Tuscan Chicken

Here's another easy recipe...oh wait, ALL of my recipes here are easy!  :)

Ingredients:
3-4 Chicken Breasts
Pepper (to taste)
2 Tbsp oil
1 Green pepper
1 Red pepper
1 Yellow or orange pepper
1/2 Onion
2-3 Slices of prosciutto or deli ham, chopped up (only if you want to add it)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 Cup chicken broth (or 1/2 bouillon cube diluted into 1/4 cup water)
2 tsp's dried basil

Directions:
*Dash pepper onto both sides of each chicken breast.

*Put your oil into your skillet, add your chicken breasts, then turn on your skillet to medium-high heat.  Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes per side (careful not to burn).

*While your chicken is cooking, slice all of your peppers and onion into tiny slices.

*Take the chicken out of the skillet and put then onto a plate.

*Put your peppers, onion, and garlic powder into the same skillet with a bit more oil on top of it all.  If you are using deli meat, add it now also.

*Cook the peppers and onions until they are cooked for about 4-5 minutes.

*Add the chicken, can of tomatoes, chicken broth, and basil to the onion and pepper mix in the skillet.  Simmer it all for 12-15 minutes covered.

*I would make up some white rice and serve this over the white rice next time.  Tonight I served it with boiled potatoes and think it would have been better with white rice.  The rice would be easier too if your doing the instant rice.

(I got this recipe from Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine's Aug/Sept 2011 issue.  Of course this is my changed up a bit version...)

Raspberry Pocket Pie

I saw the neatest gadget while at Target today that I couldn't live without!  Hah.  Anyways, I bought it and then I made the raspberry pie recipe that was on the back of it.  If you don't have one of these things, go buy one!  It was so easy to use, and Cooper and I had tons of fun making the pies.  PLUS...this little gadget was only 5 or 6 dollars!  I'm going to try some chicken/broccoli/cheese pie's soon!  Oh the possibilities!

Ingredients:
1 Refrigerated pie crust, thawed
1/3 Cup sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 Cup of raspberries
1 Egg

Directions:
*Unroll your pie crust onto a slightly floured surface.

*Take your pie mold and open it up.  The edge's of mine are sharp so I used that to cut out my circles of pie dough.

*Cut out 3 pie crusts.  If you need to, you can mash up your dough, then roll it out again.  I could only cut out 2 circles of dough before having to re-roll it out.

*Mix your sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl.

*Put one of your pie doughs onto your pie mold.

*My mold lets me bend one side up a bit so that  I don't have the entire circle laying out flat (if that makes sense).  I pulled one of the sides up a bit so I knew where my center was.

*Pour a few raspberries into the mold slightly off center on one side.

*Pour 1 Tbsp of the sugar mixture over the berries.

*Take your egg in a small bowl and mix it up.

*I don't have a pastry brush so I used a paper towel to dip into the egg, then rub around the sides of the dough in the pie mold.

*Close your mold and press firmly so that it shuts and is pressed together.

*Pre-heat your oven to 400*F.

*Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

*Take your pie out of the mold and place it on the parchment paper.

*Make the other 2 pies the same way.

*Once your pies are on your parchment paper, brush the tops with remaining egg.

*Sprinkle sugar onto the tops of each pie.

*Bake for 15 minutes.

Fried Eggplant

I'm impressed!  I have never tried eggplant before and now that I have...I love it!  This recipe is so easy, and so yummy you have to try it!  It tastes like something you would get at a classy, posh little restaurant.  I bought 2 eggplants yesterday from Sprouts (a local produce grocery store).  They were cheap, and beautiful.  Honestly they looked so nice I had to buy them!  I started searching for recipes and Emeril Lagasse had this recipe on the food networks website.  I changed it a tiny bit (not measuring my spices and all).  He makes his spices into something he calls "Essence."  I just sprinkled the spices into my breadcrumbs.

Ingredients:
1 Eggplant
1/2 Cup flour
3 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups breadcrumbs
Dash (1-2 shakes):
*salt
*pepper
*onion powder
*garlic powder
*cheyenne powder
*paprika
Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:
*Put your flour in a bowl.

*Put your eggs in a separate bowl.  Put a dash of salt into the eggs then whisk the eggs.

*In a third bowl, put your breadcrumbs and all of the spices.  Mix well.

*Cut your eggplant into 1/4 inch round circular pieces.

*Dip the eggplant slices into the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs.  Set onto a plate.  Do the rest of the eggplant slices.

*Heat your oil to about 375*.  It took our oil about 5 minutes on medium heat to get there.

*VERY carefully drop the eggplant slices into the oil.

