Texas Chicken Quesadillas

I had seen this recipe on Allrecipes a while back and bookmarked it. Since then I have seen it pop on various food blogs and decided it was time to give it a go. I made it tonight and we liked them a lot. I was out of onions but they were still really good without the onions. Since I'm not big on onions if I were to make this again I would use just a little bit to add to the taste but not to overpower the quesadilla. If you are looking for something super easy and yummy, try these. I think it took 15 minutes total from the time I started until the time we ate.

I did change up the recipe a bit, mostly to accommodate for my lack of onions and to make less servings. I used 1 chicken breast instead of 2, Mexican blend cheese, less BBQ sauce, and only 4 tortillas (one on the top and one on the bottom for each).

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided (I used cooking spray)
1 onion, sliced into rings (omitted)
1 tablespoon honey (I mixed it in with the BBQ sauce since I didn't use onions)
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips (I used 1)
1/2 cup barbeque sauce (I used less- probably 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (I just used Mexican blend in place of both cheeses)
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
8 (10 inch) flour tortillas (I used 4 tortillas for the two of us)

Directions:
1- In a large, deep skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high heat. Slowly cook and stir onion until translucent. Mix in honey. Stir until onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.

2- Spray a skillet with cooking spray and cook the chicken in the skillet over medium high heat. Cook until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in barbeque sauce and evenly coat chicken.

3- Layer tortillas individually with chicken, onions, and cheese. Top with remaining tortillas. Cook on a large flat pan, flipping when the first side is brown. Cook until both sides are crisp.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I find that no matter how hard I try to eat all of my bananas I am often left with 1 or 2 that need to be trashed or used. I had bookmarked this recipe some time ago and was glad to have a reason to use it. Most excitingly I had an excuse to use my mini muffin tin that I didn't even know I owned! I received a Wilton cake/cupcake carrying case at my bridal shower and never opened it until the other day. When I opened it I saw there were various cake/muffin tins inside, one being for mini muffins. I was thrilled- you would have thought I found 50 dollar bills in there.

Anyway, on to the muffins.... These are great. When I tried the batter I knew they would be good- but I REALLY like these. I also like how there isn't any butter in the recipe, making them SLIGHTLY lighter then my usual muffin recipes. They were so incredibly light and fluffy and I felt it was the perfect balance between the chocolate and banana taste. Give this recipe a try!



Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large, very ripe bananas
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a muffin tray with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, white sugar and brown sugar until well combined. In another bowl, mix the egg, oil, yogurt, vanilla and mushed bananas until mixed thoroughly. Slowly combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients without over mixing. Add the chocolate chips and fold them into the batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown and a tester inserted into the muffin comes out clean. Cool on a rack then serve with butter. Enjoy!

** For mini muffins I baked them 12 minutes and they were perfect.

Angel Chicken

I am always looking for new ways to make chicken breasts. When I get stuck I often visit Brooke's blog because she has many yummy recipes that John and I enjoy. When I saw her recipe for angel chicken I knew John and I would enjoy it. I did make several changes to this recipe, most notably converting it from a crockpot recipe to a stove top recipe. Below is my adaptation of this recipe- to see Brooke's version just click on the link above. Also, the following is for 2 servings. It does use 1/2 of several ingredients so you could easily double this and not have to figure out how to use up 1/2 a can of soup!

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
3 tablespoons of butter (Next time I would only do 1)
1/2 packet dry italian salad dressing mix
1/2 can of cream of mushroom soup
2 ounces of onion and chive cream cheese (I didn't weigh it- I just used a spoonful)
1/4 cup of white wine of chicken broth
Cooking spray

Directions:
1- Spray a skillet with cooking spray. Cook the chicken under cooked through, remove from heat.
2- Pour the wine into the hot pan and use the back of a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits and pieces.
3- Add in the soup, salad dressing mix, and butter.
4- Stir frequently, allowing to simmer and combine.
5- Stir in the cream cheese and allow to simmer. If the sauce is to thick you can thin it down with water or milk.
6- Add in the chicken. Serve hot over noodles or rice.

Honey BBQ Chicken Wings

My grocery store was having a great deal on 5 pounds bags of chicken wings. John and I both enjoy wings but I never make them at home. However now I have this huge bag of them so needless to say I have been looking for recipes. When I saw this recipe I was intrigued. These came out great and were very tasty.

