These Crispy BBQ Chicken & Bacon Wraps and simple, delicious and so quick to make. Filled with chicken, cheese, bacon and BBQ sauce . . .a perfect weeknight meal.
Simple dinners are totally my thing and these Crispy Chicken & Bacon BBQ wraps are simple, fast and crazy good!
I swear the last few weeks we’ve had so many things all fall on the same night . . .ugh! It’s been crazy lately! Believe it or not, as much as I hate that it snowed here Wednesday and was so cold, it meant Braydon’s baseball game was cancelled which was definitely made Wednesday night much more doable.
Busy nights like we’ve had call for fast and uncomplicated dinners like these wraps.
My boys literally inhaled these! I served these with some fresh fruit and called it good.
If you’re looking for something easy, quick and so, so good for dinner tonight, then I got you covered.
Crispy BBQ Chicken & Bacon Wraps
4 cups cooked shredded chicken (rotisserie chicken works great!)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I like to use sharp)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2/3 cup BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray’s is my favorite!)
4 strips of bacon cooked crisp and chopped
Flour tortillas (about 8)
In a large mixing bowl, add chicken, cheese, cilantro, BBQ sauce, and bacon. Toss until combined.
Take about 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture and spread it down the center of the tortilla. Fold the sides over each other to close. Spray both sides with cooking spray.
Spray a large skillet generously with cooking spray and place the wraps seam side down in the skillet. Cook over medium low heat until golden and crispy (about a minute or two), turn wrap over and cook the other side until golden and crispy.
These days, pallet wood is recognized to be one the most popular way to add beauty and use for the renovation of the house on emerging level. Crafting something new on your own is a wonderful activity as it reflects your stylish flavor and magnificent love with your place. But when we think to craft new products with the reused material, especially with pallet wood, then we find a wide range of options and pallet ideas that are not only appealing in the first look but also easy to start work on them. Here we will bring for your few fascinating tricks and tactics that you can easily done with the useless pallet planks of your home to create some useful as well as exceptional for it.
Have you been planning to craft a thought-provoking addition to your kitchen area, that will not only add beauty to your kitchen but also appears useful, then this pallets wooden kitchen plan seems best for you. These artistically created wooden cabinets, drawers, and shelves with a great touch of grey color paints seems extraordinary pallet innovation of the year.
Created & Shared by: Raklap Bútor Paks
Placing a recycled pallets dressing room plan simply adds a royal and artistic impact on the overall beauty of your home. The most attractive thing in this dressing room plan is that we have smartly created this with the mind-blowing cuts and reshaping of the large wooden pallets boards.
Created & Shared by: Florian Schnug
This is the best wooden pallet project for the settlement of your lovely pet in your house. The beautiful construction of this dog house and the further decoration with dark brown hues and the green color painted roof is the main attraction in the whole concept.
Created & Shared by: Francisco Najera
Everyone desire to refurbish his place with the modern-looking and trending wooden items. This marvelous and magnificent creation is made by recycling the old shipping pallets of our place. It’s not only a perfect DIY pallet pool project for the swimming of your beloved kids but also increasing the charm of the place with their appealing beauty.
Created & Shared by: Pallet Sustentable
This picture will make you serve out with the wonderful idea that how you can meet your storage needs with the repurposed pallet wood plans. This pallet entryway chest of drawers table with four layers of wooden drawers seems not only good for home’s storage requirements but also an attractive pallet plan for gym, laboratories, and banks.
Created & Shared by: Meubles en palettes
It’s time to reshape the old shipping pallets wood boards of your home to craft this fabulous wooden pallet made a closet. This large-size recycled pallets closet is the best wooden structure that will not only provide you best storage space in it but will also save your money from wasting on expensive wood closets available in markets.
Created & Shared by: Veenschoten Steigerhouten Meubelen
Wow, have an eye on this useful wood pallet kitchen cabinet. This smartly created project is best one to meet your kitchen furniture need at a low-price. This cabinet is presented to you by designing four wooden door cabinets and large wooded area on top to use as a wooden shelve.
Created & Shared by: John Griffiths
Proudly bringing to you another pallet decor shelf idea. This two-layer wooden shelf is best for the decoration purpose of your home, office and restaurant area. This is the project is not only easy one to craft but will also serve you for many years to come with it’s sturdy construction.
Created & Shared by: InfeKtion RaKk
Now reshape the wooden pallets stacks of your place to craft this amazing wooden pallet study desk. This is uniquely crafted pallets innovation that is best to serve you in two different places, one it is a perfect furniture item for your kid’s room as well as good to place in your office room.
Created & Shared by: Richard coeur de bois et Huguette la palette
If you are planning to decorate your simple-looking garden or outdoor area with the upcycled pallets wood boards of your home, then this is the best decoration design for you. This is artistically crafted pallets made garden terrace. This wonderful pallets innovation will provide you an ideal seating area in your garden in your budget.
Created & Shared by: Anaïs Tillier
Let’s renovate the entry area of your home by crafting this modern pallets plan for it. This wood pallet wall sign art is best and an easy project that anyone can craft it in few hours. This awesome creation will definitely appear eye-catching to every visitor and guest of your home.
Created & Shared by: Playa & Palets. Muebles De Diseño Artesanales.
Have you ever imagined to craft such a stylish and modern wooden product with the useless material of your home, if not this simply use your leisure time to construct this stunning pallet chest of drawers with shelves. These four wooden drawers with four shelves on its side appears the best furniture item to meet the storage requirements of every place.
