This is another great recipe I found on getoffyourbuttandbake.blogspot.com
This calls for 6 chicken breasts, but I only used 2 thick chicken breasts. I didn't cut down on the seasonings and thought that they were barely enough for the 2 chicken breasts I had. I would suggest doubling it if you are adding more chicken breasts. I also only marinated the chicken for about 5 hours. I think I will marinate it for closer to the 8 hours recommended next time. But so yummy!! Sorry about the picture!

Ingredients:

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each) 1 cup fat-free Italian salad dressing 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon paprika 1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 tablespoon Olive Oil, divided 1 tablespoon butter 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth 1/2 cup Marsala wine or 3 tablespoons unsweetened apple juice plus 5 tablespoons additional reduced-sodium chicken broth 1 pound sliced fresh mushrooms (opt) 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions:

Flatten chicken to 1/2-in. thickness. Place in a large resealable plastic bag; add salad dressing. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and discard marinade. Combine the flour, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, paprika and pepper; sprinkle over both sides of chicken. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chicken in 1 tablespoon oil and butter for 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Transfer to a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Gradually add broth and wine or apple juice mixture to skillet, stirring to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. In the same skillet, cook mushrooms in remaining oil for 2 minutes; drain. Stir sauce into mushrooms; heat through. Pour over chicken; sprinkle with parsley. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until chicken juices run clear. Yield: 6 servings.

An old coworker used to make these and I got hooked. I haven't had them for a long time and don't usually have pecans on hand. But tonight was my lucky night when I realized I did have some pecans in my fridge. I was afraid I had the recipe wrong because there are no spices and only a 1/2 cup flour. But, when you eat these, you realize that those ingredients are all you need. (These are more of a dessert than a breakfast muffin.)


Pecan Pie Muffins (Makes approx. 9 muffins)

1 Cup chopped pecans
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (I used 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup butter melted

COMBINE first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.

BEAT eggs until foamy. Stir together eggs and butter; add to dry ingredients; stirring just until moistened.

COAT muffin tin with cooking spray and spoon batter into cups.

BAKE at 350 for 20-25 min. or until done. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks. Makes approx. 9 muffins

OOPS! I posted this a while ago but just realized when I was going to make these this morning that I didn't post the measurements! Sorry! Here they are now.

This is another family Christmas recipe. I always love these and they are so much better when my Mom makes them! I didn't have peppermint extract so I used mint extract. It makes a difference. They were still good, but are much better with peppermint.

Mint Sticks (makes 1 cake pan)

1 C. melted butter

2 C sugar

4 eggs

3 ½ squares melted baking chocolate

¼ tsp peppermint flavor

1 C flour

1 C nuts (optional)

1. Combine butter, sugar, eggs and beat well. Add chocolate and flavoring. Add flour and nuts. Put in greased pan. Bake 350 for 20-25 min.

2. When cool, add 5 Tbs melted butter, 2 ½ Tbs cream, 2 ½ C pwd sugar, ¼ tsp peppermint; (Blend butter and cream, then add sugar and flavoring). Spread over cooled baked layer.

3. 8 -10 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips and 4 Tbs butter and melt together. Spread or drizzle on top.

I have used one recipe for alfredo for a long time. My Mom used a new recipe while I was visiting home in September and it was really good. The thing I like about this recipe is that I don't feel like I am consuming all of my daily intake of calories on this one meal. It is not as greasy as my old recipe and has more flavor. To get some veggies in, I added steamed broccoli, for flavor, added bacon pieces, and for more substance, added sliced chicken to the sauce as well. YUM! It is even good the second day.

Melt in a small saucepan on the stove:
2 Tbs butter
2 1/2 Tbs flour
Cook until thick about 1 min.

Add :
1 C. cream
1 C. milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 Tbs. chicken bouillion cube crushed (mine was actually a little less than this)
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/2 Tbs. parsley

Stir until thick. Add about 1/3 cup shredded or grated parmesean cheese (if you want this really cheesy, add more!).

Pour over noodles and stir.

I found this recipe online on Target's website a couple years ago. It is quick and easy and tastes great with a baked potato and steamed broccoli.

Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/4 in. thick (mine don't ever get this thin, and I usually only use about 2 thick chicken breasts cut in half)
4 slices of swiss cheese
4 slices of ham (deli sandwich ham, or ham steaks cut thin)
2 Tbs. grated Parmesean cheese
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic salt/powder
1/2 tsp dried tarragon (I don't have this, and it still turns out great!)
1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
1 Tbs butter melted
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs (I do a fresh piece of bread toasted and crumbled. I am sure you could use italian bread crumbs too though)

Directions:
Place chicken breasts on a plate. Place swiss cheese and ham slices on top and roll up, securing with a toothpick. In a pie plate, or bowl, combine the Parm. cheese, paprika, garlic salt, tarragon, basil and bread crumbs. Mix together and dip rollups in mixture to coat.
Drizzle with melted butter and cook on high in microwave for 4 -5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.

I have been tempted to try this in the oven, on the stove in a pan with a lid, or in the crock pot. I like the microwave idea though for nights I am in a pinch.

This has become one of my Christmas goodies. They are delicious! But, I make them only once a year because they require a lot of butter and cream, etc... Things we really don't need, but are sometimes nice on occasion. I haven't made these with half white/half wheat flour, but I am sure you could, and just add a little more water to make sure they stay moist. Enjoy!

Dissolve in a big bowl:
3 C. warm water
2 pkg yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp yeast)

Add to yeast mixture and mix with an electric beater:
1 pkg white/yellow cake mix
3 eggs

Add in 5 1/2-7 C flour (add a little at a time and make sure dough is still a little bit sticky)

Grease a big bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel. Let rise until double (approx. 30-45 min.)

After raised, I pull the dough in half. For each half, roll into a rectangle, spread with 1/2 cube butter (melted), and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Now this is where it really gets good (and fattening!!) Have 2 9x13 cake pans out. In each pan, melt 1/2 C. butter, and mix it with 1 C. brown sugar and 1/2 C. milk or cream.

Roll up your dough (start at your stomach and roll up). Cut with a bread knife, slices about 3/4-1 inch thick. Turn those upside down in the brown sugar mix in the cake pans.

