipe box.

Grilled Chicken Packs

4 chicken breasts, thawed
salt and pepper
1/3 C pesto
1/2 onion, sliced
bell peppers


Trim the fat from your chicken breasts. Place toward the end of a long sheet of aluminum foil, leaving enough space to fold over the chicken fully one time.

Add a little bit of salt and pepper, or any other spices you like, to the chicken. Spoon a small amount of pesto on top of the chicken and spread so it covers the chicken in a thin layer. Top with onions and peppers.

Fold the foil around the chicken. Half way through wrapping, fold in the edges to create a better seal so the juices will not seep out while cooking. Continue to wrap until reaching the end. Fold over the edges one last time and press down firmly to minimize creating a large air bubble. See the folded packet below:

Grill on each side 10-15 minutes before flipping. I like to serve this with a baked potato, or you could do another type of vegetable.


What are some of your favorite summer grilling or camping recipes?

Cheesy Ham and Macaroni

This is a hearty warm dish that can also be a great use for leftover ham. I often remember my mom fixing mac and cheese on the side when we had ham for dinner, so this dish combines the two into a tasty casserole. This recipe is from my grandma.

Cheesy Ham and Macaroni

Yield: 8 servings

8 oz. macaroni
4 T butter
1/4 C flour
1/2 t salt
pepper
2 C milk
2 C shredded cheddar cheese
2 C cooked ham, diced
4 oz mushrooms (if desired)
1/2 C crushed crackers


Cook the macaroni according to package instructions. Drain well and set aside in pot.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in flour as well as salt and pepper until smooth. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and add cheese. Heat until cheese is melted.

Add in ham and mushrooms if you are using them. Cook until ham is warmed.

Pour cheese and ham mixture over noodles and mix well. Pour into greased 9" x 13" baking dish. Top with crushed crackers - I've used Ritz or Keebler Club, just not saltines as you want the buttery taste.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350°.


I cut this recipe in half for the two of us for a meal and leftovers for lunch. I place it in an 8" x 8" pan and it works quite well. It also tastes great with steamed broccoli on the side for your veggie!

For this recipe I like to use a cheese block and shred the cheese myself. This makes it easier to melt and I think gives it a richer flavor than just a bag. Also, you get much more out of block of cheese than a bag of pre-shredded.

I'm thinking I might try and combine this recipe with my baked mac and cheese sauce recipe. I'm not sure yet as that may be a little more cheesier since it is for a side dish and for this main dish you want the meat to stand out a little bit more.

Indoor S'mores!

What do two Midwestern kids yearning for bonfire cookouts do on a rainy Southern night? - get out the blowtorch and make s'mores!

OK, so this isn't the safest idea in the world, but it served our purposes and made for some fun the other night. We set the blowtorch in the sink, so if it did fall over, it would still be contained. If you have pets or little ones around, be sure they are clear of the open flame!

These weren't as good as a bonfire s'more, but were definitely better than just microwaving the marshmallow. For me, that is almost sacrilegious! I'll get off my soapbox and let you be jealous of my ooey gooey goodness!

Have a great weekend and if you can, get outside and make a bonfire for me!

Converting to Crock Pot Cooking: Barbecue Chicken

This recipe came from a favorite baked chicken recipe I have. It turned out similar, and was definitely easier, but the sauce wasn't quite as thick as when it bakes so I think I may have to simmer it on the stove for a few minutes next time rather than mix and dump like I did!

Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken

1 lb. chicken breast
2 t onion powder
3 T brown sugar
2 t ground mustard
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 T worchestshire
1 t liquid smoke (you can omit this if you don't have it, but if you do, it adds a great flavor)
3/4 C ketchup
1/3 C vinegar
1/2 C water

Thaw the chicken breasts before placing in the slow cooker. Mine were mostly thawed before I started, but I would have preferred them completely thawed - just want you to know it's OK if they're not ;).

In a bowl, mix together all of the remaining ingredients. I like to use a whisk to break up the chunkier spices like the brown sugar.

Now this is the part I didn't do this time, but follows the baked recipe and what I will be doing next time. Heat a skillet (more surface area is better here) and pour in the mixed ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Once the sauce has thickened slightly after simmering, add to the slow cooker.

