Simple, but delicious.

Chocolate Trifle

2009-01-31T14:21:00.000-08:00

I made this for Christmas dinner and it was fabulous. Not too rich and super easy to make!

Chocolate Trifle
Source: Allrecipes
Print this Recipe

Ingredients:
1 (19.8 ounce) package brownie mix
1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup water
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (1.5 ounce) bar chocolate candy

Directions:

1. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and cool completely. Cut into 1 inch squares.

2. In a large bowl, combine pudding mix, water and sweetened condensed milk. Mix until smooth, then fold in 8 ounces whipped topping until no streaks remain.

3. In a trifle bowl or glass serving dish, place half of the brownies, half of the pudding mixture and half of the 12 ounce container of whipped topping. Repeat layers. Shave chocolate onto top layer for garnish. Refrigerate 8 hours before serving.

I'm a slacker.

2009-01-31T14:20:00.000-08:00

I know its been a while since my last post but I have a good excuse! We recently found out we are expecting a baby in August! So most of my time has been spent napping when I'm not at work. Gah, I love my bed. I promise as soon as I can stand to look at raw meat again, I'll be back with some new recipes. In the meantime, I have a few from the holidays that I haven't blogged about, so stayed tuned.

I was also given a blog award by both uncanny from Adventures in my Freezer and Ashley at Senora Espanola because they think my blog is refreshing, like lemonade. Thanks guys!

Antipasto Pasta Salad

2008-12-27T15:10:00.000-08:00

I made this for a Christmas luncheon we had at work and it turned out really good. I've been looking for a go-to pasta salad recipe and this is it. I made the salad and dressing the night before and mixed in the dressing about an hour before serving after reading some reviews. It kept the salad moist.

Antipasta Pasta Salad

Source: Allrecipes.com

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pound seashell pasta
1/4 pound Genoa salami, chopped
1/4 pound pepperoni sausage, chopped
1/2 pound Asiago cheese, diced
1 (6 ounce) can black olives, drained and chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, and cool under cold water.

2. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, salami, pepperoni, Asiago cheese, black olives, red bell pepper, green bell pepper and tomatoes. Stir in the envelope of dressing mix. Cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

3. To prepare the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, parsley, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Just before serving, pour dressing over the salad, and mix well.

Cheesey Bacon Dip

2008-12-20T13:14:00.001-08:00

If I could choose a sixth food group, it would be dip. I could eat dip everyday, through sickness and health, til death do us part. diiiippppp.

This is one of my favorite dip recipes maninly because it combines two of the wonders of the food world. Cheese and bacon. It makes me tear up, its so beautiful.

Cheesey Bacon Dip
Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

1 8 oz block of cream cheese, softened
1 bag of shredded cheese, mild or sharp
1 16 oz. jar of sour cream
3 oz jar of bacon pieces (recommended: Hormel)
1 cup of chopped green onions

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients and place in oven safe dish.

2. Cover in foil and cook for 35-45 minutes.

SERVES: 1.

Pumpkin Puppers

2008-12-05T19:31:00.000-08:00

This is my three year old lab named Roxy. She enjoys long walks, humping t-shirts, destroying remotes, and playing frisbee. Her favorite snacks are dog treats, dog treats, dog treats, and occasionally her own feces. I bet you're hungry now!

I decided to make my pretty girl some homemade dog treats after my mom recommended this recipe. She had purchased some of these at a bake sale and her picky dogs gobbled them right up so she asked for the recipe. (In case you are wondering, we asked a vet whether pumpkin was okay for dogs and he confirmed that its good for them!)

Pumpkin Puppers

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

4 Cups (500g) whole wheat flour
2 Cups (200g) wheat germ
1 15 Ounce can of pumpkin
1 Cup water
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4 Tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
2 Tablespoons Honey

Directions:
1. place all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly to combine.

2. Roll out dough on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick and cut into desired shapes.

3. Place cookies on an ungreased foil-lined baking sheet. and bake in a pre heated oven 325 degrees, for 30 to 35 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

She loved them so much after I gave her one she followed me around for an hour.

Let there be Cake Balls

2008-12-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

This is part two of my Thanksgiving-I'm-not-just-bringing-chips throwdown. These are super easy but a bit on the sweet side. Anything that requires a box cake is a friend of mine. To make them less sweet, cut back on the amount of icing you put in.

Red Velvet Cake Balls

Source: Bakerella.com

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)

1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.) (I used 3/4 can)

16 oz semi-sweet chocolate
white chocolate (optional)
food coloring (optional)

Directions:

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.

2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting.

3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet.

4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)

5. Melt chocolate in a saucepan on med-low, constantly stirring so chocolate doesn't burn.

6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)

Optional: Melt white choclate in a saucepan until completely melted. Add food coloring and drizzle across balls while they are still wet.

I seriously thought my husband was going to cry when he saw me destroy the freshly made red velvet cake (his favorite).

Do the Oreo Truffle Shuffle

2008-11-27T18:09:00.001-08:00

I made these truffles for the first time last year when the recipe was circulating the internet cooking world and I've never looked back. They are so simple to make and taste like they took hours! This year when I asked what I should bring to my husband's grandmother's house for Thanksgiving I was told potato chips for the evening leftover turkey sandwich meal. Chips? Thats it? I was very disappointed because it would have given me a reason to bake since I've been trying to cut back on my random baking sessions that has left my waist in expanding proportions.

So I decided to be a rebel and make some truffles and cake balls (post to follow). They could munch on these before and after the meal, plus they are a favorite of my husbands!

Oreo Truffles

Source: KraftFoods.com

Print This Recipe

Ingredients:

1 package (3 sleeves) Oreos
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
16 oz semi-sheet chocolate

For decorating: (optional)
sprinkles
white chocolate
cookie crumbs

Directions:

1. Crush Oreos either using a food processor or a freezer bag and a meat tenderizer (my preferred method). Mix cookie crumbs and cream cheese until when blended using a mixer or wooden spoon.

2. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Shape cookie mixture into one inch balls and place on sheet. Put baking sheet in freezer for 10-15 minutes so truffles can firm up.

3. Melt chocolate in saucepan on low, continuously stirring so chocolate doesn't burn. Once completely melted, dip balls into melted chocolate and place back on wax papered covered cookie sheet. I found that the easiest way is to use a fork in a spoonlike form. Not stabbing but ladling and allowing excess chocolate to drip back into pan through the prongs.

4. Sprinkle with cookie crumbs, sprinkles, or drip white chocolate onto the truffles to decorate. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Store in a tightly covered container or can be frozen.

Turkey Chimichangas

2008-11-10T18:17:00.000-08:00

You know when your trying on your favorite jeans and you discover that they now resemble painted on denim? Yea, its about that time. I went a little crazy on the baked goods on here lately and my pants are cursing me for it. So I'm working some healthy recipes back into the rotation and cutting back on baked goods. I'll miss you, friend.

This recipe is originally from Weight Watchers but it used refried beans. um...no. Just the sound of it brings me back to to the old days of Chi-chi's restaurants and the rumors that they would scrape the leftover beans onto the next guest's plate. Gives me nightmares, so the beans were out.

The best part of this recipe is that they are incredibly filling and very good! So good I made them twice in one week! AND my anti-healthy food husband also enjoyed them!

Turkey Chimichangas
Print This Recipe

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1 small red onion
1 green pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 can diced chilies, drained
8 oz of salsa plus additional for dipping
1 cup lowfat cheddar or taco cheese
1 serving cooking spray (5 1-second sprays)
low or non-fat sour cream for dipping
6 burrito sized tortillas

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray. Coat a 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Wrap tortillas in foil and heat for 10 minutes.

2. Add turkey, onion, and green pepper to skillet until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain any excess liquid and add salsa, chilies, and chili powder. Cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Stir in cheese until starts to melt.

3. Assemble chimichangas by evenly distributing mixture among tortillas. Fold in sides and roll up. Place in prepared baking dish and cook for 20 minutes, until tortilla are crisp. Optional: Place under broil for a minute to brown. Serve with 2 tablespoons salsa and 1 tablespoon sour cream

The Best Oatmeal Cookies

2008-11-04T17:19:00.000-08:00

This month I participated in an online recipe exchange and the theme was Fall Favorites. I was lucky enough to not get some crazy chicken pumpkin ice cream or something.

This recipe came with the name Best Oatmeal Cookie and while I can say that they don't beat my mother's neighbor's oatmeal cookies (I swear he slips a bit of crack in those babies) these came pretty damn close!

They are more cakey than cookie...y? cookiey, is that a word? Whatever, you catch my drift! I'll definitely make these again until I can break into that cookie crack dealer's house and steal his secret recipe.