When both cake pans are full, cover with towels and let rise until double.

Bake at 350 for about 30 min.

Cool slightly and tip upside down onto cookie sheets.

YUM!

This is a great dish full of flavor and color. It has a nice crunch and is even good the second day.

Found on Better Homes & Garden

• 12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine or dry white wine
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil (I use olive oil)
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (this was too much; I use about 1 1/2 cloves)
  
• 2 medium carrots, thinly bias sliced (1 cup)
• 8 ounces whole small fresh mushrooms (3 cups) or large fresh mushrooms, halved (3 cups)
• 2 cups fresh pea pods or one 6-ounce package frozen pea pods, thawed
• 1/2 of an 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts, drained
• 3 cups hot cooked rice (brown rice is great with this & healthy too!)
  

Directions

1. Cut chicken into thin bite-size strips. For sauce, in a small bowl stir together the chicken broth, soy sauce, rice wine or white wine, cornstarch, and sugar. Set aside.

2. Pour cooking oil into a wok or large skillet. (Add more oil as necessary during cooking.) Preheat over medium-high heat. Stir-fry garlic in hot oil for 15 seconds. Add carrots; stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and, if using, fresh pea pods; stir-fry about 1 minute more or until carrots and pea pods are crisp-tender. Remove the vegetables from the wok.

3. Add the chicken to the hot wok. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until no pink remains. Push the chicken from the center of the wok. Stir sauce. Add the sauce to the center of the wok. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

4. Return the cooked vegetables to the wok. Add water chestnuts and, if using, thawed pea pods. Stir all ingredients together to coat with sauce. Cook and stir about 1 minute more or until heated through. Serve immediately over hot cooked rice. Makes 4 servings.

This is a recipe that my Mom has made at Christmas time for years. They are so delicious!! They taste a lot like Cinnamon rolls, but with a little bit of a different flavor because this requires buttermilk. I made these this week for a girls night out and for Christmas goodies. They were a hit! Hope you like them! (this made about 30) Warning: They can be addicting when they are warm!!! :)

Dissolve in a small bowl:

2 Tbs or 2 pkgs yeast

½ cup warm water

1 Tb sugar

Heat to boiling and cool to lukewarm:

2 C buttermilk (or 2 C. milk, plus 2 Tbs lemon juice or vinegar)

8 Tbs butter

6 Tbs sugar

2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, slightly beat 2 eggs.

Add yeast mixture to eggs and stir in ½ tsp baking soda.

Add 7 C. flour along with buttermilk mixture into egg mixture. (Add 6 cups at first)

Knead until elastic; Let dough rest 15 minutes.

Divide in half; roll each half out and spread each half with 4 Tbs butter (softened).

Sprinkle each half with ½ to 1 C brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and ½ C chopped nuts (optional)

Fold dough in half (fold from your stomach up); cut strips about 1 1/2 inches wide (again from your stomach up, so that one end is connected, and the other is not) and twist.

Place 1 in. apart on a greased cookie sheet and raise for 45 min.

Bake 375 for 12 minutes.

Cool slightly and brush with sugar glaze – 1 ½ C powdered sugar, 1 Tbs melted butter, 2 Tbs hot water (use this amount for each cookie sheet).

This is a really great recipe. Nice and warm for a cold day like today in Idaho. I like this recipe because, unlike some other Chicken & Dumplings recipes, it doesn't have any cream in it. I usually skip out on using the butter, I don't ever use the full onion, use 2 potatoes and don't use the bay leaves. I don't use a box mix for the biscuits, but I make my own. It is much better that way in my opinion! This makes enough to feed my husband, myself, our two little kids and about another 2 bowls leftover.

From food network

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenders
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 russet potato, peeled and diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced or thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 rib celery, diced
• 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 1/3 palm full
• 2 tablespoons flour, a handful
• 1 quart chicken broth or stock, canned or paper container, preferred brand Kitchen Basics
• 1 small box biscuit mix(preferred brand Jiffy Mix)
• 1/2 cup warm water
• Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 cup frozen green peas

Directions

Dice tenders into bite size pieces and set aside. Wash hands.

Place a large pot on stove over medium high heat. Add oil, butter, vegetables and bay leaf and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Season mixture with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Add flour to the pan and cook 2 minutes. Stir broth or stock to the pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken to the broth and stir.

Place biscuit mix in a bowl. Combine with 1/2 cup warm water and parsley. Drop tablespoonfuls of prepared mix into the pot, spacing dumplings evenly. Cover pot tightly and reduce heat to medium low. Steam dumplings 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cover and stir chicken and dumplings to thicken sauce a bit. Stir peas into the pan, remove chicken and dumplings from heat and serve in shallow bowls.

This is a recipe I found on yourhomebasedmom.com. It is really good and was a hit with my inlaws. It also made plenty for us and we ate it for a couple of days.

4 chicken breasts (I think I only ended up using 3, and it fed 4 adults and 2 kids)
1/2 c. salsa (I used the cheap Pace)
1 Tbs. cumin
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 4oz. can diced green chilies
6 oz. can sprite

Cook 5-6 hours in a crockpot. Shred the chicken and put back in juices. Cook for 1 more hour. Thicken the juices with corn starch (I omitted this step). Make as a salad with a warm tortilla on the bottom, or roll it up and make it a burrito. Serve with chopped lettuce, shredded cheese, black beans, olives, pico de gallo, and guacamole.


found on letsdishrecipes
Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing

1 pkg ranch dressing mix
8oz. green salsa ( I used Mrs. Renfroe's. It is REALLY spicy, but added a really good kick, and I only used 4 oz.)
1/2 bunch cilantro chopped
2 cloves garlic
3/4 C. mayo
3/4 C. sour cream
1/4 tsp hot sauce (I used Frank's cayenne pepper sauce)
juice of 1 lime

I tried my mother-in-law's french bread recipe for the first time yesterday. I have to say it tasted really good, but did not look as pretty as hers and did not rise as well (I am wondering if it is because I did half whole wheat and half white flour??). I guess I have some work to do and more years ahead to perfect this.

Makes 2 loaves. Cook at 400 fr 30 min.

Dissolve 2 tsp. yeast in 3 C. warm water and let sit for a few minutes until bubbly.

