Veggie Lo Mein

I love making Chinese food at home (I know, I know... it's not authentic Chinese food, but you know what I mean!) I have really stocked my cabinets and fridge with the essential ingredients to make most Asian dishes so I will be dabbling with this cuisine even more in the future. One of my favorite things to get at a Chinese restaurant is lo mein. I decided to make it myself so I could control the amount of oil used. This recipe was ok. It was a little sweet. I think it needs more soy sauce, less honey, and possibly some Oyster sauce. This meal was tasty but it didn't taste like the lo mein I get when I get takeout. If anyone has a lo mein recipe that they love please let me know!! I added 1/2 a chicken breast to mine. You could easily add chicken, shrimp, etc. to make it a non-vegetarian meal.

Source: Blog Chef

Ingredients:
8 ounces linguini, spaghetti or vermicelli noodles (cooked until al dente)
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
2 cups fresh mushrooms (sliced)
1 carrot (peeled and sliced into thin strips)
1 red bell pepper (sliced)
1 onion (sliced)
2 tablespoons garlic (minced)
2 teaspoons ginger (minced)
1 green onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup chicken broth
¼ cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon curry powder
salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions:
Step 1: In a small bowl mix together chicken broth and cornstarch. Set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the red pepper flakes and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add mushrooms, carrots, onion, red pepper, garlic and ginger. Stir fry until tender. Add in green onion and stir fry for 1 minute.
Step 2: Add in the chicken broth/ cornstarch mixture along with the hoisin sauce, honey, soy sauce, and curry powder. Stirring until sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Step 3: Mix sauce with cooked noodles tossing to coat and serve.
(Makes 4 servings)

Giving truly is better than receiving...

As anyone who has a food blog knows, food blogging is a community within itself. I belong to a "community" of food bloggers through a cooking message board. It is on that board that I first "met" Brooke. I have made many of her recipes and followed her blog for a long time now. I have also followed her struggles to get pregnant and was thrilled when she found out she was pregnant with TRIPLETS.

Brooke gave birth one month ago to her triplets at 25 weeks. It has been a roller coaster for her and her husband. The first thing I do daily when I wake up is read her baby blog. While I don't know Brooke or Joe, their blog has allowed me to see into their world and allowed me to follow the many ups and downs they are encountering. They are truly an inspiration, as are their beautiful babies. I am amazed at their love, faith, and support of one another. Check out their baby blog to get more of an idea of the importance of lending a hand!

My point of this post? That cooking board I mentioned earlier is trying to raise some money to help out Brooke and her family. I can only imagine how expensive this journey has been for them. If you have any change to spare, please find it in your heart to support a terrific and inspirational family.

Oreo Cupcakes

Tomorrow is the last day of summer school. I thought I'd be thrilled but I am actually a little sad! I had the BEST class. Better than any class I have had at real school. Doesn't hurt that there were only 7 of them too! They were all sweet and cute and tried hard. But you didn't come here to read about my profession... so on to the cupcakes! I wanted to bring them in a treat for the last day and decided to go with a cupcake recipe. I had seen this recipe before and decided to adapt it a little bit. These came out excellent. It was my first time piping the icing and it went ok. Some definitely came out better than others. My best friend, Tiff, was over to help me make these things and we both agreed they were delicious and fun. The best part? The Oreo baked into the bottom!


Inspired by: Culinary Infatuation


Ingredients:
1 box of white cake mix, prepared by the directions on the box (I used 1 can of diet Sprite and the box to make it less calories)
1 box of double stuffed Oreos
Frosting (I used store bought but homemade would work!)

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350. Line 2 cupcake pans with liners.
2- Break 24 Oreo cookies apart, trying to keep all of the filling on one side. Place the cookies filling side up in the center of each liner.

3- Place the tops of the Oreo cookies in a bag and crush until they form crumbs. Toss about 1/2-1 cup of the crumbs in with the batter, stir well to combine.
4- Fill the liners 3/4 of the way.
5- Bake according to the package, about 15 minutes.
6- Allow to cool. Frost the cupcakes and top with remaining crumbs and/or halves of Oreos.

Greek Pizza

I love pizza nights at our house. I try to make different types of pizza semi-often to keep it exciting. When I saw this recipe pop up on Annie's Eats I immediately added it to my menu. It was excellent. I forgot the red onion-doh! But it still tasted good, just not as pretty.