Created & Shared by: Jo la palette
Let’s construct another useful wooden pallets plan for your kitchen. This recycled pallets coffee bar with three shelves layers and two wooden door cabinets appears best for storing the coffee related products such as cups, kettles etc and also an ideal plan to use in restaurants and office areas.
Created & Shared by: Pallet Desing
It’s time to refurbish your home with the items that are made with the recycled pallets wood already present at your home. This marvelous wooden pallets creation is made to provide you the best wooden bar structure for your home in an economical manner. Both the upper as well as the lower wooden shelves with able you to place many bar items in it.
Here we are proudly bringing to you a stylish and modern-looking reclaimed wooden pallets playhouse for kids. This is the best pallets wood innovation that will surprise everyone at your home with its charming appearance and attractive beauty. The use of sky-blue paint, colorful flowers and white color paint in porch and stairs is making this project an ideal one for every kid.
Created & Shared by: Clayton Campbell
Let’s retransform our places by creating this unique and different looking wooden pallet cladding. This cladding is entirely constructed by recycling the wooden pallets stacks and boards easily available in all wooden markets at cheap rates. This room appears eye-catching after the creation of this awesome pallets plan.
Created & Shared by: Dustin Millikin
Let’s amaze your kid’s with crafted this unique design kid’s playhouse made from reused wooden pallets of your home. This playhouse for kids is best to craft in any area of your home and your kids will definitely attract it’s appealing beauty for the first sight.
Created & Shared by: Jana Rogers
Here we are offering to you an amazing pallets wood plan that is best to craft for your own bedroom as well as in your kid’s room. This cupboard dressing out of pallets appears appealing with the decoration of pink color paint and is the best dressing structure especially for your little princess.
Created & Shared by: Jana Rogers
If you have a desire to place your own chickens in your garden area and looking for something best to store them in a safe place then this pallet chicken house is created as according to your needs. This recycled wooden structure is best to craft on your own and to enjoy hygienic chicken/eggs at your own place.
Created & Shared by: Kim Adams
Here we are bringing to you another fascinating wooden pallets project for solving your storage problems. This reused wooden pallets closet with two large wooden doors appears stunning in rustic look and at the same time, this is the best closet with enough storing space in it.
Created & Shared by: Debra Armstrong Bailey
Now create this easy as well as the marvelous design of upcycled wood pallet shelf. This shelf structure is best to craft for your bedroom to place your reading book and decorating items on it. And at the same time, this pallets plan is also good-enough to craft to meet the kitchen shelving needs through this beautiful wood pallets shelf.
Created & Shared by: Max Lothbrok
Have a look at the thought-provoking appearance of these reclaimed wood pallet night stands. This two night stands with one drawer on the upper portion and the lowers shelf-like structure will provide you best storage as well as good placement space in your room.
Created & Shared by: Dale Miles
Are you looking for an exceptional storage place at your home, but also worried about the small area at your home. If yes then palletsideas.info are bringing the best solution for you in the shape of this pallets wall storage and tool cabinets. This wall storage is created with reclaimed wood pallets boards that will able you to store all the essential tools and other items at a safe place.
Created & Shared by: Michael Kosydor
Now construct this awesome wooden pallets innovation by recycling the useless wood pallets stacks present at your home. This wooden pallets tiki bar project is the best wooden structure that you can easily construct on your own to meet the requirements of the tiki bar in an economical way.
Created & Shared by: Joanne Schultz Bartley
Let’s reshape the beauty of your entry area as well as your outdoor by crafting these stunning designs of reused pallet fence. These pallets fences will provide your best wooden decoration for your home and you can also grow your beautiful plants in it as we have kept someplace in these pallets fences that are suitable for planting.
Created & Shared by: David Cutajar
Let’s craft this fabulous wood pallets twin bed for kids. This is artistically crafted stunning recycled pallets wooden bed that is the best creation to meet the bedding needs of your two kids with a one wooden bed structure. This twin bed for kids will provide you best wooden bed at a low price.
Created & Shared by: Justin Funk Created & Shared by: Kim Adams
Here we are going to present an amazing-looking wooden pallets chest of drawers and cabinets. This project has many wooden drawers in it and also have two wooden cabinets with a door that will provide you the best storage structure in your home.
Created & Shared by: L’atelier de romane
Now renovate your office area with this wonderful wooden innovation crafted with recycled wood pallets. This creation is simple and easy to craft for the decoration of your simple office room and at the same time, this beautiful wooden structure will increase the beauty of your place in an economical way.
Created & Shared by: The Reclaimed Barnwood Co.
We are proudly going to present for you a thought-provoking wooden project made from useless wood pallets. This project will provide you best storage capacity in it and good-enough to place your cosmetics and other useful dressing items in it.
This is another marvelous wooden plan that we can easily craft with the help of useless wood pallets stacks. This vanity is constructed by reshaping the cheap price pallets wood that is easily available in all wooden markets.
Created & Shared by: L’Home des Bois
Let’s decorate the ordinary-looking walls of your home with this fabulous wooden planter. The vertical planter will serve you in two ways, one it will provide you the best planter so that you can easily grow your plants and will also enhance the grace of your simple outdoor area.
Created & Shared by: Everson Ferreira
Here we are bringing to you a fabulous pallet wardrobe clothes hanger and shoe rack.With this thought-provoking innovation, you can simply hang your clothes, jackets, and other clothing accessories and you can also store your shoes in this smartly crafted shoe rack portion.
Created & Shared by: Urs Áchimson
If you have a desire to renovate your place with some unique wooden products then simply create this reclaimed wood pallets bar structure for your home to fulfill your bar needs at your place at low cost.
