Chick-fil-a Nuggets

These are my own twist of chick-fil-a chicken nuggets. We have a chick-fil-a within a ten mile radius but we tend to like and try to save money around our house. I searched online over and over and tried to find the perfect copy cat of their nuggets. We tried different recipes and nothing really satisfied our taste buds. So we decided to just come up with our own version. I want you to know in advance that these don't taste just like their nuggets, however they have satisfied our constant want and need for the real deal. I usually double or triple the recipe and freeze the extra, and my daughter and I eat them for lunch, or we will pull them out for dinner again. We love them, and hope you will too!

Chick-fil-a Nuggets (My style):

Yield: 4 Servings

You will need: 

• 2 Large Ziplock bags
• Kitchen Scissors
• Medium bowl
• Thongs/slotted spoon
• Oil for frying

Ingredients: 

• 4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup Pickle Juice
• 1 egg & 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 2 Tbsp powder sugar
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp accent
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried basil

Cut your chicken into your preferred size of nuggets, I usually cut them to be about one inch by one inch. Pour your pickle juice into a ziplock bag and place your chicken in the bag. Set aside. Take your  medium bowl and whisk your egg, egg white, and milk together. Set aside. Take your other ziplock bag and put all of the dry ingredients in and shake it until it's all combined. Take the bag that has the chicken and pickle juice and pull all of the chicken out and place it in the bowl with the egg and milk mixture, coat well. With either your thongs or slotted spoon move all of the chicken to the flour bag. Mix well until the chicken has a good coating of flour on it. Take your large skillet and pour oil into it. Turn your heat to medium-high. Allow oil to get hot. To check and make sure your oil is ready drop a very small amount of water into it. It will pop, so be very careful!! Once it's ready place some chicken in and cook well. I never time how long, I just cook it until it looks right, but Cook on one side for about 1-2 minutes about 3-4 minutes total per piece of chicken. Outside will be a golden brown. Dip or Dunk in whatever your favorite sauce is and it's delicious! 

On a side note.. to prevent burning your hand while cooking the chicken, I always wear a hot pad especially when placing chicken in and turning chicken over. 

Chicken, bacon and mushroom tetrazzini

Who doesn't love bacon? Anyone out there?? Didn't think so.. This is an extremely simple meal filled with yummy flavor and is really easy to make, and you can always double up on it and freeze the other to make it even more simple for another day! It also make delicious leftovers! My daughter insisted on using her plate.. So I threw a little extra an and here you go!

Chicken, bacon and mushroom tetrazzini
Yield: 8 Servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chicken (about four chicken breasts depending on size)
• 5 tbs butter, divided. (2 tbs, 3 tbs)
• 1 can mushrooms
• 1/2 - 1 cup bacon (we like bacon so we tend to add more) 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 heaping tbs flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp accent
• dash of salt
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 8 oz your favorite noodle (I use penne)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook your noodles according to their package directions. In large skillet melt 3 tbs butter put in garlic, mushrooms and brown. Toss in chicken and bacon to coat, set aside. In medium saucepan melt 2 tbs butter on medium high heat, then whisk in flour. Slowly add chicken broth. Once you have added all of the chicken broth bring to a simmer, and cook stiring occasionally for 2 minutes. Add heavy cream, bring back to a simmer and turn heat down to medium-low, and continue to cook for another 8-10 minutes (string often) to allow the sauce to thicken. Add seasoning. Place your noodles in a 9 X 13 pan, place chicken mixture evenly on top, and pour sauce over. Top with parmesan cheese and place in oven for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly browned. Enjoy!!

Pizza pizza pizza!

In my family we love pizza. I do have to admit we are a bit on the spoiled side when it comes to pizza, we either home make it or get it from papa murphys and some times papa johns if we need to be quicker. This is an extremely easy dough recipe that I love and it doesn't stop at just pizza, I use it for a lot of things! It has just a perfect amount of sweet to it and only calls for six ingredients! I grew up with a Bosch and absolutely love Bosch, however my husband and I got a kitchen aid when we got married and lived in the smallest apartment and storing the kitchen aid was easier, I do all of my mixing with a kitchen aid whisk and dough hook. You can also mix this by hand which I do on occasion when I don't want the mess of the mixer. No do tend to usually opt for the mixer where I have two littles who seem to want to be attached at my hips while I'm making anything.

