Easy Baked Ranch Chicken with Bacon

This super simple recipe is one of my favorites!  It seems fancy enough for company, yet the ingredients are simple and usually kept on hand.  It is one of my go to recipes and I usually serve it with a salad or green veggie and bread.  So dinner is ready in 45 minutes!!

Ingredients-

4 boneless chicken breasts

1 and 1/2 cups of ranch dressing

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

bacon crumbles

1/2 cup sour cream

chicken seasoning blend ( like mrs. dash or montreal chicken grill seasoning)

Dash of dried parsley

Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish,  Season both sides of the chicken breasts.  Lay chicken in baking dish and sprinkle with half of the parmesan cheese.  Whisk together ranch dressing and sour cream and pour over chicken.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Top with remaining parmesan and bacon crumbles for the last 2-3 minutes of baking.  Add a sprinkle of parsley if desired.  This is such an easy and delish recipe your family will want it on repeat!  

Enjoy!

~Connie

 

The Leopard print flats or the red Converse?!!

How is it that my wonderful husband can live a complete and happy life with just 4 pairs of shoes!!

To me this is just unthinkable. Not that I have closets full of shoes mind you, but I do certainly have more than just 4 or 5 pairs.  During all those busy mom years I could find a cute pair of colorful tennies or fun bright sandals at my favorite TARGET while I stocked up on TP and toothpaste.  And I may have added to the shoe collection post pregnancy when only my shoe size had remained the same. 😉 When momma needed a shopping fix I could let myself buy new cute shoes over jeans in a new bigger size! (Can I get an AMEN?!)  Needless to say, now as a 50 something mom and grandma, I have a very cute collection of fun and stylish shoes.  This has actually been a PLUS as I started to refocus and revamp my fashion and style journey.

One of the best and useful tips I learned is -

STYLE TIP #3

A simple way to up your fashion game each day is to add one "Remarkable" piece.  You could be wearing basic jeans and a white T shirt but add those Red Converse high tops or those eye catching Gold sandals and you have just put together a "remarkable" fashion outfit! 😁  And someone WILL probably notice and say "You look great, and I love those shoes!" 

So no matter your size, or age or budget ... you can start today.  Just push yourself to add just that little extra "remarkable" item to your outfit.  (It may be shoes or a unique bag, or a cool scarf or even eye catching bold red lip stick!  You will be surprised how simple it is and how often you will receive a compliment on how great you look.)

Let's go be confident and uniquely us dear friends!

~ Connie

Turkey Cranberry Flatbread

 

This is a quick meal recipe I came up with after eating something similar at a restaurant.  It's great to use up leftover roasted turkey post holiday time, but I often make it with just deli meat that I have on hand for everyday sandwiches too.  For this photo I did not have fresh spinach, but I often add that if available.

Turkey Cranberry Flatbread

Ingredients:

Diced up cooked turkey(leftovers or just dice up deli meat slices into small bite size pieces 1/2 c. per)

1 -2 Tablespoons Ranch or creamy Italian dressing per flatbread, adjust to taste.

mashed whole berry cranberry sauce (about 1/4 c. per flatbread)

fresh spinach leaves as much as desired

1/4 c. grated parmesan per flatbread

Sprinkle of dried rosemary or dried oregano

A package of flatbreads or pitas

Arrange pitas on a baking sheet. Spread with ranch or creamy Italian dressing. Add fresh spinach leaves.  Sprinkle on diced turkey and drop on spoonfuls of mashed cranberry.  Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and dried spices.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Cut with a pizza cutter to serve.

For a meal I usually serve with a salad.  Narrow wedges could also be served as an appetizer.

Hope you will give this a try soon.

~Connie

Just tending my plant babies ...

 

A couple of weeks ago I started some of my plants for the garden and for my flower beds.  I usually hate the weather this time of year as everything is gray, gloomy and still brown outside. This year those warmer Spring days are coming fast!

Two years ago my wonderful hubby build a growing rack in one of our buildings.  It has racks for flats of seedlings and some grow lights.  We heat that area to about 50 degrees so it works well for starting seeds early when it is still snowing on occasion here in central Iowa!

Flowers are what seem to take the longest to sprout.  I have petunias, coleus and nasturiums started so far. And this week I should add marigolds, holly hocks and dwarf zinnias to the flower plans.  As far as veggies planted early I have started red onions, yellow onions, bell peppers and hot peppers.  Tomato seeds will be planted next week as well as some herbs and squashes.  

I will be busy tending these plant babies indoors until the week before Mother's Day.  At that point I will begin hardening them off with gradual introductions to sun, wind and outdoor temps.  