I subsituted dried cranberries for the pecans because, less face it, I'm too cheap to pay 5.99 for a bag of nuts that I could live without. It's a recession, people! I also ditched the vanilla because I forgot to grab some at the store. Oh, and I have no clue what rolled oats are so I just grabbed some regular Quaker Oats. Readers, help?

Best Oatmeal Cookies

Source: Allrecipes.com

Print This Recipe

Ingredients:

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup raisins
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup chopped pecans (I subsituted 1 cup dried cranberries)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, raisins, and vanilla. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda; add to the creamed mixture and stir until all of the dry ingredients are absorbed. Next, stir in the egg and raisin mixture, then stir in the rolled oats and pecans. Dough will be stiff. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an unprepared cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are golden. Allow cookies to cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Apple Spice Cookie Bars

2008-11-02T11:54:00.000-08:00

I had this recipe saved for a while from Good Things Catered. Luckily I had almost all the ingredients. Except for cloves, but they remind me of those nasty clove cigarettes that the hippies always smoke at the bar. NO THANKS.

These bars were great! Very easy to throw together on a whim.

Apple Spice Cookie Bars
Source:Good Things Catered
Print This Recipe

Ingredients:
2 c. plus 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
small pinch ground cloves (omitted)
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 apples, cored and diced (a little less than 2 c.)
cinnamon sugar for sprinkling

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 9x13 pan with foil and baking spray.

2. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Whisk to combine well and set aside.

3. In bowl of stand mixer, combine sugars and butter and beat on medium high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well to combine. Add vanilla extract and beat to combine. Turn mixer on slow and fold in flour mixture a little at a time until just combined. Fold in apples.

4. Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan and sprinkle top generously with cinnamon sugar. Place in oven and bake until cooked through, when top slightly bounces back to the touch, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from pan, cutting and serving. (bars will be very soft)

Triple Chocolate Cookies

2008-10-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

After making these cookies, they are my new favorite cookie. I can't wait to pimp them out to my family and friends at Christmas. They are a chocolate lover's dream!

Triple Chocolate Cookies

Adapted from: Very Best Baking

PrintThis Recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) white chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by well-rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

3. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes approximately 5 Dozen Cookies

Decadent Peanut Butter Pie

2008-10-19T16:55:00.000-07:00

My boss loves peanut butter so I went in search of a great recipe to make him for Boss's Day. I wanted something really simple since I needed it for the next day and didn't have too much time that night. Well, my prayers were answered. This recipe is incredibly simple and oh so very good. Everyone loved it and I had a couple of coworkers ask for the recipe!

My decorating could use some practice but I blame my method of using one of those condiment bottles for the topping. About half way through the fudge stripes ::giggle:: it got some air in it and went pbfffffffffff all over my pretty pie. Their method of using a plastic baggie was much more clean.

Decadent Peanut Butter Pie
Source: Jif.com
Print this Recipe

Ingredients:
1 prepared chocolate cookie pie crust
1 cup Creamy peanut butter
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
4 1/2 cups (12 oz) cool whip
1 (11.75 oz) jar hot fudge ice cream topping

Drizzle:
2 T peanut butter
2 T hot fudge

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, beat together the peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar. Gently fold in 3 cups whipped topping. Spoon mixture into the pie shell. Using a spatula, smooth mixture to edges of pie.

2. Reserving 2 tablespoons of hot fudge, place remaining hot fudge into microwave safe bowl or glass measuring cup. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir. Spread hot fudge over pie to cover the peanut butter layer. Refrigerate until serving time. Just before serving, spread the remaining whipped topping (1 1/2 cups), over hot fudge layer, being careful not to mix the two layers.

3. Place the 2 Tbs. hot fudge in a small baggie and knead for a few seconds. Cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag and drizzle over pie. Do the same with 2 Tbs. peanut butter going in the opposite direction of the hot fudge.

Rosemary and Onion Focaccia

2008-10-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was watching my nephew Cooper. Doesn't he have the sad, I-could-really-use-a-treat look down to a science?

Well, my lab Roxy doesn't really care for other dogs. She doesn't fight or hurt them but she thinks they smell and prefers to hang out with their owners. Do you see how she's leaning as far away from him as possible in this pic? Like "don't touch me. don't touch me. DON'T touch ME!"

So during the day I decided to do some baking since I couldn't leave them alone for too long. I decided to make this focaccia. I got the idea to add the rosemary and onion from Panera. My favorite bread there is the Rosemary and Onion focaccia. It turned out so good!

It's great to eat by itself or to use for paninis with some turkey, cheese, and pesto. I made my husband a sandwich that night when he came home from being out all day. The first thing he said was, "This bread is really good. How much was it?" The sweet smell of success.

Rosemary and Onion Focaccia
Adapted from: Amber's Delectable Delights and Foodreference.com
Print this Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) warm water
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) olive oil (plus additional for drizzling)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 small red onion , thinly sliced and separated into rings
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:

1. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, and drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom.

2. Combine all of the ingredients, and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 60 seconds.

3. Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it's become puffy. (it wasn't noticably rised for me.
I thought I did something wrong but it came out fine)

4. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.

5. Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger.

6. Drizzle it lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with rosemary and parmesan. Cover the dough with the onion rings.

7. Bake the bread till it's golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.

8. Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Save the Tatas!

2008-10-11T18:24:00.000-07:00

Unless you live under a rock, you are probably aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I've been lucky enough in my life to have never been directly affected by breast cancer but the importance of awareness has never been more evident. In 2008 alone, it's estimated that 182,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. For more information or to donate to breast cancer research, visit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

I thought it would be nice to make something for all the women in my life for Breast Cancer Awareness month. So I made pink lemonade cupcakes. They are super easy (they use a box cake!) and they turned out really good. The buttercream lacked a bit of flavor after I mixed it so I added a few ingredients to give it some more umph. Also, one batch of the buttercream wasn't enough for me so I had to make an emergency additional half-batch of it. I ended up having some leftover so I froze it for another time.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/8 cup (9 oz) frozen Pink Lemonade Concentrate, thawed*

White cake mix

3 egg whites

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Non-stick spray

1 recipe Lemon Buttercream Icing (recipe follows)

* For a less tart cupcake,try reducing the amount of pink lemonade. 3/8 cup water and 3/4 cup pink lemonade will cut the tartness.

Directions:

1. In a stand mixer, add the cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, and the pink lemonade concentrate. Mix on low for about 30 seconds and then increase to medium speed for 90 seconds (the batter will still be a bit lumpy; take care not to overmix so you don’t end up with dry cupcakes).

2. Spray each cupcake liner with the non-stick spray and spoon the batter into a prepared muffin pan (fill the cups between 2/3 and 3/4 full). Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick registers “done” in the center cupcake. Remove the pan from the oven and cook 5 minutes.

3.Remove the cupcakes and cool completely on a baking rack. Once the cupcakes have cooled, make the icing and ice the cupcakes.

Lemon Buttercream Icing (this is the original serving size)

3 cups + 3 Tbsp confectioner’s sugar

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

1/8 tsp salt

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Red food color

my additions:

1 T vanilla extract

1 T lemon extract

1. Add the butter, confectioner’s sugar, salt, lemon juice, vanilla extract, lemon extract, and food coloring (if using) to the stand mixer and mix on low using the paddle attachment until combined. Turn the speed to med-high until the icing is fluffy and uniformly pink.

2. Add the icing to a pastry bag fitted with a 2D tip and ice the cupcakes.

*Icing can be frozen for 3-6 months. To reuse: thaw and remix to fluff.

Applesauce Spice Bars

2008-10-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

Oh Dorie, you've done it again! This is another recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. If you don't already own this cookbook, I highly recommend it. Everything I've made from it so far has been great!

I was thinking of mixing it up next time I make them and using caramel chips. Whatever you do, don't skimp on the glaze. Its the best part!

Applesauce Spice Bars

Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours

Print this Recipe

Ingredients-

For the Bars:

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp applejack, brandy, or dark rum (optional) (I used Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum)

1 baking apple, peeled, cored and finely diced or chopped (I used Granny Smith)

1/2 cup plump, moist raisins (dark or golden)

1/2 cup chopped pecans (omitted)

For the Glaze:

2-1/2 tbsp heavy cream (I used half and half)

1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

2-1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tsp light corn syrup

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions-

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9x13-inch baking pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, butter the paper and dust the inside of the pan with flour. Tap out the excess flour and put the pan on a baking sheet.

2. In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the brown sugar and stir with a whisk until it is melted and the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.

3. Still working in the saucepan, whisk in the eggs one at a time, mixing until they are well blended. Add the applesauce, vanilla and applejack, if you're using it, and whisk until the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is once again smooth. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear, then mix in the apple, raisins and nuts. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

4. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until the bars just start to pull away from the sides of the pan and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the baking pan to a rack and let the cake cool while you make the glaze.

