Peachy Chicken

This is one of those recipes that at first glance I thought miight be too weird, but I was intrigued and wanted to give it a try. It was a hit, so we'll be keeping this one too! 

Barbeque Peach Chicken found HERE. 

I made some adjustments, lol. For one thing, when I showed my husband-the-cook the recipe he said that our grill has two temperatures- nuclear hot and almost nuclear hot. I suggested we bake it a while and then grill it at the end? He suggested we bake it and then broil it, so that is what we did. 

I had some leftover peach "jam" that had been made for a dessert. I wasn't sure it would work, and my husband said it didn't quite- the cinnamon and nutmeg didn't quite work with the bbq sauce for him. But everyone else liked it so it worked okay! 

I thawed two huge chicken breasts and cut them into sections of all sizes, lol... I made the marinade as directed: 
 - 1/2 cup peach jam

- 1 tbso apple cider vinegar 

- 1 tbsp ground ginger

- 1/2 tsp salt

- some black pepper

- 3/4 cup bbq sauce (we have Sweet Baby Ray's right now)

- boneless, skinless chicken breasts

I let it marinate in the fridge for about 8 hours. 

I put a cooling rack onto a foil covered baking sheet, and baked it at 350* for 8 minutes, then turned them all over, basting it as I went. Then baked it 8 more minutes. It wasn't very close to temp yet, so I turned and basted again, and baked it another 5 minutes before turning it up to broil. We broiled it 5  minutes on one side, basted again and broiled another 5 or so minutes til it reached about 165*. 

We served this with a quick pasta-roni mix, and vegetables and the whole family enjoyed it! 

Updated Oreo Pie Recipe

Recipe refreshed and updated! Makes two 9-inch pies.

The idea for this pie was the result of my 9 year old self trying to come up with a pie idea for a ward dessert contest. I made it that once and didn't make it again until after I was married to take to Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws. Since they were all Oreo obsessed, it became a staple of Thanksgiving dinners, some birthdays, and other special occasions. It is a whipped cream (or cool whip) and pudding pie with crushed Oreo cookies sandwiched between the layers and placed on top. I have made it so much throughout the years that I can barely eat a slice. Too much of a good thing.  --Burt

This pie is made with mostly instant stuff that you get at the store, but it could be made completely from scratch if you are feeling adventurous. The only thing that probably would have to stay store-bought is the Oreo cookies. I have never used other Oreo like cookies for this pie and since I usually only make it once or twice a year, I stick with the name brand.

Ingredients

• 2 9-inch pie crusts that have been blind baked 
• You could swap out the pastry pie crusts for a Oreo or chocolate graham cracker crust, but I think a regular crust offsets the overwhelming sweetness inherent to the pie filling.
• 1 3/4 cups Oreo crumbs plus some cookies cut in half to put on the top of the pie for decoration
• You could buy a box of pre-crushed Oreo crumbs, but why? Take 30 cookies and run them through the food processer. Much better and you don't have to have leftover crumbs that you will go stale before you use them again.

Chocolate Layers - Chocolate Dream Pie Filling

• 2 (1 1/3 ounce) envelopes dream whip brand whipped dessert topping mix
• 2 3/4 cups cold milk, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 (3 1/2 ounce) packages of chocolate instant pudding 
• I recommend Hershey's or another really good dark chocolate pudding. I used to use a chocolate mousse pudding mix, but they got hard to find and were never enough mousse to really do a full two layers of chocolate filling.

Whipped Cream Layers

• 1 8 oz block of cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• Pinch of salt

Make the Filling Layers and Chill

The chocolate filling is just the dream pie recipe found on the back of the Dream Whip brand whipped topping box. I recommend making the chocolate filling the night before and letting it chill overnight before assembly so it is good and solidly set-up. At a minimum, the chocolate layer has to be chilled for at least 4 hours before it can be used, as per the Dream Whip instructions.

