Pioneer Woman's Ranch-Style Chicken

Oh.My.Goodness. This was sooooo good. But really, how can anything with bacon and cheese on top NOT be good?

I don't think I will make it very often, though. For one thing, it's fairly labor intensive. I am never on the ball enough to marinate something for any length of time. Then, you fry up a lot of bacon, then you fry the chicken, then you bake the chicken. So, lots of work. Also, the way the recipe is written, it's loaded with fat. I don't worry too much about low-calorie cooking, but I think we eat fairly healthy. Although, we'll see what my gallbladder has to say about this meal later tonight!!!!!

The best thing about this meal was that I got a LOT of bacon grease to start my bacon grease jar for the fridge!!!!!

Homemade Chicken Broth

Here's a great way to save some money and make some YUMMY chicken broth. We ate a Rotisserie Chicken today for lunch. There's tons of meat left over, too. Here's my "recipe":

Homemade Chicken Broth

Chicken bones, skin - basically, whatever is left over after you eat a roasted chicken
1 Onion - cut up in large chunks
a few Carrots - cut up in large chunks
Celery - if you have it. I usually don't have it, so I don't use it.
Spices - whatever you have - garlic cloves, a few black peppercorns

Put it all in a crockpot and fill up with water. Cook on Low all day, or overnight. Refrigerate the broth, then skim the fat off the top if there is any.

I usually freeze the broth in 1 and 2 cups portions and then I can use it whenever a recipe calls for it.

Lasagna

I made Lasagna last night for my family that was visiting from out of town. I don't make it too often for a few reasons ... it's expensive, it takes my little family FOREVER to eat a whole pan of it, and it takes pretty much the whole afternoon to make it. But it.is.so.good.

I really need to figure out a way to freeze half of it or something. Maybe I'll try one of these pans one day. I could freeze smaller portions maybe.

The recipe is from my friend, Becky. Here it is:

Lasagna

1 pound ground beef
1 pound bulk pork sausage
24 oz. tomato sauce
12 oz. tomato paste
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 eggs
3 Tablespoons minced parsley
24 oz. small-curd cottage cheese
8 oz. ricotta cheese
½ cup Parmesan cheese
9 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained (I use whole wheat noodles. Or use the Oven-Ready ones)
6 slices Provolone cheese (I usually use 12 slices because that's how the package comes.)
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded mozzarella (I don't measure. I just eyeball this step when I do it.)

In a skillet, cook beef and sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add the next seven ingredients (up to and including the garlic). Simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. You can cook the sauce for longer or make it ahead of time.

In a bowl, combine the eggs, parsley, cottage cheese, ricotta and parmesan. Spread 1 cup of meat sauce in an ungreased 13x9 pan. Layer with the following:

*Three noodles

*provolone cheese

*2 cups cottage cheese mixture

*1 cup mozzarella

*three noodles (I do an extra layer of provolone cheese after these noodles.)

*2 cups meat sauce

*remaining cottage cheese mixture

*1 cup mozzarella

Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce, and mozzarella. (dish will be very full) Cover and bake at 375 for 50 minutes. Uncover; bake 20 minutes longer. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. (Serves 12)

***My Notes: Even when I let it stand for 15 minutes before cutting, it still runs all over the plate! Also, I use a special lasagna pan that's really deep because this recipe will definitely overflow a regular 9x13 pan.

My Handmade Christmas Gifts

Here are a few things I made for Christmas gifts.

I ran out of gift bags, so I grabbed some paper bags and ribbon and did this:














I made lots of felt food for the kids. First up: "paper bags" with their names.














A cheeseburger, complete with a tomato slice and pickles!














Pancakes, doughnuts, and a cheese quesadilla.














For the felt food, here are a couple of links for sites I liked.

Doughnuts
Cupcakes - I didn't have time to make these, but I plan to one day!
Craftster site - TONS of felt food in this one.

These are reusable snack bags. I'm pretty proud of the fact that all of the fabric I used was fabric I already had. The only thing I had to buy was the velcro for the top closure.















Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix!!!!!!!!!!














I used the recipe here. The only thing I changed was that I used regular semi-sweet chocolate chips and I didn't mix them in. I tried the mini ones, but they didn't melt! I don't know why, but I tried the regular ones and they melted fine, so I went with what worked! I put the chips and some marshmallows in little bags and put them inside the mugs so that people could put them in if they wanted.