Appetizers for Parties!

With the holidays and football going on around here, I have been preparing many appetizers.  Here are a couple of our favorites:

Artichoke Bread

1/3 cup butter
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
4 ounces shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup sour cream
1 French bread loaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the artichoke hearts, Mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and sour cream. Stir to blend. Remove from the heat and cool. Slice the bread lengthwise and scoop out some of the center. Spoon the artichoke mixture evenly into the bread shell and sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. Place each half on a baking sheet and cover lightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 5 to 8 minutes or until the cheese melts completely. Cut into slices and serve warm.

Stuffed Jalapeños

15 Jalapeños

1 large block cream cheese

15 slices Bacon  (cut slices in half to make 30)

Slice peppers in half the long way and remove seeds.   Spread cream cheese on jalapenos.  Wrap in bacon.   Cook on cookie sheet for 20-30 minutes at 350.

Sausage Wonton Stars

1 pkg. wonton wrappers

1 pound pork sausage

2 cups shredded Colby cheese

½ medium green pepper, chopped

½ medium sweet red pepper, chopped

2 bunches green onions, sliced

½ cup ranch salad dressing

Lightly press wonton wrappers onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased miniature muffin cups.  Bake at 350 for 5 minutes or until edges are browned.  In a skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no long pink; drain.  Stir in the cheese, peppers, onions, and salad dressing.  Spoon a rounded tablespoonful into each wonton cup.  Bake for 6-7 minutes or until heated through. 

Makes about 4 dozen.

 

Easy Cheesy Chicken Bake

Well, it is only January 2nd and I have already had to change up my meal planning.  Today should have been a slow cooker day, however, slow cooker meals can not be prepared and cooked in an hour...  And being that I have not been to the grocery store; I resorted to looking on the back of a Stove Top Stuffing box and praying I had what it took to make one of their meals.  So much for Theme Nights!  I will get back on track tomorrow...

Easy Cheesy Chicken Bake

1 pkg stuffing mix for Chicken
1-1/2 lb boneless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1 pkg (14oz) broccoli florets, thawed, drained
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400.
Prepare stuffing as directed on package.
Combine chicken and broccoli in 13x9 inch baking dish.  Stir in soup, milk, and cheese; top with stuffing.
Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is done and casserole is heated through. 

This was quick, easy, and everyone liked it!
This probably could turn into a slow cooker meal, but it worked well this way and was very easy to prepare!

Theme Nights

I don't know about you, but December always seems to be a difficult month to stay at home and eat.  Which really should be a  month we try not to eat out...  However, with the hustle and bustle and all that comes with holiday preparation, it seems to be the easiest and less stressful way to go. 
So starting January, we are going to get back on track!  I am doing Theme Nights for the week nights.  Meaning:

Monday: Italian
Tuesday: Mexican
Wednesday: Slow Cooker
Thursday: Soups
Friday: Comfort Foods
Saturday and Sunday: We are are going to just go with whatever sounds good...

Hopefully this will get us back on a routine and back to eating at home!    I have done this in the past and it seems to work really well with my winter meal planning.
I am not one to plan exactly what we will eat each night; I plan for the month, so in doing this, I will technically have four Italian, Mexican, ect.  meals to choose from at the beginning of the month... and so forth...

Back on track!

Okay, so when I started this blog, I thought I would keep up with it daily...  Well, that isn't happening obviously...  So starting the beginning of the year I plan to post three times a week.  I really enjoy sharing recipes and ideas and I hope you are enjoying them too!  Now that my mom has shared this blog with everyone on her Christmas list, it has given me extra motivation to keep it up!  :)  So here is to a New Year of healthier, quick and easy recipes!

Baked Potato Soup

Baked Potato Soup

6 large potatoes, peeled and cut up                        1 med. Onion, chopped

3 cans chicken broth                                                       ¼ c butter

2 ½ t salt                                                                              1 ¼ t pepper

Put first 6 ingredients in crock pot and cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hours. 

Mash potatoes and add:

1 c heavy whipping cream                                           1 c shredded cheese

Serve!

This is my favorite soup recipe!  It takes a little longer than the other one I posted before but well worth it! 
My little helper likes to help cut up the potatoes!
HyVee sells great bread bowls!

Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 box Chicken-flavor Rice-A-Roni (6 Ounce Box) ( use lower sodium)
• 1 can Cream Of Mushroom Soup (10 Ounce Can)  (you can use healthy request)
• 1 container Sour Cream, Low-fat (8 Ounce Size)
• 1 whole Rotisserie Chicken (I just used 2-3 cooked chicken breast)
• 1 container Durkee French-fried Onions (6 Ounce Can)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare Rice-A-Roni according to package directions. While that is cooking, shred/cut up the chicken removing meat from bones if using Rotisserie.
When Rice-A-Roni is done, add the can of soup and the sour cream, and stir to combine. Add the chicken and mix together. Spread mixture into a sprayed baking dish (I use a 9-by-13-inch pan, but you can use what you like for how thick you want it to be) and bake, uncovered, at 350 F for 40 minutes.
Remove from oven, cover with the french-friend onions and bake for 5 more minutes.

Not one of my most healtiest meals, but a good one...

Pic 2- My kids do not care for the fried onions, so I left theirs plain...

Baked Penne

Baked Penne

½ lb extra-lean ground beef or Italian sausage

½ cup chopped onions

½ cup green peppers (omit if you wish)

1 jar (24oz) spaghetti sauce

1 tub Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb cooking cream, divided

1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese divided

3 cups cooked penne pasta

Heat oven to 350

Brown Meat with vegetables in large nonstick skillet.  Stir in spaghetti sauce, ¾ cup cooking crème, and ½ cup mozzarella; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until mozzarella is melted.  Add pasta, mix lightly.  Spoon into 2qt casserole dish; top with remaining cooking crème and mozzarella.  Cover.  Bake 20 minutes or until heated through.  Uncover after 15 minutes.

We had this with green beans and garlic bread.  This recipe is very easy and the kids like it.