Tasty and Quick Fall Recipes!

I have some amazingly yummy fall dessert recipes that are soon to come... (and pics from Halloween too!) but here are some easy yummy meals we have made lately!

Shredded Barbecue Chicken

This has to be the easiest recipe there is and so versatile. Throw however many pieces of chicken you will eat into a crockpot, cover well with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8. 1-2 hours before meal time shred chicken and stir well. If you need to add more bbq sauce, this is a great time to do that... DON'T add water. The chicken is juicy enough and it ends up perfectly moist and tender just with the BBQ sauce.

Ideas for a meal:

• Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches
• Top Baked Potatoes with BBQ Chicken and cheese and ranch- yum!
• Served just as the meat dish with veggies, salad, fresh bread...
• BBQ Chicken Salad YUM! (I posted on this a while back- lettuce, BBQ chicken, corn, black beans, cheese, cilantro if desired, ranch dressing, chips, etc!)
• Any other ideas? I always make extra because it is good for at least 2 meals! AND a great side dish would be...

Twice Baked Potatoes! While Sydney was in the hospital my friend Stephanie brought these over with baby back ribs (and a whole slew of other stuff!) and Gerron was raving. I got home from the hospital late that night and yup, they were just as good as he said!

Twice Baked Potatoes:

5lb bag; bake for about 45 min/ 1hr

Cut tops off and scoop out as much potatoe as possible

Mix together in the potatoes: 1 cup of sour cream

1 stick of butter

1 packet of Ranch Dressing mix/or dip

milk just add until creamy

Mix until fluffy. Scoop back into the potato skins and add some cheese and bacon (I used turkey bacon) bake for about 8 minutes. Just to melt cheese/warm the potato.

An all time favorite... Just made this Monday...

Central Market Tortilla Soup

2 TBS oil
1 c diced onions (1 large onion)
1 T minced garlic
1 serrano pepper,diced
1 green bell pepper, diced (about 1 c)
1 c diced tomatoes
2 T chili powder
1 T cumin
1 bay leaf
salt 2 qts chicken broth (or 8 cups water w/bullion)
2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded or diced (I use rotisserie chicken from Costco)
1 cup frozen corn (optional!)

2 T chopped fresh cilantro
2 limes
tortilla chips
sour cream
avocado slices- optional
shredded cheese- optional

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large stock pot, sauté onion, garlic and peppers until onions are translucent. Add the dry spices (chili powder, cumin, bay leaf, and salt) and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and continue cooking 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to boil; if adding chicken, add in 2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken and corn if desired. Also add 3/4 cup crushed tortilla chips. (this thickens it slightly so it's not totally brothy). Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add chopped cilantro and lime juice from 1 lime. Serve and garnish with sour cream, avocado slices, additional lime wedges and tortilla chips and cheese if desired. (My kiddos LOVE this. If you want it less spicy, add less serrano pepper or less chili powder.) Makes 8 8-ounce servings.

Tired of Chicken?!? We have also loved this recipe for years- rated 5 stars on Allrecipes...

Shrimp Etouffee II

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup margarine 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped green onion 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper 4 cloves minced garlic 1/2 cup celery, diced 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

3 tablespoons tomato paste 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 pound cleaned shrimp salt to taste 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce to taste 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a 2 quart microwave safe dish, combine margarine, onion, green onion, bell pepper, garlic and celery. Heat on High settings for 8 to 9 minutes.
2.	Stir in parsley, tomato paste, soup, shrimp, salt, hot pepper sauce and cayenne. Heat on High setting for 5 minutes. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes until mixture thickens. Serve over white rice.

Playgroup, Suns Game, and GIrlS NiGHt OuT!

We LOVE Colby's playgroup!

They are the cutest kids and all get along so great. So much fun to have over. I love watching them interact with each other with their cute little voices and different mannerisms. They are so polite to me and kind to one another which is especially nice at this age. AND they were cracking me up. They say just the cutest and funniest things. Mia was my assistant and boy was I glad to have her there to help! ;-)

As you can see, Colby was super excited to head out on a date with Daddy to the Suns game Friday night. They "doubled" with JJ and George and had such a fun time!

So since they took off to the game, we had a "girls night out" (plus Marcus!) and made homemade pizzas, breadsticks, cookies & watched the animated Pippy Longstockings! But, YUM! Susie is the pizza connossier and I LOVE the barbecue chicken pizza she makes. It is actually easier than I thought to make so I've posted the "recipe" below.
BBQ Chicken Pizza

• Make dough, or pick some up at Fresh & Easy (We did a taste test and Susie's dough beat out Fresh and Easy, but their dough is still actually really good!)
• Roll out dough on parchment paper
• Pour on BBQ sauce and spread thin (I like Sweet Baby Rays Original)
• Sprinkle on diced red onions
• Sprinkle on diced tomatoes
• Sprinkle on diced chicken (cooked Costco chicken works great)
• Sprinkle on cheese (she mixes mozzerella and cheddar)
• Cook according to dough instructions. YUM! I promise you will love it. And it's a super easy meal... So make it and impress your hubby!

For fast and easy breadsticks:

• Roll out dough
• Brush with butter (melted or soft butter works)
• Sprinkle with kosher salt, italian seasoning, and garlic salt
• Top with parmesan cheese (if using mozzerlla cheese add during last 3 minutes of baking
• Bake!