Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta

Cheddar. Bacon. Ranch. Chicken. Pasta.
All in one dish? Seriously? This is the definition of comfort food. This recipe makes quite a bit- enough to feed me, 3 men, a hungry 5 year old and still have leftovers!

I think this would be even better with mushrooms!
Original recipe found at Cassie Craves

CHEDDAR BACON RANCH CHICKEN PASTA
Cook Time:
Serves: 6

Ingredients
1 lb. mostaccioli or other short pasta
6 strips of bacon, diced
1 Tbsp. butter
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into bite sized pieces
2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 packet ranch dressing mix
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp. diced green onions
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions
1 Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pot.
2 Meanwhile, cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Drain on paper towels and dice. Drain all but one Tbsp. of bacon drippings from the pan.
3 Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the butter to the reserved bacon drippings, then add the chicken to the same skillet. Cook until tender, no longer pink and slightly browned.
4 Sprinkle the flour and ranch dressing mix over the chicken, stirring to coat evenly. Stir in the milk and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened and bubbly. Stir in the cheddar cheese and half of the diced bacon. Cook and stir until the cheese is melted.
5 Add cooked pasta to the chicken/cheese sauce. Serve with more crumbled bacon and diced onions on top.

French Dip Crescents

If you love traditional french dip sandwiches, you'll love these little French Dip Crescents. Not only are they yummy, they are easy! Get the kiddos involved to help you make them! These would also make a perfect appetizer for a Holiday Party!

FRENCH DIP CRESCENTS
Serves: 2-4
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
Package of refrigerated crescent dough (8 pieces)
1/2 lb. deli roast beef
4 pieces swiss or provolone cheese, sliced
Packet of Au Jus Mix

Directions
1 Unroll and separate crescent dough
2  place a 1/2 slice of cheese and a slice of roast beef on each piece of dough.
3 roll starting at the wide end first.
4 Place on cookie sheet and bake according to directions on crescent dough package. (Approx. 11-13 minutes at 375 degrees)
5 Prepare Au Jus according to directions on packet.

Spicy Dragon Noodles

Prior to making these, I read that they're addicting. Now I know why. I honestly ate 2 servings without a second thought! They are that good! The nice thing about this recipe is that you can adjust the spicy levels from having a little kick to "My insides are on fire"! This recipe is for somewhere in between. Just add or take away a little bit of sriracha to adjust to your liking!

SPICY DRAGON NOODLES
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2-4

Ingredients
2 chicken thighs cut into bite sized chunks
oz. chow mein noodles
2 eggs, scrambled
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
3/4 Tbsp. Sriracha (rooster sauce)
1 handful fresh cilantro
2 green onions, chopped

Directions
1 Spray skillet with non-stick cooking spray and add chicken. Cook until no longer pink and set aside.
2 While chicken is cooking, cook noodles according to package directions. Drain.
3 Melt butter in small pan, add crushed red pepper and eggs. Cook until done.
4 For the sauce, mix together brown sugar, soy sauce and sriracha.
5 Mix chicken, noodles, eggs, sauce and green onions together. Toss until evenly coated with sauce.
6 Serve with fresh cilantro sprinkled on top.

Crockpot Honey Chicken

I'm a fan of crockpot meals. They are among the easiest and most delicous in my book. This is called Honey Chicken. It's similar to teriyaki chicken, so if you like that, you'll love this. It's delicious served over rice or with chow mein.

HONEY CHICKEN
Cook Time: 3 hours
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into large chunks
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup chopped onion or 1/16 cup onion flakes
1/8 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions
1 Put chunks of chicken in crockpot
2 Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over chicken
3 Cook on high for 3 hours

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I love Chicken Cordon Bleu. Chicken, ham and melted swiss cheese all rolled into one bite.. yum! If you've never had it, now is the time to try it. It's really not that hard to make, and you'll have dinner on the table in 20 minutes!

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4-6 pieces thinly sliced chicken breasts (you can purchase them already sliced or do it yourself)
4-6 pieces deli ham
4-6 pieces sliced swiss cheese
Italian bread crumbs (I sometimes use Panko, too)

Directions
1 Lay a piece of chicken on a cutting board. Place a piece of ham on top and then a piece of cheese. If the ham and cheese overlap the chicken, trim accordingly.
2 Roll the chicken, jelly-roll style and secure with a toothpick
3 Roll it in the breadcrumbs.
4 Place on a cookie sheet lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray
5 Spray all of the rolls lightly with cooking spray and Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle

Hummus Chicken Salad

So, Hubby and I are trying an all chicken diet. By all chicken, I mean no other kind of meat. We've also cut out fast food and most carbs at dinner time.It's only the first week, so wish me luck! It's our attempt at eating healthier. But, this also forces me to be more creative at meal time. I threw this together for a quick summer dinner and it was amazing! And it's so versatile. You can use whatever veggies you want to, whatever flavor hummus you want to and you can eat it a hundred different ways: On a sandwich, in a pita, with crackers, as lettuce wraps or on a bed of greens. Did I mention it's also Gluten Free?