Our area's predicted last frost date is right around Mother's Day so I will be prepping the garden soil and getting ready to do my transplanting in mid May.  It will be a busy but fun time digging in the dirt!

I will try to occasionally update the flower and garden's progress here in my blog.  I've gardened long enough to know there will be both success stories and failures along the way, so check back to see what's happening down our gravel road!

~ Connie

Peach Scones for your Spring Brunch ...

 

My son's house has a peach tree so I have quite a stash of peaches in my freezer.  They seem the perfect thing to use up for a Spring Brunch.  I hope you will try this easy peach scone recipe soon.

Peach Scones

       2 cups flour

• ▢1/3 cup granulated sugar
• ▢2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), frozen
• ▢1/3 cup peach Greek yogurt (I use this kind)
• ▢1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• ▢1 large egg
• ▢1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢1/2 cup fresh peaches (about 1 peach), diced

For the Glaze:

• ▢1 cup powdered sugar
• ▢1-2 Tablespoons milk
• 
  

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

• In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
• Grate the frozen butter and add to dry mixture. Use a fork or pastry blender to cut in the butter.
• In a separate bowl whisk together yogurt, cream, egg, and vanilla until well blended. 
• Add to the dry mixture and use a rubber spatula to fold the ingredients in until it starts to come together in large clumps.
• Stir in the diced fresh peaches. Gently knead mixture by hand (in the mixing bowl) just a few times until it comes together. Try not to handle the dough too much.
• Dust a clean surface with flour and drop dough onto surface.  Gently pat and shape into 8 inch round.
• Cut into 8 wedges then transfer to parchment lined baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven until golden, about 16 - 18 minutes.
• Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes before drizzling on glaze.

Enjoy!

~Connie

You'll find me in the tiny house...

I've been working lately on some more acrylic paintings.  I did a couple of them as Christmas gifts for family.  The photos above are pieces I painted last winter, and I enjoyed adding them to our home.

My art studio space is out in the tiny house on our property.  The previous landowner used it as a hunting cabin before our main house was built.  When we moved here, I claimed it as my art space and when we have a full house of visitors, it doubles as extra guest quarters.  We hope to upgrade it in the future for our guests, but it works great for me to get away and focus on a painting project.  I don't worry about leaving my art supplies strewn about when I'm in the middle of something ... works better than the kitchen counter in that regard!

The barn quilt was my 3rd, and my largest piece so far.  It looks awesome hanging above our fireplace and I am quite pleased with it.

The windmill, was a first attempt at painting a landscape in acrylic.  It turned out pretty well I think for a first try.  

I have a couple of other projects in mind for this year, will have to see what I actually have time to get done!

~ Connie

Dill pickle stuffed flank steak

 

A favorite recipe from my childhood was what I called "pickle steak"!  Back in the day it was a delicious way to cook a cheaper cut of beef.  Now days I have a difficult time finding flank steak at my local markets but I tried this recipe with a flatiron steak that my local butcher said was similar and the results were delicious!  This photo from the internet shows a version with bacon added as well which I will have to try out next time I cook this up.

Dill Pickle Steak

a flatiron or flank steak

yellow mustard

a jar of dill spears

Score both sides of the steak with a butcher knife and lightly salt and pepper the meat.

Spread one side liberally with yellow mustard.  Place 3-4 dill spears across the meat and roll into a log shape.  Secure with a few tooth picks.

Lay the beef log into a glass baking dish pour some of the pickle juice over the meat.  I like my meat to bake in 1/4 to 1/2 inch of juice.  Cover with foil and bake at 325 for about an hour and a half.  Cut into slices to serve.

I served our steak with a side salad and some crusty bread. YUM!  There were no leftovers!

Happy Eating!

~Connie 

Playing it loose ...

The change of seasons is usually a good excuse to go thru my closet and take stock of what I have hidden in there that I have not worn in a while.  I like this idea of shopping my own closet and coming up with a new outfit or two!  So if you are doing the same at your house, keep this latest style tip in mind.

Style Tip # 2

Fashion proportion is key!  (In other words, pair loose & flowing with tight)
Very few people on earth can pull off head to toe baggy or top to bottom form fitting.  So take a cue here and team your flowing tops and sweaters with something body conscious on the bottom.  Or the opposite with a very form fitting top and a loose and full skirt or wide leg pants!  No matter your shape or size this is a basic fashion principal that can work for all.

Above are all great examples of loose or flowing on the top paired with something slim on the bottom.

(Think skinny jeans, pencil skirts and leggings)

Just as these close fitting tops are the perfect go to with these full and flowing skirts.

(This dress also shows this principal in it's wonderful styling!)

I am sure there are some new combinations lurking in the clothes you already own...so go have some fun and put this style tip into action today!

~Connie