Created & Shared by: Coastal Pallet Furniture LLC
This is another attractive wooden project crafted by recycling the large boards of wood pallets. This pallet and cable reel recycled patio giant bench seem wonderful in organic wood texture. You can also decorate this project with a bright color paint.
Created & Shared by: André Pallets Created & Shared by: Ethik Wood Created & Shared by: Rústico Arte En Palets Created & Shared by: Muebles Pezoa Created & Shared by: Frank Spilmann
One of the greatest military minds was Frederick the Great who against overwhelming odds, led the Prussian army to victory at the Battle of Leuthen. By outsmarting his enemies and using clever maneuvers, he was able to decisively defeat a much larger Austrian army.
SEO is kind of like that, when you’re starting out and looking to establish an online presence amidst the big players in your industry.
To outrank your competitors, you have to outsmart them.
Having a good SEO strategy is the first step to achieving that.
How to rank in Google now: Search Engine Ranking Factors
Nobody actually knows how Google ranks pages. There are over 200 ranking factors and unless you’ve cracked the search engine algorithm, we are all in the game of guessing how to please the big G.
The SEO industry is also a little crazy. There are tons of Google algorithm updates every year and many experts in the industry still find it challenging to keep up with rapid changes in SEO.
But the truth is – what really drives rankings in organic search still remains the same as 10 years ago: Links and Content.
Here’s what Andrey Lipattsev, search quality strategist at Google said,
the first two most important ranking signals are content and links pointing to your site, in no particular order.
Check out this study done by Ahrefs which shows the correlating factors to rank well on Google.
Clearly, backlinks are still the #1 driving factor behind rankings.
Backlinks or inbound links are hyperlinks from someone else’s website that point to yours. Think of them as a vote of confidence, the more backlinks you have, the higher your trustworthiness and authority.
Google serves up pages that it knows will best answer a search query. The more credible your site is, the more likely you will fit this criteria. That’s why it’s so valuable (and expensive) to get a link placement on high authority sites like Forbes.
But what’s changed is that Google is getting smarter.
With the Hummingbird algorithm, it changed the way Google parsed queries. Google learnt to use semantic context. It could understand search intent, phrases, similar themes and related topics.
Remember that Google’s goal is to match a query to an answer. And the Hummingbird update just gave it a new way to rank pages.
This means Google started to focus on topics.
Thus began the marketing rush, Content is King. Because Google no longer just looks at pages by “voting mechanism” via backlinks, but also at the actual content on the page.
With that, let’s get started on what makes a good SEO strategy.
#1. The Golden Circle: What is a Good SEO Strategy?
A good SEO strategy is an actionable plan that clearly tells you what to optimize, when, how and why.
We often get caught up in ‘how-to’ guides, ‘one plan to rule them all’ blueprints and more list formulas. But in this section, I want to cover the purpose that drives SEO activities.
For this, I took inspiration from Simon Sinek’s powerful TED talk on “Start with Why”
Why: purpose – usually mapped with a business goal that helps your bottom line
How: concept, technique or process to fulfill that purpose
What: actionable steps, specific activities under the technique
Alright, we’ve come up with a fancy circle and wrapped our favourite subject in it. Now lets see some actual examples.
Example 1: e-Commerce business + technical SEO
You have an e-commerce business running on HTTP and are looking to migrate over to HTTPS. Your business priority is to prepare for a site migration.
Why: successfully migrate to a more secure website. Accomplish this with minimum technical errors and traffic losses.
How: Technical SEO
What: 301 redirects, website audit and crawls, broken link checks, URL mapping, indexation and search console checks.
The role of SEO is technical focused, performing smart redirects and minimise traffic losses. Link building and reporting on domain authority of various inbound links wouldn’t be as relevant for this occasion.
Example 2: SaaS startup + content + authority SEO
But if you are a SaaS startup with non-existent search visibility, your business priority is to generate brand awareness.
Why: generate leads and conversions for relevant keyword queries. Attract the right traffic and contribute to my business bottom line.
The role of SEO here focuses on content and authority building. You’ll want to invest in a good copywriting team, conduct competitive research and start building an online presence.
#2 Minimum Viable SEO
I know what you’re thinking – sure Leanne it’s easy to come up with strategies and fantasize about dozens of SEO activities but what if I don’t have the time to work on SEO?
Then this section is just for you! I’ve laid out a path for you that requires 1 hour a day to get some solid SEO work done.
First, get your website set up on Google Webmaster Tools
In this content strategy framework, we’ll be looking at (i) traffic potential instead of rankings and (ii) topic clusters instead of keywords.
But we all know that keyword research is the first step in any SEO strategy, so why not focus on keywords?
After all, the biggest mistake you can make is to write about a topic nobody is searching for.
No search volume = no demand.
But is monthly search volume of a keyword enough to base your entire content strategy on?
Nope. I’ll show you why.
Keyword selection based on traffic potential
Remember our goal to rank on Google is to get relevant traffic, and to do so we need clicks.
The estimated CTR is 30% for a page ranking on position #1. Followed by 15% and 10% for position #2 and #3.
That is how much search traffic you’ll get if you rank on the first page of Google. The above statistic is from a study by AWR, which looked at the organic CTR (click through rate) coming from over 1.5M keywords.
For example, I want to write about “Singapore chicken rice” and it has 480 monthly searches.
So these numbers look pretty bleak. But actually, the full traffic of those ranking pages are actually waaaay MORE than those numbers alone.
Because a page can rank for many, many, many keywords.
As you can see, the sethlui.com page ranks for over 247 other keywords, and thebestsingapore.com page ranks for 155 other keywords too.
This is a super important takeaway – Don’t make content strategy decisions based on the search volume of a single keyword.