**I want to mention that sometimes wings release fluid during the cooking process. This did happen while I was cooking these so I just rinsed them off after the 40 minutes in the oven. I was a little hesitant but they were great and I will definitely work with chicken wings again.

Falling-Off-The-Bone Chicken Wings

1.5 lbs chicken wings, washed, dried, separated at joints, tips discarded
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce (I used 1/4 cup)

I estimated the amounts of spices
1 1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400. Coat a broiler pan with non-stick spray. Mix ingredients from cayenne through garlic powder in a small bowl. Place chicken wings on pan and sprinkle wings with mixture on both sides.

Bake in oven for 40 minutes, turning halfway through.

In the meantime, heat the BBQ sauce, honey & soy sauce in a medium saucepan, cover and simmer on low

Remove wings from oven, and add to saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring to ensure all wings are coated. Place back into the oven on the broiler pan with a new sprayed sheet of tin foil (or just put on pan, but it makes it harder to clean!)

Bake for an additional 15 minutes, turning once, and drizzle some more sauce on wings after you turn them.

Remove from oven, they will be very hot, and the meat should be falling off the bone.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie

Tonight our friends came over for dinner. I wasn't aware that they were coming until 10:30 last night so I needed to throw something together quickly for dinner and dessert. For dessert I decided to try out something using these adorable mini chocolate pie crusts I saw in the store. I decided to make a quick ice cream dessert using them and they came out great! The following recipe yielded 4 servings and it was excellent! I can't wait to make them again.

Ingredients

Vanilla ice cream
4 mini pie crusts (Keebler makes them)
2 packs of Reese's peanut butter cups, crushed up
Hot fudge

Directions:
1- Allow the ice cream to sit on the counter until soft.
2- Spoon some ice cream into each crust. Use the back of the spoon to smooth out the ice cream.
3- Sprinkle Reese's peanut butter cups over the ice cream.
4- Top with hot fudge and enjoy!

Neapolitan Baked Ziti

This Rachel Ray recipe peaked my interest and I decided to give it a try when we had friends over tonight. I love baked ziti and am always willing to try a new version, particularly if there isn't any ground meat involved. This was pretty good. I made this recipe exactly as it was written and was pleased with the results. If you are looking for a new baked ziti recipe give this recipe a try!

Ingredients

1 pound ziti with lines
2 tablespoons EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, grated or minced
1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes (look for ones from San Marzano)
4 to 5 leaves basil, torn
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 fresh or dried bay leaf
Freshly grated nutmeg
1 large ball fresh mozzarella, diced
1/4 cup (a handful) grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Directions

Preheat oven 400°F.

Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring up to boil to cook the ziti. Once boiling, add some salt and the pasta, and cook just shy of al dente. Drain thoroughly.

While the water is coming up to a boil, start the red sauce: Place a medium-size saucepot over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Add the onion and garlic, and cook, stirring every now and then until the onions start to get tender, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and smash them up into small pieces with a potato masher or with the back of a spoon. Add the basil and season with some salt and pepper. Bring up to a bubble and simmer for 15 minutes.

Once you have the red sauce working, make the white sauce: Place a medium-size saucepot over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the flour, stir to combine and cook for about a minute. Whisk in the milk, add the bay leaf and season with some salt, pepper and a couple of grates of nutmeg. Bring up to a bubble, turn the heat down to low and gently simmer, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and discard.

Combine the cooked ziti with the red sauce in the pot the pasta was cooked in and transfer everything to a baking dish. Top with the white sauce. Sprinkle the mozzarella and grated Parmigiano over the top, transfer to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.

BBQ chicken pizza

Lately I have seen several posts for BBQ chicken pizza on the cooking board I frequent. While this wouldn't usually be my first choice of pizza I was really craving it. This came out excellent. It was also my first time using my pizza stone and WOW! I don't know how I lived without this thing for so long.

I didn't follow any recipe in particular, rather just used what I had on hand. It came out excellent and John really loved it so I am sure I will be making it again.

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast, grilled and sliced
1 pizza crust
BBQ sauce
1/4 cup of Mexican blend cheese
1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 450.
2- Spread a thin layer of BBQ sauce over the entire pizza crust.
3- Evenly spread the sliced chicken breast over the sauce.
4- Top with the two cheeses.
5- Allow to bake until the crust is crisp and all of the cheese is melted.