5. In a small saucepan, whisk together the cream, sugar, butter and corn syrup. Put the man over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking frequently. Adjust the heat so that the glaze simmers, and cook, whisking frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

6. Turn the bars out onto a rack, remove the paper and invert the bars onto another rack, so they are right side up. Slide the parchment paper under the rack to serve as a drip catcher, (I omitted this step and left the bars in the pan to glaze. No one died.) grab a long metal icing spatula and pour the hot glaze over the bars, using the spatula to spread it evenly over the cake. Let them cool to room temperature before you cut them.

My Perfected Chicken Parm

2008-10-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to perfect my chicken parmesan recipe for the past few months, trying different ingredients out to find the best combinations. The secret, I've discovered, is using panko breadcrumbs and provolone cheese, instead of mozzerella. If you aren't familar with panko, you can typically locate it in the ethnic food aisle with the japanese products. Panko has a crispier, airier texture than regular breadcrumbs.

Chicken Parmesan
Print this Recipe
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; pounded thin
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 T Italian seasoning
1 egg
4 T olive oil
13 oz spaghetti sauce (1/2 of a regular sized jar)
4 pieces of provolone cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a saute pan with the olive oil and heat to medium-high. Mix together panko and Italian seasoning in a shallow dish. Beat egg in another shallow dish. Place chicken, one by one, in egg mixture to coat then transfer to panko mixture and coat evenly.

2. Place chicken in heated pan and cook for 5 minutes on each side or until chicken is browned and crispy. In a baking dish, evenly spread a small portion of the sauce across the bottom of the pan.

3. Place the chicken in the baking dish and pour the rest of the sauce evenly over the chicken. Pour parmesan cheese over the chicken and place a slice of provolone cheese on each piece of chicken. Cook for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and starts to brown. If after 20 minutes the cheese isn't melting, place under broiler for a few minutes until it melts.

Scalloped Tomatoes

2008-09-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

I was digging through all my Mother-in-Law's old church cookbooks this past weekend and came across this recipe. The books were so old that the advertisements that local businesses could buy up were written out in pen. This particular recipe came from the 1958 edition! I changed a few things up but it came out really good and super easy!

Scalloped Tomatoes
Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups diced tomatoes (I used fresh and removed all seeds)

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

3 pieces of wheat bread (crumbled)

1/4 cup butter (melted)

1 T sugar (or splenda)

1 T basil

1/4 t pepper

1/4 t salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together diced and sundried tomatoes and mix in salt, pepper, and basil. Place in a casserole dish.

2. In a separate dish, mix together bread crumbs, sugar, and butter. Place on top of the tomato mixture. Bake for 1 hour.

Sour Cream and Onion Chicken

2008-09-28T07:36:00.001-07:00

Yes, its called sour cream and onion chicken, yet it doesn't contain either ingredient. The filling is rich and creamy and tastes similar to sour cream and onion chips.

Sour Cream and Onion Chicken

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup chives

1/2 stick butter, softened

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cream cheese, chives, and butter. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Lay flat and spread filling across chicken. Roll up chicken and place in a baking sheet. Spread any additional filling on top of the chicken. Cook for 1 hour.

Quintuple Chocolate Brownies

2008-09-21T15:00:00.001-07:00

Baking: From My Home to Yours is one of my favorite cookbooks. In fact, Dorie Greenspan and I are BFFs. If you don't believe me check this out Do you see that right below the last picture? Having Dorie comment on my blog ranks right up in great days of my life, just behind the birth of my Dyson vaccuum cleaner and my wedding day, in that order. :)

These brownies are great! Heavy on the fudginess and light on the cakiness. I think I will omit the nuts altogether next time and maybe add some white chocolate chips or Andes mints, instead.

Quintuple Chocolate Brownies
Print this Recipe
Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours

For the Brownies:
1/2 cup all- purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp salt
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 T strong coffee
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 ounces premium- milk chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought milk choc. chips
1 cup chopped nuts (your choice)

FOR THE GLAZE:
6 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped, or 1 cup store- bought white chocolate chips
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven, and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a 9-inch baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet. Sift together the flour, cocoa and salt.

2. To Make the Brownies: Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and add, in the following order, the butter, the two chocolates and the coffee. Keeping the pan over low heat, warm just until the butter and chocolates are melted- you don't want the ingredients to get so hot they separate, so keep an eye on the bowl. Stir gently, and when the mixture is smooth, set it aside for 5 minutes.

3. Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Don't beat too vigorously- you don't want to add air to the batter- and don't be concerned about any graininess. Next, stir in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. You should have a smooth, glossy batter. If you're not already using a rubber spatula, switch to one now and gently stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. Finally, stir in the milk chocolate chips and the nuts. Scrape the batter into the pan.

4. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out streaked but not thickly coated. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the brownies rest undisturbed for at least 30 minutes. Invert the brownies onto the rack and let cool completely.

5. To Make the Glaze: Put the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Wait 30 seconds, then, using a rubber spatula, gently stir until the chocolate is melted and the glaze is smooth. ( Please see my recommended changes)

6. Hold a long metal icing spatula in one hand and the bowl of glaze in the other. Pour the glaze onto the center of the brownies and use the spatula to nudge it evenly over the surface. Don't worry if it dribbles over the edges, you can trim the sides later (or not). Refrigerate the brownies for at least 30 minutes, or until the glaze is firm.

Recommended changes: I lost a lot of my glaze when adding it to the top of brownies as instructed. Next time, I would place them back into the pan, or not take them out, and add the glaze with the brownies still in it. This would keep the glaze from oozing all over the place and making me sad. I hate sad.

Sun-Dried Tomatoes

2008-09-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

Here's another idea to get rid of all those tomatoes from your garden. I love cooking with sun-dried tomatoes but I can't afford to buy them as frequently as I'd like. They take a lot of time but very little effort. I just popped those puppies in the oven and went on with my day.

Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:
tomatoes
sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Take tomatoes, slice in half, and remove seeds . I wait until the tomatoes are already starting to prune a bit to use them. I prefer romas but any tomato will do. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and lay tomatoes out, cut side up. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

2. Place in oven and bake until tomatoes are shriveled and feel dry, between 6-8 hours. Store in a jar of olive oil with fresh herbs and garlic. make sure the tomatoes are completely covered with the oil.

**Oil will harden when refrigerated but when brought back to room temperature will convert back to liquid.

Tomato Soup: All Grown Up

2008-09-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

Imagine your old, regular can of Campbell's Tomato Soup. Now add some onion, tomato chunks, a little cream, and a whole lotta sherry! Voila!

This is another one of Pioneer Woman's fabulous recipes. I loved it but my husband was a bit thrown off by the sherry. Whatever, more for me. It's a great way to get rid of some of those excess tomatoes that everyone is throwing at you right now!

Sherried Tomato Soup
Source: Pioneer Woman Cooks
Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons melted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 46-ounce bottle or can tomato juice
2 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes (or 3 1/2-4 cups fresh, diced tomatoes)
1 to 3 tablespoons chicken base
3 to 6 tablespoons sugar (used splenda)
Pinch of salt
Black Pepper
1 cup cooking sherry
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (used light cream)
chopped fresh parsley
chopped fresh basil

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a stockpot and saute onions until translucent. Add tomatoes, tomato juice, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir thoroughly. Bring to a boil and turn off heat.

2. Add in sherry and cream and stir. Add parsley and basil to taste. (I added 2 T dried parsley and 1 T. dried basil)

Iced (Kinda) Lemon Poundcake

2008-09-10T15:02:00.001-07:00

Apparently, you can get in a lot of trouble for copying trademark recipes from well-known chains. So for the sake of me not going to jail, we will call this *Shmarbuck's Iced Lemon Poundcake.

I used to work within walking distance from a *Shmarbuck's and love, love, loved their iced lemon poundcake. Now the closest *Shmarbuck's is 30 miles away! That has to be a crime, right? Most places have these coffee shops every 50 ft and on every corner but I digress. Anyway, I've been on a bit of a lemon kick lately so I figured I'd try to find a really-similar-but-not-the-same-because-then-I'd-be-arrested recipe. Unfortunately, it was no where near the same as *Shmarbuck's but fortunately, it was still awesome!

My favorite part of *Shmarbuck's is the dense icing the sits on top. Well, this "icing" just absorbed into the cake. BUT it made it incredibly moist and lemony. Its also much more light and airy. Also, the recipe lied and said it makes one loaf pan. Well, one overflowing loaf pan and a 8x8 cake pan later I realized it must have been a misprint. Next time, (and my husband is already begging me to make it again) I will use a 9x13 and I think it will be perfect.

Iced Lemon Poundcake

Source: Kitchenlink

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 cups sugar

5 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon lemon extract

Lemon Glaze-

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.

2. Beat butter in a large bowl at medium speed of an electric hand-held mixer; gradually add oil, beating until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until blended after each addition. Stir in lemon extract.

