Orange Chicken for Dummies

This recipe has less than five ingredients AND is made in the slow cooker.  This was definitely on my to try list.  I have found and tried a lot of recipes from Mandy's Recipe Box and almost all of them have been really tasty!  So when I saw this one I decided to make it on one of our busy Monday weeknights.  My son, who is a really picky eater, ate all of his chicken.  Unfortunately, this was one of those recipes that I thought was just okay.  The catalina dressing was really strong and I think a bit too sweet. Unfortunately, as quick and easy as this was to make, I won't be making this dish again. 

Orange Chicken for Dummies
recipe from Mandy's Recipe Box

Ingredients:
1 envelope (1 oz.) onion soup mix
1 c. apricot preserves
1c. Catalina salad dressing
2-3 lbs Chicken tenders

Directions:
Place all in a slow cooker and stir to coat the chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4-5 hours.

You can also put it in a 9x13 baking dish and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

Serve over rice.

Family Rating: So-so.

Slow Cooker Garlic Ranch Chicken

I'm always on the lookout for new slow cooker recipes.  The slow cooker is a kitchen staple for a busy mom!  Honestly, most of the slow cooker recipes that I've made in the past haven't been that great.  I know that my slow cooker tends to cook things faster than the designated cooking time.  Now that I'm home and can easily check on the doneness of dishes I'm hoping to have less overcooked meals!  This recipe has only 5 ingredients.  Throw it in the slow cooker and let it do its thing.  I ended up cooking some egg noodles, shredding the chicken once it was cooked, and mixing it all together in the sauce as seen below.  I ended up serving it with some steamed veggies.  Easy....definitely.  Taste-wise it was okay.  I won't be making this again....but then again I don't make many recipes twice.  The kids enjoyed it, although my son, like usual, ate more noodles than chicken. 

Slow Cooker Garlic Ranch Chicken
recipe from Cookin' Mimi

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup low sodium and/or low fat
3 cloves, garlic peeled, and lightly smashed
1 packet (approximately 2 Tablespoons) ranch dressing mix
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
1.Place chicken breasts in the bottom of a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker.

2.In a small bowl mix together the cream of chicken soup, garlic cloves, ranch dressing mix, and black pepper.

3.Pour over chicken breasts.

4.Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-4 or until chicken is tender and has reached 165 degrees.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

Nutella & Peanut Butter Crescent Roll

In our house we go through peanut butter like there's no tomorrow.  The kids eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as often as I'll let them.  Many mornings my breakfast is a piece of toast spread with peanut butter.  And my husband will sometimes eat a giant spoonful of the stuff right from the jar.  Now pair peanut butter with some Nutella and we have something amazing going on! I saw this recipe and knew that I had to make it to celebrate my son's first day of preschool.  I spent the past year home preschooling him, if there's such a thing.  Since he's going to Kindergarten next year we knew he needed to go to a local preschool this year to learn and adjust to the structure of a school day.  It's only for 2 1/2 hours each morning though so I get to spend some alone time with my little monkey before the big sister gets off the bus.  To celebrate the finish of his first day of preschool I made this for an after dinner treat.  His first day coincided with my daughter's first day of after school religious education so fortunately, this dessert was super easy to make!  I whipped this up while the kids were finishing their dinner.  And it was so delicious, warm right out of the oven! Unfortunately, my husband didn't realize that it's best served warm, so he was eating the leftovers cold...yuck!  I tried some leftovers the next day heated up in the toaster, but it just doesn't taste the same.....so if you end up eating it all the first day, I totally understand and support you!

Nutella & Peanut Butter Crescent Roll
recipe from Reluctant Entertainer

Ingredients:
2 packages crescent rolls
3/4 cup Nutella
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 T. butter, melted
1/8 cup mixture of cinnamon and sugar

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 375. Spray a cookie sheet.

2.Open and unroll the 2 packages of crescent rolls, making a circular rectangle, end-points pointing toward the outside of the pan. Place 1-2 triangles in the center.

3.Spread the Nutella down the center of the rectangle.

4.Spoon the peanut butter on top.

5.Bringing 2 points across from eachother together, twist and bring to the center. Do this with all pieces.

6.Drizzle melted butter on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

7.Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the dough is fully cooked and slightly golden on top.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up!