To build your content, find out what other keywords the top ranking pages ranks for and create topics clusters. Don’t worry, we’ll dive deeper into this in the next section.
On Ahrefs, you can simply click on the keywords column and be directed to the organic keywords ranking report:
From here we know sethlui.com page also ranks for these related keywords: “purvis street chicken rice”, “best hainanese chicken rice in singapore”, etc.
This gives us some insight into what keyword topics are proven to work and what users are searching for. Armed with this huge list of long-tail keywords and sub topic ideas, we can supercharge our content strategy by building topic clusters.
Topic Clustering Strategy
Have you ever written a ton of blog posts but found that traffic was staggering? Don’t lose hope yet.
I’ll show you how to gain traction on Google by creating pillar pages. Trust me, it will massively reduce the amount of time spent optimising and trying to rank for individual pages.
We’ll look at how to optimise content for semantic search, by building a semantic relationship between content pages for SEO.
I got the idea of topic clusters from Hubspot, which used the concept of clusters and pillar pages to organise content.
Simply put, pillar pages are your ‘trophy’ pages that you want Google to take notice of. The topic cluster pages are the cheerleaders that all point to the trophy page.
A topic cluster is an SEO strategy that focuses on topics instead of keywords. The result improves site architecture and helps Google understand related content and ultimately boost your search visibility.
How to create a topic cluster?
For example if you want to own the term, “presentation skills”
Step 1: Create big topics for your pillar pages
presentation design
visual strategy
corporate communication
Big topics are HUGE pieces of content, also known as pillar pages. (e.g, ‘The Ultimate Guide to Presentation Design‘).
Ask yourself if this pillar page can answer every possible question when someone searches for X keyword.
General rule of thumb – each pillar page should be able to umbrella at least 10-20 smaller posts.
Step 2: Create an umbrella of cluster topics from your pillar page.
presentation design
creative presentation ideas
presentation design hacks
startup presentation templates
visual strategy
brand and identity design
infographics & data visualisation
colour theory
corporate communication
persuasive negotiation
effective business storytelling
sales training course
Cluster topics are your long-tail keywords and smaller posts under the umbrella of your big main topic (pillar page). These smaller posts literally ‘cluster’ around your main pillar page by internal links.
Step 3: Link all cluster topics to the pillar page
This chain of clusters tells search engine your content pages are related to each other.
There’s a technical phrase for this – Internal Linking.
An internal link is a hyperlink from a page in your website to another page.
The more internal links a page has, the higher it will rank. So if your product page gets linked to the most from other pages on your site, that product page will perform better in SERPs.
By linking all individual topic clusters to your big pillar page, it boosts the strength of that pillar page.
Also, search engines can easily scan all your site content and understand that there is a semantic relationship between the pages’ content.
Want to learn more? Check out my SEO course for bloggers and entrepreneurs, SEO Demystified. Semantic search is one of the core concepts I teach in the course as well! I’ve put my heart and soul into this one, and would love to see you there.
#4. Link building strategy: building relationships
In an ideal world, backlinks will come to you naturally. Because if you’ve got bangin’ amazing great content that everybody just can’t resist sharing, then you wouldn’t have to break a sweat building inbound links manually.
But that just doesn’t happen. Even if it does, it doesn’t happen every time you publish a new piece of content.
Content needs to be deliberately promoted to get in out in the world.
Remember: even if you were to create the greatest piece of content anyone has ever seen, if there isn’t a way of getting it in front of people then it would be useless.
Backlinks are an important ranking factor on Google, if not the most important.
But it’s also the most challenging, especially when you don’t yet have a large social clout.
How to add value when you have nothing to offer
Often times we try to build that ‘perfect’ backlink and get advice like “make an infographic”, “create a viral post/video”, “create great content”.
What I get frustrated about is that if you are a business with very low influence, even if i manage to publish jaw-dropping content, it can be quite a struggle to get it in front of people.
With that in mind, I’d like to share 3 methods I found most effective when you’re just starting out.
Ego bait: Promote other people’s content
One of the most effective ways of encouraging people to share your content is by promoting their content and adding value to it.
(a) Reach out to everyone you’ve mentioned in your article and featured their work. Send them a “great job, thanks for writing this amazing content, I absolutely love you” note of appreciation.
(b) Write a roundup post and find at least 5 influential bloggers in your niche. Give a short writeup about their articles which you’ve selected, and add your own take on it.
Make sure to also link to their respective blogs. Then, contact them individually through email, and mention them in a tweet about your blog.
The key here is to not ask for a backlink, but to focus on promoting their contentand build a relationship.
Ask yourself, “why would anyone benefit from sharing my content?”
Start off small and look for bloggers, smaller editorial sites and micro influencers who are in similar position as you.
Chances are they’d be very happy if you shared their content. This way you’ve built a relationship and got your blog noticed in a subtle way.
Piggyback on your competitors backlinks
This method reaches out to people who linked to existing articles on the same topic you’re writing about.
To convince these people to link to you after they’ve already reached out to your competitors, you need to get creative.
Here are 2 simple ways.
(a) Check if the top ranking pages have outdated content. The opportunity here is to create an article with new and updated information and reach out to those who’s linking to the outdated content to check yours out.
(b) Offer a better, more in-depth coverage of the topic. Reach out to people who’ve linked to your competitors and say you wrote a similar article as XYZ which missed out on this and that.
The piggyback method relies on cold email and treads on the line of being desperate. But it can have big rewards if you’re successful because you’d be getting strong backlinks who have contributed to your competitors’ ranking success.
Now before you press send on that outreach mail – If you don’t have a very good reason to reach out to someone, don’t reach out to them.
