Chicken Lasagna

I am not one to eat lasagna....I just don't like the taste of the ground beef (I guess I just prefer to eat ground beef if it's seasoned with mexican spices - chili powder, cumin, red pepper...etc). My mom has a good recipe for a chicken florentine lasagna that I make sometimes, but I wanted something with Marinara....so here you go!

Ingredients:

Chicken Mixture:

• 1 lb chicken - cooked and shredded
• 1/2 red pepper - diced
• 1/2 yellow pepper - diced
• 1/2 onion - diced
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 5-6 fresh basil leaves - chopped
• 3 tsp. minced garlic ( or 3 cloves)

Ricotta Cheese Mixture:

• 32 oz Ricotta Cheese
• 5-6 fresh basil leaves - chopped
• 1/2 cup parmesan-romano cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

Other Ingredients:

• 9 whole wheat lasagna noodles - cooked according to package
• 1 bag shredded mozzarella
• 1 Jar Tomato & Basil Sauce
• pinch of oregano and basil to top lasagna prior to cooking

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Cook chicken and pasta 

• Once chicken is cooked - shred, and mix in a bowl with peppers, onion, oregano, garlic, and basil

• In another medium bowl, mix ricotta cheese, basil, oregano, nutmeg, egg, parm cheese, salt and pepper - until well combined

• In a 9x13 glass dish - put just enough tomato & basil sauce in the bottom to cover the dish

• Lay 3 lasagna noodles down

• Top with layer of ricotta cheese mixture

• Top next with chicken mixture

• Pour some mozzarella cheese next

• Top with some spoonfuls of sauce

• Layer with 3 more lasagna noodles and repeat the layers.
• After you lay the final 3 lasagna noodles - top with sauce and the rest of your mozzarella cheese, some parm cheese, a pinch of oregano, and basil. 

• Cover and cook for about 40 minutes
• Let sit for 10-15 minutes after removing from oven before cutting.

• ENJOY!

Spicy Mixed Nuts

I was trying to think of something to make to take to both our (mine and Jeremy's) parent's houses for Christmas and Christmas Eve....this is what I decided on. And aside from trying to kill my brother in law (who knew he was allergic to the small amount of sunflower seeds I added in there)....they were a huge hit!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups mixed nuts
• 4 cups warm water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted.
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tbsp. chili powder
• zest of 1 lime
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350
• In a large bowl, add 4 cups warm water and 1 cup sugar - stir until sugar dissolves

• Put 4 cups mixed nuts in bowl of water/sugar, and let sit for about 10 minutes, to soften the nuts

• In the meantime, line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray - set aside.
• In a small bowl, mix melted butter, sugar, honey and spices....stir until combined.

• Drain nuts and pat dry with paper towel, return to bowl.

• Mix spice mixture in with nuts and stir until all the nuts are covered in the mixture

• Pour nuts on to baking sheets in 1 layer....I made the mistake of putting too many on one baking sheet and the nuts ended up sticking together - so don't do this! Divide them between 2 baking sheets!
• Place in oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or until they are dark brown and fragrant. 
• Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

• Place in airtight containers and leave them sitting in room temperature - do not store in the fridge - they will not last!!
• We enjoyed them - hope you do too!!

Crash Hot Sweet Potatoes

I got this from Pinterest too....adapted my recipe from Dlyn. Jeremy told me he wasn't so sure about them while I was making them, but raved about them after he ate them....and he ate about 4 or 5 of them the night I made them. He also raved about them to both of our families and told me that I HAD to make them again....so I guess I will.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium or 1 large sweet potato (I had 1 HUGE one....I guess they are growing well this year)
• 1 1/2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1/8 tsp. garlic
• 2 tbsp. melted butter
• 2 tbsp. oi

Steps:

• Peel and Cut the sweet potato(es) into disks (about 1-1/2 inches thick)

• Preheat oven to 375
• Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, add in potatoes, and let boil for 10-12 minutes....just until soft, but not soft enough for them to fall apart or be cooked through, they still need some form to them. (let them sit in the pot for 10-12 minutes....don't wait on the water to start boiling again if it stops.....it's easiest to just put them in the water for 10 minutes only)
• Drain potatoes, and let cool for about 10 minutes
• Blend spices and sugar together well in a small bowl.

• Melt butter, and add oil in a separate bowl
• Place some wax paper on your baking sheet, place the potatoes on the wax paper, and squash each potato slightly with a fork - just to flatten them out a little, but don't flatten them out so much that they start falling apart.
• Drizzle the butter/oil mixture on the tops of all of the potatoes, then sprinkle some of the spice mixture on the tops, pressing down into the potato slightly.
• Turn each potato over on your wax paper, and repeat the butter/oil and then the spice mixture.

• Roast potatoes for 15 minutes, remove from oven, turn them all over and roast for an additional 10 minutes.  (they will have a little brown/caramelized appearance to the edges - to give it a little crisp) if they look this way, they are done.....just eyeball it, it won't hurt if they need to stay in for another minute or 2. 

• Serve with main dish of your choice (we had sweet onion steak with caramelized onions)

• DELICIOUS!  and of course....Enjoy!

Hot Chocolate Cookies

Found this one on pinterest too. They were delicious....very rich! I made a TON of these, left about 5 at home and took the rest to work....they were all gone by the next day! 

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter
• 20 oz. baking chocolate squares
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs, at room temp.
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 pack large marshmallows

Steps:

• In a medium sauce pan, melt together butter and 12 oz baking chocolate over medium heat.
• stir frequently until smooth.

• Let cool for 15 minutes
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.

• Using an electric mixer, beat together brown sugar, 3 eggs and vanilla on low for 2 minutes until smooth.

• Mix in cooled chocolate mixture, beat just until mixed.

• Add in flour in 2 batches, beat just until mixed.

• Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325
• Line baking sheet with parchment paper
• Scoop dough out and roll up into 1 inch balls
• Arrange about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet, Flatten slightly.

• Cook about 10-12 minutes until tops start to crack.
• Meanwhile, cut the rest of your chocolate bars into 1 inch squares (break in half, and then cut that half in half), cut large marshmallows in half, stick the cut chocolate into the sticky side of the marshmallow (stick it down pretty hard so it stays in the marshmallow, w/o breaking thru the other side of the marshmallow)

• When cookies are done - remove from the oven and press the marshmallow/chocolate bar down into the cookie (chocolate side down). 

• Put cookies back in the oven and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes (just until the marshmallows are melted)
• Grate some of the chocolate over the top of the cookies for some pretty chocolately garnish.

• Let cool on pan for about 5 minutes and transfer to wire rack.
• COntinue to cook until all your dough is used (or you run out of chocolate pieces or marshmallows) I made about 2 trays.
• These cookies are good warm.....so if you eat them the next day, heat them in the microwave for about 10 seconds (the chocolate in the center will start to form again the longer it sits, so warming them melts that chocolate again)

• These are SO delicious..... enjoy them. You may only need one! :)

Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

Sorry I have been MIA lately - I have about 6 updates that I am going to try to get done today. As most of you know, Jeremy is slightly obsessed with ALL things Buffalo. So we decided to mix up our enchiladas (or burritos...since we use flour tortillas). It's easy and all you really have to do is add some wing sauce to your enchilada sauce (to your 'heat' liking of course). But here is my recipe, just incase!

Ingredients:

• 6 large flour tortillas
• About 1 lb (3 breasts) cooked chicken - shredded
• 28 oz red enchilada sauce
• 1/2 cup wing sauce (less if you don't want it too hot)
• 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
• 1/2 - 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup shredded habenero cheese (or you could use crumbled bleu cheese - I just don't like bleu cheese)

Steps:

• cook and shred chicken

• preheat oven to 375
• pour enchilada sauce into a medium bowl and start whisking in wing sauce. Start with a small amount at a time, and taste to make sure it's not too hot for your liking. We used 1/2 cup and ours was pretty hot, but we also used pepper jack and habenero cheese.

• In another bowl, add shredded chicken, onion, and 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese. Mix in 1/2 cup enchilada/wing sauce mixture. Stir until well mixed - cheese will start to melt.

• Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray, then pour a small amount of wing sauce into the bottom of the pan, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

• Take tortilla, fill with a several spoonfuls of chicken mixture, roll up tortilla and place seam side down into the pan.

• Continue this step until all tortillas are filled with chicken mixture and in the pan. (mine only made 5 enchiladas....but I probably overfilled mine. if you can fit 6-8 into your pan, make 6-8....just divide your mixture more evenly)

• Top enchiladas with 1/2 cup - 1 cup of the enchilada sauce/wing sauce mixture. I just poured the sauce on the top until all of the tortillas were covered.

• Top with the remainder of your pepper jack cheese- and we added our habenero cheese at this time. (if you use bleu cheese crumbles, wait to add this after you have baked the enchiladas)

• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20-25 minutes
• Once removed, add your cilantro and any extra onions you may have (and bleu cheese if you choose)

• If you have left over sauce - store it in the fridge - use it for leftovers or if you plan on making enchiladas again in the next week or 2.  

• Enjoy!