Creamy Ranch Chicken

Photo from The Cooking Jar

You know, I'm very confused by the RANCH thing. I like ranch dressing just fine, but I don't understand why "ranch" has to be in everything these days. And yet, I find myself wanting to try it and every time I'm just - meh about it. 

Aside from my weird ranch problem, this wasn't a bad recipe at all. The sauce that you make is quite flavorful and compliments the chicken nicely. Watch the salt though. Ranch packets can be high in sodium. I've learned to not salt anything until the end of the cooking process.

The sauce comes together quickly. I used half and half instead of milk because, well, I was out of milk. It just made the sauce more luxurious and creamier. 

Pro tip: take it off the heat and THEN add the sour cream. Adding it with everything else to a hot sauce made the sour cream sorta curdle. It was fine, but looked a little funky. 

Creamy Ranch Chicken

Recipe from The Cooking Jar

Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (5–8 oz. each)

Salt and pepper

3 T butter, divided

1 T olive oil

1 T flour

Fresh parsley, to garnish (optional)

SAUCE

1 c low sodium chicken broth

1/2 c milk

1/4 c sour cream

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 (1 oz.) packet Ranch seasoning mix

Pound the chicken breasts to an even 1” thickness using a meat mallet and season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and add olive oil. Sear the chicken on each side until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Reduce heat to low and add the remaining butter. Stir in flour and cook for about one minute.

Pour in chicken broth and scrape up the browned bits stuck to the pan.

Add milk, sour cream, onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and ranch seasoning mix. Stir to combine until the sour cream and ranch seasoning has fully dissolved into the sauce.

Add chicken and plate juices back to the pan and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Simmer in the sauce until the chicken is heated through and the sauce has reduced slightly.

Dish and serve hot topped with fresh parsley (optional).

Enjoy!

Pink Sauce

What feels like a thousand years ago (really around 2000 ish) Sherrie and I lived together. She had some German sausage from Odessa in the freezer and she wanted to use it up. While she was cooking her dinner, I was making packaged Parma Rosa from Knorr. 

We had a "Your chocolate is in my peanut butter" moment where we put the German sausage into the Parma Rosa sauce and our favorite pasta dish was born. 

We made that meal so many times. It was cheap and easy and made leftovers for us. Back when I ate more leftovers. 

To this day, whenever I see a pink sauce - which is basically what Parma Rosa is - I have to put sausage in it. While I didn't have German sausage tonight, I did have a pack of Polish Sausage in the freezer. 

BAM! 

This was a good pink sauce. Flavorful and full of the flavor I want with a creamy tomato sauce.

Pink Sauce

Recipe from To Simply Inspire

Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons butter unsalted
• 1 medium yellow onion finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 15 ounces tomato sauce 1 can
• 1 ½ cup water
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup fresh basil roughly chopped
• ¼ cup parmesan
• Pasta of choice

Add the butter to a large skillet over medium heat. Then add the diced onion and sauté until tender and translucent.

Next, add the tomatoes, water, paprika, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

Bring it to a boil over medium heat. Then reduce to heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes until the liquid reduces.

While the sauce is simmering, cook the pasta per the package directions to just al dente.

Stir in heavy cream and the fresh basil leaves and simmer for another five minutes. [ Jenn Pro tip: Heat your heavy cream before adding it. If you add it cold it may curdle with the tomato sauce.}

Remove the pan from the heat and add the parmesan cheese. Stir to combine.

Drain the pasta into a colander in the sink and then add it to the sauce and toss gently to coat the pasta in the sauce.

Serve immediately and garnish with extra parmesan and fresh basil.

Mom's BBQ Sauce

Mom's BBQ Sauce is legendary in my childhood. It was what I asked for for my birthday dinners. Grilled drumsticks and Mom's BBQ sauce. She'd used to joke that it was a secret family recipe and I'd only get it on my wedding day. Like a dowry. 

Fast forward to me being an adult. Mom gave me the recipe and told me to not share it with anyone...ever. There was always a "secret" ingredient she'd never tell me about so if I did tell someone it wouldn't be the full recipe. I have no idea where she actually got this recipe or if she just made it up. We'll never know.

So here I am putting it on the blog WITH the secret ingredient. 

Mom's BBQ Sauce

Recipe from Jo (Mom) Wraspir

Makes about a cup of sauce

1 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon vinegar (I ended up using about 1/4 c vinegar. It was too sweet for me).

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce (the secret ingredient)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp celery seed

1/4 tsp garlic salt (I ended up using a full tsp)

1/4 c brown sugar

Combine all the ingredients. Microwave for 1 minute or cook it on the stove until it warms. Brush over meat. 

