BBQ Pulled-Chicken Tacos

This concoction I can take absolutely no credit for (unless you mean eating...because I ate the bejeebers out of these tacos!!) My boyfriend actually is the mastermind of these and I am so lucky to have such an evil genius in my kitchen with me! (Insert super cheesy couple comments here) But seriously, these were made for our UGA football party and were devoured by the masses! (Disregard the looks on my boyfriend's and fellow partier's faces- the taco he's eating is what is important!)

 

Time to prep/cook: 15 min/ 30 min
Servings: lots
Ingredients:

• corn tortillas
• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 lb of green, red, and yellow peppers and onions  (Kroger frozen bag)
• bbq sauce (he used Krafts honey bbq)
• olive oil

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Using a standard muffin tray - turn the tray upside down and put the tortilla shell between 4 muffin spots (Should create a 4 pointed bowl shape)
3. Can do about 4-5 at a time
4. Bake for 20-25 min till edges of tortilla are golden brown (tortilla should hold bowl shape)
5. Set these aside 
6. In a deep dish frying pan add olive oil and cook the chicken on medium-high
7. As the chicken cooks, it'll turn white, as it does pull at it with two forks this will "shred" the chicken 
8. Add the peppers and onion and keep cooking, until chicken is cooked all the way through
9. Add bbq sauce to taste and moisten
10. Place chicken mixture in a bowl and serve into taco bowls 
11. Enjoy!!

Apple Pie Bites

 I made these for a UGA football game party this past weekend. They were a huge success- read as people ate through 40 in about 1 hour!!

Super Simple to make!!

Time to cook/prep: 10 / 15 min

Servings: I made 40 for 9 people, not exactly sure what a serving of these would be.....

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of 10 premade homestyle biscuits (I used krogers $.88 value version)
• 1 can of apple pie filling with apple slices
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• brown sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Open one can of biscuits and break each biscuit in half 
3. Reroll each half into a new dough ball (now you have 20 dough balls Ta-Da!)
4. Take each new doughball and using a mini muffin tray (24 muffins) place each ball in a muffin slot
5. Using your finger indent the balls and widen into tiny little bowl-like shapes
6. Open the can of apple pie filling
7. Using a small spoon add about 1/2 tbsp of filling to each biscuit (make sure you get a piece of apple in each as well)
   **DO NOT OVER FLOW THE BISCUITS!!!**
8. Sprinkle the nutmeg, cinnamon, and brown sugar over the bites
9. Put in over for about 12-15 minutes (or until sides begin to brown and pull away from the tray)
10. Use a spoon around the edges to pop the bites out
11. Serve and Enjoy!!!

Marinated Chicken and Cheeses

Do you see this!? This was absolutely, mouth wateringly, praise to the powers that be, good. 

Time to Prep/Cook: 15 min/45 min
Servings: 3-4
Ingredients:

• 6 chicken tenderloins
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of flour
• olive oil
• 1/8 cup of diced green bell peppers
• 1/8 cup of diced mushrooms
• 1 jar of Marinara sauce (I used the 6 cheese kroger brand marinara sauce)
• 1/2 lb of Mozzarella cheese log
• 1 tbsp of feta cheese
• 2 teaspoons of italian herbs

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees 
2. In a 9 inch baking dish pour a 1/4 inch thick layer of marinara sauce
3. Sprinkle feta cheese over layer of marinara and set dish aside till later
4. Add the flour to 1 small bowl, add the beated egg to 2nd bowl, and add the breadcrumbs to the 3rd bowl
5. Heat a frying pan with olive oil on medium heat (until the oil sizzles when water is flicked at it)
6. Sautee the mushrooms and peppers for about 5 minutes or until the mushrooms turn a darker color
7. Dip the tenderloins, one at a time, into the flour, then the egg, and then breadcrumbs
8. Fry up to 3 breaded tenderloins at a time for at least 8-10 min (or until cooked all the way through)
9. Once all the tenderloins are cooked place them evenly spaced in the dish with marinara sauce
10. Spread the sauteed vegetables over the chicken 
11. Slice the mozzarella cheese in 1/4 inch thick slices and cover the chicken with such slices
12. Then cover everything with another layer of marinara sauce
13. Bake for about 15 minutes (or until cheese is melted)
14. Serve with a side of green vegetables (I used green beans)
15. SERVE and don't get in the way of the platter because it will be a fight to the death for seconds!!

Simple Salmon Patties

 Don't ask me why I've never done these before. Easiest, simplest, and delicious dinner brought to you by the end of the month budget. 

