Cracked Out Chicken Noodle Casserole

I've been so preoccupied lately I've been making very simple meals, nothing blog worthy anyway. Nonetheless, I couldn't let my husbands birthday go by without making him a delicious birthday dinner!  Just look at this lovely table setup. 

As usual the husband is digging into his dinner!  He always loves what I cook even if he is a picky eater!  Gotta love him!  This man stole my heart from the first time I met him. I remember it like it was yesterday!  We have been together for a little over 2 years now and I wouldn't trade him for anything. He is truly my soulmate!  Happy birthday, My Love!  

For his birthday dinner we had cracked out chicken noodle casserole & a caramel coconut pie. This is what you will need for the chicken noodle casserole. 

4 cups cooked, chopped chicken (I boiled mine for 15 minutes)

2 cans cream of chicken soup 

16 oz sour cream

1 pkt of ranch dressing mix 

3 oz bacon bits

1 cup shredded cheddar

12 oz egg noodles (I got the 16oz and it turned out just fine)

1 cup crushed Fritos 

Cook the egg noodles per package directions and then drain. Set aside. 

Preheat oven to 350. 

Spray your 9x13 pan with nonstick spray. 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl (except Fritos, noodles, and chicken)

And mix until smooth. 

Add the mixture in with noodles. Then add in the chicken and mix all together. 

Pour into the 9x13 pan. 

Next, crush the cup of Fritos. I just placed mine in a ziplock bag and squeezed together with my hands. 

Top your casserole with the crushed Fritos. 

Bake for 25 minutes. And serve immediately. 

How delicious does that look?  We had enough for a bowl a piece, Lilly (our dog), and a bowl a piece or my in laws. The recipe makes quite a bit. 

BBQ cheddar and bacon meatloaves and pioneer woman Mac n cheese.

This was Saturday night's dinner. I'm terribly behind on blogging. I've been so busy preparing for the holidays!  I'm anxiously trying to pass time at work until my brother's flight arrives!  I haven't seen him since August when he left for college. It has been tough, especially when my Brudder is my best friend!  I am very proud of him but I definitely I can't wait to see him!  

The meat loaves are one of my husband's favorite even though he detests meatloaf. Does that explain how amazing these BBQ cheddar meatloaves are?  YES!!!!

You will need:

1 tbsp butter

Salt/pepper to taste

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 egg whisked

2 tbsp worchestire

1/4 cup & 4 tbsp BBQ sauce of your choice

1/4 cup bread crumbs

3 oz package of real bacon bits

4 oz cheddar block cut into cubes (I use extra sharp cheddar)

First whisk your egg in a large bowl and add beef, worchestire, 4 tbsp BBQ, bread crumbs, cheese, bacon, salt, and pepper. 

Mix with hands until all ingredients are equally mixed together. Line a baking sheet with a piece of foil. Then spray with nonstick spray. Form meat into mini loaves. 

Top with remaining BBQ sauce and a few more bacon bits. 

Then bake on 425 for 20-25 minutes. There will be a lot of grease in the pan. Just remove your loaves, place on a serving dish or plate and let sit for 5 minutes. 

Yummy!!!!!

For a side dish I made the Pioneer Woman's Mac n cheese. She is amazing if you don't know who she is check out her show on food network. She also has a blog and Pinterest that I follow as well!

You will need:

2 cups dry elbow macaroni 

1 whole beaten egg

8 tbsp butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 1/2 cups milk

2 heaping tbsp dry mustard

1 lb grated cheddar (again I used extra sharp cheddar)

1/2 tsp salt, pepper, and season salt

(Sorry, horrid picture)

Cook your macaroni until it is very firm. Too firm to eat. This will allow it to be perfect once the dish is finished since we have to bake it later on. 

In a small bowl, beat the egg. 

Allow the egg to sit at room temperature while you prepare the other ingredients. This will help with the tempering later. 

In a large pot, melt the butter on med-low heat. Once melted, slowly whisk in your flour. Constantly whisking so it doesn't stick. Heat for 5 minutes. Then pour in milk, mustard. Whisk 5 minutes until very thick. 

Take a few ladles of your sauce mix and temper into your eggs. This prevents the eggs from getting too hot too fast and scrambling. TO TEMPER: slowly add each spoonful (you will need about 3) while constantly and quickly whisking. The trick is to make aide it's added very very slowly. 

Once you've gotten that, pour the tempered egg back into your sauce and add almost all of your grated cheese (you will need some for topping). Stir cheese until melted. 

Add your firm elbow Mac and stir until coated with cheesy goodness. (:

Pour into a baking dish and top with shredded cheese and season salt. Bake 325 for 20 minutes. My husband and father in law dug in so fast I couldn't get a picture straight out of the oven, but here it is. 

Everyone have an amazing thanksgiving!!!  Don't forget to be thankful ALL YEAR!!!  

