Sick again

Okay, I promised a couple giveaways this weekend. But I’m sick again with that nasty cough/flu going around. So please be patient with me, I promise I will resume to normal blogging and reviews in the next couple of days. I will try to get some new posts up by tomorrow evening. I will also try to get my blog roll going so you can check out the awesome blogs I follow and lovely ladies I love!
I’m just trying to take it easy, as I do not want to get as sick as I was last time with this awfulness of a cough. Finley is starting to get sick as well and has a horrible runny nose. It’s lots of tea and maybe some chicken noodle soup for us. Or this…Yum! Pioneer woman and tasty kitchen never fail me.

Enjoy your day while I try to recover with mine!

PW’s Ranch Style Chicken {Recipe}

Since Aaron is no longer working swing shift, he is gone during the day and home for dinners. So I have been looking for more recipes so I can actually cook full meals. No more half meals or easy things for Aaron to throw in the microwave.
I love Pioneer Women, I adore her, she really is awesome sauce. If you don’t know who she is or haven’t tried any of her recipes please do, you will be thrilled you did. Every recipe I have made of hers has turned out amazing, and has been very easy to make. Friday night I made her Ranch style chicken with baked potatos. It was amazing! Chicken, Bacon, Cheese! What more could you ask for? Total YUM!
Here is the recipe. PW has a step by step with photos if you need them!
Ingredients
½ cups Dijon Mustard
½ cups Honey
½ whole (juice Of) Lemon
½ teaspoons Paprika
½ teaspoons Salt
Crushed Red Pepper (optional To Taste)
6 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 pound Thick Cut Bacon
Bacon Grease
Sharp Cheddar Cheese, to taste
Canola Oil
Preparation Instructions
To begin, make the marinade. In a large bowl mix together ½ cup Dijon or country/grainy mustard with ½ cup honey, juice of ½ lemon, ½ teaspoon paprika, and ½ teaspoon salt and whisk until smooth. Sprinkle in some crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne if you like things a little spicy. Set aside.

Next, rinse the chicken breasts, place between two sheets of waxed paper and pound to around ½ to ¾ inch thick with a mallet. Next, add the chicken to the bowl with the marinade, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 hours.

While the chicken marinates, fry up some bacon. When finished cooking, reserve ¼ cup of the bacon grease and clean out the skillet.

When the chicken is done marinating, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the chicken from the fridge and pour off excess marinade. Heat half of the reserved bacon grease with an equal quantity of Canola Oil in the clean skillet over medium-high heat. When the grease is nice and hot add two or three pieces of chicken to it. Cook until brownish/blackish, about 1 to 1 ½ minutes per side. Remove chicken to a large baking sheet. If cooking many pieces of chicken, repeat skillet process and remove finished chicken to baking sheet. Place chicken in preheated oven and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove from over.

Lay a few pieces of bacon over each chicken breast. Sprinkle shredded sharp cheddar cheese over the top of the chicken as generously as you like. Return pan to oven for an additional five minutes until cheese is melted and bacon is sizzling. Serve immediately.

Christmas Advent Paper Cones

I was browsing my list of blogs that I follow and I came across this fun idea on eighteen25. I love this blog, there is always something fun and crafty featured almost daily. A few days ago they posted the Advent cone craft. I fell in love and knew I wanted to make these apart of my Christmas decor. I also knew Finley would enjoy helping and would enjoy finding the cone for each day and discovering a little treat underneath. I’m thinking Reeses or a sticker would be a fun treat for under them. Here is the how to.
Finley, My mom and I all sat down one night in bed and got our scrapbooking paper and supplies out and went to work. We had a lot of fun. We added a lot more detail and embelishments to ours.

I love the way they turned out. Super fun and super easy! Happy Holidays, have fun crafting. I will be making these beauties this weekend. I can’t wait.

Spaghetti Stuffed Rolls and Pasta {Recipe}

I didn’t know what to make for dinner the other night, I had hambuger out and a package of pilsbury bisquits. (Which I never buy, and not sure why I even had them) So I decided to try something new. Stuff the Bisquits with Spaghetti sauce and serve with noodles,butter and parm. It was a hit, and super easy. But I do think next time I will make my homemade dough. When I cook I don’t measure, I just cook to taste and add what I need here and there. So I will just list what you will need and how to put them together.

Ground hambuger
Chopped Onion
Mushrooms
Sliced Olives
Can of Tomatoe sauce
Can of diced Tomatoes
Itailian Seasoning
Beef Broth- I use an Au Jus pack and about 1/4 cup of water
Salt and pepper
Parm Cheese
Bisquits
Spaghetti Noodles

I throw the first four items in a pan with Olive oil and cook until meat is done. Then add the rest and let simmer for about 20 mins.

Spray a cookie sheet with Pam, then open your bisquits and stretch them out on your pan. Put about a Tbls of sauce and a pinch of cheese in the middle. Then bring all the dough together into the middle and Flip bun over.

Bake @ 425 for about 15-20 min or until they are golden brown on top. In the meantime Boil your water and throw in your noodles, drain, add butter and parm.

And there ya go, an easy yummy meal that the kiddos love and you will too!!

Banana Whoopie Pies

I saw a recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies and decided I was going to try them this weekend. But when I went to take something out for dinner the other night I saw the massive amount of Bananas just piling up in my freeze. I instead decided that Banana whoopie pies may be the way to go. So I googled and found this recipe, and let me tell you…YUM! I did change it up a bit and added a few things to my filling, and also used an Icecream scoop for the batter instead of piping it on my parchment paper. It worked much better, and was way less messy. Enjoy.

For the batter

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup sour cream
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the filling

16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Maple Syrup (as much as you want to get the maple flavor desired)
1 tsp Cinnimon
1/4 cup of Cream

To prepare the batter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a small bowl, stir together banana and sour cream.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until light and creamy. Add egg and beat until combined. Mix in vanilla. Alternately mix flour and banana mixture into the creamed butter, beginning and ending with flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Scoop the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4″ round tip. (This is where I used the icecream scoop instead)

Pipe batter into 1 1/4″ rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Place into the oven and bake until the edges are a light golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and transfer sheet of parchment to a wire rack and allow the soft cakes to cool completely.

To prepare the filling

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, cream and maple syrup and cinnimon until smooth. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, mixing until smooth and creamy.. On the flat side of half the cakes, spoon about one tablespoon worth of the filling on top. Top with the unfilled halves to form a sandwich. Put in fridge before serving.