Shredding Chicken

Does anyone else every dread the task of shredding Chicken? I always hate when a recipe calls for shredded Chicken, that is until today. I learned a new little trick to simplify shredding chicken. I bought about 10 Chicken breasts this morning and was planning on cooking and shredding a few of them, when I was on the phone with an old friend and she told me a new use for my Kitchen Aid mixer. Yes you read that right, my kitchen aid mixer. Boil your chicken just like you would if you were going to shred the chicken by hand. Once it's cooked thru, place the chicken in your mixer with your paddle attachment in place turn your mixer onto low and let it work it's magic. Within a few moments you will have shredded chicken. Now wasn't that easy?

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

These yummy things were on our menu tonight for Dinner and let me just tell you that they were super easy to make and very good!! I have had them on my list of recipes to make for quite sometime, they were a recipe that caught my eye when I got my "Our Best Bites" cookbook. And they didn't disappoint! When I say they were easy I mean that, I was watching 5 kids besides my own 2 today and still managed to make 2 large pans of these! Make these for dinner tonight, you won't be sorry!

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic, or garlic powder
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepperjack cheese

Salt & Pepper to taste

tortillas, corn or flour work well.
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it’s soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or are coming unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. Then roll it up as tight as you can. Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

Dip them in salsa, sour cream, guacamole, or anything else your heart craves.

Parmesan & Garlic Linguini

I ran across this awesome blog when I discovered the Lemon Crinkle Cookies I posted a few days ago and this recipe immediately caught my eye because of how easy it seemed and how simple it was. Last night I needed a quick fix for dinner and so I whipped up this amazing dish. It was definitely fast and easy, I sliced some chicken and cooked it up and tossed it in with the pasta. The best way to describe how good it was is to say my BIL was scraping the bottom of the pan once the dish was long gone to get "a little more". It was so easy, and yet it was so rich and amazing in flavor. I added quite a bit more garlic than is called for since we are big garlic lovers, but otherwise it is perfect the way it is. I hope you enjoy this simple but amazing meal.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound linguine pasta
2 tablespoons salted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 clove garlic, finely minced {I used a microplane}
lots of salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 cup reserved cooking liquid from pasta
3/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano {use the real stuff!}
fresh parsley, for garnish {optional}

Directions:
Bring large pot of water up to boil. Sprinkle in a generous amount of salt and stir in pasta. Cook linguine until al dente and drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Place linguine back into hot pot and stir in butter, cream, garlic, salt, pepper and cheese until butter and cheese start to melt and create a sauce. Pour in some pasta water to get the sauce to the consistency you want. {I only used about 3 tablespoons.} Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly. Pour onto serving platter and top with fresh parsley and more grated cheese.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

When my mom told me she was trying out a new Lemon cookie for a family function I never could have imagined how amazing they would turn out. These cookies reminded me of some similar ones that friends have bought and shared with me that they got from the expensive cookie shops around here. They were really good, and super easy to make, my kids even got to help out on these ones. My mom said these were the cookie that won first prize for best cookies in a contest for LDS Living.com. These are truly amazing cookies, I think they would be fun to add some lemon heads to them to spice up the lemon flavor. Yummy!!

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour (i needed 1/4 - 1/3 c. more flour to get it the right consistency to roll out)
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Pecan Pie

I love pecan pie!!! When i was dating my husband he had a roommate who was from the south, and that boy would make southern pecan pie like no other. Mmmm it makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I hope you can find some time to enjoy some Pecan Pie sometime soon.

3 eggs beaten

2/3 C. Sugar

1 C. Corn Syrup

1/3 C. Melted Butter

1 C. Pecan Halves

Dash of Salt

1 unbaked pie shell

Combine eggs, sugar and salt in a bowl, then add corn syrup and butter and mix together, stir in the pecans then pour mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes. Cool for 2-3 hours before serving

Peanut Butter Popcorn

I had a friend in high school who use to make this all the time when we would all be sitting around chatting late at night, and I use to love the flavor of it. It's rich and positively divine, trust me, you will love it if you like peanut butter!!

1/2 C. Honey

1/2 C Karo Syrup

1 C. Sugar

1 C. Peanut Butter

1/2 Tsp. Vanilla

Combine Honey, Karo and Sugar in a pan until it boils, boil while stirring for 2 minutes, then add peanut butter and Vanilla and stir until smooth, then pour over 1 batch of air popped popcorn.

Corn Bread

This has been my go to recipe for corn bread for quite awhile. I remember growing up and having this for breakfast many times. I always have loved it with a little butter and some honey, it makes my tummy growl just thinking about it.

1 c. corn meal
1 c. flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. shortening
1 egg
1 c. milk

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Cut in shortening until well blended. Beat egg and milk together. Mix with dry ingredients until just blended. Pour into well greased 8x8 pan. Bake at 200 for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

For sweeter bread add 2 more Tbsp sugar.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

This is a recipe that my Aunt Jill got when she took Chinese cooking classes after she and my grandmother went to China to pick up an Uncle of mine who was serving an LDS mission there. This has always been what sweet and Sour Sauce tastes like to me. I hope you enjoy it as well.

1 C Water
2 Tbsp Ketchup
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Red wine Vinegar

place ingredients into pan and bring to a boil. Add cornstarch to thicken mixture. Pour over your desired ingredients or use as dipping sauce or marinade.

Hot Fudge

This was always my mom's go to recipe for hot fudge sauce and I have learned over the years that it makes an excellent Chocolate Fondue sauce as well. We use this sauce all the time for Ice cream and Fondue, or anytime I want a nice thick chocolate sauce. It's amazing and very simple to make. I hope you enjoy it.

1 Square Semi Sweet Cocoa
1 C. Sugar
2/3 C. Evaporated Milk
1/2 C. Margarine
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 Tbsp Karo Syrup

Melt Butter and Cocoa in a pan over low heat, then add Milk, karo and Sugar. Stirring constantly boil until sugar has dissolved. Once Sugar has dissolved add vanilla and remove from heat and serve while hot.

Two Tone Brownies

This recipe originally comes from Taste of home cookbook, but my dear friend Kristi makes these and they are to die for. Soft moist brownies topped with a cookie dough frosting. What could be better? They are amazing and I know you will just love them.

Brownie Layer:
1 12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup (2 cubes) butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter and chocolate chips. Stir constantly and remove from heat when chips are fully melted. In the same pot, blend in the sugar. Then add eggs, blending fully one at a time. Add flour and salt and beat until air bubbles form in the batter. Pour into a greased 9 X 13-inch pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn heat down to 325 degrees and bake for 10 more minutes.

Cool completely and then top with the cookie dough layer.

Cookie Dough Layer:
1/2 cup (1 cube) butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown Sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in milk and vanilla. Gradually add flour and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls over cooled brownies; carefully spread over top (this can be tricky but I found the best way is to slightly wet my hands and pat the dough down gently so it doesn’t pull up the brownies). Cut into squares. Store in the refrigerator.