Chicken and Dumplings in your Deep Covered Baker

Remember that time when I got my first crock pot? 

I went onnnn and on about it and wondered, Had I been living under a frickin rock?

Well, something similar has happened. Again. 

As most of you know I'm part of a Pampered Chef cooking class.

Yes, it is ACTUALLY called a cooking "club," but for me it's a "class." I am learning. No judging.
See Also: That time I YouTubed how to use a can opener.

We use all PC products which kinda sucked in the beginning because I had NONE.

...Until I recently invested in several that we had been using.

[Enter the Game Changer.]

TA - DA! The Deep Covered Baker:

(Click Image for Link)

Make a DELICIOUS pot roast or a 10 minute oven-to-table casserole, heck, it could

probably even dress your kids and get them to school if it had to.

I've come across tons of DCB (see what I did there?) recipes including

appetizers, soups, entrees, desserts, etc but I was excited to whip

up one of my favorites- Chicken and Dumplings! 

Or Chicken 'n Dumplins as Bryan calls it. 

Click here for original recipe. 

You Will Need:

Your Deep Covered Baker

3-4 Chicken Breasts

2 Cans of Cream of Chicken Soup

Frozen Peas & Carrots

Jenny and me was like peas and carrots. Name that movie... 

1 Can Homestyle Biscuits

1. Place chicken breasts in Deep Covered Baker and add cans of soup.

2. Microwave on High for 22 minutes. 

(Do NOT be scared to put this thing in the microwave - I was a little hesitant

at first also but its a form of stoneware that enable the cooking process. 

The chicken is perfectly safe and tastes good too!) 

3. Stir and add in frozen peas and carrots.

4. Chop each biscuit into quarters and top the chicken/veggie mixture.

5. Microwave on High for another 10 minutes.

6. Done anddd done! 

I PROMISE you it tastes as good as it looks. And sooo so quick.

I have basically brought myself to the point where if it requires more than 30 minutes

to cook, it ain't happenin. Once Bryan and I got engaged, I promised I would learn to cook.

I did not say that he would be coming home to Rachel Ray-esque meals. 

Enjoy!

The Perfect Green Juice

Anyone else having a particularly energetic Monday?!

Usually I'm draggin butt over here from the weekend but today I was bouncing all

over the place like a little glitter ball (you're welcome for the visual). 

It could be the extra large cup of coffee I poured myself this morning...

or cup numero dos that was poured hours later.

Orrr it could be the fact that I have jumped on the juicing/smoothie kick.

Allow me to FIRST give a huge thank you to one of my best friends, and one of the bridesmaids

in our wedding, Miss Shannon, and her fabulous boyfriend for this here Nutribullet.

We registered for this baby for our wedding and we L O V E it. 

You should also realize that the Nutribullet is not an actual "juicer." 

I use the phrase "juice" lightly because in actuality, it's really just a more nutritious smoothie.

The Nutribullet refers to itself as an "extractor" meaning that it extracts all of 

the nutrients from those pretty little fruits and veggies that you toss into it. 

It breaks down ingredients into their most absorptive state.

Juicers remove the pulp, which in turn is removing all of the fiber.

Fiber is good for you. Why would you remove the fiber?

Some people prefer juicing vs the Nutribullet and vice versa. 

This is strictly just my opinion and what works for me! 

That being said, these smoothies or juices have tons of benefits

which people are just starting to catch on to- such as boosting energy levels,

regulating bowels and reducing inflammation in the body just to name a few.

Here is one of my absolute favorite recipes: 

Ingredients:

2 cups Spinach

1 cup pineapple chunks

1 frozen banana

1/2" Ginger Root (here's the extra BOOST!)

Fill to the top with water and blend those babies up!

Excuse me... EXTRACT :)

It will yield a very BRIGHT green juice and it actually tastes very

good, despite what onlooking husbands might believe. 

Buffalo Chicken Pasta

Happy Tuesday friends! 

So not to beat a dead horse, but you know I just flat out DON'T enjoy cooking... right? 

I'm not sure if there is just a piece of housewife DNA that I'm missing somewhere in my genome

but I just don't enjoy it! Baking? Obviously. Cleaning? Love it!

DIY & Crafting? Yes, pleasssseee! Cooking? Shoot me. 

However with a husband and, more than likely, kids in the near future

(parents don't make me regret that statement later)

I have forced myself to be in the kitchen more and that doesn't mean standing

over the stove with a box of Hamburger Helper. 

#truestory

I've started to attend a once a month cooking class where we prepare

an appetizer, entree and dessert so I'm getting tons of new, easy recipes to try.