A very good reason to reach out to someone is when that reason has their direct interest.
If their content is outdated, and you can provide a recent updated replacement, then that’s good for them.
If their content is linking out to another article which no longer exists (broken page), then you can introduce your article as a replacement – again good for them.
Some examples of bad outreach reasons are:
“hey you, I read that your article featured my competitor’s blog, could you link to mine too, because its similar”
“hi there, I read your article and would appreciate it if you could link to my blog too please”
Bad outreach is when you are desperate, and trust me – the person on the receiving side can feel it too.
Keep it cool and keep it short.
Product review / Testimonial
Testimonial link building is a win-win scenario. Not only does the product company get a nice customer review, you get a backlink from a reputable website in return.
Think of the products or services you’ve been using and have enjoyed.
Some ideas you can try:
Website: WordPress theme, plugin, product add-ons, web hosting
Physical products which you blog about: camera, equipment, fashion
The list is endless.
Make sure your review is honest and relevant to your readers!
Final Tip: Keep at it.
Building a presence when you’re just starting out can be very frustrating, but keep at it.
Work on the simple tasks you can do today (like planning out your strategy on paper) and get your first backlink. Focus on small wins and you’ll steadily build a solid strategy that brings results.
I hope this has been helpful to some of you out there and I would love to hear your feedback. Oh, and sharing this to your social following would be a great help
Season chicken with garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tbsp oil. Cook chicken until golden and no longer pink, 8 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Still on medium heat, heat remaining oil. Cook garlic until fragrant, 1 minute. Add salsa verde, cream cheese, and chicken broth, and stir until cream cheese has melted completely into sauce.
Return chicken to skillet and let simmer until slightly thickened, 4 to 6 minutes more. Remove from heat and garnish with cilantro. Serve chicken with extra sauce spooned over the top.
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It can be hard to put our love for the humble casserole into words because there’s just so much to love about them,
but if we had to pick one single reason, it would certainly be their ability to bring you a complete and comforting meal in one dish. There’s a casserole out there for every occasion, but this is one that works for just about any of them. It’s creamy, it’s cheesy, and it’s a classic – Chicken Rice Casserole.
It’s classic enough that we’re sure you’ve made it before, but this version makes it worth trying again, we promise. There’s no precooking of the rice or chicken required. It’s just a matter of stirring your ingredients up and getting them in the oven. (Just make sure that the aluminum foil covers the baking dish tightly so that everything gets cooked through.) This uses regular rice and not the ‘minute’ variety, so the grains come out tender but hold their shape. The sauce relies on condensed cream of celery soup, but you could swap that out for cream of chicken or cream of mushroom if that’s what you had on hand. Happy eating!
Chicken and leek are favourite combinations of mine and to be honest, so is anything wrapped in puff pastry! The parcels are super easy to make and a great recipe to make ahead and freeze for those nights when you don’t feel like cooking. I love to serve them with a side salad for a light meal or a plate of veges for something a little heavier. Mmm…. I can smell them now!
Enjoy,
Amanda
CREAMY CHICKEN & LEEK PARCELS Makes 8
Ingredients
40g butter
1 leek, white stem finely sliced
1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic
600 grams chicken breast fillets
3 tablespoons cornflour
1 ½ cups chicken stock
½ cup cream
4 sheets puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten
STEP 1 – In a large frying pan add butter & melt over high heat. Add leek & garlic & cook for 3 mins or until leek softens.
STEP 2 – Roughly dice chicken (into pieces approx 1cm) and add to pan. Cook over high heat until chicken is browned.
STEP 3 – Mix cornflour & stock together and add to chicken mixture. Add cream. Reduce heat to medium & stir for a few minutes or until sauce thickens.
STEP 4 – Set aside to allow mixture to cool. To speed up the process, refrigerate mixture or spread out onto a tray.
STEP 5 – Preheat oven to 200ºC.
STEP 6 – Cut each sheet of pastry in half (giving you 2 large rectangles). Spoon some mixture onto one half of each piece. Fold the pastry over to enclose the filling and pinch edges to seal. I usually fold over the edges to stop mixture from running out. Cut a slit in the top of each one.
STEP 7 – Place pastry squares onto lined oven trays and brush the top with beaten egg. Bake in preheated oven for 15 mins or until golden.
In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook bowties according to package directions until al dente. During the last 2 minutes of cooking, add broccoli and cook until bright green. Drain and return to pot.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper. Cook until golden, 8 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate to let rest, then thinly slice.
Add milk, Parmesan, cream cheese, and garlic to skillet and let melt and thicken, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.
Add cooked bowties and broccoli and chicken to skillet and toss until completely combined.
Garnish with crushed red pepper flakes and serve.
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Cream Cheese Italian Pinwheels – A pinwheel appetizer filled with cream cheese, ham, salami, banana pepper rings, shredded lettuce, and Italian dressing.
Impress everybody at your next party with these Cream Cheese Italian Pinwheels.
People always go crazy for pinwheels. Seriously. These tasty little nuggets are definitely worth loosing your mind over.
Layer. Roll it up. Chill. Slice. Stuff it in your face. Done.
If you want to make a good meal better, add cream cheese. It makes baked spaghetti creamy and fabulous, turns regular crock-pot beef into something my family will actually eat, and it transformed chicken enchiladas from something my kids wouldn’t touch into a meal they want on a regular basis. I think this would be the perfect meal for Cinco de Mayo! Followed by Margarita Cake for dessert:-)
Unfortunately, my pics are terrible. We have the worst artificial lighting in our house and it was one of those super gray, dreary days when I made these. But, y’all know I’m no fancy pants food blogger. Just keepin’ it real. Hey, at least I didn’t use paper plates.