Here are the directions from the box for the Dream Pie filling:

• Beat whipped topping mixes, 1 cup of the milk and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on high 6 minutes or until topping thickens and forms peaks.
• Add remaining 1-3/4 cups milk and pudding mixes; beat on low speed until mixed.
• Beat on high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Divide the filling in half (by weight if you can) into two gallon size freezer zip lock bags.
• Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

To make the whipped cream filling do the following:

• In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. 
• Beat until smooth, then keep beating for about 2 to 3 more minute. Scrap the bowl about every minute during the process.
• Add heavy cream and whip with whisk until stiff peaks form. Again, scrap the bowl about every minute during the process.
• Divide the filling in half (by weight if you can) into two gallon size freezer zip lock bags.
• Put in the fridge to chill until ready to assemble pies

The cream cheese in the whipped cream keeps it stable. The whipped cream won't deflate for several days so you don't have to worry about making the pies a day or two ahead. Just make sure to keep them cold!

Assembling the Pies

Prep your pie crusts and blind bake them. Whether you make them by hand or buy them frozen from the store, follow the instructions for blind baking the pie shells. You want them completely baked and cooled before assembling the pies. Once the crusts have cooled completely, do the following:

• Put 1/3 cup of the crushed Oreo crumbs into each pie shell. Smooth the crushed cookies out so they are a nice flat layer in the bottom of each pie 
• Take one bag of chocolate filling, snip off a corner of the bag and squeeze the filling into each pie shell in swirl pattern, using half the bag per shell. 
• Use a spatula to smooth out the layer over the crushed Oreos. Be gentle and patient as the crushed cookies make doing this tricky if you try to go too fast. 
• Take out one bag of the whipped cream filling, snip off a corner of the bag and squeeze the whipped cream into each pie shell in swirl pattern, again using half the bag per shell.
• Like before, use a spatula to smooth the whipped cream layer over the chocolate layer.
• Sprinkle another 1/3 cup of crushed cookies per shell onto the whipped cream layer evenly so the crushed cookies makes another smooth cookie layer.
• Use the second bag of the chocolate filling, squeezing out half the bag of filling in each pie in a swirl pattern, and smooth it out into an even layer. Again be patient and gentle when working the chocolate filling over the cookie layer. Gently push down as you smooth if you need to and scrap your spatula against the edge of the pie shell. 
• Use the last bag of the whipped cream filling, squeeze out half a bag per pie, swirl and smooth. If you want, save a couple of dollops of  chocolate filling to swirl in the whipped cream layer as a decoration. The filling should dome up a little over the pie shell, unless your pie shell is deeper than the standard.
• Sprinkle any remaining crushed cookies over the top of the pies and decorate with Oreos cut in half on the top. 
• Chill at least two hours before serving. The moisture in the filling will make the crumbs go all soft and allow the layers to bind together.

Ham & Cheese Crescent Rolls

I saw the pizza calzones while looking for dinner ideas one frustrating afternoon, ha. I tried to think of something I had the ingredients for, and knew I had seen something like this before, and honestly I think many times! ...but on that day I couldn't find anything to tell me if I needed to adjust the baking time or anything. No recipes like this to be found on the whole entire internet that day. What?! Sooo now there is!! 

I had all of these ingredients already in my fridge, so I put them together and it made a great dinner! I actually used two cans of crescent rolls, to make enough food for us.

I rolled out each crescent roll a bit...then laid half a slice of muenster on the edge

then half a slice of ham

and finally half a slice of swiss cheese

and rolled it up! 

When I had four left, I ran out of Swiss cheese slices, so I used a small handful of shredded cheddar instead. It worked great!

I asked a friend if she knew how long to bake it. I really wondered if the meat and cheese affected the baking time! She said to follow the instructions on the can, so I did. It said to bake at 375* for 9-12 minutes. I am pretty sure I broiled them a couple minutes to get some good browning, but everyone liked these! 

a close up of the melty cheddar....!

Calzones

We tried this recipe this week, and it was a good one! It came from HERE. 

I want to keep this one and make it again. 