Add and stir with wooden spoon:
1 1/2 Tbs sugar
1 1/2 Tbs oil
1/2 tsp salt
6 C flour

Rest 10 minutes. Stir and rest 5 times. Divide in half and rest 5 minutes. Roll in a rectangle and roll up (like you are rolling dough for cinnamon rolls). Place on a greased cookie sheet. Cut slits on top and brush with milk. Let rise for 1 1/2 hours. Then bake.

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe and they are my husband's favorite brownies. He can't stand to eat the boxed brownies anymore after having these for years. She usually cooks them and then sprinkles powdered sugar on top. I like mine more chocolatey, so tonight for a get together, I added chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Who can go wrong with that combination? Well, unless you are allergic to peanuts. If so, I am so sorry! But, I do have a bag of dark chocolate and mint chips that I was tempted to use in the batter tonight too. Hmm... something to try in the future. I will tell you though, these brownies are more cake like and not so chewey and really chocolatey. But are delicious!! Well here is the recipe Emma. Hope they turn out well for Richard!

PS Don't think about calories when making or eating these!


Cream together:
2 C. sugar
2 sticks butter

Add in and beat well:
4 eggs

Then add and mix together with batter:
2 tsp vanilla (unless using real Mexican vanilla and then use only 1 to 1 1/2 tsp)
4 Tbs. cocoa (HEAPING!!)
2 C. flour
1/2 c. nuts (optional)
And mix in more chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, caramel, mint, toffee, etc. for more flavor...

Put in a greased 9 x 13 pan (or smaller to make them more chewey and thick). Bake at 350 for 30-40 min.

This is such a great salad because it is sweet and different from your every day plain green salad. It is my favorite to take to get togethers and always goes so quickly!

Poppyseed Dressing
In blender, mix all on high:

1/2 c. white vinegar
2 tsp poppyseeds
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. sugar (this makes it pretty sweet; I actually do a little less than this)
1 Tbs. yellow mustard

After mixing all of the above, add 1 c. canola oil. Then you are done!

Salad:
(I put everything in separate bowls just in case people don't like all of the ingredients. Then it is kind of a buffet style salad.)
Romaine lettuce
Spinach
Shredded mozzarella cheese
1 14 oz. can mandarin oranges
Craisins
Crumbled bacon (or bacon bits if you don't have fresh bacon)
red onion (chopped finely)
fresh sliced mushrooms
Toasted almonds (Melt 1 tbs butter on low in a pan, add 1 1/2 Tbs sugar and 1/4 c. sliced almonds. Stir continuously until sugar is dissolved and almonds are well coated. Place and separate on foil or a plate to cool. If you don't separate them, they will dry and clump together.)

This is a variation of a recipe my Mom used to do when I was growing up. It was usually a Sunday specialty.

-Take the skin off of 1 whole chicken and remove the insides of the chicken (who would eat them anyway?!)

-In the bottom of your crock pot, place slices of white or sweet onion, and sliced carrots. Place your skinned chicken on top of the onions and carrots.

-Inside of your chicken, place more onions, carrots and season with salt, pepper, garlic and Thyme.

-Sprinkle more salt, pepper, garlic, and Thyme on the outside of the chicken and place more sliced carrots and a few more onion slices around and on top of the chicken. You can also chop up some potatoes (red or brown) and throw those in there too. ( I personally don't like my potatoes in the crock pot. I think they get too mushy. I know, I am weird!) Cook for a few hours or until chicken is falling off the bones!

-If you put potatoes and carrots in your crock pot, you have a whole meal ready to eat. If not, serve chicken with a green salad and mashed sweet potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, diced and seasoned red potatoes, you get the picture. Chicken, potatoes, and vegetables. Enjoy!

Please excuse my lack of food pictures lately. I have been in one of those stages of waiting until the last minute to decide what on my list of things to eat for the week sounds good for the night, thus creating 4 hungry people when the food is ready. That means no time for pictures, just time to eat. Note to self: Be better at planning and sticking with my menu and taking pictures!

Once again, this is not a healthy pasta, but how many alfredo recipes are? If you have one less fattening than this, let me know! But really, this is a good recipe.

-Grill, cook in the oven, or in a pan on the stove 1 1/2 chicken breasts (seasoned to your liking) and chop in small chunks.

-Cook up some (if using a box of noodles, I use about 1/2 of a box) wheat noodles (I use the spiral noodles or farfalle, or anything I have in the pantry).

-While noodles are cooking, (if you want some vegetable added to your alfredo) add some frozen peas into the noodle water to cook.

-Also while noodles are cooking, on low, melt:
-1/4 c. butter
-3/4 c. GRATED parmesean cheese (grated is SOOO much better than the bottled stuff)
-1/2 c. whipping cream
-1 Tbs. parsley
-1/8 tsp. garlic powder/salt
-dash of salt and pepper to taste

When noodles and peas are done cooking, drain and add the chicken and sauce and stir to combine. Serve with a fresh green salad and some biscuits!

Variations:
-Add chunks of bacon to the sauce while cooking to give it a smoky flavor.
- Saute slices of mushrooms in a pan with a little butter or olive oil and add to final mixture.

This is a recipe that a family friend where I grew up would not give out. Then our family moved and we have been passing it around since! It is delicious, easy, filling, and great in the crock pot for a cold day. But note, it is NOT a healthy soup. I am still looking for some really great, healthy, and delicious soups, so if you have some, PLEASE let me know!

Boil and cut into chunks 2 chicken breasts.
Put in crock pot (or if in a pinch, you can cook this on the stove for about 30 min) with:
-enough corn to fill the bottom of the pot (or more if you like a lot of corn)
-1 small can of green chilis
-1 pkg. taco seasoning
-1 can cream of potato soup
-2 -3 cups chicken broth (If you like yours more like soup, add 3 cups; if you want it thicker, add more like 1 1/2-2 cups. If you are using the broth from your chicken you just boiled, add a crushed chicken bullion cube for more flavoring.)

-About 20 min. before ready to eat, add 1 c. sour cream and a 1/2 of a small block of velveeta cheese diced (You can omit the sour cream if you don't like it, or even reduce the amount to make it less creamy. We like ours really cheesy so we end up doing about 3/4 of the bar of cheese.)