Source: Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
Pizza crust
Pizza sauce
Crumbled feta cheese
Parmesan cheese
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Black olives, sliced thin
Red onion, chopped
Fresh baby spinach, chopped

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven and pizza stone to 450.
2- Top the crust with a thin layer of pizza sauce. Next add the spinach.
3- Top with the parmesan, mozzarella, and feta cheese.
4- Sprinkle on the olives and red onion.
5- Bake until the cheese is melted and the pizza is cooked.

Black and White Cookies

I used to never bake. I even posted once on my blog how I don't bake because I don't have self control around baked goods. Believe it or not as I have increased my baking I have also increased my self control! I send everything I make to work with John. I taste one cookie so I can review it on here, and the rest get packaged and sent to the office.

With that said John's coworkers are very used to getting food from me. I went into the city to meet up with John on Friday and all the people we ran into mentioned how they eat my food. Last week I actually got a list of requests!! One of his coworkers made a list of things they would like me to make for them. Now some might be offended, but I personally was thrilled! A challenge you say? Ok! Here we go!

So the first item off my list was black and white cookies. I made these and was shocked at just how awesome they were. I love, love, love these cookies. I actually regret sending them all to work with John because they were that good. Make these- and make them soon!

Also, I made 18 cookies instead of the 8 large of 16 small the recipe recommends. With 18 smaller cookies it only took 10 minutes to bake.



Source: The Crepes of Wrath

Cookies:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg

Icing:
2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (I would also recommend using 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of almond extract instead of the lemon juice)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 to 3 tablespoons water
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Beat together the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add in the vanilla and the egg, beating until combined well.
4. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches at low speed (scraping down side of bowl occasionally), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until smooth.
5. Spoon a bit less than 1/4 cup of batter about 2 inches apart onto a greased and/or lined baking sheet (make sure that they aren’t too rounded because they puff up quite a bit).
6. Bake until the tops are puffed and pale golden, and cookies spring back when touched; about 15 to 17 minutes. Allow to cool completely before icing. Makes about 8 large cookies, or 16 if you decide to make smaller cookies (I doubled the recipe).

To make the icing…
1. Whisk or beat together the confectioners sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until smooth.
2. Transfer half of icing to another bowl and stir in cocoa, adding more water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to thin to same consistency as white icing.
3. Turn cookies flat sides up, then spread white icing over half of each and chocolate over other half.

Chicken in Puff Pastry

I am happy to report that I am doing a great job of using up what is in the freezer and pantry! It is slowly (very slowly...) emptying out. I went through the freezer this week and saw I had one sheet of puff pastry to use up. I thought it would be good around chicken so did a quick google search and decided to go with the recipe from Pepperidge Farm.

Honestly, this was good. It was tasty and the puff pastry was a nice change from typical chicken. However it really needs gravy or some type of sauce. I would make this again but only if I used gravy. My sister was over for this meal and said it reminded her of Thanksgiving- comforting and similar flavors. I think it's because of this that it just needs some gravy!

Source: Pepperidge Farm

Ingredients
1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
Ground black pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
2 tablespoons butter
1 container (4 ounces) garlic & herb spreadable cheese (I used 4 wedges of laughing cow garlic and herb cheese)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions
Heat the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork or whisk.

Season the chicken with the black pepper, if desired. Heat the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until it's well browned on both sides. Remove the chicken to a plate. Cover the plate and refrigerate for 15 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 14-inch square. Cut into 4 (7-inch) squares.

Spread about 2 tablespoons cheese spread in the center of each pastry square. Top each with 1 tablespoon parsley and 1 chicken breast. Brush the edges of the pastry squares with the egg mixture. Fold the corners of the pastry squares to the center over the chicken and press to seal. Place the filled pastries seam-side down onto a baking sheet. Brush the pastries with the egg mixture.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Let the pastries cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.

Oatmeal Crispies

I have a big container of oatmeal that needs to be used up. I don't like oatmeal but I do love cooking with it. I decided to try out a new oatmeal cookie recipe and these were excellent. They are paper thin and crispy on the edge while still soft in the center. I will say I had my doubts when I saw the batter- it was runny and liquidy. Not your typical cookie batter at all- you certainly won't be tempted to try the batter! Even with the not-so-appealing batter the cookies were delish!

