Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese

serves 10

1lb elbow pasta
4 tbsp butter
1 sm red onion chopped
1/4 c. all purpose flour ( spooned and leveled)
4c. milk
2 1/2 c. colby jack shredded cheese
8 ounces diced ham
2 slices of white or wheat bread toasted.
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook the pasta according to directions; drain and set aside. Meanwhile, in a five quart heavy pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Whisk in the flour to coat the onion. In a slow, steady stream, whisk in the milk until there are no lumps. Cook, whisking often, until the mixture is thick and bubbly and coats the back of a wooden spoon, this will take about 6-8 minutes, have patience. Season with salt and pepper,add colby jack and whisk til melted. Toss the pasta with the cheese mixture; fold in ham. Transfer to a greased 9 x 13in baking dish. In a food processor or a magic bullet pulse til large crumbs form. Toss together with the remaining 1/2 c. of colby jack cheese. Top the pasta with the breadcrumb mixture. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Chicken Carbonara

Chicken Carbonara

3 skinless chicken breasts
10 slices of bacon
1 lb of spaghetti
3 large eggs
3/4 c. grated parmesan cheese plus more for serving
1/2 c. half and half

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large stock pot get water boiling, put spaghetti in and cook according to directions. Do not drain spaghetti this all must be timed to be done togther with chicken and bacon. Place bacon on aluminum foil on a cookie sheet. Bake until crisp, remove from foil and put on paper towel, when cool, crumble it. While that is cooking, season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook in a large skillet with olive oil til cooked thru. Color=flavor. In a large mixing bowl, beat three eggs with half and half and grated parmesan set aside. When spaghetti is al dente, drain the spaghetti but leave some water behind. Add the spaghetti to the egg mixture along with the cooked chicken and crumbled bacon. The hot pasta will cook the egg mixture, make sure to stir the pasta. Serve immediately.

Beef and Broccoli bowl

Beef and Broccoli Bowl

1 (3 1/2 ounce ) bag boil-in-bag long grain rice
1/4 c. low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 (12 oz ) boneless sirloin steak, cut into thin strips.

2 tsp canola oil

2 c. broccoli florets

1 c. slice red onion

1 c. chopped carrot- optional

1/2 c. water

2 tsp dark sesame oil

1/3 c. slice green onion

Cook rice according to directions.

Combine soy sauce, corn starch and hoisin sauce, a whisk is helpful. Add beef; toss to coat. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat pan. Remove beef from marinade and add to hot skillet, cook 2 minutes until browned, flipping or stirring occasionally so all sides are browned, do not over cook otherwise the meat will be tough. Remove beef from pan. Add broccoli and the 4 ingredients to pan; cook 4 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Add reserved marinade to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute. Add beef back to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with green onions and serve over rice.

Crustless Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

 10oz pkg of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
4 slices of bacon
1tbsp olive oil
2 c. coarsely chopped button mushrooms
1/2 c. chopped red sweet pepper
1 1/2c. shredded swiss
8 eggs
2 c. half and half
2 tbsp snipped fresh chives
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 c. of packaged biscuit mix such as jiffy buttermilk biscuit mix

Line a 3 1/2 - 4 qt slow cooker with a liner or generously spray it with non stick spray. Using clean paper towels press spinach to remove as much liquid as possible, set aside.

In a medium skillet cook bacon until crispy ( or put in oven at 350 until crispy) drain, crumble and set aside. Discard drippings from pan. In same skillet heat oil over medium heat and add mushrooms and sweet pepper. Cook and stir until tender. Stir in spinach and cheese.

In a medium bowl combine eggs, half and half, chives, salt and pepper. Stir egg mixture into spinach mixture in skillet. Gently fold in biscuit mix. Pour egg mixture into prepared slow cooker. Sprinkle with bacon or you can mix the bacon in with the egg mixture which I have done.

Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or on high 2-2 1/2 hours or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15-30 min before serving. 

