Recipe Share

When it's just me & the girls eating dinner, I always like to make something that I know they will eat without hesitation.  I am just not up for the fight!  This week has been a great dinner week for us.  No fussing, just eating!  Monday was spaghetti with meatsauce - always a winner.  Tuesday, I made ranch chicken nuggets.  These things are SO good!  It's a chicken nugget I can get on board with.  My girls aren't big on eating the processed ones, so anything that involves a real piece of chicken is a winner in their book.  And I even hoard some honey mustard sauce from Chickfila for Scarlett to dip in :o)  Here's one of my new favorite recipes:

Ranch Chicken Fingers (or nuggets if you choose to cut them small like me!)

2lbs chicken tenders / cut up breast pieces
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 cup bread crumbs
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix

2 eggs - beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used EVOO)

In a bowl, combine the parm, bread crumbs and ranch.  In a separate bowl, beat 2 eggs.  Dip chicken pieces in egg, then coat with breadcrumb mixture.  In a large skillet, heat oil to medium heat.  In heated oil, cook chicken for about 4 minutes on each side until golden brown.  Transfer to a baking dish and cook at 350 degrees about 30 minutes or until no longer pink (less time for nuggets).

* Just a note on this one...you'll use up more breading mixture if you choose to do nuggets instead of tenders so plan accordingly!


Last night we had chicken fried rice which they gobbled up while professing love for "rice with fire."  Scarlett complained at first when I told her that I was making it, saying she needed red beans and rice instead.  Well, guess what's for dinner tonight.  Yep, if it involves beans, they will eat it and love it.  Here's my crockpot red beans and rice recipe.  I've made this over and over again.  It's delicious and saves well, so we usually get 2 meals out of just half the recipe.

Crock pot Red Beans & Rice


1 lb bag of kidney beans
12-14 cups of water (I usually find that this is a little much, so I cut back a bit)
3 beef bouillon cubes (I use reduced sodium)
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp cajun seasoning (adjust to your preference)

1 lb smoked sausage
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup flour
1 onion - chopped
4 cloves garlic
4 cups of rice (cooked)

In a crockpot, add beans, water and seasonings.  Cook on high 6-8 hours or low 8-10 hours.  At least 1 hour prior to serving, cut up and add sausage to crock pot.  Saute 1/3 cup of oil with onion and garlic until onion turns clear.  Add 1/3 cup of flour to oil mixture and stir into a paste.  Add the paste to the beans and stir well.  Continue to cook for at least 1 hr.  Serve over rice.


Hope you enjoy as much as we do!