You can see how thin they are in this picture:

Source: All Recipes

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup rolled oats or quick cook oats
3 tablespoons self-rising flour (I used all purpose and they were perfect)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Melt butter over low heat. Pour into bowl and stir in the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.
Drop on one inch apart by the teaspoonful onto parchment paper. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light golden brown. Let cool on rack.

2 points per cookie

Not-So-Instant Mashed Potatoes

Awhile back I bought a box of mashed potato flakes for crispy herb baked chicken. Since then the box has just sat in my pantry. My dad and sister stopped by for dinner tonight so I decided to try to use up some of the potatoes. In my efforts to clean out the pantry and freezer I threw these together using various spices and such. They came out shockingly good. They had a nice subtle garlic flavor. Honestly I don't think you could tell they came from a box- they were pretty darn tasty!

Ingredients:
2.5 cups of cooked instant potatoes (follow the directions on the box), steaming hot
1 head of roasted garlic (see directions below), squeezed from skin and smashed
Green onion, chopped
Salt
Pepper
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese

If needed:
Garlic powder
Onion powder

Directions:
1- While potatoes are steaming, add in the smashed garlic cloves and stir until well combined.
2- Stir in the parmesan cheese, green onion, salt, and pepper.
3- Taste- if it still needs a little oomph add the garlic and onion powder to taste (I used a little bit of both.)

How to roast garlic:
1- Heat the oven to 400.
2- Use a whole head of garlic, slice off the top of the head of garlic, exposing the inside.
3- Drizzle 1/2 tablespoon EVOO over the top.
4- Wrap loosely into a ball with tin foil.
5- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
6- Once you can handle the garlic, squeeze the cloves out of the skin.

Szechuan Shrimp

I was reading through my blog the other day and I realized I have fallen into a little rut. I make so much chicken and pasta! Now don't get me wrong- those are my two favorites and will always be the biggest categories, but it has been awhile since I made something different. I decided to make szechuan shrimp and they came out wonderful. I used less red pepper flakes than suggested because I didn't want it to be burning hot. This came out great. It had a nice flavor and the sauce perfectly coated the shrimp. Best of all this takes about 10-15 minutes from start to finish!

Source: Blog Chef

Ingredients:
12 ounces cooked large shrimp (with tails removed)
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon honey
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I halved this)
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
¼ cup green onions (sliced)
4 garlic cloves (minced)

Directions:
1: In a small bowl mix together water, ketchup, soy sauce, cornstarch, honey, crushed red pepper flakes and ginger.
2: Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add green onions and garlic. Stir fry for 30 seconds. Add shrimp and toss to coat with oil. Pour in sauce. Heat while sitting until sauce is thick and bubbly.
(Makes 2 servings)

** 4 points for 1/3 of the recipe

Japanese Cucumber Salad

I have developed a real love for Japanese food. I am a beginner with this type of cuisine and am just starting to try new things. One thing I tried recently at a local restaurant and loved was cucumber salad. For some reason it popped in my head last night and I knew I had to make it today. John and I agreed that this recipe was so close to the salad we got from the restaurant. I halved the recipe and it was perfect for the two of us as a side dish. Delicious and refreshing- a real must try!

Source: Eating Well

Ingredients:
2 medium cucumbers or 1 large English cucumber
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted (see tip below)

1. Peel cucumbers to leave alternating green stripes. Slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise; scrape the seeds out with a spoon. Using a food processor or sharp knife, cut into very thin slices. Place in a double layer of paper towel and squeeze gently to remove any excess moisture.
2. Combine vinegar, sugar and salt in a medium bowl, stirring to dissolve. Add the cucumbers and sesame seeds; toss well to combine. Serve immediately.

TIP: To toast sesame seeds, heat a small dry skillet over low heat. Add sesame seeds and stir constantly until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool.

** 0 points per serving

Lazy Chicken and Noodles

Do you ever have a day where nothing sounds good? Not even your favorite meal from your favorite restaurant? Yea- that was me last night. Nothing sounded appealing and I didn't feel like spending time making dinner. I then remembered a "recipe" I saw on Lauren's blog for something called "lazy chicken" that only required chicken and pasta sauce. I figured I could throw that in the crockpot and go on with my day. I have to say- it came out really tasty! I loved it with elbow noodles- I think it was the perfect pasta shape to hold the sauce and shredded chicken. It would be good with some peas too if you like peas.

