Becoming Betty Crocker: One Pan Chicken and Potato Bake

Oh, I didn't know what to make tonight for dinner!  I had already left chicken out from this week's grocery trip, so knew it had to be chicken but no idea past that.  Actually, I did have an idea - Italian dressing. That was the end of it though.

Off to Pinterest!  This recipe caught my eye because we already had everything AND it had the Italian Dressing I was thinking of as an ingredient!

This recipe was super easy.  Cut the potatoes, put in the chicken, season with the dressing, cheese & seasoning and DONE.

Ready for the oven

 

Ready to eat!

The chicken was really juicy.  The potatoes though could have been cooked longer.  The recipe called for thin wedges, but I think next time I will just cut them thinner (like fries or slices).  Not all of the potatoes had seasoning so maybe season the potatoes separate from the chicken with a little extra.

Still, hubby liked it and I was ok with it (loved that it was easy).  I haven't been really had a taste for chicken lately so I've been struggling with how to make chicken that I will "crave".

Becoming Betty Crocker: Cheerios Banana Muffins

So I went to Harris Teeter this week for groceries and they had a bag of bananas for $1 (again).  Last time I made frozen banana with peanut butter sandwiches.

These snacks were for both humans and pups!

I checked out some other banana recipes in Pinterest and found Cheerios Banana Oatmeal muffins.  I even pulled up Pinterest when I was in the store to make sure I had all of the ingredients.

These were easy to make and I had so many bananas that I did a double batch.

Crushed Cheerios - found out that if you start in the corner of the baggy,

it's much easier to crush them

The rolling pin was my mom's - I don't know how old this is, but it's solid glass and still works well!

The dry mixture

smashed bananas

 

Confession:  I think this was the first time I ever used my (formerly my mom's) potato smasher.  BTW - is that the right term for this utensil?

 

 

I love my dough - so of course, the pups had to try it.

Esa was all for it.  I think she has a sweet tooth.

Zed wasn't sure at first, but then liked it.

Finished product!

 

These were really good - and I'm sharing with my friend, Michelle, and friend/neighbor +Stephanie Segall.  Hubby doesn't really care for bananas so 24 muffins is a lot for one person, so I was planning on sharing.  I might even put some in the freezer.

 

The one thing I wasn't happy about was them sticking to the bottom of the wrapper - what's up with that?  I know it mentioned spraying the pan in the recipe, but I didn't think you had to spray wrappers!  I thought it was if you didn't use wrappers, you had to spray! 

 

Note:  I did not eat the wrapper (it's to the left)

 

Whatever - use your teeth and pull that good stuff off, Michelle & Stephanie!

Side note:  This recipe is from The Chew.  Yes, I know I'm home all day, but I don't watch a lot of TV (unless it's a lazy day or it's an Law & Order marathon).  I found out about all of the different talk shows through my brother.  He watched all of the talk shows and when I was visiting, I found out about them.  He would have liked these muffins. <3

Becoming Betty Crocker: Fresh Apple Crisp

Let me just say, I HATE it when people post recipes on Facebook. 

Facebook is NOT for posting recipes - PINTEREST is.  Now, I know, not everyone has a Pinterest account and your Facebook account is your account and you can post whatever you want in your feed. 

That being said there have been some good recipes posted on Facebook.  When I see something that catches my eye, I go find it on the internet (usually on Pinterst) and pin it on my recipe board on Pinterest.

I bought a bag of apples about 2 weeks ago and I might have ate 1 or 2, so I wanted to get rid of them before they went bad.

Which leads me to this recipe - Fresh Apple Cake.  I will say the picture is misleading compared to the recipe text.  It says granny smith apples in the text, but we KNOW those are not granny smith in the pictures - and it says peel the apple - those apples have the peel on!  Anyway, this is a better picture and description of what you will end up with.  I say that because I thought I was going to have a Pinterest fail.  I thought, how can this be right?  The recipe says CAKE - this is not turning into a cake.  Crisp!  That's the right definition!  Another pinner says that you can use other fruit too (ie peaches).

This recipe is WAY easy - except for maybe the peeling of the apples - that was a pain - but not too bad.

apples peeled

Apples layered in the pan

cake mix sprinkled on

Cinnamon & sugar sprinkled on

The final product

Close up - this is why I thought it was a Pinterest fail.

Wasn't sure if the dry mix was supposed to still be there.

Needless to say - SUCCESS!  We had it with ice cream last night and I just had some for a morning snack (warmed up of course!).