Copycat Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets

Found this recipe on Six Sisters Blog here.

These tasted great and just like Chick-Fil-A.  I ate the entire tray of nuggets.  At some point I think I actually wrestled it off my 5 year old daughter too.  I'm going to counseling :-)

Anyways...they were very delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 lg egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 lb. skinless and boneless chicken breasts
• 1-1/4 cup flour
• 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• canola oil for frying (I used extra virgin olive oil because its what I had)

Directions:

In a large bowl whisk milk and egg together.  Place chicken on counter and cut into cubed bite size pieces; trim any fat that you may see

Put the chicken in the milk mixture and mix so that all is coated and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (I did for an hour because I had to run errands and it turned out fine)

In another large bowl combine the dry ingredients listed above and stir
In cast iron pot or sauce pan pour in oil so that its at least an inch deep on med/high heat  (I did 1/2 inch in a smaller frying pan because my cubes were tiny and it turned out)

Remove the chicken from refrigerator and place about a handful of pieces in milk mixture and then into the flour mixture

Make sure all the chicken is coated with the flour and then place into the hot oil
Cook each side for at least 2-3 minutes or until golden brown (You want to make sure that chicken is no longer pink so you can cut one piece to test it out)

Place the chicken on some paper towels to soak up any oil

Repeat the same steps with the rest of the chicken and serve

Frozen Grasshopper Cookie Pie

Saw this recipe on here at Six Sisters Stuff blog.

Thought it looked so good.  I LOVE grasshopper cookies and LOVE frozen pies.  So I knew I would LOVE this.  And I was right!

Ingredients:

1 Oreo cookie Crust
6 oz of Cool Whip
16 Grasshopper Cookies (crushed)
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
8 oz of light Cream Cheese
Directions:

Beat the cream cheese and 3 drops of green food covering until blended.

Fold in cool whip, crushed cookies (BTW my daughter LOVED crushing the cookies up in a plastic bag), and condensed milk.

Put into crust. Garnish with more crushed cookies.

Freeze overnight.

French Onion Burgers

This is something I've been making for a long time and its so yummy to turn an ordinary burger into something special.  Remember if you don't like onions...probably not a good idea to try this one :-)

Ingredients:

• 1lb of 95% lean ground beef (I only use lean since I'm grossed out by meat fat)
• 1 packet of french onion soup mix
• American Cheese

Directions:

Preheat grill.

Mix together meat and soup mix. 

Shape into hamburgers.

Grill until done to your liking.  I put cheese on it.  You know whats funny is that my husband hates these burgers since he doesn't like onion so I have to make the cheese into a different pattern on the top so he knows these are the "poison" burgers.  That's why the cheese is criss crossed on the pictures.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

I swear this is the last zucchini recipe for today.  It's become a kind of game in our house lately.  Where's the zucchini hidden now?

Got this recipe from All Recipes here.

Ingredients:

3 eggs, lightly beaten 1 cup vegetable oil 3 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 1/4 cups white sugar 2 cups shredded zucchini 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 pint fresh blueberries Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Use two loaf pans (grease if using traditional)...i used stoneware pans from Pampered Chef so I didn't. Combine all ingredients except blueberries.  Mix well. Fold in the blueberries. Pour half the mixture in each loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 20 mins.

1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 pint fresh blueberries

Chocolate Pudding Zucchini Muffins

More zucchini...I know...I swear I have some meat and other type recipes I'll share also.  I just have a freaking lot of zucchini right now!

These were super yummy with a capital Y.  Anything is better with chocolate pudding right?  Right.

Got this recipe from here on food.com.

 

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 (6 ounce) packages chocolate instant pudding
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Beat eggs, oil, sugar, pudding mix, vanilla and zucchini together.
2. Blend dry ingredients and add to zucchini mixture; mix well. Add the chocolate chips if using them.
3. Scoop into greased muffin tins or into a tin with cupcake liners.
4. Bake 17-20 minutes at 350 degrees.  I baked them about 17 minutes and they turned out great.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Kabobs

Found this recipe here at Six Sisters Stuff blog.

First let me just say that I'm not a big kabob fan.  Why you might ask...because its a pain in the ass to keep the meat on the stick and to turn it on the grill without frying the hairs off my hand.

But this recipe looked so good I couldn't turn down an attempt at it.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1 package of bacon (cut into 3rds)

Directions:

In a large bowl...mix together the soy cause, vinegar, honey and oil.  Put the chunks of chicken in and stir to coat them.

Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for an hour or more.

Preheat the grill.

Wrap each chunk of chicken in bacon and slid on the skewer.  Brush with the leftover mixture from the bowl.

Put the kabobs on the grill and cook about 15-20 minutes until they are cooked and the juice is clear.  Make sure you turn them over occasionally.

