Fajita Chicken Ring

This is an awesome recipe I got from a coworker. I made it with my students and they loved it! So many of them came back the following week telling me that they made it for their families. It is really tasty and super easy. This recipe is halved so if you want to make it for a large family, or if you want leftovers, I suggest you double it. :) You can even add random things in if you want. It is basically a casserole, so you can toss whatever you want in. I added black beans to mine, substituted light sour cream for the mayo, and used Cheesy Doritos as my chips. Yum. 

Fajita Chicken Ring

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

1 pkg. low-fat crescent rolls

¼ c. + 1 tbs. crushed chips

½ can of cooked chicken

½ can (2 oz.) green chilies

¼ c. chopped olives

¼ c. light mayo

½ c. shredded cheese

½ tbs. taco seasoning

½ tomato, chopped

1 tbs. lime juice

low-fat sour Cream and Salsa

romaine lettuce

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

   2.   Mix chicken, green chilies, olives, mayo, cheese, taco seasoning, and chopped tomato in a bowl. Sprinkle lime juice over mixture.

  3.   Crush chips. Add 3 tbs. of chips to chicken mixture. Sprinkle remaining 2 tbs. of chips onto a cutting board. Place crescent roll dough onto chips and press down so chips adhere to dough. Separate dough into triangles.

  4.   Arrange triangles, chip side down, in a circle on a baking sheet. Wide ends should overlap in the center and points should be toward the outside (like a sun).

  5.   Scoop chicken mixture onto the wide ends of the triangles. Bring points of the triangle up over filling and tuck under wide ends. (Filling will show through the sides).

  6.   Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

  7.   Serve with salsa, sour cream and lettuce.

Yakisoba Egg Rolls

These are super yummy.

The recipe is found here: http://www.foodjimoto.com/2011/02/yakisoba-egg-rolls.html.

I just sautéed them instead of frying them in oil...haha. They taste better that way and are so much healthier! Really though. These are great! Super easy and full of lots of yummy veggies. Try them out!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I have actually been able to find a little free time...and I have the cupboards and kitchen in my house to work with so I have been cooking like crazy! I love it. My last semester student teaching was super super busy so I hardly tried any new recipes. This has been great. Makes me happy. :)

Lately I have been a bit obsessed with cupcakes. I am not someone that eats out a lot...but after I finished student teaching I decided to treat myself to a Cocoa Bean cupcake. Their German Chocolate cupcake is my FAVORITE.  And their cupcakes are just so cute... I now want my own cupcake cafe ...haha. I decided to look online for a good cupcake recipe and I found one! Carrot cake cupcakes...mmm. I found the recipe on this blog: http://half-bakedbaker.blogspot.com/2011/11/best-ever-carrot-cake-cupcakes.html. The title and the pictures of the cupcakes sold me on the idea. Plus, the recipe used 3 cups of carrots, as well as some pineapple and applesauce so it sounded really legit.

They turned out really good! The cake is dense and not super sweet. But its alright because the frosting really sweetens everything up. I love the frosting recipe! The proportions are just right. I will definitely be using it again in the future.

I don't have any cake decorating stuff at my house so I think the cupcakes turned out pretty good considering. :)

General Tso's Chicken

This recipe is awesome! Big shout out to my awesome sister who told me about it! I made it for my family over Christmas and everyone loved it! My brother even said it tasted just like P.F. Changs. Really, try it.

Here is my great phone picture. Enjoy!



http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2008/07/jareds-general-tsos-chicken.html

Muffin Tin Pumpkin Monkey Bread

Alright, you guys, my picture does NOT do the recipe/final product justice.

So, just look at the pictures/recipe on the site I got the recipe from! Here it is: http://kirbiecravings.com/2011/10/cinnamon-pumpkin-bubble-buns.html

They were absolutely delicious! They tasted just like donut holes.....mmmm. And they were super simple as well!

I did not like the glaze/frosting though. I would have gone with a cream cheese or a butter cream frosting. You could probably even do a maple frosting on these...the pumpkin is not too noticeable/overwhelming.

Enjoy!

Banana Cookies with a Neufchatel Cheese/Brown Butter Frosting

I had a few ripe bananas in the freezer, so I decided to make something yummy out of them. I found a recipe for banana cookies here: http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/1894/Recipe.cfm. I altered the recipe a bit. Honestly, it is hard to give amounts because I kind of just add things here and there by sight.

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
6 T butter
2 small ripe bananas, mashed
5 T Neufchatel cheese (2 in cookies, 3 in frosting)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine brown sugar and butter. Add bananas, cheese, and vanilla. Mix. Then add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until well mixed. I baked them at 350 degrees for around 8 minutes on a cookie sheet. Let stand on cookie sheet for a few minutes until they can easily be lifted off. Frost, and devour!

Frosting:
Brown around 4-5 T butter on the stovetop. In a bowl combine 3 T Neufchatel Cheese with 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Slowly add brown butter and stir until combined. Continue to add powdered sugar to taste.

The dough was soooo yummy, and the frosted cookies even better! Absolutely DELICIOUS!

Also, I knew that Neufchatel Cheese was pretty much the same thing as cream cheese but I was curious as to what the specific differences between the two were, so I looked it up. Apparently Neufchatel was originally created in France. The American version is pretty much the same thing as cream cheese, it just contains less calories/fat. It is also more moist (http://www.tasteofhome.com/Cooking-Tips/Ask-the-Test-Kitchen/Neufchatel-Cheese)! Good to know. :)

BBQ Chicken Wrap

I absolutely love L and T Salad and Soup! It is one of my favorite places to grab a quite bite. My absolute favorite item on their menu is their BBQ Chicken Wrap...it is lick your finger good..YUM! For the last year I have been making them at home so I can save a few bucks, and although they don't taste exactly the same, they are delicious!

Ingredients:
-Mission Spinach Wrap Tortillas
-romaine lettuce
-sliced cucumber
-cubed tomato
-slices of red onion
-shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese
-precooked grilled chicken slices
-BBQ sauce (your favorite kind)
-Ken's Ranch Salad Dressing

Recipe:
All of the ingredients for this wrap will be piled on cold. Start with your spinach wrap as your base, and then add some cut up romaine, then the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, cheeses, and chicken. Be careful not to put too much stuff in your wrap, or you won't be able to wrap it up! Then you squirt on some BBQ sauce and ranch. Mix the ingredients together with a spoon and then wrap it up like a burrito! Voilà!