First Grade Chefs: Crockpot Cherry Cake

**Sorry for the picture, it's hard to worry about lighting and angles when you have 19 kids demanding cake!

Today 19 of my favorite six years and I decided to celebrate George Washington's birthday. In honor of President Washington we made cherry cake! It was a lot of fun and the kids love cooking with me in the classroom. We cook several times a year and it is always enjoyable. The cherry cake was super easy to make. I didn't taste it because I wanted to give them as much cake as possible but they had mixed reviews. Half the kids LOVED it and half said "Ewww I don't like cherries and it's all mixed in!" Can't please all of them I suppose! I did have another teacher try it though and she said it was a lot like cherry pie.

Also, like my cool plates? They are shaped like characters from Arthur and made me really happy when I saw them at ShopRite!

Ingredients:
1 box of cake mix
1 stick of butter (chopped into small pieces)
1 can of cherry pie filling

Directions:
1- Insert a liner in your crockpot or grease the sides well.
2- Dump the cherry pie filling in the bottom.
3- Layer 1/2 of the cake mix on top.
4- Evenly place 1/4 of the butter over this layer.
5- Dump in the rest of the cake mix.
6- Evenly spread the remaining butter.
7- Cook on low for 3 hours.

**I did add 1/4 of a cup of water over the mix when it was almost done to moisten the few spots that the butter didn't moisten. Worked great!

Vegetable Fried Rice

A few weeks ago our friend James cooked fried rice for us and it was awesome. I have been in the mood for fried rice and vegetable dumplings since then. When I saw frozen vegetable dumplings in the grocery store I knew this would be on our menu soon. I decided to make it tonight but things didn't go as planned. John and I are not huge fans of salt. I never add it to recipes, never add it to my food, and usually buy reduced or no sodium products. Unfortunately I only had regular soy sauce so this was a little salty for our liking. I will definitely make it again though with the reduced sodium soy sauce. Overall we would have loved this recipe if it wasn't for the soy sauce so I would still recommend this recipe!

Ingredients:
2-3 cups of day old rice (I used 1 pint of white rice from the local Chinese restaurant)
1 bag of Steamfresh Asian Medley veggies
1 onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Soy sauce to taste
egg (optional) -- I didn't use egg because I dislike it but I know most like egg in their fried rice

Directions:
1- In a small skillet heat the olive oil. Add the onion and allow to cook and brown, stirring occasionally.
2- In a large skillet heat the rice over low heat. Add the onions to the rice mixture.
3- Heat the steam fresh veggies according to directions, add to the rice.
4- Add soy sauce to taste. Allow to sit for a minute or two before serving.

*** You could easily add thin sliced chicken or pork to this if you don't like vegetarian meals.

Crisp Hash Brown Potatoes

I had planned on making a nice breakfast on Valentine's Day but John went down and ate cereal before I had a chance (boo) so I decided to make it today. I wanted to make hash browns to go with the breakfast since that is one of my favorite things to have for breakfast when we go out.

When I was in high school I worked at this dreadful breakfast/lunch place once a week. For some reason I always got stuck shredding the potatoes for the hash browns. I remember their hash browns being awesome so I decided to mimic them the best I could. This recipe is really simple and results in tasty hash browns. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 large potatoes, shredded
1 tablespoon of butter, melted
Lawry's Seasoning salt (or regular salt if you don't have Lawry's)
Pepper
Cooking spray

Directions:
1- Coat a skillet with cooking spray and heat until the pan is warm/hot.
2- While the pan is heating press the potatoes between paper towel to remove excess moisture. Mix in the melted butter and seasonings to taste, stir well.
3- Put large spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot pan. I formed them into circles and ended up with about 8 circles.
4- Heat for about 5-6 minutes on each side, or until brown and crisp. Using the back of your spatula periodically press the potatoes down to release moisture and help the potatoes crisp.

Banana Sherbert Smoothie

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Tonight John and I went to our favorite local Italian restaurant and had a great dinner. I wanted to make something small but we certainly weren't hungry or in the mood for anything heavy. I had a tub of sherbert in the freezer and decided to throw some things together and make a smoothie. This came out great- very fruity and light tasting. I highly recommend this. The following amounts yielded one serving.