Source: Lauren's Kitchen originally from A Year of Slow Cooking

Ingredients:
2 frozen chicken breasts
1 26 oz jar of tomato sauce
2 cups of uncooked elbow noodles

Directions:
1- Put the chicken and tomato sauce in a 3 quart crock pot- cook on low for 4 hours.(The original recipe says 8- mine was done in 4. I guess go by the way your crockpot cooks- mine always cooks fast.)
2- Boil water and cook the pasta until desired consistency.
3- Shred the chicken with two forks. Toss with the cooked pasta.

** 5 points per 1 cup of pasta and chicken (points will vary based on type of sauce)

Chocolate Marble Muffins

These muffins are really good. They almost taste like a cupcake- if you put some frosting on it nobody would ever know it was a muffin (although really- muffins and cake are one in the same anyways!) Mine were a little over done in 20 minutes- I would probably do 17-18 minutes next time. Very tasty and fun to make!

Source: The Crepes of Wrath

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled a bit
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degree F. Grease or line a muffin tin or line it with muffin cups.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar into a large bowl.
3. Beat together the eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and mix the wet ingredients in until just moistened.
4. Divide the batter into two bowls. Add the cocoa powder into one of the bowls and mix it together.
5. Alternate adding in the chocolate and vanilla batter into the muffin cups. Add a teaspoon of chocolate or vanilla, then a teaspoon of vanilla or chocolate, then another teaspoon of chocolate or vanilla. When they bake, they will melt into each other and “marbleize”.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until just barely golden brown on top. Allow to cool completely before removing. Makes about 12 muffins.

Grilled BBQ Apple Chicken

My husband loves apple butter. I had honestly never heard of it prior to meeting John and probably would have never tried it if it weren't for him. I would equate apple butter to apple jam. It is the consistency of a cross between apple sauce and apple jam. It is sweet and tasty with little to no calories. I have a big jar of it in the house so I decided to try it out on chicken. I mixed it with BBQ sauce and it came out nice and tasty. It was sweet but not too sweet. A winner in our house!

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
2 heaving tablespoons of BBQ sauce
1 tablespoon of apple butter
Salt & Pepper
Garlic powder

Directions:
1- Mix the apple butter and BBQ sauce together, set aside.
2- Sprinkle garlic powder, salt, and pepper over the chicken breasts.
3- Cook the chicken on the grill. Once the chicken is almost done, slather it with the sauce.
4- Continue grilling until cooked through.

** 4 points per 3 ounces of chicken

Macaroni and "Cheese"

I love mac and cheese- really what's not to love, right? So when I saw that Hungry Girl had a new mac and cheese recipe I was interested. I mentioned in my last post that I am trying to clean out the pantry and I had half a box of pasta and some Laughing Cow cheese to use up so this recipe was perfect!

I decided to puree the cauliflower and cheese to make it more of a cheese sauce. If you have little kids this would be a great trick to get them to eat their veggies! I will say that in my opinion this made too much cheese sauce. It was very thick and coated the pasta in a very thick coating that I wasn't a fan of. The taste was decent- definitely needs a little pick me up though. I think it needs some seasonings, maybe a dash or two of hot sauce, and then it would be very good. The concept is great- the process is easy- and the pasta is ok. I think it has potential but definitely needs to be doctored up a bit.

Here's a picture of the sauce after I pureed the cauliflower. You can see how closely it resembles cheese sauce:


Source: Hungry Girl

Ingredients:
1 package Green Giant Family Size Cauliflower & Three Cheese Sauce (freezer aisle)
2 cups uncooked Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Whole Wheat Blend Rotini Pasta (or another whole-wheat or whole-wheat-blend pasta)
3 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss cheese (I used the garlic and herb kind)
Optional: salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Prepare pasta according to the instructions on the box, and then drain well and set aside. While pasta is cooking, place contents of the cauliflower & sauce package in a large microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave for 12 - 16 minutes, until sauce has melted and cauliflower is hot. Then place in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour back into a bowl.

Unwrap cheese wedges and place in a small microwave-safe dish. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until smooth, and then add to the bowl.

Mix thoroughly, ensuring that the Laughing Cow cheese is evenly distributed and the pasta and cauliflower are coated in cheese sauce. If you like, season to taste with salt and pepper.

