Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

As anyone who knows me knows, I love Garlic! - I was pondering what to make for dinner this evening, knowing I had limited choices of meat in my freezer (I didn't want to run to the store), chicken sounded good. A recipe from a friend came to mind, so I added my twist to it.

Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

1 box lasagna noodles (cooked & drained)
1-1/2 32oz bottles Ragu Alfredo sauce (My choice Roasted Garlic Parmesan)
1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese
1 lb shredded Colby-Jack cheese
4 oz shredded Parmesan cheese
32 oz cottage cheese
2 C cooked shredded chicken

Beginning with a little sauce in the bottom of the pan layer the ingredients noodles, cottage cheese, cheeses, chicken, and Alfredo sauce. Repeat layers till the pan is full finishing with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes until bubbly around the edges.

Serve with garlic bread.

Super easy. Fairly quick. Very filling.

This could also be doubled and one put in the freezer for a later date.

This could be made in a 12" Dutch oven also, just cut your noodles to fit. 16 briquettes on top 8 on bottom. The best way to tell when it's done is with your nose - when you can smell it - it's done.

Have fun cookin'
Cyndi

Breakfast Casserole

This is the Demo I did Saturday afternoon at the RV Show. 

This is a good breakfast dish when you're short on time. It's simple to prepare and can be made early or even frozen until needed.  

Servings Prep: 20 min. Bake: 30 min.

2 sliced bread                                        

1 cup milk
1/2 pound bulk pork sausage              

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese         

1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs                                                  

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Remove the crust from the bread and cut into 1-in. cubes. Place in a greased 12-in. Dutch oven. In a cast iron skillet, brown the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Sprinkle the sausage and cheese over bread cubes. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper. Pour over the sausage and cheese. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until puffed and golden. Yield: 2-4 servings.

• Recipe by Bakin' Bill Johnson

Some variations on this would be, Ham or Bacon instead of sausage. And 1 to 1-1/2 C Flavored Croutons instead of the bread.  This recipe is easily doubled for a family. 

If doing this for camping a little prep time at home can make this a quick for breakfast. 

Have fun Cookin'

Cyndi

Dutch Oven Curry

Another Recipe from the RV show Dutch oven Cooking

A large cast iron skillet
1-2 lbs Chicken, Beef or Shrimp - Cut into cubes or pieces (in this Demo pre-cooked and frozen shrimp were used.)
olive oil or butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 C carrots, sliced
1 C celery, sliced
1 1/2 C diced potatoes (par-boiled)
1-2 C water as needed
 S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix
4 C cooked rice or noodles

Stir-fry meat in oil or butter about 3 minutes while stirring occasionally.
Add onions and pepper and saute.
Add rest of vegetables and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until meat and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat, break Curry block into pieces and add them to the skillet, stir until completely melted. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Serve hot over rice or noodles.

• Recipe from Bakin' Bill Johnson

Sorry no picture - but very yummy and healthy.
Have fun cookin'
Cyndi

Cowboy Chili

One of today's demos at the RV show was Cowboy Chili. This is a super easy dish and quite tasty, this is a very basic dish and again you can tweak it to your liking. 

 Cowboy Chili

Serves 10 to 12
1 lb ground beef (course ground)
1 onion, diced
4 cans (10 1/2 oz each) small red beans, drained
1 large can tomato juice
chili powder to taste

Brown beef with onions in Dutch oven. Pour off excess fat. Add beans to beef. Add tomato juice and chili powder. Add a little water if needed. Taste for flavor. Simmer for 20 minutes to two hours.
If desired, add Jalapenos for more flavor.

Recipe from Bakin' Bill Johnson 
So for this Demo instead of Beef we used sausage.


Some suggestions for variation, add a can of diced tomatoes, a can of green chilies, change out the meat for ground turkey for a "healthier" version. 


Super easy great meal for camping, or anytime. 


Have fun cookin'
Cyndi

Bacon Cheese Pull-Aparts

Usually when you go camping you don't want to prepare meals that take a lot of Prep time. This one you can have ready in advance and it whips up in no time and tastes like you spent hours.

Bacon Cheese Pull-Aparts

 1 Egg

2 Tbsp milk (or buttermilk)

1 can of Pillsbury Grands (R) Flaky Layer refrigerator original biscuits 

1 (2.1oz) pkg pre-cooked bacon cut into 1/2" pieces (you could also pre-cook your own bacon)

3/4 C Shredded Cheddar cheese

1/4 C finely chopped green onions (4 medium)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 12" Dutch Oven with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, beat egg and milk with a wire whisk until smooth.

