❥ 6 bacon strips, crumbled OR 1, 3oz packet of real bacon bits
1. ❥ 2 large uncooked chicken breasts, skinned and deboned, cut into bite size pieces
2. ❥ 2 carrots, chopped
3. ❥ 1 can of corn OR 2 cups of frozen or fresh corn; reserve corn liquid for if broth is too thin
4. ❥ 1/4 cup flour
5. ❥ 4 cups chicken broth or stock
6. ❥ 1 cup heavy/whipping cream or fatty milk
7. ❥ 3 medium-to-large russet potatoes, peeled & diced
8. ❥ 2 cloves minced garlic
9. ❥ italian seasoning, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and onion powder or dried minced onion to taste
10. ❥ 1 box garlic biscuit mix OR one batch of homemade southern-style biscuits + garlic powder
11. ❥ OPTIONAL 2 stalks of celery, diced
12. ❥ OPTIONAL 1/2 medium onion, minced

1) In a large, oven safe pot (eg, cast iron pot), if using raw bacon, cook bacon on medium-high until crispy. Remove from pot, leaving the grease, crumbling when cool. Meanwhile, prepare celery, carrots, chicken, and potatoes.

2) Add carrots (and celery/onion) to the pot, and saute for 5 minutes.

3) Stir in flour, and cook for about a minute, until combined and lightly browned, stirring often.

4) Add in garlic, then chicken broth. Stir well and scrape the bottom of the pot.

5) Add in the chicken, corn, cream, potatoes, Italian seasoning, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, onion seasoning, and bacon. Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once it's boiling, reduce the heat to a rapid simmer so it's gently boiling. 

6) Preheat oven to biscuit baking directions. Cook soup until the potatoes are under done to your taste (about 13-18 minutes). Stir frequently to avoid sticking.

7) Meanwhile, prepare biscuit mix or dough to box or recipe directions. Once step 6 is finished, turn off stovetop heat. Drop biscuit dough onto the top of the soup in massive heaping tablespoons, starting around the edge of the pot, leaving 2-3 fingers width between each dollop.

8) Cover pot with oven safe lid and transfer pot to the oven. Bake to biscuit baking instructions.

9) Carefully remove the pot lid and return pot to oven. Change oven setting to Broil, and leave soup in the oven until biscuits are browned.

10) Serve as is, or with your choice of toppings. Enjoy!

Notes: You Can use canned biscuits, but we do not recommend it. The intended interaction between the biscuits and the soup is for the soup to cook into the biscuits and create a pillowy, soupy, doughy dumpling at the bottom; canned biscuits does not allow for this, and they will come out with an under-cooked texture. Even beyond this texture issue, the texture of canned biscuits does not work well with the soup texture itself.

❥ 6 tablespoons butter
1. ❥ 4 cups chicken stock or broth
2. ❥ 2 cups milk or half n half
3. ❥ 1 small onion, diced
4. ❥ 2 cloves minced garlic
5. ❥ 1 red pepper, diced
6. ❥ 1-2 medium-to-large potatoes, peeled & diced
7. ❥ 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
8. ❥ 1, 14oz can diced tomatoes & green chilies
9. ❥ 1 can corn OR 2 cups fresh frozen corn, thawed
10. ❥ 1, 14oz can black beans, rinsed & drained
11. ❥ 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste
12. ❥ 1 teaspoon cumin, or to taste
13. ❥ salt & pepper, to taste
14. ❥ 1 tablespoon lime juice
15. ❥ 1.5 cups shredded pepper jack or monterrey jack cheese, plus more for topping
16. ❥ OPTIONAL 1 small jalapeno, seeded & diced
17. ❥ OPTIONAL 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
18. ❥ OPTIONAL diced avocado, tortilla chips, sour cream, or your other favorite taco toppings

1) In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, (jalapeno,) and red pepper. Saute until vegetables are tender, 3-5 minutes. Then, stir in flour and cook for a minute or so, until lightly browned.

2) Whisk in chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Then, stir in milk/half n half, and simmer until slightly thicker, about 5 mins.

3) Add in diced tomatoes, corn, black beans, spices, chicken, potatoes, and shredded cheese and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring frequently, until potatoes are tender. Just before serving, stir in lime juice (and cilantro).

4) Serve as is, or top with your favorite taco toppings. Enjoy!