Cashew Chicken

Cashew Chicken

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless, chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tbsp cornstarch
coarse salt and pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 garlic cloves, minced ( or 1tbsp jarred minced garlic is what I used)
8 scallions, white and green parts separated, each cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp Hoisin sauce
1/4 c. raw cashews, toasted ( spread the cashews on a baking sheet, and toast in a 350 degree oven until golden and fragrant, about ten minutes, do this before cooking the chicken, or you can forget to do this like i did and just toss them in at the end of cooking)

In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with the cornstarch until the chicken is coated; season with 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. In a large non stick skillet, heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Cook half the chicken, tossing often until browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to plate.
Add the remaining oil and chicken to the skillet along with the garlic and the white parts of the scallions. Cook, tossing often, until the chicken is browned, about 3 minutes. Return the first batch of chicken to the pan. Add the vinegar, cook until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Add the hoisin sauce and 1/4 c. water, cook, tossing, until the chicken is cooked through, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Stir in the green parts of the scallions and the cashews. Serve immediately over white rice. Recipe from Everyday Food Fast.

Pork Quesadilla's

Pork Quesadilla's

1 large garlic clove, unpeeled
1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus more for grates
1 pork tenderloin (3/4 to 1lb)
1 large red onion, cut into 1/2 inch-thick slices
4 tbsp spicy brown mustard, plus more for serving
4 flour tortilla's ( I used low carb)
6 oz thinly slice deli ham
3-4 dill pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise or use the sandwich stacker pickles
8 oz provolone or swiss, coarsely shredded ( I used a mozzarella provolone shredded cheese)

Place the unpeeled garlic clove on a cutting board and smash with the flat side of a knife blade. Peel off the papery skin and discard, trim away the root end. Holding the tip of the blade steady on the cutting board with your free hand and rocking the base of the blade back and forth, chop the garlic into coarse even pieces. Gather the chopped garlic in a pile, sprinkle generously with coarse salt. Place the flat side of the knife blade on top; press firmly, pulling the knife toward you. Repeat until a paste forms. In a small bowl, combine with a 1/4 tsp pepper and the oil. Rub all over pork. ( if you do not want to use fresh garlic, you can substitute 1/8 tsp of garlic powder) The originial recipe has this done on a grill, well i don't have a grill, so I improvised. Heat a large pan, add 1-2 tbsp of vegetable oil or olive oil. Make sure not to burn the oil. Brown both sides of the pork, transfer to a cookie sheet and put in the oven at 350 degrees until a thermometer reads a 160 degrees when inserted in the center. Meanwhile cook the onions until soft and caramelized, set aside. When the pork is done, cut the pork along the grain into thin slices. Take each tortilla and spread 1 tbsp of the Spicy Brown Mustard, layer the ingredients on one side of the tortilla, pork, ham, pickle, onion, and cheese. Fold the tortilla over and press firmly and place into a heated non stick skillet, on med-low heat, if not a non stick make sure to spray the pan with pam and then the top of the tortilla so when you flip it its already greased.

Beef and Orange Stir-Fry

Beef and Orange Stir-Fry

3 oranges
2 garlic cloves,minced.
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 lbs trimmed boneless sirloin or rib-eye steak, cut into 1/2 in thick strips
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 to 2 tbsp canola oil
6 scallions, green parts only, cut into 1 inch lengths
white rice for serving

Into a small bowl, finely grate some of the orange into zest making sure not to get any of the white part, you should have a 1 tbsp and squeeze the juice from 1 orange. Add the garlic and soy sauce.
With a sharp paring knife, peel the remaining 2 oranges. Slice the oranges crosswise 1/2 inch thick, then halve the slices; push out and discard any seeds. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, toss meat with the cornstarch until coated. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Working in batches (adding more oil if needed) brown the beef on all sides, 3-5 minutes; transfer to plate.
Pour the juice mixture into the skillet and boil until syrupy, about 1 minute. Return the beef to the skillet; add the orange slices and scallions. Toss until coated and heated through. Serve ho, with white rice ( or brown if you prefer)

Chicken Parmigiana

Chicken Parmigiana

3/4 c. plain bread crumbs
3/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
8 chicken cutlets or 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts halves, halved horizontally
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 c. jarred tomato sauce
1/4 c. olive oil
6 oz fresh mozzerella cheese cut into 1/4 inch pieces

