Loaded Cheesy Potato Chicken Bake

     Ok... This is freaking fantastic. Seriously, it is! Chunks of potatoes, broccoli, chicken and bacon all mixed up in a super cheesy sauce. Does it get. any. better? I think not! Not really all that time consuming, this makes an easy and filling weeknight meal.

What You Need:

• 3 chicken breasts
• 1 big bunch of broccoli cut up (you can use frozen)
• 3 russet potatoes, cut into bite size chunks
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cup Sharp Cheddar cheese
• 2 1/2 cup Mexican blend cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• Salt and pepper to taste

1.  Boil chicken breasts till cooked... should only take a few minutes. 
2.  Remove from water and add potatoes to water. Simmer, covered till fork tender, adding broccoli to water about halfway through. Drain and put in baking dish. 
3. Cut chicken into 1 inch chunks and add to baking dish.
4. In large sauce pan, melt butter. Add flour and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Add milk and bring to just under a boil, stirring constantly. 
5. Remove from heat and add 1 1/2 c Cheddar and 1 1/2 c Mexican blend cheese, sour cream and Parmesan. Stir well till cheese is melted.
6. Pour cheese sauce over top of chicken mixture. mix it up, salt and pepper to taste, and top with remaining cup of cheese. 
7. Bake at 350 till broccoli is done and cheese is bubbly and slightly browned. (Anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it)

St. Patrick's Day

     I have a confession to make. While no biggie to me, it seems to shock people. Come closer... Can you hear me? Hi, I'm RyanAnn. I'm Irish and I cannot stand corned beef and cabbage. There! I said it. It is amazing the amount of grief that I get for that. I mean, seriously, Hello? I don't control what my taste buds tell me is delicious or gross anymore than yours do. Just because I'm Irish doesn't mean I HAVE to like the stuff. Although I do not like green eggs and ham, errrr, Corned Beef and Cabbage, I still brave the smell and make it every year on St. Patty's Day for my husband. See what a good wife I am?

My style is usually more along the lines of desserts. Or sides. Or both. I've made green mashed potatoes, green potato soup (that one was certainly interesting to eat. Yummy, but weird. LOL) green sprite, 7 up or Sierra Mist and TONS of desserts over the years. This time I mainly focused on cupcakes. :) Mint Oreo cupcakes, thank you very much. I may have thrown a Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake in there, too. Who needs corned beef and cabbage, uh?

You Will Need:

 

You Will Need:

• 1 box Devils Food Cake Mix
• 1 (3.9oz) box Chocolate Instant Pudding
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 package of Cool Mint Oreo Cookies (24 left whole to put in bottom of cupcake wrappers, the rest crushed.)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with cupcake wrappers.
2. Lay one Cool Mint Oreo in the bottom of each cupcake wrapper.
3. In a large bowl,  combine cake mix, chocolate pudding, the crushed Oreos, vegetable oil, milk and eggs. Beat with a mixer for 1 to 2 minutes or by hand for 3 minutes..
4. Scoop batter over top of Oreos in each cupcake wrapper.
5. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until they pass the handy dandy toothpick test.
6. Let cupcakes cool in muffin pans for 5 minutes or so.
7. Once cupcakes are completely cool frost with Mint Frosting, stuff your face and thank me later. :)

Frosting:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup shortening (I use the Crisco Butter flavor one)
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 Tbsp milk (depends on the consistency)
• 1 and a 1/2 to 2 tsp mint extract (depends on how minty you want it. Remember, you can always add more, but you can't take out!)
• Green food coloring (as little or as much as you need to reach the shade of green that you like)

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the shortening.
2. About a cup to a cup and a half at a time, add in the powdered sugar while beating.
3. Add the milk a Tbsp at a time until you reach the consistency that you like.
4. Add the mint extract and green food coloring and give it a good mix with the beaters for another 2 minutes or so.
5. Taste, adjust the mint level if needed and frost your cupcakes, man!

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Mint Chocolate Chip Oreo Milkshake 

You Will Need:

• 2 cups of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• 1 cup of milk (can totally use skim milk lol)
• 1-2 Tbsp Hot Fudge Topping
• 3 crushed mint Oreo cookies

1. Place ice cream and half the milk in a blender. Blend, adding more milk until it is the consistency that you like.
2. Heat up your hot fudge topping.  Let cool for a minute or two and carefully pour it into the bottom of the cup.
3. Slowly pour the milkshake into the cup over the hot fudge.
4. Top with a nice thick layer of the crushed mint Oreo cookies.
5. Enjoy!

It got the thumbs up from this kiddo. :)