Time to prep/cook: 5 min/15 min
Servings: 2-3
Ingredients:

• 1 can of boneless,skinless salmon
• 1 egg
• 1/8 cup of diced green bell pepper
• 2 tbsp of fet cheese
• 1/2 cup of uncooked oatmeal
• black peppercorn ,basil, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder to season
• olive oil
• mixed vegetables ( I used broccoli and carrots)

Instructions:

1. In a medium sized bowl mix together the salmon, egg, pepper, cheese, oatmeal, and seasonings
2. It should make a dough like substance
3. Heat a frying pan with a small amount of olive oil on medium heat (oil should sizzle when water is flicked at it)
4. Spoon a tablespoon or two in your hand and roll into a patty shape
5. Put 2 or 3 patties in frying pan, fry about 5-10 minutes on each side (Should be nice and golden brown)
6. Serve about 4 patties per person and 1/2 cup of mixed vegetables
   **Dipping the salmon patties in spicy Dijon mustard was amazing!**
7. Enjoy!!!

Lemon Pepper Salmon with Cream

OK. So it's been awhile, you can thank tests for my lack of energy for cooking. However, this recipe was from one rare night when I just couldn't stand the smell of pizza or fast food, and begrudgingly stomped into the kitchen. What came out of the kitchen was nothing short of delicious. (But because there were still tests to study for there are minimal amounts of pictures.)

Time to prep/cook: 20/25
Servings: 1-2 
Ingredients:

• salmon
• lemon pepper seasoning
• olive oil
• 2 tbsp cream cheese (I used fat free cream cheese)
• 1/4 cup milk (I used coconut milk -it was on sale, shush- was really sweet though)
• 1 tsp marjoram season
• 2 tsp minced almonds
• 2 tsp minced garlic in olive oil
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/2 cup rice
• (May also need a spoonful of flour if your sauce doesn't thicken)

Instructions:

1. Bring a pot with 1 cup water to boil, then add rice and stir
2. Cover pot with a lid and turn heat down to low - cook for 15 minutes
3. Meanwhile, bring a frying pan with a tbsp of olive oil to medium heat (the oil should sizzle if you flick a tiny bit of water on it)
4. Lightly sprinkle the lemon pepper seasoning on all sides of the salmon (remember if you over do this it will complete eliminate the taste of the salmon)
5. Add the salmon and cook 10 min per inch of thickness, cook half of that time on each side (i.e. 5 min per side if 1 inch thick like mine was)
6. In a small sauce pan add the cream cheese and milk and cook on medium heat until the cheese is melted 
7. Stir in seasonings
8. Once salmon is cooked all the way through (should flake with light pressure) serve on plate and drizzle the sauce over the salmon and rice
9. Enjoy!!!

*** The reason you do not see a green vegetable (which you should always try to include) is because I attempted to make kale chips...it wasn't a success. But when it is expect another post with that recipe!!***

Chicken Pizza Pockets

So on a day where all I wanted to do was order pizza and sulk, I decided to cook dinner instead. Ultimately, this was supposed to be something completely different, and turn out more like those sandwich rolls you see on finger food platters. Yet, following suit with the rest of my day, things just didn't go as planned- and out popped these delicious little screwed-up morsels. It never ceases to amaze me how making tasty food, even unexpected tasty food, can make any day just bit better. These definitely brought a smile to my face on a day where smiles were few and far between. (I also took a ton of photos!)

Time to prep/cook: 25/10 minutes
Servings: I'm a hog so this was about 2 servings.... (granted its still less than the amount I'd have eaten if I'd ordered pizza for myself)

Ingredients:

• Can of pop apart biscuits (used Kroger's $0.88 homestyle biscuits)
• Premade spaghetti sauce 
• Assorted Cheeses (I used about 2 slices of presliced pepperjack cheese, and about 6 thick slices of american cheddar)
• Grilled/Rotessiere Chicken pulled apart into small pieces
• Ground garlic, oregano, basil, and marjoram
• Minced garlic in olive oil (again from the tub I bought from kroger)

 Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Hand pull a breast of grilled/rotisserie chicken into 1/2 inch length pieces no thicker than a pencil (You'll need about 1-1.5 cups of the pulled apart chicken)
   **Thanks to my "Pa-In-Law" for the smoked delicious chicken that I used**
3. Roll/stretch out a biscuit till its about the length of your hand (from the tip of your middle finger to the base of the palm)
4. Spread a thin layer of the spaghetti sauce across the length of the biscuit (you should be able to see the biscuit through the sauce)
5. Break apart and put some small pieces of cheddar scattered in the sauce
6. Then add a small layer of chicken across the biscuit
7. Break a 1/4 inch wide strip of pepperjack cheese off the prepackaged slice and lay across the chicken
8. Sprinkle this with the assorted spices listed above
9. Using your fingers, roll the biscuit and ingredients up (making sure to tuck pieces back in as you roll
10. Then pull the sides up, to prevent spillage, and lay in a muffin tin pocket (this will create the shape and prevent everything from leaking out the sides into whatever other container you chose)
11. Repeat steps 3-10 for the other 9 biscuits
12. Once all the biscuits are in the muffin tray, sprinkle tops with the herbs again
13. Then put a small dab of the miced garlic, making sure to include a small amount of the olive oil, on the very top of each biscuit
14. Bake about 10-13 minutes, or until golden brown (The biscuits should actually pull away from the sides of the muffin tray)
15. Let cool about 3-5 minutes then pop out and serve
16. Enjoy!!!