3. Pour batter into a prepared pan. Bake at 300F for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

4. Lemon Glaze: Combine glaze ingredients, stirring until sugar dissolves. Spoon glaze over top, a little at a time. Let lemon pound cake cool completely.

*Name has been changed so I don't go to the Penn.

Beer Butt Chicken

2008-09-08T15:00:00.001-07:00

I've been reading a ton of blogs lately of authors who have made beer butt chicken, or beer can chicken as others call it. I was feeling intrigued to give it a try. At first I didn't think there was anyway that we'd have enough propane to last three hours but fortunately, I was wrong. The final result was very tasty! I wish I would have had a meat thermometer, though, because I think I overcooked it a bit. Overall, it was much easier than expected!

I chose a recipe from allrecipes.com that had great reviews.

Beer Butt Chicken

Source: Allrecipes.com

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
2 tablespoons garlic salt
2 tablespoons paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1 (12 fluid ounce) can beer
1 (4 pound) whole chicken

Directions:

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for low heat. In a small skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter. Mix in 1 tablespoon garlic salt, 1 tablespoon paprika, salt, and pepper.

2. Discard 1/2 the beer, leaving the remainder in the can. Add remaining butter, garlic salt, paprika, and desired amount of salt and pepper to beer can. Place can on a disposable baking sheet. Set chicken on can, inserting can into the cavity of the chicken. Baste chicken with the melted, seasoned butter.

3. Place baking sheet with beer and chicken on the prepared grill. Cook over low heat for about 3 hours, or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C).

Frozen Lemon Cupcakes

2008-09-06T08:01:00.001-07:00

These are a great refreshing treat for summer!

Frozen Lemon Cupcakes
Print this Recipe
*Makes around 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
Lemon Cream
1 cup sugar
Juice and finely grated rind of one lemon
2 cups whipping cream

"Crust"

1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
1/2 cup crushed corn flakes
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

1. Making lemon cream: combine sugar and lemon juice and rind in a large bowl. Gradually beat in cream.

2. To make the bottom crust: melt butter in a pan over low heat and stir in crushed graham crackers, corn flakes, and sugar. Remove from heat.

3. Press down crust mixture into the bottom of a silicon cupcake holder or cupcake liner. Freeze for at least 3 hours. Unmold and top with a jellied lemon slice or a small berry of some kind.

Acorn Squash Bisque

2008-08-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

My Coworker came in with tons and tons of acorn squash as a result of a gardening accident. I had made this bisque last year with butternut squash and it was fabulous so I decided to give it a go with the acorn squash. I know something is a hit when my husband tells me I should open a restaurant while eating. Shhhhh....I think he thinks I make these recipes up. We'll let him continue to ponder how amazing I am.

Acorn Squash Bisque
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 T. olive oil
1 T. butter
1/2 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced carrots
2 acorn squash
3 cups vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
ground nutmeg to taste
1/2 cup cream (used light)

Directions:

1. Cut acorn squash in half and remove the seeds. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 min or until soft. Scoop out squash and place aside.

2. Heat the oil and melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion in the butter and oil under tender.

3. Mix the carrots and squash into the pot. Pour in vegetable stock, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender.

4. In a blender or food processor, puree the soup mixture until smooth. ( I skipped this part and instead used a potato masher to break up any chunks.) Return to the pot, and stir in the heavy cream. Heat through, but do not boil. Serve warm with a dash of nutmeg.

Blueberry Crisp

2008-08-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

Warning: The following recipe may be hard to understand and could cause random feelings of nauseousness. I beg you to believe that I would never steer you wrong!

So I had some blueberries in the fridge and wanted to make some dessert. I searched through allrecipes looking through recipes for cobblers and crisps until I found one that appeared to be simple enough. Blueberries, sugar, flour, mayonaise, cinna....WHAT? Mayonaise? What kind of freak would put mayonaise in a blueberry crisp!? So I read through the reviews and reviewer after reviewer gave the recipe 4-5 stars and proclaimed that the mayonaise was unrecognizable in the crisp. I felt intrigued.

Now I'm not a mayonaise lover to begin with. If I ever went on one of those reality shows where you had to eat giraffe testicles or mayonaise straight from the jar, I'm fairly certain I'd pick the testicles. Even mixing the ingredients together was a bit difficult for me. I figured I'd make the husband try it first and see what he said.

Then I realized that mayonaise is really just oil and eggs. Most cake recipes call for both of those ingredients anyway, right?

So the verdict is..... it was good! It tasted like any other blueberry crisp I've had. AND it only took 3 minutes to prep. Can't beat that!

Blueberry Crisp
AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Place the blueberries into an 8 inch square baking dish. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir in the mayonnaise until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the berries.

3. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top is lightly browned.

**Serve warm with vanilla ice cream**

Zucchini Pancakes

2008-08-06T15:58:00.001-07:00

It seems like everyone and their mother has a garden these days. Except for me. Luckily, I have enough friends and family overproducing to keep me stocked with fruits and vegetables up until...eh....2012. I had some zucchini in the fridge that I wanted to use up and my husband was out with his friend scoping out deer hunting spots. Doesn't that sound grand? It gave me a great chance to make something that would be fun for dinner but wouldn't be enough for his monster appetite if he was joining me.

This recipe is from my favorite blog The Pioneer Woman Cooks . They were delicious! The recipe from PW is a little vague in ingredients so I used my own measurements to make things simplistic for you all. You can thank me in the form of cookies.

Zucchini Cakes (I say pancakes because zucchini cake makes me think of dessert)

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded zucchini (2 whole zucchinis in my case)
1/2 bread crumbs
1/2 cup italian cheese blend (I used romano/parmesan)
2 eggs
1 T. minced garlic (about 4-5 cloves and that made it very garlicy but it kept the vampires away)
olive oil (enough to make a nice frying layer in the pan)
salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Shred zucchini using a cheese grater. Take towels and pat shredded zucchini to remove majority of water. (There's a lot of water in those suckas!)

2. Mix together zucchini, bread crumbs, cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper. Heat olive oil in a frying pan to medium heat. Drop in small globs of zucchini into heated olive and press down with fork to flatten. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Serve with ranch dressing or other dipping sauces!

Chicken Vino Bianco

2008-08-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

I'm not gonna lie. I love the Olive Garden! With those breadsticks and that salad and all those carby entrees. I usually go into carb-shock within minutes of paying the check. The downsides are the wait is always at least an hour. (Seeeee all you OG haters! There are more of me!) So I decided to try to find a copycat recipe of my favorite entree that I get each and every time I go to the Olive Garden. This is the second time I've tried a "copycat" recipe for this dish and this one was right on!

Chicken Vino Bianco

Source: Recipezaar.com

Ingredients:

4 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts; pounded thin

4 T olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
1/2 cup small diced tomato
1/2 cup red onion, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, divided (cut to 5 T. No one needs that much butter)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 lb uncooked linguine (I used spaghetti because thats what I had and cut it back to 3/4 lb. because I like my pasta wet with the wine sauce)
seasoned flour (for dusting)

FOR SEASONED FLOUR (this was way too much! I'd suggest cutting in half)
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large saute' pan. Dust chicken in seasoned flour. Cook chicken on both sides until golden brown and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

2. Add 2 Tbsp butter to pan. Add green onion, diced tomato, red onion, mushrooms, garlic, chopped parsley, crushed red pepper, black pepper and salt to pan. Let saute' for three minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Add chicken back to pan. Add white wine, lemon juice and the remainder of the butter.
Allow to come to a boil. Cook pasta according to directions. Add drained cooked pasta to the pan and toss together and serve.

Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken

2008-07-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe on All Recipes. I loved it but it was too spicy for my husband, whose idea of spicy is using black pepper. I will probably try to minimize the spice factor by decreasing the cayenne next time.

Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken
Print this Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons lime juice

DIRECTIONS
1. In a small bowl, mix together salt, black pepper, cayenne, paprika, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, onion powder, thyme and parsley. Sprinkle spice mixture generously on both sides of chicken breasts.

2. Heat butter and olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until golden brown, about 6 minutes on each side. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons garlic powder and lime juice. Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently to coat evenly with sauce.

My First Layer Cake- A Photo Essay

2008-07-13T19:11:00.001-07:00

I decided to venture into layer cake territory for my nephew's birthday. The following is a documentary of my trials and triumphs.

I used this recipe for chocolate cake with buttercream icing. I baked the cakes for around 33 minutes in two round cake cake pans. I allowed the cake to cool for about 20 minutes in their pans, then flipped them out on a cooling rack until completely cool.

I flipped the cake onto the pan with the rounded top face down and used a spatula to cover in icing.