Heat the broiler. Combine the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl. Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Dip the chicken in the beaten egg then dredge in the bread crumb mixture, turning to coat both sides. Spread the tomato sauce onto the bottom of a 10x15 inch baking dish. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place 4 chicken cutlets in the skillet; cook until golden, 1-3 min ea side. Using a spatula, transfer the browned chicken cutlets to the baking dish, placing them on top of the sauce. Repeat with the remaining oil and chicken cutlets. Top each cutlet with a slice of mozzarella. Broil about 4 inches from the heat source until the sauce is hot and the cheese is melted and lightly browned in spots, 5-8 minutes. Serve immediately.

The other way is to heat the oven to 350 and bake until temp reads 160 then put it under the broiler to brown up the cheese.

Note- you can thin the boneless skinless chicken breast halves out between two pieces of plastic wrap using a mallet.

Braised Chicken with Mushrooms and Oven Baked Polenta

Braised Chicken w/mushrooms and oven baked polenta

4 boneless, skinless chicken brreast halves about 6 oz ea
coarse salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 pound white mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced 1/2 inch thick
4 garlic cloves, halved
1/2 dry white cooking wine
1 3/4 c. chicken broth
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish

Sprinkle the chicken breasts with 1/4 tsp salt each side and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil ( don't be afraid to add more if needed) in a large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken; cook until lightly browned, 2-3 min per side. Transfer to a plate. Add the remaining olive oil to the hot skillet. Add the mushrooms, garlic and 1/4 tsp salt. Cover; cook over medium heat until the mushrooms release their juices, 2-3 minutes. Remove lid. Cook over high heat, tossing occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender and the liquid has reduced, 8-10 minutes. Return the chicken to the skillet. Cover; simmer over low heat until the chicken is cooked through, 10-12 minutes. Serve the cutlets and polenta topped with mushrooms and a drizzle of the cooking liquid. Garnish with additional parsley.

Oven Baked Polenta

3/4 c. yellow cornmeal
coarse salt and pepper.
1/4 c. milk
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp ground marjoram

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a lidded baking dish or dutch oven, whisk together 3 c. water, the cornmeal, 1 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, stirring half way through. Remove from the oven and add the milk, butter, and marjoram, and whisk briskly until smooth. Serve immediately. Serves 4. recipe is from Everyday food fast.

Holly's Beef Roast

Beef Roast

4-5lbs beef chuck roast
2 tbsp + 2 tsp Red Cooking Wine
1 pkg dry onion soup mix
2 cans cream of mushroom soup

Mix the Red wine, onion soup mix and cream of mushroom soup mix in crock pot. Season the roast with salt and pepper. In a medium pan sear both sides of the roast. Place in crock pot on low for 8-10 hours. Best served with mashed potato's or brown rice. This is super Yummy!! 

Black-eyed Pea Salad

Black- Eyed Pea Salad

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

2tbsp Cider Vinegar

2tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 can (15oz) Black-Eyed Peas, rinsed and drained.

1 pkg Frozen Corn Kernels, thawed

1 Red Bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, finely diced

2 scallions, thinly sliced

In a medium container whisk the first 3 ingredients together. Add vegetables,

season with salt and pepper, toss to combine.

This can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

Radish Slaw

Radish Slaw
2 Cucumbers
4-6 Radish's
2 tbsp minced red onion
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp apple Cider Vinegar
1 tbsp Sugar

Peel the cucumbers. Halve length wise; scrape out any seeds with a teaspoon. Slice the cucumbers very thin on a diagonal. * I used a mandolin and sliced length wise.

Thinly slice enough radishes to equal 1 c. In a large colander, toss the vegetables w/ 1/2 tsp of salt. Top the mixture with a plate that fits inside the colander. Weight with a heavy object. Drain in the sink for 20 min, squeeze the vegetables in paper towels to dry.