*Let each side cook about one minute, then flip.  Don't overcook, they will burn easily too!

*Remove the slices and place them on a plate that has been covered in paper towels to absorb the oil.

*Serve with marinara sauce or a garden flavored spaghetti sauce.

DELICIOUS!!!

Spice Mix for Chicken

Since I bought Nick his smoker for fathers day he has really been researching "rubs" and spices for his meats.  This one is for chicken.  This batch is enough for two full 5 pound chickens.  Its yummy!  Easy to make if your  wanting a good spice rub.

Ingredients:
1/4 Cup brown sugar
1/4 Cup paprika
3 Tbsp's kosher salt
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp black pepper

Directions:
*Pour all ingredients into a mixing bowl, then mix well.   Store any leftovers until next time.

*To put on a whole, giblets removed chicken, simply wash off your chicken under water, then pat it dry with a paper towel, and then pour the spices all over it.  Bake or grill your chicken as usual until done.

Cranberry-Orange Chicken Casserole

I found this recipe at kraftrecipes.com last night and had all the ingredients in my pantry.  :)  That made for a really easy dinner!  The idea of having fun flavors while using all typical ingredients was awesome.  I made mine in a round casserole dish with one small ramekin on the side for Cooper.  I also changed the recipe some so  this is my version.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 Chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
1 Pkg Stove Top Stuffing mix for Chicken
1 Cup orange juice (see bottom note)
1/2 Cup water
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 Cup dried cranberries
1/3 Cup Chopped pecans (I used walnuts instead)
1 Can cream of chicken soup
1 Bag frozen mixed veggies, cooked
1 Cup shredded cheese (see bottom note)

Directions:
*Cook the chicken on your stove with a bit of oil until cooked.

*In a separate saucepan, pour the orange juice, water, and butter.  Bring to a boil.

*Once it has come to a boil, put in the stove top, cranberries, and pecans (or walnuts).  Stir quickly, then cover.  Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

*Once the chicken is cooked, pour the vegetables, shredded cheese, and cream of chicken soup mix.  Mix well.

*Turn oven on to 400*F.

*Spray down 6 ramekins or a 13x9 or a round baking dish.  (I used one round and one ramekin).

*Pour the chicken mixture into the dish/s you have chosen to use.

*Pour the stuffing mixture on top.

*Cook in your oven for about 20-25 minutes.  I did 30 and it was a bit dark (not burned, but the pictures look like it).

(NOTE:  If you don't have any orange juice, you can use one cup of water in place of the 1 cup of orange juice.  So you would have 1 1/2 Cups of water.  Also, I added the shredded cheese so you can skip it if you want too...we just love shredded cheese at our house!).

Chewy Banana Bars

YUMMY!  These were so easy to make!  I found this box of banana muffin mix by Jiffy at the store and figured I would test it out.  Once I got it home however, I noticed that the box had other recipes on it (including this one for these chewy bars).  I had all the ingredients in the pantry so voila, Banana Chewy Bars for dessert!

Ingredients:
1 Pkg Jiffy banana muffin mix
1 Cup of quick oats
1/4 Cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 Cup melted butter or margarine
1/4 Cup honey
1 Egg

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350*F.

*Grease a square glass baking dish (I used Butter flavored PAM.)

*Mix the Jiffy mix, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl.

*Add the melted butter, honey, and egg to the mix and mix all the ingredients well.

*Pour the batter into the baking dish and smooth it out so that the bottom of the dish is covered in batter.

*Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

*Once you pull out the bars, let them cool for only 5-6 minutes before cutting them.

(NOTE:  These have a very strong banana taste to them.  It is by far the best "fake" banana we have ever tried.  Nick said "these are good enough I might let you make them again."  Pretty darn good compliment coming for a guy who only likes items homemade!)

Sugar Hug Cookies

Here is a basic recipe I got from Southern Living that was on a cookie blog.  Everyone talked about how yummy it was and I have to disagree.  My husband and I tasted the cookie dough and it tasted like flour!  SO...we fixed it a bit and got these, which are worth writing about.  Super simple to make, and you probably have everything at home (except maybe the Hershey Hugs).

Ingredients:
1 Cup shortening
1 1/2 Cups sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp's vanilla extract
2 1/2 Cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
extra sugar for rolling dough in (1/4 - 1/2 cup)

Directions:
*Cream shortening and 1st sugar at medium speed until fluffy.

*Add the eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla to the shortening.  Mix well.

*Now put all the remaining ingredients (except the extra sugar) into the shortening mix and mix well.

*Chill in fridge for about one hour.

*Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it into one inch balls.  I used an ice cream scoop to do mine and it worked PERFECTLY!