NOW FOR MORE PICTURES!!!!

OM NOM NOM NOM!!!

Delicious piece of chicken sticking out!

These little pizza pockets are so diverse and easy to make!
Leaves me wondering how I should cook them next?!?!

Monkeys at the Zoo

I listen to them fling their words at me

Fragments of thoughts that are as jaded 

As the characters whose barren minds 

First formed their unwilling shapes.

They cry out to me, shouting, screaming,

Begging me back into their confidence

Yearning for my impressionable spirit

To break before them, to be molded

As they see fit for me to be. I am theirs.

No! I refuse to be bought! I am my own, I am. 

I cover my listening ears, I will not be

Subject to the poison of their song

I will not be who they say I am, I will not!

Defiantly standing outside my expected place

Holding on to the very sounds which

They claim are wrong, to the structure-less

Forms of my words, the frame-less lines

My thoughts have grown around

I am as much free as the beautiful caged 

Plant that grows in my mother's back yard

Holding onto the rusting metal that holds

The green leaves in their gentle place

Keeping them ever confined, captive always

To be held within their own growing pains

Rustling their leaves in the wind, pretending to

Dance beneath the passing clouds, watching

The glimpses of the misguided birds fly over head

They are not free, we are not free, all are trapped

Chained by our own limiting thoughts,

Snared by the rules given to us, remaking us into

Shells that reflect nothing in the dung of our words

Breaded Eggplant Alfredo

The alfredo pasta was a lighter taste for a hot summer day.
Going to try a heavier tomato sauce come winter...

This was a delicious impromptu dinner...was actually planning on ordering pizza until I realized that my eggplant was starting to get a little old and that it'd be best to cook it. Me and my roommate are ecstatic that I made that decision. This was amazingly easy and turned out oh so wonderfully delicious!!

Time to prep/cook: 15 min/30min
Servings: 2 
Ingredients:

• 1 medium eggplant (will only use 1/2 of eggplant but will need long slices)
• 1/5 box of noodles (I used Penne Rigata noodles)
• 1 package of alfredo mix
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 1/3 cup of milk (I used 2%)
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of peas
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs
• olive oil as needed
• 1 tsp of black peppercorn
• 1 tsp of ground garlic
• 1 tsp of basil
• 3 thin slices of cream cheese
• handful of cherry tomatoes for garnish

Instructions:

1. Bring a pot of water to boil on medium, then add the noodles and let cook on med-low till they're cooked all the way through
2. Meanwhile slice the eggplant in 1/2 long ways, then slice the half into 3 or 4 -1/2 inch thick slices
3. In a med-large bowl beat the two eggs, in a seperate med-large bowl add the breadcrumbs
4. In a medium pan put 2 tbsp of olive oil and set heat to med.
5. Dip a slice of eggplant into the egg (make sure its covered in egg) then put into the bowl with breadcrumb (make sure the breadcrumbs coat the eggplant as well)
6. Then once pan (on med. heat) and oil are hot (test this by flick a very small amount of water at the pan, it should sizzle really loud when it hits the pan) place the eggplant in the oil and let it brown (takes about 3-5 min on each side)
7. While the eggplant is cooking the noodles should be done, drain those and set aside
8. In the pot where you cooked the noodles now add the tbsp of butter and heat it on med-low until melted
9. Then add the alfredo powder, milk, and water mix and stir until boiling
10. Once the alfredo is boiling add the peas, pepper, garlic, and basil, make sure to stir every few minutes and turn the heat down to the lowest setting and let sit (Stir every few minutes to prevent it burning to the bottom of the pot, it will become thicker the longer it sits)
11. Meanwhile the first eggplant should be done set it aside on a plate with 2-3 paper towels on it to drain some of the oil out of the eggplant
12. Cook the other eggplant slices the same way (can cook 2 slices at a time in a medium pan)
13. Once all the eggplant is fried, take one slice and cut it in half
14. Place a serving of noodles on each plate
15. Top the noodles with the warm alfredo-pea sauce
16. Then place one large eggplant across the pasta
17. Put a dab of cream cheese in the middle of this eggplant and place the 1/2 slice on top of the cream cheese
18. Put another small slice of cream cheese on top of this eggplant slice top with cherry tomato halves over pasta and on top of eggplant
19. Serve and Enjoy!!!