I don't make bread, other than quick breads, like banana, so I bought two cans of Pillsbury pizza dough. I made "custom" calzones for my family. One wanted black olives, and another wanted olives and green pepper. They all had sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella and parmesan. 

As the instructions say, I cut the dough into six pieces, so I made two sets to feed the five of us. We had some leftover but people ate those too! 

For the sauce, I combined one can of tomato sauce with a little basil, oregano, parsley, garlic powder and olive oil. 

For the calzones, I did in fact roll out one can of pizza dough, and cut it into 6th. I added a small spoonful of sauce, topped that with a little shredded mozzarella, diced pepperoni, shredded parmesan, and then if requested- sliced black olives or diced green pepper. 
I folded them in half (had to pull/stretch most of them), then crimped the edges with a fork. Then I brushed melted butter over all of them an sprinkled them with Italian seasoning, which I mixed myself with oregano, basil and garlic powder. 

Finally I baked them at 400* for about 15 minutes. 

We served it with more of the pizza sauce for dipping, and carrot sticks and raspberries on the side! 

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

A really long time ago, my friend walked me thru how to make mashed potatoes in the instant pot. It is still the only thing I know how to make in the instant pot, but don't worry, my husband uses it frequently. 

So for the most basic but clear instructions, here we go! 

Peel and slice or cube potatoes
    (I do one per person, plus an extra or two depending on size)
Put the cubes in the pot.
Cover them in water.
Can add 1/2 tsp salt -sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, sometimes my husband uses bullion in place of salt.

Cook on manual for 8 minutes 
In my case, I push "pressure cook" and then the up/down button til it says "high" and "00:08" and then it starts. This is my machine: 

Eventually it comes to pressure, then it counts down from 8.

Then, I pour off most of the water, but save some in a glass measuring cup. 
I add butter, sour cream or plain greek yogurt, and salt if necessary, and the potato water, as I use the beaters/hand mixer to "mash" them. 
voila! 
Mashed potatoes! 

Pasta Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette/Mayonnaise Dressing

Pasta Salad Ingredients - Feel free to swap out or add ingredients to your liking. Amounts below are a guide, not a requirement.

•  16 oz cooked rigatoni pasta
• 1/2 cup of chopped celery 
• 1/4 cup of chopped pepperoni
• 1/2 cup of chopped pickled banana peppers/pepperoncini
• 1/2 cup or 1/2 of a chopped white onion 
• 6 mozzarella sticks sliced into thin discs 
• 3/4 cup of black olives sliced in half 
• 2 large tomatoes chopped 

Dressing

• 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar 
• 1/4 cup of olive oil 
• 1 tbsp of oregano 
• 1 tbsp of basil sweet 
• 1 tbsp of parsley 
• 1 tsp of onion powder 
• 1 tsp of garlic powder 
• 2 tsp of salt 
• 2 tbsp of Dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup of mayonnaise

Garnish 

1/4 cup of shredded parmesan 

1 tbsp of freshly ground black pepper 

Whisk dressing ingredients to combine, pour over salad, and gently stir in so as not to break up the pasta. Let salad marinate and chill in the fridge for at least 5 hours before serving. Add garish of parmesan and pepper right before serving.

Chinese...ish BBQ Pork Marinade and Glazing Sauce

Used on 6 lbs of Country Style Pork Ribs chunked up and cooked as kabobs marinated overnight

• 1/2 cup olive oil 
• 1/4 cup brown sugar packed 
• 1 tsp chili powder 
• 1 tbsp. Five spice powder 
• 1 tbsp white pepper 
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce 
• 1 tbsp paprika 
• One tablespoon garlic powder 
• 1 tbsp onion powder 
• 1/4 cup ketchup 
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 
• One healthy squirt of sriracha

Grape Salad

This was shared at a RS Activity - it was delicious and I'm not allergic so YEAY! The person who brought it was vague about the ingredients so I googled and selected the following recipe, as pretty darn close! 

