Pantry Cooking Pinterest Style

Source: Uploaded by user via Megan on Pinterest

Well, I had no bacon in the house but I did have the ingredients for a dish on Pinterest that I have had my eye for quite a while. Unfortunately, I took NO pictures of it (though it isn't the most eye-appealing dish)...hence the photo above...had to have some visual on here.

Have you seen this pin?

Luckily, I had all of the ingredients in my pantry and freezer to put this together on Sunday morning. I love when a plan comes together!

Mel over at The Larson Lingo shared this recipe on her blog and admitted that it doesn't really have a name. I'll call it Slow-Cooked Salsa-Style Chicken...be sure to go to Mel's blog to see the final product.

Here are the directions. Believe me you need to try this. I served it over rice and it was delicious. I had leftovers tonight and it was as good (or better) than yesterday's serving.

Slow-Cooked Salsa-Style Chicken

Bag of frozen chicken thighs (2.5-3 lbs.) - could use chicken tenderloins or breasts
8 oz. cream cheese
Can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
Can of corn (drained)
Can of seasoned diced tomatoes (I used Red Gold's Lime and Cilantro Petite Diced Tomatoes - GO Indiana company - but you could use a store brand or Rotel.)

Place chicken into the crock pot (I always use the plastic liners...clean up is so much easier.) and top with cream cheese. Add the black beans, corn and tomatoes. Put the lid on and cook on slow for 6-8 hours.

Stir every two hours...it looks very bland but don't let that worry you!

Mine was done at 6 hours...assuming all crock pots are a bit different. When chicken is done, turn off the crock pot and let set for 30-45 minutes to allow it to thicken.

Serve over rice or whatever you want! I served peas with the meal and ended up mixing them with the chicken and it was yummy.

I'm very excited that the recipe lived up to the hype on Pinterest!

If you want to see some of the other recipes that I've tried from Pinterest...check out my "Recipes I've Tried" board.

Linking to Beyer Beware's Hunk of Meat Monday linky party. Be sure to check out here 3 Cheese Baked Spaghetti...yummy!

Chocolate on Your Beef Roast

My Baby Sister and one of my BFFs recently BOTH became "chocolatiers" for Dove Chocolate Discoveries...think a Pampered Chef party but with chocolate, lots of chocolate...DOVE chocolate!

I offered to host the first party for Baby Sister...of course, I promised to host the party in August and it didn't happen. However, I did get myself together and we had the party on Saturday. My BFF even came over from Ohio to help out!

It was a great excuse to have some family and friends over to my condo. For many of the guests, it was the first time they'd seen my place.

(Side Note: My mom and I argued on how long I have lived in my condo...I said 2 years, she said 5 years. I looked it up tonight and it's been just over 3 years, so we were both off!)

Unfortunately, I did get any photos of the wonderful chocolate mousse, mudslide chocolatinis, white chocolate meyer lemon cake and more...I was too busy sampling and trying to be a hostess.

(Side Note 2: The milk chocolate fondue was a HIT with both the adults and the kiddos in attendance.)

I did snap a couple photos of Baby Sister prepping our main dish of the night...Shredded Beef featuring a couple of the Dove Savory Selections.

We started by putting some Sweet 'n Spicy Cocoa Rub on a couple frozen beef roasts I had in the freezer.

When we thought we added enough rub, we dumped on some more...just because we could.

We also added a can of regular Coke to the bottom of the crockpot. Then I set it to High and let it do its thing for 6 hours. The roasts weren't quite as tender as I wanted them to be after 6 hours, so I left it on high for another hour or so.

Then I started forking the roasts apart so my guests could make mini shredded beef sandwiches on King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (I love those rolls).

We added some of the Dove Sweet 'n Smoky Chocolate BBQ Sauce to our sandwiches and they rocked!

The sandwiches were a great savory addition to what was a very sweet tasting party!

If you live in Central Indiana and are interested in hosting a Dove Chocolate Discoveries party of your own, send me an email and I'll connect you to Baby Sister! If you don't live around us, check out their website for a chocolatier near you!

Yummy Casserole from GP

I decided to tackle a main dish for my 10th and final recipe out of Gooseberry Patch's Christmas Kitchen cookbook as part of my Real Farmwives and Friends of America In the Kitchen experience!

I went for the Chicken, Spinach and Bows Casserole courtesy of Karen Fulton of Huntington, Ind. I thought it was appropriate to fix a Hoosier contribution!

It was very easy to make and yummy to eat. I halved the recipe because I didn't need to serve 10-15 people! I also used frozen, pre-cooked diced chicken instead of fresh. 


Here's the recipe:


Chicken, Spinach and Bows Casserole
16-oz. pkg. bowtie pasta, cooked (I used 8 oz. of what I had on hand.)
26-oz. can cream of chicken soup  (I used a regular sized can - 10 oz or so.)
16-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed (I used a 10 oz. box.)
4 to 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced (I used about 2 cups frozen, pre-cooked diced chicken.)
8-oz. pkg shredded Colby-Jack cheese
1 T. butter, sliced
salt and pepper to taste


Combine cooked pasta and soup, stir until coated. Add spinach and set aside. In a lightly greased 3-quart glass casserole dish, layer half each of chicken, pasta mixture and cheese. Layer with remaining chicken and pasta mixture; dot with butter and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted. Serves 10 to 15.


Stay tuned for a chance to win this great cookbook!


Hooking up to:

Special thanks to Gooseberry Patch for providing me with this great cookbook to try and share with you. If you would like to purchase this or other cookbooks, please visit theirstore. If you would like to see other great recipes, check outwww.realfarmwivesofamerica.com.

