Rosemary Crackers

I have a love/hate relationship with crackers.  I love to eat them, but I hate the ingredients in most of them.  Ak-Mak crackers are the exception, but I don't buy them very often because no one else in my family likes them.  Actually I don't buy crackers very often anyway because this family is a bunch of cracker monsters.  Crackers just do not last at my house.  I don't know what it is.  I recently found a recipe to make my own crackers and figured it was worth a shot...especially since it was easy and I had all the ingredients on hand.  Plus making my own crackers sounds kind of kitchen bad ass, which I really like.  Okay, maybe not bad ass but definitely impressive, right?

Rosemary Crackers
Source: Budget Bytes blog

 2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt (plus more for sprinkling)
1 Tbsp rosemary
to taste freshly cracked pepper
4 Tbsp cold butter
½ to ¾ cup cold water

Chop the rosemary well so that there are no large, sharp pieces. Add the rosemary, flour, baking powder, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper to a food processor and pulse until the mixture is evenly mixed (or just stir them together in a bowl).

Cut the butter into pieces and add it to the food processor. Pulse the mixture until the butter is completely incorporated and no chunks remain. Or, cut the butter into the flour mixture with pastry cutter, two knives, or just with your hands until the butter is completely worked into the flour mixture.

Slowly add cold water to the food processor while pulsing, just until it forms a dough (or stir it in by hand until a dough forms). Depending on the humidity and moisture level in your flour, it will take between ½ and ¾ cup water. (I used closer to 3/4 cup).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out until it is approximately 1/16th inch thick. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the dough into small rectangles, squares, or triangles. Prick each “cracker” with a fork. Carefully transfer the cut crackers to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Sprinkle the crackers lightly with salt, if desired. Bake the crackers for 20-25 minutes, or until they are golden brown. The total amount of baking time needed will depend greatly on the thickness and size of the crackers, so watch them closely. Allow the crackers to cool and then store in an air-tight container at room temperature.

*****

See what I mean?!  Super easy!  You can be a kitchen bad ass, too, and impress your friends and colleagues or whomever by making your own crackers.  Plus I love stuff that's all done in the food processor.  These were super, super tasty.  But she's right about watching them while they bake--the thinner ones came out a little too dark for my liking.  Personally I loved dipping these into homemade hummus, and they were good with some slices of cheese on top.  I've made these several times and the cracker monsters have always gobbled them up.

(Why, yes, the picture up top is from Instagram...I had to brag on my kitchen bad ass-ness when I made them the first time!)

Pintrest Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

I know I waxed poetic about my love for Pintrest.com recently. I think my addiction is growing...I may need an intervention at some point. There are just so many yummy recipes, crafty projects, neat house ideas, cute outfits. Sigh. Complete time sucker, let me tell you.

Anyway, if you have a Pintrest account, chances are you've seen this recipe. I'm fairly certain everyone I know on Pintrest pinned this at some point in the last couple weeks. I love a good casserole, so I was excited to make it. Plus my brood loves broccoli, and I loved finding a casserole recipe that didn't include cream of something soup. Turns out it's from a blog called Get Off Your Butt and Bake. I haven't checked out many other posts, but I think I probably will. She calls it Chicken Broccoli Supreme. I changed mine up a bit from how the recipe appears on that blog, so the recipe below is how I made it.

Pintrest Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
Source: Adapted from Get Off Your Butt and Bake blog

1 lb. broccoli (steamed slightly if fresh, thawed if frozen)
3 cups cooked chicken breasts – Break up in small pieces
3 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese, divided
1 tube Ritz Crackers
1/2 stick melted butter
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

SAUCE:
1/3 C. Butter melted
1/4 C. Cornstarch, dissolved in 1/2 C. COLD Water
1/3 C. Chicken Broth
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
2 Cups skim milk
1 1/2 cups of the above Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

In greased 13×9 pan, layer the broccoli and chicken, then set aside. In saucepan over medium heat, combine the sauce ingredients--melted butter, cornstarch dissolved in water, chicken broth, seasonings, and milk. Stir well, and continue stirring until sauce has thickened. Turn heat down to low, and add 1- 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese. Stir until melted. Pour over the chicken and broccoli. Top with 1- 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese.

Melt the half stick butter, and add the poppy seeds, garlic and onion powders, and stir well. Crush Ritz crackers in large zip-lock bag with a rolling pin. Don’t crush too small. Add crumbs to the melted butter. Sprinkle crumbs over the top of the grated cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until hot & bubbly.

*****

I used frozen broccoli for mine, so I just threw some in a microwave steamer for a couple minutes so it wouldn't be frozen. I didn't want to completely heat it for fear it would get soggy in the casserole. The original recipe calls for two sleeves of crackers and an entire stick of butter for the topping. I thought that was a bit much (plus my kids are cracker monsters and had eaten all but the one sleeve of crackers I stashed away, so I really didn't have much choice), so I also cut down the amount of butter too. I was worried it was going to be a bit bland, so I threw in the garlic and onion powders to give it a little kick. It really helped. I think next time I would probably season the chicken a little, too. I baked mine earlier in the day and just threw the chicken breasts in a pan into the oven; in hindsight I should have done something to them so there'd be a little more flavor. You could easily add some seasoning to the sauce as well.

All in all, this was a casserole that we really liked. Boy #1 put up a bit of a stink about eating it, but the rest of us all enjoyed it. I think he was just having an off day--chicken, broccoli, and cheese are all things he normally loves. Who knows with five year olds. Am I right?! This is definitely something I'd make again, especially since most of the ingredients (aside from the crackers, which my family just tears through too quickly) are things I normally have on hand.