*Turn your oven onto 350 and get it pre-heated for your cookies.

*Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.

*Take your ball of dough and roll it into the extra sugar (I put it in a small bowl to make it easier to roll the dough in).

*Once you have rolled as many balls as will fit onto your baking sheet/s (leaving a bit of space in between each), put them into the oven and bake for 8-9 minutes.

*While they are cooking, remove the wrappers from your Hershey Hugs or Kisses.

*Take your cookies out of the oven and immediately put a Hug/Kiss on top, gently pressing them down.

*Leave the cookies on the baking sheet about 2 minutes before moving them to a wire wrack to finish cooling.  The Hugs/Kisses will take a few hours to harden up after being put into those yummy warm cookies, so be careful!

(Original cookie recipe is a Southern Living recipe found on http://www.cookiedoc.blogspot.com.  The original cookie name is Sugar Crinkle Cookies).

Ground Beef Burritos

These were made in about 5 minutes!  They were so easy I had to post the recipe.  Of course, its one of my husbands...he's so good at just making up recipes.  YUM!

Ingredients:
3/4 lb ground beef or 1 lb
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 Can refried beans
Taco or burrito tortillas
Toppings you like (sour cream, shredded cheese, queso, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa...)

Directions:
*Cook the ground beef in a skillet on top of stove until cooked.

*Pour the taco seasoning onto the meat and add about 2 tablespoons of water.  Stir well.

*Add the can of refried beans to the meat mixture and mix well.  Heat until the mixture is hot.

*Put you meat mixture onto a tortilla and serve with your favorite toppings.

(We asked Cooper, who is 3 1/2 if he liked it and he said it was DE-licious.  Haha!)

Peanut Butter Bars

I bought a set of baking trays/pans from Wilton and this recipe was on the back of the box that held all the pans. I figured it couldn't be too bad if the leading manufacturer of baking pans had it on the back of their boxed set of pans.  I was right, these were delicious!  I will definitely make them again!  (We went to some friends house out of town for the weekend and brought these as a thank you for letting us stay at their house and they were so happy.  Our friends also loved them!)

Ingredients:
2 Square's Bakers unsweetened chocolate
3/4 Cup butter, softened
1 1/2 Cups sugar
2 Eggs
1 Cup flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Peanut Butter Topping:
1 Cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter (I used crunchy)
1/4 Cup powdered sugar (aka confectioners sugar)
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 Cup peanut butter chips (found in baking section by the chocolate chips)

Chocolate Drizzle:
1 Cup chocolate chips
1/4 Cup butter softened  (I had WAY too much of the chocolate drizzle.  You could cut this whole section in half if you don't want to waste anything)

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350*F.

*Spray bottom of a rectangular cookie pan with baking spray.

*In a small, microwave safe bowl, mix the butter and chocolate chips from the first set of ingredients.  Melt them in your microwave starting with 30 seconds.  Take out bowl, mix well, put back in microwave for 15 more seconds.  Keep doing this until it is melted.  Stirring it will melt the chocolate more, AND if you didn't know this, chocolate burns so easy in the microwave so be super careful not to burn it!

*In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar and chocolate/butter mixture.  Mix well.

*Add the eggs, salt, flour, and vanilla.  Mix well.

*Pour mixture into the baking dish and spread it out until the bottom of the pan is covered in an even mixture layer.

*Put mixture into the oven and bake 18-20 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes in pan.

*While the mixture is cooking or cooling, make the peanut butter topping.

*To make topping, cream the peanut butter and butter in a small mixing bowl.  Now add the sugar and mix until smooth.

*Add the peanut butter chips (I chopped mine up some with a knife so they were smaller pieces) and mix well.

*After your chocolate bottom has cooled for 5 minutes, pour the peanut butter topping on top of it.  It  takes a few minutes of trying to push and pull the peanut butter to cover the top of the chocolate bottom layer, but as it touches the chocolate cake layer it sort of melts the peanut butter making it easier to move around.

*Once you have it covering the chocolate bottom layer, put the dish back in the oven and bake for another 4-5 minutes.

*Remove from the oven and re-layer the peanut butter mixture if you need too (I just made sure it was an even layer now that the peanut butter chips had melted somewhat).

*Now to make the chocolate drizzle  :)

*In a microwave safe bowl, heat the chocolate chips and butter up the same way we did the chocolate the first time.  Once the chocolate has melted, get a ziploc bag (small sandwich size), and pour the chocolate into the baggie.

*Close the ziploc bag.  Take scissors and cut a TINY corner off one of the bottom corners of the baggie.

*Its super hot to hold the bag, but hey, making pretty desserts can't be easy all the time.  So suck it up and do your ouch's and ooh's and get over it!

