Alice Chicken

Despite the name, I didn't come up with this. My MIL sent me an email one day with a link to this recipe. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Alice-Chicken/Detail.asp

Have you ever used the broiler in your oven? I hadn't until this recipe, and if I had read all the way through the recipe before buying all the stuff to try it, I would probably still have no broiler experience :)

This recipe takes bacon, cheese, mushrooms and honey mustard dressing. When I was frying the bacon for the recipe, my husband walked through the kitchen looked around and said, "Whatever this is, I want some!" Can't beat the smell of frying bacon, I guess! And when he did have some, he LOVED it. We all did. Here it is served with asparagus sauteed with garlic... yum.

NEXT TIME:
1. Broiler is fine, but GRILL! That way I don't have to do the cooking :)
2. Make sure not to cook the bacon too crispy. Mine got a little too crispy due to child interruptions. Oh well!
3. Timing is everything: I'd be sure to saute the mushrooms and cook the bacon while the chicken is cooking. That way everything is hot when the chicken is done... once again, child interruptions!
4. I'd probably coat the mushrooms with the dressing leaving it a little runny like a sauce and heat it up a tad. Otherwise it's like you put salad dressing on your chicken. It tastes the same either way, but sometimes presentation is important.

Well, that's all I have to say about that... well, that and we'll definitely be making this again ;)

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken with Biscuts

I swear, as soon as it warms up the slow-cooker recipes will be minimal! But as I was at Kid City (this store-front-turned-playspace) with my kids, I picked up March 2011s edition of Real Simple (I LOVE REAL SIMPLE!). And what should be on the cover other than the words "amazing slow cooker dinners"?! Truly amazing, in my mind. Here's why: Real Simple uses mostly fresh ingredients in their recipes. Barely any canned food (like cream-of-______ soup). That's one thing I hate about crock pot recipes, which is why I happily found this recipe in the magazine:

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/slow-cooker-creamy-chicken-with-biscuits-00000000052389/index.html 

(If this link doesn't work sometime in the future, let me know and I'll type out the recipe.)

This is a sophisticated chicken and biscuits you could feel good about serving to guests. I'd never used poultry seasoning before this recipe - man, that stuff is good! And the white wine - I used chardonnay. It makes all the difference, so don't skip it or just substitute more chicken stock. I didn't make the Easy Drop Biscuits since I had some I needed to use up or they were going to end up in the trash. This was truly easy and a great comfort food to feel less guilty about since there's no canned soup in it... now, about that heavy cream... ;)

Easy Marble Brownies

I've said before that I make brownies however it tells me to on the box. Well, I experimented a bit and made brownies how it told me to on the inside of the Philadelphia cream cheese box :) It's easy, it's good and it makes looks like you put some effort into dessert! Nothing to change in this recipe, unless you want to try drizzling caramel over your finished product.

RECIPE
1 pkg (19-21 oz) brownie mix (13x9 inch pan size)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 c sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Prepare brownie batter as directed on package; spread into greased 13x9 inch pan.
3. Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Add sugar, egg and vanilla; mix well. Drop by tablespoonfuls over brownie batter; swirl with knife.
4. Bake 35-40 min or until cream cheese mixture is lightly browned. Cool completely befre cutting to serve. Keep refrigerated.

Note: For best results, do not use brownie mix with a syrup pouch.

It's been a while

So, you may have noticed I haven't posted anything lately. It's not because I haven't been trying new recipes - it's because we went on VACATION! And, as many of you with children know, it takes about a week to get ready for vacation, then you go on vacation, then you recover from vacation, then you can get back to real life ;) I should have more posts for you in a few days. So you can have something to look forward to, I'll have reviews for a sophisticated chicken and biscuit recipe, a slow cooker chocolate pudding cake, and a shrimp dish perfect for your beginning to spring (thanks to Karla!) and a couple more. Like I said, I've been cooking, just not blogging! Now, to recover from vacation...