Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole

I hope everyone is doing well on this beautiful Wednesday morning. I have to admit that I am still nervous. I took boards yesterday, and I won't find out results until late tonight or early tomorrow. I did do the "trick" to find out if I passed which is to try to re-register to take the exam. If it lets you register, you did not pass. It did not let me register so I am taking that as good news.

Chris and I like to plan meals for around 2 weeks, so when we buy groceries we won't have to constantly come back. One night when we were getting ready to go to bed the idea for this casserole came into my mind. Has anyone been to Big Bob Gibson's BBQ? If not, at least once in your lifetime you need to go. I always get their turkey stuffed baked potato, and it's heaven. Who can complain about a huge baked potato, sour cream, butter, cheese, and delicious turkey?

I love casseroles, and I knew we had just about everything to make this creation already. A huge thank you to Publix for the B1G1 BBQ sauce. We had plenty to go around :)

First I put 2 frozen chicken breasts and enough bbq sauce to cover them in the crock pot on low for about 6 hours. About an hour to hour and a half before you want to plate the casserole, get a pot of boiling water ready to make your mashed potatoes. I used 3 large Russet potatoes.

While your potatoes are boiling, shred the chicken and place it back into the crock pot so it will absorb more of the bbq sauce. It took about half an hour for the potatoes to become soft enough for a fork to go through them. I mashed the potatoes up completely, skin and all. Then, I put butter and sour cream in them to make a mashed potato.

Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray, and you're ready to layer. First place all of the mashed potatoes on the bottom. After you have smoothed them over, evenly spread the shredded bbq chicken, and lastly, sprinkle a cup to a cup and a half of shredded cheddar cheese on top.

Here is the hardest part: cooking the casserole and waiting to eat it. Place the dish in the oven at 365 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the cheese it golden.

Ingredients:
1 pound of frozen chicken breasts
1 cup of shredded cheese
1 small container of reduced fat or fat free sour cream
Butter
3 large Russet potatoes
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce(1 used about half of the bottle)

*With the butter and sour cream, add as much as you are comfortable and happy with. I used the taste rule :)

Skillet Cookie

Happy Monday Everyone!!

Here's how my Monday started. 12:10 AM the thunder wakes me up. Now with that being said, I do not like storms. I'm not terrified, but I could do without the thunder. Our 60 lb love bug, Mason, feels the same way. He sleeps on the back deck, and I felt awful for him last night. SO, I went outside and brought him in for the night. He slept in the bathroom on one of our comforters. Well, let's not forget Tedi. He knew his buddy was coming in, so I had to let him stay in the bathroom too or else....there would be scratching and barking until they were reunited. Goodness :)

4:30. Chris's alarm goes off. I sleep deeper than he does, but I ALWAYS wake up first when that thing goes off. Finally, I convince him to shut the blasted thing off, and by 6AM I am up for the day.

I'm sure you're wondering when the cookie is going to come into the picture :)

Well, I completed some NCLEX questions, worked out with Insanity Insane Abs(so much sweat...ew), and then lunch. YUM!!

So the afternoon keeps ticking on and I'm bored. What's better than whipping something sweet up to enjoy? The answer: nothing.

I perused Pinterest, and found this recipe. I slightly modified it because I didn't have the chips, and I added a little bit of me. Here we go:

Ingredients
3/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg and 1 yolk
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cups chocolate chips.

Because I didn't have the chips I had to change mine up a little bit. I had a melting chocolate. I just grabbed a cube and chopped it.

Mix the butter and 2 sugars together. Once they are combined and smooth, add in the egg. Stir in. Next, mix in the flour, baking soda, salt, and vanilla.

After all this is mixed together, fold in the chips or if you're like me, the chopped chocolate.

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease your cast iron skillet.

Pour the batter evenly into the skillet.

Another me touch: Pour caramel sauce over the batter and top with sprinkles. The best are rainbow.

Bake it for about 15 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown. The inside will look like its not finished baking, but it will look more solid once you set it out to cool.

 Can life get any better right now? Cookies, chocolate, caramel, and rainbow sprinkles!!

You're more than welcome to come join me for a refreshment or pick me up.