-A great finishing touch and something to add more flavor to this is adding chopped bits of cilantro on top when you are ready to eat.

-To make this go farther and feed more, cook up some brown rice and put some in the bottom of the bowls with the soup on top. It is a lot more filling.

-Can be served with tortilla chips and chunks of avocado on the side as well. ENJOY!

This is my go-to for any party or get together. It is easy and everyone loves it. What could be better?

From spinachrecipes.org

Ingredients:

14 oz of artichoke heart (I chop mine up really fine)
1 clove of garlic (fresh or minced in a jar)
2 cups of freshly chopped spinach (I have heard this is what makes the dip special. It is FRESH spinach, NOT FROZEN.) * I end up doing about 2 1/2 cups finely chopped spinach.
½ cup of parmesan cheese
½ cup of mayonnaise (I always do 1/4 c. mayo, 1/4 c. sour cream. This is what some of the reviews on the website said to do and it does turn out better than straight mayo.)
Grated white cheese (I omit this step. I figure there is already parmesean cheese, why fatten this up anymore?)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions:

Mix everything except the grated cheese together. (Once again, I omit the grated white cheese, and mix in the parmesean and sprinkle a little on top to give it a brown cooked look.)

Place the mixture in an oven-proof dish; then top with the cheese.

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 10 minutes ( I find it is more like 15 min.) or until spinach is tender and the cheese nicely melted.

Serve with tortilla chips. (Or, a really great and better idea, hollow out a big bread bowl or one of those thick square loaves of specialty bread, such as sourdough, from the store and put your dip in this. Then wrap the whole thing in foil and cook for about 30 min in the oven. Then break chunks of the bread off with the dip and ohhhh! YUM!

This recipe is really dangerous to have in my house. I WILL EAT THEM ALL! Their name fits them well.

Mix together:
1 c. flour
1 c. quick oats (I have old fashioned oats and chopped them for a minute in the food processor)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c. melted butter ( I used a little less than this)

Blend and divide in half. Press half in pan and bake at 350 for 10 min.

While that is cooking, mix:
1 c. chocolate chips ( I used half milk chocolate, half semi sweet. Or I have even used half chocolate chips and half white chocolate chips. That combo was REALLY RICH!)
1/2 c. nuts (optional)
3/4 c. caramel ice cream topping ( I used a mild butterscotch topping instead last night and it turned out great)
3 Tbs. flour

Spread over bottom oat mixture. Crumble remaining oat mixture on top. Cook another 15 min.
Cool before serving. If you aren't patient enough (like me!), you can eat them warm. But, they are REALLY gooey and VERY rich and sweet. They don't seem quite as sweet when they have cooled. I keep them in the fridge.

I think I have found THE sweet potato fry recipe. We have tried a few others and were never pleased with the results. But after I made these last night, my husband is asking to have them again!

From Our Best Bites

2 medium-sized sweet potatoes ( I used 1 large) (technically, I think what I use are yams)
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t coriander (didn't have any ground coriander so I omitted this)
1 t kosher salt
1 t parsley
fresh ground pepper (completely forgot this!)

Preheat oven to 425 and spray a cookie sheet. (DO NOT LINE YOUR COOKIE SHEET WITH FOIL OR ANYTHING ELSE!) Put your oil and seasonings in a bowl and toss/stir to coat your fries. Place fries on your cookie sheet in rows and with a little space between each fry. Cook for 15 minutes and then flip. Cook another 15-20 minutes and eat! YUM!!! We dipped ours in ketchup but really didn't need to. They have plenty of flavor. Or, the site I found this on makes their own sauce. My kids ate these up! Hope yours do too!

This is a delicious chocolate cake that is pretty much the same thing as Texas Sheet Cake. And if you are trying to count calories, this IS NOT the cake for you to make. But it is VERY GOOD!

Mix together in a medium bowl:
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar

Bring to boil and let cool:
2 sticks butter
1 c. water
4 Tbs. coco
Add this to the mixture above.

Then add:
2 eggs
1/2 c. sour milk (Regular milk and 1 tsp vinegar)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Spray cake pan and pour in mixture. Bake at 350 for about 30 min.

Frosting:
Mix together:
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Boil and add to mixture above:
1/2 stick butter
5 Tbs milk
4 Tbs coco

Mix together and you may need to add some water or more milk to thin it out a little. Put frosting on cake while frosting is still warm.

This is actually a white bread recipe but I made it half white, half whole wheat and it was a great combination of the sweetness of white bread but a little better for you with the wheat (or so I like to tell myself!). I cut this recipe out of a Dallas Morning News newspaper years ago and never tried it until this week. But beware, it gets really crumbly when you make a sandwich with it!

Makes 2 - 9x5 inch loaves

Ingredients:
2 c. warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c. white sugar (or a little less like I did)
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 Tbs active dry yeast
6 cups bread flour

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam (about 5 min.).
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Kneed dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until double in bulk, about one hour.
3. Punch dough down. Kneed for a few minutes and divide in half. Shape into loaves and place into two well oiled 9 x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 min., or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 for 30 min. (Mine were done at about 25 min. so set your timer for less and check)

In my 5 years of marriage, I can't recall a time when I had made peanut butter cookies. So, that is what I did the other day. Growing up, my Mom used to put hershey kisses on top but I didn't have any so we did hershey choc. chips mixed in. YUM!


Bake 370 for 8-10 min.

Cream together:
1/2 c. butter or shortening
1/2 c. peanut butter ( I like to use crunchy!)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg

Add:
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c. flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt.

Roll into balls and dip in white sugar; place on cookie sheet and press with a fork in an x shape. Cook 8-10 min. and enjoy!

I am not a huge fan of zucchini, but this turned out really well and was very good! We have a little charcoal grill and that gave the zucchini a great smoky flavor.