Looks like a giant oreo! Or a whoppie pie! Have you ever had a whoopie pie? Please try one. Kthanxbai.

I learned from Barefoot Conmtessa that if you want your cake to be more casual keep the rounded side on top and flat side on top if you want it to look more formal. I went for a more formal look since what's more formal than an 11 year old's birthday?

Voila! Okay, these are the problems I had and would love some help from any experienced cake-icingers. I had the hardest time getting the edges covered. Everytime I ran the knife around them they were completely bare. I ended up just caking on some leftover icing at the end but I figured I was doing something wrong.

It also didn't turn out as pretty as I had hoped. But you know what?

It was gooooood.

Wanna Salsa?

2008-07-06T06:46:00.001-07:00

Once you make your own salsa you can never go back to those store bought cans of salsa. You will always compare it and those poor cans will always come up short. So beware.

Mi Madre's Homemade Salsa

Ingredients:
7 plum or roma tomatoes
1 green bell pepper
1/2 a red onion
1 T. olive oil
1 lime
cilantro (to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)
jalapeno pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Half the tomatoes and remove all seeds using your thumb to scrape them out. Chop the tomatoes, green pepper, and onion. You may throw in a food processor but I like my salsa chunky. Add olive oil and sqeeze the juice of the lime over the mixture. Season with salt, pepper, and cilantro to taste. I usually forget to get cilantro at the store and have subsituted with basil.

2. If you like your salsa spicy chop the jalapeno and add to the mixture. Remove seeds to cut back on the spiciness. Mix everything together and chill/sit for at least an hour.

Basil Chicken

2008-06-26T16:09:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to find some more healthy recipes to give us beach-ready bodies. I remembered a great website I used a few years ago during the South Beach Diet phase of my life called 3 Fat Chicks. The website gives great diet tips and has a ton of great recipes that have been reviewed by its users.

After this was done, I was a little hesitant to try it because I figured it would be flavorless. Let's be real. Most "diet" food is. Well this broke ever diet food rule in the book! It had a great lemony flavor and wasn't at all overpowered by all the basil included in the dish. It's a definite must try! I'm including the link for the original recipe and posting the recipe I changed up.

Basil Chicken

Source: 3 fat Chicks

Ingredients-
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. sugar or splenda
1/2 tsp. pepper

Directions-

1. Pound chicken to 1/2″ thickness. Add oil to pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan. Cook, turning to lightly brown on both sides, about 5 minutes.

2. Chop basil leaves. Add 1/2 basil to pan, along with garlic and remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer until chicken is white in center of thickest part, 6 to 7 minutes, spooning juices over chicken often. Transfer chicken to a platter; keep warm. Boil pan juices, uncovered, over high heat until reduced to 1/4 cup. Stir in remaining sliced basil and pour over chicken.

Shrimp Scampi

2008-06-21T07:09:00.001-07:00

This is one of the staple dishes in our house. It's incredibly easy and very good. I do recommend adding a bit more white wine so its a bit more wet.

Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients-

8 oz linguini ( I used whole wheat penne)

2 T olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, minced

2 t red pepper flakes (I omitted)

1 pound shrimp, peeled

2/3 cup white wine ( I used 3/4)

3 T fresh parsley, minced or 2 T dried

salt and pepper

Directions-

1. Prepare pasta according to directions on package.

2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes and saute until soft.

3. Add shrimp and cook until firm, about five minutes. Remove shrimp. ( I left them andf lived to tell the tale) Add wine to the skillet and bring to simmer. Add Parsley. Let simmer gently for a 2 minutes. Drain pasta and toss with sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

White Chocolate Ice Cream

2008-06-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I even bothered taking a picture. It looks like plain ole vanilla ice cream but I can assure you....IT IS NOT! I've been on a white chocolate kick since making the Blondies so I used a chocolate ice cream recipe from my ice cream maker manual and switched it up with white chocolate. The result is the most wonderful tasting ice cream I've had in a long, long time. My husband has this thing about all ice cream needing a topping of some sort so he added the only thing we had to his: Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

I hate to admit it but it was genius. So good!

White Chocolate Ice Cream
Print this Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk (used skim)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
8 oz white chocolate chips
2 cups heavy cream
1 t. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Heat the whole milk until it is just bubbling around the edges (can be done on your stovetop or in a microwave).

2. In a blender or food processor, pulse the sugar with the chocolate until finely chopped. Add the hot milk, process until well blended and smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl and let the chocolate mixture cool completely.

3. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Chill for 30 minutes or longer. Follow directions on ice cream maker, let mix until thickened.

Stuffed Strawberries

2008-06-12T10:54:00.001-07:00

All I can say about these is OH MAH GAWD. They were really great and a hit at the party I made them for. They are really simple except when using a ghettofied cake decorating tool consisting of a plastic baggie with a corner cut out. It worked but the filling ended up blobby. Luckily, my friend Laura came to the rescue with her cake decorator and saved the day! WHEEEE!

They will definitely be my new staple picnic item!

Stuffed Strawberries
Source: Amber's Delectable Delights
Shout-out: Vicki's Healthy Eats and Sinful Treats

Ingredients-

1 pint fresh strawberries
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, or to taste
2 tablespoons orange flavored liqueur, or to taste (I used vanilla extract instead)

Directions-

1. Cut the tops off of the strawberries and stand upright on the cut side. Make two cuts 3/4 of the way down from the tip of the strawberry towards the bottom.

2. Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and liqueur until smooth in a mixer or a food processor. Place into a piping bag with a star tip.

3. Pipe into each strawberry and arrange on a serving platter.

** I used 4 pints of strawberries and 3 servings of mixture***

Broccoli, Chickpea, and Tomato Salad

2008-06-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

I was getting sick of taking the plain ole salad to work for lunch everyday so I was excited to try this recipe out of my new cookbook. It's both tasty and healthy! Score!

Broccoli, Chickpea, and Tomato Salad
Source- Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

Ingredients:

1 pound broccoli
1 T dijon mustard
2 T red-wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
1/2 small red onion, minced
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Directions:

1. Cut the florets from the broccoli. In a large pot fitted with a steamer basket, bring 1 inch of water to a boil. Add the broccoli in a single layer. Cover; steam until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, and onion; season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, and broccoli; toss to coat. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Sauteed Chicken in Mustard-Cream Sauce

2008-05-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

Don't let the fancy-shmancy title fool you! This recipe is super easy and tasty. I got a new cookbook for my birthday this year that I love. Its called Great Food Fast from The Kitchens of Martha Stewart. Has Martha ever failed? Okay, okay...there was that one minor mishap that landed her in the slammer but overall she's pretty genius. Dorie Greenspan is still my #1 gal but Martha's a close second. The book has pictures of every dish which is always helpful when picking recipes.

Sauteed Chicken in Mustard-Cream Sauce
Source- Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded thin
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 T Dijon Mustard ( Excuse me, do you have any Grey Poupon?)
1 t dried tarragon (or 1 T fresh)

Directions-

1. Sprinkle each chicken breast with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. (If you aren't keen on grease fires, make sure you have a lid.) Add the chicken; saute until cooked through, 10-12 minutes, turning once. (Because I pounded those suckers thin, it took more like 8 minutes.) Transfer to a plate; keep warm.

2. Pour the wine into the hot skillet; cook, stirring, until reduced by half, about one minute. Whisk in the cream, mustard, and tarragon. Cook, whisking, until thickened, about two minutes.

3. Pour any accumulated chicken juices into the sauce. Right before serving, drizzle the cream sauce over the sauteed chicken. (I had way more sauce left over.)

Mushroom Porkchops

2008-05-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

I've been on a lifelong search for a really great porkchop recipe. Sadly, this recipe wasn't it. It was good, but it wasn't "holy crap I could eat that everyday for the next week and be happy". I would make it again but I'll continue search for the porkcop recipe that makes me weep.

Mushroom Porkchops

Source: All Recipes

Ingredients-

4 pork chops (I used boneless. Bones scare me.)
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch garlic salt, or to taste
1 onion, chopped
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

Directions-

1. Season pork chops with salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste.

2. In a large skillet, brown the chops over medium-high heat. Add the onion and mushrooms, and saute for one minute. Pour cream of mushroom soup over chops. ( I added a half cup of water at this point because it seemed to thick. Don't. Trust me, it thins out.) Cover skillet, and reduce temperature to medium-low. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes, or until chops are cooked through.

Chewy, Chunky Blondies

2008-05-18T13:29:00.001-07:00

I just bought a new cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. It has a great mix of different baked goods recipes that sound amazing. The best part about it, for unexperienced bakers, is she tells you specifically how to do each step. I like to know how long to mix each ingredient. I've been spending the last week going through all 500 pages and flagging all the recipes I want to make. Because I'm a complete amateur baker, I decided to start with something simple. BLONDIES! I figured I couldn't mess these up.

