Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken Tenders

Wow so I've been a real slacker with this blog lately. Between getting my house in order for the arrival of a new one, and just the lack of energy to care I haven't really posted much. I've made several good things, but by the time they're done I'm too lazy to take a picture, but this chicken was so good I had to post, that and it was my own creation and I'm pretty proud of it:) Seriously though, like I've mentioned before there aren't many meals I make more than once, but this one will definitely be made again and soon. Anyways hope you get the chance to give it a try!


2 chicken breasts cut into strips, or 6-7 chicken tenders
2 c. crushed pretzels
1/2 T. dried parsley
2/3 c. honey mustard dressing or dipping sauce


In a shallow dish combine pretzels and parsley. Pour your honey mustard into another shallow dish. Pat your chicken dry, and then dip in honey mustard and then coat with pretzel mixture
( I find it easiest to lay the chicken in pretzel mixture and with my hands sprinkle the pretzels on top, if that makes sense.) Place on baking sheet and cook at 400 for 12-20 minutes depending on the size of chicken pieces you use. If you make them too big the pretzels will start to burn so be careful, I was able to cut my chicken breasts into 3-4 pieces and cooked it for about 17-18 minutes. Serve with extra honey mustard to dip, yum!

If you want another recipe to use up your pretzels try this salad, it is probably one of my favorites!

Pineapple Watermelon Slushie

Ok so I originally got the idea for this slushie while browsing other blogs and saw one that used frozen watermelon and banana which I'm sure is delicious and I'll probably try soon, but I just happen to have an open can of pineapple that needed to be used and I had already cut up and froze the left over watermelon I had from a few days ago. To be honest I'm not a huge watermelon fan. I love watermelon flavored candy, but there's something about the watery texture that doesn't do much for me. Anyway for some reason since being pregnant I've enjoyed it a little more and Frank and Parker love it so I thought I'd buy one, and unfortunately it wasn't that great:( so I cut up the remaining half and stuck it in the freezer to try a watermelon slushie, and thank goodness I did because it was delicious!! Anyway if your looking for a cold sweet treat or need something to do with a leftover watermelon you definitely have to try this!


watermelon, cut into chunks and frozen
canned pineapple and juice

I don't really have measurements but for a single serving I put about a cup of frozen watermelon and just added pineapple and juice until I got the texture I wanted. I have some coconuts milk that I need to use up and definitely want to try adding a little because I think it would be delicious. I'm really excited to try some different fruits like banana..mmm

Pineapple Glazed Meatballs

This is a super easy throw together kind of meal. You can do it in a skillet of throw it in the crock pot for a couple hours, either way it's super easy and super tasty. Hope you enjoy!

Recipe found at Realmomkitchen.com

1 c. barbecue sauce
1 c. crushed pineapple
16 oz. frozen meatballs (or make your own)

Combine everything in a skillet and simmer for about 10 minutes or until warmed through or in the crock pot on low for 3-4 hours or high for 2-3. Serve over rice.

Grilled Pork Chops

Typically I don't really care for pork chops, but seeing as we have been given a ton of pork I guess I better find some recipes to use it up. The reason why I liked these pork chops is that they tasted like steak and all considering for a pork chops were really tender. If you don't have Montreal Steak seasoning you can use this one, although I highly suggest just buying it because it's great on hamburgers and steak, we buy it in the big Costco size containers which shows you how much we use it:) Anyway if your looking for a recipe for pork chops, or a cheap fix for steak this is your recipe!

Recipe found at Melskitchencafe.com

4 pork chop tenderloins- I used just regular bone-in pork chops just because that's what we had, but tenderloin would be much more tender, but either way is very good.
1/4 c. olive oil
2 1/2 T. soy sauce
1 t. Montreal Steak Seasoning

Combine everything in a ziploc bag and allow to marinade 6-8 hours up to over night. Grill until no longer pink but be careful as pork chops can dry out.

Grandma Bailey's Zucchini Casserole

This comes from a new favorite blog of mine called cookingwithkrista.blogspot.com. She's got a lot of fun recipes and so far so good. I don't have a picture for this one as it wasn't the prettiest casserole and I didn't put cheese on mine and therefor looked very different from hers so I just didn't think it benefited to have a picture. Anyway don't let that deter you from trying this because it was really good. Parker gobbled his up, zucchini and all, and Frank even commented that it was good which doesn't happen too often. If you have picky eaters she recommended peeling the zucchini first, but I figured that probably took most of the healthiness out of it and for my family they're going to like or dislike it no matter what color it is, but it probably works better for older kids. Anyway with all that said if you have some extra zucchini this summer this is a great casserole to try as well as this chicken zucchini casserole.

1 lb ground beef
1 onion chopped
salt, pepper, and garlic to taste (you can tell this is a grandma's recipe as there's not a lot of measuring:)
2 zucchini, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped you can also use a can of tomatoes
16 oz sour cream or I used 2 cans cream of mushroom but a combination of both would probably be great
box of croutons (I used Marie Calendar's butter garlic)
cheddar cheese to top casserole

Cook ground beef and onion until no more pink. Drain grease. Add zucchini and tomatoes and bring to boil (because I used fresh tomatoes there wasn't much liquid to boil so I added just a tiny bit of water, not even a 1/4 c. you may want to cook longer if using canned tomatoes just cook out some of the liquid) Reduce heat and cover and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile spread croutons evenly in a greased 9x13 pan. After 10 minutes stir in sour cream or cream of mushroom and pour over croutons. Top with cheese and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

This makes a good size casserole and doesn't really taste as good the next day, so I suggest if you have a smaller family to either cut it in half or she said she even freezes the other half, just cover with plastic wrap and then tin foil.

Blueberry Struessel Muffins with Lemon Glaze

These are super yummy, and very little extra effort to turn into something more than just your regular muffin. I usually use frozen blueberries, but since you can find them at the store right now I used fresh and it made a huge difference, so yummy! Parker must have even enjoyed them because he took a bite out of half of them, little stink! I switched out some of the flour for whole wheat flour and did half brown and half regular sugar (long story of why, but I was trying to heatlhy them up a little and keep them still yummy:) Anyway either way you decide to make them, these are delicious!


1 3/4 cups fresh blueberries
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I did 1 c. white and 2 c. wheat)
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter
--chilled and cut in 1/2" cubes
2 large eggs -- beaten
1 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
---For The Glaze---
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place rack in middle of oven. Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder in large mixing bowl. With pastry cutter or hands mix in butter until it resembles a course meal. Remove 1 c. for struessel topping. At this point I actually added my blueberries into the flour so the blueberries wouldn't dye the whole batter purple, if you don't care then just add the milk and eggs and stir in blueberries and zest. Do not over mix. If you make it like I did, I mixed the milk and eggs in another bowl then added it to the flour along with the zest, again don't over mix. The batter will be slightly lumpy but that's ok. Grease muffin tin and fill each one 2/3 of the way full. Take your reserved flour mixture and add 2 T. melted butter making struessel. Top each muffin with about a teaspoon full. Bake for 20 minutes. In the meantime combine powdered sugar and lemon juice to make glaze. When muffins are done allow to slightly cool and remove from pan and drizzle glaze over muffins.

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!