Extremely easy pizza dough:
Time: 45 minutes
Yeild: 6-8 Pizza's or one large pizza

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 tsp yeast. (I use fleichmann's instant)*

• 1 cup water, split into 1/4 cup and 3/4 cup

• 1-2 tsp honey**

• 3 cups flour

• 1 tsp oil (keep oil out, you will use a little more)

• 1 tsp salt

In a bowl combine yeast, 1/4 cup water and honey. Let sit for about five minutes until it gets poofy. Add remaining water (3/4 cup), oil and 1 cup of flour, whisk together until smooth. Once smooth if using a mixer change to your dough hook and add remaining flour and salt, once dough forms knead for 2-3 minutes. Pull dough out and pour a little oil on the bottom of the bowl and roll dough in it, place dough to the side. (On a side note I like to cover my dough with a  hot wet towel or hot wet paper towels, I feel like it helps it rise better.) let stand for 30 minutes. After dough has had time to rise pull it out and divide it into 6-8 equal parts. ( I say 6-8 because it depends on how you like the thickness of your pizza. We tend to like it thinner so I divide it into 8. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Let dough rest another ten minutes. Clear a space on your counter and pour out some oil, take a paper towel and spread it out. This is so the dough won't stick to your counter. You can use flour if that is your prefered method, however I feel the dough seems to be less doughy on the bottom if you use oi. Roll out dough and top with your favorite toppings. Bake for 9-12 minutes, and Enjoy!

*Yeast: 2 1/4 tsp is eqivalent to 1 packet if you use packets.

**Honey: with pizza dough I only use 1 tsp of honey, if we ever make dessert pizzas I add 2 tsp of honey because I like the extra sweet. 

You can do one large pizza however in my family we like different toppings, do we do it individual. We so will turn this into calzones too by only building your pizza on half the dough and fold the remaining dough over and pinch the sides together.

Cinnamon pizza: 

Ingredients:

• Dough from recipe above
• Stick of butter at room temperature
• Cinnamon/Sugar mixture to your liking
• Oats (optional)

Take the dough and rub your butter on it until you have the desired amount, sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mix over, and top with oats. Its a spin off of papa murphy's cinnamon wheel. Enjoy!

Southwest Hamburger Taquitos

I am not a fan of egg rolls, never have been, never thought I would be. About a year ago we went to a friends house and she made some southwest egg rolls that I have been drooling over since. I didn't have the recipe and I couldn't find one online that looked like it matched hers. The other day I wanted to make some, so I did what I do best and started searching online, I googled, looked up pintrest, and just couldn't find anything that sounded as good as hers. Most of the recipes called for chicken and I had chicken, but it was frozen, and I hate that frozen chicken usually ends up being tough so I resorted to just making something up. We had hamburger so I decided we would make taquitos instead. Then I got this bright idea to add some of the southwest flare to them. My family loved them!  It has been added to the "make again" list. These are quick and easy, and make great leftovers too.

Southwest Hamburger Taquitos:

Time: 30 minutes. Prep: 15 minutes. Cook: 10-15 minutes.

Yield: 4-5 Servings

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Hamburger
• 1 cup frozen corn 
• 1 can Black beans
• 1 Tbs Taco Seasoning*
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup onion minced**
• 1 Jalapeño (seeded for less heat)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups cheese
• 1 tsp Accent
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 8-10 taco shells

In a large skillet cook hamburger meat, once meat is mostly cooked add in onions, corn, beans, jalapeño, taco seasoning, accent, and pepper. once everything is cooked and warm add the cheese. Once the cheese has melted completely set aside. Turn your oven onto 350 degrees. 

Now take your taco shells and layer them between paper towels and microwave for 30 seconds, then flip the entire stack over and microwave another 30 seconds. This will steam the shells just enough to allow for folding without breaking or tearing the shell. Once you have your shells steamed scoop your hamburger mixture into the shells. I like to stuff ours fairly full so there isn't too much shell to the mixture. Wrap shells and place on cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. Watch them closely so you do not burn them. Where the hamburger is all cooked you are really just cooking these in the oven to have them become crisp. Once slightly golden they are done. Serve with ranch, sour cream, salsa, or any other taco dressing of your choice, and enjoy! 

* Taco Seasoning: I try to be as frugal as possible. I don't by taco season, I just home make it with the spices I have in the cupboard. It helps so those don't go bad, and it saves on money. The recipe I use for the taco seasoning I found online on allrecipies.com. You can either click on the link or scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe. 

** Minced Onion: I don't know if you have ever heard of the product Thrive but my husband and I get shipments from them every month. There are times when I don't happen to have things around the house or in the fridge ready to use, I will go down to my thrive food storage and usually I can find it there. I did not have any onions for this recipe so I did use my Thrive onions. They are awesome, and they add the same flavor as an actual onion without you having to shed a tear while cutting!

Taco Seasoning: 

Ingredients: 

• 1 Tbs chili powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Mix it all together, and enjoy! (I do make this in one or two batches and store in an old spice jar that I have washed and cleaned out for spices that I make like this. )