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