Cheesy Ranch Potatoes

The other day I posted the recipe for London Broil with Mustard-Soy Sauce.  We served the steak with broccoli and these potatoes that I put together.  Unfortunately, we had fewer potatoes on hand than we thought we had so this didn't make nearly as much as we would have liked!  I honestly didn't really measure anything....kind of threw the ingredients together and cooked.  But they turned out delicious!  I will definitely have to make these again since I definitely didn't get my fill! Next time I'll just double all of the ingredients (and make sure I have enough potatoes!) to make a larger, more appropriate amount.

Cheesy Ranch Potatoes
Recipe my TheBusyMom (my own recipe)

Yield: Approximately 2 adult servings

Ingredients:
3 small Eastern potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces
1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 packet dry Ranch Dressing mix
handful of Bacos
handful of shredded cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. In a gallon size plastic bag or large bowl mix potato pieces with olive oil.  Then add Ranch Dressing mix making sure potatoes are coated with oil and mix.  Pour potatoes into 1 quart baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Cook uncovered for approximately 25 minutes, mixing half-way.  Check potatoes for doneness.

3.  Once potatoes come out of the oven sprinkle cheese and Bacos on top.  Stir to combine. 

Family Rating:  1 1/2 thumbs up.

Philly Cooking Creme: Creamy Chicken Pot Pie

I don't know if you can even call this recipe semi-homemade!  The Philadelphia Cooking Cremes were on sale at the grocery store recently.  We picked up a couple, since I kept seeing different ads with recipes for using them.  I figured they would come in handy on a busy work night.  Well, since there aren't any more busy work nights for me, I figured I'd use one and make room in the fridge!  The recipe was quick and easy, you just have to leave enough time for it to bake in the oven.  Unfortunately, this isn't the type of recipe that you can pre-make the night before so it's ready for the oven when you get in. 


Right out of the oven. 



Creamy Chicken Pot Pie
http://www.kraftfoods.com/philly/recipes/

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 48 minutes
6 servings

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, green beans, peas), thawed, drained

1 tub (10 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Savory Garlic Cooking Creme

1 ready-to-use refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 14.1-oz. pkg.)

Preparation:

1. Heat oven to 400°F.
2. Cook and stir chicken in large nonstick skillet on medium heat 5 to 6 min. or until chicken is lightly browned. Add vegetables; cook 1 to 2 min. or until heated through. Stir in cooking creme; spoon into 9-inch pie plate.
3. Cover with crust; seal and flute edge. Cut several slits in crust. Place pie plate on baking sheet.
4. Bake 25 to 30 min. or until golden brown.

Family Rating: The kids didn't love it, but they did eat all of what they were given, so that automatically gives it a 1 thumb up!

5-Ingredients: Cannoli French Toast

Breakfast is my kids' favorite meal of the day!  So, they get very excited and I know they will eat all of their dinner when I make Breakfast For Dinner (BFD).  Even better is when there are only a few ingredients! I've had this recipe ripped out waiting to be made for over a year now! I have to say that this recipe was definitely easy to make.  However prepping the bread did take a little time (cutting the crusts off, rolling them out).  Another plus, the ricotta filling was the perfect amount for the 12 slices of bread and there was enough egg (with a little bit left to make a mini bite of scrambled eggs!) to coat all of the bread.  I added some chocolate chips to the ricotta mix.  I only had semi-sweet ones, but mini ones would have worked even better!  This was a hit!

Cannoli French Toast
Every Day With Rachael Ray, October 2010

Ingredients:
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
12 slices sandwich bread

Directions:
1.Sift 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl, then stir in 1 cup ricotta cheese. In a medium bowl, beat together 2 eggs and 1/2 cup milk. Trim the crusts off 12 slices sandwich bread and, using a rolling pin, roll out the bread to flatten. Add 1 tablespoon of the sweetened ricotta to each slice, fold over and pinch the edges together. (The edges will seal during cooking.) In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Working in 3 batches, dip the stuffed bread slices in the egg mixture and transfer to the skillet. Cook, turning once, until puffed and golden, about 3 minutes. Dust with more confectioners’ sugar before serving.



Family Rating:  2 Thumbs Up!!!