BBQ Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:
Pizza Crust - homemade or store bought. Mine was store bought
1 or 2 Roasted Chicken Breasts, shredded
Mozzarella Cheese
BBQ Sauce


Directions:
After I roasted the chicken breasts in some olive oil, I shredded it and mixed the mozzarella in with the chicken. Then I added a little BBQ Sauce. Before adding the toppings, I baked the pizza crust as directed for about 6 minutes or until lightly browned. Then I brushed BBQ Sauce on and added the chicken and cheese mixture and spread evenly. I dotted the top with a little more cheese. Then baked for another 6 minutes or until golden brown.

Blueberry Muffins

I got this recipe from the Essential Mormon Celebrations Cookbook by Julie Badger Jensen. And it rocks.


Muffins 
1 1/2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Egg, beaten
1/2 cup Butter, melted
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp. Lemon Zest
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 recipe Muffin Topping (see below)
1 recipe Muffin Glaze (see below)

In a large bowl (not a mixer), combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir until well blended. Make a well in center of mixture. Place egg, butter, and milk in center and stir just until blended. Carefully stir in lemon zest and blueberries. Fill 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle with Muffin Topping. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and drizzle with Muffin Glaze (not pictured above)


Muffin Topping 
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (not pictured above)
 1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Lemon Zest
2 Tbsp. Butter, melted

 In a bowl, combine above ingredients and sprinkle over muffins.


Muffin Glaze 
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1 Tbsp. fresh Lemon Juice

In a bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice together. Drizzle over muffins after baking.

Q & U Wedding Cake

You are going to get a kick out of this.  This is not a real wedding cake.  It's actually a practice wedding cake for the wedding of the letters Q and U for my son's kindergarten class in a couple of weeks.  After school the other day, his teacher and some of the parents were talking about the upcoming nuptials, and his teacher asked who would like to make a wedding cake.  Stupidly, I answered, "I Do!" (No pun intended.)  Have I ever made a wedding cake?  No.  Have I ever made anything that would remotely come close to one?  No.  But I thought it would be fun.  I decided that I wanted to practice first.  So I did.  

Mistake #1. I made the bottom layer out of Rice Krispie Treats, and it's not thick enough.  It's also a different color than the other two layers even though they're all covered in white frosting underneath the fondant.  

Mistake #2. I got impatient towards the end and messed up.  Most of that is either covered up by flowers or in the back.  

Mistake #3. I didn't level the cakes so the top is kind of lop-sided.  

Click here for the cake recipe.

Red Mashed Potatoes

All you're doing is making mashed potatoes but with red potatoes and you leave the skins on. I'll give directions anyway. These are delicious with meatloaf.

Ingredients:
5 red mashed potatoes
2 Tbsp. Butter
1 Tbsp. Milk
1/2 Tbsp. Salt
1/2 Tbsp. Pepper

Directions:
Wash and cut potatoes. Put in sauce pan and fill with water until potatoes are completely covered. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down and boil for 15 minutes. Once it's done, drain the water. Using a standing mixer or hand mixer, add all ingredients and mix together until all the lumps are gone. If you like your potatoes thinner, you can add more milk.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Ingredients:
Green Peppers
Red Peppers
Pineapple
Meatballs - fresh or frozen

Ingredients for the Sauce:
1/2 cup Pineapple Juice
1/2 cup Vinegar
5 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp. Ketchup
1/2 Tbsp. Salt

Mix well and add to either a crock pot or a sauce pan with other ingredients. Be sure not to overcook meatballs and veggies as they will become mushy. If you're using a crock pot, cook on low for about 3 hours.

Prepare Minute Rice as directed on box.

Hawaiian Haystacks

Usually when people make these, they have tons of different toppings to choose from. Which is fine.  I however, like mine very simple. Mainly because I'm really picky.

Ingredients:
2-4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 Cans of Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Cup of Chicken Broth
1/2 Cup Sour Cream (optional)
3 Cups of Minute Rice
Salt & Pepper to taste

Toppings:
Chow Mein Noodles
Green Onions
Pineapple
Coconut
Celery
Bell Peppers
Cheddar Cheese
Tomatoes
Lettuce

Directions for Crock Pot:
There are several ways this can be done. If I've planned ahead, my choice way of cooking would be in the crock pot.
Put Chicken, Cream of Chicken Soup, Chicken Broth, and Sour Cream in crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken.

Directions for Oven:
Place chicken and chicken broth in baking dish. Bake at 350 until cooked. Cube or shred and add cream of chicken soup and sour cream. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until hot.

Directions for Stove:
Place chicken and chicken broth in pan and boil until fully cooked. Add cream of chicken soup and sour cream and cook until hot.

Prepare and serve over Minute Rice.

The reason for my long absence

Meet Duncan.
Now that he's here and I'm recovering really well, hopefully I'll be able to start cooking and blogging again!