Grilled Stuffed Zucchini
recipe by Our Best Bites

2 medium zucchini (about 10")
4 oz Italian turkey sausage (I couldn't find the Turkey sausage so I used 2 regular Italian sausages)
1/4 C diced red onion ( I didn't have this so I used a white onion and a little green onion)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium tomato (about 1/2 C diced)
1 1/2 T chopped fresh basil (or abt a teaspoon of dried) ( I am not a big fan of basil so I used Italian seasoning)
2/3 C Italian cheese blend (the kind pre-bagged with parm/mozz/asiago/etc)
1 T Italian style bread crumbs

kosher salt
black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

-Slice zucchini in half length wise, leaving the tops on.
-Scoop out the centers, saving them in a bowl. Leave at least 1/4 inch around the edges and bottoms. Take the good parts of the zucchini guts you just scooped out and dice up 1/2 C. This will go in your filling.
-Drizzle the zucchini shells with a little olive oil and use your hands to rub it on all sides. Sprinkle with some kosher salt and black pepper and set aside.
-Preheat your grill outside and then start your filling in a skillet on the stovetop. Start by browning the sausage. When you no longer see pink, add the onions, garlic, and diced zucchini. Cook for 2-3 minutes until onion is tender. Add tomato and basil, 1/4 t kosher salt and a few cracks of black pepper. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
-First take your zucchini to the grill and put them hollow-side down.
-Grill for about 5 minutes on medium heat. They should have nice charred marks and look tender on the inside. (Make sure you don't cook them very long here. You will put them back on the grill when they are stuffed. If you cook them too long, they will become watery.)
-Take them back inside. Add cheese and bread crumbs to filling mixture. Stir to combine and then divide the filling between the zucchini. Top each zucchini with about 1T cheese and sprinkle with 1/4-1/2 t bread crumbs. Lastly, give them a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
-Place them back on the grill (filling side up- please!) Close grill lid, and cook for another 5-7 minutes. Larger/thicker zucchini will obviously take longer to cook.
-If you're doing this inside, it will take a little longer seeing as you can't close the lid to keep in the heat. You also might want to broil them in the oven when they're finished to help the cheese on top get nice and bubbly.

Okay, for all you canning fanatics, you should REALLY try making pear sauce. I have never canned before and went to a class at enrichment the other night and helped make pear sauce. You know, like applesauce, but with pears. It was really great! I don't have the exact recipe, but if you are into canning, I am sure you can find one for it ( or I can find out if you want!). We had breakfast for dinner and had wheat pancakes with pear sauce and homemade whipped cream on top. YUM!!

I have never made Chicken Cordon Bleu before and decided to find a recipe. I got lucky and this one was good. Not as good the second day, but still very good. I liked that the sauce was not cream of chicken (not a big fan of this). The bad thing about this recipe though is that it took a while since it cooks on the stove and I had to keep babysitting it. I think next time I will try browning it on the stove and then cooking it in the oven.

INGREDIENTS:

*
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
6 slices Swiss cheese
6 slices ham
3 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth
1 teaspoon chicken broth granules
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup heavy cream
4 cups hot, cooked linguine or pasta of your choice

*

DIRECTIONS:

*

Place a ham and a cheese slice on each chicken breast. (I pounded my breasts, to 1/4", it makes the chicken much easier to roll) Roll up tightly, tucking in sides to completely enclose ham and cheese. Secure with toothpicks. Mix flour and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl and coat the chicken pieces with the mixture. In a large skillet heat the butter over medium-high heat and brown the chicken rolls on all sides. Add broth and broth granules, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes, until chicken is done & tender in the center. Remove chicken and keep warm on a serving platter. Blend cornstarch with the cream and stir into the skillet, stirring constantly and cooking until thickened. Serve sauce over chicken and linguine.
Number of Servings: 6

I know most of my posts say that the food I made was delicious, well, this one was too. Really, why would I post a recipe of something that wasn't delicious? I am a sweet bread fanatic, and a lover of chocolate, so what is better than a sweet bread with chocolate in it?? AND, this one has vegetables too! I know, I know, the chocolate, sugar and cooking it defeats the whole nutritional value of the zucchini, but it makes me feel a little better when I eat half a loaf! ENJOY!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread {makes 2 loaves}
Recipe by ourbestbites

2 C flour (I used 1 c. white and 1 c. wheat flour)
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t baking soda
6 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 C canola oil (next time I will try applesauce as a replacement)
1 C sugar ( I did about 3/4 c. sugar instead but could have probably even done 1/2 c.)
1/4 C brown sugar
3 eggs
2 t vanilla
1/2 C sour cream
3 C grated zucchini (About 3 medium sized zucchinis)
3/4 C mini chocolate chips (who wants mini? I used the real deal!)

Topping: (this makes a lot; maybe cut in half)
2 T brown sugar
2 T white sugar
1/2 t cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans and set aside. I used one medium sized aluminum pan, and 3 small aluminum pans (the small ones are nice to give away!)

Mix topping ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. (The topping made way more than what I wanted, so you could probably cut this in half or even get rid of it all together and the bread would still be great!)

Place flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

With a stand or hand mixer beat oil, white sugar, brown sugar, and eggs until combined and slightly fluffy, 1-2 minutes.

Add vanilla and sour cream and mix until combined.

Gently stir in the grated zucchini.

Take a spoonful of the flour mixture and stir in with the chocolate chips (that will help keep them evenly distributed.) If you only have regular chocolate chips, or a chocolate bar, just give it a chop so it's the size of mini chocolate chips. Stir remaining flour mixture into batter and mix just until combined. Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Divide the batter between the two pans. and sprinkle topping over each.

Bake in your preheated 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes. (I checked mine at 45 min. but they were done at about 50 min.)

When it's done a toothpick or skewer should come out without goopy batter on it and the top will be gorgeous and cracked with sugar.


Let it cool on a rack for 5-10 minutes and then remove from pans.

To all those banana bread fans, here you go! I love banana bread, and love chocolate, so I figured I would give this a try. I really liked it! It has less sour cream, butter, and sugar than my regular recipe, and was still delicious! I even cut back on the sugar more and of course, added in about half wheat flour and increased the banana a little bit to make sure it was moist. YUM!

Found on: our best bites

Chocolate Swirled Banana Bread

2 c. flour
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
¼ c. butter, softened
1 ½ c. mashed ripe bananas (about 3-4 medium bananas)
2 eggs
1/3 c. plain lowfat yogurt or sour cream
½ c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cups and level. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Cream sugar and butter. Add bananas, eggs, and yogurt, beating until just blended. Add flour mixture. Beat on low until just moistened. Microwave chocolate chips in a medium bowl for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Add 1 c. batter to chocolate, stirring until well-combined. Spoon chocolate batter alternately with plain batter (so you have stripes of plain and chocolate batter) in an 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Swirl batters with a knife.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes (give or take a little; I'd probably set your timer for 1 hour and 10 minutes to be safe) or until a knife comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan and then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.

