Crack Potatoes

The name of these alone would tell you that these are addictively good and they really are. They're similar to your typical funeral potatoes, except with the addition of bacon bits and a dry ranch packet..yum! She suggest making a large batch and splitting it into thirds and freezing the other two which would be a great idea I just wanted to make sure we liked them before I made extras, but next time for sure. Again, another great recipe from plainchicken.com!

Recipe from plainchicken.com

1 large bag frozen shredded hash browns, or 8 large baking potatoes boiled

2 (16oz) containers sour cream (I did half sour cream and half cream of chicken soup)

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

2 (3oz) bags real bacon bits

2 packages Ranch Dip mix

Sun Dried Tomato and Bacon Chicken

Finally a new recipe worth posting! Actually I've made a few desserts that have turned out really good I just either forgot to take pictures or have been too lazy to post..sorry. Hopefully this will make up for it. This is a super easy and quick dish that's full of flavor so don't procrastinate like me and try it!

Recipe found at thegirlwhoateeverything.blogspot.com

2 slices of bacon
4 chicken breast (I used 2 and cut them in half just to speed the cooking time)
1/4 c. sun-dried tomato vinaigrette dressing
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 T fresh basil, or 1 t. dried basil (just realized I totally forgot this)
2 T. parmesan cheese

If you can allow chicken to marinade in some of the vinaigrette dressing for 4-6 hours.

Cook bacon until crisp, remove from pan and drain on paper towel. Add chicken to pan and brown on each side for about 2 minutes on medium heat. Pour dressing and basil over chicken and allow to cook until done, about 5- 8 minutes (try to keep lid on, it'll cook quicker and keep from spitting grease.) Remove chicken and keep warm. Add tomatoes to remaining dressing and cook until warmed and slightly cooked. Stir in bacon and serve over chicken. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Best Baked Beans Ever

So this is another Pioneer Woman recipe. I don't know what took me so long to discover her website, probably because the first time I looked at it it seemed like more of a gourmet cooking blog which is so not my style so I never looked again.. until recently! I would see it all the time on other people's blogs and read a few of her posts, which are really fun to read she's an amazing writer, until finally I decided to look through her recipes again and thank goodness I did. She has some of the best recipes, and this is one of them! Also FYI I tried those individual scalloped potatoes again but in a 9x13 casserole dish and bacon instead of ham and YUMMM! If you like potato skins or anything like that you'll love them, seriously don't wait they are delicious!! Anyways back to the baked beans..these take some time to cook, but they throw together pretty easily. I'm getting ready for barbecue weather..I know we've got awhile, but I'm dreaming of warm weather and vacations:) Anyway I cut the recipe in half which was more than enough for us for dinner and lunch the next day. Enjoy!




8 slices thick bacon, halved

1 medium onion, cut into small dice

1/2 medium green pepper, cut into small dice

3 large cans (28 ounces each) pork and beans

3/4 cup barbecue sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup distilled or cider vinegar

2 teaspoons dry mustard or 2 tablespoons Dijon

Preheat oven to 325 and lower rack to the lower middle. In a large skillet fry up bacon just long enough to render up the grease, do not brown at all your pretty much heating it just long enough for it to start getting the grease off. Remove bacon and saute your onion and green pepper in bacon grease until tender. Add beans and remaining ingredients and heat until simmering. Pour into greased 9x13 pan and place bacon on top. Place in oven uncovered for about 2 hours until all the juices are soaked up (yes I realize this is a long time and may not be something everyone is willing to try, but like I said maybe for a barbecue where you only have to bring one thing:)

Bacon and Bowties AND Easy Italian Pasta

Today is going to be a two for one, two recipes in one day. Both recipes are super easy and flavorful pasta dishes. I like both of these because they have very few ingredients but are still full of flavor and cook up really quick. Both of these recipes are from my Pillsbury Cook Off cook books which are full of fun recipes like these two. I only have pictures for the Bacon and Bowties because it's the only one I've made recently, to be honest its been a long time since I've made the Easy Italian Pasta because it has whipping cream and I try not to use milk products as much as possible because of my allergies. Well I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we do!

Bacon and Bowties
5-6 strips of bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion minced
2 14.5 cans of diced Italian style tomatoes or tomatoes with onion and garlic
2 1/2 chicken broth-I just use bouillon
1/8 t. pepper
about 8-10 oz. bowtie pasta- I'm awful about measuring, but I used a little more than 1/2 of a 14 oz. pkg, also I tried using enriched pasta as I couldn't find whole wheat bow ties, but next time I'll def. use regular bowties because the texture of the enriched ones was kind of weird and not tender.

this is how the bacon should look before adding onions

Cook bacon on medium high heat until browned well, I like it fairly browned because after cooking in the pasta it doesn't stay crisp. Lower heat to medium and add onions and cook until tender, 2-3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and return heat to high until boiling, once boiling turn back to medium heat and allow to simmer about 15 minutes, I like my pasta pretty tender so just cook until the pasta is cooked to your liking.

And

Easy Italian Pasta
8 oz. cooked cavatappi -tubular, corkscrew looking pasta, or any favorite pasta
1/2 lb. bulk spicy Italian pasta-I use Jimmy Dean, I use to think I was not a sausage person because I didn't like breakfast sausage or like link sausage, but this is much better, so give it a try if you haven't already.
6-7 Roma tomatoes- Romas work best because they hold their shape and you don't get as much as the runny seedy part, but regular tomatoes would work ok if that's all you have
1 c. whipping cream
2 oz. shredded fresh parmesan

Brown sausage over medium heat until completely browned. Drain off grease. Add tomatoes, cream, and cooked cavatappi. Cook until completely heated through, without bringing to a boil. Sprinkle with cheese!