Recipes

Big Thicket Chicken and Dumplings

This is soooooo good! I can’t even believe how good it is! The flavor is amazing, and the smell is to die for! The key is  your chicken broth. Make sure it’s homemade if you can. Thank you Susie in Texas!!!

Ingredients:

Bisquick Dumpling Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Place whole chicken and water into large pot or dutch oven.
  2. Add poultry seasoning, garlic powder& pepper.
  3. Add celery, onion, carrot and bouillon cubes to remaining stock and continue to cook on simmer.
  4. Bring to boil and reduce heat to medium.
  5. Cook chicken for about 1 hour or until tender.
  6. When done, carefully remove chicken from pot; set aside to cool.
  7. Remove from heat and cover pan.
  8. Remove skin and debone cooled chicken, then return the chicken back to the pot
  9. Reseason broth if needed
  10. In a medium bowl add Bisquick mix and milk stirring until a soft dough forms.
  11. Return chicken stock to a boil; drop dumplings in, a few at a time, as quickly as possible.
  12. Cook about 10 minutes with the lid off
  13. Then cook another 10 minutes with the lid on
  14. Last enjoy!!!
  15. This recipe will serve a family of 4 two main course meals. Leftovers can be frozen.

Recipes

Homemade Italian Breadcrumbs

I can’t remember the last time I purchased breadcrumbs because this is so economical. Any time I have pieces of bread left over from the loaf I put them in a Ziploc bag until I have enough piece then defrost them to make breadcrumbs. They taste as good or better than anything you can get in the store for a fraction of the cost.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, tossing to blend thoroughly.
  2. Store in an airtight container and use in any recipe calling for Italian breadcrumbs.

Bookmark and Share
Recipes

Irresistible Pan Fried Potatoes

This is such a great recipe. It makes a great side dish, and it goes great with breakfast. It’s easy and the flavor is incredible. The key is to make sure the potatoes get crispy to bring out the flavor.

Ingredients

Directions
  1. Microwave potatoes for 5-6 minutes to soften all the way through.
  2. Cut potatoes in half then into bite size pieces about 1 inch cubes
  3. Dice onion and mince garlic.
  4. Add 2-4TBS cooking oil to skillet and heat oil
  5. Saute garlic and onions until they are half cooked.
  6. Add potatoes and paprika
  7. Cook on medium heat until tender and browned.
  8. When done, add salt and pepper to taste.


Bookmark and Share
Recipes

Jalapeno Monterey Jack Chicken Penne

What attracted me to this recipe was the jalapeño monterey jack cheese. Monterey jack cheese is my favorite cheese. I like the spiciness and the creaminess. This recipe is excellent. It’s super simple, inexpensive, and it has a restaurant quality about it. It might not be the most visually appealing meal, but the flavor is appealing enough. One tip I recommend is instead of pouring the sauce over the pasta, mix the pasta in to the sauce so that the sauce gets inside the penne. This will allow the sauce to get into the pasta, and just makes it even better. I did not do that when we had this for dinner, but we had the leftovers for lunch and I tried it. It really did make a difference.

Ingredients:

  • 3 tbs of bacon bits (pre-cooked do not use immitation, or bacos)
  • 2 boneless chicken breasts (pre-cooked or 1 small can of chicken)
  • 3 tablespoons butter 
  • 1 small onion, diced 
  • 1/2 bell pepper, diced 
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced 
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (I use a mild jalapeno)
  • 3 tablespoons flour 
  • 1 cup chicken broth 
  • 1/2 cup milk 
  • 8 ounces of shredded jalapeno monterey jack pepper cheese 
  • 1/4 cup sour cream 
  • 16 ounces penne pasta

Directions:

  1. Over medium heat sauté in butter, bacon bits, bell pepper, onion, jalapeno pepper, and garlic until just tender.
  2. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. 
  3. Add 3/4 cup of the broth, and the milk. Cook and stir until bubbly. 
  4. Stir in cheese and sour cream; then add the cooked chicken.
  5. If the sauce is too thick, add the remaining 1/4 cup chicken broth
  6. Cook penne pasta according to package directions, drain well, then add to sauce.


Bookmark and Share
Recipes

Swanson Simmered Italian Rice

I never thought this recipe would be anything special, but I needed a quick side dish and I had all the ingredients. I happened to be looking through a magazine when I found it, decided to make it that night. It’s a great recipe. We were all big fans of it. The flavor is excellent. I didn’t use Swanson broth because I didn’t have any, but I did have homemade both in the freezer which worked perfectly.

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 cups of chicken broth
  • 1 tsp italian seasoning crushed
  • 3/4 cup of uncooked long-grain white rice
  • 1 cup of chopped spinach
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions

  1. Heat broth and italian seasonings in 2-qt saucepan over a medium-high heat to boil
  2. Stir rice and spinach in saucepan. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 20 mins, or until rice is tender. Stir in cheese. Serve with additional cheese.


Bookmark and Share