It’s been pretty well established here how picky my kids are. None of the three will eat enchiladas because of the red sauce. When a friend mentioned she was making chicken enchiladas with a white sauce, I thought ‘hmmm…that just might work’. The girls love Alfredo sauce, so I thought they might give this a try. They also love the white cheese dip you can get a Mexican restaurants. Once they tried these, they loved it and requested I make it on a regular basis. Super picky Mr. Three had a tortilla filled with cheese only, but he liked the sauce too.
Oh yeah, and no “cream of” anything. Just good ol’ fattening ingredients like cream cheese, butter and flour tortillas. I used low-carb tortillas, making these pretty low carb overall, which is good for the diabetic hubby.
Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas
6-10 flour tortillas (depending on size you choose) I use low-carb
2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded (crock-pot is great for this)
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese; divided (reduced fat is ok)
2 cups Mexican Blend or preferred cheese, shredded; divided
salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chillies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.
In a mixing bowl, stir together your chicken, 3 ounces of the cream cheese (my package was marked, but if yours is not, just a little less than half the brick is fine), and one cup of cheese. Season with salt and pepper. *I recommend going light on the salt because broth is full of sodium and you may have salt in the butter as well.
Divide chicken mixture evenly among tortillas and roll them up. Place seam side down in prepared baking dish.
In a sauce pan, over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour and cook one minute while stirring. Whisk in broth until smooth, and heat until mixture is thick and bubbly.
Add remaining cream cheese and stir until melted.
Stir in green chilies. Remove from heat and pour over chicken enchiladas.
Top with remaining cheese and bake for approx. 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is bubbling around the sides. (If desired, place under broiler for a few minutes to brown the cheese…I skipped this part as we were hungry!)
Let cool for a few minutes for sauce to thicken.
Recipe adapted from
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Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad is Sweet tart cranberries mingling with crunchy nutty pecans all with protein filled chicken.
It’s great as a sandwich. It’s wonderful with crackers as a spread. It’s perfect on its own in a potluck!
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Please let me know if you have any questions about this recipe. I read all the comments myself and I try to help as soon as I can. I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site, and I’ve tried to answer some of your questions already in the post. But if I’ve missed anything, please fell free to leave a comment and ask.
Baby Shower Party Food
I made this Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad for my sister in law’s baby shower because both my mom and Maria love chicken, and chicken salads go over so well with them.
My sister in law had asked for more protein filled salads due to the possibility of gestational diabetes.
And, my menu was all about easy pre-made salads that I could just take out of the fridge and serve; no muss no fuss on the day of the shower!
Since the baby shower, we’ve made this Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad many times, and it’s always a hit.
Easy to make & budget-friendly recipe
This recipe is so easy; I bought a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. The whole cooked chicken was only $5; a pretty good deal!
All I had to do was clean the chicken, shred the meat into the bite sized pieces, and then do a little mixing. Like I said, easy!
My grocery store’s deli even carries shredded cooked chicken, so you could buy that and save yourself the step of having to clean the chicken yourself.
Great for warm weather
My Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad is a perfect warm weather lunch or dinner accompaniment.
Chicken tastes just as good cold as it does warm, which makes it a great choice for summer. And the ingredients include pecans and cranberries so this dish is sweet, savory and crunchy all at once.
It’s quick and easy to toss this recipe together first thing in the morning and have it chilled and ready to eat for lunch.
It’s also great on bread, so you can make a sandwich if you prefer.
I found this recipe from Yesterfood, but I’ve seen countless others on Pinterest and Facebook, all having their own special ingredients. I’ve even gotten many comments about how Grandma used to make this with apples or grapes.
It seems that this is a special recipe for lots of people who become very nostalgic with it! And I think, that’s really cool!
Cranberries
Cranberries are a tangy northern American fruit that have become more popular over the years, moving out from their humble place as something we only served at Thanksgiving to a fruit that can be used fresh or dried in a range of dishes.
They are great in cakes and cookies or made in to a sauce to serve with a wide assortment of meats including pork, beef or chicken.
You can buy cranberries that are sweetened, or try simple unsweetened ones. Once you become accustomed to the tang of a cranberry, nothing else will do but a real cranberry with nothing in it.
Cranberries are also great fruits that may protect us from various forms of cancer.
The little red globes of fruity goodness help prevent urinary tract infections!
All of the health benefits from cranberries are substantially improved when you eat the whole fruit rather than an extract or in some other processed form.
These fruits are also great sources of vitamin E, manganese and fiber.
Pecans
Pecans are also one of the ingredients in this health conscious salad. Nuts contain plenty of anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatories, as well as lots of vitamins and minerals. So make this salad, and plenty of it, to add something nice and healthy to your day.
Recipe variations:
grapes that have been cut in half
any kind of nut
raisins instead of cranberries
add a little curry powder
Greek yogurt instead of mayo
splash in a dash of ranch
throw in chopped apple
leave the celery out
Other great chicken recipes you’ll love
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In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a fork or pastry blender. Stir in the milk, mixing with a fork until the dough forms a ball.
To cook them, bring the broth to a boil. Drop the dumplings in one at a time, stirring while you add them. The extra flour on them will help thicken the broth. Cook them for about 15-20 minutes or until they not doughy tasting. Add the cooked chicken to the pot and you’re done, and Enjoy!
Creamy and cheesy the perfect dish! This copy cat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole is one of my all-time favorite recipes and a must try.