❥ 3 carrots, peeled & chopped
1. ❥ 2 ribs of celery, diced
2. ❥ 2 medium chicken breasts, boneless skinless, diced into bite sized pieces
3. ❥ 1 teaspoon olive oil
4. ❥ 4 cups chicken stock or broth
5. ❥ 2 cups milk
6. ❥ 1 tablespoon minced garlic
7. ❥ pepper & salt, to taste
8. ❥ 1/2 teaspoon oregano & onion powder
9. ❥ 1 bayleaf
10. ❥ 1/2 cup flour
11. ❥ 1 box Rice a Roni long grain & wild rice

1) Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add in the carrots, celery and onions to the pan. Saute for 10-12 minutes until the onions are translucent.

2) Add in the chicken and garlic. Saute for 4-5 minutes until the chicken is browned.

3) Stir in the chicken broth, 1 cup of milk, and seasonings. Allow the soup to simmer over medium high heat for 15 minutes.

4) Whisk together the remaining milk with the flour. Stir this mixture into the pot. 

5) Add in the wild rice and the seasoning mixture from the package. Stirring often, allow the soup to simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender and cooked through.

6) Find and remove the bay leaf. Taste test the soup and add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve warm and enjoy!

Notes: DO NOT USE ALDI off-branded Rice-a-Roni!! it will be WAY too peppery

❥ 1 pound ground beef or turkey
1. ❥ 1 large russet potato, peeled & cut into 1/4in slices
2. ❥ 1 sleeve vegetable flavored butter (RITZ) crackers, crushed
3. ❥ 1, 10oz can condensed tomato soup
4. ❥ 1 can corn OR 2 cups fresh or frozen corn
5. ❥ 1 egg
6. ❥ garlic & onion powder, salt & pepper, to taste
7. ❥ Penzey's Bavarian spice mix, to taste (crushed brown mustard seed, rosmary, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, sage)

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl, combine ground meat, cracker crumbs, 2/3 cup of soup, the egg, and spices.

2) Arrange the potato slices into a layer on the bottom of a 9x9 inch baking dish. Season the first layer, and continue to layer potatoes, repeating if necessary.

3) Spoon the corn in a somewhat even layer over the potatoes.

4) Evenly spread the meatloaf mixture over the corn. Top with the remaining tomato soup.

5) Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 1 to 1.5 hours until meat is no longer pink in the middle.

6) Cool slightly before serving.

Notes: The meatloaf part works perfectly all on it's own as well. Use a 4x9 loaf pan instead, everything else unchanged.
Yellow Potatoes are awful for this recipe. They become slimy for some odd reason, do Not recommend.

❥ 4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts
1. ❥ 1/2 cup melted butter
2. ❥ 1 cup instant mashed potato flakes
3. ❥ 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
4. ❥ 1/2 tsp salt
5. ❥ 1 tsp garlic powder

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

2) Mix dry ingredients and place in a plastic bag OR spread them out on a plate.

3) Pound chicken breasts to a uniform thickness, or butterfly. Cut chicken breasts into 2-inch strips.

4) Coat the chicken with the melted butter then either dredge them in the coating on the plate or shake them in the bag filled with the coating.

5) Place on baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes. To get a crisp brown, change oven setting to Broil or move pan under the broiler, but this is optional; if you choose not to brown, their texture is like chicken coated in mashed potatoes.

Notes: Ideal to serve along side a green of some sort, but are fantastic by themselves. We dont recommend a dipping sauce as they're perfect on their own, but there might be one that's good to pair them with.

❥ 1 pound ground breakfast sausage
1. ❥ 1 teaspoon butter, softened (to grease the casserole dish)
2. ❥ 1, 10oz can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
3. ❥ 1, 10oz can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
4. ❥ 1 cup white rice
5. ❥ 1 red bell pepper, diced
6. ❥ 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
7. ❥ black pepper, to taste

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a rectangle baking dish well with softened butter.

2) In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients together. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

3) Bake 1.5 Hours. Halfway through baking, carefully pull the oven rack out and gently stir the casserole mixture.

❥ 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken or turkey
1. ❥ 1/2 cup mayonnaise
2. ❥ 2, 10oz cans cream of [your choice] soup, undiluted
3. ❥ 1 can or 1 small bag frozen mixed veggies
4. ❥ 1 cup or 1 big handful of shredded cheese
5. ❥ 1 cup or to taste french fried onions
6. ❥ garlic and onion powder, black pepper, to taste

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cube poultry into bite-sized pieces, and pan fry until white. Season chicken with spices at this point in time.

2) Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl mix canned soups and mayo until consistent.