I cooked this on High for about 4 hours. I would recommend Low for 6-8 hours. This meal especially tastes great with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed veggies! I don't have a final picture as it fell apart quite a bit and we were hungry at this point and excited to try it!

If you try this, let me know what you think! I'm excited to be converting all the baked recipes and hoping that more turn out like this one did!

Stop Staining Your Plastic Storage!

I love spaghetti sauce or anything tomato based, but when it comes to storing it, I dread putting it in my nice new plastic storage containers. The inevitable redness turns the crisp clean clear to a perpetual dirty looking orange.

My wonderful engineer husband realized this one for me and I'm thankful my newer containers have been spared from the despicable orange hue stain!

Simply place plastic cling wrap over the container. You'll want to use two pieces, each one laying the opposite direction to make sure once filled, the whole container is protected. I only thought of this post after I had filled my container so you can enjoy my lovely paint diagram below:

The great thing about this is the clean up is much easier since there aren't chunks of sauce or stains to scrub! You can also easily grab both edges to lift the contents and move it to a bowl or pan for reheating, etc.!

I do caution you - this isn't full proof, you can have leaks, but hopefully it will still be minimized. Also, be sure the plastic does not rip and get into your food. I haven't had this happen yet, but it is worth a warning. And lastly, do NOT heat up the leftovers in the container with the plastic wrap! You do not want melted plastic in your food!

My container in these pictures has a slight hue from a melted cheeseburger - you can see the circle. :-( However, I wanted to use the actual container I stored this tomato sauce in and show how it worked!

Overall, I love saving my containers from the stain, and I hope this works for you too!

Alfredo Crab Stuffed Shells

I'm really not that big on seafood, but I know it's healthy so I try to work it into our diet as often as I can. Generally that ends up being with some sort of crab dish since I do like the taste of crab!

I found a rough recipe similar to this online that married crab and pasta - pasta being my absolute favorite so I was sold! It turned out pretty well and was easy to make earlier in the day and just stick in the oven when it came time for dinner.

Alfredo Crab Stuffed Shells

1 can of crab meat, drained very well
1 C ricotta cheese (you can be generous here)
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
2 T finely chopped onion
1 egg
1/3 C Italian seasoned Panko bread crumbs
1 t Italian seasoning
8 oz Alfredo sauce plus a little more (you can make homemade, or use a jar sauce)
mozzarella cheese
14 Jumbo shells


Boil the shells according to the package.

Drain your crab in a small colander making sure to remove as much water as possible. Flake the crab meat with a fork to remove any small bone flakes. In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients except for the Alfredo sauce and mozzarella cheese. For the bread crumbs, you could use regular bread crumbs, but I like the crunch of the Panko kind, and they seem to be a little more versatile. Feel free to add additional Italian seasoning or others like basil, oregano and parsley for more flavor. Spoon a small amount of Alfredo sauce into the mix.

Drain the shells and rinse them in cool water to cool them off.

Prepare an 8" x 8" baking dish by coating it with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350°.

Spoon a generous portion of the mixture into each shells. Spread open the shell by holding it lengthwise to create a larger opening. Once you have placed the filling inside, gently squeeze the sides shut around the filling to hold the shape a little better.

Place the shells in the baking dish. Drizzle or spoon Alfredo sauce over the shells. Top with a small amount of mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes.

I love the texture of baked noodles topped with browned cheese!

This meal went great with a salad on the side and was surprisingly filling. I ate three shells for a serving and my husband ate four, so we got dinner and leftovers out of this for the two of us.

Easy Chicken Leftovers

When it's just me at home for dinner, I don't like to cook, so I usually improvise with leftovers, sandwiches or wraps of somesort. We had a lot of leftovers in our fridge last week, so I was trying to use up as many as I could. I don't have any real specifics for this idea since I made it up as I went.

The basic of this idea was to use up the leftover shredded chicken breast. Since my go to when it's just me is sandwiches, but I was out of bread, I opted for a tortilla shell. What ended up happening was different flavored chicken tortilla wraps, and I was pleased!

