Chicken Pesto Panini's

I've linked to this recipe on the blog before, but I decided to show you how I make them. The recipe is from Kraft foods and it's so easy. If you don't have a panini maker you can use a large skillet. We have had an abundance of basil from our garden so I love to make pesto with it. I don't love how expensive pine nuts are though (I need to look into buying them in bulk at Sams or somewhere).

Ingredients

1/2 cup shredded rotisserie-cooked chicken (I just cut up the whole chicken and make lots of sandwiches or save it for other meals.

1 Tbsp.  Pesto

2 slices Multi-grain bread (I used Italian bread cut into inch slices)

1/4 cup  Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese 

PREHEAT panini grill to high heat. Mix chicken and pesto; spread onto 1 of the bread slices.
TOP with cheese and remaining bread slice.
GRILL 3 to 5 min. or until cheese is melted and sandwich is golden brown on both sides.
I also added a few pieces of lettuce to mine.

For the leftover pesto, if you any, a great trick is to put them in ice cube trays and freeze them. As soon as they are frozen pop them out and put them in an airtight container or zip-lock bag for later back in the freezer. You can then use it as individual toppings for other panini's, sandwiches, pasta, whatever.

I made these while David was out of town and I was a cooking machine. I brought some in for the girls at work. These are great for an easy dinner meal with side of chips or fresh fruit and veges.

Sausage with Peppers and Onions

It's Italian week on the blog, just because I want it to be! I have a few good recipes that I've been saving and they all are italian and so good. This recipe is Sausage with Peppers and Onions. 

Ingredients-

1 lb of Italian Sausage (I usually use mild or sweet)

1-2 Green Peppers sliced

1 Onion sliced

2-3 Cloves Garlic minced

1/2- Whole Can Pasta Sauce

Submarine Sandwich rolls or Italian bread

Cook sausage in big pan about 6 minutes per side on med. high heat (be carefully of spitting). You can also grill the sausage outside if you'd like.

Slice your peppers and onions fajita style in long strips

Take out your sausage once it is cooked and set to the side to cool off. Sausage is done when there is no pink in the middle. You can slice them into 1-2 inch pieces once cooled. Add garlic and saute your onions and peppers until they are tender. You use the sausage grease to make everything taste better, just go with it, there isn't much.

Once your vegetables are tender add your pasta sauce (you may not want that much so don't pour whole can in unless you like a lot of sauce) and sliced sausage back in. Simmer for 5-10mins.

Serve on a bun, roll, bread or whatever you'd like.

French Dip Dinner- Version 2

I made french dip a few months ago, but I decided to try another recipe to compare. This one comes from my other favorite food blog, Pioneer Woman. Honestly, I just don't know what one is better. It depends on the ingredients you have.

Ingredients-
    * 1 whole 2.5 To 4 Pound Chuck Roast
    * ¼ cups Butter
    * 1 whole Large Onion, Sliced Thick
    * 3 cloves Garlic, Peeled
    * ½ cups Soy Sauce
    * 1 cup Sherry (cooking Sherry Is Fine)
    * ½ teaspoons Salt
    * 4 cups Water
    * Toasted, Buttered Deli Rolls
    * OPTIONAL: Rosemary, Thyme, Other Spices

Preparation Instructions
Heat butter in a heavy pot or skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onions for a couple of minutes, or until starting to get brown. Pour them into your crock pot.

Add a little more butter to your skillet and sear your chuck roast for a few minutes on each side to seal in the flavors. Move your chuck roast to sit on top of your onions. Add all remaining ingredients. Cover pot and simmer (very low heat) for 6-8 hours, or until beef is fork-tender and falling apart.  Shred meat with two forks until all large chunks are gone. Serve immediately or continue to simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

*Mixture can be refrigerated overnight. Remove hardened fat from top of pan before reheating.

Serve on top of toasted, buttered deli rolls. Top with cheese and place under the broiler if desired.

Amber and Audrina came over for dinner. She brought Wine Ice Stirs. I got it for her for a birthday and we wanted to try it out. You were suppose to make the powder mixture and freeze it, but we skipped that step. You mix it with wine and put it in a blender with ice. It was very good.