*Drizzle the chocolate up and down the entire length of the pan.  Now go the opposite way going up and down.  I had enough chocolate that I also did a diagonal too.

*If you have any sort of peanuts, you can chop them up and sprinkle them on top of the chocolate drizzle.

*Cool your bars down completely before cutting them up into bars/pieces.

*Refrigerate once completely cooled and cut.

Trail Mix (AKA Middleton Mix)

This is a recipe that my husbands family has been making for years.  We love it because its only 3 ingredients, but anyone who tries it can't stop eating it and ALWAYS asks for the recipe!  We brought a bag up to Canada with us on vacation and it was gone as soon as we put it out.  Its so good!!

Ingredients:
1 Bag on plain M & M's
1 Tub Raisins
1 Canister dry roasted peanuts

Directions:
*Mix all together.

*Yes, it's that easy.  And its even yummier, so go ahead and make yourself some!  :)

Vacation...

I just wanted to write a quick note as to why no news recipes have been posted!  The past 10 days I have been out at my parents farm while they were on vacation.  I didn't do much cooking; nothing worth posting at least.  I'm home for a few days before I go on my vacation so I won't be posting for another 2 weeks or so.  I'll be back soon though!

Chicken and Biscuits

I found this recipe in an old Food & Family magazine that Kraft used to mail out monthly (now its a subscription).  Anyways, I love Kraft recipes because they are good food and SO easy to make.  We loved this recipe, and there were no leftovers!

Ingredients:
1 Can cream of chicken soup
3/4 Cup Sour cream
3 Chicken breasts
1 Pkg frozen mixed veggies, cooked
1 Cup shredded cheese, cheddar if you have it
1 Cup baking mix (like bisquick baking mix)
3 Tbsp milk

Directions:
*Cut up your chicken into bite sized pieces and put them in a large skillet with a tablespoon of oil.

*Cook chicken until done (7-10 minutes).

*In a square baking dish, spray it down with baking spray, then pour your can of soup and 1/2 cup of sour cream into it.  Mix well.

*Pour the chicken, cheese, and veggies into the soup mixture.  Mix well again.

*In a bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cup of sour cream, baking mix, and milk.  Stir until stiff dough forms (about one minute).

*Preheat your oven to 375*F.

*Take your dough and drop it by 4-5 balls of dough onto the top of the soup/chicken mixture.  Leave them sitting on the top.

*Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes; until the biscuits are golden brown.

Another yummy, home-cooked meal to add to my recipe box!

BBQ Cupcakes

I'm posting these because they are the cutest things ever!  Not a great "recipe" because its simply a box of chocolate cake...but they are way too fun NOT to post.  The kids and I bought Nick a smoker grill for Father's Day and we made these as the dessert for dinner...staying with the whole "smoker/bbq" theme.  So...if you are buying your boyfriend/husband/dad a bbq...make these fun little cupcakes to go along with it!

Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake mix 

1 box hot tamale candy

1 bag gummies (must have reds, yellows, greens inside) I got a pack for one dollar at Walmart...

1 bag chocolate icing (by the cake candles at the store)

Red sprinkles

Silver/tin foil muffin cup liners

Directions:

* Mix your cake batter according to package directions.  Only pour the batter into the muffin cups 2/3 of the way because you don't want the cupcakes to overflow...

*Take them out of the oven when done and let them cool.  Press down on them with a towel to try and make them not so fluffy!  The flatter your tops, the cuter they are!

*Once they are cool, sprinkle all the tops with red sprinkles (this will be the "hot grates" inside your bbq).

*Now put the icing into a small sandwich sized plastic ziploc bag.  Cut a TINY hole at the bottom corner to push out the icing.

*Now draw lines (all going the same way) to make the "bbq grates."

*Put a dollop of icing on the back of each hot tamale and place it onto your muffins.

*Using a toothpick, draw lines across the hot tamale to make "grill marks.

*Once you are done with your hot tamale hot dogs, its time to make the kabob squewers.

*Take your gummie candy and cut them into small pieces.  Its a sticky mess, sorry.

*Now put them onto toothpicks to make your shishkabobs.

*Put some chocolate icing on the back of each one and put it into place on your muffins.  

I hope that special guy you are making these for loves them!!!

Parmesan Pork Chops

I bought some pork chops a few weeks ago and put them in the deep freeze because I didn't really know what to do with them.  I didn't want to simply put them in a baking dish, pour a soup over them, and bake them (its good that way...but I wanted something more creative).  While browsing the web today for recipes I stumbled across this one by Giada de Laurentis on the foodnetwork.com website.  It was So Good!  Definitely a recipe I wanted to post for you guys!