Not too surprisingly I did not cook it in the microwave or the stove. I just brushed the meat with it. 

Spicy Bourbon Bbq Steak Kabobs

Photo from
Kitchen Fun with me 3 Sons

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I'm a sucker for steak on Valentine's Day for some reason. Dad used to cook Mom up a steak on VD so I guess maybe that's why I do it. I'm not a sucker for VD though. Hate the holiday personally. 

This recipe take a little planning. You need to make the BBQ sauce ahead of time and let it cool. The BBQ sauce was good. It needed a bit more spice and a bit more sweet for me. I added an extra T of brown sugar as it was cooking down. When it was done I added another 1/2 Tablespoon of red pepper flakes. Follow the recipe and taste as you go. Adjust as you like. 

I didn't kebab these either. Oddly. I almost always kebab meats when grilling. But I found a nice NY strip steak at the store and it just screamed to stay as a steak. 

Spicy Bourbon Bbq Steak Kabobs

Recipe from Kitchen Fun with me 3 Sons

Serves 5

• 2 pounds sirloin steak cut in 1-inch cubes
• 1 red bell pepper seeded and cut in 1-inch pieces
• 1 orange bell pepper seeded and cut in 1-inch pieces
• 1 yellow bell pepper seeded and cut in 1-inch pieces
• 1 green bell pepper seeded and cut in 1-inch pieces
• 1 red onion cut in 1-inch pieces
• 4 T brown sugar bourbon seasoning

BBQ Sauce ingredients:

• 1 c whiskey
• 1 c finely chopped onion
• 1/2 c water
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1 ½ c ketchup
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1 T crushed red pepper
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 4 T molasses
• 1/8 c Worcestershire sauce
• ½ tsp liquid smoke

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the BBQ sauce ingredients.

Pour your BBQ mixture in a small saucepan on medium heat.

Cook for 20 min. stirring often.

Store in an airtight container.

Directions to make Spicy Bourbon BBQ Steak Kabobs

Thread your meat onto the skewers alternating with pieces of bell peppers and onion.

Place the kabobs in a casserole dish or a foil lined baking pan.

Season the kabobs with the bourbon seasoning.

Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Turn the heat on medium.

Grill kebabs, turning often, until all sides of the meat is well brown and vegetables are tender.

Cook for 12 to 14 minutes.

Coat your kabobs with the bbq sauce and cook for additional 4 minutes.

Enjoy!!

One Pot Creamy Chicken Marsala Pasta

I'm a bit behind in posting my new recipes for some reason. It's freakin cold in the Seattle area and I'm
going to blame the cold. 

Photo from Sound Bites Delivered

This was a really good meal. I love the flavor of marsala in a pasta dish so I wasn't surprised when I loved this recipe. 

I did not do the one pot thing. Some day this year I'm gonna have to just try the one pot thing. I adjusted the liquid in the recipe since the liquid amount in the recipe assumes you're putting pasta in to cook. 

I am bored with penne pasta so when I have a pasta dish I usually buy bow tie pasta or something
similar. This time I bought campanalle and I gotta say, this is becoming one of my favorite pastas. They're like little horns of goodness. I'm sure some real chef, or Google, could tell me when best to use this pasta, but before I figure that out I'm gonna finish the box I have with whatever I want. 

Creamy Chicken Marsala Pasta

Recipe from Tasty.co

Serves 6

• 3 T olive oil
• 1 ½ lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
• 2 c white mushroom, or button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 white onion, sliced
• 3 c chicken stock
• 1 ½ c heavy cream
• 1 c marsala wine
• 3 c penne pasta, uncooked
• 1 c shredded parmesan cheese
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• fresh parsley, optional garnish

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and chicken breast. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook until chicken is no longer pink. Remove and set aside.

Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, and the mushrooms and onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until onions are browned, stirring occasionally.

Return the chicken to the pot. Add the stock, cream, wine, and pasta, bring up to a simmer, and cover.

*Marsala wine can be purchased at most grocery stores near the dessert or sweet wines and gives the dish a distinct flavor. However, if you can’t get your hands on Marsala, you can substitute 1 cup of white wine (240 ml) plus 1 ½ tablespoons of brandy.

Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When pasta is tender, stir in parmesan cheese until smooth. Remove from heat.

Garnish with fresh parsley.

Enjoy!

Easy Red Enchilada Sauce for cheese enchiladas (154 of 150)

Yummy yummy yummy!

Though my first comment is this recipe assumes a person only eats ONE enchilada. Who does that? No one. So if you're feeding a family of 4, this should be enough. Each person gets 2 enchiladas. 