Here is the final masterpiece. It was so yummy!

Amber also brought these yummy desserts from the diner that we all like to go to. We had baklava, Strawberry shortcake, and Peanut butter cup cake! They were all soo delicious!

I had fun playing with Audrina outside. She loved the tarp that we had out. She thought it was similar to bubble wrap and would jump on it and dive into it.

She was also just running around the yard and David was trying to keep her out of trouble. I snapped this picture really quick, but they were moving a lot so it was a bit blurry.

We tried for a group shot, but Audrina really didn't want to be apart of it.

So here is just me and Amber. We had a lot of fun! Hope you guys can come over again soon!

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I love chicken salad sandwiches and I usually get the pre-done kind at Publix, but I wanted to try it for myself. I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman. You'll see a trend as I've been getting my recipes from her all week.  

Ingredients

• 1 whole Cut Up Fryer Chicken (a whole chicken, I used split chicken)
• 2 stalks (to 3 Stalks) Celery, Chopped
• 3 whole Green Onions, Chopped
• 2 cups (to 3 Cups) Grapes, Halved
• A Small Handful Of Fresh Dill, Minced (I used dried)
• ½ cups Mayonnaise
• ½ cups Plain Yogurt Or Sour Cream (I used yogurt, b/c you all know how much I love sour cream...not)
• 1 Tablespoon (to 2 Tablespoons) Brown Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon (to 2 Tablespoons) Lemon Juice
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper To Taste

Directions-
Rinse chicken thoroughly and place in a large pot of water. Turn on the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is done (about 45 minutes to an hour). When you are ready, remove the chicken from the pot and place on a plate. With your fingers or a fork, pull all of the meat off the bones, chop into bite-sized chunks and set aside. I baked mine in the oven and will try boiling next time as this took a while. I put olive oil, salt and pepper on mine.

Chop all of your fruits and veggies and place them in a bowl with the chicken.

In another bowl mix mayonnaise, yogurt (or sour cream), lemon juice, brown sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Add fresh herbs (dill, oregano,…whatever you have or leave it out). When the dressing tastes just right (you must taste test for appropriate saltiness especially), pour it over the chicken/veggie/fruit mixture and stir gently until everything is thoroughly mixed.

Allow the salad to chill for several hours (or even overnight). Serve on a bed of lettuce or in a sandwich or heck, eat it straight out of the bowl with a serving spoon. There is a lot of chopping with this recipe so find yourself a sous-chef or just enjoy your time cutting. It's therapeutic for me. I put mine on a croissant, which I believe is the best place for chicken salad! Mmm Mmm Good! A little tidbit for ya-I did add a little too many onions though. The recipe says 3 green onions, well on one stalk of green onions is 3 so I wasn't sure if it meant 3 stalks of the 3 or just 1 stalk with 3 and I think its the smaller portion one :) oops. I still loved it.

French Dip Sandwiches

You are going to LOVE this recipe! It is so easy and tastes so good!! It came from Our Best Bites blog. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients-

1 2.5-3 lb. beef roast
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
2 1-ounce packages dry onion soup mix
2 c. water
2 cans beef broth
6-8 large buns
Swiss, provolone, or mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced.

Directions-

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and rub roast with salt and pepper.

2. When very hot, carefully place roast in pan and sear on all sides. You're not cooking the meat, you're just browning it quickly on all sides to add flavor and seal in the juices. I have never done this step before making this recipe and it really does make a difference.

3. Place in crockpot and sprinkle with onions soup mix. Pour water and beef broth over roast.

4. Cook 8-10 hours on low or cook 4-5 hours on high and another 3-4 hours on low. It's done when it starts falling apart.

5. Shred the Roast with a fork, I put it back in for 20-30 mins to soak in the juices.

6. Serve in Rolls or you can broil your bread in the oven with your meat and add cheese. Pour juices in a small bowl for dipping.

It shreds so easy when it's done

Delicious! Don't mind the paper plate (didn't want to do the dishes that day). I didn't picture with cheese, because most all of you know I don't really like cheese and it doesn't need it.