A Chicken Sandwich

It's almost time to go grocery shopping and there are only a few random things left to eat. Therefore, I had to get creative with tonight's dinner. I knew I was going to marinade chicken in a tequila-lime marinade but I didn't know exactly what I was going to do with it. Then after my first cup of coffee at 5:45am it hit me, I'll make a chicken sandwich.

2 large boneless, skinless breasts
tequila lime marinade- I used a Weber grill seasoning packet from the store
4 French rolls
1 cup mayo
1 garlic clove
shredded cheese
8 slices of bacon

Marinade the chicken for at least 3 hours. Chop the garlic and mash it into a paste with the side of the knife. Add garlic to the mayo and put in the fridge. Preheat the grill and cook the chicken for about 20 min. While the chicken is cooking, cook the bacon. After 15 min, put the French rolls on the grill and toast them. When the chicken is cooked, let it rest for a few minutes and then slice. To assemble the sandwiches, spread the garlic mayo on each side of the bread. Then layer the chicken, bacon and cheese.

Steak

I love steak and I love a good marinade. This marinade is super easy and you probably have most of the ingredients at home. This marinade is for 1-1 1/2lbs of steak.

1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
2 teaspoons of Montreal Steak seasoning

Mix together in a glass dish or plastic bag. Marinade meat for 30 min to overnight.

I know this is the crappiest picture in the world but next time you are at the store, pick up the McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning. It's amazing! Anytime I use ground beef in a recipe, I sprinkle a bit of this on the beef and it adds a great flavor. It's good on chicken too.

Chicken Squares

These are super easy and yummy!

1 package of Pillsbury refrigerator crescent rolls
1- 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast
1 container of chive and onion cream cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Cut up chicken into cubes and cook in a pan with some salt and pepper. In a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and then place the cooked chicken on top of it so it melts. Mix it all together until the cream cheese is melted. Take the crescent rolls and put the 2 triangles together to make a rectangle. Continue to do this so you have 4 rectangles and stretch the dough out a bit. Divide the chicken mixture up among the 4 rectangles and then fold up the sides of the dough to cover the chicken. Make sure all sides are sealed and bake for 15-20 min or until golden brown.

You could probably do this with plain cream cheese and salt/pepper or other seasonings if you don't like chive and onion cream cheese.

Comfort food-Lasagna

It's a rainy, gloomy Sunday and a perfect day for some comfort food. When I think of comfort food, I immediately think of pasta. I love pasta in a cream sauce or some type of baked dish with a red sauce and lots of cheese. Yum.

My new fav is lasagna. I've tried making it a few times but boiling the noodles and assembling everything was such a pain in the ass. Well I found a recipe using the no-bake noodles and have made a few changes. How can you go wrong with 4 cups of cheese? This is definitely easy enough for my beginner friends:)

1lb Italian Sausage- sweet or hot
1 1/2 jars spaghetti sauce
1 container of cottage cheese
4 cups of cheese ( 2 cups Italian cheese blend and 2 cups Mozzarella)
2 eggs
salt and pepper
9 no-bake lasagna noodles

Preheat oven to 350. Cook the Italian sausage in a large pan and drain any grease. Add the spaghetti sauce and cook for 5 min. In a large bowl, mix the cottage cheese, eggs and 2 cups of the cheese, salt and pepper. In the bottom of a 9 x 13 dish, spread some of the sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. Then layer 3 uncooked lasagna noodles, cheese, sauce and repeat layers. Top with the 2 cups of cheese. Take a piece of aluminum foil and spray one side with cooking spray. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 45 min. Take the foil off and bake for an additional 10 min. Serve with Texas toast or garlic bread.

Meatloaf

I think many people have a love/hate relationship with meatloaf. As a kid, I thought a big hunk of dry meat sometimes slathered with some ketchup was pretty nasty. But over the past few years, meatloaf and I have developed a better relationship. I have tried several recipes and discovered that turkey or any beef leaner than 85% is too dry for my taste.

Here are two of my favorites. The first is a bacon wrapped meatloaf of course! This meatloaf is perfect. It's from The Pioneer Woman blog. Her blog is amazing and I honestly don't know how she does it with 4 kids but whatever. The second is a slow cooker meatloaf. I have found that 4-5 hours is the perfect cooking time. I usually mix 1/2 cup bbq sauce with 1/2 cup ketchup instead of 1 cup ketchup. Both of these recipes are ridiculously juicy and best served with mashed potatoes. Enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf www.thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/09/my-favorite-meatloaf/

Slow Cooker Meatloaf www.bobevans.com/recipe/Slow_Cooker_Meatloaf.aspx

Beef Nacho Casserole

I know, know I need a picture. I love this dish. I usually have most of the ingredients on hand and it's easy to make. The girls and I can easily devour the 9x9 pan. It's that good.

1 pound ground beef

1 1/2 cups salsa

1 (10 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained OR 1 1/2 cups of frozen corn, cooked

3/4 cup mayo

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 cups crushed tortilla chips

2 cups shredded cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the ground beef in a large skillet and drain the grease. Cook the corn in the microwave or on stovetop. Remove the beef from the heat, and stir the salsa, corn, mayonnaise and chili powder into the beef. In a 9x9in casserole dish, layer the ground beef mixture, tortilla chips and cheese and repeat. Bake for 20 minutes uncovered in the preheated oven, until cheese is melted and dish is thoroughly heated.

A few tweaks I've made- add some seasoning to the beef. I like using McCormick Grill Mates Montreal seasoning and Cumin. The Montreal seasoning adds a nice flavor to ground beef and I use it in most beef and hamburger dishes. Also, if you like hot salsa like I do, don't use an entire 1 1/2 cups in this recipe or you will be sweating profusely as you eat dinner. Mix the hot salsa with a mild salsa to make 1 1/2 cups. Any cheese will work for this recipe. Tortilla chips are the best but I've even used potato chips for this recipe and it turned out ok. Good luck and enjoy!