This is one of my all-time favorite recipes! Creamy cheesy and oh so yummy! This recipe is good for breakfast lunch or dinner and makes the perfect side for any meal.
When will you be serving this Hashbrown Casserole as breakfast or a dinner side? All you need to do is mix your ingredients, place it in a casserole dish, and bake!
How to make Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole:
Step one: Start by preheating your oven and then preparing a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. I used a 9×13 casserole dish.
Step two: In a mixing bowl combine all ingredients and some of your shredded cheese.
Step three: Place in your casserole dish and then top with the remaining shredded cheese.
Baking Directions:
Step four: Bake until fully cooked and bubbly.
Make Ahead Instructions:
Refrigerating Instructions: Prepare everything but instead of baking top your casserole with foil and place it in the refrigerated for up to two days. Remove from the fridge and remove foil and bake according to directions.
Freezing Instructions: Mix your casserole according to directions in a freezer-safe casserole dish. Cover with plastic wrap then foil and freeze up to 3 months.
Side Dish Recipes:
Here are some of my favorite potato recipes that you are going to love:
Cheesy Potato Casserole:This one is amazing! It’s made in the slow cooker and my all time favorite side dish.
If you tried any of my recipes I would love to hear from you, leave me a comment below. You can also connect with me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST. I would love for you to follow along and discover more amazing recipes.
In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook linguine according to package directions until al dente. Drain and return to pot.
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute, then add flour and stir until golden. Pour over heavy cream and chicken broth and simmer until thick, 3 minutes. Add Parmesan and let melt, 2 minutes.
Season with Old Bay, salt, and pepper. Stir in parsley and crab meat and toss until coated, then add linguine and toss until fully combined.
Garnish with Old Bay, parsley, and Parm and squeeze with lemon.
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This Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup is wonderfully creamy and comforting. See tips above for how to modify this recipe to be gluten-free and/or vegan, if you prefer.
This Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup is wonderfully creamy and comforting. See tips above for how to modify this recipe to be gluten-free and/or vegan, if you prefer.
INGREDIENTS:
6 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
1 cup uncooked wild rice*
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 large (about 1 pound) sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 small white onion, peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 large handfuls of kale, roughly chopped with thick stems removed
Kosher salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
INSTANT POT (PRESSURE COOKER) METHOD:
Combine vegetable stock, wild rice, mushrooms, garlic, carrots, celery, sweet potato, onion, bay leaf and Old Bay seasoning in the bowl of an Instant Pot pressure cooker. Stir briefly to combine.
Cover and set vent to “sealing”. Cook on manual (high pressure) for 25 minutes. Let the Instant Pot rest there for an extra 10 minutes (natural release). Then carefully turn the vent to “venting” and release the remaining pressure (quick release). Remove lid and discard the bay leaf.
Meanwhile, during those final 10 minutes of pressure cooking, prepare your cream sauce on the stove. In a medium saucepan, cook the butter over medium-high heat until melted. Whisk in the flour until combined, and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add in the milk, and whisk until combined. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture nearly comes to a simmer and has thickened. (It should be very thick.)
Add the cream sauce and kale to the soup, and stir gently until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper (plus any extra Old Bay seasoning, if you would like) as needed.
Serve warm. Or transfer to sealed container(s) and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
CROCK-POT (SLOW COOKER) METHOD:
Combine vegetable stock, wild rice, mushrooms, garlic, carrots, celery, sweet potato, onion, bay leaf and Old Bay seasoning in the bowl of a large slow cooker. Stir briefly to combine.
Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours, until the rice is cooked and tender.
Meanwhile, during those final 10 minutes of slow cooking, prepare your cream sauce on the stove. In a medium saucepan, cook the butter over medium-high heat until melted. Whisk in the flour until combined, and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add in the milk, and whisk until combined. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture nearly comes to a simmer and has thickened. (It should be very thick.)
Add the cream sauce and kale to the soup, and stir gently until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper (plus any extra Old Bay seasoning, if you would like) as needed.
Serve warm. Or transfer to sealed container(s) and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
STOVETOP METHOD:
Heat (an extra) 1 tablespoon butter in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.
Add in the vegetable stock, wild rice, mushrooms, carrots, celery, sweet potato, bay leaf and Old Bay seasoning. Stir to combine.
Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, or until the rice is tender, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, during those final 10 minutes, prepare your cream sauce in a separate saucepan on the stove. In it, cook the butter over medium-high heat until melted. Whisk in the flour until combined, and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add in the milk, and whisk until combined. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture nearly comes to a simmer and has thickened. (It should be very thick.)
Add the cream sauce and kale to the soup, and stir gently until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper (plus any extra Old Bay seasoning, if you would like) as needed.
Serve warm. Or transfer to sealed container(s) and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness (sometimes it’s easier to filet them, instead)
seasoning salt
6 slices bacon, cut in half
1/4 cup regular mustard
1/4 to 1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups shredded Colby/Jack cheese
Sprinkle and rub the chicken breasts with seasoning salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon. ***Do not discard grease.*** Saute chicken in the bacon grease for 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until browned. Move chicken to a 9×13 pan.
In a small bowl, mix the mustard, honey, mayo and dried onion flakes. Apply the honey mustard to each breast, then layer with mushrooms, bacon, and shredded cheese.
Bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and chicken is done.
Just like Chick-Fil-A, but it tastes 10000x better! And the homemade honey mustard is out of this world!
I have always been somewhat of a late adopter in almost all aspects of life. I was one of the last people on earth to start wearing converse “chucks”. Or make the switch to skinny jeans. I was also very late on the iPhone adoption. And now I’m one of the last people to finally try Chick-fil-A.