** 4 points per 1 cup serving

Southwestern Chicken Sandwiches

I have a confession. And I am not proud of this... at all. I waste food. I always have so much food in the house, but I buy more. Which leads to waste. Ugh... it's a bad habit. I am trying to brake this bad habit though. I am challenging myself to not go grocery shopping until the pantry is almost bare. I need to make meals using what I have! Sounds easy right? Well... not for me. But here goes my best efforts!

I had some sandwich rolls to use up so I decided to make a southwestern chicken sandwich. They were easy to make and quite tasty. The ingredients below are for 1 sandwich, just multiply the quantities by how many sandwiches you would need!

Ingredients:
1 sandwich roll
1 chicken breast, or two thin sliced chicken breasts
2-3 tablespoons Spicy Ranch dressing
2 slices of cooked bacon- chopped
1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tablespoon cajun seasoning
Romaine lettuce

Directions:
1- Rub both sides of a chicken breast with cajun seasoning. Grill until cooked through- slice.
2- Toss the chicken, chopped bacon, and spicy ranch together in a bowl until it is evenly coated.
3- Lay the chicken on top of a roll. Top with cheddar cheese.
4- Place the sandwich in an oven or toaster oven, bake until the cheese melts and the bread is slightly toasty.
5- Top with the romaine lettuce and enjoy.

Brown Sugar and Spice Cookies

I have mentioned my love of Cooking Light so many times. I now worship Cooking Light. I wanted to make a cookie recipe tonight that was better for you than a traditional cookie. These were some of the best cookies I've had recently. They were cake-like with a perfect sugary topping. And on top of that they are only 1 WW point per cookie! WOO HOO! Make these soon- you'll thank me!

Source: Cooking Light

Ingredients
COOKIES:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
1/3 cup whole wheat flour (about 1 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Cooking spray

TOPPING:
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of ground nutmeg
Dash of ground allspice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cookies, combine 1/3 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, baking powder, and next 4 ingredients (through 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat at low speed until well blended.

Shape the dough into 30 balls. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray; flatten cookies with bottom of a glass.

To prepare topping, combine 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, dash of nutmeg, and allspice in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over cookies.

Bake at 350° for 9 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on pans. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

** 1 point per cookie, 30 cookies total

White Wine Sauce

Source: Inspired by Milk and Honey's sauce

A few weeks ago I made chicken marsala pasta and it was amazing. I loved the sauce. I thought I could easily replicate this sauce but make it a white wine sauce instead of marsala. It came out very good! This sauce could be served over pasta, chicken, asparagus, or even pork.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of butter
3/4 cup of chicken broth
1/2 cup of white wine
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Parsley flakes

Directions:
1- In a small saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and stir quickly until a paste forms.
2- Add the broth and wine and stir continually until the flour paste dissolves.
3- Add the seasonings and allow the sauce to heat over medium heat until it becomes thick. It will coat the spoon when it is finished.
4- Serve over chicken, pasta, pork, or vegetables.

** 3 Points per 1/3 of the sauce recipe (about 1/2 cup)

Balsamic Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches

I made these sandwiches over the weekend and they were awesome. Honestly, they were much better than I expected! The chicken was moist and tender and the sauce complimented it well. I wanted to make the chicken grilled instead of fried in order to cut back on some of the calories and it was really good. I would suggest making these if you are short on time but want something delicious.

Ingredients:
1 pound of thin sliced chicken breasts
Sub rolls
1/2 block of Mozzarella cheese, sliced thin
Tomato pesto sauce (or any tomato sauce you like)

Marinade:
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup of EVOO
A couple shakes of garlic powder
A couple shakes of onion powder

Directions:
1- Place the marinade ingredients inside a gallon sized zipper bag. Shake well to combine. Add the chicken, allow to marinade a minimum of 2 hours.
2- Heat up a grill pan with non-stick spray and grill the chicken until cooked through, place aside and cover.
3- Slice the sub rolls in half. Spread a thin layer of tomato pesto sauce on each side of the roll.
4- Place cheese on one side of the roll to cover the sauce. Place chicken on top. Cover with the top of the roll.
5- Spray the grill pan with cooking spray. Place the sandwiches on the grill for a few minutes until warm and grill marks form. Carefully flip the sandwiches over to grill the other side.