See HERE, HERE and HERE.

THEN, of course, there's Pinterest. I may be the 24938712487612th

woman to ask this question but, where would we be in the world without Pinterest ? 

Enter THIS little gem of a recipe:

Buffalo Chicken Penne Pasta

You Will Need:

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breasts

8 oz package of cream cheese

1/3 c buffalo sauce (I use Frank's)

1/2 c chicken broth

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup blue cheese OR ranch dressing

12 oz penne pasta

optional toppings:

green onions (chopped)

crushed red pepper flakes

1. Begin making the sauce by melting the buffalo sauce, cream cheese and chicken broth.

2. Next, add in your spices. Also proceed to yell "BAM!" while doing this

because your husband will think you're practically Emeril once he tastes this.

3. Heat the sauce for 5 minutes over medium, until creamy.

4. Add your blue cheese (or ranch) and mix well.

5. Mix in your cooked, shredded chicken until the sauce is well-distributed.

6. Allow to cook to an additional 10 minutes to blend flavors. In the meantime,

boil a large pot of water to cook your penne pasta.

7. Next, combine your pasta with your buffalo chicken sauce.

8. Garnish with your choice of toppings- I used chopped, green onion but

you can also throw a bit of crushed red pepper in there as well!

9. E N J O Y :)

I'm a huge lover of ANYTHING buffalo. And pasta? Sold!

I had a few friends ask me for this recipe so clearly I'm not alone

on the buffalo chicken obsession bus. I literally stock up on

Frank's and after this, I would suggest you do the same. 

S'mores Dip

If you live in Florida, I won't need to tell you twice but,

Summer is here, folks! Temperatures creeping up to 100 degrees, 4th of July

RIGHT around the corner (weeeee!), kids out of school, everyone and their Mom

is taking a vacation, families going camping... wait, what?!

Yeah, no. You won't catch this girl camping in Florida mid-June. You crazy?!

I have actually always wondered why camping was categorized as a Summer activity.

I mean it. is. hot. Who wants to spend a night in a tent bundled up in a sleeping bag

on what is likely the World's most uncomfortable air mattress (if you have the luxury of an

air mattress that is), let alone partake in the latter activities when it's a hundred dang degrees out?!

No, I'm a Fall-campin-kinda gal. Bryan officially asked me to be his girlfriend one night

in November on a camping trip with a bunch of our friends so I guess I just tend to

associate camping with Fall... and being "asked to be a girlfriend."

Ohhhhhh, memories! 

Anyway, back on track here, the point is, people do it! 

People still brave the heat and load up the whole fam dam and head to the nearest campground

and plop their butts there for days at a time in their 10-person tent (another thing I don't understand..

because camping is much more enjoyable when you cram everyone in one tent right?).

The one thing I *DO* crave this time of year? S'mores.

I loooove S'mores. 

Fun Fact: National S'mores Day is August 10th!

#truestory

However! You don't need to find the nearest campground to enjoy this

Summer favorite... heck, you don't even need a campfire!

S'mores Dip

You Will Need:

Mini Marshmallows 

Chocolate Chips

Sweetened Condensed Milk

Graham Crackers for Dipping

Directions:

1. Combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk

2. Microwave on high for 2 minutes or until melted

3. Add mini marshmallows and pop in the oven {on broil!}

for 2 minutes. Make sure you keep an eye on how quickly

the marshmallows brown. Some ovens are quicker than others!

4. Allow to cool. 

5. Grab your graham crackers and dip em on in!

YUM.

Campground style S'mores, minus the sleeping bags. And 10-person tent.

Enjoy and happy {almost!} weekend!

Recipe Swap: Creamy Chicken Bake

I know, I KNOW... me? Linking up for a recipe swap?

Someone is getting this cooking thing down over heeerreee!

We are fresh back from our mini vacation to Turks & Caicos this past weekend and I wanted 

to share this recipe! No, I didn't cook last night. I was too busy trying to comprehend

the fact that I was no longer on vacation and preparing for a Tuesday morning back in the real world.

We had Firehouse subs.

#guilty

But the week prior I made this tasty dinner and have been looking for a fun recipe linkup!

So horraaayy for Martinis & Bikinis and Green Fashionista for hosting! 

