BBQ Chicken and Bacon Mini Tarts

These little appetizers are delicious hot out of the oven and at room temperature so they are perfect for tailgating or entertaining. You can switch up the filling to include anything you want. I once used pizza sauce and pepperoni instead of BBQ sauce and chicken. The options are truly endless.

One filling I would like to try is cream cheese mixed with a little sugar and lemon juice topped with sliced fruit. Doesn’t that sound great?

BBQ Chicken and Bacon Mini Tarts

Servings: This recipe made 24 tarts
Time: 20 minutes
Level: Medium

1 tube crescent rolls
6 chicken strips, cooked and cut into tiny bite sized pieces (I used Tyson 100% white meat chicken nuggets… I keep them around to throw on salads)
3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used turkey bacon)
1/4 c. BBQ sauce
jalapeños, sliced
1/3 c. cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a mini muffin tin. Unroll crescent rolls and smoosh together to make one big rectangle of dough. Cut into 24 small squares.

Stretch each square a little and press down into each muffin cup.

Bake for 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and fill each cup with a tiny amount of BBQ sauce, a piece of chicken, a few bacon crumbles, a piece of a jalapeño slice, and a little shredded cheese.

Bake for 2 more minutes. Yum!

Tips
– Jason likes to dip his in ranch dressing. Go figure.

Bacon and Ranch Chicken… Well, Turkey Bacon and Ranch…

After  a long day of yard work, we deserved a little indulgence. Turkey bacon made this dish a little lighter but it is definitely not something I would serve everyday, no matter how much Jason begged.

His two favorite things to eat, ever, are bacon and ranch. He could LIVE off of bacon and ranch. Tonight, needless to say, he was a happy camper. And to be honest, so was I….

Bacon Ranch Chicken

Servings: 2 (but could easily be doubled, tripled, etc.)
Time: 40 minutes
Level: Easy

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 tbsp. cheese, any Italian blend, shredded
1 tbsp. mayo
1 tbsp. ranch dressing mix
4 slices turkey bacon

Preheat oven to 400°. Slice chicken breast in half, lengthwise. Mix together cheese and mayo.

In a zip-loc bag, toss chicken halves in dry ranch dressing mix until fully coated.

Remove from zip-loc bag and spread each chicken breast half with cheese and mayo mixture. Wrap each piece of chicken with 2 slices of bacon. Place in a baking dish and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

Turn oven to broil and move dish to top rack. Broil for 3-4 minutes to help crisp up the bacon. Yum!

Tips
– Try using regular bacon.
– Serve along side a kitchen sink salad with tons of veggies, raisins, any type of nut, etc.

BBQ Pineapple Luau Pizza

Tonight’s dinner was AMAZING! I will definitely be making this pizza again and again. I had a little fresh pineapple (fresh pineapple… oh, how sweet!) left in the fridge and a hankering for Hawaiian Pizza. The only problem  was that I needed to make more pizza sauce and I wanted dinner to be quick tonight. No pizza sauce? No problem! I decided to use BBQ sauce instead.

I came across a recipe earlier this week that had me thinking. The recipe was for chicken and pineapple quesadillas and it looked divine. I will HAVE to try it soon.

But tonight, I wanted pizza. Fast. So I used this recipe as my inspiration and what I came up with was truly delicious. This is seriously a must try recipe!

Luau Pizza

Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4-6
Level: Easy

Pizza dough/crust
BBQ sauce
Ham, chopped
Pineapple, thinly sliced
Green bell pepper, diced
Onion, cut into thin rings
Jalapeños, diced
Cheese, shredded

Pre-heat oven and make/roll out dough according to pizza dough directions.

Pre-bake dough for 5 minutes. Top with BBQ sauce and remaining ingredients, ending with cheese.

Bake pizza for an additional 10-15 minutes until crust is golden brown. Yum!

Tips
– Use a pre-made crust for a faster dinner.
– Top with a little crushed red pepper for more of a kick.
– I used a packaged dough mix that mixes with water. For 57¢ you can’t beat it if you like thin crust!
– Use as many or as little of the above ingredients. Tonight, I only put onions on 1/2 of the pizza. Jason LOVES them… Me? Not so much…
– Jason dipped his in a little ranch dressing. He’s obsessed with ranch.
– You can substitute the ham for Canadian bacon, bacon, turkey bacon, or even chicken.

Black and Bleu Sliders

Hawaiian rolls, Bleu cheese, and ground beef… all I can say is yum. These are not only delicious, they are easy to make ahead, and super fun to eat! I don’t know why but miniature versions of familiar foods always makes them taste better. I love adding a little whimsy to a weeknight dinner, especially when it doesn’t take any extra time or effort.