Olive Garden Salad

The Olive Garden brings back happy memories for me. I have had many meals there with my friend Maria. I have gone there on a couple dates with John when we were first dating. I went to lunch with just my dad there (something that was rare growing up.) And I can remember the first time I went there- on vacation in Florida when I was under 10. I begged my mom to go since they always played the commercials in New Jersey but there weren't any locally. She finally gave in and we went. My dad got meat loaf which I still remember because I thought that was such a weird choice. The food is decent, the bread sticks are amazing, and the salad is really good. But the happy memories really make me love Olive Garden.

Therefore when I saw this recipe for their salad I knew I needed to make it. Our friend James came over for lunch yesterday and this was one of the things I served. Now I didn't think it tasted exactly like Olive Garden's salad but it was close and VERY good. Don't skip out on the croutons, they were awesome. John and James kept dipping the extra croutons in the left over dressing- they were that good.

Source: The Sisters' Cafe

Olive Garden Salad Dressing:
½ c. mayonnaise
1/3 c. white vinegar
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 Tb. corn syrup
2 Tb. Parmesan cheese
2 Tb. Romano cheese
¼ tsp garlic salt – or one clove garlic, minced
½ tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp parsley flakes
1 Tb. lemon juice

Salad:
1 large head romaine lettuce
slices red onion
black olives
2-4 banana peppers
2 small tomatoes, quartered
½ c. croutons
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

For homemade croutons:
4 slices sandwich bread
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tb. butter
salt and pepper
dried parsley flakes

Mix all dressing ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little too tart for your own personal tastes, add a little extra sugar.
Chill one salad bowl in freezer for at least 30 minutes. Put lettuce in bowl. Place on top of lettuce red onions, black olives, banana peppers, tomatoes, and croutons. Add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you like, and add plenty of Olive Garden Salad Dressing on top.

For the homemade croutons:
Cut off crusts of sandwich bread, and cut bread into cubes. Melt butter in small saucepan and add minced garlic. Toss sandwich cubes in the butter and spread out in a pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper and parsley flakes to taste. Bake for 15 minutes at 350°, turning half way through baking.

Tomato Pesto Pizza with Chicken

I love pizza. I really do. And I really love "fake" pizza- think Ellios, Boboli, Pizza Hut, etc. Growing up in Jersey and spending a lot of time in NYC I of course love real pizza too, I don't discriminate. I recently found jarred chopped basil in my grocery store and was dying to try it. I have bought (and killed...) 3 basil plants so the jarred stuff is my new best friend. I originally saw this recipe on Annie Eats and knew I would try it sooner or later. I don't love pesto sauce but I do really enjoy tomato pesto sauce so I decided to make some. This pizza came out great and we really enjoyed it.

Source: Adapted from Annie Eats

Ingredients:
Pizza crust
Tomato pesto sauce (recipe below)
Shredded mozzarella cheese
A handful of grape tomatoes, chopped in 1/3
1 thin chicken breast, cooked and diced
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 450.
2- Spread a thin layer of sauce over the crust.
3- Top with grape tomatoes and chicken.
4- Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
5- Top with cheese. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until cooked and cheese is browned.

Tomato Pesto Sauce:

Ingredients:
1.5 tablespoons of jarred chopped basil
1 tablespoon of EVOO
Garlic powder
Onion powder
1/2 tablespoon of parmesan cheese
5 tablespoons of tomato sauce

Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients above and mix well. Taste and add additional seasonings or basil as needed.

No Bake Cookies

I made these this week for John to take to work. Now that I am not working (well... barely working, summer school is only 3 hours a day) I have plenty of time for baking. As I have mentioned before John's coworkers happily eat my stuff so I just make and send. These went over well. I didn't try them but John said his friends loved them. And they couldn't be any easier to make!

Source: About.com

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cocoa
pinch salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups quick-cooking oatmeal

Directions:

In large saucepan, combine sugar, milk, cocoa, salt, and butter and mix well. Bring to a boil and cover saucepan for 30 seconds to allow steam to wash sugar crystals down sides of pan. Stir mixture and bring it to a boil that can't be stirred down for 1 minute. Then remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth. Add oatmeal and mix well. Do not use regular or instant oatmeal; quick-cooking oatmeal is essential to the success of this recipe.
Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to let the oatmeal absorb some of the liquid.

Drop mixture by spoonfuls onto waxed paper or parchment lined baking sheets or Silpat sheets. Let cool until you can touch the mixture; then reshape the cookies to make them more a ball shape. Let cool completely; store at room temperature. You can also pour this mixture into a 9" square pan that has been greased with unsalted butter, let cool, then cut into squares.