This is a great meal to feel a lot of people. I have used 3-4 pork chops, or a pork roast. Add whatever toppings you like, and voila! A meal for many! Serve with fresh fruit salad, warm wheat torillas and spanish rice (still working on a good recipe for this. Have one? Let me know!).

Put 3-4 pork chops or a whole pork roast (serves 4-5 adults) in crockpot about 5 hours on medium and pour Mesquite marinade over top (I have used Lawrys, but am looking for a homemade one so I can get away from the high fructose corn syrup in the store bought ones) and walk away for a few hours! Then when it falls apart, shred it in the crock pot so all of the meat can soak in the marinade and turn on warm until ready to serve.

Serve with wheat tortillas and...
olives
guacamole (onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, seasoning salt, lemon juice mixed in
with 2-3 avocadoes)
lettuce
shredded cheese
black beans
pico de gallo


Pico de Gallo
Mix together in a bowl a few hours before serving to let flavors soak together:

1 large tomato diced small
handful of cilantro cut up small
couple slices of red onion diced
sprinkle garlic salt or about 1/2 tsp minced garlic
dash of salt and pepper

Want it to have a little kick? Add about half of a small diced jalapeno (seeds out)

Heat oven to 375 and grease 6 x9 pan (?? smaller than a cake pan).

Mix:
1 1/2 C flour
3/4 C sugar (can reduce and will still turn out great)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 C shortening (we used real butter this morning and it gave it a rich butter flavor)
3/4 C milk (add a little more if using whole wheat flour)
1 egg

Topping:
1/3 C brown sugar
1/4 C flour
3 Tbs firm butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix together with a fork or pastry cutter to cut up butter into small chunks and make this a crumbly topping. Sprinkle over batter in pan.

Cook about 30-35 min.

I have actually never made homemade bread by hand and this turned out fairly well. I have been lazy and put mine in the breadmaker but decided this week was the week to try it by hand. I was afraid whole wheat would be too dry, but this recipe was pretty easy and was really moist. I used Virgin coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and it gave it a little sweet coconut flavor.

From savory seasonings

Fast and Easy Whole Wheat Bread
Yields 2 (8x4 loaves)
http://savoryseasonings.blogspot.com/

2 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 tsp. dry active yeast

3 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 TBSP salt
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey or 1/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 TBSP lemon juice

2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Mix together yeast and water and allow the yeast to proof for 5 minutes. Add 3 ¾ cup flour to yeast mixture and let rest for 10 minutes. Add salt, oil, honey or sugar, and lemon juice and mix for one minute. Add the remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing between each cup. Knead for about 6-10 minutes until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. This makes very soft dough.

If you are kneading by hand, gradually add last cup of flour to keep dough from sticking to counter. You will add more flour when kneading by hand. With wheat flour always add the least amount of flour possible to keep the bread moist. Knead for 10 minutes before shaping into loaves.

Pre-heat oven for one minute to lukewarm and then turn off. Turn dough onto oiled counter top; divide, shape into loaves and place in oiled bread pans. Let rise in warm oven for about 15-18 minutes or until dough reaches the top of the pan. Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350 and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on racks.

This is a recipe that I got from my Mom, who I think got it from my Aunt?? Anywho... it is really good, but turns out different every time I make it. The only thing different though is how spicy it is. Depending on your brand of rotel tomatoes, it may be really spicy, or hardly at all. But, it is a great crockpot dinner. Put it in and forget about it, or you can cook it on the stove in a big pot.

Before you start cooking everything else, make sure you have cooked and diced chicken (no seasonings necessary; I boil mine to make it quick; I usually only use 1 chicken breast), sausage (Turkey sausage, or regular; I usually use about half of the package), about 1/2 pound cooked shrimp w/tail off.

Add into the pot and stir:
1 can rotel tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 small can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes (I usually omit this)

Add in the meat: sausage, chicken, shrimp.

I don't ever measure the vegetables, but just kind of throw it in and do what looks good to me. Don't like as much onion or green pepper?? Add more red pepper or celery.

Dice and add to tomato and meat mixture:
red pepper
green pepper
yellow or orange pepper (I never have this so I usually omit this one)
white onion
celery

Cook in crock pot for a few hours or until vegetables are soft. Or, cook on stove in a big pot until vegetables are soft. Serve with rice mixed in, or to the side and a green salad. YUM!

I tried a new biscuit recipe, and it is again from BHG.com. It was pretty good and more like KFC biscuits. I don't know if any of you have had those, but the ones in Texas were really good. And actually, the only good thing from KFC were the biscuits! Anyway.... I did my usual and made them mostly with wheat flour and a little white flour, but I didn't add extra liquid, so they did turn out a little dry. But with butter and homemade raspberry jam or honey, they were great! And I heated a couple up the next morning and put some scrambled eggs on them and they were REALLY great! But, I think I will keep searching for that really teriffic biscuit recipe. Anyone have a great one??

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening or butter
• 2/3 cup milk

Directions

1. In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix well to distribute the baking powder and the salt.

2. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut shortening into flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. If you use butter, be sure it is chilled. (Mixing by hand softens the shortening, making the dough sticky and hard to handle.)

3. Gently push the flour-shortening mixture against the sides of the bowl, making a well in the center. Pour the milk into the well all at once. Using a fork, stir just until the mixture follows the fork around the bowl and forms a soft dough.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently 10 to 12 strokes.

5. On the lightly floured surface, pat the dough to 1/2-inch thickness (or roll it out with a lightly floured rolling pin, if desired). Sprinkle a little flour over dough.

6. Cut biscuit dough with a 2-1/2-inch round biscuit cutter, pressing the cutter straight down. Be careful not to twist the cutter or flatten the cut biscuit edges or you won't get straight-sided, evenly shaped biscuits. Dip the cutter into flour between cuts to prevent sticking. If you do not have a biscuit cutter, use a straight-sided glass. Or, pat the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle and cut into squares or triangles using a sharp knife.

