PIONEER WOMAN'S BEAN WITH BACON SOUP

I love, love, love, loveeeeeeeee soup.  You know those snobby soup people who only make it from scratch, and gag at the thought of (shudder) canned soup?  Those people are the worst!  Just kidding.  Because those people include ME!  I only became a soup snob in the past five years or so, and there is one canned darling that still has my heart: Campbell's Condensed Bean with Bacon.  It is just something else; it is SPECIAL.  But I do feel snobby soup person guilt when I purchase it.  So when I saw that the Pioneer Woman herself had figured out how to make it, and make it deeeeeelicious, I figured I could kick the canned version to the curb for good.  And I did.  And I have.  Come over and check out my pantry, there are no canned soups!

I followed her recipe except for two tiny things: I did not save any bacon for garnish, I threw it all in the soup.  And I added a dash of Slap Ya Mama cajun seasoning for a kick.  This soup was good the first day, but great the next day!

SMOKY CHICKEN BREASTS WITH BACON AND CHEESE

This chicken is insane.  Juicy, flavorful, BACON, melted cheese, come onnnnnnnn.  Normally I stare blankly at a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, wondering how in the world to make those boring things edible.  Now I have the knowledge.  I have the power.  You can too.  Just make this chicken!!!

First, make some bacon.  I went the oven route.

While the bacon is doing its thang in the oven, get to work on your boring chicken.  Place chicken between sheets of plastic wrap, then pound away with a meat mallet.  You want them at an even thinness of about 1/2 an inch.  I loathe thick chicken.  Generously sprinkle both sides with your choice of creole or cajun seasoning.

Pour on a good amount of ranch dressing.  Ken's is delicious and very thick, which works well here because you need the ranch to stay put. 

Next, you need some cheddar.  I made this dinner on a whim, so I had NO BLOCKS OF CHEESE in my fridge.  Totally weird.  Usually the cheese drawer is full at this house.  I had a few cracker cuts left, thank goodness.  My plan was to use shredded cheddar, but I think when I make it again, I'll slice the cheese.  This melted perfectly slow and didn't melt off the chicken. 

Your bacon should be done by now.  Drain it on some paper towels, then break pieces to fit on your chicken breasts.  Cover the chicken with bacon until you forget it's there.

Bake at 350 for half an hour.  You'll probably be bored, so eat the rest of the bacon while you wait.

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 lb bacon
Cajun/Creole seasoning
ranch dressing
cheddar cheese, sliced or grated

Cook bacon.  Preheat oven to 350.  Pound chicken to even thinness, about 1/2 inch.  Place in pie plate and sprinkle both sides with cajun seasoning.  Drizzle on ranch dressing.  Place cheese on top.  Drape bacon over chicken, breaking to fit.  Bake for half an hour, or until chicken is done.

Recipe inspiration

ARUGULA SALAD WITH WHITE BEANS AND BACON

This salad is a copycat of my favorite salad from a neighborhood deli.  The exact description from their menu: arugula, pastina, cannellini beans, smokey bacon, walnuts, parmesan cheese, sherry vinaigrette.  I always order it without walnuts, because I firmly believe that nuts and fruit have no place in salads.  Also, I couldn't find a sherry vinaigrette anywhere, so regular balsamic took over dressing duty.  And finally, I realized I had a perfectly ripe avocado ready to be used, and everyone knows bacon and avocado are best friends, so I threw that on there after taking pictures.  The avocado was amazing and I highly recommend you also use one.

The lineup.  I baked the bacon, method here.

How cute is this little pasta?  Reminds me of couscous. 

This salad makes me so happy.

Ingredients

Arugula
Acini di pepe, cooked and cooled (or any tiny, pearled pasta)
Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Bacon, cooked and broken into bite sized pieces
Shaved parmesan cheese
Avocado
Balsamic vinaigrette, or any vinaigrette

Toss arugula in bowl with dressing.  Plate the arugula, then top with remaining ingredients.  Season entire salad with salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Vary amounts of ingredients based on your preferences!

OVEN BACON

Things I love: bacon and Martha Stewart.  Things I hate: the way my house stinks after I make bacon in the griddle and cleaning up after.  Thank goodness for Martha!  This isn't so much a recipe as it is a method.  If you like your bacon crispy and want to avoid grease splatter all over your stove top and counters, do as Martha says: Put the bake back in bacon!

It's simple.  Line deep baking sheets with parchment, lay the bacon down without overlapping, bake at 400 for 18 minutes.  I loved everything about it, except I think I'll line the pans with foil next time.  Parchment paper doesn't crumple as nicely as foil, so little droplets of bacon grease ended up on my shirt during clean up.  Oops.

Martha's method: http://www.marthastewart.com/264476/less-mess-bacon

ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH BACON

Raise your hand if you hate brussels sprouts!  Okay, now put it down because I'm about to convert you.  People either love them or hate them, and it takes a great recipe to turn the haters.  This is most definitely one of those recipes.  It is super simple and super delicious.  Did I mention the bacon???  These are the only ingredients you'll need:

Clean your brussels sprouts and cut off the hard bottoms.  Cut the bigger sprouts in half, unless you have a gigantic mouth.  In a baking dish or pan, toss them with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.  Mix mix mix.  Mentally prepare yourself for bacon time.  I read somewhere that if you rinse your bacon with water before you cook it, then it won't shrivel up!  This recipe sounded like it needed fat, soft bacon, so I rinsed four slices of thick cut bacon in cold water.  Then I cut them into inch sized pieces (get out those kitchen scissors!) and scattered them on top of the veggies.

Bake at 400 for half an hour, stirring once halfway through.  I put them under the broiler for a couple minutes at the end to give them a teeny bit more crisping.

Original recipe here

BACON RANCH DIP

With all the football games happening, you are going to need some serious snacks.  Here is an incredibly easy dip that requires only 5 simple ingredients.  The creator of this dip also makes a chilled version, which is next on my list to try.  I found the recipe here.

The dip has a fluffy, light consistency, which kind of makes it seem like diet food!  Just ignore the cream cheese, cheddar, sour cream and bacon.  It's diet food.  Serve with Fritos scoops, tortilla chips, or to stick with the diet theme, scoop it up with raw veggies.

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch powder mix
1 bag Oscar Meyer bacon bits, 3 oz
2 cups shredded cheddar
16 oz sour cream

Combine all ingredients in large bowl, mix well.  Transfer to 8x8 baking dish and cover.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly.  Stir and serve.