Transfer to a bowl, toss with minced onion, vinegar, olive oil, and sugar, season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Impossibly Easy Banana Custard Pie

Impossibly Easy Banana Custard Pie

1 c. mashed ripe bananas- about 2 med
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 c. orginial Bisquick mix
1/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp butter or margarine, softenend
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
3/4 c. frozen (thawed) whipped topping
1/4 c. coarsely chopped walnuts-optional
caramel topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch glass pie plate with shortening or cooking spray. In a small, mix bananas and lemon juice, set aside. In another medium bowl, stir the next 6 ingredients, until blended. Add banana mixture; stir until blended. Pour into pie plate.

Bake 40-50 minutes or until golden brown and knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool completely, about one hour. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hrs or until chilled.

Spread Whipped topping on top, and sprinkle chopped walnuts and drizzle caramel topping on top. Or you can just slice the pie and top with topping, instead of spreading the topping on the whole pie.

Mexican Layer Bean Dip

Mexican Bean Dip

2 cans of Refried Beans
1 large container of sour cream
2 avocadoes
1 pkg of McCormiks Guacamole mix
by produce partners located in the fresh produce area in the grocery store of Meijers
Salsa of your choice, I use Chi’s Chi’s
Shredded cheddar cheese ~ ½ cup
Chopped green onion (optional)

Spread refried beans in a 13x9 rectangle pan. Take the large container of sour cream and dump it in the center of the beans and spread out until you only see a 1 inch area of the beans around the beans. Take the 2 avocadoes in a separate bowl, peel, pit and mash them and add the McCormick’s mix to it. Now spread that on top of the sour cream leaving again an area around to see the sour cream. If this is for a party and you think there might be people there that don’t like guacamole then only do half of the sour cream and put salsa on the other half. To finish the bean dip sprinkle shredded cheese around, but not too much because you want to see the layers of the bean dip. Then sprinkle chopped green onion on top of that.

Enchilada's

Enchilada's

1lb ground beef browned
1 cup cooked minute rice
2 pkgs of mccormick enchilada mix
1 can of tomato sauce, 15 oz
3 cups water
2c. colby shredded cheese
tortilla's

Preheat oven to 350
In a sauce pan mix water, tomato sauce and two pkgs of mccormick enchilada mix. Bring to a boil, then shut it off. In another pan mix the cooked beef and rice. Add enchilada sauce but not too much, cause you don't want it soupy. Add 1 cup colby shredded cheese. Now spoon a couple spoon fulls on the edge of a tortilla and roll the tortilla and put it seam down in a baking dish. Continue to do this to each tortilla until the beef mix is gone. Take the remaining sauce and pour over the tortilla's. Take 1 c. of colby shredded cheese and sprinkle it over the top. Bake long to melt cheese. As a side dish I would recommend my bean dip recipe.

Herb Roasted Chicken

Herb Roasted Chicken

1 tbsp Dried Rosemary
1 tbsp Dried Thyme
1 tbsp Minced Garlic
1/2 c. butter or margarine softened
1 roaster chicken
olive oil
lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix the herbs and garlic into the butter. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Now here is the tricky part and messy. On the end of the chicken by the cavity, pull up the skin from the meat, you will want to make a pocket because you will want to put the herb butter mixture under the chicken. Use your fingers to do this, for the legs just keep working towards the legs under the skin and continue to separate the skin from the meat, make sure not to poke any holes. Once you get butter mixture under all the skin you can work from the top and massage the butter mixture to where you want it to go. After that is done, here comes another fun part if you want to. By the legs on each side of the cavity the extra tough skin, cut one small hole on each side. Take the leg and stick it through the hole do that with both sides. This will act like a tie. Drizzle some olive oil on the skin of the chicken and rub it down. Then sprinkle some extra thyme and rosemary. Sprinkle some lemon juice on the chicken and squirt some into the cavity. Now if you have a fresh lemon on hand cut half of it and stuff it into the cavity. Bake for one hour or temp reads 160 degrees by the thigh. If the chicken is browning to fast cover it with foil.