Oh and it goes without saying but make sure you take them off the skewers before eating.  :-)

Zucchini Lasagna

Decided to try substituting the lasagna noodles for zucchini.  Turned out "ok".  Little too runny for me.  If I did it over again I would cook the zucchini a litte first on its own to soften it and get some moisture out. 

Ingredients:

• Zucchini (cut into slices)
• Cottage Cheese (a large tub...I used large curd)
• 1 egg
• 2 small bags of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp Garlic salt
• 2 small jars of Ragu super chunky mushroom sauce

Directions:

In a large bowl combine egg, 1 bag of cheese, cottage cheese, garlic salt, and italian seasoning.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9x13 pan.  Put down a layer of sauce on the bottom.  Layer with slices of zucchini.

Top zucchini layer with layer of the cottage cheese mix. 

Top cottage cheese layer with light layer of sauce.

Repeat 2 more times.

Top the last zucchini layer with sauce and the 2nd bag of mozz. cheese.

Bake for 60 mins.  Let stand 15 mins before serving.

Carrot and Zucchini Bars

This one is another Six Sisters Stuff recipe that been modified because I didn't have honey or the ingredients for the topping :-(

The orignial recipe is here.

This turned out pretty well!  Pretty yummy!

Ingredients:

2 eggs, slightly beaten

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup honey  -- I didn't have this so I used Nutella...don't laugh it was the only thing I could think of and it turned out really well!

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups shredded carrot

1 cup shredded zucchini

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp baking soda

 Duncan Hines (or other brand) cream cheese frosting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, oil, honey (or nutella), and vanilla. Don’t worry about clumps of the brown sugar, those will dissolve as it sits while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Then fold in the carrot and zucchini.
2. In another bowl combine add the flour, baking powder, ginger, and baking soda. Whisk to blend together.
3. Add to flour mixture to the wet mixture. Stir just until combined. Spread batter into an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
4. Bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
5. Once the cake is cooled spread the frosting.

Maryland Crab Pretzel

There are a ton of restaurants around the Baltimore area that serve crab pretzels.  But at about $10 a pop they are pretty expensive for an appetizer.  Shop Rite had a sale on lump crab meat this week for $9.99 for a pound so I thought why not try it myself.  Also the frozen soft pretzels were $1.99 for a pack of 6.

These turned out awesome!

Ingredients:

• Ingredients for the hot crab dip
• Box of Frozen Soft Pretzels
• Shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cook hot crap dip as the previous post from May 2012 says.  Let cool for 15-20 mins so it doesn't run off the pretzels.

Microwave pretzels for about a minute.

Set the oven to broil.  On a cookie sheet lay down the pretzels.  Top with crab dip.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Broil until the cheese is bubbly.  Done!

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

So I had some chicken breasts that needed to be used soon so I did this recipe.  Turned out ok.  I shouldn't have cooked that long though because I was out and didn't get back in the recommended time.  Oh well...next time...still good even an hour over the recommended cook time.

The original recipe is from A Year of Slow Cooking blog.  The link is here.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (4 or one thigh per family member)
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (La Choy or Tamari wheat-free are gluten free)
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup honey

Directions:

 

Use a 4-quart slow cooker (if using a 6-quart, this will cook faster. Check after 3 hours on high, 5 hours on low).
Put the chicken into your cooker. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, then pour evenly over the top. -- Yeah I just poured it in and didn't combine first. 
Cook on low for 6 hours

Presto Salad Shooter..Where have you been all my life??!!

My other big find...my $10 used Presto Salad Shooter from the 80s? 90s?  Anyways this thing rocks.  I've been grating all my zaucchini and cheese my hand lately and its killing me.  Takes soooo much time and effort. 

This little beauty though eats through a zucchini in like 2 seconds!  Score!

Cheese .... no problem!  I've used it like 10 times already this week and it has a slicing attachment I haven't even tried yet.

Spice Organization at Last!

I'm loving me some Pinterest lately!  One of the tips in there was to put spices on the back of the pantry door to free up cabinet space and let you be able to see what spices you have.  Brilliant!

On Amazon I found a stick on organizer that you tape to the inside of the door and its freaking awesome! 

Check this out!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake / Brownie

Continuing on my Ode to Zucchini line.  I found this recipe on Six Sisters Stuff Blog (becoming one of my favorites!).  The original recipe is here.

I modified it because I didn't want to use walnuts and because I wanted something other than chocolate icing.

This turned out awesome!  I'm calling it a cake/brownie because it got the texture of a cake and the denseness of a brownie.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/4 of a bag of chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 container of cream cheese frosting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cake springs back when gently touched. Spread frosting over cooled cake before cutting.