Chicken Pillows

I was not able to try anything NEW this past week, so I decided to post one of my old favorites! I grew up eating this meal because for my mom, it was a quick and easy one to throw together and we all loved it.

Ingredients
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
8 oz. cream cheese
1 package crescent rolls
1 can cream of chicken soup

Directions
1. Cook chicken and shred. (or you can used canned chicken)
2. Mix chicken with softened cream cheese.
3. Place a spoonful of cream cheese chicken mixture on a single crescent roll triangle and then roll up. Pinch edges so the mixture does not ooze out during baking. Repeat with the remaining crescent roll triangles.
4. Bake according to the crescent rolls' package directions.
5. Warm up the cream of chicken soup. (I do not add water.)
6. Once the chicken pillows are ready, serve warm with a spoonful of the soup as a gravy.

I like to serve this dish with rice pilaf and a vegetable of choice. So simple and yummy!  Anytime I serve this meal to guests, they absolutely love it!

Also, sometimes I have left over cream cheese chicken filling. I like to save it for later and eat it with crackers as a snack! :)

At the moment, I am unsure of how to make this gluten free, unless you make your own bread dough (so it won't be the same croissant flavor, but more like a roll instead).

Better Than Sex Cake

This was my first time trying this cake. And let me just say- absolutely amazing. Loved it. I didn't change a thing about the recipe. I've had cakes similar to this and I love them all. It's not a difficult recipe either, which is nice. So-o good. :)

Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1/2 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces caramel ice cream topping
3 (1.4 ounce) bars chocolate covered toffee, chopped
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions
1.Bake cake according to package directions for a 9x13 inch pan; cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Make slits across the top of the cake, making sure not to go through to the bottom.
2.In a saucepan over low heat, combine sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping, stirring until smooth and blended. Slowly pour the warm topping mixture over the top of the warm cake, letting it sink into the slits; then sprinkle the crushed chocolate toffee bars liberally across the entire cake while still warm.
3.Let cake cool completely, then top with whipped topping. Decorate the top of the cake with some more chocolate toffee bar chunks and swirls of caramel topping. Refrigerate and serve right from the pan!


(Gluten Free: GF devil's food cake mix- Betty crocker has a good one!)

*original recipe from allrecipes.com

Pizza Casserole

This is a new recipe that I tried for the first time this week. It was super easy and actually kind of fun to get creative with! When I make it again, I will try different varieties of ingredients. It's a casserole dish with pizza toppings! When I first mentioned it to my husband, he said that it sounded "interesting," but it's actually pretty good. It's not the best dish out there, but I liked it because it was easy, you can create a casserole of your liking easily, and it tasted good! One thing I will warn you about now, is the more toppings you add, the more sauce and noodles you will need to balance it. Other than that, do what you want with it! For the first time around, the only changes that I made to it were that I used spiral pasta noodles so that they would hold their shape/texture and I added black olives, which I love. I think next time, I might try a Canadian Bacon or even do a vegetarian casserole!

Ingredients
2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup sliced pepperoni sausage
16 ounces pizza sauce
4 tablespoons milk
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
1.Cook noodles according to package directions.
2.In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the onion, garlic and green bell pepper. Drain excess fat. Stir in the noodles, pepperoni, pizza sauce and milk, and mix well. Pour this mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish.
3.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes, top with the cheese, then bake for 5 to 10 more minutes.

(Gluten Free: substitute GF pasta, pizza sauce and pepperoni)

*original recipe on allrecipes.com

Authentic Mexican Mole Chicken

This past week, I received a request for the authentic Mexican Mole (Mo-lay) dish. I have never had Mole, let alone made it, so this was a fun adventure I was looking forward to. I searched all around for a recipe that sounded the best to me. This dish can be made with chicken, beef, or pork...I used chicken.

Warning: This is NOT a Gluten-free friendly dish and as far as I know, there is no way to convert it to gluten-free (if you know of a way, please share!). Since I am gluten-free, I was unable to try it myself, so I decided to invite a few people over to be my food critics for the night. :) Over all, they absolutely loved the dish! Some of the comments were:
"I love all of the different flavors"
"The chocolate taste is great in the dish"
"Tastes a lot like curry in a way- texture and taste"
"The chicken is very moist"
"A fun and different dish that you don't eat everyday"
"Really good, worth the wait"

The only "negative" comment that I received was only from one of the people trying the dish and they said that it "needed salt." But other than that, everyone had great things to say. One person did comment and say that "if you don't like curry, then you won't like this dish." I found it very interesting that a Mexican dish was reminding them so much of an Indian dish. It does use some of the same spices, so that may be why.

As the cook, the only thing that I would have to say "negatively" about this dish is that it takes time...LOTS of time. I think it took me around 2 1/2 hours. So if you do decide to make this, make sure you have plenty of time to spare! There are just a lot of steps to this recipe and a lot of ingredients to chop, etc. However, one of the reviews I got was that it was worth the wait! I also made a few adjustments to this recipe as well. I couldn't find a poblano pepper, so I used an Anaheim instead and I left out the fire roasted tomatoes and raisins. I served it over my favorite: Jasmine rice. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. Try this out yourself and tell me what you thought!