 Ingredients: 

• 4 pounds grapes a mix of red and green seedless grapes (I use red or black)
• 1 8 ounce bar of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
• 3 tablespoons confectioners sugar
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons crushed pecans (If I have them, I add them. Otherwise I don't)

• Wash and dry the grapes and remove the stems. Set the grapes aside.
• In a large mixing bowl add the cream cheese, sour cream, Greek yogurt and confectioners sugar. Use an electric mixer to beat the mixture until it is completely smooth. Use a spatula to scrape down the edges and beat for an additional 20 seconds.
• When the cream cheese mixture is light, fluffy and completely smooth stir in the grapes.
  
• At this point you can transfer the mixture to a serving dish (if you aren't serving it in the mixing bowl). Sprinkle the top of the grape salad with brown sugar and crushed pecans
  
• Chill the salad 30 minutes before serving.

Link: https://farmlifediy.com/grape-salad/

Skippy Truffle Cookies

I first found this recipe at least 21 years ago, but in the last 8 years we just use one chocolate chip cookie recipe, haha. But today I really wanted peanut butter too.

It's a simple recipe and a little bit finicky, but so yummy! 

Skippy Truffle Cookies
Ingredients: 
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350*

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chips. With electric mixer, on medium speed, beat peanut butter mixture 1 minute. Beat in chocolate until just blended.

On ungreased baking sheets, drop 1 tbsp dough two inches apart.

Bake 9 minutes, or until cookies are puffed. Place baking sheet on a wire rack to cool for five minutes. Remove cookies from sheets and cool completely.

They really need that five minutes of resting, or they will absolutely shatter into a million pieces and you will have to eat it off the pan with a spoon, ha.

They are very crumbly if you eat them before they are totally cool. Once they cool, they take on a creamy kind of texture, which is a fun change.
They are small, but rich and so yummy! 

Chocolate Peanut Butter (cheesecake) Pie

It's PI DAY! I came across this recipe that I thought might be a hit, and gave it a shot. 
You can find the original HERE and below: 

I do not have a mile-high pie pan, just regular pans, ha. So I ended up with two pies! And I made some slight variations, based on what I have and what we prefer.

Crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup almond flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

    put in food processor til it was combined and very fine

5 tablespoons melted butter

Combine dry ingredients with melted butter in a small bowl, press into pie pan. 

Freeze while preparing the filling.

Filling: 

2 1/4 cups heavy cream

12 oz cream cheese, softened

1 1/8 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

2 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp molasses

In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate while preparing the rest of the filling. 

In another large bowl, beat the cream cheese til smooth. Add the sugar and mix til combined. (scraping down sides as needed.) Add peanut butter, blend until incorporated. Add vanilla and molasses, mixing til smooth. 

Gently fold in the whipped cream until fully incorporated. 

Pour filling into the crust, and smooth the top. 

Chill in the freezer 30 minutes, or in the fridge 4 hours, before adding the ganache.

Ganache Topping:

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Microwave the chocolate chips and cream for 1.5 minutes, then stir til smooth. 

Cool to 70* before pouring over the chilled pie, and spread evenly.

Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or freeze for 30 minutes before serving. Serve chilled.

*ice cream-like texture from the freezer, creamier texture from the fridge. 

Chicken and Sausage Soup

Ingredients

• 
  6 cups Ham or Chick Stock - Homemade would be best
• Homemade Ham Stock
• 2 ham bones, preferably with some meat still on them
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp whole black peppercorn
• 2 large bay leaves
• 2 whole onions peeled and cut in half or quarters
• 3 to 4 quarts of water - filled is best 
• 2 lbs boneless chicken breast or thighs cut into approx 1/2 inch chunks
• 12 oz beef smoked sausage (or polish kielbasa, spicy smoked sausage, andouille) cut into slices
• 4 cups of Kale, roughly chopped, rinsed and dried
• Approx 3/4 cup diced celery
• Approx 3/4 cup diced carrot
• 1 whole diced onion approx 3/4 cup
• 1 or 2 15 oz cans of cannelloni beans drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp seasoning salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder
• 1 large bay leaf or 2 to 3 smaller ones
• Olive Oil for sauteing 
• Optional - 1/4 cup of pureed fire roasted Anaheim peppers or hatch chilies, pureed sundried tomatoes, or something like this.