But just as I was getting ready to place the pan in the oven, I noticed the vanilla on the counter that I forgot to put in. oops. sigh. Only I could mess up blondies.

Luckily, they were still amazing without the vanilla!

Chewy, Chunky Blondies

Source- Baking: From My Home to Yours

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperture

1 1/2 cups (packed) brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 t. pure vanilla extract

Add-ins from original recipe:

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips or Heath toffee bits

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

My add-ins:

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions-

1. Center a rack and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9x13 baking pan and place on a baking sheet.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. Beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one by one, beating for one minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce mixing speed to low and add the dry ingredients until they disappear into the batter.

4. Using a rubber spatula, stir in add-ins. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even out.

5. Bake for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. They should pull away from the sides of the pan and the top should be a honey-brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies right side up to room temp.

Makes approx 32 bars.

Mashed Cauliflower

2008-05-02T18:01:00.001-07:00

If you've never had mashed cauliflower, you are totally missing out. If you close your eye, you'd swear you were eating mashed potatoes. Minus all the carbs! I'm not even a huge cauliflower fan, but I'm definitely a fan of this recipe.

Mashed Cauliflower

Source: Unknown

Ingredients-

1 medium head cauliflower
1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon straight chicken base or bullion (may substitute 1/2 teaspoon salt)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh or dry chives, for garnish
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions-

1. Set a stockpot of water to boil over high heat. Clean and cut cauliflower into small pieces. Cook in boiling water for about 6 minutes, or until well done. Drain well; do not let cool and pat cooked cauliflower very dry between several layers of paper towels.

2. In a bowl with an immersion blender, or in a food processor, (I used my Kitchenaid mixer on medium high speed) puree the hot cauliflower with the cream cheese, Parmesan, garlic, chicken base, and pepper until almost smooth.

3. Garnish with chives, and serve hot with pats of butter.

**I did copy this off someone's blog so if it was yours, let me know!

Artichoke Chicken

2008-05-02T17:41:00.001-07:00

I originally saw this recipe on The Baking Bailey . I was afraid my husband wouldn't like it because he isn't a huge fan of artichokes but luckily the main flavor in the topping turned out to be the parmesan cheese. You can definitely taste the artichokes, it just isn't predominant. He ended up scarfing it down and getting seconds!

Artichoke Chicken

Source: The Baking Bailey

Ingredients-

1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (I used about 3/4 cup)
2/3 can of artichoke hearts, chopped roughly
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded

Directions
1. Mix mayo, parmesan cheese, artichoke hearts and garlic powder in bowl.

2. Spread over chicken and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until top browns slightly.

Bourbon Chicken

2008-04-28T16:31:00.000-07:00

I was craving Chinese food but wanted something a bit more healthy than what we would get from a take-out restaurant. I found this recipe on Recipezaar and luckily had all (okay, most) of the ingredients. I skipped the ginger but it still tasted great! I think next time I'll make a bit more sauce and toss the broccoli in with the chicken.

Bourbon Chicken
Source- Recipezaar

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces (I used 4 breasts)
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed (I used two)
1/4 teaspoon ginger (omitted)
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (omitted)
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned. Remove chicken.

2. Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium Heat until well mixed and dissolved.

3. Add chicken and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

S'more Bars

2008-04-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

I saw this recipe on Baking Blonde's blog and it sounded so good I had to try it. They come out a bit crumbly but the taste makes up for the mess! I found that flattening them with a spatula after about 20 minutes of cooling made them conform more into bars.

S'mores Bars

Source: Baking Blonde

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup butter (no substitutions)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
15 crushed graham crackers (I used 8 rectangular crackers)
1 1/2 cups small marshmallows
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Line an 8x8 pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.

2. In a medium mixing bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, 3/4 cup marshmallows and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Set aside.

3. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, combine the egg, butter, sugar and vanilla. Cook, stirring constantly until it comes to a full boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
Pour mixture in bowl with the graham crackers, marshmallows and chcolate chips. Stir to combine. (Marshmallows and chips will melt a bit).

4. Fold in remaining marshmallows and chips.

5. Press mixture into prepared pan.Cool until set. Remove foil and bars from pan, cut and serve. Store in airtight container either room temp or in fridge (if during warm months).

Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Icing

2008-04-09T15:58:00.001-07:00

My coworker Debbie always bakes all of us a cake for our birthdays. She always goes to great lengths to try to surprise us each year with a lit cake and office serenade. We each try to act surprised like we forgot that the same thing happened to each of us last year.

Anyway, she always makes this cake and it is always gone by the end of the day. I never thought I'd be making a cake from scratch but with this recipe its just as easy as those box cakes. The cake is incredibly moist and the buttercream is amazing! Not too sweet....just right.

Debbie's Chocolate Cake
Print this Recipe

Ingredients-
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup cocoa
1 cup oil
2 cups water
2 tbsp. vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Put all ingredients together and beat until smooth. Bake for 35-45 min. (until toothpick comes out clean)

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients-
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 lb (4 cups) confectioner's sugar
2 tbsp. milk (or water)
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions-
1. Cream shortening and butter. Add sugar, milk, and vanilla.

2. Blend on medium until all ingredients all well mixed. Blend a minute or two more until creamy.

(If using a hand mixer and icing is not creamy, use high speed or add more liquid.Icing can be refridgerated in an air tight container for 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.)

Penne a la Betsy

2008-04-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite cooking blogs is The Pioneer Woman Cooks. She has some great recipes, incredible photography, and witty writing-style. Check her out!

Back to the situation at hand, You are gonna need to use your imagination a bit with this dish because it calls for penne. A noodle's a noodle, right? Now imagine the ziti you see above is penne.

This dish is amazing! You can subsitute the shrimp for chicken, sausage, or even vegetarian if you are one of those people. I would have licked the dish clean if it wasn't completely inappropriate. Fortunately for me, I deemed it inappropriate after the deed was done.

Penne a la Betsy

Source: Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients-

¾ lb. penne pasta
3 tbsp. butter, divided
3 tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 lb. large shrimp
1 small white onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine (or chicken broth)
1 (8 oz.) can plain tomato sauce
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
basil leaves, to taste (use a bunch!)

Directions-

1. Boil water and cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, while water heats and pasta cooks, make the sauce. Melt 1 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet. Add the shrimp and cook for a few minutes, until opaque. Remove to a plate to let cool.

3. Heat 2 tbsp. butter and 2 tbsp. olive oil in the skillet. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally. While the onion and garlic are cooking, chop the shrimp into small, bite-sized pieces. Add the wine (or chicken broth) to the pan and allow to reduce for a few minutes.

Chiffonade the basil leaves and set aside.

4. Stir in tomato sauce. Add the heavy cream and stir well to combine. Add shrimp back to the skillet and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the parsley and basil and mix well.
Drain pasta and return to pot. Add the sauce to the pot and stir well to combine. Serve.

Italian Stromboli

2008-04-04T17:09:00.001-07:00

I used to work at a grocery store in college in the deli and we would prepackage strombolis for the public to purchase. The best part is you can customize them for your own cravings. My husband was muy impressed but if you've read any of my other blogs, you can see it doesn't take much. That's why I married him after all.

Italian Stromboli

Source: Simple but Delicious

Ingredients-

1 package Pillsbury pizza dough

1/4 lb hard salami

1/4 lb sandwich pepperoni

1/4 lb capricola ham

1.5 cups mozzarella cheese

1 small onion

sweet peppers

Italian seasoning

Pizza sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degress. Roll out your pizza dough. On half of the dough, place layer of ham, leaving 1/4 inch edge.

2. Repeat with salami and pepperoni, evenly covering half of dough. Cover with mozzarella cheese, onions, and peppers. Top with italian seasoning.

3. Cover the topping with the unused portion of the dough. Take a fork and press down edges to seal. Finish with another pinch of seasoning and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Use heated pizza sauce for dipping.

Chicken Marsala

2008-03-31T14:47:00.000-07:00

Chicken Marsala is one of my favorite things to order when we go out to a restaurant. I was really happy to find this recipe that takes minimal time and ingredients and tastes just as good. I have omitted the use of the flour coating in the past to reduce calories. Just beware that the sauce will obviously be a lot thinner.

Chicken Marsala

Source- allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded 1/4 inch thick

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 container of mushrooms (sliced)

1 cup Marsala wine

½ cup chicken broth

Directions:

1. Sprinkle chicken with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the flour, basil, and oregano. Coat chicken pieces in flour mixture.

2. In a large skillet, melt butter in oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the pan, and lightly brown.

3. Turn over chicken pieces, and add mushrooms. Pour in wine and chicken broth. Cover skillet; simmer chicken until juices run clear, and the mushrooms are tender. The sauce should thicken on its own from the flour on the chicken, however, if you need to thicken it a little more, dissolve a tablespoon of either flour or corn starch with a little bit of water and add to the sauce and bring to a boil.