Ingredients:
5-6 ice cubes
1 small banana, sliced into pieces
3 ounces of orange juice
1 cup of orange creamsicle sherbert (you can sub any kind you have but this one had swirls of vanilla ice cream in it which definitely added a nice creamy element to the drink)

Directions:
1- Put all of the ingredients in the blender, blend until smooth! I used the smoothie and ice crush features on my blender and it came out perfect. Can it get any easier than that?!

Soft M&M cookies

Tomorrow I am having a small Valentine's party for my class and wanted to make some type of Valentine's treat. I have a ton of random allergies in my class but the poor little boy with the egg allergy NEVER gets to eat anything good. I was desperate to find an eggless cookie recipe so he could eat for once. This recipe was suggested and was perfect. They were delicious and I am sure my kids will like them tomorrow!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 6 oz. container plain(or vanilla for extra flavor) low fat yogurt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used M&Ms)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare cookie sheets.

In a medium bowl, cream together the brown sugar, white sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Stir in yogurt and vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until incorporated, then mix in chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges begin to brown.

Cool for a minute on the cookie sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Cake Balls

John's office is having a bake sale and John asked me to make something. I have been meaning to make cake balls for a long time. I wanted to make red velvet cake balls but the food store didn't have it so I went with white cake and red food coloring (Hey- Valentine's Day is a few days away so I'm in the spirit!)

Let me just say... these were a disaster for me. They taste yummy but UGH- what a pain! All of the things that went wrong were my own fault (such as not letting the balls cool enough, getting frosting everywhere, etc.) so I am sure if you make them you will have much more success.

I don't know the origins of this recipe because I have seen it floating around a long time. It may have come from Allrecipes originally, but they are worth the trouble and are delicious.

Ingredients:
1 boxed cake mix, cooked according to directions
1 can of frosting
melting chocolate (I used a bag of white chips and a bag of semi-sweet)

Directions:
1-After the cake cooks and completely cools, crumble it into cake crumbs.
2- Mix in the frosting (I used the whole can)
3- Roll into small balls and allow to cool for several hours.
4- Melt the chocolate, dip each ball in chocolate and allow to sit on wax paper to cool.

Lemon Honey Yogurt Muffins

I am part of a book club at school and it is my turn to facilitate so I decided to bring some muffins since we meet REALLY early in the morning. I didn't want to make anything too sweet since it is an early morning meeting and also I know several of the women eat very healthy. These muffins aren't healthy but I figured they are better the the chocolate chip ones I was considering haha!

I found this recipe on Joelen's blog and thought it looked perfect. When I tasted some of the batter I was frightened- it was very strong! BUT, I trust Joelen's cooking and followed through with the recipe and was so glad I did because the muffins are great. They are tasty and light. I didn't use much of the glaze because I felt they were sweet enough on their own.


Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups plain yogurt (I used 1 cup of yogurt and 1/4 cup of applesauce)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablepoon grated lemon zest

Lemon Syrup:
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin tins. In a small bowl stir togther flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl combine sugar, honey, eggs, yogurt, melted butter, and lemon zest and beat thoroughly. Add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 12-15 minutes or until delicately browned and tester comes out clean. Prepare syrup ingredients in small saucepan and boil one minute. Set aside. When muffins are done, poke tops with toothpick. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of syrup over top of each muffin.

Let cool a few minutes then remove from pan. Serve warm.

Classic Baked Chicken Parmesan

I can't believe that I have been writing this blog for 4 months and am just first making chicken parmesan. Growing up chicken parm was my FAVORITE dinner that my mom made. I used to get so excited and think about it all day (which I am sure is not something I should normally admit!!) Tonight this wasn't on *the menu* which is crazy because I never stray from my meal plan... but I had a caving and went with it. This is a very simple recipe and is barely even a recipe, more so just a technique. Enjoy!

Now, I bake my chicken to make it slightly less bad for you. Growing up we pan fried it and in my opinion that is the way to go. It tastes much better fried... but if you aren't interested in frying your food you can bake it like I did- still good.

Ingredients:
Chicken breasts, pounded to the same thickness (I used 2 but use as many as you need)
1 cup of sauce
1 egg
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
mozzarella cheese
garlic powder
onion powder
cooking spray

Directions:

1- Preheat the oven to 375.
2- Sprinkle onion and garlic powder over the chicken. Rub it into both sides of the chicken breast. Dip the chicken in egg and then into bread crumbs.
3- At this point either fry them in a pan with EVOO or place them in a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Cook until chicken is cooked throughout.
4- Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Lay the cooked chicken on top, cover with sauce and cheese.
5- Bake until cheese is melted.