I made a full batch of this recipe and plan on freezing the remaining portions. I made 2 enchiladas and used about 1/2 cup to cover them. I think this recipe makes about 2 cups of sauce. So depending how saucy you like your enchiladas you can get a lot of enchiladas. 

I wouldn't use 1 tsp of salt next time. It was a little too salty for me. Not overly salty, but you may want to start light and add. 

I also added about another 1/2 chili powder. I wanted more chili powder flavor. 

Easy Red Enchilada Sauce for cheese enchiladas

Recipe from Love From the Oven

Serves 8

• 2 tbsp oil vegetable or canola
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 4 tbsp red chili powder Gebhardt Brand recommended
• 1 cup chicken stock or broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 8 corn tortillas
• 3-4 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese

Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk together, cooking until starting to brown. Add chili powder and whisk together with flour and oil mixture. The mixture will be thick and dry.

Add water and chicken stock and whisk well until lumps are dissolved. Add in garlic powder and salt, and whisk until combined. Simmer over medium heat for approximately 10-15 minutes, until sauce begins to thicken, and sauce will coat/stick to a spoon when pulled out of sauce. Serve or store in an airtight container.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set aside one cup of the shredded cheese to use as a topping.

Place eight tortillas on a microwave safe plate, cover with a damp paper towel, and microwave for 20 seconds. After removing from the microwave, keep covered with damp paper towel.

Pour approximately 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a greased 7x11 inch pan.

Sprinkle a handful of cheese onto a warmed corn tortilla, then roll tortilla up tightly. Place into the sauce in the pan, seam side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas and cheese.

Pour remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the top. Sprinkle with remaining one cup of cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling. If desired, top with sour cream. Serve immediately.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce (90 of 150)

Photo from
Love Bakes Good Cakes

You know I love a good Bolognese. I mean what's not to like? Meat, tomato, cream. Yum. A good Bolognese cooks all day in my opinion. My go to Bolognese is from Tyler Florence and it's what I make when I want Bolognese. 

But on occasion I don't want to deal with the Bolognese recipe. But I still want a hearty meat sauce. I've made another crock pot spaghetti sauce that was amazing. It's my go to when I don't want to watch a pot all day. 

This recipe was delicious too. It was so simple to throw together and let it sit all day. By 1pm this house smelled amazing. Pantry Goat was over for dinner and I figured this is a great recipe to send her home with leftovers. She does love my leftovers. 

This is also a great recipe to clean out your pantry with. I think most of us have diced tomatoes and other canned tomatoes in our pantry. I only had to buy spaghetti to make this meal. 

It's a simple recipe that requires no fuss. Make it. You'll be glad you did. 

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

Recipe from Love Bakes Good Cakes

Serves 6 (really I think it could serve 8 easily)

• 1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes or Italian tomatoes
• 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 T dried basil
• 1 T dried oregano
• 1 T Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lb of spaghetti or any other pasta

Cook ground beef in skillet until almost done. Add onions and cook completely until beef is done and onions are soft.

Add the beef mixture to the slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients to slow cooker. Mix well.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Serve immediately with cooked pasta of your choice.

Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Pan Seared Steak in Blue Cheese Sauce (71 of 150)

Weekends are for steak in our family. Either Friday or Saturday night dad would start up the grill and we'd have steak of some sort. So naturally, when the weekend comes around I crave steak. I stopped doing this every weekend because, well too much beef. 

This recipe is a decent recipe. It's easy to throw together and it's a nice accompaniment to the steak. I felt like the base of this sauce could easily have brandy to it instead of blue cheese. 

I didn't pan sear the steak because, who does that? Grill. Grill. Grill. 

Pan Seared Steak in Blue Cheese Sauce

Recipe from Closet Cooking

Serves 4

• 2 T oil
• 1 pound steak (such as rib eye, t-bone, striploin, etc.)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 T butter
• 1 shallot, finely diced (or 1/4 cup onion)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/2 c beef broth
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 1/4 c blue cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the steaks, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste, and sear until lightly browned on both sides and cooked to the desired level of doneness (about 2-4 minutes per side for medium-rare), before setting aside.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the butter and let it melt and start to foam before adding the shallots and garlic and cooking until fragrant, about a minute.

Add the beef broth and deglaze the pan by scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon as the broth sizzles.

Add the cream, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, add the cheese and cook until the cheese melts and the sauce thickens a bit, about 3-5 minutes.

Add the worcestershire sauce, season with salt to taste and enjoy the steak smothered in the blue cheese sauce!

Option: Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice!

Option: Replace some or all of the broth with a dry white wine.