Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta Bake --Soooo good you’ll want seconds – and thirds! Everything goes together fairly quickly. While you are preparing the pasta, you can also cook the bacon and then the chicken. I prefer to use thinner chicken breast cuts because they cook quickly and can be more easily cut into uniform pieces. Cut the bacon before browning, either with a knife on a cutting board or with a pair of kitchen shears. I always burn my fingers trying to cut bacon after it is browned! Roux is melted butter (or other fat) and flour mixed together. When the flour has been incorporated into the fat, cook just long enough for the mixture to turn slightly golden before adding the liquid. Cooking too long or over too high a heat will make the sauce lumpy. Better to prevent lumps than try to ... [Read More]
Bacon
Hot German Potato Salad
German potato salad is traditionally served hot -- perfect for the fall potluck. It usually has a hot vinegar dressing flavored with herbs and spices -- like this classic recipe served at a potluck luncheon at our house recently. Time tested and stamped approved!!! Start with boiled potatoes. The peel will slip off the boiled potatoes easily. You can rub off the peel by using a clean dish towel. Hold the potato with the towel in one hand and rub off the peeling with the other -- somewhat similar to drying a cup. Or hold the potato on a cutting board with a fork and gently tease off the peel with the tip of a knife. Stir the cooked potatoes into the dressing gently to avoid breaking them. I would also tip the skillet to make the dressing run to one side and spoon it over the ... [Read More]
Bacon Ranch Garden Patch Salad
We love a main dish salad for dinner in the summer. Bacon Ranch Garden Salad has it all – meat, pasta, veggies and bacon! It’s perfect for a summer day – make ahead in the morning when the kitchen is cool and it’s ready to serve on the shady deck for the evening meal! Use your favorite pasta, mini or regular. Hidden Valley has a bacon ranch dressing with their signature creamy ranch flavor, Kraft’s version is more zippy with a hint of vinegar in the base. Add bacon cooked crisp and crumbled or packaged real bacon crumbles to up the bacon flavor. To make Bacon Garden Ranch Pasta salad even quicker and easier, I buy the packaged fresh broccoli that has already been trimmed and cut into pieces. They are usually the same price at my store as the heads of broccoli with less work and ... [Read More]
Maple Bacon Pot Roast — Slowcooker
Maple Bacon Pot Roast -- my Mother's Day Gift. Before Wheels and I were married we talked about the things we wanted for our children. One item on that short list was to teach them how to be self sufficient. Wheels share of that goal was to teach our children things like how to change a tire and how not to get lost. (Neither of which belonged on my side of the list. I still can’t change a tire – don’t tell the kids! I can argue with the GPS, though.) My share was to teach our children things like how to cook a meal and do their own laundry. (Let it be noted that Wheels does a great job at those self sufficiency things.) And that is why, when Mother’s Day rolls around I only want one gift. A homecooked meal that I don’t prepare. This year Bytes selected this dressed ... [Read More]
Bacon Pecan Green Beans
Bacon Pecan Green Beans are sensational! Bacon! Brown Sugar! Pecans! Fresh Green Beans! Flavored with caramelized onions! Oh my great goodness! Forget the creamy bean casserole with the crushed onion topping that has graced the table since grandma started cooking. It was – and still is – good -but this . . . . This is a game changing green bean dish! A tableful of talkative adults turns into a very silent and focused “can’t eat this stuff fast enough” bunch. Forget the turkey or steak and whatever else is on the table. Don’t bother to breath until the last little bit of sugared bacon flavored pecan is gone. It’s that good! Maybe not so good for socializing – but a treat for the taste buds! Use whole fresh beans, cleaned and tips broken off, if you can find them out ... [Read More]
BLT Pasta Salad
Five star, family approved. One serving is all it took. Wheels and Bytes both rated it five stars and suggested demanded it be added to our menu frequently. On our recent trip, I made and served this for several family gatherings. It was a hit each time! The whole thing can be assembled in about twenty minutes. I like to make this salad in the summer because I know I can get two meals out of one short cooking session. I divide the pasta salad in half and only add the lettuce to the half we are going to eat. Hide the keeper half in the bottom right hand corner of the refrigerator where tall left handed people never look, if you want it to survive for that second meal. Add another teaspoon of lemon juice if you like a little zing in the dressing. I have also made dressing ... [Read More]
