New Recipes......Success!

So I tried out a few new recipes this week, and I'm happy to report that they were successful, despite my clumsiness and lack of know-how in the kitchen!

First, I made Bacon-Wrapped Apple BBQ Chicken in the crock-pot (recipe found on Money Saving Mom's recipe link).  I was very unsure about this one, but Billy liked it and I thought it was pretty good, too.  

Ingredients:

• 3-4 chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
• 1-2 apples, peeled and grated
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 6 slices bacon

1. Combine BBQ sauce, grated apple, and lemon juice in small bowl.
2. Place chicken in crockpot and pour BBQ sauce mixture over chicken.
3. Wrap 2 pieces of bacon around each chicken breast.
4.  Cook on low for 8 hours.

The only thing I might change about it is add more BBQ sauce....I loooove sauce, and I didn't think it was enough.


The next recipe I tried was a No Boiling, No Meat Lasagna from Ragu.


Ingredients:

• 30 ounces ricotta cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup parmesan
• 2 eggs
• 2 jars pasta sauce
•  12 uncooked lasagna noodles

Side note: I did my own variation on this one, using whole wheat noodles and a little less parmesan because I didn't have enough.  Also, I used 1 whole jar of Prego sauce, then some leftover Ragu and pizza sauce from the refrigerator.  Probably 1 and 1/2 jars total.


1. Combine ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesan, and eggs.
2. Spread 1 cup sauce in 9x13 dish.
3. Layer 4 uncooked noodles, 1 cup sauce, and 1/2 ricotta mixture; repeat.
4. Top with remaining noodles and 2 cups of sauce.
5. Bake covered at 375 for 1 hour.
5. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake 10 minutes.

It came out really well, and I like that it doesn't require meat, so it saves us some money.  It tasted kind of sweet, but I'm not sure if that's due to the whole wheat pasta or the pizza sauce (maybe both).  Regardless, it was very good and we'll definitely be making it again.  No more frozen lasagna for this household!


With the lasagna, I made homemade french bread.  I got the recipe from Finding Joy in My Kitchen, which gives a step by step explanation (with pictures!) for people like me (a.k.a. not kitchen-savvy).  I had all of the ingredients on hand, so I didn't even have to prepare by going to Kroger!  

You can laugh at my ugly looking french loaf, but I worked hard for this!  I was overly concerned about it rising enough (because I sadly didn't know what it meant to "cover and let the bread rise" until a few days ago!).   I thought, "Cover it with what?  Paper towels....?"  Fortunately, Google helped me out on that one =).  Anyway, so I worried and fretted over letting the dough rise, checking on it every few minutes to see if it looked different, and then it was finally time to put it in the oven.  I opened the oven door, picked up the baking sheet to put it in, and dropped the baking sheet face down (with the bread on it) onto the hot oven door.  My beautiful (better-shaped) loaf stuck to the oven door....it got a little crispy and misshapen, but Billy came to my rescue and saved the bread from imminent death.

It still came out very yummy, despite it's ugliness.  This recipe is a keeper!

Finally, I got a sweet tooth and made Puppy Chow.  Again, I had all the ingredients on hand, so I didn't have to go buy anything.  I think most people know how to make this one, but this was the first time I made it by myself and I had to follow the recipe (on the back of the cereal box).

Ingredients:

• 8 cups Chex cereal
• 1/3 cup peanuts
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Combine cereal and peanuts in large bowl and set aside.
2. Combine choclate chips and peanut butter in small bowl.  Microwave on high 1 minute; stir.  If not completely melted, microwave another 15-30 seconds, and stir again until smooth.
3. Pour chocolate mixture over cereal mixture; stir until all pieces are evenly coated.
4. Pour powdered sugar into large resealable plastic bag; add cereal mixture.  Shake in sealed bag until all pieces are well coated. 

This stuff is evilly addictive, so I have to limit myself to a very small portion in a very small bowl.  It definitely satisfied my cravings last night, and I enjoyed snacking while watching The Office.

It has been an interesting week of trying new recipes...I'm learning a lot about cooking, and also realizing that mistakes happen and things don't always turn out great, but it's just a learning experience.  I have this tendency to feel like a failure if I try something new and it doesn't work out, but I'm slowly learning that it's okay to make mistakes....the point is to put yourself out there and try something new.  I'm very grateful to all the blogs out there dedicated to cooking, because I'm like a Kindergartner....I need pictures in order to follow directions correctly!

Now I'm going to go and relax for a few minutes before Ellie wakes up.....maybe snack on some Puppy Chow and read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for the tenth time.  (Yes, I'm working my way through the series again...I just can't help myself).

Blessings.....Kristen