7-Up Biscuits

These are just genius. The only roll I've ever made is a Pillsbury crescent roll.  I did struggle a bit with some of the instructions...what else is new...but in turn I found an even easier way to make these.  Thanks to Plain Chicken for the recipe!

7-Up Biscuits
Serves: 11-12 Biscuits
Cook time according to Plain Chicken: Didn't say
Cook time according to Rachel: 35 minutes  (there were some problems)
How hard was this for Rachel? Follow MY instructions & it will be easy

Ingredients                
2 cups Bisquick
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup 7-Up
Pam (note butter is pictured. Skipped the butter and went with olive oil Pam)


Directions


Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In mixing bowl, combine bisquick & sour cream. Mix thoroughly then stir in 7-Up. Dough will be very soft.

                   

Now recipe calls for laying dough out and using a biscuit cutter to cut the dough. I don't have a biscuit cutter and it was recommended if you don't have one to use a glass. OK that didn't work either. I decided to use a muffin tin and after spraying with pam, scooped the dough into the tin as pictured above. However, I only had enough dough to make 11. WHATEVER. 

Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown. Mine look slightly like muffins thanks to the tin, but they taste the same! ENJOY!

{Recipe} Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

I've said it before and I will say it again, chicken bores me. However, I know I need to eat more of it. Feeling lazy yesterday, but still craving a home cooked meal, I turned to my crock pot. I found this recipe for BBQ chicken at stick a fork in it and after seeing how easy it was, I was sold. I have to admit, for chicken, it was pretty good. I served it with corn on the cob and my newest carb obsession 7-Up Biscuits.

ABOUT
Serves: 2-4
Cook Time according to Kristen: No time given (come on people)
Cook Time according to Rachel: 6 hours
How hard was this for Rachel? Easy!

INGREDIENTS                                                                              
4-6 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder

Note: I used only 4 large chicken breast and it was plenty.

DIRECTIONS

In a mixing bowl, mix entire bottle of BBQ sauce, vinegar, red pepper flakes, brown sugar & garlic powder.

Place chicken in crock pot. Pour BBQ mix over chicken completely. Cook for 5-6 hours on LOW. Stir occasionally. 

          

Enjoy!

Turkey Lasagna

It is no question that I love anything involving noodles. I'm not sure what possessed this latest feat, but I am thrilled I succeed in making an awesome meal. Turning to google, I came across the "World's Best Lasagna" on all recipes. It received 5 stars and if something is titled "World's Best" I had to try. I made a few modifications but it definitely lives up to it's title.   However, next time I will take my sister's advice and eat half and freeze the other half...an entire pan of lasagna for two people lasts a LONG time.  

Turkey Lasagna

Serves: 8 pieces 

Cook time according to John: 3 hours and 15 minutes

Cook time according to Rachel: 3 hours 35 minutes (not bad!)

How hard was this for Rachel to make? LOTS of steps, but not too complicated.

     

Ingredients                                                                                                 

1 pound chicken sausage (I accidentally bought turkey)
3/4 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 cup onion, minced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
6 full size lasagna noodles
1 container (16 ounces) ricotta cheese
1 egg
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Pam (not pictured)
Tinfoil (not pictured)

Note: For the tomato paste, sauce & crushed tomatoes I was unable to find cans in those sizes. I improvised.

Directions:


So recipe calls for a dutch oven. Who has one of those? I used a large (well medium) skillet & it worked just fine.

               

In a large skillet, cook sausage, ground turkey, onion & garlic over medium heat until well browned.

               

Because of my lack of dutch oven, to complete the next step, I had to transfer the meat/onion/garlic mix to large pot. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce & water. Season with sugar, basil, Italian seasoning &1 tbsp salt. Simmer covered for about 1.5 hours stirring occasionally.

While sauce simmers,  bring large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Break 6 large noodles in half. Cook lasagna noodles in water 8-10 minutes. Drain & rinse with cold water.

                 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. While oven heats, in medium mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg & 1/2 tsp salt. Mix thoroughly.

                  

In a 9x13 inch baking dish, spread meat sauce completely covering bottom. Take 6 noodles and arrange length wise over meat sauce. 

                

Spread ricotta cheese mix over top of noodles. Top with 1/3 mozzarella cheese slices. 

Cover mozzarella cheese with more meat sauce.  Top with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers. Make sure all edges of noodles are covered in sauce. Otherwise they dry out (as pictured below)

              

Cover with foil. TIP: Spray foil with cooking spray to keep melted cheese from sticking to it. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil. Bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving. ENJOY!

            

Crispy Parmesan (should be Asparagus) Green Beans

Look's delicious right? WRONG. Making these beans was an absolute disaster.  I should have had some type of premonition when I went to the store and they were out of asparagus that these would be a nightmare. Why bother to share? Because I do believe had I used asparagus like the recipe calls for AND followed directions, they would have been amazing. My sincerest apologies to Jessica from how sweet it is for completely botching her dish.