Optional: you can put chopped carrots, celery and onions under the chicken for more flavor.

this is my own recipe :)

Oven Chicken Risotto

Oven Chicken Risotto

2 tbsp butter

2 2/3 c. chicken broth

1 c. uncooked arborio rice (short grained)

1/2 small onion, diced

1/2 tsp salt

2 c. chopped deli roasted-rotissere chicken

1 ( 8oz) pkg, fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2- inch cubes or 6 oz shredded mozzarella

1 c. cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 c. shredded fresh basil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place butter in a 13x9 inch baking dish; bake 5 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir in broth and next 3 ingredients. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Fluff rice with fork. Stir in chicken, mozzarella, and tomatoes; sprinkle with shredded basil. Serve immediately. This recipe is from southern living cookbook, the thing I added was the shredded mozzarella since I forgot to get the fresh kind. Worked out just fine. This is a great recipe if you have a left over rotissere chicken. You can also add chopped sweet red pepper and mushrooms.

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken for the Slow Cooker

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken 

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons butter

1 package dry Italian salad dressing mix

1 can cream of chicken soup

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 a sweet red pepper diced

4 oz fresh slice mushrooms 

1/2 c. sweet vidalia onion diced

your choice of vegetable mix in:

a head of cooked broccoli

peas

zucchini

Directions:

Melt butter in microwave.

Add water and packet of Italian dressing to butter and mix well.

Place chicken in slow cooker.

Pour butter mixture over chicken.

Turn pieces over to coat both sides well.

Cook on High for 3 hours.

In separate bowl, mix cream of chicken soup and cream cheese together.

Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and cut into bite size pieces.

Return chicken to slow cooker and add the cream cheese mixture.

Whisk together to blend well.

Cover and cook an additional 1/2 hour while that is cooking in a medium pan cook onion, red pepper and mushrooms, season with salt, pepper and a pinch of garlic powder. Cook your vegetables during this time too. When the onion, pepper and mushrooms are cooked mix them into the chicken mixture and your vegetable.

I didn't give an amount on the the other choices being I haven't tried peas or zucchini I used broccoli. This recipe was from Crockin Girls but I added the mushrooms, onions, sweet pepper and vegetables, cause it really needed something else. 

Serve over pasta or rice

Parmesan Rice

Parmesan Rice

2 c. Minute rice

4 tbsp. Butter

1/3 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

¼ c. fresh parsley chopped (optional, because if you add to much it can taste like hay)

Cook rice according to directions. Then add butter and parmesan cheese and fluff with a plastic utensil until all ingredients are combined. I do not use a fork to fluff due to the cheese sticking really badly and it makes it hard to clean the fork.

Grown Up Chicken Nuggets

Grown Up Chicken Nuggets



3 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts, cut up into nugget sized pieces

1c. panko bread crumbs

1/2 c. parmesan grated cheese

2tbsp seasme seeds

2tbsp oil



Mix in a bowl the panko, parmesan and seasme seeds. Take the chicken pieces and press into the panko mixture til well coated. Heat the 2tbsp oil in a large skillet. Brown chicken on both sides. Thats it. Serve with bbq sauce or cut them up for a salad.

Smothered Pork Chops

Smothered Pork Chops

Recipe from Tyler Florence on the food network

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 pork chops, 3/4-inch thick, bone-in
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Directions

Put the flour in a shallow platter and add the onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels to remove any moisture and then dredge them in the seasoned flour; shaking off the excess.

Heat a large saute pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat and coat with the oil. When the oil is nice and hot, lay the pork chops in the pan in a single layer and fry for 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove the pork chops from the pan and add a little sprinkle of seasoned flour to the pandrippings. Mix the flour into the fat to dissolve and then pour in the chicken broth in. Let the liquid cook down for 5 minutes to reduce and thicken slightly. Stir in the buttermilk to make a creamy gravy and return the pork chops to the pan, covering them with the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes until the pork is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

Note: you can make this gluten free by using gf all purpose flour and make your own gf chicken broth by using herbox bouillon. Also if you don't have buttermilk, take one cup regular milk and add 1tbsp lemon juice and let it sit for a few minutes.

