I made this for a dinner with some friends. Start to finish 20 minutes. It is great if you are in a hurry. I used bagel chips but you could serve it with chips, crackers or bread chunks.
Ingredients
- 1 pound bacon
- 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 (10 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
- 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned and crisp, about 12 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate. Cool; chop coarsely.
- Stir together the bacon, spinach, artichoke hearts, sour cream, mayonnaise, and Parmesan cheese until well combined. Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Again a big thank you to Linda Hallman for this recipe. Super duper easy to make and gives cooked carrots a new spin. Of course the carrots can be cleaned and cut up ahead of time which makes for an easy vegetable dish the day company is coming.
1 1/4 lbs carrots - cut into strips
1/4 c. melted butter/margarine
1/4 c. brandy
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
Put carrots in an oven safe covered dish. Mix other ingredients together and pour over carrots. Cover and bake for 40 minutes at 375 degrees.
Shout out to Linda Hallman for this recipe. This is an awesome recipe. And with the advice from Linda, it is perfect to make the night before and warm it up the next day. We (Bf and I) made this on Wednesday night and put it in the fridge over night. Then when we were getting ready for our dinner guest we put it back in the oven to reheat. You couldn't even tell it was made the night before.
We used chicken thighs instead of chicken breast. Either will work. Please don't let the artichoke heats scary you away. I'm not a fan of artichokes either but once everything is cooked you can't even tell they are in the dish. I actually forgot they were in the chicken dish until we were clean up dinner, then it dawned on me. We served with Brandied Carrots and part wild rice and part white rice. Makes a fancier meal that can be done ahead of time. My 6 qt. dutch oven worked perfect for this recipe and fit 8 chicken thighs with no problems.
8 chicken thighs or breasts
Paprika
Salt
Pepper
1/4 lbs butter (1 stick)
1 - 15oz can of artichoke hearts
1/2 lbs fresh mushrooms
1 pinch tarragon
3 tbsp flour
1/3 c. sherry
1 1/2 cups chicken bouillon
Slather the chicken in paprika, salt, and pepper. Saute in 1/2 stick butter until golden brown. Place the chicken pieces in a large serving casserole and add the artichokes among them. Put the mushrooms and the remaining half of the butter in the same skillet you used for browning the chicken. Season with the tarragon ans saute for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour in gently and add the sherry and bouillon. Simmer for 5 minutes and pour the sauce over the chicken and artichokes. cover the casserole and bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.
Recipe taken from Saucepans and the Single Girl
How much does a 9x13-inch pan make?
• A 9x13-inch pan holds between 12 and 14 cups and has 117 square inches of surface area.
• Therefore, halving pretty much any recipe that goes into a 9x13-inch pan means that you need a pan that holds between 6 and 8 cups and has about 60 square inches of surface area.
• Fortunately, most of us have such a pan! An 8x8-inch pan holds 8 cups of volume, and has 64 square inches of surface area.
The 8x8-inch pan is just slightly bigger than a halved 9x13, so if halving a recipe you may want to reduce the baking time by about 5 minutes, and check on the casserole then. But ultimately, this has always worked well for me. When halving a basic 9x13 casserole, cut the recipe in half and bake it in an 8x8-inch pan.
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/halving-casseroles-tips-for-reducing-the-size-of-a-recipe-137981
This is one of my favorite recipes my mom makes. It is great because you can use leftover stew or buy stew in a can. This recipe would be easy to cut in half as well. You would use a 8x8 pan and reduce the cooking time.
Beef Stew Bake
1/2 cup butter
3 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
3 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheese
2 tbls. sugar
1 large can dinty moore beef stew
(3 cups of left over stew can be
used in place of canned stew)
Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter in a 9x13 pan in the oven. Combine all ingredients, except the beef stew. Pour batter over melted butter. Spoon the beef stew over batter, leave some of the batter exsosed.
DO NOT STIR.
Bake for 6o to 65 minutes.
This was made for another college friends dinner night. I was told that this was the best dessert I have ever made. It guess you could say it as a success.
Ingredients:
22 (1/2 sheets) of graham crackers, divided (14 oz box)
Cooking Spray
3 cups milk
2 (3.4 oz) pkgs of vanilla instant pudding mix - DO NOT USE SUGAR FREE
1 (8 oz) softened cream cheese
1 (8 oz) Cool Whip
Glaze:
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp softened butter
2 tbsp honey
2 ozs unsweetened chocolate (melted & cooled)
1-1/2 cup powdered sugar
Optional: Flavored liquor (1/4-1/2 cup)
Directions:
Arrange 7-1/2 graham crackers sheets in bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan sprayed with cooking spray
Combine 3 cups milk with pudding mix and cream cheese in a bowl
Beat at low speed for 1 minute or until thick
Fold in Cool Whip and optional liquor (such as, Kahlua, Cappacino, Irish Cream, Amaretto, etc.)
Spread half of pudding mixture over graham crackers.
Top with 7-1/2 more graham crackers,
Repeat with remaining pudding mixture
Top with 7-1/2 more graham crackers
Glaze:
Combine milk thru chocolate ingredients and beat well with mixer
Gradually add 1-1/2 cup powdered sugar to milk mixture
Beat well
Spread chocolate glaze over graham cracker
Place wooden toothpicks in each each corner and middle so cover does not touch chocolate glaze
Cover very loosely with plastic wrap
Chill at least 12 hours
I never thought red sauce could be so easy to make. I decided to take on the challenge of red sauce when two recipes I was making called for red sauce. Little did I know, if it was this easy I would have been making this a long time ago.
Ingredients:
1 (12oz) can tomato paste
2 cups hot water
2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp minced onion
1 tbsp minced garlic (about 9 cloves)
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 (28 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
Directions:
Mix tomato paste and hot water in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in parsley, onion, garlic, sugar, salt, basil, oregano, and thyme.
Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes; mix well. Do not cook.
Measure sauce into appropriate portions for immediate use. Divide remaining sauce evenly among 1-quart freezer bags for later use.
To use sauce:
completely thaw one bag in the refrigerator.
Use in a recipe calling for tomato sauce, or simmer in a saucepan over medium-low heat for 20 minutes and pour over your favorite pasta.
To us in a meat sauce, brown and drain 1 lbs lean ground beef for every 8 cups of sauce; add cooked beef to sauce and gently reheat.
