Bacon Chicken Turnovers

This was a recipe I found online, but tweaked because I didn't like two of the ingredients. Kinda like a hot pocket. This is very simple filling meal, and well, it involves bacon. 

8 chicken strips

6-8 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled

puff pastry sheets (I haven't tried using the Pillsbury croissants, that's my next experiment)

white cheddar

Thaw the pastry, about 20 minutes, and gently roll with a rolling pin so it doesn't puff up too much when you cook it. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook chicken in a skillet in either a tablespoon or two of olive oil or some other cooking oil. Do not bread the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper while cooking. Don't overcook, it is going into the oven for a while so if it isn't 100% done that is ok. Strips cook quickly. Set aside on plate, cut the pastry into squares large enough to put one piece of chicken inside and fold over like a turnover. Place one piece of chicken, and a piece of cheese (I use a block and about 1/2" X 2" piece or so. It isn't an exact science, just put however much you want) and bacon crumbles. Fold pastry around chicken and pinch edges closed. Poke a couple of holes to let steam out. I baked mine on a rack on a cookie sheet between 20 minutes to a half an hour until the pastry is lightly browned. Experiment with cheeses and seasonings.

Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

Hello all.

Fall is here  so that means baking time!

I had some oatmeal I needed to use up and I didn't have any raisins so I decided to try something new.

I'm not going to lie, these are not the most amazing cookies you have ever had, however the oats > flour ratio makes them far better for you and I'm planning on having these instead of muffins for breakfast. :)

2 sticks of butter or margarine

1 C firmly packed brown sugar

1 C sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

1 t baking soda

2 C flour

1/2 t salt

3 C uncooked oats

1 C dried cherries (I cut the cherries in half since they are larger than raisins)

1/2 C chocolate chips (you can up the amount of chips to your preference)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Then add vanilla, eggs, beat well. Then add the baking soda, salt and flour. Then stir in cherries, chocolate and finally oats. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 9-11 minutes depending on your oven.

Berry good lemonade!

Hello folks! 

I know it has been a while since I posted anything, but frankly, like I said, it needs to be something I have made before and worth posting. I have tried a couple of recipes that weren't anything special 

so I  didn't waste your time with them either. 

So here you go. 

This is simple and awesome and probably would be super tasty with vodka. 

Berry Lemonade

2 C freeze dried berry mix (available at walmart and I think Trader Joe's) 

OR one bag of frozen berries

Juice from 4-6 lemons depending on how big they are

1 C sugar or honey or splenda. I used sugar.

Ok I have used both the frozen and the freeze dried and surprisingly the freeze dried is a little better. 

Put 6 cups of warm water in a pitcher and let berries soften for about 15-30 minutes. 

Then add lemon juice and sugar and stir well. Allow to chill for a couple of hours so the fruit

flavors the water. Enjoy!

One pan dinner: Mustard-Rosemary Chicken with carrots and potatoes

Hello all!

Sorry it has been a while, but I have had some crazy business going on at home, so here we go!

This is a very simple recipe and one thing I like, is that most of the seasonings aren't too perishable so you can have them on hand to make whenever. I don't make the whole recipe, I usually just do the chicken because I have it frozen and I don't want to go out and buy anything else. Here is the full recipe. 

12 thin carrots

1T plus1t of EVOO

1/4t salt (I use sea salt from a grinder)

1/4C Dijon mustard

4 garlic cloves minced (I have used garlic powder and it's fine if I don't have fresh on hand)

1 1/2t fresh rosemary + three sprigs (not once have I used fresh since I got this recipe in the winter, I will try this summer though)

8 chicken thighs or drumsticks, skinned (I have used frozen every time)

8 small potatoes like Yukon Gold or new potatoes

1 lemon halved (sometimes I have this, sometimes I don't)

Preheat oven to 425. Toss carrots, 1t oil and 1/8t salt in a bowl. Spread out evenly on rimmed baking sheet for about 15 minutes. Combine mustard, garlic, chopped rosemary and 2t oil in another bowl. Rub mixture over chicken pieces to coat. Toss the remaining oil with the potatoes, and sprinkle with what is left of the salt. Remove sheet from oven, add chicken, potatoes and rosemary sprigs to carrots. Bake until internal temp reaches 165 (about 45 minutes) sprinkle lemon juice on top. Sometimes I add Parmesan to the potatoes. 

Yum!!