What You'll Need

(This is what I used, but feel free to use different spices, toppings, etc!)

tortillas
shredded chicken, leftovers
cheddar cheese
tomato sauce
Italian flavor: basil, garlic, onion powder, oregano
Mexican flavor: chili powder, cumin, garlic, onion powder, sour cream


I spread tomato sauce on the first tortilla. I seasoned it by sprinkling some basil, garlic, onion powder and oregano for an Italian flavored. I added some chicken on top and added a little bit more sprinkling of basil. I topped the chicken with cheddar cheese (since we all know I love cheese!) and zapped it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

I rolled this up and enjoyed the warmness inside! It's definitely not packed full of flavor, but you could make it that way by amping up the seasonings and toppings. But like I said, I was going for quick, easy and use up what I had.


For my second roll up I decided to go with a chicken taco type feel. I again spread some tomato sauce on the tortilla but this time spiced it with cumin, chili powder, garlic and onion powder. I added the chicken, seasoned again, then topped with cheese before microwaving for 30 seconds. Once it was warm, I added some sour cream on top.

I think the best part of this idea is that if you wanted to make this into a family meal, everyone can make theirs according to what they want for dinner! I had both Italian and Mexican flavors in one meal! If you like Chinese, try it with some soy sauce and ginger. Love curry, use your imagination! Chicken can be flavored with just about anything, so take your favorite spices and go for it!

Decorative Pantry Storage Solutions

This is quite an old project. I was tired of all my spice packets falling through the gaps in my pantry shelving so I needed a storage solution. The second box for baggies and foil was really just to condense the amount of space these items took up in my pantry since I have very little drawer space to house these items.

We'll start with the spice box, since it is much more simple. To make this box I started with a deep cube box - mine was from bulk granola bars. I cut the box in half to make it a deep tray and allow for stacking if needed. You could really use a smaller box if you like - I could see Pop Tarts boxes working great to hold spice packets and other small pantry items.

I used white glue to wrap the sides of the box in leftover scrapbook paper, the size I used for my spare change jar also fit great around the sides of this box. You can also use wrapping paper if you like, but I would suggest to probably double layer it to prevent easy tearing. Lastly, I added a little tag made from scrap paper and used some stickers to make my label. (The "s" letters are made from two "c" stickers :-) )


The second box started out much larger, and honestly isn't what I originally pictured. That being said, it still functions how I intended for it. The notch in the middle is to allow the small baggie boxes to dispense straight from the storage box rather than have to take them out each time.

With this type of storage solution, you will want to check and see if your shelves are tall enough to house your aluminum foil, etc. vertical -- my shelves have an overhang so the box has to be tilted to fit under that but will fit on the shelf fine. I wrapped this box and labeled it in the same way as the first. Again, you could use wrapping paper if you like, but I found it easier to just stick some paper on each side rather than figure out where to fold to prevent bunched wrapping paper!

A large box like this might not be something you have on hand, but a large cereal box just might be! I remember doing this as a kid to store magazines and notebooks in my room. Make sure the foil containers will fit within the box first and if they do, cut a corner off of the box so it looks like a magazine holder, like the picture below.

Wrap your box in paper to cover up the cereal part and you've got your custom storage solution! Your pantry will be a lot less cluttered with so many tedious items taking up space!

Chicken Pesto Quesadillas

I found this recipe soon after I realized I love the flavor of pesto. I've found ways to integrate this delicious flavor into almost everything now! So, here's my take on pesto quesadillas! This is also a great week night meal because it can be made quickly, or even with leftover chicken.

Chicken Pesto Quesadillas

Yield: 4 quesadillas

2 chicken breasts
salt and pepper
olive oil
4 burrito size tortillas
~ 1/2 C pesto
~1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese or Monterrey Jack blend
butter or margarine


Cut the chicken breast into small pieces - about 1/2" or so since you won't want them to be too chunky in the quesadilla. Cook the chicken on the stove in a small amount of olive oil.

Spread an even amount of pesto on one half of each of the tortillas as seen below. Use more or less pesto depending on your love of pesto :)Divide the chicken evenly between the four tortillas, placing on top of the pesto. Top with cheese, a little or a lot, it's really up to you.

Fold the tortilla in half and butter the top. Place the buttered top onto a warm griddle or warm skillet to brown. While the butter side is down, butter the other side in preparation for flipping. Cook on one side between 3-5 (probably closer to five) minutes or until golden brown. Flip the tortillas over and continue cooking until the second side is brown.