Called on to Feed the Family...Shepherd's Pie to the Rescue

Two of my three sisters are in the midst of moving "home" - not back in the my parents, but back to the family farm. This means we've all been called on to help. I've painted, packed, and babysat in the last several weeks all in the name of family!

On Saturday, my youngest nephew hung out with me while his mom (Did I mention she's 8+ months pregnant?), his paternal grandparents and his paternal great-grandma (Did I mention she's 80?) cleaned their new house in preparation for the big move on Sunday.

After a long day, I knew his mama wouldn't feel up to cooking so I decided to fix one of my all-time favorite dishes for all of my sisters and their families...well, one brother-in-law and two nephews were at Monster Jam.

This Shepherd's Pie recipe was given to me by a dear friend (who I totally owe an email or letter) many years ago and it's become a favorite of both me and my mom. There are some shortcuts you can do to speed along the process...I'll mention those below.

On Saturday, I had a 2-lb. package of ground beef in the freezer so I doubled the recipe. Good thing I did! Very little of this pie was left in the dish after supper!.

First, I fixed two pouches of instant mashed potatoes (the baby red kind) according to the instructions on the package and set those aside.

Then I cooked up my ground beef, drained and then added carrots. (Of course, I forgot to take pictures along the way.)

To that, I added a little bit of flour, salt 'n pepper and beef broth. I cooked that up until it thickened.

While the meat and carrots were cooking, I mixed a couple of eggs into the mashed potatoes. Then I put the meat mixture into a greased baking dish and spread the potatoes on top.

I baked it for about 25 minutes and then wrapped it up to take to my sister's. Once there I baked it for about 10 more minutes and then added cheese on top and baked for 5 more minutes.

I served it up with some broccoli (gotta love the Steamfresh frozen veggies) and followed the meal with some just out of the oven chocolate chip cookies (Toll House refrigerated, of course).

Totally forgot to take a photo of the finished dish...oh well!

If you have a meat and potatoes-loving family, this is a must try dish!

Shepherd's Pie

1 (22 oz.) package frozen mashed potatoes, or real ones (or ones from a box or refrigerated container)
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1/2 c. sliced carrots
2 T. flour
2 t. salt, divided
1/2 t. pepper, divided
1 c. beef broth
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/2 c. shredding Cheddar cheese
Garnish: chopped parsley (optional)

Cook potatoes according to package directions; set aside.

Brown beef and onion in skillet over med-high heat. Drain and return to skillet; add carrot. Stir in flour, 1 t. salt and 1/4 t. pepper. Add broth and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Spoon mixture into lightly greased 11 x 7 baking dish.

Stir together potatoes, egg and remaining 1 t. salt and 1/4 t. pepper. Spoon over beef mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and back for 5 more minutes. Garnish if desired.

Walking Tacos at the Supper Table

My mom called me early Saturday morning while my older sister and I were out Christmas shopping (we left home at 6:45 am...yikes) and told me she decided that the whole family was gathering at her house that evening and we were having taco salad for supper. She then asked me to pick up the ingredients - other than hamburger (that comes from the freezer) - to complete the meal.

Now, I'm going to admit something here...I am NOT a salad lover. I enjoy a good spinach salad, especially when you add bacon, but other than that I try to avoid salad.

So, I was a bit confused when I was chosen for this assignment. Then after a bit more discussion, I realized that she wanted me to make what I call "walking tacos." Now this dish usually includes lettuce and tomatoes and I guess if you go heavy on those two items, it CAN be considered a salad...but I never have, so I don't!

This is a very easy meal to whip up and there really is no recipe but I'll take you through the process.

First, if you have a house full of people when you are starting your meal prep, set out some quick and easy appetizers. we went for an array of delicious Fair Oaks Farms cheeses, like Provolone, Asiago, Muenster and Butterkase (I think).

Great way to quiet the masses so you can work in peace. Don't forget to snag some for yourself, you'll need to energy since you are the one cooking.

 Next, brown some hamburger. We cooked up two pounds for our meal (and it was just enough).

See that cool tool, that's a Pampered Chef item that my mom cannot live without. Rumor has it that I may be getting one for Christmas...hmmm.

 After your hamburger is cooked and drained (ours is so lean that we seldom have to drain it), put it back on the stove and add a packet (or two) of taco seasoning mix. Cook as directed on the seasoning packet.

While the hamburger is cooking, you (or a helper) can prep any toppings that you like on your tacos. I just had Baby Sister cut up a head of iceberg lettuce. The grocery store didn't have any nice looking tomatoes so I opted for a jar of chunky salsa instead. You can also dice up some onions but since I don't really like them, I didn't worry about it...too bad for those in the family that do - they should have helped!

Now, here's where I think this dish is a bit different. Grab a can or two of chili beans (with sauce) and heat those up - I just dump the can in a bowl and microwave them. I also grabbed a pouch of black beans in a traditional Mexican sauce from the store that morning and heated that up as well.

When everything is ready, set up an assembly line starting with...

either corn chips or tortilla chips...if you want to go crazy, grab the Chili Cheese Fritos. Crunch those up as your base then add the hamburger and beans. Top with your choice of lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, cheese...the possibilities are endless.

This is a great meal for kids because they can crunch up the chips and build their own plate.

Now, I had a great photo of my brother-in-law's plate. He masterfully put together a beautiful example of this meal...unfortunately I couldn't find the photo when it was time to do this post.

I do have this photo of what was left of the meal...



As you can see, we may have to bump it up to three pounds of hamburger as the nephews get older!

Will be linking up to Hunk of Meat Monday over at Beyer Beware later today!

Linking up to some other fun Monday parties, including...
Making Friends Monday
Follow Us Monday Morning


I received a fan pack from Frito-Lay that included the Tositos chips above. No other compensation has been received. This post is based on my own honest and uninfluenced opinions and experiences.