Directions - Ham Stock

Put ham bones, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, and onion into pressure cooker. Fill with water up to just below the max fill line. Put on the heat and bring to pressure. Cook for 90 minutes, turn off heat and let cool for 30 minutes. Quick release pressure at this point if needed. Strain the stock through a wire mesh strainer and toss all of the solids. Nothing will be still usable as food after cooking. Let stock cool to room temperature, then put in fridge until completely chilled. Skim off any solidified fat and toss. Put stock into freezer safe containers and freeze in 2 cup portions.

Directions - Soup

In a soup pot or Dutch oven large enough to hold at least 9 quarts, pour about 2 to 3 tbsp of olive oil into it and put over medium high heat. When the oil shimmering and even slightly smoking, dump in the sliced smoked sausage until both sides have taken on some color and may even have browned crispy edges. Take the sausage out and set aside. 

Put in another tbsp of oil if needed and dump in the chunked up chicken. Sprinkle with the seasoning salt and sauté until the chicken is cooked through. If it has taken on some color or crispy edges too, that is just fine. Take the chicken out and side aside with the sausage. If there is some liquid and chicken bits (frozen chicken breast will leech out significant liquid) in the pot, dump that out and lightly wipe out the pot. Don't wash it out or anything so extreme, just enough to get out any extra liquid and unnecessary chicken bits. 

Pour in another 2 to 3 tbsp of olive oil and let it heat to shimmering again. Dump in the diced carrots, onions, and celery along with a good sprinkling of seasoning salt. Sauté until the vegetables have softened, add the pureed pepper or tomatoes and stir to combine. Add back in the sausage and chicken, stir to combine. Add in the 6 cups of stock, stir and let it all come up to a simmer. Once simmering, add the the kale and cannelloni beans, stir until all of the kale has been incorporated. Cover and let simmer until the vegetables are cooked through and the kale is softened too, about 25 to 30 minutes. 

Taste for seasoning. Add seasoning salt if needed.

The Pioneer Woman - Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Original Link: https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a37598987/twice-baked-potato-casserole-recipe/

Ingredients

• 4 lb. medium sized russet potatoes - should yield between 2 1/2 to 3 lbs of mashed baked potatoes. 
• 12 oz. bacon, divided or 16 oz pork sausage (breakfast or regular)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream 
• 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tbsp of crushed minced garlic or garlic paste
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 8 oz. cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup of panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan 
• 3 Tbsp of dried chives

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Prick each potato with a fork 3 to 4 times all over, then place on a sheet pan. Roast for 55 to 70 minutes until the potatoes are tender when pressed. Remove the potatoes from the oven and lower the temperature to 375ºF.

Meanwhile, working in two batches, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until golden and crispy, 6 to 8 minutes. Let the cooked bacon drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Once cool, crumble or chop into small pieces. If using the pork sausage, cook it up until browned with crispy bits throughout the meat.

In a large bowl, place the melted butter, cream cheese, warm milk, sour cream, salt, pepper, garlic and chives. Carefully whisk or blend with beaters the mixture together. It will incorporate into the mashed potatoes better if you do this first. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half lengthwise, and scrape the flesh out of the skins and into the bowl. Tear or chop up three of the potato skins and add them to the bowl. You can also skip this and use the potato skins for a different purpose later. Use a potato masher or spoon to mash everything together. Fold in the half of the bacon or sausage, half of the cheddar cheese, and parmesan.

Grease a 3-quart (9x13) casserole dish with butter. Transfer the potato mixture to the baking dish. Cover and bake for 35 minutes until the edges are bubbly. Combine the remaining bacon, cheese and panko bread crumbs in to a mixture. Top the casserole with the mixture and bake uncovered until warmed through and lightly golden on top, 20 minutes more. Let rest 10 minutes and serve.