Chicken Bundles

these babies are awesome. each one is small, but so filling! i made about sixteen, and we've been eating leftovers for lunch all week. enjoy!

2 c cooked chicken

4 green onions, chopped

2 (3 oz.) cream cheese

2 Tbsp. melted butter

1/2 tsp. salt and pepper

8 pillsbury croissants

Pepperridge Farm stuffing (herb flavoring)

Sauce:1 can cream of chicken soup1/2 can milk or water. 

Mix together chicken, onions, cream cheese, butter, salt, and pepper. Pat out croissant roll. Place about 1/2 cup of chicken mixture on roll and wrap it up, sealing all edges. Place roll in additional melted butter and then cover with stuffing. Place in baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Top with sauce.


*stolen from my awesome maja *

butter pecan cake with cream cheese frosting

um... yum!

i made this for our Sunday dessert & it was lovely, and created perfectly full bellies for us to nap with. 

when travis took his first bite, he said, "mmm. super moist, just like it should be. good job babe." and i knew the cake was a success.

butter pecan cake

get the box that looks like this:

& follow instructions accordingly {sometimes my family's kitchen genes come back to me. i am still a box cooker here & there, ha!}. i divided the batter into two 8inch round pans and cooked them separately. layered cakes are da bay-est.

vanilla cream cheese frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened

2-3 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla 

use your electric mixer to mix together the butter and cream cheese for three minutes, so that it's super smooth. add the vanilla, mix. add the powdered sugar gradually, until you get the thickness that you want {heck, you may need more than 3 cups. go for it.}

once it's all done & done, spread the frosting on your stacked cakes and voila! delicious.

whiting family cookies

growing up, my family rarely made cookies. 

if we did, they were break-n-bake, cause we seriously suck at kitchen type things.

my husband's family however, does not suck.

the whitings have the most amazing cookie recipe in the history of america. also the rest of humanity.

these puppies never go stale, and you literally can't screw them up.

at least that's what my husband said when he convinced me to bake them myself for the first time. and somehow, i did. they looked like hard, puffy maggot balls-- evidence of my genetic kitchen suck.

any way, here is my favorite cookie recipe and the only one that i actually care enough about to memorize.

the whiting family cookies

1 c white sugar

1 c brown sugar

1 c shortening 

3 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

2 c choco chips

2 1/2 c flour, added gradually

preheat oven to 350. in a super huge bowl, get your beaters out and completely mix together white sugar, brown sugar, eggs and shortening. next add salt, vanilla and baking soda--mix. third, dump in the chocolate chips {2 cups is enough for awesomeness but if you want ultra-awesomeness, go for the whole bag} and blend the mixture completely. Lastly you'll add the flour, mixing in one cup at a time. 

bake on a lightly greased pan for 9-10 minutes, or when the bottom edges look golden {sorta like a pancake, when it's ready to be flipped}. the cookies will continue to bake as they sit out of the oven on the hot pan and will turn out hea.ven.ly. i promise {smile}

happy cookies!

Biscuits & Gravy

biscuits & gravy are a Whiting Family classic. i am sad to say that i had never heard the term before. when i relayed that fact to my new in-laws, once the appalled gasping ended, they cooked up a batch just for me. i was heartily in heaven.

the best country home meal, and so simple!

Biscuits:

4cups flour

2 tbs sugar

2 tbs baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup shortening

2 eggs

1 1/3cup milk

preheat oven to 425. mix in a large bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder & salt.

next grab your pastry cutter (a potato masher will do) and add shortening, eggs and milk.

 drop tablespoon-sized biscuits onto sprayed pan, and bake for 11-12 mins (or until golden brown. but i think you knew that). 

while the biscuits are baking it's time to start the gravy!

Gravy:

1 package bacon or sausage 

(it's your choice, trav prefers bacon but i prefer sausage, try both!)

1 cup flour

milk (lots. of. milk.)

Lawry's seasoning salt

First, cook bacon. You can make it as soft or crunchy as you like! Once cooked, drain all the fat (add the appropriate "ewwww" when prompted). Then return pan to stove on medium heat and add one cup of flour. Be sure to mix and don't stop! The flour burns easily. Mix and cook until flour becomes a light goldy color (maybe more off-white. haa i'm so profesh, right?). Next add the milk, pour into the pan until it reaches halfway up the pan. It's a lot of trial and error, so keeping mixing and adding milk until it's the consistency you want. less milk = thick, more milk = less thick.

once it's all done & done crumble the biscuits and coat with gravy! 

bon appetite (or whatever!)

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas with Green Cilantro Sauce

i made these for dinner tonight. they were double yummmm.

especially because travis tends to only spit mexican food into his napkin like a two year old, but he gobbled these right up. miracles happen!

Ingredients

1 large onion minced (very fine)

2 packages of cream cheese (16 ounces)

1 lb. container of sour cream

3 cups grated cheese

1 can of olives

10 flour tortillas (medium, about 8 inches)

4 cups of chicken cooked and chopped

3 T. milk

Cilantro Green Chili Sauce:

2 cans of green chilies

1 bunch of cilantro

1 lime

½ c. olive oil

The chicken can be chicken breasts of chicken off the bone whichever you prefer. Sometimes I use leftover baked chicken or you can grill, boil, or bake chicken breasts.

In a large sauce pan heat up a little bit of olive oil, or butter, to sauté the minced onion; cook for about 5 minutes or until translucent. Take off heat and add cream cheese. Add sour cream and whisk until there are no more lumps, or close to none. Add salt and pepper to taste and remove about 1/3 of the mixture and set aside (it will be poured on top later). To the large amount of the cream mixture add the olives, chopped, the cut up chicken, and 1 ½ cups of the shredded cheese.

In a 9x13 pan start to assemble the enchiladas. I use a 1 cup measuring cup to spoon the chicken mixture into each tortilla (each tortillas will need about 1 cup of the mixture). Spread it lengthwise on the tortilla and roll up, place fold side down in the pan. If on your last 2 it looks as though you’ll have less or more than 1 cup of the filling for each just try to split it evenly among the two.

Add a few tablespoons of milk to the 1/3 of the cream mixture that you set aside. Pour that mixture over the top of the enchiladas and spread evenly. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes. The edges should all begin to bubble when it is done. When this happens, add the other 1 ½ cups of shredded cheese to the top of the enchiladas and bake another 5 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes before serving.

While the enchiladas are baking puree the chilies, cilantro, olive oil, and juice from 1 lime, in a blender or food processor until completely smooth. This will be the sauce to go over the enchiladas, just a small amount. I usually save some cilantro to sprinkle on each serving as well

dear spring,

i want to play outside, with my husband, without a coat. i want to picnic in a yellow slide like old times, and occasionally lapse into a make-out sesh. i want the feeling of a warm summer night. i want to run and jump and climb things-- i don't care what they are! i am dying here. please come soon.

love lauren

Cookie Recipe with No Brown Sugar

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purose flour 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 6 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips 1 cup white sugar 2 tablespoons honey 1 1/4 cup I can't believe its not butter - original

Directions

makes 36 cookies

pre heat oven to 375 degrees F

Cream the butter with the sugar and the honey. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour and baking soda. Stir in chocolate chips.

Place teaspoon sized dough about 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees F fo 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Number of Servings: 36