Open Faced Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwich

I love going to Bob Evans. I especially love their open faced sandwiches and I have managed to re-create one right here at home. Here's how you do it...

Ingredients:
Texas Toast
Pulled BBQ Chicken
Mashed Potatoes
Shredded Cheese
Garlic Powder

I prepare one chicken breast per sandwich by baking it in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for one and a half hours. Slather on about 1/3 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce to each piece of chicken before placing in oven. Once the chicken is out of the oven I shred it and pour on about two more tablespoons of sauce.

For the mashed potatoes I use instant. I know, I know, but I add about a teaspoon of garlic powder to kick them up a notch. You are more than welcome to use real potatoes to make your mashed potatoes. You will need between 1/2 cup to a full cup of potato for each sandwich. I used closer to a cup because I love mashed potatoes!

In a toaster, toast one piece of your Texas toast.

Now once all of these steps are completed begin layering your ingredients by taking your piece of toast and topping on it these ingredients in the following order; mashed potatoes, shredded chicken, and then shredded cheese.

This meal contains some of my favorite ingredients...bread, mashed potatoes, meat slathered in some sort of sauce, and topped with cheese. How can you go wrong with that?

Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies

When I used to work in another department at my place of employment we used to have the most amazing carry-ins. The food that everyone brought in was some of the best and if you left hungry then there was something wrong with you. Normally I am not a sweets person. Yes I do love chocolate but growing up we didn't get served a lot of desserts. For us after dinner meant you could have two Oreo cookies and be done. Two Oreo cookies?? That makes me laugh today because seriously...who can stop at just two Oreo cookies?


Anyway, a new lady in our department brought these brownies in and from that point on she was designated the official brownie person. Now like I said, I am not a sweets person, but with these I find myself going back for seconds, and thirds, oh who am I kidding...I could probably eat the whole pan if I really wanted to. Once again they are simple to make using store bought ingredients but with the addition of the melted Andes mints you would swear they were homemade.

Mint Chocolate Chip Brownies~
1 box brownie mix, baked as directed
1 bag of Ande's Mint Chips

Directions:
1.) Make brownies as instructed on the box. The fudgier the better. Allow to cool.
2.) In a double boiler, bring water to a boil and add chocolate chips to a glass bowl and melt.
3.) Spread melted chocolate over brownies and refrigerate until the chocolate has hardened.

* Make sure the water in your pan does not touch the bottom of the glass dish you are melting your chocolate in. Also before adding your chocolate to the bowl bring the heat down so that the escaping steam does not hit your chocolate. If water hit's your chocolate your in trouble.

* Instead of melting the chocolate for icing, you can just add the chips to your batter and cook them that way. Either way the hint of mint will have your guests asking for the recipe!

Chicken Alfredo Casserole

I must be on a casserole kick here lately as here we go with yet another one. This is a new one that I just whipped up after realizing I had a jar of Alfredo sauce that has been lurking in my pantry from the last time we made our Murphy's Madness Pizza. I didn't want to just do chicken Alfredo, that would be to boring, so I thought let's kick it up a notch and turn it into a really good casserole.

Chicken Alfredo Casserole~

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 jar Alfredo sauce
1/2 lb. Linguine noodles
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. garlic powder
shredded cheese
butter

Directions:
1.) In a skillet add about a tablespoon of butter and add chicken which has been cut into bite size pieces. Sprinkle with garlic powder and allow to brown. Add in chopped onion and cook until translucent.
2.) In a separate pot bring to a boil enough water to cook 1/2 lb. of linguine noodles. Cook as instructed on the box.
3.) Mix together chicken and onions with Alfredo sauce and gently toss in the cooked pasta.
4.) Add to a casserole dish and sprinkle with your shredded cheese.
5.) Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes or until cheese is melted and nice and golden in color.


Linguine means "little tongues" and this is definitely a tongue pleaser. I was pleasantly surprised by how well this came out and the shredded cheese on top is so good. I went back for seconds on this one and can't wait for the leftovers.

Easy Tuna Casserole

Growing up with divorced parents I got to be served two variations of this dish. Unfortunately for my Mom, my Step-Mom wins this hands down. Although, settle down now Mother, I do like yours as well. Not sure where my Step-Mom got the recipe from but I have been making it for years. I love this stuff with a slice or two of buttered bread. It calls for simple ingredients, which seems to be my kick here lately, and most importantly those simple ingredients are more than likely just sitting in your pantry waiting to be used.

Easy Tuna Casserole~
Ingredients:
1 box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, yes the stuff in the blue box

1/2 c. chopped onion

2-5 oz. cans Tuna, drained

1/2 C. milk

1 can cream of celery
French's Fried Onions

Directions:
1.) Cook macaroni and cheese according to the box, yes you want to add the powdered cheese.
2.) Chop up onion and with the rest of the ingredients add to your macaroni and cheese in an oven safe casserole dish.
3.) Sprinkle dish with your fried onions and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about forty five minutes or so. You want the top to be a golden color and everything to be heated through.