Lime Chicken Tacos

Growing up we never had Mexican food. I never went to a Mexican restaurant or even Taco Bell for that matter. It wasn't until I started dating John 5 years ago that I first tried Mexican. It has been a learning curve for me. When I first started eating it I didn't love the flavors but with time they have grown on me and I like it more. One thing I really like is chicken tacos (but not with ground meat- just regular chicken!) I saw this recipe and immediately knew I wanted to try it. It was awesome. I loved the flavor and it was so easy to make. John was a big fan so I am sure this will make another appearance in our house.

Source: Loves to Eat

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 cup corn
1 cup salsa
12 Taco shells, hard or soft
Sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and shredded lettuce, optional

Directions:
Place the chicken in a 3-qt. slow cooker. Combine lime juice and chili powder; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken is tender.

Remove chicken; cool slightly. Shred and return to the slow cooker. Stir in corn and salsa. Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve in shells with sour cream, cheese and lettuce if desired.

Banana 'N' Cream Bundt Cake

I made this cake last week to take to my parents' house and it was excellent. It tastes like banana bread essentially. Everyone who tasted it loved it and agreed it had the right consistency and texture- moist, solid, and delicious. I debated using a glaze but the recipe said it didn't need one so I listened. Next time I would probably use a glaze. It doesn't NEED one but it would definitely be good with one!



Source: Adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 mashed ripe bananas
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
confectioners' sugar

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Blend in vanilla. Add bananas and mix well.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with yogurt, stirring just until combined.

Stir in walnuts. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool 10 minutes in pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Homemade Manicotti

I love baked pasta dishes. When it comes to baked pasta I don't really discriminate- I love them all. Recently I was flipping through a Rachel Ray magazine and came across a recipe for homemade manicotti. I ripped the page out but never made it because it required making homemade noodles and I wasn't sure about that. However after reading (and rereading...) the recipe I realized it was relatively simple. I decided to give it a shot and WOW! These not only were much easier than I expected but they were great. In total I had 10 manicotti which was perfect for both of us for dinner and enough for both of us for lunch tomorrow.



Source: Adapted from Everyday with Rachel Ray (I don't know which month- I had ripped out the page and it doesn't say- sorry!)

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 3/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (Reserve 1/4 cup for sprinkling over the manicotti before baking)
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried parsley
3 large eggs
1 cup of water
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups of tomato sauce

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
2- In a large bowl whisk the 3 eggs with the 1 cup of water. Add the flour- whisk until combined.
3- Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray.
4- Spoon 3 tablespoons of the batter into the skillet. Cook one minute and then flip. Remove to a platter.

5- Cover the bottom of a 9x13 dish with sauce. Spread cheese down the center of each crepe.

6- Roll both sides up over the cheese. Place with the seam down in the baking dish.

7- Cover with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with additional sauce, if desired. Bake for 25 minutes.

Ultimate Chicken Fingers

Last week I was craving breaded chicken. Growing up my mom made breaded chicken cutlets at least once a week. I rarely make just plain breaded chicken but it was calling my name. I decided to make chicken fingers and I wanted to try out a new recipe. A few months ago I made baked buffalo tenders that used Bisquick so I looked for a recipe using Bisquick for the breading. These tenders came out great. They were very moist and flavorful. I baked them but you could certainly fry them.

Source: Adapted from Betty Crocker

Ingredients:
2/3 cup Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 Garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
Olive oil cooking spray
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 450.
2- Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick sprat or line it with foil.
3- In a Ziplock bag combine the first 5 ingredients, shake well.
4- Spray each chicken piece with olive oil spray until coated on both sides. Drop into the bag.
5- Toss the Ziplock until all of the chicken is coated on both sides.
6- Line the chicken on the cookie sheet.
7- Drizzle with the melted butter.
8- Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until cooked. Flip halfway.
9- If the chicken isn't crispy enough, put it under the broiler for a couple minutes.

Chicken Marsala Pasta Toss

Before I even get to the recipe this is my 200th post! When I started this blog John and I had doubts as to how long I would stick with it. Now we are seriously considering buying me a SLR camera to make my blogging even better. I am so thankful to everyone who reads this and offers me positive feedback, support, or even questions. I love cooking but I have learned that I also love blogging about my cooking. Here's to the next 200 recipes!