Black-Bottom Cupcakes

2008-03-27T16:41:00.001-07:00

I suddenly had a craving for these cupcakes out of the blue one day. We used to sell them at our high school bake sales and they were always a hit. ahhh...the good ole days...when I could eat three and not gain a pound. Anyhow, its a great classic recipe! If you haven't ever had a black-bottom cupcake, you are missing out! I made these with my niece for Easter and they were mixed, prepared, in the oven, and cleaned up in less than 15 minutes.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Source: http://www.allrecipes.com/

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tins with paper cups or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

2008-03-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

Allrecipes.com is my savior. It has never failed to give me great recipes. I found this recipe for Chicken Cordon Bleu on their site and it had over 1000+ 5 star reviews. It did not fail to produce an incredible dish! The best part is the creamy wine sauce that you spoon over the chicken. I made the chicken with broccoli and mashed potatoes and we used the sauce on both as well. This is my new favorite chicken recipe!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Source- www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients-
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 slices Swiss cheese
4 slices ham
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions-

1. Pound chicken breasts if they are too thick. Place a cheese and ham slice on each breast within 1/2 inch of the edges. Fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks. Mix the flour and paprika in a small bowl, and coat the chicken pieces.
2. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the chicken until browned on all sides. Add the wine and bouillon. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
3. Remove the toothpicks, and transfer the breasts to a warm platter. Blend the cornstarch with the cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the skillet. Cook, stirring until thickened, and pour over the chicken. Serve warm.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

2008-03-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't had pineapple upside down cake since I was a kid and my mom used to make it for us. I decided to make it for my Mother-in-Law's birthday dinner. It was incredibly easy and came out very moist. The original recipe was made in a cast iron skillet but since I don't own one I just used a 9x13 pan.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Source- http://www.allrecipes.com/

Print this Recipe
Ingredients-

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 (20 ounce) can sliced pineapple
10 maraschino cherries
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

Directions-

1. Melt the butter over medium high heat. Remove from the heat and pour on the bottom of 9x13 pan. Spray the sides of the pan with cooking spray.

2. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly to cover the butter in the bottom of the pan.

3. Next, arrange pineapple rings around the bottom of the pan, one layer deep. Place a maraschino cherry into the center of each pineapple ring.

4. Prepare the cake mix as directed by the manufacturer, substitute some of the pineapple juice for some of the liquid in the directions. Pour the batter over the pineapple layer.

5. Bake as directed by the cake mix directions. Cool for 10 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a plate. Do not let the cake cool too much or it will be stuck to the pan.

Chicken Francaise

2008-03-10T16:05:00.001-07:00

My friend Laura gave me this recipe after I complained that I was in a recipe rut. She adapted it from a few different recipes she had used through the years. Oh my goodness! It was amazing! I'll definitely add this to our chicken rotation.

Chicken Francaise

Ingredients-
4 chicken breasts, skinned and boned and seasoned with garlic salt
1 cup flour
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup wine
3 cloves garlic, pureed
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Sauce:
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions:

1. Pound your chicken until 1/4 inch thin. Dip the chicken in the flour then set aside.

2. Make the batter by beating the eggs briskly, then adding in the lemon juice, parsley, wine, garlic, and parmesan.

3. Coat a heavy skillet with margarine, butter or olive oil and place over medium-high heat.

4. Dip the floured chicken pieces generously in the batter and place in the heated skillet. Cook until golden brown on each side, about 5 minutes each side. Remove chicken from the pan and drain excess oil.

5. Make the wine sauce by melting the margarine in the pan, then stirring in the wine and lemon juice.

6. Return the chicken pieces to the pan, spooning the wine sauce over all and cook 1 minute longer.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tarts

2008-03-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

I saw this recipe while watching Paula Dean's Food Network show and was intrigued by the use of vanilla wafers as the crust of the cupcake. The mix ended up being for more than 12 cupcakes like the recipe called for. When I took them out of the oven they were puffed up over the cupcake liner and I was concerned how the heck I would have any room for the pie filling. Once they cooled, they sunk in. I'm not sure if they were supposed to do this or if I did something wrong but either way it made for a perfect place for the pie filling. They were great but I think next time I'll add another teaspoon of vanilla.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tarts

Source: Food Network's Paula Dean

Ingredients-

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 eggs

12 vanilla wafers

1 (21-ounce) can strawberry filling, or other pie filling

Directions-

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup of a muffin pan.

2. Beat cream cheese with a handheld electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Place a vanilla wafer, flat side down, in each muffin cup. Spoon cream cheese mixture over wafers.

4. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow tarts to cool completely. Serve with blueberry filling on top, or pie filling of your choice.

5. Chill for at least an hour to set

Baked Potato Soup

2008-03-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

I love Houlihan's Baked Potato Soup! I used to travel 45 minutes just to get myself some, so when I found this copycat recipe I knew I had to give it a try. It turned out just as tasty as the original.

Houlihan's Copycat Baked Potato Soup

Source: http://www.calorie-count.com/

Ingredients-

1 cup skim milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp tabasco sauce
3/4 tsp dried basil
1 cup instant potato flakes
1/4 cup chicken broth
5 cups water
1/3 cup flour
2 cups yellow onion - diced
1/2 cup margarine
4 large potatoes
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Bacon

cheddar cheese

scallions

Directions-

1. Preheat oven to 400. Prick washed potatoes & bake until a fork pierces the center easily. Remove potatoes from oven & allow to fully cool. Remove skin & cut potatoes into 1/2" cubes. Set aside.

2. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onions & saute over low heat for 10 mins or until onions are translucent. Don't allow onions to burn.

3. Add flour to onions & cook 4-5 mins, stirring well until flour is absorbed.

4. In a separate container, combine water, chicken broth, potato flakes, and seasonings. Stir or whisk thoroughly to eliminate lumps. Add slowly to onion mixture, stirring constantly so no lumps form.
5. Increase to med. heat & continue cooking until the soup begins to gently simmer. Add milk & cream, stirring until smooth and slightly thickened. Simmer for 15 mins. Do not boil. Soup should just simmer lightly.
6. Add cubed baked potatoes & stir to combine. Remove from heat & serve. Top each serving with grated Cheddar cheese, sliced scallions [green onions], & bacon pieces.

Garlic Cheddar Chicken

2008-03-07T18:21:00.001-08:00

Mmmmmm...everything is better with cheddar! This recipe is similar to the Garlic Chicken recipe I posted previously except for the addition of cheddar. I didn't realize that the recipe was for 8 pieces of chicken until after I mixed up the ingredients and I was only planning on making 4. So remember to half everything! Its cheesey goodness in every bite!

Garlic Cheddar Chicken
Source: Allrecipes.com

Ingredients-

1/2 cup butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded thin

Directions-

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, and cook the garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.
3. In a shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano, pepper, and salt.

4. Dip each chicken breast in the garlic butter to coat, then press into the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.

5. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

2008-02-22T11:50:00.001-08:00

I was off work for a snow day and really felt like making some soup. I found this recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/ and made a few changes based on reviewer's suggestions. I didn't have any cornstarch so I used a cup of heavy cream as one of the cups of milk to thicken it up a bit. It came out delicious!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Source: Allrecipes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
2 (14-16 oz) packages frozen chopped broccoli
3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 (2 pound) loaf processed cheese, cubed
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2/3 cup cornstarch (omitted)
1 cup water (omitted)

Directions:

1. In a stockpot, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion in butter until softened. Stir in broccoli, and cover with chicken broth. Simmer until broccoli is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Reduce heat, and stir in cheese cubes until melted. Mix in milk and garlic powder.

3. In a small bowl, stir cornstarch into water until dissolved. Stir into soup; cook, stirring frequently, until thick. I added a pinch of shredded cheddar cheese before serving.

The best cornbread you will ever eat.

2008-02-20T05:28:00.001-08:00

It could be the two full sticks of butter that makes the cornbread so good. This recipe won't be found on Cooking Light anytime soon but it is worth the calories.

Cornbread

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

Mix:

2 sticks melted butter (you can go with less, but I tend to stay with 1 ½ to 2 sticks)

2 eggs slightly beaten

1 ¼ cup of milk

Mix:

2 cups Bisquick

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup cornmeal

½ teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Combine everything and mix for a couple minutes. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Quick Apple Crisp

2008-02-17T12:45:00.000-08:00

I first came across this recipe when I was hosting a Pampered Chef show at my home. The host had given me this recipe to get all the ingredients, then she would prepare it during the show. She demonstrated the Pampered Chef Apple Peeler/ Slicer which reduced the apple preparing time down to less than a minute per apple. It doesn't contain oats like other apple crisp recipes but it turns out better in my opinion. You can use other types of apples but the granny smith apples give it the best flavor.

