Our First House!

Since starting my new job in November, I have been VERY BAD at my quest to become domesticated! The hours I work at very hectic so while I haven't been cooking that much, we have done something completely domestic.

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!

After a few weeks of looking around Roanoke, we found "the one" in SW Roanoke City. We love it and are scheduled to close on March 6th. Keep your fingers crossed for us!!

Easy Cranberry Salad

With the new job starting this week, I haven't cooked ANYTHING this week! I don't want to leave my readers (I mean reader, my mom.. haha) disappointed, here is a recipe that I inherited from my mom. :)

Ingredients:
1 large cherry Jello
1 can cranberry sauce
1 can crushed pineapple
2-3/4 cups Ginger Ale
1 cup chopped pecans
1 small can of mandarian oranges

Directions:
Bring Ginger Ale to boil then dissolve jello in hot Ginger Ale. Add cranberry sauce, pineapple, nuts, & oranges. Mix well and refridgerate.

You can also experiment by using different flavors of Jello like 1 small cherry & 1 small cranberry or 1 small raspberry... anything that you feel will taste yummy!

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet reduced sodium taco seasoning
1 16 oz jar salsa
1 can corn
1 can rinsed and drained black beans
1 cup reduced fat sour cream

Directions:
Mix soup, salsa, and taco seasoning together and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Before serving, shred the chicken, add corn, beans, and sour cream. Cook for a few more minutes until everything is heated through. Serve with tortilla chips or in a tortilla.


I also added some cooked white rice to this to thicken it up because I only had 2 chicken breasts and it was spectacular! It makes a ton so I froze the extra and we ate it another night. I posted this recipe somewhere else and got a lot of different ideas for things to add to it next time. It's really easy and tasty so I will be doing it again.

Buffalo Wing Dip

We first had this dip while we were visiting AJ's brother & his family in Cheektowaga, NY (outside of Buffalo) and loved it. We made it for an at home tailgate once before and decided to try it again. I've also seen this recipe with combining all the ingredients together and baking so I think we are going to try that next time. We made it for our Hokie indoor tailgate party on Saturday and it was gone by the end of the night!

Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese
1 can of chicken breast
small bottle of Franks Red Hot (or whatever you prefer)
1 jar of creamy bleu cheese
shredded mozzarella cheese
bread crumbs

Directions:
Spread the cream cheese in the bottom of a 9x9 pan. Crumble the chicken in a bowl and mix with the hot sauce. Spread the chicken over the cream cheese layer. Spread the bleu cheese over the chicken. Sprinkle mozz cheese over bleu cheese (thin layer). Thin layer of bread crumbs over that. Bake at 350 for 20 min. Serve with tortilla chips.


FYI, the fried chicken was so easy to make and turned out excellent. I got rave reviews from AJ & Mike. :)

Friiiiiiied Chicken

Tomorrow, I am going to attempt the thing that I thought I could never make... FRIED CHICKEN! Yes, I am going to attempt this and NOT burn the apartment complex down. I will be using a combination of Sandra Lee's recipe with my mom's twist on it.

Ingredients:
Canola Oil
Chicken Legs
Salt
House Autry's Chicken Breader mix
Hooter's Hot Wing Sauce

Directions:
Heat 1/2-inch of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and cover in Chicken Breader (use a large plastic bag). Place chicken in oil and brown on all sides evenly, about 4-5 minutes per side, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove to a paper towel.

Preheat over to 350. Place chicken in a 13x9 baking dish and brush each leg with Hooters Hot Wing Sauce. Bake in oven for 30 minutes then serve!

My mom made these for the VT/Boston College game and they were DELICIOUS. Let's see what I can do....

Yummy Ranch Dip

I got this recipe from a co-worker at my old job because she would make it anytime we had a party. I made it the first time for a Hokie Tailgate and got great reviews!

16oz Sour Cream
1 bag of shredded Mixed Cheese
1 packet of Ranch Dressing mix
Bacon Bits

Mix all ingredients together to taste and then refridgerate.

Very simple yet very yummy. Serve with Ruffles potato chips.

Layered Meatball Bake

1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1 can undrained Italian style diced tomatoes

1 lb. frozen Italian meatballs
2 cups frozen peas

1 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Prepare stuffing as directed; set aside.

Pour tomatoes into 13x9 baking dish. Stir in meatballs and peas; sprinkle with cheese. Top with prepared stuffing.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until heated through.

Makes 6 servings.

SOURCE: http://kraftfoods.com/

Review: Yum-O!