7. Using a metal spatula, carefully transfer the cut biscuits to an ungreased baking sheet. For crusty-sided biscuits, place about 1 inch apart. For soft-sided biscuits, place biscuits close together in an ungreased baking pan.

8. Reroll scraps of dough and cut into biscuit shapes. Try to cut out as many biscuits as possible from a single rolling of dough. Too many rerollings of the dough causes biscuits to be tough and dry.

9. Bake biscuits in 450 degree F oven 10 to 12 minutes or until biscuits are golden on the top and the bottom. Serve warm. Makes 10 biscuits.

This was DELICIOUS! I have wanted to try coconut chicken, and I was VERY pleased with this recipe. Of course, there are things I will do differently next time. I tried sprinkling dried coconut onto the chicken while it was on the grill, but this was just a waste of time. After turning the chicken over a couple times, the coconut just fell off. I marinated the chicken for about 3 hours. Next time, I will try about 6 hours to give it more flavor. The "sticky" glaze measurements seemed like a lot to me, so I cut it into thirds since I was only cooking 2 chicken breasts instead of 6-8 thighs. The glaze cooked down quite a bit and I ended up only being able to drizzle this over the chicken instead of covering it. I think I will make the whole amount next time to make sure I have enough. I also cooked up the glaze too far in advance and when I went to put it on the chicken, it was almost a solid so I had to reheat it. I know, I am picky and have too many things to change, but really... this was REALLY GOOD! I only used half a can of coconut milk for my marinade with two chicken breasts, and so did as the recipe suggested and used the other half for some of the liquid for the rice. It was a different, almost sweet flavor, but I added a little salt and it was a great combination of flavors! We had leftover coconut rice and leftover meat from the Hoisin Chicken Rice Bowls, so my husband combined the two for a leftover lunch and he said it was really good.

From mykitchencafe

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 cup canned coconut milk
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Marinade chicken in coconut milk, ginger, pepper and red pepper flakes at least one hour (I let mine marinade four about four to five hours). Grill on barbecue.

Glaze:
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

While the chicken is grilling, bring above ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until mixture is reduced and thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Be patient because it takes a little while. But once it starts getting really thick, immediately take it off the heat! Glaze both sides of chicken the last few minutes of grilling and serve chicken over rice.

Sidenote: I used the extra coconut milk left in the can as part of the liquid in my rice and it was unbelievable! It was very mildly sweet and paired so well with the chicken. Yum!

When I read this recipe, I liked that it was a healthy meal. I had no idea what Hoisin was though. To tell the truth, after I bought it and was making this, when I opened the jar, my first thought was, "This looks like TAR". It looked disgusting! However, it give the chicken kind of a sweet flavor, almost like honey. I didn't think I needed all of the Hoisin it called for, but I wish I had used it. I think it would have given it a little more flavor. These were not my favorite, but my husband liked them, so I may try them again and make a few adjustments. I think I will leave the water chestnuts whole instead of chopping them. I like the crunch of these. The green onions you put on top after it is cooked gave it a great flavor. I think I will add some in while I am cooking next time.

From mykitchencafe

Serves 4

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large red pepper, diced small
1 10-ounce package baby portebello mushrooms, diced small
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 average-sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced small
1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained, diced small
2 teaspoons teriyaki sauce (you can find this by the soy sauce)
4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 cups of hot cooked rice
romaine lettuce leaves
sesame seeds
scallions, thinly sliced

Heat oil over medium high heat in a large saute pan. Add red pepper and mushrooms and saute for 5 - 6 minutes until tender. Add garlic and saute an additional minute. Add chicken to pan and cook for 6 - 8 minutes or until cooked through. Stir chicken and red pepper mixture occasionally while it cooks. Add water chestnuts, teriyaki sauce and hoisin sauce and stir to coat the chicken and vegetables. Continue cooking until heated through.

To serve, line a single serving size bowl with romaine leaves. Top with a large scoop of rice, some of the hoisin chicken, and a sprinkle of the sesame seeds and scallions.

Alternately, you can serve the hoisin chicken mixture wrapped in lettuce leaves or omit the lettuce leaves completely and serve the chicken over rice.

I made these tonight, one with fresh peaches, and the other with apples. They turned out pretty good. However, pie crusts and I do not get along, and so my galettes could have used some more work. I also did not add enough fruit to mine. All in all though, they were a good treat! (Sorry, the picture didn't turn out very well!)

Galette
Recipe By ourbestbites.com

Pastry Crust:
2 C Flour
11 T Butter (real butter, no exceptions) that's just over 2/3 C.
1/4 t Salt

4-5 T ice water

Fruit Filling:
4 C prepared fruit (peeled, pitted, diced, etc)
up to 1/2 C Sugar*
3 T Flour
1 1/2 T Butter
(plus a little extra butter and sugar for the finished crust, as explained in directions.)

* add sugar depending on the sweetness of your fruit. My cherries were so sweet I only added 1/4 C.

Make pie crust first.
I was able to make 2 medium pies, 1 small pie, and some leftover cinnamon and sugar pie crust.

Step 1: Measure flour and salt into a bowl. Cut cold butter (straight from fridge) into small chunks and throw on top of the flour.

Step 2: Cut the butter into the flour (with a pastry cutter, or a fork) until butter is in small crumbly pieces.

Step 3: Add ice water a tablespoon at a time while stirring dough mixture with a fork. *(I ended up using about 9 Tbls. Using 4-5 didn't moisten the dough enough)

Step 4: Bring it all together and pat into a ball. You're done! See? Less than 5 minutes. Wrap in plastic and put it in the fridge.

Now pick a fruit. It should be peeled, pitted, diced, etc. Sprinkle flour over fruit. Add sugar to taste, up to 1/2 cup. At this point you can also add flavored extracts, or other spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. I add 1/2 t almond extract if I'm using cherries.

Stir it all up.

Roll out your pastry dough on a floured surface. You want it to be at least 12" in diameter. Since this dough recipe will yield more than you need, be generous and err on the large side I also like mine on the thick side. Use a paring knife or pizza cutter to trim edges if you need to so you have a circular shape, but don't worry about it being perfect- that's the beauty of a galette- it's supposed to be messy looking!

