Monday, April 28, 2014

Blackberry Cobbler

Oh MY! I'd never had cobbler before... Boy, I did not know what I was missing! My husband had never eaten before either -- but the eyerolls as he devoured mine let me know it was good!

Blackberry Cobbler

Ingredients
4 cups fresh blackberries
Zest & juice of 1 lemon
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup milk
1-2 tablespoon brown sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°

Place blackberries in a bowl and "smush" to release some of juices
Add sugar, lemon zest & juice to berries. Combine and set aside 
*You may not need a full cup of sugar - just use your own judgement!
Melt stick of butter in a 13x9 baking dish
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add sugar and then whisk until well blended
Slowly stir in vanilla and milk and continue whisking
Once butter is melted in baking dish, slowly pour batter over the butter (do not stir!)
Pour berries on top of the mixture in baking dish (do not stir!)
Sprinkle brown sugar liberally over the top
Bake for 45 min to 1 hour until golden brown


To serve, put warm cobbler into a bowl and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! :) Watch out! It'll make you wanna smack yo mama!

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Red Beans-n-Rice

On a whim, I tried making this and it turned out much better than expected! And what makes it better? You can make it in the crockpot!

Red Beans-n-Rice

Ingredients
1 lb. red beans soaked and rinsed
1 meaty ham bone
1 green pepper chopped
1 medium onion chopped
3 celery stalks chopped
1-2 lbs. smoked sausage
1 tablespoon of Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon of red pepper flake
3 cups of chicken stock
3 cups of water
Salt & pepper to taste

**You'll also need cooked rice. I just whip up instant rice on the stove when the beans are almost ready to serve!

Directions
Slice sausage into bite-sized pieces and brown in a skillet on the stove

Drain off any grease and set aside
Rinse beans thoroughly and pour into crockpot
Add water and chicken stock to beans
Add chopped vegetables (green pepper, onion & celery)
Add sausage
Add remaining seasonings (Creole, red pepper, salt & pepper)
Cook on high for 7-8 hours

To serve, scoop cooked rice into bowl and ladle red beans over rice
DE-LIC-IOUS!
 

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Dorito Chicken!

If you have been on Pinterest even just a few times, you've probably stumbled across a recipe similar to this. Since I've been on a MAJOR Doritos kick the past few weeks, I decided to give this a whirl! Boy, am I glad I did! De-lish!!

Doritos Chicken

Ingredients
4 - boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup of milk
2 eggs
1 bag of Doritos crushed (I used Nacho Cheese, but Ranch would be great too)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°
Line baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up!)
Soak chicken breasts in a bowl of milk
Whisk 2 eggs in a separate bowl
Create an assembly line - chicken, eggs, doritos, baking sheet
Take each piece of chicken from the milk, soak in eggs mixture, roll in crushed Doritos and line on baking sheet
Bake at 425° for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown
Be sure not to let the Doritos burn!

You will be impressed! It was better than I expected ;)

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Need I say more!? I have a friend who is CRAZY about peanut butter, so I'm making these yummy delicious bars for her this weekend! Plus, you can never have too much sweet stuff, right!?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients
2 cups of graham crackers finely crushed
2 sticks melted butter
1 1/4 cup Jif peanut butter(And yes, it MUST BE JIF!!)
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 bag of milk chocolate chips

Directions
Mix graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, powdered sugar and 1 cup of the peanut butter in a mixing bowl

Smooth mixture into an ungreased 9x13 baking dish and set aside
Place chocolate chips and remaining 1/4 cup of peanut butter in a bowl and microwave for 45 seconds
Stir. Microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Stir. If still not melted, microwave for 30 more seconds. Stir until melted
Spread melted chocolate mixture evenly over peanut butter mixture in the baking dish
Refrigerate for 3 hours before cutting into squares

Then... it's time to devour with a cold glass of milk!! :)