Creamy Chicken Bake:

• 2 1/2 to 3 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (I use 4 large breasts)
• 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup (10 3/4 ounces, condensed )
• 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup (10 3/4 ounces, condensed)
• 1 Cup Sour Cream
• 8 oz can Mushrooms drained (stems and pieces) *optional
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 1 teaspoon Chives (chopped) 
• Few dashes of Paprika  
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9x13 baking dish or similar size. Place chicken breast in baking dish in a single layer - lightly salt and pepper. Mix soups, sour cream, onion powder, mushrooms, chives and water.  Evenly pour over top of chicken and lightly sprinkle with paprika.  Bake on middle rack for 1 hour, until chicken breast is cooked thoroughly and internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F.

I like serving it with rice and broccoli! My husband seriously ate. this. up.

No joke.

Full recap on our Turks and Caicos trip later this week!

Now excuse me while I go back to day dreaming about this fabulous view... 

Yes, I am taking cooking classes

Oh hello THERE!
Has it really been almost 2 months since my last post?
Cannnn we say slacker?! Things have been a little crazy as of lately but life update:
I'M MARRIED.

The big day was March 1st 2014 and I still can't believe it's already been 2 weeks!
Rest assured I will be recapping the whole shebang of the party that was
{ #caracciolowedding }
but for the time being I'll just let you swoon over the above photo.

NOW. Let me share this new little dinner recipe with you, but first a brief synopsis..
A few months ago one of the ladies I work with insisted I join a cooking class with her.
I think it was sometime after sharing the story of me putting
an entire head of garlic (rather than the clove) in my meatloaf.
Yes, I was a Martha Stewart damsel in distress.
So I joined! One class a month for 10 months- we cook an appetizer, an entree
and a dessert (I've got the baking thing down, so we're placing most of the focus on the app/dinner).
The "cooking club" is actually hosted by Pampered Chef so the frosting on the cake
was really the fact that I will end up with $200 in products over the course of the 10 months.
New kitchen goodies AND fun recipes?! Win, win!

Tonight I'm going to share the Chicken & Broccoli Wreath recipe with you via Taste of Home.
NOT exactly the  healthiest thing I've whipped up but Bryan is addicted to crescent
rolls (I think I have witnessed him eat an entire pack in one sitting) anddddd I was
looking for something quick!

Click HERE for the full recipe.

ENJOY! :) And I willlll be back in action here on the ol' blog soon I promise!
I even have a few changes that will be made around these parts :) Bear with meee!

Chicken Pot Pie: My 3 Favorite Things

Onnnnnly kidding people!

Nobody panic.

But seriously!  Everybody loves chicken pot pie, do they not?

Ultimately I would like to conquer these bad boys:

Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes via

But since I'm neither THAT crafty nor do I have enough faith in conquering them, 

I give you my homemade chicken pot pie:

Not bad for just a little baker, eh?

Ignore the 8x8 casserole dish. 

I actually don't own a pie dish.

Note to self: Invest in a pie dish.

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Press one pre-made pie crust

on the bottom of dish.

2. In a 2 quart sauce pan mix 2 1/2 cups shredded chicken,

1 can Cream of Chicken soup, one bag of mixed frozen vegetables and salt and pepper to taste.

3. Whip it all up! Then spread evenly over pie crust.

4. Lay second pie crust on top and crimp crust all around the sides.

5. Cut slits in top pie crust and pop in the oven

for about 30 minutes on 400.

That's it! 

Easy Peasy!

Two dinner recipes so far this week- I know! WHO am I right?!

Please don't be under the impression that I am some kind of foodie blogger. 

Because that I am not.

I'm just holding myself to my word and cooking dinner every night this week.

That's right- NO. RESTAURANTS.

I won't lie to you- kind of rough! 

But think of all the money we have saved the past 2 nights!

When I say "we" I actually mean Bry.

But saving money on dinners means spending money on more important things!

cough spring shopping cough

                             

Ok moving on!

I have some 1000mg Ibuprofen, a pillow and some Bravo TV calling my name-

Wisdom Teeth 1 - Corin 0 

Paula Paula Deen, YALL!

I just love me some Paula Deen.

On my recent trip to Savannah, it was an outright NECESSITY
that not only do we make a pit stop at the gift shop, but that we dine at
Paula's restaurant, The Lady & Sons.
Just when I didn't think it was possible to put butter on butter?

Naturally, we had to snap a pic next to the life sized Paula cutout.

Ok onnnnn to the foodie portion of this post!
On last night's menu was steak and shrimp- not just any steak and shrimp,
Paula-inspired steak and shrimp!

I picked up the Whiskey Steak Sauce at the Paula gift shop in Savannah-
along with a pink "Hey Y'all!" koozie because doesn't every girl just NEED one of those??
Anyway- BOYFRAN decided that he wanted to go shrimping late Sunday night.
So that he did.
He took off around 8PM and braved the 30 degree weather
(apparently that's the best time to go shrimping?)
and came back with tons of little shrimpies!
Enter Monday night dinner planning..
Grilled up some steaks, boiled his freshly caught shrimp and dunzo!

