Thursday, June 27, 2013

Crock Pot Zesty BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

I found my new favorite BBQ chicken sandwich recipe! This BBQ chicken is so good! It is a lot more tender, juicy, and saucier than other recipes I've tried and it's super easy to make. I love the sweet zesty taste of the sauce as well. I got the recipe from Six Sisters Stuff - I've gotten so many great recipes lately from that site. I served the BBQ chicken on my homemade hamburger buns (I love that recipe too!).

Crock Pot Zesty BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

6 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts
12 oz bottle BBQ sauce (I used Famous Dave's Rich and Sassy)
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar

Place chicken in crockpot. In a separate bowl mix together: BBQ sauce, Italian dressing, and brown sugar. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours, 3-4 hours on high. Remove chicken and shred and place back in crockpot with juices. Serve on buns or rolls.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Strawberry Cream Cheese Sheet Cake

This is such a yummy summery cake! I got the recipe from the One Crazy Cookie blog and modified it just slightly. It's a layered cake with white cake, a sweetened cream cheese layer, and a strawberry glaze. Yum! I've see this exact recipe also made in a 9x13 baking dish and it seems to work out great, but as a sheet cake it feeds a lot of people, so if you're cooking for a crowd this is the cake for you. I made it for a get together last weekend and it was great. My daughter wants this for her birthday cake this year - that means it's good!:)

Strawberry Cream Cheese Sheet Cake

1 box white cake mix (I use Pillsbury "pudding in the mix" kind)
1 box strawberry Danish Dessert* (you can find it by the Jello in most stores)
1 3/4 cups water
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
8 oz Cool Whip, thawed
1-2 lbs fresh strawberries*, sliced (you need 4-5 cups)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a jelly roll style cookie sheet. Mix cake mix according to package directions, pour and spread onto the greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12-17 minutes, or until cake springs back in the middle. Set aside to cool. (I popped mine in the fridge to help it cool quicker.)

Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Add Cool Whip and beat until incorporated. Spread this cream cheese mixture over the cooled cake.

Make Danish Dessert using 1 3/4 cups water (or juices from frozen strawberries if using) according to package directions for a glaze. Cool for a few minutes and add 4-5 cups of sliced strawberries. Spread in and even layer over the cream cheese layer. Chill cake in fridge for 4 hours before serving for glaze to set up.

*You can also use frozen sliced strawberries thawed and drained, or fresh or frozen raspberries along with raspberry Danish Dessert if you can find it for a yummy raspberry version.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Apricot Chicken (4 Easy Ways to Make it)

This is another recipe that I can't believe hasn't made it on the blog before. We love this recipe and have it a lot. I guess I just never remembered to get a picture before. The chicken ends up having almost a barbecue chicken flavor - sweet and savory at the same time. You can make this recipe 3 different ways, the way I made it this time is the stove-top method (the fastest way to make it), but the crockpot and oven methods are great too. Yummy, easy recipe. Oh and I also included the freezer meal instruction below - this is an amazingly simple freezer meal to throw together.

Apricot Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 4 cups cubed cooked chicken
8 oz bottle Russian salad dressing
1 cup apricot jam
1 envelope onion soup mix

Stove-top Method: 
In a large saucepan combine Russian dressing, jam, and onion soup mix. Stir and bring to just a boil. Add 4 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken (the meat from a rotisserie chicken works great here!) and stir until heated through. Serve over rice.

Crockpot Method:
Place 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (fresh or frozen) in crockpot. In a separate bowl combine Russian dressing, jam, and onion soup mix; pour this mixture over chicken and cook for about 6 hours on low. Break up chicken with a spatula and serve over rice.

Oven Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken breasts in a 9x13 baking dish. In a separate bowl combine Russian dressing, jam, and onion soup mix. Pour over chicken. Bake for 45 min - 1 hour (until chicken is cooked through). Serve over rice.

Freezer Meal Method:
Assembly: In a bowl combine Russian dressing, jam, and onion soup mix. Add 4 cups cooked chicken pieces. Pour into a gallon size ziplock, label with cooking instructions, and freeze flat.

Cooking Instructions: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Serve over rice.