Thursday, August 30, 2007

Kid's Meal

I made this meal today for a visit from a friend and her 3 1/2 year old son. I aimed for the meal to be kid friendly and casual so as to go with our plan to watch the Wizard of Oz. The movie pick was the 3 1/2 year olds but it was fun to see again. I made Paula Deen's Chicken Nuggets (crusted in potato chips). I've made this recipe before and really like it. The chips give the chicken a nice crust and a drizzle of butter never hurts! I also made Paula Deen's Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese. So far this is the cheesiest, creamiest recipe I have made. My only complaint is all the prep work before it goes in the crock pot. Finally, for dessert I made the classic Kraft Dirt Pudding. I will shamefully admit I really liked it too! Its just a classic. I also made a Mediterranean Pizza from a Pampered Chef cookbook so we could have a little adult food too. The pizza was really good and so versatile. I can think of tons of things to add or ways to use this recipe for parties.

Chicken Nuggets
2 cups crushed sour-cream-and-onion-flavored potato chips
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
6 chicken breast fillets, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup butter, melted
Honey Mustard, recipe follows
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the crushed potato chips in a shallow dish. Beat together the egg and milk in a shallow bowl. Dip the chicken cubes into the egg mixture and then dredge them in the chips. Place the chicken nuggets on a baking sheet and drizzle with melted butter. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. The chicken nuggets can be frozen after baking. Serve with your favorite sauce, such as honey mustard or ranch dressing.

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Recipes Source: Paula Deen

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (an 8-ounce box isn't quite 2 cups)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stuck) butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 cups (about 10 ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese ( I followed reviewer's suggestions and grated my own cheddar cheese instead of using the packaged shredded cheddar)
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Boil the macaroni in a 2 quart saucepan in plenty of water until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain. In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well. Then add drained macaroni and stir again. Set the slow cooker on low setting and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Jello-Dirt Cups

Recipe Source: kraftfoods.com

2 cups cold milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
15 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, finely crushed, divided
10 paper or plastic cups (6 to 7 oz.) or dessert dishes
10 worm-shaped chewy fruit snacks

Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Let stand 5 minutes. Gently stir in whipped topping and 1/2 cup of the crumbs.
Spoon pudding mixture into cups; top with remaining crumbs.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with fruit snacks.

Mediterranean Patio Pizza
Pampered Chef Main Dishes Cookbook

Crust
1 package refrigerated bread sticks
olive oil
1 garlic clove pressed

Cheese Spread
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts in water, drained, divided
4 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled, divided
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

Toppers
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup pitted ripe olives, sliced
1/3 cup cucumbers, sliced and quartered
1/4 small red onion, sliced into thin wedges
2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup red wine vinegar and oil salad dressing

1. Preheat oven to 375. For crust, unroll bread stick dough; separate into strips. In center of pizza stone coil 1 strip dough around itselt in a spiral patter. Add second strip to end of first strip and pinch ends; continue coiling dough. Repeat with remaining dough. Roll dough within 1/2 inch of edge of stone, pressing seams to seal.

2. Lightly spray or brush dough with olive oil. Press garlic clove over dough. Spread evenly. Bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely.

3. For cheese spread, finely chop artichoke hearts to make 1/4 cup. Combine with cream chsees and half of the feta cheese and oregano. Mix well. Spread evenly over crust.

4. For toppers, quarter remaining artichoke hearts. Seed and chop plum tomatoes, slice olives and cucumbers. Slice red.

5. Arrange vegetables over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with remaining feta cheese and pine nuts. Cut pizza into wedges. Drizzle with salad dressing just before serving.






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