Why hummus?
Only 60 calories and 3.5 grams of fat vs. the 180 calories and 20 grams of fat in Mayo.

Total calories of my version below: 275 for the entire thing!

HUMMUS CHICKEN SALAD
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Serves: 1-2

Ingredients
1 (5oz.) can of chicken breast (or diced chicken, leftover rotisserie, etc.)
1/2 roma tomato, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
1/4 avocado, chopped
2 Tbsp. hummus (I used Athenos Original)

Directions
1 Mix ingredients together.
2 Eat.

Slow Cooker Ham & Beans

This is a comfort food. I remember eating this when I was a kid. Simmered on the stovetop and probably made from leftover Easter or Christmas ham. I cheated and made mine in the Slow Cooker and with a ham steak. Still delicious, much easier and yep... comforting! This would be a great dinner on a fall or winter night!

SLOW COOKER HAM & BEANS
Serves: 6-8
Cook Time: 8 hours

Ingredients
1 lb. package dried northern beans
Ham bone, hocks, shanks, or diced ham (approx. 1 lb.)
2 tsp. onion powder
6 cups water
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
1 Rinse and sort the beans for any pebbles.
2 Add all ingredients to slow cooker and cook on low for approx. 8 hours or until beans are tender.
3 Remove ham bone, shanks or hocks and pull off meat. Add meat back to crock pot and mix.

Honey Garlic Pork Chops

I'm not a fan of pork chops- at all. In fact, I've been known to cook them for the hubby and then cook a separate meal for myself. And then I tried these. 4 ingredients. So simple.... and SO YUMMY! Not only did I like them, but I've added the recipe to my faves!
Don't let the photo deter you. It was late and taken with my phone. I only had wafer thin boneless chops on hand, but I recommend a little thicker.

HONEY GARLIC PORK CHOPS
serves: 4-6
cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
1/4+1/8 cup honey (so, 3/8 cup total)
3 Tbsp soy sauce
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 boneless pork loin chops

Directions
1 In a shallow dish, whisk together honey, soy sauce and garlic
2 coat both sides of the pork chops
3 place in baking dish and top with left over sauce
4 Bake at 375 for 30 minutes (longer if using thicker pork chops)

The sauce is so versatile that it can also be used for chicken. Whatever meat you choose can also be marinated in the sauce and then grilled (using left over sauce for basting).

Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

Looking for a new way to cook chicken? How about one that only takes 5 ingredients? Sounds good to me!

This is my first time making this dish and my photos didn't quite turn out like theirs, but the taste is amazing! The brown sugar carmelizes and creates a sweet, garlicky sauce underneath the chicken. Definitely worth a try! And the fact that it only takes 30 minutes and you probably have all 5 ingredients on hand? Bonus!

INGREDIENTS
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
3 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onions

DIRECTIONS
1 Preheat oven to 500 degrees and lightly grease a casserole dish
2 In a small pan, saute the garlic and onion with the olive oil until tender
3 Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar
4 Place chicken breasts in the baking dish and pour brown sugar mixture over the top
5 Add salt and pepper to taste
6 Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes

Hubby likes onions, so we added extra

Easy Taco Casserole

I'm a big fan of trying out new recipes on Pinterest. It's been a process of trial and error. I've found some recipes that I've fallen in love with and some ended up in the trashcan and we ate pizza that night. This is one of the good ones- and perfect for busy nights. It's quick, easy and delicious!

The original recipe can be found on Plain Chicken.

EASY TACO CASSEROLE
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 can Ranch Style Beans (undrained)
1 10-12 ounce bag tortilla chips, crushed ( I didn't use the entire bag)
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes (undrained)
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 package taco seasoning
1 can cream of chicken soup
sour cream and salsa for serving

DIRECTIONS
1 Preheat oven to 325. In a large skillet, brown ground beef and onion and drain.
2 Stir in tomatoes, beans, soup and taco seasoning. Simmer over medium-low heat until everything is well combined and heated through.
3 In a 9x13 casserole dish, put down a layer of crushed tortilla chips, followed by a layer of the meat/bean mixture and a layer of shredded cheese. Repeat layers. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly.
4 Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream and/or salsa, as desired.