Crispy Parmesan (should be Asparagus) Green Beans                    
Serves: 3-4
Cook time according to Jessica: She doesn't say (which annoys me)
Cook time according to Rachel: 1 hour (a lot of mistakes were made)
How hard was this for Rachel to make? Messy & took some work



Ingredients
1 bunch asparagus
2 egg whites (disaster)
1/4 cup flour
1 cup SEASONED panko breadcrumbs (I bought plain. BLAND)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lay wire rack on a baking sheet w/ tinfoil and coat with non-stick spray.

                 

1st picture was my pitiful attempt to separate the yolk from the whites. Attempt #2 was more successful but still a giant pain in the ass. Lesson I learned? Buy a separator. 

                  

So here is where I chose not to pay attention (see pic above). I mixed the egg whites with the breadcrumbs & cheese. WRONG. Keep egg whites in one bowl. On a separate plate, mix the breadcrumbs & cheese. 

                  

Dip asparagus (green beans) into egg white completely coating the vegetable. Kinda difficult when your bowl with the whites is as narrow as mine. Solution: break bean/asparagus in half. Also coating one at a time takes forever, so coat as many at a time as possible.

                    

Take the coated asparagus/bean and roll in the breadcrumb mixture. Place evenly on the wire rack.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until golden brown & crispy. Enjoy!

Let's review our mistakes:

Bought green beans instead of asparagus

Bought plain breadcrumbs instead of seasoned...makes a difference

Thought I knew how to separate egg yolks & whites

Mixed egg whites with crumbs before dipping beans in mixture. Wasted a lot of food & time

BBQ Ranch Turkey Burger

Turkey Burger sans bun pictured w. Colby Jack cheese & Parmesean Green Beans

I love grilling. And when I say I love grilling, I mean I love it because I don't have to do much of the work...and because it's been years since I've had an outdoor grill.  Sometimes J likes to get a bit too fancy with his burgers, but this creation was perfect AND somewhat healthy because of the ground turkey and lack of bun. BUT a burger is not a burger without cheese. And I will stand by that.  Served this with a disaster of an attempt to make a tasty vegetable. That story to come.

BBQ Ranch Turkey Burger                                                         
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 2 +
How hard was this for Rachel to make? Easy

Ingredients 
1 lbs lean ground turkey
1 packet ranch seasoning
1 jar bbq sauce of choice
1 slice colby jack cheese


(of course, I forgot to include the cheese)

Directions

 

In medium mixing bowl mix meat, ranch seasoning and 1/2 jar of bbq sauce. Mix thoroughly. Add bbq sauce if feels too dry.

          

Flatten meat into patties. (There has to be a more technical term for this)  To make sure you are doing this correctly, have Duke supervise..and look, he even gets a patty for himself. Well, he got half the patty.

 Grill until cooked through. If you want cheese, add once burger has just a few mins left on grill

 Enjoy!

Garlic Shrimp Pasta

I like pasta and it likes me. Noodles, garlic and parmesan cheese are constant finds in my kitchen. Trying to keep the ingredients and budget low, I found a recipe on, yes, Pinterest , for a Creamy Garlic Pasta. (Btw, awesome new blog to follow...The Cheese Pusher!) I had previously found a recipe for garlic shrimp. Why not just combine the two and make Garlic Shrimp Pasta? Feeling SUPER creative, I decided to add in peas as well.

Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Serves: 2-3
Cook Time according to Cheese Pusher? She doesn't say.
Cook Time according to Rachel: 35 mins
How hard was this for Rachel to make? Easy

Ingredients                                                                             

4 tsp olive oil

4  tbsp butter

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

3 cups chicken stock

1/2 lbs noodle of choice

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup peas

1/2 lbs shrimp

Note: I used medium shrimp. I would recommend jumbo 

Directions:

Normally, J is the master of anything that involves knives. However, J wasn't home and do you think I had any idea what it means to mince garlic? Nope. But thanks to the internets, I found a video that taught me how. 

In a large pot, bring 2 tsp olive oil to a medium-low heat. Add garlic and stir allowing to cook for 1-2 minutes. Mix in butter until it is melted.

            

Add salt, pepper and chicken stock. Raise the heat to high and let it come to a boil. Add in pasta and cook according to the directions on the box.

While pasta is cooking, de-tail your shrimp. I am sure there is a proper term, but de-tail sounds good.

In a seperate pan, heat oil on medium. Toss in shrimp and saute until fully cooked. Season with salt and pepper as desired. I added a little garlic salt...why not?!

Once pasta is cooked, reduce stove to medium heat and mix in parmesan until completely melted.

Turn off heat and stir in cream, peas & shrimp. Serve immediately! Enoy!