Quick and Easy Pan Breadsticks

This recipe is from Jamie Cooks It Up and it's great! You can make these breadsticks from start to finish in 40 minutes! They were so good with corn chowder tonight and taste something like the breadsticks from Pizza Hut though they are a little lighter in texture.

Quick and Easy Pan Breadsticks

3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon SAF yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups hot tap water
4 tablespoons butter, melted (divided)
1/2 cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
Johnny's Garlic Seasoning (or other garlic and herb dried spice blend)

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook combine bread flour, sugar, yeast, and salt - stir a little to combine. Add hot tap water and mix until dough pulls away from sides of bowl, you can add a little more water if the dough is too dry (just add a tablespoon at a time). Knead at high speed for 5 minutes. Cover bowl with a towel and let dough rest for 5 minutes.

Spread 2 tablespoons of melted butter on a large cookie sheet with a rim. Place dough in the middle of the pan and let sit uncovered for 3 minutes. Spread dough out flat until it reaches all of the edges of the cookie sheet - use a rolling pin and your hands to spread the dough out. Spread the remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter on top of the dough, spreading the butter around evenly with a rubber spatula or your hands. Sprinkle garlic seasoning evenly over the dough, then sprinkle Parmesan evenly over the dough. With a pizza cutter cut the dough into 3 even strips down the length of the dough. Then cut the other way into 12 rows so you end up with 12 rows with 3 breadsticks in each row.

Place the cookie sheet of breadsticks into a 170 degree oven and turn off the oven. Let the breadsticks rise in the warm oven for 15 minutes (breadsticks should rise about 1 inch). Turn oven back on and set to 350 degrees, bake breadsticks for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. During the last 2 minutes I covered the tops with foil and placed the pan on the bottom rack just to brown the bottoms of the breadsticks a little more.

Crockpot Corn Chowder

This is a great crockpot soup recipe - I love new good crockpot recipes!! My whole family thought it was very tasty. We had it with Quick and Easy Breadsticks and it was a lovely meal. I'm pretty sure I got this recipe from Clouse Cousins Cooking.

Crockpot Corn Chowder

1 1/2 cups chopped onions
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups frozen shredded hashbrowns
2 cups diced ham
20 oz frozen corn
1, 14.5 oz can cream-style corn
5 cups milk (I might decrease this next time I make it for a thicker soup)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes

Melt butter in a skillet and saute onion in butter until soft. Add onion/butter mixture to crockpot plus the rest of the ingredients. Set crockpot to low and cook all day (6-8 hours).

*To thicken the soup I added 4 tablespoons of Ultra Gel about 2 hours before serving. You could also add cornstarch mixed with water or just decrease the amount of milk to make it thicker.

Oven Chicken

I'm reposting this recipe because I finally got a picture of it! This recipe is from my sister-in-law Dore and we love it. It has been a family favorite for about the last 9? 10? years. The rice is honestly what makes this casserole - it's so flavorful, and buttery and gorgeous.

Oven Chicken

4 - 5 chicken breasts
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon of pepper
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 cup chopped onion
3 cups chicken broth

Pour melted butter into a 9x13 baking dish. Mix flour, salt, paprika, and pepper on a pie plate or other shallow dish. Dredge chicken in the seasoned flour and place in the baking pan with butter. Bake chicken uncovered at 375 for 30 minutes. Take chicken out of the pan. Add rice, chopped onion, and chicken broth to pan and stir around to get all the yummy brown bits off the bottom mixed in with the rice. Put chicken back in and cover with foil. Bake for 25 minutes at 375, then take foil off and bake for another 20 minutes.

Stuffed Green Peppers (Freezer Meal)

This is another great freezer meal from my freezer meal swap (this one is from M.). We had these tonight and everyone ate them without complaint (okay my kids didn't eat the green pepper part, but they loved the filling). Very very good freezer meal!

Stuffed Green Peppers (freezer meal)

2-3 large green peppers (1/2 a pepper for each person)
3/4 lb ground beef
1/3 cup chopped onion
1, 14 oz can chopped Italian tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup uncooked rice
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 - 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cut peppers in half lengthwise, removing stem ends, seeds, and membranes. Immerse peppers in boiling water for 3 minutes. Invert onto paper towels to drain well.