3) In a 9x13 glass baking pan or equivalent casserole dish, spread a thin layer of canned soup and mayo mixture (aka Goop™) into the bottom of the dish. Then, add the veggies in a thin layer atop the first layer of Goop™. Follow up by layering the par-cooked meat, then the rest of the Goop™. Spread the cheese on top in a thin layer, and finish with fried onions.

4) Cook in oven for 35-45 minutes.

5) Allow to cool for 5 - 10 minutes before serving. Serve atop a starchy side; we suggest mashed potatoes or rice. Enjoy!

Notes: This recipe is the ultimate Do What You Want. We got it from Daski's spouse's family, and no two people in the family make it the same way; as written is the way we make it in our home. The core aspect of this recipe is the cream soups and mayo mixture, everything else is interchangable, even the amounts, and feel free to add anything! We suggest 1 can of cream of mushroom, 1 of chicken, but we've had it in multiple combinations of all existing types of canned cream soups; you Can use two of the same flavor, but it's a bit overwhelming and bland that way.
You can alternate where you layer the cheese to make the Goop™ cheesy instead of having crunchy baked cheese on top. For this alternate; place another thin layer of Goop™ on top of the veggie layer, then sprinkle on cheese. Follow up with meat, rest of Goop™, and top with fried onions.

1. Grab your favorite boxed brownie mix
2. ❥ Replace half the required oil with butter
3. ❥ Replace water with half n half/heavy cream/fatty milk
4. ❥ Add 1tbsp instant coffee mix
5. Bake to box instructions. Enjoy!

❥ Grab your your favorite cake mix (we suggest spiced, gingerbread, strawberry, lemon, or chocolate)

1) Dump box mix into a large bowl.

2) Add in 2 eggs and 1/3 cup oil. Fold powder into the wets, trying not to overwork the dough while making sure all lumps are worked out. You can add chocolate chips or other mix-ins if desired.

3) Set oven to 350 degrees, and put dough into the refrigerator to chill until oven is up to temperature.

4) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using 2 spoons, scoop a heaping spoon of dough and drop onto the baking sheet; tablespoons will make 12 cookies, teaspoons will make 18 - 24 and might need two sheet pans. Top with chocolate chips or other add-ons if desired.

5) Bake for 12 - 15 minutes. Check cookies with a toothpick; if it comes out with a lot of dough on it, leave cookies in for 1 - 2 minutes. If it comes out with a little dough on it, remove from oven and leave on cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. If toothpick comes out with NO dough on it, immediately transfer cookies from baking sheet to cooling racks.

6) Dust with powdered sugar or coarse sugar for the best result. Allow to cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before eating.

❥ 1/2cup of icing sugar (aliases include: powdered sugar, confectioners sugar)
1. ❥ 225g of margarine (or a little more is ok. Or use butter at room temperature if that’s what you’ve got)
2. ❥ 2 & 1/4 teaspoons of vanilla essence or extract.
3. ❥ 2 cups of plain flour. You could use white, wholemeal or gluten free if that’s what you’ve got
4. ❥ 1/4 teaspoon of salt
5. ❥ Jam or preserves of choice. Or chocolate chips if you don’t like jam

1) Pop the margarine and icing sugar into a bowl. Beat it with an electric mixer for a minute or two until it’s all combined and fluffy. You can also do it by hand if you’re some sort of master chef.

2) Add your vanilla and mix. I know it says 2 & 1/4 teaspoons but I never measure it and just follow my heart.

3) Mix in the flour and salt, any old spoon is fine, doesn’t have to be electric, until you have a soft dough. Should stick to itself fairly well. If too sticky, add a little more flour. If not sticky enough, add a little milk-of-choice or a touch of water.

4) You need to be able to roll the dough into little balls. Should feel a lot like playdough, but taste a lot better.

5) Then press your thumb into the middle of each ball, to make the notorious ‘thumb print’. That’s the bit you fill up with your favourite jam, or chocolate, or lemon curd, or I guess you could even try caramel or m&m’s.

6) Bake at about 170 degrees Celsius (that’s about 350F for yankie heathens) for about 18 minutes until golden. The jam comes out like lava. Let them cool a little bit before you eat them or serve to the unsuspecting. Enjoy.

1. ❥ 1 unleveled tablespoon brown sugar
2. ❥ 3 shakes of Worchestershire sauce
3. ❥ 1 to 1.5tbsp soy sauce
4. ❥ a pea to 2 peas amount of grated ginger