Recipes for July

So those of my friends on facebook have requested some recipes.  I will begin posting them here for anyone to access.  Hope these are helpful.

Southwest Chicken
4-6 chicken breasts flattened
6-10 bacon strips
some shredded cheddar cheese or whatever you have in the fridge
BBQ sauce
house seasoning*

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray a 9x13 pan.  Season chicken breasts with house seasoning. Place in pan.  Take a slice of bacon (sometimes I cut one slice in half depending on how long the bacon is) and make an X shape on each chicken breast.  Put in oven about 35 minutes.  Take chicken out and baste or pour some BBQ sauce on each chicken breast, then top with the cheese.  Put back in the oven 10 more minutes or until it looks done to your satisfaction--that's how I roll.  If you'd like, the last 5-10 minutes you can broil it to crisp the bacon a little more.

*House Seasoning  
This is straight up Paula Deen recipe from her very first cookbook, The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook.  If you've ever watched her show, she uses it nearly every time she cooks.  About 5 or 6 years ago, I mixed up a batch and leave it in on the counter.  I uses it on just about anything.  We love it.
  *Mix 1 cup salt, 1/4 cup black pepper and 1/4 cup garlic powder.  Mix well.  Store in an air-tight container or in a shaker.

Swiss Steak
This recipe varies for me depending on what I have time to do.  Anyway I prepare it, it's still good.  This original recipe is from the above named Paula cookbook.  Of course, I've tweaked it and change it to suit our taste.  Have fun with this one.

1 round steak--about 1 1/2 lbs.  (since all of my children eat this, in order to have leftovers, I usally do about 2 to 3 lbs round steak)
House Seasoning
flour for dusting
1/3 c. vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed (I just use the refrigerated chopped garlic)
1 14 1/2 oz. diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped or cut in strips
1 medium bell pepper, cut in strips (I always use at least 2 bell peppers, we love them)
-Beef bouillon granules

Cut your steak into serving pieces and season with House Seasoning.  Dust meat with the flour.  In a skillet, add the vegetable oil (if it's a morning rush, I skip this step and just  brown my steaks) and brown steaks on both sides.  Place steaks in sprayed or lined crock pot.  In a big bowl, combine garlic, tomatoes, onion and bell pepper.  Then, add one tomato can measure of water.  (This is where I alter her recipe some more.  I usually add a few teaspoons of beef broth granules to the crock pot to give the water more flavor.)  Pour over the steak and cover with a lid.  I usually set this to low for 6 or 8 hours.

When we get home, I cook up some rice.  I usually have this meal early in the month because I just shopped at the store.  This ensures my bell peppers are still fresh and I usually still have some salad left for a side dish.  This meal is very tasty with a big spoonful of white rice with steak, bell pepper, onions and tomatoes to top it off.  Mmmm...family favorite!

Chicken and Rice Casserole
again, another family favorite that is yummy and from the same Paula cookbook.

3 c. diced cooked chicken
1 med. onion, diced and sauteed
1 8 oz. can water chestnuts, drained and chopped (I NEVER use these!)
2-14 1/2 oz. cans french green beans, rinsed and drained
1-4 oz. can pimentos, rinsed and drained
1-10 3/4 oz. can condensed cream of celery soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1-6 oz. box Uncle Ben's long-grain and wild rice, cooked according to package (they sell a Fast Cook type, I keep at least 3 of these in the pantry...good fast, quick side)
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese--I use whatever shredded cheese I have

Preheat oven to 300.  In a BIG bowl, mix everything together and dump into a 3-quart (or 9x13 pan).  Bake for 25 minutes.
This couldn't be easier.
**Here are my variations--I usually use 2 of the canned chicken breast from Sam's to save on time.  In a skillet, I put some butter or EVOO (do you know Rachel Ray?) I throw in my onions and get them tender.  Then, throw in the canned chicken with some House Seasoning. If I have time, I'll add a little of my frozen chicken broth (yes, I save all broths and freeze them to use whenever I need it) to flavor up the canned chicken.  Once I get that good a seasoned together, I'll add it to the big bowl of ingredients.  Stir together, dump in my pan.  Then, if you really want to take it up a notch...top it with some more cheese and crushed Ritz crackers.

Frozen S'mores
I found this in a little cookbook I bought from a friend's daughter for a fundraiser.  It's too hot for regular s'mores, so why not try these out.  Just finished putting them in the freezer so we will see if they pass the family test tonight after supper.

2 cups whipped topping
1/2 c mini chocolate chips
2/3 c mini marshmallows
graham crackers

Mix the first 3 ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden or rubber spoon.  Break crackers into squares.  I used my big Pampered Chef scoop and dropped a spoonful on a cracker square.  Topped with another cracker square, wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in big Tupperware container.  I kept doing this until all the mixture was used.  Place in freezer until frozen.

My thoughts:  why not try using marshmallow cream instead of the marshmallows?  We'll see how it turns out.