Separate dough into 8 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Gently stir the biscuits into the egg mixture to coat evenly. Fold in bacon, cheese and onions. Spoon mixture into sprayed Dutch Oven; arranging biscuits in a single layer.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 23 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Pull apart and enjoy.
Recipe from Bakin' Bill Johnson

To cook with Briquettes 12"-16 on top 8 on the bottom, 10" -13 on top 6 on the bottom. 

For the Demo we altered this to provide more samples - We used the same amount of ingredients but added an additional can of biscuits. It turned out wonderfully - however I'd recommend a few more minutes in the oven, we had a doughy spot in the center. We also made this in a 10" Dutch Oven not a 12" it made for a Deeper version - still pulled apart nicely. One other adaptation was we sprinkled a little McCormicks (R) Smokehouse Maple (Grill Mates) on the top for color and a hint of flavor. 

This recipe could also be used with Rhodes Rolls. 

Super Easy - yet you could make this as complicated as you would like. 

Have fun cookin' 

Cyndi

Heating Chart from Lodge

Oven Size	325	350	375	400	425	450
8”	15	16	17	18	19	20
	10/5	11/5	11/6	12/6	13/6	14/6
10”	19	21	23	25	27	29
	13/6	14/7	16/7	17/8	18/9	19/10
12”	23	25	27	29	31	33
	16/7	17/8	18/9	19/10	21/10	22/11
14”	30	32	34	36	38	40
	20/10	21/11	22/12	24/12	25/13	26/14

In this chart, the total number of coals you need are in bold. The pairs of numbers are there as a convenience to use when you’re baking. The first number is the number of coals on the lid, and the second is the number of coals below the oven. If you’re boiling or simmering, either put all the coals on the bottom, or a third above and two thirds below. If you’re baking, put two thirds above and a third below. If you’re roasting, then split it evenly top and bottom.

Snickers Cheesecake

I have a picture of this on my Debit card - I can't tell you how many people, ask what it is a picture of then start drooling when I tell them then when I tell them it was made in a Dutch Oven they are floored. As I have stated many times before if you can cook it in your oven you can cook it in a Dutch Oven. 

 Snickers Cheesecake

Crust

1 C Flour

½ C Brown Sugar

½ C Butter                

1 C finely chopped raw peanuts

Directions

Melt butter. Add flour and brown sugar, mix well. Add nuts.  Press into 12” Dutch oven lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 Degrees for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

Filling

4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1 C sugar

3 Tbsp heavy whipping cream

1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

5 eggs, lightly beaten

3 Snickers candy bars (2.1 ounces each), frozen and chopped

Directions

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the cream and vanilla. Add eggs; beat just until combined. Stir in chopped candy bars. Pour into the crust. Bake at 325° for 60-70 minutes or until the center is almost set. Cool for 2 hours.

Topping

1 Snickers candy bar (2.1 ounces), frozen and chopped

2 tsp Mrs. Richardson’s Butterscotch Ice cream topping (this is my favorite - any will do)

 Directions

 Sprinkle chopped candy bar over cheesecake; drizzle with butterscotch topping, and chopped Snickers, and peanuts (optional)

Yield: 12 servings.

Perfect for Valentine's Day.....

Have fun Cookin'

Cyndi

Momma's Homemade Bread

Last night we attended a fireside (a meeting for the youth of our church) it was for the kick-off for trek (more to come on that subject later) and as refreshments they had homemade bread - well Ok, I'm thinkin', they just went to Great Harvest and bought it - either way it smelled heavenly but no one from my family wanted to wait in line for a slice so I thought what the heck I'd make my own.

So obviously from my last post - I have spent the day in the Kitchen baking. Wow my house smells yummy!

Momma's Homemade Bread

4 C warm water
3/4 C powdered milk
3 Tbsp SAF yeast
4 Tbsp butter (melted and cooled)
4 Tbsp sugar
1 Tsp salt
6-8 C bread flour

In a mixer, add water, powdered milk, and mix until dissolved, add yeast, sugar, salt, and mix till combined. Change out your mixers paddles to the dough hook and add 2 cups of flour, and mix - then add flour a little at a time (while mixing) until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Pour dough onto a floured surface and knead till smooth. Place in an oiled bowl flip the dough once to coat with oil and cover with Saran Wrap. Place in a warm area till doubled in size. Pour out of the bowl again onto a floured surface and knead to release air bubbles. Cut into 4 pieces and form into loaves. Spray 4 - 9x5x3 with non-stick cooking spray (or wipe your pans with oil) and place the loaves into the pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes - a slight tap on the top of the loaf will tell if it is done (listen for a hollow sound).