Ingredients

3 tbsp. vegetable oil
8 chicken thighs (or use chicken pieces like legs)
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 can(14 oz.) fire roasted tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup raisins
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped (these are sold in small cans in every grocery store in a Mexican area)
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup dark Mexican beer, or any dark beer would be fine
2 tbsp. peanut butter
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 squares (1oz. each) unsweetend chocolate (for baking), chopped

Directions

1.Heat oil in a lg. skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and brown on all sides, set aside.
2.In the same skillet, sautee onion, bell pepper, poblano pepper and garlic. Cook and stir until veggies are soft and slightly caramelized. 3.Stir in chili powder, cumin and cinnamon and cook 3 minutes longer.
4.Add tomatoes, raisins, chipotle peppers, chicken broth, beer, peanut butter, sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook 20 minutes, stirring often.
5.Pour the sauce into a blender or food processor and add chocolate. Cover and blend until smooth.
6.Transfer the chicken into the dutch oven, or a deep heavy cooking pot, or skillet. Pour sauce over chicken. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Serve warm over cooked white rice with warm tortillas. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with fresh cilantro, if desired.

*Original recipe from grouprecipes.com

Quick Quiche

Here is a delightful quick quiche that is wonderful for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! Quiche's are great because you can throw whatever you like into it as well, so have fun with it! Throw veggies, other meats, and different cheeses in there- be creative! In this particular quiche I used mozzarella cheese instead of Swiss (however I have made it both ways and they are both great). You can try adding mushrooms, broccoli, crab, shrimp, sausage, spinach- anything you want. Or it tastes wonderful just as the recipe is. :)

Ingredients
8 slices bacon
4 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk

Directions
1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
3. Line bottom of pie plate with cheese and crumbled bacon. Combine eggs, butter, onion, salt, flour and milk; whisk together until smooth; pour into pie pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, until set. Serve hot or cold.

*I usually end up baking mine for almost an hour. All ovens are a little bit different, so if it takes you longer for yours to set, that's ok.

(Gluten Free: use GF flour, and that's it!)

*This recipe is originally from allrecipes.com

Homemade Oreo Cookies

Here is a fun summer dessert recipe that is one of my favorites! This is a recipe that my mother has been using as long as I can remember. I am an oreo fan as it is, but these are a whole new level of goodness! This recipe is simple and yummy- two of the best things when it comes to baking! They come out nice, moist and chewy...mmm delicious! Give 'em a try. Happy baking! :)

Homemade Oreos

1 Devil’s Food Cake mix
¾ cup shortening or real butter softened
2 eggs
Cream cheese frosting (homemade or premade, depending on how much time you have)

1. Mix cake mix, shortening or butter, and eggs together. Batter will be thick.
2. Roll into one inch balls and place on cookie sheet.
3. Bake at 425 degrees for 4 minutes on the very bottom oven rack and then 4 minutes on the very top rack.
4. Cool and then apply a generous amount of cream cheese frosting between two cookies.

Now you have the yummiest cookie ever!

*If you want to add a little color to the cookies, you can add food coloring to your frosting or roll the edges of your cookies in sprinkles so they stick to your frosting. It adds a little crunch. :)

*Tip: I store these cookies in the refrigerator. Helps the frosting to stay a little more firm and the cookie chewy. Soooo good.

(Gluten free: GF devil's food cake mix (Betty Crocker has an excellent one) and your favorite GF frosting.)

Chicken Florentine

This is one excellent Chicken Florentine dish that is highly recommended. It is not hard to do and consists of 5 simple steps. The original recipe was found on allrecipes.com, however I made some modifications to it and it turned out delicious! I had several requests for this recipe, so here you go! Feel free to stick to the recipe or make your own changes too! Please share how it went and what you thought!
Enjoy!

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup butter
3 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 bag fresh spinach
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
2/3 cup bacon, crumbled
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
Step 1: Melt a little butter in saucepan over medium heat and sautee mushrooms and spinach. When spinach is done, remove from heat and spread on the bottom of a 9X13 dish.
Step 2: In same saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat. Stirring constantly, mix in the garlic, lemon juice, cream of mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, half-and-half, 1 cup of the mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese until cheese is melted.
Step 3: Arrange uncooked chicken breasts in the dish on top of spinach and mushrooms, and cover with the sauce mixture.
Step 4: Sprinkle with crumbled bacon.
Bake 25 minutes in the 350 degrees F (200 degrees C) oven.
Step 5: Sprinkle remaining cup of mozzarella on top and continue to bake for 10 more minutes.
Serve over angel hair pasta or white rice.

Delish!!

(Gluten-free: Substitute GF cream of mushroom and just read the ingredients on your italian seasoning and bacon to make sure they are gluten free as well. Serve over GF pasta or rice. Super easy and yummy!)

Kitchen Love

Hello all and welcome to Tasty Tidbits! This blog is for anyone and everyone! Whether you like/dislike to cook, have not had very much success in the kitchen, interested in cooking more, or for those of you who already love it, but just want some new ideas and recipes! The goal of this blog is to simply share fabulous recipes that are fun to change up and create a dish that is something that you will love! It is also Gluten-Free friendly, as with all of the recipes, I will share how they can all be converted to your gluten-free needs! In short, this site is here to encourage having fun in the kitchen and then comment on how it was! What did you like about the recipe? What did you dislike? What would you change? Requests for me to try out? Have a recipe to share? Please do! Please feel free to comment as you wish and share any thoughts or ideas you may have! All are welcome!

But most importantly- HAVE FUN!!