Cut quesadilla into four triangles. Serve with sour cream.


What's the flavor you like to incorporate into everything?

Barbecue Stir Fry

This is a great way to get a whole lot of vegetables in one serving. We often made this in college, one of my roommates was from India and perfected this combination. In that time, we'd mix up the different flavors to go with our vegetables, but my husband most prefers barbecue flavor, which works for me because it is so simple!

Stir fry may seem like a lot of work, but it really doesn't have to be that way. You can use frozen vegetables and instant rice to cut down your cooking time a lot. I usually use a combination of frozen and fresh vegetables. I've listed first the vegetables I always use and then some I have used before. I don't really remember how much of those last few vegetables to use since it's not as often I have them on hand.

Barbecue Stir fry

1 T olive oil
Assorted vegetables or package of frozen vegetable medley, thawed:
   carrots, usually about three (I also use my peeler to shave off small, thin pieces)
   green bell pepper, about one full cut into strips
   red bell pepper, one small or less, cut into strips; you can also omit
   potatoes, 1-2 cut into chunks
   onion, 1/2 to 1 medium sized onion, in strips
   broccoli, to your taste
   sugar snap peas, to your taste
   zucchini, to your taste
1/2 to 1 t spicy pepper blend (or use a blend of black pepper, cayenne pepper and chili powder)
pineapple chunks - if desired
barbecue sauce, about 1 to 2 T (you won't measure this out, but will put on top)
1 package of instant rice (I often use the Knorr Rice sides and it gives additional flavor)


Chop your vegetables into strips or in the case of the potato, bite-sized pieces. Cut your potatoes first since they will take the longest to cook and you can get them started while you finish your prep work.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet or wok type pan.

While the olive oil is heating, start preparing your rice according to package instructions. The rice always seems to take a little longer than the vegetables.

Add your vegetables to the oiled skillet and stir-fry until crisp tender. Sprinkle with seasonings and mix well. If you are using frozen, be sure to watch the water content of your skillet so the vegetables do not become soggy. To avoid this, drain the vegetables thoroughly and use a slightly higher heat, stirring so not to burn or stick.

Once the vegetables are crisp tender, add your pineapple if you have chosen to do so and stir to heat through.

For lack of a better way to describe it, squeeze the barbecue sauce in a drizzle over the top of the vegetables. Stir until all vegetables are coated. Start with a small amount and add more if you think the mixture needs it, but note the flavor is usually stronger than it appears.

You can serve this one of two ways:
1. add the rice to the vegetable mixture and mix well. or
2. serve with rice on the side, spooning vegetables on top

This recipe is especially great too if your family isn't the biggest fan of Asian cuisine since this is definitely an "Americanized" version of stir-fry. Enjoy!

Ham and Scalloped Potatoes

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter celebrating our Risen Savior!

Potatoes were always a staple at home for me growing up. This ham and potatoes dish made it onto the dinner table quite often as well. It's a great comfort food dish for a cold day and you can also make it using leftover ham - great for after Easter! My mom always made a much larger dish than the measurements I have below, but you can easily double the four serving dish to eight and just enlarge your baking dish.

Just a warning - I don't measure any of these ingredients out, I completely go by looks on what I remember from growing up. I know my mom always made it this way too - I asked once I was out on my own and she didn't have any measurements to give me! If anything, I've erred on the side of not enough so you can always add more.

Ham and Scalloped Potatoes

1 C ham, diced (great to use leftover ham)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (this last time I used a roasted garlic flavor which worked well)
1/2 to 3/4 can of milk (use the soup can to measure)
1/2 to 3/4 C shredded cheddar cheese
2 to 3 baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 medium onion, diced
salt
pepper

In a bowl, combine the soup and milk. Mix until you have a smooth consistency. Add in the cheese, salt and pepper to taste and any other seasonings that your family enjoys - I think a little cayenne pepper might spice it up a bit!

Add your ham and onion to the mixture and combine. Add in the sliced potatoes - the thinner they are sliced the easier they will bake and cook.

Pour mixture into an 8" x 8" baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for about 1 hour 15 minutes. You can check it at about an hour to see how the potatoes are doing or if they need longer. At this point you can also top with extra cheese if you so desire.


I hope this gives you another alternative to use up that leftover Easter ham!