Juuuust a little heads up- you will see 3 more similar posts throughout the course of the week.
We decided to eat in this week, well, ok.. Monday-Thursday, in attempts to save a little monay honaaay!
Thrifty. I KNOW.

On to preparing dinner numero dos at home!

Year-Round Pumpkin Pie Recipe. YES.

Well HELLO there again!

You thought Thanksgiving was over....? 

If you're like this girl who is still eating turkey sammies for lunch-

not so much.

Per my "anatomy of a Thanksgiving table" post last weekend,

you have probably gathered I don't enjoy much of the food

but I EL-OH-VEE-EE pumpkin pie!

I made this idiot-proof

(don't quote me on that)

double layer pumpkin pie for our "Brew" Thanksgiving potluck. 

This recipe is sooo easy that you can throw it together year round-

that way you don't have to wait until Thanksgiving dinner to devour it :)

You Will Need..

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. milk, divided

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin

2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Make It..

BEAT cream cheese, 1 Tbsp. milk and sugar in large bowl with whisk until blended. Stir in half the COOL WHIP. Spread onto bottom of crust.
WHISK remaining milk, pumpkin, dry pudding mixes and spices 2 min. (Mixture will be thick.) Spread over cream cheese layer.
REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until firm. Serve topped with remaining COOL WHIP.

I didn't snap a picture of the end product because I was jamming to 
Garth Brooks on Pandora in the kitchen while whippin'
this little baby up and my phone died, but here is a photo via the Kraft site
where I got the recipe:

So. Yesterday was "Cyber Monday."

Did everyone enjoy their one day of non-violent sale shopping??

I get so antsy waiting for this stuff to arrive.

WHICH REMINDS ME- I never received my

stupid bubble bib necklace from The Pokadot Shop.

Ugghhhhh scaammmmm.

I should be receiving my new brown leather

saddle bar stools for the kitchen first...

EXCITED! :)

Boat Day with Mom & Dad

Happy Happy MONDAY!

I should probably work on a new way of

starting my Monday morning posts because I

realize most people aren't as chipper as I am after the weekend.

I'll work on that!

Meanwhile... 

I didn't get to bed until super late and had a very busy start to my day

which meant breakfast in the car again.. HOLLAHOLLAA!

I am 100% addicted to these Belvita breakfast things.

They taste like Teddy Grahams.

I don't feel that I need any further persuasion as to why you should also purchase them.

If you are thinking to yourself "What is on your body slob-kabob?" 

Calm down. It's actually not all that terrible. 

I only have 2 client meetings today and I have made

the transition to heels for those :) 

And the reason for the shrug is because 

IT'S OFFICIALLY FALL NOW HEELLLOOOO :):)

Walked out of the house this morning to 75 degree weather!

Brrrrrrr

Only kidding... but recall that I am a Florida girl

and we don't have an actual Fall or Winter so I will take

any excuse to bundle up. 

Even if I have to crank up my AC in the car 

to make that acceptable. 

Getting off topic!

So we took my parents on the boat out to New Smyrna yesterday!

My parents are always a good time so needless to say it was a great day.

No floating- we fished pretty much the whole time. 

Highlights of the day include:

Dad hooking a huge red fish that was thrashing

and jumping out of the water like something that would

be on the Discovery Channel (and then losing it).

Bryan's "photo of defeat" after losing a black tip shark

off of the gaff. What can I say? I capture every moment.

Mom flagging down a jet ski to tow us in- probably one

of the coolest people I have met in a while. 

Long story short- there was a problem with the gas line- blahblahblah

we had to get towed back. Bryan felt terrible having my parents there

(Mom didn't understand why until I explained that it was a guy thing..

in women terms, it would be like me going over to Bry's parent's house

to make Thanksgiving dinner and I set the turkey on fire. She immediately understood.)

And finally, a beautiful NSB sunset :)

Oh and let me leave you with a recipe!
I made skinny egg salad to bring on the boat yesterday for sandwiches.

No one knew it was skinny otherwise I think it would have gone

untouched. But no one noticed and it was delish.... and low-cal.

100 Calorie Sandwich Thins 

8 Peeled, Hard Boiled Eggs

4 Teaspoons Light Mayo

1/2 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard

Salt and Pepper to taste

Separate yolks from egg whites.

Discard 6 of the yolks.

Chop eggs and combine with mayo, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper.