Bacon Ranch Chicken Strips

The next time you're craving some crispy chicken, avoid the drive through and make these instead!  My family devoured them last night and they were SO EASY to make!  For those of you attending my next Tastefully Simple Freezer Meal Workshop - these will definitely be on the menu!

Bacon Ranch Chicken Strips
2 lbs chicken tenders (you can obviously buy chicken breasts and cut into strips - I was short on time, so bought the pre-cut packages)
1/2 cup Ranch dressing
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp Tastefully Simple Bacon Bacon

Combine bread crumbs, cheese and Bacon Bacon in medium bowl.  Pour Ranch dressing in different medium bowl.  Dip chicken tender into ranch dressing and then dip into bread crumb mixture.  Place onto cookie sheet or baking stone.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes until chicken is cooked and outside is crispy.  Enjoy!!

To order the Tastefully Simple Bacon Bacon needed for this recipe, contact me at keninger1@msn.com or order on my website:  wwww.tastefullysimple.com/web/kkeninger

Tastefully Simple Tonight Freezer Meals get thumbs up!!

I was up at Tastefully Simple Headquarters last week for a special retreat.  I decided to prepare some Freezer meals before I left to help out the hubby (and ensure cereal was not the main dish every night :).  I used our Tastefully Simple Tonight Collection which comes with a grocery list, recipes and freezer labels.  All of the meals have been DELICIOUS!

Below are the recipes included with this collection:

• Chipotle Bacon Meatloaf
• Family-Friendly Chili
• Ham, Swiss & Artichoke Frittata
• Mama Mia Italian Casserole
• Mama Mia Lasagna Cups
• Parmesan Peppercorn Mac & Cheese
• Rustic Chicken Soup
• Rustic Herb Pork Tenderloin
• Simple Turkey Dinner
• Turkey Sloppy Joes

The family ate the Ham, Swiss & Aritichoke Fritatta as well as the Parmesan Peppercorn mac-n-cheese while I was gone and passed along RAVE reviews!

We ate the Rustic Herb Pork Tenderloin for dinner last night - very moist and great flavor.  I modified the cooking instructions by placing it in a slow cooker on low for 6-7 hours.

TIPS:  
The Parmesan Peppercorn Mac & Cheese makes a TON!  I will 1/2 it next time and divide into two 8x8 servings.  I think this recipe would be fabulous with some cooked chicken added too.

I split the Family Friendly Chili in 1/2 and we used to make chili-dogs, since the temperatures are still relatively warm right now.

If you're thinking...my family is used to ground beef not ground turkey - give it a try!  Mine didn't even notice.

Wondering about cost?  I spent just under $100 to buy all the groceries and the TS Tonight Collection is $57.99.  Breaking that down it was between $10-15 per meal or $2-3 per serving!  (And I was in a rush getting groceries, so didn't shop for sales.)

MUCH healthier and CHEAPER than fast food for these 10 tasty meals!!  Contact me to order your own Tastefully Simple Tonight collection or order online from my website;  www.tastefullysimple.com/web/kkeninger

Trust me...having freezer meals prepped and ready can alleviate so much stress and minimize those impulse convenience food purchases!

Pork & Mushroom Lettuce Wraps

WOW is the first word that comes to mind when trying to explain the flavor in this recipe!  Pair the taste with the fact that this was a freezer meal I pre-made has it quickly jumping onto my 'will definitely make again' list!

I simply defrosted the meal overnight and placed it in my slow-cooker (on the warm feature), so that it's ready to go when we all need dinner at various times tonight.  If our schedule would've allowed us to all sit down together tonight, I would've warmed it up on the stove top (or microwave) instead.

NOTE:  Tastefully Simple's Honey Teriyaki Sauce is going away in a couple weeks.  As much as I adore this product, I'm certain our new Plum Teriyaki Sauce taking it's place will provide just as great a flavor - especially for this dish!

I also sauteed the ground pork, mushrooms, bell pepper and carrots all together and then added the Honey Teriyaki.  Once it cooled, I placedi tin a Ziploc freezer bag.  Worked just fine adding everything in together at once!

Pork and Mushroom Lettuce Wraps
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp. Fiesta Party Dip Mix™
1/2 cup Honey Teriyaki Sauce
2 heads of Bibb lettuce, cored, leaves separated
1 cup matchstick-size strips red bell pepper 
1 cup matchstick-size strips peeled carrot
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Directions
Serve it tonight: Sauté ground pork, mushrooms and Fiesta Party Dip Mix™in a large skillet until pork is no longer pink. Stir in Honey Teriyaki Sauce; heat through. Serve warm pork in lettuce wraps; top with bell pepper, carrots and cilantro. Makes 6 servings. 

Serve it later: Sauté ground pork, mushrooms and Fiesta Party Dip Mix™ in a large skillet until pork is no longer pink. Stir in Honey Teriyaki Sauce; heat through. Cool mixture; place in a resealable plastic bag. Freeze until served. Thaw and heat gently in the microwave. Serve as directed above. 

Summer Salads with Delicious Dressings!

It's been awhile since I've posted a recipe to my blog site.  (Too easy to just share on Facebook.)  However, I wanted a bit more space to type out how much I LOVED this salad ...and thus you get a blog post.

I adore a good salad in the summer!  They usually end up being a hodge podge of items I have leftover in the fridge.  I've found that the key to a great salad for me is the dressing!  As a Tastefully Simple consultant for the past 11 years, I've discovered that you can make fabulous tasting dressings by combining salsa and sauces with....any guesses?  Yep - good ole' Ranch dressing.  So, next time you're wanting something out of the ordinary - grab the bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing along with your favorite Salsa or Sauce and see what you come up with!

The below salad (we had for dinner last night) was a combination of mixed greens, hard boiled egg, avacado, tomato, grilled shrimp (marinated in Tastefully Simple's Roasted Garlic Infused Oil and Garlic Pepper Seasoning) and my own dressing concoction.  Dressing:  Equal parts Ranch Dressing and Tastefully Simple Pineapple Chipotle Salsa - DELISH!!

Here are some other FABULOUS combinations:
Ranch & Tastefully Simple Corn, Black Bean Salsa:  Serve on salad with grilled chicken, black beans, corn, tomato, avacado
Ranch & Tastefully Simple Honey Apple Grill Sauce:  Serve on salad with bacon, lettuce tomato, hard boiled egg

And for dessert....our family's FAVORITE - Absolutely Almond Pound Cake!  This time I mixed up a little Lemonade Fruit Dip as a topping along with fresh berries.  Needless to say - no leftovers :)

REMINDER:  Our Garlic Pepper and Pineapple Chipotle Salsa are limited time 'returning favorite' products that are ONLY AVAILABLE until June 30th!!  Contact me to stock up :)

Hope you all enjoy these recipes as much as we do!