The funny thing is, we didn’t even mean to go there. I was craving pancakes so we made our way to a popular waffle house just to find out that there was a 30-min wait on a Tuesday afternoon. So we drove back to our house and on the way home, we passed a Chick-Fil-A when Jason looked at me and said, “It’s time. We have to try this place at some point.”
So we pull up to the drive-thru and ordered 2 chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets and all of their dipping sauces. And boy, was I in for a treat. It was ah-mazing. All of it. The sandwich. The nuggets. Oh, the nuggets. We almost went back because there wasn’t enough nuggets to go around!
But as amazing as that was, I couldn’t help but recreate this at home. I was a bit skeptical because I was unsure if the homemade version could actually top the original but surely enough, it tasted a million times better. Not to mention the epic homemade honey mustard sauce. I’m not even a mustard fan but this – this I could slurp, drink, and gulp down in my sleep. And once you dip those crisp nuggets, you’ll never want to go to Chick-fil-A again!
Learn how to create these concrete painted pots inspired by my friend Jamie’s new book, French Vintage Decor. Perfect planters for an indoor herb garden.
Happy Wednesday, everyone! I’m excited today since I’m finally able to share my good friend Jamie’s beautiful new book, French Vintage Decor. We’ve been chatting about it for over a year, and I know how much hard work and effort she’s put into getting to this point.
Not only is Jamie incredibly talented, she also has the kindest heart and is someone I admire for her determination and resiliency.
Totally beautiful inside and out! She’s a fellow Canadian gal too.
Some of you may already know Jamie from her blog, So Much Better with Age, where she shares her love of French vintage decor. Naturally, her book is an extension filled with rustic and elegant projects and ideas using easy-to-find and recycled materials, along with new. It’s already a best seller on Amazon!
French Vintage Decor was kindly provided for review purposes. As always, opinions in this post are my own. As well, some affiliate links are included for the book and supplies in this post. Check out my blog policies here to find out what that means.
Of course, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this long-anticipated book. In true Jamie style, she sent it packaged so thoughtfully with a hand-written note and perfectly-selected gifts. So sweet!
Flipping through the pages of French Vintage Decor is like taking a trip through France. Ahh… Have I mentioned how stunning the photography is? She’s a natural behind the camera.
I love how Jamie breaks down each DIY project in the book and gives real-life styling ideas using her own home as the backdrop. Isn’t it pretty?!
Want to learn how to make this gold ornate mirror she has sitting on her mantel? Find out on page 31 of the book. Honestly, you can do it!
Or, what about these brown bottles with antique labels? They make a lovely floral display, don’t you think? Get access to the free printables when you purchase the book.
Maybe these repurposed drill bit holders with lavender are more your style? I’m making them for sure. You know how much I love my projects using lavender!
I already have so many ideas flagged with post-it notes. And the best part is, I have most of the supplies on hand.
Since summer is almost here, I thought I’d start with some concrete painted pots that come from the Parisian-Inspired Home Decor section of the book. Take some inexpensive terra cotta pots and paint them to look like concrete. An easy, inexpensive and fun project anyone can do!
Concrete Painted Pots
How to Make Concrete Painted Pots
SUPPLIES
½ cup charcoal grey paint (I mixed Deco Art Zinc and Grey Storm, which looks a bit darker than what’s in the book)
Mix the charcoal grey paint with the chalking powder in a plastic container using a spoon. The mixture will be quite thick.
Using a brush, paint the mixture horizontally around each pot. The stiff brush will ensure brush marks are visible, which is the look you want. Allow to dry for 2 to 4 hours. Paint a second coat if needed for coverage or extra texture.
Once fully dry, dip part of the cloth into the white wax and rub all around the pot. Remove excess with a dry part of the same cloth. The white wax will get into the textures of the paint to give you the dimension of concrete. You can always go back and paint more grey if it gets too white for your liking. Play around.
I finished my concrete painted pots off with a second coat of clear wax for durability.
In the book, Jamie shows you how to take these concrete painted pots and turn them into a beautiful French display using lavender. So pretty!
Creating an Indoor Herb Garden
I decided to fill mine with herbs for now, but succulents would be fantastic too. Parsley, basil, oregano and thyme are some of my favourites! I just popped the plastic pots they came in right into the faux concrete ones for now.
The most soothing, comforting, cozy soup for the flu season! Quick/easy to make, you’ll be feeling better in no time!
Happy Monday!
We just got back from San Francisco to watch the Dodgers versus Giants, and we ate so many Gilroy garlic fries and clam chowders in a bread bowl!
But as amazing as their food was at AT&T park, San Francisco is also super cold (compared to us weenies with our LA weather), which means I’m now home with one of the worst colds ever.
I’m currently on bedrest right now with a giant bowl of this soup. It’s the only thing that is making me feel better at this point. And the garlic/lemon/ginger/lemongrass here is doing absolute wonders.
So as the weather cools down, be sure to stay warm and have this soup on standby! It will be a god-send!
This is my daughter's closet before, (Yikes) it usually has white doors, however I took them off to organize it all up and now decided to keep the off. (notice my youngest playing in the corner she thought it was the greatest thing ever!)
Here is the organized version much nicer! I used wrapping paper for the background to help spice it up, then I have ALL her leggings, and dance clothes in the two pink bins that I found in the Target dollar aisle.
The party table!!!I picked up the fabric for the table cloth and runner at my local fabric store. The Minnie Mouse inspired Cake The walking Minnie Balloon found on Amazon Found all of these cute garden decoration at Micheal's for 60% off!! All the little fairies doing a scavenger hunt for necklaces, rings, and candy!
