Blackened Chicken Alfredo

This semi homemade meal is sure to become a regular busy weeknight option for your family.  And with only 5 ingredients its sure to not break the bank either.  This meal is so easy even my husband can make it.  This is my moms Chicken Alfredo recipe and I hope you enjoy it.

Blackened Chicken Alfredo

From the Kitchen of: Lisa Murphy
Serves:3-4  Time: 30 mins

1-2 Tbl Olive Oil
1/2 package McCormicks Zesty Herb marinade seasoning
1 lb Chicken Breast/Tenders
Cooked Whole grain paste
Store-bought Alfredo sauce

If using chicken breast, cut breasts into chucks, or cut and pound into cutlets. Just make sure pieces are small enough to cook through in a pan.  Toss chicken in olive oil then add Zesty herb marinade seasoning, making sure to thoroughly coat with spices. Let sit in fridge or cook right away. To cook heat a non stick skillet to medium heat and add chicken pieces.  Turn to make sure all sides are cooked.  The spices should give the chicken a blackened look. Remove chicken to a plate.  Add Alfredo sauce to the pan and stir around, making sure to get the leftover spices into the sauce.  Add the cooked pasta. Place on plate to serve and top with cooked chicken.  This recipe goes great with Sauteed Mushrooms.

Hot Onion Dip

If you ever need a super fast yet amazingly tasty appetizer for unexpected guests my moms recipe for hot onion dip is exactly what you need.  It has 3 ingredients only and all the measurements are the same.  If you don't memerize it after the first time you make it...you should see a doctor for short term memory lose.

Hot Onion Dip

From the Kitchen of: Lisa Murphy
Serves: 4-6  Time: 20 mins

1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup light Hellman's Mayo (no subs or it will be too oily)

It seriously doesn't get any easier than this.  Mix all ingredients in a bowl, place is a shallow dish. Bake in the oven at 350 degree for about 15 mins or until bubbly and brown on the top. Serve with Ritz crackers (mom personal favorite)

Taco Seasoning

Forget about buying pre-made taco mix, with who knows what in it.  Instead, use this blend of spices everyone should already have their spice cabinet.  If you don't, we have a big problem...you need to expand your taste palette ASAP.  When you mix it all up it seems like a lot of spices for one pan of tacos, but it ends up being perfect.  Especially if you are like most of us and have had the same thing of cumin in you cabinet for like a year, so the flavor may have fadded a bit. I got this blend from Alton Brown.  He calls it Taco Potion #19, but I have yet to find the other 18 recipes.  My only tweek was I thought it had too much salt in it, at least for when used it with Boca Meatless Crumbles for vegetarian night, and I added a few more things.

Taco Seasoning

From the Kitchen of: Mary Holfelner
Serves: 3-4   Time: 5 minutes

2 Tbl chili powder
1 Tbl cumin
2 tsp corn starch
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp each cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder
1/4 fresh cracked pepper
salt to taste

Mix all ingredients but salt, then add to browned ground beef for tacos with 1/4 cup water.  After spices are well incorporated into beef add 1-2 tsp salt taste.

Honey Ham Slice

This is hands down the easiest, yet tastiest weekday dinner you will ever make.  The ham takes at most 10 minutes to make.  My mom would always make this and serve it with mac and cheese.  I find this to be the best side for it because the sauce for the ham goes great with the cheese.  It is also a great meal if you are cooking for 2 for a holiday meal like Christmas. You get a great flavorful ham, without having to eat ham leftovers for the next month. 

Honey Ham Slice

From the Kitchen of: Lisa Murphy

Makes: 2-3 servings    Start to finish: 10 minutes

 

1 one lb ham steak with center bone

2 Tablespoons honey, divided

2 Tablespoons brown sugar, divided

1 tsp ground mustard powder, divided

 

When cutting open the ham package make sure to pure the juice from the ham into a   10 inch non stick pan.  Cut the ham steak into the portion sizes you would like.  Using kitchen shears works best I find.  Place half of the honey, sugar, and ground mustard  the pan followed by the ham pieces. cook on medium heat for about 5 mins, then turn and cook another 5.  Make sure not to cook too long or the ham will dry out.  If making mac and cheese with this, I find it best to be cooking the ham by the time the pasta goes in the water.  There should be some juice left in the pan.  Place the ham pieces on the plate you are serving them then crank the heat for the pan up to high and cook off some of the moisture in the juice to make a nice sauce to put over the ham. 

