I can’t believe how many recipes I have on the back burner to share with you all. I guess I just keep cooking, baking, snapping photo’s and they just build up! I’m always cooking something new, my husband complains of that often. So I will share two with you today, but first what’s going on with me?
Well my boo is turning two this weekend! OMG I can’t even believe it…..I have no idea where the time has gone. I can’t believe I can say that I have a two year old daughter. I an’t believe my baby girl is a little girl. I look at babies now and I can’t believe she was ever that small. I love this little piece of me, this little piece of my husband. We’ve had quite a few challenges lately. I know all kids develop differently, learn at different rates, but I still often compare. There I said it. I’m that mother that compares. Don’t worry I compare inside my head, I would never say any of it out loud to other mother’s. I compare in my head because I worry. It’s what I do. She says many words, each day she comes up with more words. She will repeat pretty much any word you say to her, including the “F” word, yes we tried it. Yes we laughed. However, the connection between the words and when to use them just aren’t there yet, I know it’s coming but it’s making our days incredibly painful at times, she becomes so frustrated she pulls nutty’s upon nutty’s. One after another. I’ve tried everything, I’m doing everything everyone has offered to me for advice. So we will just keep plugging away, in the mean time we will enjoy her second birthday this coming Saturday, which makes me happy because the day of her birthday party is her real birthday! Lot’s to do though! Order cupcakes, balloons, put together gift bags, wrap gifts, decorate, make food……OK I’m overwhelmed now! Stay tuned for my third annual “Dear Madison” coming up on Madison’s 2nd birthday!!
Mom’s house still isn’t selling 🙁 Not sure what we are going to do, we really need more space, we are bursting at the seems here. Hopefully by Spring something will happen. Something has got to give.
So how does everyone like the new design?? I’ve been a busy Momma huh! I’ve been trying out some great new recipes, I’ve got some sandwiches, desserts, main dishes, appetizers, hmmmm what shall I share with you today?? An appetizer I served over the weekend that was to DIE for. It was a last minute choice. We had friends over and I had planned on making a baked potato soup however the temperature then slowly crept up to 70 degrees! I was sweating by the time we got home from our errands that I could not see myself eating soup. So I came up with a back up plan, I had whole wheat bread from the bakery, I sliced that up and added some jarred bruchetta that I had on hand (I recommend always having this on hand because it was great for a last minute decision!) Topped it with a little shredded cheddar cheese and it made a great appetizer. I’ve been wanting to try a Buffalo Chicken Dip however I didn’t have much hot sauce left so I went on the search for a Hot Ranch Chicken Dish……I ended up making my own stuff up! Glad I did! This recipe was inspired by Fabulous Housewife, I changed a few things. Here is what I came up with:
1 lb of cooked chicken
4-6 oz of shredded 2% cheddar cheese
Hot Sauce
1 Packet of Ranch Dressing
Ranch Dressing
8 oz of reduced fat cream cheese
I started by coking my chicken (I had tenders on hand) I baked them in the oven at 350 for 20 min. I let it cool, sliced it up into small bite size pieces and then drenched it hot sauce. (use what you and your family like). We like a kick.
I refrigerated it for a good hour or so. When I put the dish in the fridge, I took out the cream cheese to let it soften to room temperature. I then removed the chicken and placed it on my cutting board. Then I took the cream cheese and mixed it with the ranch dressing. Just keep mixing until it’s combined.
Using the same casserole dish (had a lot of the buffalo sauce in it!!) I layered the cream cheese mixture on the bottom of the casserole dish. I topped it with the chicken. Added the shredded cheddar cheese on top and then made a pretty design with the ranch dressing on top.
Here is another tip. I didn’t have any ranch dressing, I know crazy huh. So I saved some ranch dressing mix and mixed it with some sour cream and pipped it on from using a baggie. I used about 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of light cream cheese and like 2 tbsp of the ranch dressing, stirred to combine, added it into a zip lock baggie, closed it, pushed it a corner of the baggie, snipped the corner off and pressed like it was frosting! Hey I was desperate for that ranch!! Just an example of how there is always a way! Then I immediatley put Ranch Dressing on my grocery list! Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
Serve it with scoops or your favorite tortilla chips and it’s a hit for any party! Note to self: Wait for it to cool a bit, I scortched the roof of my mouth! Sorry for the ugly picture I forgot to snap it when it came out of the oven so we got this lovely shot!
I also served up these bad boys…..you have to try these if your feeling “Bad” meaning if your in the mood for fried that is. You could bake them, I’m going to try that next, obviously without the coating! Spicy Fried Wings.
Well we went for our very first family hike this past weekend. it was eventful to say the least. We only made it 400 feet up, but hey we tried! It never seems to amaze me, my husband carries the back pack that must weigh at least 20 lbs, my daughter who is a good 28 lbs. and I’m the one huffing and puffing 200 feet up! OK I will pretend that that doesn’t bother me. However we ended with a picnic in the park and a picture worth a million dollars in my eyes.
If you didn’t get a chance to check out my Feature on my Husband, make sure you check it out there is an awesome Filet recipe with a Shallot-Mushroom Sauce. YUMMY…….or how our #SundaySupper crew BakedForACure this past Sunday. Lots of great baked goods over there you want to check out. This theme hit close to home for me, reading these posts and recipes and how Cancer has touched so many lives, the old the young, just made me really appreciate what I do have today.
We had our family portraits done a few weeks back, Madison was of course a bit on the moody side you could say! We got one shot of her, and about a gazillion of her and daddy, she was a daddy’s girl that day I guess. I have to go and get one of those canvas’s made!
Oh so Thursday I’m doing a Guest Post for a Foodie Friend of mine! When she was in a time crunch I was happy to help her out, I know how it feels to be so busy and need Guest Posts’s ASAP! So stay tuned because I’m sharing a recipe that has a shopping list for you and three different recipes you can make out of one dish!!! Yes!! I’ll be doing more of these. I’m hoping to add grocery lists to each recipe eventually. Or use Zip List, is anyone familiar with Zip List? I use it to grocery shop. Stay tuned for that, I’m working on it for you!!
What else What else??? I’m excited for my Featured Friday this week, this is a Momma that I have a lot in common with and her blog is great! You will love Mandy!
I haven’t been able to tell you about my night out at The Taste of Home Cooking Show I attended a few weeks back, I’ve been so crazy busy and then with the Crock Pot Challenge (go get some awesome Crock Pot recipes!) so stay tuned I hope to fill you in on that next week.
I’m also going to be reviewing my very first Cook Book soon too, I need some time to make some of the recipes and review them however I’m excited. It’s also a Vegetarian Cook Book, I’ve always wanted to try more Vegetarian dishes so I plan on having fun with this one. It’s called The Meat Lover’s Meatless Celebrations written by Kim O’Donnel. Can’t wait for this one!
I think that’s it for now, I have a lot more up my sleeve, but I have to save some things for another day 😉