In a large skillet cook meat and onions till meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain fat. Stir in undrained tomatoes, water, uncooked rice, worcestershire sauce, basil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered for 15-18 minutes or till heated through. Stir in 1/4 cup cheese.

Fill pepper halves with meat mixture. Place in a foil pan and cover with plastic wrap then foil, label with cooking instructions and freeze. Freeze about 1/2 cup cheddar cheese in a ziplock and freeze along with the peppers.

Cooking Instructions:
Thaw in fridge. Bake at 375 degrees, loosely covered with foil, for about 30 minutes or until peppers are hot all the way through (test the middle of the peppers). Uncover, sprinkle each filled pepper with cheese and heat an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Southwestern Lasagna (Freezer Meal)

This freezer meal was from S. in my freezer meal swap and my whole family loved it! It is a great alternative to enchiladas and reheated beautifully. I will definitely make this one again.

Southwestern Lasagna

8 small flour tortillas
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies
1 small can diced green chilies
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
juice from 1/2 lime
1/4 cup water, as needed
chopped cilantro, to taste for garnish
3 cups monterrey jack cheese, grated

Combine cooked chicken, onions, Rotel tomatoes, green chilies, and spices in a pan and saute. Let simmer until just boiling. Then add corn, black beans, and water if necessary to make a slightly soupy consistency.

Lightly grease a 9x13 foil baking dish. Layer 2-3 tortillas on the bottom, cutting one in half if necessary to almost cover the bottom of the pan. Scoop 1/2 chicken mixture on top of tortillas then with half of the cheese. Repeat (tortillas, chicken mixture, and cheese). Then with a pizza cutter slice 2 tortillas into triangles, place on top of casserole and garnish with fresh cilantro. Cover with plastic wrap then foil, label with cooking instructions and freeze.

Cooking Instructions:
Thaw in fridge. Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 20 minutes covered loosely with foil. Uncover and bake 20-30 minutes more.

Linguine with Sicilian Pesto

This is my new favorite pesto recipe! It has a wonderful blend of flavors - I love the tomato in it. It is an America's Test Kitchen recipe (so you know it's good!) and it's super fast and easy to pull together. The pesto would taste absolutely wonderful on any type of pasta.

Linguine with Sicilian Pesto

1 lb linguine or other pasta
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup slivered almonds
12 - 14 oz cherry tomatoes (about 2 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon vinegar (red wine vinegar or white vinegar)
1 teaspoon salt
pinch red pepper flakes
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water (you won't use all of it)

Toast almonds in a skillet over medium heat for about 3 minutes or until golden brown and fragrant. Cool almonds to room temperature.

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water; drain pasta and transfer back to cooking pot.

In a food processor blend almonds, cherry tomatoes, basil leaves, garlic, vinegar, salt, and red pepper flakes until smooth, about 1 minute. With machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil.

Add pesto and 1/2 cup Parmesan to cooked pasta, adjusting consistency with reserved pasta cooking water (add just a little pasta water at a time) so that pesto coats pasta. Serve immediately with more Parmesan on individual servings.

Rustic Rosemary Bread

Wow, this bread is delicious! It tastes something like the bread they serve at Macaroni Grill and it goes so well with an Italian meal, which it what we had it with tonight (Linguine with Sicilian Pesto). We dipped it in olive oil sprinkled with Italian herbs and it was lovely.

Rustic Rosemary Bread

2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 rounded tablespoon SAF instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup hot tap water
a little less than 1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I used McCormick's Italian Seasoning Grinder)
melted butter

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook combine flour, sugar, yeast, and salt; mix quickly to combine. Add olive oil and water and mix for 1 minute; check texture and add more water (a tablespoon at a time) if too dry and more flour (a tablespoon at a time) if too wet. Knead on high for 7 minutes. Add rosemary, black pepper, and Italian seasonings and mix until combined (I finished this by hand). Form dough into a smooth ball and place in a large greased bowl; cover with non-stick sprayed plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.

Punch down dough and divide into 2 parts. Shape each half of dough into a ball and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet or stone. If desired you can cut a cross in the top of the loaves with a sharp knife. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 15 minutes. Heat oven to 370 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Brush loaves with melted butter and allow to cool on wire racks. Serve with butter or olive oil sprinkled with Italian seasonings.