Grown up Meatloaf

Grown Up Meatloaf

2 tbsp butter

1- 8oz pkg sliced fresh mushrooms

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 1/2 lb ground round

1/2 c. italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

1/4 c. milk

1 large egg beaten

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Wax Paper

1 1/2 c. (6 oz) shredded italian cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat; add mushrooms, shallot, and garlic, and saute for 5 minutes or until tender.Gently stir together ground round and the next 6 ingredients in a large bowl just until combined. Shape mixture into a 14x 10 inch rectangle on a sheet of wax paper. Top with mushroom mixture, and cheese, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border on all sides. Roll up, jelly roll fashion, starting at 1 long side and using wax paper as a guide, it will be a pain but in the end its worth it. Place meatloaf roll seam side down carefully, in a lightly greased 15x 10 inch jelly roll pan. Bake for 1 hour or until temp reads 160 degrees. Note* I tried this with topping it with spaghetti sauce when done, another option is to serve with spaghetti or a plain cooked noodle.

Sage Chicken

Sage Chicken

1 pkg of skinless boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 medium shallot minced, if you don’t have a mincer then chop the shallot fine.
1 tsp chopped fresh sage or ¼ tsp dried sage
¼ tsp dried thyme leaves
½ c. white cooking wine (usually it’s located in the vinegar aisle of a store, near fancy vinegar’s)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet heat the oil and butter. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken breasts then place in the large skillet and sear both sides. Place the chicken in a greased baking dish then put in the oven for 1 hour or until meat thermometer reads 160 degrees. Meanwhile during this time you can make a side dish, this goes good with a Parmesan rice dish. During the last 10 minutes of the chicken baking, reheat the left over oil in the pan then add the shallots, cook until browned. Add the cooking wine, sage and thyme. Reduce the heat to medium, stirring frequently, until sauce has been reduced a little. Pull out the chicken and either serve them whole breast on the plate with sauce on the side or chop up the chicken and serve with the sauce on it. Tip: this recipe goes well with pork chops.

Holly's Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies

Holly's famous Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 C. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp salt ( optional because I do not put salt in any of my cookies)

1 C. packed light brown sugar

1/2 C. granulated sugar

2 sticks ( 1 cup ) butter or margarine

(I use I can't believe it's not butter)

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

12 oz hershey's semi sweet chocolate chips (about 2 cups)

Yield: about 3 1/2 dozen

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine flour,soda,and salt. Mix well with wire whisk. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, blend sugars at medium speed. Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla and mix at medium speed until just blended. DO NOT OVERMIX. Add the flour mixture and blend at low speed until just mixed. Do not over mix. Add chocolate chips and mix by hand until chips are evenly distributed throughout. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 18-22 min or until golden brown. Transfer cookies to a cool surface or rack immediately with a spatula.

*sorry i do not have a picture of these, but wanted to post

it to go with the chocolate chip cheesecake bars.

Chocolate Chip Cheescake Bars

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars



1 Recipe of Holly’s Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies or a tub of Nestle toll house cookie dough
2 pkg’s 8oz each of cream cheese or a tub of pre-made cheesecake batter located by the cream cheese if you use this skip the last two ingredients.
2 eggs
1c. sugar

Grease a 13x9 pan or 2 -8in pans. Press cookie dough into the bottom of the pans (reserve some for topping). Thickness should be around an inch. Beat cream cheese, eggs, and sugar until smooth. Pour batter into pans. Crumble cookie dough on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in center comes clean.

S'mores cupcakes

S'mores Cupcakes

1 box betty crocker super moist yellow cake mix
water,eggs, vegetable oil that the cake mix calls for
1c.crushed graham crackers
4 bars (1.55 oz ea) milk chocolate candy, finely chopped

Frosting:
1 jar (7oz) marshmellow creme ( family fare keeps this by the sundae toppings, meijers keeps it by the marshmellows, thank you Jennifer DeRuiter Cisler for helping me find it)
1/2 c. butter or margarine softened
2c. powdered sugar
1 to 2 tsp milk ( make frosting first, if its not spreadable, then add 1/2 tsp at a time to make it spreadable)
1 bar (1.55oz) milk chocolate
26 teddy grahams

