Chicken and Pasta with Roasted Tomato, Onion and Garlic

I was looking for a casserole recipe using chicken and pasta. After looking through dozens of recipes and searching my freezer and pantry, this is what I came up with last week. It is very simple and the roasted vegetables add the perfect smokey flavor.

1/2 to 1 pound pasta, spaghetti or linguine
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
4 cloves garlic, left whole
1 yellow onion, sliced thick
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
4 cups Colby Jack cheese, shredded
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne*
Salt and black pepper, to taste
4 cups shredded cooked chicken


Lightly grease a casserole dish, and line a baking sheet with foil.

Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of salted water. Drain and transfer to casserole.

Place the tomatoes, skin side up on the baking sheet, along with the whole garlic cloves and onion. Broil, for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the tomatoes, garlic, and onion are softened and have begun to blacken. Remove from the oven, cool and, dice. Turn the oven to 350 degrees.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour until well combined and slightly browned. Slowly pour in the milk and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens just a bit. Once the sauce thickens, turn off the heat and slowly stir in 2 cups of cheese, a little at a time, until melted. Stir in the chicken broth until the sauce is the consistency of gravy. Stir in the diced vegetables, along with the cumin, and cayenne. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. Add salt and black pepper to taste, and stir in the shredded cooked chicken. Pour the sauce into the cooked spaghetti. Cover with the remaining cheeses.

Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Serve with Garlic Bread and a side salad for a nice complete meal.

*For an added kick add a couple of jalapeno peppers halved and added to the roasting vegetables.

Taco Seasoning Mix

My son loves Tacos... soft tacos. I planned to make him some tonight and did not realize that I was out of seasoning mix. I figured it couldn't be that hard to make some. I researched it and found the ingredients. I adjusted it to my families taste and this is what I came up with tonight. My son was satisfied so I guess it's a keeper! LOL

2 teaspoons Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 teaspoon Dried Oregano

Mix seasoning together in a small bowl. Add to 1 1/2 - 2 pounds of cooked, drained hamburger meat and add 1/3 to 1/2 cup water and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

My hubby liked it too for his salad!

Maple Bacon Monkey Bread

I saw a post earlier using biscuit dough, maple syrup and bacon to make a wonderful looking Maple-Bacon Biscuit Bake. I thought, "I'll turn that into monkey bread." Yeah! I know a few spots got a little to browned, but that's because I had the oven on 400 instead of 350. It yours starts to brown to quickly, lay a piece of aluminum foil over it. Don't cover it tightly, just lay a piece over the top.


Syrup:

1/2 pound bacon, cooked until medium-brown
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter


Bread:
4 tubes refrigerator biscuits
1/2 cup Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Chop the cooked bacon into 1/2" pieces. Combine the bacon with the remaining syrup ingredients, stirring until well combined. Set aside. Cut biscuits into fours and roll into balls. Roll biscuits in sugar. Butter or spray a loaf pan. Stack biscuits into loaf pan. Pour syrup over biscuits and bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes. When partly cool, turn out onto serving platter. To serve, let each person pull pieces off.

Green Beans with Garlic and Lemon Butter

For the first time since I was a child, I have Blue Lake Green Beans in my garden! Yesterday, I went out and picked enough for supper! I only have five plants, but they are loaded and doing well! I wanted to cook them in a unique way, something other than boiled with salt and pepper. I sauted them in butter. I added garlic, a touch of lemon, and finished them off by steaming them in chicken broth. Even my teenage son said, "Those are pretty good!"

Green Beans
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup chicken broth

Saute green beans in butter. Add garlic and lemon juice and cook until the lemon juice is absorbed or cooked off. Turn heat to medium/medium high and add chicken broth. Cover pan and let steam until the beans are tender. (or until they are your desired texture.) Add salt and Pepper to taste. 

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

I wanted to do something different with the cake mix I had on hand. I researched how to turn cake mixes into cookie dough. I decided to turn them into crinkle cookies. They are very easy and pretty!

1 box Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup Oil

Powdered Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake mix, eggs and 1/3 cup vegetable oil using a hand mixer or wooden spoon.

Form teaspoon size balls or scoop with a cookie scoop and roll in powdered sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet or baking pan about 2 inches apart. Cook for 10-12 minutes.

Homemade Fajita Seasoning & Southern Bite's Fajita Chicken Casserole

My foodie friend Stacey over at Southern Bite shared a recipe for Fajita Chicken Casserole back in February, and I like many people pinned it and forgot about it. I was looking for something different to cook for Tuesday's Casserole Day last week, and I remembered his casserole. I quickly got word out that this one was on the menu! It smells heavenly as it cooks and tastes delicious! Click on the link above for his recipe and gorgeous photographs of this yummy casserole! Also, check out my recipe for homemade fajita seasoning mix below! It is super simple and might save you a dollar or two!

Mine is not as pretty as his, but boy howdy is it good!!!

I admit that I do not follow direction well,

but I do play well with others! LOL
I misread the recipe and used regular rice that I had cooked,

so I had to change things up. 

Follow his direction, and you will be fine!

My seasoning mix!

Homemade Fajita Seasoning

¼ cup Chili Powder

2 tablespoons Kosher Salt

2 tablespoons Paprika

1 tablespoon Onion Powder

1 tablespoon Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon Cayenne Powder

1 tablespoon Cumin Powder

Mix in a bowl, and store in an airtight container until ready to use. Use about 1 teaspoon, or to taste, per chicken breast or steak when making fajitas.

Chicken Wing Drummettes

It is that time of year! Time for graduation, end of the school year parties, bring on summer parties and picnics! These chicken drummettes are a favorite for kids of all ages! 

6-8 chicken drummettes 
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 Tablespoon Hot Sauce
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
Oil for frying

Make an egg wash by beating the eggs, buttermilk and hot sauce together in a shallow dish. Mix flour and spices in another shallow dish. Dip drummettes in egg wash then dredge in the flour mixture. For a thicker crust on the chicken, repeat that step again... egg then flour. In a heavy skillet, heat about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch of oil to 365 degrees. (Or heat a deep fryer to 365 degrees) Place chicken in hot oil. (If the oil is not up to temp, the coating will not stick. Do not crowd the chicken in the pan or it will boil in the oil and not fry crispy.) Fry for about 5 minutes per side or until golden brown and no longer pink inside.