Quick Apple Crisp

Source: Pampered Chef

Ingredients:

5 Granny Smith apples
1 package (9 ounces) yellow cake mix
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
Vanilla ice cream or thawed, frozen whipped topping (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel, core and slice apples Cut apples in half. Place apples in 9 x 13 ungreased dish.

2. Pour cake mix over apples. (I only use 3/4 of package)

3. Mix cinnamon and sugar and pour evenly over top of apple mixture.

4. Melt butter and pour evenly on top.

5. Bake 35-40 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped topping, if desired.

Chicken Piccata

2008-02-10T15:01:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes. The chicken comes out light, lemony, and juicy!

Chicken Piccata

Source: Allrecipes.com

Ingredients-

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 egg
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder
1/2 cup boiling water

Directions-

1. In a small bowl, beat the egg together with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Set aside.
In a shallow bowl or dish mix together the flour, garlic powder and paprika. Dip the chicken in the egg/lemon mixture, then in the seasoned flour.

2. In a large skillet, melt butter/margarine and brown the coated chicken pieces.

3. Dissolve the bouillon in the boiling water, then add the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Pour liquid into skillet. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, turning chicken pieces after 10 minutes, until chicken is tender. Garnish as desired and serve.

Crockpot French Onion Soup

2008-02-05T14:44:00.000-08:00

My husband love, love, loves Applebee's French Onion Soup! So I found a copycat recipe online and combined it with a crockpot recipe I found on Living Insanity's Blog . It turned out very good! I used low sodium beef broth (thats all I had) but then added salt.

Crockpot French Onion Soup

Ingredients:

4 cans beef broth (low sodium)

4 small white onions

1 pack onion soup mix (recommended: Lipton's)

2 t. salt

1 t. pepper

2 t. onion powder

6 slices provolone cheese

3 hamburger buns

parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Combine onions, broth, soup mix, salt, pepper, and onion powder in a slow cooker. Cook on HIGH setting for 4 hours, or LOW setting for 8 hours.

2. To make the croutons, cut off the top part of each top of the hamburger bun so that the bread is the same thickness as the bottom half of each bun. Now you should have 6 round pieces of bread--3 bottoms and 3 tops with the tops cut off.

3. Place the bread directly on the oven racks and bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 325 degrees, or until each pieces is dark brown and crispy. When the soup is done, spoon about 1 cup into an oven safe bowl. Put a crouton on top, and put the provolone cheese on top of the crouton. If you want, sprinkle 1/2 tsp of the shredded parmesan over the provolone.

4. Set oven to high broil and put the bowl into your oven. Broil soup for 5 or 6 minutes, or until cheese is melted and is starting to brown. Before serving add another teaspoon or so of grated parmesan, if desired.

Lasagna

2008-01-31T10:57:00.000-08:00

I always thought lasagna required waaaay too much effort with all those layers! I gave this recipe a try while at a friend's house for the weekend. I was surprised how easy it was and incredibly tasty.

Lasagna

1 lb ground beef

2 jars spaghetti sauce

1 package uncooked lasagna

4 cups (2 lbs) ricotta cheese

2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzerella cheese

1/4 cups grated parmesan cheese

4 eggs

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1. Brown meat in a 3 qt saucepan; drain. Add sauce and simmer 10 minutes

2. Cook pasta according to package.

3. Combine cheeses, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour about 1/2 cup meat sauce on bottom of 13x9 inch baking pan arrange 4 pieces of pasta lengthwise over sauce, overlapping the edges. Spread 1/3 cheese mixture over pasta and cover with about 1 cup meat sauce. Repeat layers of pasta, cheese, and meat sauce twice. Top with a layer of pasta and remaining meat sauce; sprinkle with additional parmesean cheese, if desired

4. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350F about 30 minutes or until hot & bubbly. Remove foil and bake about 10 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Allow to stand 10 minutes before cutting for easier handling.

Red Lobster Biscuits

2008-01-27T09:06:00.000-08:00

These biscuits taste just like Red Lobster's!

Red Lobster Biscuits

Source: Good Eats-n-Sweet Treats

2 cups Bisquick mix

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2/3 cup milk1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon parsley1/4 cup butter - melted

Preheat oven to 450 F.
Combine first 3 ingredients until moist. Drop onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden.
While the biscuits are baking, mix melted butter, parsley and garlic.
Pour over hot biscuits and serve.

Mrs. Field's Brownies

2008-01-20T15:54:00.001-08:00

Have you ever tasted heaven? I'm not really a brownie fan but after trying these brownies I may be converted. They turn out very fudgey and moist, not crumbley like other brownies.

Be warned: Overcooking will result in chocolate rocks.

Mrs. Field's Brownies

Source: Unknown

6 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate

1 cup salted butter, softened

3 large eggs

2 cups white sugar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup of chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Combine unsweetened baking chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat and stir until smooth.

3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat eggs until light yellow in color, about 5 minutes. Add sugar and blend on low until thoroughly combined. Add vanilla and melted chocolate to the egg and sugar mixture. Blend on low speed until smooth. Add the flour and mix thoroughly by hand.

4. Pour batter into greased pan. Smooth surface with a spatula and sprinkle uniformly with walnuts. Bake on the center rack of oven for 30 to 35 minutes. The batter should be set and a toothpick inserted in center should come out with sticky brownie batter . Do not over bake. Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cut and serve chilled.

Margherita Pizza

2008-01-15T15:37:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I started craving margherita pizza out of the blue. I've never made homemade pizza before but I decided to give it a shot and it was incredibly easy! I found a recipe online and made some adjustments and my, my, my was it good! My husband was very impressed as well.

Margherita Pizza
Source: Simple, but Delicious.

Ingredients-
1 package Pilsbury Pizza Dough
2 T extra virgin olive oil
5 garlic cloves
3 Roma Tomatoes, sliced
Italian seasoning
Parsley
6 leaves Basil
6 oz. shredded mozzerella cheese
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Directions-
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
2. Roll out pizza dough onto a baking stone. Press to desire thickness. Roll up outside 1 time to create crust.
3. Mix olive oil and garlic. Heat in microwave for 15 seconds to season oil. Spread half of mixture over the crust.
4. In remaining oil mix tomatoes and salt to coat tomatoes. Place tomatoes over top of crust. Cover with mozzerella. Top with italian seasoning, parsley, and basil. Sprinkle any remaining olive oil on top of pizza.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly. Top with parmesan cheese and cool for 2-3 minutes.

Balsamic Chicken

2008-01-13T16:14:00.000-08:00

I received this recipe through an email chain but I'm not sure of the original source. When I told my husband I was making balsamic chicken, he wrinkled his nose thinking he wouldn't like it. Well, wasn't he wrong! He loved it. I used an inexpensive balsamic vinegar found at the grocery store and the honey and garlic really complimented it. The balsamic sauce soaks into the chicken and gives it tons of flavor.

Balsamic Chicken

Source: Unknown

1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons honey

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 (5-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

5 garlic cloves

chopped parsley (optional)

1. Combine broth, vinegar, and honey.

2. Pound chicken to 1/4-1/2 inch thick and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Melt butter and oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour; shake off excess flour. Increase heat to medium-high; heat 2 minutes or until the butter turns golden brown. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

3. Add garlic, and sauté 30 seconds. Add the broth mixture, scraping to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil, and cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 3 minutes). Serve sauce over chicken. 4. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Parmesan Encrusted Tilapia

2008-01-06T15:33:00.000-08:00

This, by far, is the greatest recipe I've ever come across. I will preface by saying I hate fish. Tilapia is a very mild fish but the topping really camoflages any fishy flavors. I've made this dish for friends and family and everyone loves it! My friend's husband ordered a similar dish in a restaurant and said mine was better! The best part is that it takes less than 10 minutes to prep and cook.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Ingredients-

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
2 pounds tilapia fillets

Directions-

1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.
3. Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes.

4. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

Note: I remove the center vein in the tilapia by cutting the filet down the center. I've found it decreases any fishy flavors.

Garlic Chicken

2008-01-03T19:31:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/ and it had great reviews so I decided to give it a try. It literally took five minutes to prep and it tasted great! The only moderation I made was using a bit more garlic than it called for. I'll definitely add this dish to my dinner rotation.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Ingredients-

2 teaspoons crushed garlic ( I used 6 cloves)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions-

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Warm the garlic and olive oil to blend the flavors. In a separate dish, combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Dip the chicken breasts in the olive oil and garlic mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture. Place in a shallow baking dish.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Getting Started

2008-01-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

I started this blog because I'm always looking for simple recipes that taste great. I hate having to run to the grocery store for tons of ingredients for a new dish. I hope that you enjoy some of the simple recipes I've collected over the years!