Heat oven to 350 degrees or 325 for dark or nonstick pans. Place paper baking cups in each of the 26 regular size muffin cups. Make cake mix as directed on the box. Fold in graham cracker crumbs and chopped chocolate bars. Divide batter among the 26 muffin cups.
Bake at 18-24 minutes or until toothpick comes clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes, remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely.
In a large bowl, beat marshmellow creme, butter, and powdered sugar on low speed until blended. If it does not look like its spreadable add 1/2 tsp a milk, mix it in, keep doing it until its spreadable, If it runs off a spoon, it is too thin, it should be some what stiff but spreadable. Spread over tops of cupcakes. Divide chocolate bars into rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally in half and place on top of each cupcake, ( i just stuck each cup cake with a rectangle and pushed it into the cupcake.) Top each cupcake with a teddy graham. Store loosely covered after the frosting has set.

Lemon Raspberry Tart

Lemon Raspberry Tart

1 refrigerated 16 oz tube of sugar cookie dough
3tsp grated lemon zest
1 box of Lemon Pudding, prepared.
2 c. raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine sugar cookie dough with the grated lemon zest, blend well. In a 9 inch lightly greased springform pan press the cookie dough evenly across the bottom and 1/2 way up the sides. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Using a knife carefully go around the sides to release from the sides of the pan. Remove the springform part leaving the bottom. Cool on a rack completely. Using a thin metal spatula, separate the bottom pan from the crust. Kinda have to spin the bottom around and work your way around. Place the crust on a round plate or platter. Pour the lemon pudding on top and spread it carefully to the edges. Place the 2c. raspberries on top. Garnish with mint leaves. I would keep this refrigerated if you are not going to serve it right away.


this is a really easy fresh recipe. You can also try different fruit and different pudding and yes, even a different cookie crust for something different. This is an easy recipe to experiment with. This recipe

also is inexpensive.

This original recipe came from Southern Living, but I revamped it

to make it easier.

Chocolate Banana Toffee Cupcakes

Chocolate Banana Toffee Cupcakes

1 box of Betty Crocker Devil's food Cake mix
1 C. Mashed very ripe banana's
1/3 c. water
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp almond extract
3 eggs
1/2 c. toffee bits or more if you would like

Preheat oven to 350

Mix all ingredients, do not over mix. Fill paper lined muffin tins to 2/3rd full. Bake 18-25 minutes or until inserted tooth pick comes clean. 

Add ins- chocolate chips
Subsitiutions-Yellow cake mix

Cookie Dough Dip

Cookie Dough Dip

Ingredients



• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup toffee bits

Instructions

1. Cream together cream cheese and butter.
2. Add all remaining ingredients and mix until well-combined.

Serve with graham crackers or apple wedges.

Cheddar-Crusted Apple Pie

Cheddar-crusted apple pie
From everyday food



2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
4 lbs granny smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
¾ c. sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt (optional)
1 recipe of cheddar double pie crust

Cheddar-crust pie crust:

2 ½ c. all purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
¾ c. butter
1 ½ c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
½ c. ice water

In a large bowl sift flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter, with a fork or a pastry knife cut butter into flour until flour and butter are crumbly. Add cheese and mix. Add ice water to form a sticky dough. Don’t overmix. Place dough onto a floured surface and form 2 disks inch thick each. Refrigerate until firm at least 1 hour or upto 3 days.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Grease a 9 inch pie plate. In a large bowl combine apples, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. On a floured surface roll each disk into a 14 inch round with a floured rolling pin. Wrap one round around the rolling pin, unroll over a 9 inch pie plate. Gently fit into bottom and up sides of plate. Pour apple mixture into pie plate.  Wrap the other round the rolling pin and unroll over the top of the apples. Brush sides of dough with water and pinch the top and bottom dough together. Cut 5 slits into the top of the pie. Place pie in the lowest position in the oven on a cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees then turn down the oven to 375 degrees and bake for another 35-40 minutes. Or until the crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling. Let cool completely on a wire rack.



This recipe is from everyday food and i tried and loved it. I know you are probably thinking eewww....cheddar crust right? I thought the same thing but you know what, it works for this pie, it is very good, tastes like a cheesy ritz cracker.