Not your momma's chicken and biscuits

My mom used to spend hours making chicken and dumplings and boy did we really enjoy them, but you can have the home cooked experience of that meal without all of the fuss. It's even easier if you are using left over chicken or buy a rotisserie chicken at the store. Here's what you do.

Two cups of cubed or shredded chicken
Two cups of picsweet frozen mixed veggies
One box of chicken stock
Half a stick of butter
Half a cup of flour
One large white onion chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste
One teaspoon each of dried basil and dried oregano
One cup of water
One refrigerated tube of Pilsbury Southern Style Biscuits

Start out making your rue. This is adding the butter to a stock pot until melted on medium heat, then adding the onions. Let saute' until onions are translucent. Add in the salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil and oregano and simmer for 2 mins. Add half of the flour. This should produce a paste in the pan. If not, add a bit more of the flower until a paste is formed the consistency of peanut butter. Add chicken stock, stirring constantly, then add water. Raise heat to medium high and this should form a gravy-like consistency in about 7 minutes. If it's thicker, add more water, if it's too thin, add some water to the remainder of your flour and stir out the lumps...then add to the rue. Now, add the veggies and the chicken and let cook together for five minutes. Using the temp on the biscuit dough package, set the oven. This should be 350 degrees. Pour your "soup" into a baking dish and top with biscuit dough. I like to cut these in half and leave little breaks between them so the sauce can bubble up between them...mmm mmmm good! Place uncovered in the oven until biscuits are golden brown on top. Serve piping hot in a shallow bowl and sop up the extra juice with the biscuits. This is an easy, quick and delicious meal. Even my picky eaters suck all of this dish down! Enjoy!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Now you'll notice there are no baked potatoes in this soup, but it's meant to taste like one and it is soooo easy and very tasty...especially on a cold day. I always make a huge pot of this. There is enough for leftovers and some to place in the freezer for a night you have no time to cook.

1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 box chicken broth
1 quart of half & half
1 lg brick processed cheese (like Velveeta)
6 medium starchy potatoes (like russets) peeled and cubed
6 strips of bacon (or I cheat and buy the REAL bacon, bacon bits)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped green onions

Place potatoes in a stock pot and cover to boil. Cook until tender, lower heat. Water (with potatoes) should fill half the pot, if you have more, pour some out. Add onion, garlic, chicken broth, half and half and salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes then add bacon and 2/3 of the processed cheese. When cheese is melted, add green onions, saving a little to garnish the top of each serving. The starch from the potato water should thicken up the soup if you have used starchy potatoes, but if it doesn't, some instant potato flakes will do the trick. Only add a little at a time. The longer the soup sits the better it is. I like to make it a day ahead but I have often eaten a bowl the day I've made it too. Serve with bread sticks or rolls and it's a hit! Les gives this recipe 5 out of 5 DELISH points and says it's tasty and filling.

YumTum Cheese Biscuits

These biscuits lit up my tongue when I ate them a short time out of the oven but the next day I had one at room temp and it was still delish.

2pkg Martha White Sweet Cornbread Mix
1 1/2 C Shredded Mexican Cheese
2 Tbs minced green onion
2 Tbs. mild green chillies
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C milk.

Grease muffin pan. Mix all ingredients together and cook on 450 for 8-10 mins. until golden. These biscuits got 10 out of 5 DELISH points from Les...Happy baking

Marinade for Mexican style chicken/beef

It's so hard for me to give measurements, I cook to taste but here is a good recipe to spice up the meat for my quesadillas or fajitas. It's a hit in my house and I'm sure it will be in yours.

1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup honey
1Tbs crushed red pepper (more or less to taste)
1/4 to 1/2 cup soy sauce
1 clove minced garlic

mix ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until honey is worked through the marinade. Cool and then marinate meat for at least a half hour. When cooking meat, pour marinade in the pan with the meat. It will render and soak into the meat for a very flavorful start to any Mexican dish.

Go To Quesadillas

This recipe is an original from my house so I thought it fitting that it would be the first recipe posted. It is gobbled up so fast, you'll wonder why you didn't think of it yourself!

6 burrito size tortillas (the thicker the better)
3 boneless skinless marinated chicken breasts cubed cooked and then shredded (recipe follows)
1 container of onion and chive cream cheese
1 bag of Mexican style shredded cheese
1 stick of butter

****Cook chicken thoroughly, add equal parts honey and lemon juice, 1/4 C soy sauce and crushed red pepper to taste. Cook uncovered until liquid has rendered...then shred in your chopper or food processer. This combination of flavors is the best for this recipe.

Place pat of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Spread cream cheese over half of a tortilla and place cheese side UP in the skillet. Sprinkle shredded chicken over cream cheese. Top chicken with shredded cheese and fold over the "bald" side of the tortilla and let sizzle a bit. Flip over to cook other side and let cheese melt. Place on a paper towel and cut with a pizza cutter into four even triangles. Serve with salsa and sour cream!

Les gives this recipe 10 out of 5 DELISH points!