Chicken and Broccoli Bake

This is my children's favorite dinner!  I got the recipe from an old Lion House cook book.  Where it calls for cooked chicken, I sometimes substitute (cover your ears, Amanda) canned chicken from Costco.   It still tastes really yummy.  I also sprinkle fried onions on top before baking to give it some extra pizazz.  The recipe doesn't call for this, but we like to serve it over rice.

Ingredients

2-4 chicken breast halves, cooked and diced

2-3 10-oz. packages frozen broccoli, cooked or 2 lbs. fresh broccoli trimmed and cooked

1 can (10 1/2 oz.) cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon lemon juice

fried onions (opt. but we love it)

cooked rice (you don't need this, but we like it)

In a 9x9x2-inch dish, arrange broccoli with flowerettes pointed out toward edge of dish.  Lay chicken meat over broccoli.  Make a sauce by combining soup, milk, and mayonnaise and stir until smooth.  Add cheese and lemon juice.  Pour sauce over chicken and broccoli to cover chicken pieces completely.   Sprinkle with fried onions, if desired.  Cover pan with aluminun foil and bake at 350 degrees F. for about 30 minutes.  Serve over rice, if desired.  Makes 6 adult servings.

Garlic Cheese Bread

This Garlic Cheese Bread is so good!!! This picture really doesn't do it justice. It tastes really similar to the garlic bread served at a restaurant called The Smoke House. The Kraft cheese powder it calls for is a little hard to find (I found it on Amazon). If you can't find it, just use the cheese packet that comes in the Kraft Mac n Cheese box...it works just as well. Sorry, I don't have any measurements or exact cooking times because I just estimate each time I make it.

Ingredients
1 loaf of french bread (or any kind you like, also works well with baguettes)
butter, softened
garlic powder
Kraft Mac n Cheese Cheese Topping
grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil. Slice the bread and spread a generous amount of butter. First sprinkle the garlic powder, then the cheese topping (generously), and top with some parmesan. Bake in the oven 5-10 min. til crusts are as crispy or soft as you like. Then turn the broiler on high and cook til somewhat melted and browned (if you like). Serve immediately.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

(adapted from Melanie at http://www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/)

After spicing up jarred sauce for years, I figured it was time to see if homemade sauce was really worth the time. After making this, my family and I all decided that yes, homemade sauce is definitely worth the time.















Ingredients
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 c. onion, chopped
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I use 2 lbs)
4 tsp. chopped garlic
1 6oz. can tomato paste
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes (I use Italian style)
1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 carton fresh mushrooms (optional)
1 1/2 c. water
1 tsp. chicken base, granules, or 1 bouillon cube
1 tsp. beef base, granules, or 1 bouillon cube
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 c. cooking red wine (I use a little more than 1/4 c.)
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter (optional)

Heat Olive Oil over med/hi heat. Saute onion until translucent and slightly browned. Add garlic and stir constantly for 1 min. Add beef and cook; drain. Add tomato paste and spices and cook for 1 min. stirring until combined. Add diced and crushed tomatoes, water, chicken & beef base, sugar, and wine. Stir until combined then add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil then reduce to low and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. After simmering for an hour, add the butter, stirring until melted and combined.

Martha's One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

So the newest Martha Stewart Living came today and it had cupcakes on the cover - so I was sooooo excited! I read through all 15 cupcake recipes and decided to make this one. I love it and and will make it again and again. Not only is it super quick, it has hardly any fat in the recipe AND the cupcakes are super moist and taste nothing like a box mix. I am not going to tell how many I ate! I added the cream filling and now they are exactly like a hostess cupcake - only better!

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup warm water

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 TB oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tins with 18 paper liners. Sift cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, water, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. (Batter is very runny) Pour batter into prepared muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes.

Cream Filling
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup Marshmallow Fluff
1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
Beat filling ingredients until fluffy. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a "filling" tip. Insert the tip of the pastry bag about 1/2 inch deep into each cupcake; squeeze lightly to fill with cream. Top with chocolate glaze

Chocolate Glaze

2/3 cup heavy cream

4 ounces bittersweet (or dark ) chocolate chips

1 TB corn syrup

Heat cream in small saucepan over med. heat. Place chocolate and corn syrup in a small bowl. Pour hot cream over chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Let cool then dip the top of each cupcake into the glaze.

NYC Black and White Cookies

As I sit typing this recipe, I am licking the yummy chocolate off my hands and trying not to get crumbs in the keyboard - these sure are yummy - taste EXACTLY like the ones from NYC!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 cup butter, softened

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. lemon extract

2 1/2 cups cake flour

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 375.  Butter baking sheets.  In a mixer combine the sugar and butter until fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time.  Then add the milk and extracts and mix until smooth.  In another bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and salt.  Add the dry to the wet in batches stirring well.  Using a soup spoon, drop spoonfuls of the dough on the prepared baking sheets. (The dough will seem similar to a thick cake of muffin batter.)  Bake for 20 minutes.

To make the frosting.....

Place 4 cups powdered sugar in a bowl.  Gradually add 1/3 to 1/2 cup boiling water until the icing is thick but spreadable.  Remove half of the frosting to the top half of a double boiler set over simmering water and add 1 ounce of bittersweet or dark chocolate.  Stir until melted. Frost half the cookie white and half the cookie chocolate.

won ton chicken salad

(not my picture- but it looks similar to this. I made this last night but forgot to take a picture.)

I got this recipe from Ryan's mom since it was one that he loves, and now it's one of our family favorites.

Salad:
1 head of chopped lettuce
3 boiled chicken breasts, shredded or cubed
fried won ton skins (I use about 1/4 of a package, cutting the squares into thirds before frying)
chopped green onion

Dressing:
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
1 Tbsp Accent (I leave this out a lot of the time)
1/2 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp sesame oil

Combine dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well. Pour over salad.
Serve with fresh pineapple and Hawaiian bread.

Molten Lava Cake

Paula Dean has GREAT Lava Cake too....

Ingredients:

6 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate

2 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate

10 tablespoons (1-1/4 stick) butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

3 large eggs

3 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons orange liqueur

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Grease 6 (6-ounce) custard cups. Melt the chocolates and butter in the microwave or in a double boiler. Add the flour and sugar to chocolate mixture. Stir in the eggs and yolks until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and orange liqueur. Divide the batter evenly among the custard cups. Place in the oven and bake for 14 minutes. The edges should be firm but the center will be runny. Run a knife around the edges to loosen and invert onto dessert plates.

MONKEY BREAD

This recipe comes from Paula Deen's Children's Cookbook...so needless to say it's super easy!! It only takes a few minutes to prepare, and it was a hit! Sorry the picture isn't prettier, but it was yummy.












Ingredients
3 cans (10 each) regular size biscuits
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. brown sugar
1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl. Cut each biscuit into fourths. Roll each piece in the cinnamon/sugar mixture (you can do a bunch at a time). Layer pieces in a greased bundt pan. Melt the butter and brown sugar together in a pan and pour over the biscuits. Bake for 35 min. Pull apart pieces and enjoy!

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ok, I will start with my new favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. I found it somewhere on the internet and everyone has loved them...even my picky husband. So here it is...

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 lg. eggs
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3 1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the butter, eggs, and both sugars until creamy. Then add the vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. Hand mix in the chocolate chips until blended. Bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet for 10-12 min...just until the sides get golden. Move to cooling rack and enjoy!

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