Black and Bleu Sliders

Time: 30 minutes
Level: Easy
Servings: 4-6

2 tbsp. ketchup
1/4 c. bread crumbs
1 egg
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1/4 c. bleu cheese
1 lb. ground beef
Hawaiian rolls, as many as you need

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix all ingredients together then add beef. Handle the beef as little as possible to keep it from becoming tough. Roll beef mixture into golf ball sized balls and bake until no longer pink inside.

Pinch out a little piece of the bottom of each roll, just enough to nestle the meatball.

Yum!

Tips
– Serve with desired condiments. Mayo, ketchup, and mustard are good choices but thousand island or ranch dressing is also good!
– Don’t like bleu cheese? No big deal! You can use any cheese you like.
– These also make a great appetizer.

– Make the meatballs ahead and freeze them to bake at a later date.

Roasted Ranch Potatoes

These potatoes are probably common sense but we love them so much I figured I’d post. They are really versatile and easy to whip up in a pinch.

Roasted Ranch Potatoes

Time: 35 minutes
Level: Easy
Servings: 4

3 medium sized potatoes, any variety or you can mix and match
1 tbsp. dry ranch dressing mix
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 450°. Cube potatoes into bite sized pieces taking care to make all pieces roughly the same size.

In a zip-loc bag, put potatoes, dry ranch dressing mix, and olive oil.  Close bag and shake until all pieces of potato are coated evenly.

Pour out onto a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Turn potatoes and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until golden brown. Yum!

Tips
– My best friend, Alissa, introduced me to this one… swap the dry ranch dressing mix for onion soup mix.
– Make up your own spice blend in place of the ranch mix. Try using dill, garlic powder, cayenne, etc. Greek Seasoning is also a great choice.
– Dip them in whatever condiment you like if you want to or just eat them plain.
– Have any leftovers? Save them and mix them with scrambled eggs in the morning and serve wrapped in a tortilla with a little salsa. Yum!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Ahh, pizza. Pizza is cheap, fast, and easy. It is also a fabulous way to use any leftovers you have in the fridge.

This particular pizza is one of my husband’s all-time favorites. Every time I ask him what he wants for dinner, this pizza, inevitably, comes up. He loves it because of the smoky bacon and creamy ranch and I love it because it uses ingredients that I always have on hand.

You can tailor this recipe to whatever you have in your pantry or fridge. Leave ingredients out, add some in, it doesn’t really matter. It’s gonna taste great anyway. Trust me!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Cook Time: 25 minutes
Level: Easy
Servings: 4-6

pizza dough
1/3 c. BBQ sauce
1/2 c. shredded chicken, cooked
2-3 strips of turkey bacon OR bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/3 c. corn, drained and rinsed
1/3 c. black beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 – 1/2 c. shredded cheese
jalapeños, chopped, to taste
red onions, sliced, to taste
ranch dressing, to taste

Pre-heat oven according to pizza dough directions. If using a dough that needs rolling out, roll out onto a greased cookie sheet, pizza pan, or baking stone. Bake dough for 8 minutes. Take it out of the oven and top it with BBQ sauce and next 7 ingredients.

Bake for and additional 4-6 minutes, or until dough is golden brown on the bottom and slightly browned on the edges. Take out of the oven and top with ranch dressing, if desired. Yum!

Tips
– Using shredded chicken, instead of sliced or cubed, will cause you to use less meat. The same goes for shredded cheese. It will cover more ground with less ingredient.
– Ever thought about using a  rotisserie chicken to get dinner on the table faster? They save really well in the fridge and can be used in a million different recipes!
– You can add tomatoes if you have any but make sure you squeeze out the pulp first. The pulp can make the pizza soggy.
– Save any leftover chicken, corn, or black beans in the fridge for use on a later date. Those three ingredients are great thrown into a salad or in a quesadilla for a last minute lunch or dinner.
– Economically speaking, the bag of pizza dough mix is the way to go. You can get it for around 60¢ per bag and all you need to mix with is water. The tube of refrigerated dough and the fresh dough balls from the bakery section also work well in this recipe. You can even opt for a pre-made dough, like a Boboli crust.
-Rinsing vegetables from a can removes up to 25% of the added sodium. Try to buy the low sodium versions and rinse those as well.

– Don’t forget! You can add different ingredients to different parts of a pizza to help please everyone. Tonight, my half of the pizza was sans onions and double jalapeños!