Mom's Meatloaf

What says home more than meat loaf just like mom use to make?  Not many things can compare.  If you had to ask my what meal says US more than anything, it would be my mom's meatloaf, with my neenaws green beans and mashed potatoes.  Spoiler alert, this recipe does use Accent, which is msg, as you might know. If you are one of those people who is convinced msg is the devil itself, feel free to sub for regular salt.  I have done my own research and personally I don't think msg is as bad as they like to say, but I won't get on that soap box.  I have used it in small doses and I don't notice anything weird side effects.  Anywho, enjoy moms recipe, unaltered by my creative whims :)

Mom's Meatloaf

From the Kitchen of: Lisa Murphy

Makes: 6-8 servings    Start to finish: 1 hour 15 minutes

2 lbs ground beef (93/7)
1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp accent (a.k.a. msg *gasp*)
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 eggs
3/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup warm water
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
2 slices bacon
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

Pre heat oven to 350 degree. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, with your hands is easiest.  Place in a loaf pan and cover with bacon strips and tomato sauce.  Bake for 1 hour. If you like your meat loaf to be less juicy use a meatloaf pan that allows juices to go to the bottom of the pan.

Freezer meal option:  If you don't want to make a whole loaf, you can also place half of the meat in the pan and top with 1 slice bacon cut in half and half a can of tomato sauce. Then form the rest into another loaf and wrap in plastic wrap and then foil.  When you are ready to eat it, take it out and thaw in the fridge over night. Place in a baking pan and then top with bacon and 4 oz tomato sauce. Bake as directed above.

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

My mom always made this jambalaya when I was younger when she wanted a quick weekday meal.  Her version really only used cayenne pepper in the recipe, so I jazzed it up a bit and got a recipe for creole seasoning from Emeril. I also find it works best to wash the rice before to keep things from getting too goopy.  Andouille sausage is the traditional one to use, but for the longest time I always used smoked sausage like Kielbasa, as did my mom. It wasn't until I found a local place in Kansas City called Fritz' (103rd and Stateline) that makes their own sausage that I started using the real deal.

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

From the Kitchen of: Mary Holfelner/Lisa Murphy

Makes: 8 servings    Start to finish: 45 minutes

1 lb chicken breast, cubed
1 lb andouille sausage (can sub with smoked kielbasa), sliced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalk celery, chopped
2 tsp each paprika, seasoned salt, garlic powder
1 tsp each onion powder, cayenne pepper, chili pepper
1/4 tsp fresh black pepper
pinch oregano
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups uncooked rice, washed and soaked for 30 mins

Saute chicken and sausage in olive oil until chicken is cooked, then add onion, green pepper, and celery and cook until tender.  Add all spices and cook a couple minutes.  Add broth and rice and cook for 20 mins or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

My Favorite Things: Apple Dumplings

So for those who don't know one of the jobs I had before I started college was working at Cracker Barrel.  I have actually worked at 3 different locations, in Danville, KY; Evansville, IN; and Bloomington, IN.  I can say a lot of things about Cracker Barrel.  Their managers are mostly assholes and they don't care about employees that much.  Tips are shit there since they cater to mostly old people who still think $1 is a good tip and they don't serve alcohol to maintain their "family" feeling (must be a baptist family).  But one thing I will never say about them is anything bad about the food.

I am a weird person in the fact that even after I have worked at a restaurant I still tend to love the food they make.  I worked for a cafe called Three Babes and a Monkey for over a year and to this day I still crave the chocolate muffins and tuna salad.  I worked at McDonalds for a summer and I still love me some chicken McNuggets.  And I worked at Cracker Barrel for a combined time of over 2 years and to this day I still love things like their grilled chicken tenders and pecan pancakes.  But one of my all time favorite things from there is their Apple Dumpling.

I was not a fan of desserts involving baked fruit until I had this dumpling. It.Is.Awesome.  I am especially a fan of the pecan streusal on top. The best part about all this you can get the stuff from Cracker Barrel to make this dessert at home.  Though I like to doctor it up a little by adding pecans to the topping.  To make the apple dumpling, though really it becomes an apple crumble when you make it at home all you need is...

And

Just place the apples in an 8x8 pan.  Mix the topping mix with cold butter until it looks crumbly.  Fold in pecans if you like them, I go with pecan halves and crush them a little. then just serve with ice cream!