I used to make this meal all of the time during my days as a single gal living on her own. It's cheap to make and makes great leftovers. I hope you and yours enjoy as much as I have through the years.

*I also wanted to share with everyone that my Doctor is finally starting to realize that my Crohn's isn't what has been making me sick this past year. Deep down inside I knew this, simply because none of the systems I have been dealing with are even remotely similar to what I deal with when coming out of remission with my Crohn's disease. Everyone has been screaming "it's your gall bladder, have them check your gall bladder" and sure enough yesterday he admitted that it sounds like it could be my gall bladder. For the first time in the year I have been dealing with this he was sympathetic to the fact I am miserable and not making this stuff up. I have an ultrasound scheduled for this Sunday and I have an Endoscopy scheduled for June 3rd. I pray that my gall bladder will show right away that it needs to be removed. I am to the point now I don't know what I will do if they find that my gall bladder is normal and will not need to be removed. I am running out of options and would really like to get my life back on track. I feel like I have wasted the past year of my life being sick and I don't want to repeat that with this year. I have places to go, people to see, and I really want to start dedicating some time to starting a family with my husband. I refuse to get pregnant while I am sick for the simple fact I do not want to complicate a pregnancy that will already be considered high risk because of my Crohns disease and Remicade treatments. Everyone please keep your fingers crossed that my gall bladder is shot, I would appreciate it.

Turtle Soup...

Just kidding!! If I ate turtle soup it would be because I wasn't aware of there being turtle in my soup and once I found out...I don't think it would stay in my stomach for long if you know what I mean. Anyway, all of our pretty wedding photos were taken at Cox Arboretum here in Dayton and because yesterday was our wedding anniversary and because I have been wanting to pay the place a visit with my new camera, we swung by yesterday afternoon. I wanted to share these pictures with everyone because I think it turned out so well. You can tell spring is in the air when you spot the turtles sunbathing.


Anyone know how to put a stamp on my published pictures for copy right issues? I should know how to do this however I am stumped. I do have photoscape so if anyone knows how to do it, please let me know! Help is very much appreciated!

Broccoli Casserole

My Step-Mom made this casserole for us all the time while growing up. It went with us to every family function and if we were lucky enough to bring home leftovers, I would have it for breakfast. I love this stuff and with the exception of the processed cheese, it is pretty healthy for you! It goes great with BBQ chicken!

Broccoli Casserole~
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked white rice
2 cans cream of celery soup
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 boxes broccoli*
1 jar of Cheez Whiz spread

Directions:
1.) Cook rice according to package.
2.) In a food processor pulverize your broccoli and onion.
3.) In a casserole dish add your rice, broccoli and onion mix, mix until incorporated.
4.) Add soup and then stir in cheese.
5.) Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes or until the casserole is heated through and golden on top.

Now for the hints...I use the broccoli that comes in the box with the stems still on. If you get the already chopped broccoli it tends to contain more of the stem than the florets. Also, my Step-Mom never made this in the oven, she just ran it through the microwave until it was hot, stirring every few minutes to make sure the cheese got evenly mixed. You can make it however you want. Also, if you like it really cheesy like I do, use a jar and a half of the cheese mixture and save the rest to top on crackers.

Happy Anniversary

I will be taking a leave of absence today while I celebrate my 2nd wedding anniversary with the love of my life. Two years ago when our journey into matrimony began I think we both had doubts about whether we had done the right thing...first year of marriage can be a tough one, add financial strains, sickness, a house that needed work our inspector failed to mention, and two very different people and you have yourself a rocky start.

Daniel is a go getter not sitting for one second while I am content sitting back and relaxing. It has been an adjustment for both of us, he learning to just sit around and be content with his surroundings, no matter how boring, while I have learned to get up and go conquer the world with him no matter how badly I would just prefer to sit around with our dogs.

Two years ago I promised that I would love him more today than yesterday, and that I would love him more tomorrow that what I did today. I have kept my promise, falling more in love with him with each passing day. He is my best friend and the man I can't see spending my life without. I am not sure what the future holds for us, good...more than likely some bad, but I know that as long as I have him, we will make it through everything.

Thank you Sweetie for loving me as I am! For dealing with my constant health battle to the best of your ability and learning to adjust to my constant anxiety issues. For not rolling your eyes too badly when I mention I screwed up another food dish by impatiently scanning through a recipe instead of carefully studying it. For slowly learning to just keep your mouth shut when I am driving like Mario Andretti. For standing in the middle of Wal-Mart holding my make-up and female items so that I can run to the bathroom, even though every man that walks by you just shakes their head in shame. For answering my five calls in a two hour time period when Lennon was sick with "garbage gut" causing me to not get a single thing done at work until I heard those magic words "he pooped". For helping me to deal with the fact children will come when God is ready for us to have them and knowing that we will be all right if they don't. For dealing with the large extended family that went from just being mine to now being ours. For understanding that that large extended family is my life and that they come before all things. And for allowing me to love yours like they were my own. Because of my husband I have nieces and nephews that are older than me, I thought that issue was just on my Dad's side of the family.

I love you and I can't wait for our dinner, as well as many more years together!!