Kentucky Hot Brown Bake.

I made this Thursday of last week I just haven't gotten around to posting it until today. Sorry guys!  This is my version of the KY Hot Brown sandwich. You can add ham to this also, I just stuck with turkey. 

You will need:

8 oz package of crescent rolls

1lb package of smoked turkey lunch meat

8 slices of cooked bacon (I may have used a whole package, oops)

8 slices of Swiss cheese

3 Roma tomatoes, sliced 

4 eggs beaten

Instructions:

Unroll the crescent rolls and place half in the bottom of a greased baking dish. 

Top with half of the turkey. 

Then half the Swiss cheese. 

Then half the bacon. I added more after this picture was taken. 8 just didn't seem enough for my hubby and I. 

Then top with a few tomato slices and HALF the beaten eggs. 

Repeat another layer of turkey, cheese, bacon, and tomatoes. Then top with rest of crescent rolls and rest of beaten eggs. 

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Then *IMPORTANT* let sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. This will allow the dish to set properly so you don't have runny eggs. 

I didn't allow mine to sit before cutting it but this was to show what the layers look like. (:  

Cheesy Chicken & Tater Tot Casserole.

I am not, nor have I ever been a fan of tater tots, but for some reason this casserole is heaven to me. I'm thinking it's the entire bag of real bacon bits that it uses!  I love bacon!  My husband, however is a tater tot junkie so when I texted a picture of dinner to him his response was "I can't wait to eat that". 

You will need:

32 oz bag frozen tater tots 

3 oz bag of real bacon pieces

1 lb diced chicken breasts

2 cups shredded cheddar

3/4 cups milk

Salt & pepper to taste

Spray your crockpot and place half the frozen tots in the crockpot. 

Top with shredded cheese and bacon bits (not all of them though, since there will be more layers). 

Top with the raw, diced chicken. 

Top with shredded a cheese and bacon (again not all of it since there is yet another layer). 

Top with remaining tots, then remaining  cheese and bacon.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add milk. 

Cook low 4-6 hours. Serve in bowl. 

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches.

Lazy Sunday crockpot cooking is the best!  Stormy weather makes me want to stay in all day and watch tv (Even though I shouldn't). These pulled pork sandwiches were delicious!  The entire dinner conversation was my husband raving about how delicious they were. 

You will need 

4 lbs boneless riblets

1 jar of BBQ sauce

3/4 cup brown sugar 

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dry mustard (you can also substitute yellow mustard)

First put half the BBQ sauce into the bottom of your crockpot. 

Place riblets in crock pot. I did 1 layer then drizzled BBQ sauce. Then another layer of riblets. Like this....

Top with remaining BBQ sauce and seasonings. 

Stir, so the riblets are covered. 

Cook on high for 4 hours. I shredded the riblets in a casserole dish then topped with more BBQ sauce. Then I broiled for about 2 minutes just to give the pork a caramelized look and taste. That is completely optional. 

I topped my sandwich with shredded mozzarella and hamburger dills.  Served with shells and cheese and diced/seasoned red potatoes. How delicious does that look?!

BBQ pulled pork sandwiches. 

4 lbs boneless riblets

1 jar of BBQ sauce

3/4 cup brown sugar 

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dry mustard (you can also substitute yellow mustard)

Pour half bottle of BBQ sauce into crockpot

Add riblets

Pour remaining BBQ sauce and add seasonings

Mix to cover pork

Cook on high 4 hours

When done cooking use fork to pull and shreds riblets

Cheesy Potato & Sausage Casserole.

I'm not a fan of sausage, but a smoked sausage (the kind shaped like a horse shoe) is a total weakness. It's not as gristly as breakfast sausage and it has a terrific flavor.  Pair that with cheese and potatoes and I HAD to try this recipe!

Ingredients:

3 cups potatoes (peeled, boiled, diced)

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour

1/8 tsp paprika

2 cups milk

1/2 tsp of salt & pepper

1/2 lb velveeta

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

1 lb skinless smoked sausage

I peeled and diced my potatoes (after washing them of course) then placed them in a pot with water to cover and a pinch of salt. I boiled them until they were just a tad hard (because they will get baked, you don't want them all the way cooked)

After that, I prepared my sausage. I just cut it in half. Then halved the half & diced.  Place them in a frying pan on medium heat and fry for 15 minutes. They will be nice and caramelized. 

Drain the potatoes and mix them in a baking dish with the cooked sausage. 

In a sauce pan, mix all other ingredients (except shredded cheddar) and heat on medium heat, whisking until smooth. 

Once it's heated and smooth, pour over the meat and potatoes. 

Top with cheddar cheese and a light dusting of paprika. 

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. The top will be nice and browned. 

(You may want to place a larger baking sheet under your dish, as you can see I had cheese over flow)

YUMM!!!! Doesn't that look tasty?