To transfer the dough to your baking sheet, fold your circle in half and then in half again. Place on baking sheet and unfold.

Dump your fruit mixture right in the middle and dot with 1-2 T butter. You'll want at least 2" of dough surrounding your fruit, but it's fine if you have more.

Now take the edges of the dough and pull them up, pleating as you go.

Dip your fingers in some water and moisten in between the pleats to seal them a little better. When it's all wrapped up, press lightly with your fingers all around it. Brush the top of the dough with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Place in the oven (375) for 50-60 minutes. The fruit should be bubbling and the crust golden brown. When finished remove from oven and place pan a cooling rack. Cool for about 10-15 minutes before serving.

Cut into wedges and definitely serve with a big scoop of ice cream on top!

I found this recipe a while ago and love it. It is relatively easy to put together, but just plan ahead. It takes a little while to cook. I have added mushrooms to this mixture as well and that is good too. I added snow peas tonight to add more vegetables, but they turned out mushy. I think next time I might add them the last 15 minutes of baking. I don't think these would be good as leftovers because the stuffing would be too mushy, but I don't know. There are never leftovers in our house when I make these!

*I try to cut down on the butter so I spread olive oil on the foil instead. I only use 2 chicken breasts, and I still prepare the same amounts for the stuffing and seasonings. It still seems like I don't have enough stuffing, so you might want to add more. Sorry no picture. I didn't plan ahead and ended up being starving and late by the time these were done!

Found on about.com

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless chicken breast halves
• lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons melted butter
• 3 cups bread crumbs, toasted
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 2 teaspoons parsley flakes
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
• seasoned salt and pepper

Preparation:

Mix together bread crumbs, half of the melted butter, onion, celery, parsley, walnuts, 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt, and enough water to moisten. Lay out 4 squares of aluminum foil, double thickness, and butter generously. Make a mound of stuffing on each buttered square of foil then place on baking sheet.

Brush both sides of the chicken with lemon juice then with the remaining butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold foil up over the chicken to make individual package. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes. Open packages to expose chicken and bake 15 minutes longer.

Love homemade waffles? Here is a great recipe. As always, make them whole wheat, white, or a mix of both. Try whipping up some whipping cream, with some sugar and a dash of vanilla to put on top with fresh peaches, or homemade raspberry jam! Or, be traditional and eat them with maple syrup. You can never go wrong with that.

Mix together: 1 3/4 C. flour

1 3/4 C. milk

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/2 C. oil

Drop of vanilla

Separate two eggs and put the yolks in with the above mixture and mix together. Beat egg whites until fluffy. Fold in egg whites to above mixture.

Homemade Maple syrup:

In a saucepan add and boil:

2 C. sugar

1 C. water

When sugar is dissolved and water is boiling, take off heat and add about one cap full (depends on how strong of maple syrup you like) of imitation maple flavor.

*We try to cut down on sugar so we only use 1 C. sugar to 1 C. water. I can't go back to store bought syrup now that we have been doing this. In my opinion now, store bought is way too rich and sweet.

I am not a big fan of Teriyaki anything usually, but with this homemade Teriyaki sauce, these meatballs are delicious. They seem to turn out better when Ryan makes them, than when I make them, so this is kind of his thing if I can get him to do it! We have made them with ground turkey (they seem to be a little more mushy with this than beef) and our regular is with ground beef. We have substituted the bread crumbs with ground oatmeal or ground cashews (the cashews were good because it gave it a crunch instead of making them kind of mushy with bread crumbs). Note: do not use Progresso Panko Bread Crumbs. I had these on hand last week when I made them and they turned out really mushy. It is best to use fresh made bread crumbs from fresh toast. We usually 1 1/2 the Teriyaki sauce to make them a little more moist and it calls for 6 green onions, but I only do maybe 4 and cut them up really small. I don't have crushed red pepper, so I have used seasoned pepper, or just omitted this ingredient all together. It is great with rice (we use brown rice) and a side of fresh steamed broccoli or peas! Enjoy!

Found on Comeandgetem.blogspot.com

• 1 pound ground turkey (or ground beef)
• 6 scallions, thinly sliced (optional, but tastier with)
  
• 1 large carrot, shredded
• prepared teriyaki sauce (see recipe below)
  
• 1 cup bread crumbs, fresh (or I use nuts ground up in the blender or food processor, flax seed flour, or ground up oats)
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• dash garlic
• dash salt
• dash pepper
• dash crushed red peppers
• Cooked rice
  

Make teriyaki sauce (recipe below). Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, combine the turkey, scallions, carrot, 1/3 of prepared teriyaki sauce, bread crumbs, and spices. Blend well. Using a 2-ounce scoop (or large spoon), form meatballs and place in a shallow glass baking dish (or on a baking pan lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil). Sprinkle meatballs with sesame seeds. Pour remaining teriyaki sauce over meatballs. Roast in a oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown on the outside, cooked through, and sauce has thickened. Serve over rice.

Teriyaki sauce:

• 6 T brown or white sugar (you can use less if desired)
  
• 4 T organic catsup (no high fructose corn syrup)
  
• 6 T soy sauce
• dash garlic (or 1 tsp minced garlic)
  

Combine until mixed thoroughly.

I found this recipe a year or so ago and have not wanted to try any other blueberry muffin recipe. I have now gotten my sisters hooked on them. Boxed muffins have no comparison to these. They go so quick in my house, it is hard to keep them around. We decided to have these the other morning and treat ourselves with some scrambled eggs and sausage. YUM! I have made the batter and added in raspberries, and those are delicious too! Use either fresh or frozen berries, they are good either way. The recipe is from All Recipes, but I have tweaked it a little, as I always do. We try to cut down on our sugar, so I usually do about 1/2 cup sugar instead of 3/4 cup, and when I half the topping ingredients (it makes WAY too much if you do the whole amount called for), I do a little less than 1/4 cup sugar. I usually make these with 1 cup whole wheat, 1/2 cup white flour and then I add a little bit more milk so that the wheat flour doesn't dry them out too much. I have been tempted to try apple pieces in them, but just haven't gotten to that yet. Let me know what you try!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• _____________________
• Topping
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 
  
• 
  

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done. This makes about 10 muffins.