This recipe is an adaptation of my own mothers' recipe - I grew up eating this all the time - I fondly remember eating sandwiches made on homemade bread for lunch. There is nothing better though that eating it fresh out of the oven with some homemade raspberry jam.

Have fun cookin'
Cyndi

Chocolate Banana Bread

So this morning I was sitting on the couch paying bills when my Dad came upstairs with 2 bananas that he bought yesterday that were too overripe for his liking - and I'm not one to eat bananas plain so I headed for the web to find something different to make with these - and came across this recipe Chocolate Banana Bread - and to top it off I had all the ingredients.

Chocolate Banana Bread

1/2 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch processed or regular)

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup white, dark, or milk chocolate chips

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 ripe bananas, mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place oven rack to middle position. Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. 

Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 - 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop coarsely.  

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky. Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips.  Scrape batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the top of the bread with coarse brown sugar (optional). Bake until bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. Can be covered and stored for a few days, or frozen for longer storage.

Makes 1 - 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

Can I just tell you - when I pulled it out of the pan a little piece on the bottom stuck - and well I just had to taste it.... :o) yummy!!!! 

Have fun cookin'

Cyndi

Blackberry Apple Cobbler

This past weekend I had the opportunity of doing a Dutch Oven Demonstration - and this was one of the Recipes I made - Super easy and Delish....
Easy Blackberry Apple Cobbler

1 can blackberry pie filling
1 can apple pie filling
3 Tbsp butter
1 yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/4 C crushed pineapple
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp slivered almonds

Pour both pie fillings into a 12" Dutch Oven and stir. Drop pieces of butter onto the fruit filling. In a medium mixing bowl add cake mix, eggs, oil, pineapple, cinnamon and stir until well mixed. Pour in Dutch Oven over fruit.

Sprinkle almonds evenly over the top. Place Dutch Oven in a preheated oven and bake at 350 degrees for 35 - 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted, and cake is golden brown. (You may also cook with coals outside with a camp Dutch Oven. Place 16 coals on the lid and 8 coals under the oven.)

Note: -When preparing the cake - follow the directions on the box omitting the water and replacing it with the pineapple.  Also for looks sprinkle a little cinnamon on top before baking.

Sorry I did not take pictures - If I am fortunate enough to cook this one again this weekend I will take a picture and post - this was phenomenal and I will defiantly make this again.

Some times Cobblers are thought of as a Dutch Oven staple - and as a competition cook they often get over looked because of their easiness. But at home or at camp - best thing around.

Have fun cookin'
Cyndi

Taco Soup

A few months ago - our Church group was learning about service and being prepared at a moments notice to be able to take in a meal to someone in need. We learned about Pantry Meals - these are easy meals that you can prepare with the food you already have in your pantry. I grew up calling them Food Storage meals - this was usually the food in the basement that was for emergencies only. Now that I am older and know, that food should really be rotated to prevent spoilage, it's good to have a few recipes to fall back on, and to use some of those darn beans.

This is another of my family's favorite soups - it also super quick and you can cook it in a Dutch oven or toss it in to a Crock Pot and let it simmer all day. 

Taco Soup

1 large can chili - or 2 regular size ones

1 can corn

1 can kidney beans

1 can pinto beans

1 small can tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes (or a pint if you can your own)

1 Tbs dehydrated onions

1 package taco seasoning

Water as needed 

1 lb ground beef, browned

Tortilla chips

Shredded cheese (optional)

Sour Cream (optional)

Combine all ingredients - except the chips, cheese & sour cream in a Dutch Oven or Crock Pot.

Bring to a boil then simmer till desired flavor is reached. 

Serve with tortilla chips (add shredded cheese & sour cream if desired).

As I was preparing this today to take to a friend of mine - I thought of doubling it for their family and mine - I was looking at serving about 12 people with this - I decided to make 1 batch 1st and see how much it made then go from there - I promise you 1 batch is plenty - It filled my 6 quart oval Crock pot. If using a Dutch Oven this recipe would fill a 12" oven.  

This recipe calls for canned beans - I usually have the dried ones on hand - 1 cup of dried beans soaked in 3  cups hot water overnight will substitute nicely, just drain and rinse with cool water, before adding to your soup.  

Have fun cookin'

Cyndi