Back to the food! I am SO glad this is my 200th recipe because it is awesome. I often say "This was the best (fill in the blank) I have ever made!" And then a few weeks later I change my mind. Well, this was one of the best pasta dishes I have ever made. I made this for my family and my parents loved it- even my father who isn't huge on pasta was singing its praises. The sauce was thick without being full of cream which is a positive. Even though my picture doesn't show the sauce well it perfectly coated the pasta and had an awesome taste. I tripled the recipe for my family (there's a lot of people at my parent's house) and it made a lot of food. Make this- and make it soon!

Source: Milk and Honey

INGREDIENTS:

Half a box of rotini
2 tsps olive oil
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 1/2 cups sliced button mushrooms
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, cut into cubes
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried marjoram, crushed (omitted)
2 tbs. butter
2 tbs. flour
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry marsala wine

DIRECTIONS:

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook pasta to al dente. Drain and set aside.

Heat 1 tsp. olive oil in a large skillet, cook green onions and mushrooms until tender, about five minutes. Season with a pinch of salt. Remove from skillet and set aside. Add remaining olive oil to skillet and add chicken. Season with salt and pepper and add marjoram, stirring until just warmed through, about 3 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Melt butter in skillet and add flour, stirring to form a roux. Cook for one minute. Slowly add chicken broth and wine, stirring constantly. Simmer sauce until bubbly and thickened. Add chicken and veggies to the sauce and heat through. Add sauce mixture to pasta and toss to combine. Garnish with additional green onion strips, if desired.

Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars

I love Costco. I can spend an unnecessary amount of time there walking up and down the aisles. There's one problem with Costco- John and I don't have kids so it's really just the two of us at our house. Therefore when I buy a metric ton of Cheerios (or any other food item) it comes to a point where I need to use it up NOW because we just can't look at it anymore. I decided to make these bars and boy are they sweet! I love them because I am a peanut butter freak but if I were to make these again I would cut the sugar a lot- maybe try 3/4 of a cup. After I made them and sliced them I wrapped them individually in plastic wrap. Also I would suggest keeping them in the fridge until you eat them because otherwise the peanut butter gets too melty! Overall a delicious treat!

Source: The Crepes of Wrath (I should also mention how AMAZING this blog is- check it out!)
Ingredients:

1 cup crunchy or smooth peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar (You can cut this back a bit)
1 cup honey
6 cups Cheerios cereal (I used Honey Nut)

Directions:

1. Grease and/or line a 9×13 pan and set aside. In a small sauce pan sprayed with Pam, bring the honey and sugar to a boil over medium heat. As soon as the sugar is dissolved, remove the pan from the heat.
2. Stir in the peanut butter until well blended and melted.
3. Place your Cheerios in a large mixing bowl and pour the peanut butter-honey mixture over the cereal, stirring until everything is well coated.
4. Pour/spread the cereal into your prepared pan, pressing down to make sure everything is smooth and even. Set aside and allow to cool before slicing into squares. Makes 16-20 bars.
5- Store in the refrigerator until serving.

Camping Potatoes

A few months ago I was going through Molly Jean's blog, The Rookie Chef, and I came across this post where her husband made dinner. The potatoes in the picture looked AMAZING but I couldn't find the recipe on her blog so I contacted her and asked for the recipe. Ever since she gave me the recipe I have been dying to make them. I finally did and yum yum yum! They get nice and crispy on the outside and have a great taste. I highly recommend these potatoes.

If you are going to make them I suggest dicing them small. Mine took FOREVER to cook and I ended up needing to throw them in the microwave for 5 minutes in the middle so that the sauce wouldn't turn into a black dust before my potatoes cooked. Therefore, my advice is to dice them nice and small.

Ingredients:
Red potatoes, diced small
A1 sauce
Hot sauce
Lawry's Seasoning Salt
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper
Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
1- In a non-stick skillet heat the potatoes over high heat for a few minutes.
2- Add a generous coating of A1 sauce until all of the potatoes have a thin coating over them. Next add some red pepper flakes, hot sauce, worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and Lawry's. (Use as much or as little of each until it is the desired flavor.)
3- Continuously flip the potatoes until they are cooked through. The sauce will form a crunchy outer layer.
4- If desired, finish the potatoes off in the oven to continue the cooking process.
5- About 5 minutes before finishing add a little more A1 and hot sauce, tossing to coat.