Crescent Chicken Bake

    This recipe is such an easy idea for a family dinner! I made it this week for the kids at church and as always, it was a hit. I used a rotisserie chicken that I got at Publix and just took the meat off of the bones. It's nice because you can serve it with mashed potatoes and don't even need to make gravy! Just use the cream of chicken soup in the pan as your gravy. It's so yummy!

Crescent Chicken Bake

Ingredients:

- 2 cups of shredded cooked chicken, I used a rotisserie chicken

- 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

- 1 package of refrigerated crescent rolls

- 1 can of cream of chicken soup

- 1 can of milk (using soup can)

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of a 9x13" baking pan with non-stick spray. Unroll the crescent rolls and roll chicken and cheese into each, making sure it is enclosed. Place each chicken stuffed crescent into prepared baking dish. In a bowl, mix together the soup and milk. Pour the soup over the crescents and bake for about the minutes. 

I doubled the recipe for the youth group children!!

Banana Cream Poke Cake

    So, I've discovered an extremely easy and ridiculously good idea! It's called a "poke cake". I want to find the person who came up with the idea and shake their hand. I'm definitely going to be playing around with the concept this summer! This particular recipe is a yellow cake with creamy banana pudding! It was so good! The kids at church loved it! 

Banana Cream Poke Cake

Ingredients:

- 1 box yellow cake mix, prepared as directed in a 9x13" baking pan

- 2 boxes of banana pudding mix

- 4 cups of milk

- 1 (8 ounce) container of cool whip

- 2 cups of crushed vanilla wafers

    With the end of a spoon poke holes throughout the cooled cake, about a 1/2 inch apart. Whisk together the pudding mix and milk until it starts to thicken. Pour the pudding over the cake and set in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour. When ready to serve, spread the cool whip on top of the pudding and top with crushed vanilla wafers. 

Coconut Custard Pie

    I am definitely a fan of coconut! I was bored one day and decided to fool around with the idea of making my own pie crust. While it was pretty good for my first attempt, I'm probably going to try again another time before I post a recipe for pie crust. This cool custard pie was delicious! It's a Martha Stewart recipe, so of course it's amazing. It was pretty easy too!

Coconut Custard Pie

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1/3 cup of cornstarch

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

- 1 cup of whole milk

- 1 (14 ounce) can of coconut milk

- 4 large egg yolks

- 1/2 cup of shredded coconut, toasted

- Either store bought or your favorite pie crust recipe

    Bake the bottom of the pie crust as directed and set aside to cool completely. In a medium sauce pan, before you apply to heat, mix together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually whisk in the whole milk, making sure to dissolve the cornstarch. Whisk in the coconut milk and egg yolks. Whisking constantly, cook this mixture over medium heat until it starts to sputter. Reduce the heat to low and cook for another minute, still stirring constantly. I have a picture posted below of what it should look like. It's a lot like a pudding, let it thicken. When it's finished, pour into prepared pie crust, top with toasted coconut, and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. 

Finished Product:

Pulled Pork Tacos

    Yesterday was Cinco De Mayo! What a better way to celebrate than with an abundance of tequila and some fresh, slow cooked pork tacos! I had some friends over last night and we had a blast. I served them with some zesty coleslaw on top and some rice and beans! This meat is so tender, it fell right off the bone when I shredded it! Definitely make the coleslaw the day before to allow the flavors to meld!

Pulled Pork Tacos

Ingredients:

  For the brine:

- 1/2 cup of salt

- 1/2 cup of brown sugar

- 8 cups of water

  For the pork:

- 1 (3-4 pound) pork shoulder

- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano

- 1 teaspoon of chili pepper

- 1 teaspoon of cumin

- 1 teaspoon of salt

- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

- 1 onion, diced

- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

- 1 (6 ounce can of tomato paste

- 3 tablespoons of sofrito

- 1 tablespoon of honey

- 1/2 cup of orange juice

- 1/4 cup of lime juice

- tortillas for serving

  For the coleslaw:

- 1 (16 ounce) package of coleslaw mix

- 1/4 cup of rice vinegar

- 3 tablespoons of lime juice

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- 2 tablespoons of sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 3 tablespoons of chopped cilantro leaves

    Mix together all of the coleslaw ingredients in a large bowl and allow to sit in the refrigerator throughout the entire pork process. In a large microwave safe bowl, add two cups of the water, microwave for two minutes and add the salt and brown sugar. Mix until salt and sugar are dissolved. Add the remaining 6 cups of cold water to the salt and sugar mixture. Mix well and make sure that it is room temperature (you don't want your meat to start cooking). Add the pork shoulder to the water, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours. Remove from the brine, rinse in cold water, and pat dry with a paper towel. In a small bowl combine the oregano, chili pepper, cumin, salt, and pepper. Rub the spice mixture over the pork and set the meat in the slow cooker. Spread the diced onions over the meat. In a separate bowl, whisk together the garlic, tomato paste, sofrito, honey, orange juice, and lime juice. Pour mixture over the meat, set the slow cooker to low, and allow to cook for 6 hours. When ready to serve, shred the meat from the bone and pour about a cup of the juices from the slow cooker on top. Serve in tortillas and top with the zesty coleslaw!