Chicken Stuffing Casserole

This is a good ol' traditional casserole dish. Nothing fancy but really yummy. It warms my belly and makes my heart happy.

Chicken Stuffing Casserole (Recipe from: Sherrel Geilmann)

2-3 Cooked chicken breasts, shredded

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup sour cream

1 cup cooked rice (I usually cook 1/2 cup uncooked rice and it comes out to be about 1 cup)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Topping:

1 pkg. uncooked Stovetop Stuffing

2 T. melted butter

1/2 cup chicken broth

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook chicken breasts in simmering water over medium- medium high heat until cooked through then shred. I use two forks to shred the chicken.
3. Combine chicken, cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, sour cream and rice. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Spread chicken mixture into an 8 x 8 baking dish.
5. Combine stuffing, melted butter and chicken broth.
6. Spread on top of chicken mixture.
7. Bake for 25 minutes or until stuffing is lightly golden brown.

Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches

This is a recipe from Pioneer Woman that I love! She calls it Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich (her husband) but is basically a good ol' steak sandwich. Her original recipe with lots of pictures is HERE. I changed a couple of things when I made it like adding peppers and cheese but its basically the same recipe. We made some fresh cut fries with our deep fryer (I'm slightly ashamed to admit I own one, but I do not regret it!) to eat with our sandwiches.

Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches: (Adapted recipe from Pioneer Woman)

Yield: EASILY feeds 2 adults

1 lb. Cube steak (Round steak that's been extra tenderized; It almost looks like ground beef in the package but its steak)

Lawry's Seasoned Salt

1 Onion, thinly sliced

1 Green pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup or 4 T.)

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

French/Deli rolls

Provolone Cheese

1. Turn oven to broil.
2. Slice onions and peppers and cook in 2 T. butter over medium-medium high heat until onions are soft and light brown. Remove and set aside.
3. Slice cube steak against the grain. Season with Lawry’s.
4. Heat 1 T. butter over medium high heat (in same skillet) until melted. Add meat in single layer. Cook one side until brown, then flip and cook until brown, about a minute on both sides.
5. Add 1/4 cup (at least) Worcestershire sauce and 1 T. butter. Add cooked onions and peppers. Stir to combine.
6. Butter halved French rolls and brown in skillet.
7. To assemble, lay bottom half of French roll on baking pan. Place meat mixture, followed by a spoonful of juice from the pan. Top with provolone cheese and broil in the oven until melted. Then eat it all gone-y!

Cranberry Hooty-whaty?

Over Christmas break my friend Stacie (who is a Kindergarten teacher) got one of those fancy cookie in a jar gifts from one of her students. So she decided to share them with us when we were visiting with them and I couldn't believe how yummy they were! I think that it might have been the first time that I have actually eaten cookies from a jar but I was impressed. I decided I wanted to make some but the recipe online is for how to make the jar version. So, HERE is the recipe if you want to make them into cookie in a jar gifts. Or if you want to make them "fat girl" style like me here is what I did:

Cranberry Hootycreeks

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup plus 2 T. flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup craisins

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I did 1/4 cup white chocolate and 1/4 cup semisweet because I'm not a huge fan of white chocolate which the recipe calls for but they taste pretty good in this recipe; I also think it would be yummy to use those swirly white/semi sweet chocolate chips)

1. Soften butter to room temperature
2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
3. Cream together butter, egg and vanilla until fluffy.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well blended.
5. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges start to brown.
7. Cool on baking sheets or wire racks.

Cranberry Orange Rolls

These are the yummiest rolls ever. My sister in law Elizabeth makes them each Christmas and they make my mouth water just thinking about them. You can make them cinnamon roll style or crescent style.

*Give yourself about 2.5 hours from start to finish*

Cranberry-Orange Rolls (Recipe from Elizabeth Weight)

Rolls
2 tablespoons dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup warm water
1 1/3 cup scalded milk
1/3-1/2 cup shortening
2 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
4-6 cups unsifted bread flour (I usually use about 5)

Filling
¼ cup softened butter
½ cup sugar
Juice of one orange
Zest of one orange
1/3 cup fresh cranberries

Icing2 cups powdered sugar
Juice of one orange
Zest of one orange
Dash of salt

1. To make rolls, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in ½ cup warm water.
2. Scald milk and add shortening to it while hot, then cool the mixture. Once the mixture has cooled, add it and add the remaining ingredients to the yeast mixture.
3.  Mix well until dough develops a slight sheen (dough should be pliable and fairly soft). The dough should form a ball so if you need to add more flour do so in small increments. I use a kitchenaid mixer on speed 4 and knead (using the kneading attachment) the ingredients for about 2 minutes. The dough ball should not be too sticky and should have a slight sheen to it. The dough will still stick to the bottom of the bowl and if you poke it with your finger it will pull apart from the dough but wont totally stick to your finger.  You may have some dough residue on your finger though.  Cover and let dough rise until it doubles.
4. While dough is rising, prepare the filling. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the cranberries are chopped but not pureed.
5. Divide dough in half. Take one half and roll the dough out on a floured surface into a circle and coat the surface with the cranberry filling. Then cut dough into 16 equal sections, like a pie. Roll up each triangular section, starting at the wide ends to make crescents.
6. Place rolls on two generously greased cookie sheets, and cover. Allow to rise until dough looks puffy and light (about 30 min).
7. Bake for 12 minutes at 400 degrees. While they are baking, prepare the icing.
8. Mix together powdered sugar, juice, zest, and a dash of salt. Generously drizzle icing over rolls as soon as they are removed from the oven or just before serving.