WITH BACON, thank you very much!
Today turned out to be a pretty good day, all things considered. Even though I had to stay home from work with a sick kiddo, I was still able to do laundry, clean a little, get some work done--shh!!-- and put together a pretty good meal. The weather even cooperated by cooling down so that soup was the perfect dinner. And the kicker of it all: the hubs liked it!
Why is that the kicker, you ask? Because he claims to hate soup. And I made this with full knowledge of his claim, without any doubt that he'd eat it. How? See the opening line of this blog. Also, his two favorite foods after bacon are the two most prominent ingredients in this soup. No brainer.
So if you're going for quick and easy prep on a cold day, this is for you. (It's in no way low-fat, though.) The recipe seems to call for pre-cooked bacon. But I made bacon while the soup was thickening and crumbled it myself. That was pretty much the most complicated part of this process. The one thing I forgot was the green onion garnish. (That ticked me off, too, because I love me some cebollas verdes!) Oh well!
Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Soup
1 bag (32 oz) frozen southern-style diced hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/2 cup frozen chopped onion (from 12-oz bag), thawed
1 medium stalk celery, diced (1/2 cup)
1 carton (32-oz) Progresso® chicken broth
1 cup water
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 bag (8 oz) shredded American-Cheddar cheese blend (2 cups)
1/4 cup crumbled bacon
4 medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)
In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix potatoes, onion, celery, broth and water. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 6 to 8 hours.
In small bowl, mix flour into milk; stir into potato mixture. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook 20 to 30 minutes or until mixture thickens. Stir in cheese until melted. Garnish individual servings with bacon and green onions. Sprinkle with pepper if desired.
I just got DOWN with some chicken Parm! Woo! I'm all lit up now!
So, here's what happened: I had a craving. When I asked the hubs what he wanted for dinner and he had no opinion, I decided to indulge my craving. Now, chicken Parmesan isn't normally a dish I crave. It can be super yummy--as can eggplant Parmesan--but it isn't necessarily high on my list of favorite foods. But ever since I watched my FAVORITE Italian and Top Chef, Fabio Viviani, make it on his web show Chow Ciao, I've been wondering how simple it really is.
Well, it really is easy. But I didn't use Fabio's recipe. I was too impatient to watch the whole video again. So I used THIS. (And now that I'm watching the video now, I regret my decision and will henceforth use Fabio's recipe; although, I may still used a jarred sauce. We'll see.) Good news is, this "easy" baked version was delicious. The boys devoured it.
Bad news is, no photos. I'm sure you know what it looks like, though, right? Mine looked like that. (Except that I didn't get the chicken breasts as flat as I wanted. And I slammed those suckers!) Oh! I only used 2 chicken breasts so not a whole jar of sauce, and I used panko bread crumbs that I seasoned myself (with salt, fresh ground pepper and Italian Herbs).
OH YEAH!
Easy Chicken Parm
- 4 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 slices mozzarella cheese, or more
- 1 jar (16 oz) spaghetti sauce
- Parmesan cheese
Whisk together the egg and milk.
Dip the chicken breasts in milk and egg mixture and then in bread crumbs.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Brown the chicken in the hot oil on both sides until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Set chicken in a baking dish.
Slice 8 pieces of mozzarella cheese and put two on each chicken breast.
Pour 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce over all. Sprinkle with
Parmesan cheese and a little more mozzarella and bake at 350° for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly.
I think it's about time I remember that I actually have a camera with which to photograph my dishes. Instead, I use the closest thing to me, which is always my phone. Bah. Maybe I iPhone 5 will snap better photos. (Did I mention that I'm making the switch to iPhone tomorrow? But I digress.)
This munchie recipe is a little processed but super easy and fast. And I used reduced fat cheese and rolls. Took me 10 minutes to prep and 13 minutes to bake. And actually I think I consumed 3 in about 5 minutes. So. Good. Excellent football food, I might add!
Crescent Jalapeño Poppers
1 can crescent rolls
8 jalapeños
4 slices pre-cooked bacon, sliced in half
Cream cheese
Heat oven to 375°F. Carefully remove stems from chiles; cut each in half lengthwise and again horizontally to make 4 pieces. Remove and discard seeds. Spoon about 1 teaspoon cheese into each chile quarter. Wrap half slice of bacon around each.
On cutting board, unroll dough; separate dough into 8 triangles. From center of longest side to opposite point, cut each triangle in half, making 16 triangles. Place chile, cheese side down, on dough triangle. Fold 1 point of triangle over filling; fold 2 remaining points over first point. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