Ingredients:
4 Pork chops, boneless, fat removed/cut off
3/4 Cup Parmesan cheese (grated if you have it)
2 Eggs
3/4 Cup bread crumbs
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
salt
pepper

Directions:
*Put your vegetable oil into a large skillet and turn it on to medium-low.

*Salt and pepper both sides of each pork chop.

*Put the 2 eggs onto a plate and mix them up.  On a second plate, put your Parmesan cheese.  On a third plate put your breadcrumbs.

*Take your first pork chop and dip both sides and edges into the Parmesan cheese.  Pat the cheese onto the meat to secure it on.

*Now put the cheesed up pork chop into the egg, flipping to coat both sides.   Now put it into the breadcrumbs.  I picked some breadcrumbs up and pressed it onto both sides to make sure they were fully coated.

*Put this coated pork chop onto a plate.

*Do the dipping steps with the other 3 pork chops, putting them all onto the plate once you have finished each one.

*Take a pair of tongs and be SUPER careful for flying oil (it hurts).  Put all the pork chops into the skillet.  Leave them cook about 6-8 minutes.  They will get dark, if not black, and that's okay.  Mine were and they tasted fine (not burned), and Giada's on the website were too!

*Once they have cooked on the first side the 6-8 minutes, flip them over and cook the other side for the same amount of time.  You can peek to make sure they aren't overly black, but they will be dark!  You want them that way!

*You want the inside temperature to be 160*.  Mine were getting a little too dark so I pulled them out and put them back onto a plate and cooked them for 1 minute in the microwave.  They were still super crispy and finally were cooked through.  A  tiny bit of pink is now okay on pork (just finished reading a thing from FDA haha).

*So easy, and they were really good!

Zucchini Casserole

I AM MARTHA STEWART!!!  Okay, not really, but this recipe was SOOOOOOOOO good that I felt like I was her!  (It's not even a martha recipe...its a Barefoot Contessa recipe, but who's taking note?).  I know I've been posting a ton of zucchini recipes lately, and I'm sorry!  I don't usually pick one item and cook it over and over, but my parents gave us a TON of it from their garden and I didn't want to waste it.  Anyways, back to this recipe.  As I was cooking it I kept thinking "what was I thinking making this.  Its taking forever for a frigging zucchini recipe.  Ugh."  BUT THEN...(drumroll please), I added the spices, and BOOM!  My kitchen took on the most amazing smell and I got SUPER excited!  It turned out so much better than I could have imagined!  I cannot wait to make it for others!  (So hint, hint friends, someone invite us over so I can bring this dish!).  Even Nick kept saying "oh man, this is good"  AWESOME!

Ingredients:
6 Tbsp butter (3/4 a stick)
1 Small onion, diced up (original recipe called for 3 onions...but I only used 1 and it was PERFECT!!!)
2 lbs zucchini (about 6 small one's, or 1.5 of my parents big one's)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper (don't guess on these spices...you need the exact amounts!)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (yes, nutmeg.  And you HAVE to have it in this recipe!)
2 Tbsps flour
1 Cup HOT milk (put it in your microwave for a minute or two)
3/4 Cup bread crumbs
3/4 Cup - 1 Cup Shredded cheese
2 Tbsp butter

Directions:
*Melt your 6 Tbsps butter over low heat in a large skillet.  Once it is melted, add all of the onion pieces.  Cook on LOW for about 20-25 minutes (yup, that long).  You don't want them to brown, just get soft.  So make sure you cook them on low!

*Once the onions are cooked, add the zucchini pieces.  Cut them into 1/4 inch round pieces.

*Cook covered for about 15 minutes (until they are tender and cooked).  Stir it a few times so it doesn't burn.

*Now add your spices once the zucchini is done.  Mix and cook uncovered for about 3-4 minutes.  Smell your kitchen, isn't it amazing???!!!

*Now add the 2 Tbsps of flour, then the hot milk.  Stir and continue to cook until the milk turns into a semi-thick sauce (about 3-4 minutes).  Keep stirring it so it doesn't burn.

*Pour into a baking dish spray down with baking spray.

*In a bowl, mix the bread crumbs and shredded cheese.

*Melt the remaining 2 Tbsps of butter in a cup in the microwave and then put it in with the cheese and breadcrumbs.  Mix it up good.  Now pour it on top of the zucchini mixture.

*Cook in a pre-heated at 400*F oven for 20 minutes.

*This is one of those recipes you have to try.  I HATE onions and I still LOVED this one!!!

(Note: This is my twist on the barefoot Contessa's recipe.)