Baked Shrimp Scampi

My mom requested shrimp scampi for her birthday dinner. I had seen this recipe and been meaning to try it. It was different then traditional shrimp scampi and I really enjoyed it. I liked the breading and it was a big hit!

Ingredients

2 lbs shrimp, peeled, deveined, and butterflied
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp dry white wine
2 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper, divided
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced shallots
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Zest and juice from one lemon
1 egg yolk
2 slices of 7-grain bread, processed into course crumbs (I used whole wheat potato bread because it was all I had)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425.

Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl and toss with the olive oil, wine 2 tsp of salt, and 1 tsp of black pepper. Let sit and prepare the topping.

In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, parsley, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, bread crumbs (reserving some for the topping), 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper until well mixed.

Arrange the shrimp in a single layer in a medium baking dish. Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Bake for 12-15 minutes until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle the remaining bread crumbs over the top and turn the broiler on for 1 minute or until golden brown. Serve with lemon wedges and dish with a slotted spoon to leave all the extra butter behind.

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa, Back to Basics
Yields: 6 servings

Mozzarella Wonton Roll Ups

I needed to come up with a quick appetizer to add to my menu for my mom's birthday dinner tonight. I had 1/2 a pack of wonton wrappers to use up so I decided to make mozzarella sticks. They were pretty good. My only complaint was that the cheese oozed out of a lot of the sticks because I didn't wrap them well. So if you decide to make these just wrap them carefully and be sure not to rip the wrappers like I did! Overall they were a nice alternative to the usual form of mozzarella sticks.

Ingredients:

9 cheese sticks, sliced into thirds
1/2 a pack of wonton wrappers
1 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter
cooking spray

Directions;

1- Preheat the oven to 375.
2- Lay a piece of mozzarella in the center of each wonton wrapper. Using a pastry brush brush some melted butter around the edge of the wrapper.
3- Pull the two shorter ends up and then roll the wrapper completely around the cheese.
4- Place on a greased cookie sheet.
5- Spray all of the completed the sticks with spray. Bake until cheese is warm and wrappers are toasted.
6- Serve with warm sauce.

Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes

If you have never had a Kandy Kake (made by Tasteykake) you are missing out! They are little round, yellow cakes smothered in peanut butter and chocolate. They are delicious and are a favorite of John's. When I saw that Brooke had made these in the past I was so excited! I quickly starred it in my google reader and have been waiting for an opportunity to make them. Finally my opportunity has arrived!

My parents and sister are coming over for my mom's birthday tonight so I figured rather then making a traditional cake I would make these. She loves peanut butter and chocolate so these are perfect. Also it would be easier to take the left overs of this to work tomorrow then slices of traditional cake!

After trying these I say two thumbs up. They taste SO similar to Kandy Kakes. I can't wait to serve them tonight. And most excitingly I finally got to use that cake dome I registered for haha!

One more thing... this recipe calls for a jellyroll pan. I had NO CLUE what that was and turned to Google.. to prevent you from Googling (if you are as uncultured as me and have no idea what this is) it is a cookie sheet with a 1 inch rim. I luckily had one of those but if not I'm sure a regular 9x13 baking dish would be fine.

Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
2 c. flour
2 tsp. butter
1 cup hot milk
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (I didn't measure- I just covered it)
2 (8 oz) Hershey bars (I used 4... I don't see how 2 would cover the cake at all)

Directions:
Beat eggs. Add sugar, vanilla, baking powder and flour. Melt butter in hot milk and add to batter. Pour mixture into greased jellyroll pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
Spread at once with peanut butter. Refrigerate until peanut butter is hard. Melt Hershey bars and spread on top. Refrigerate until chocolate is hardened. Bring to room temperature before slicing into bars.

Southwestern Chicken Wontons

I love meal planning but sometimes I get into a rut. I like to mix it up from time to time with making something non-traditional for dinner. Tonight I made this recipe from Picky Palate. They were awesome! I baked them instead of frying them and I still thought they were great. Frying them would probably be amazing but I couldn't justify it for just a random dinner. These were great and I highly recommend them for an appetizer or even dinner. I paired them with veggie rice and it was nice and a break from the usual chicken dinner!


Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons canola or vegetable oil (I used EVOO)
½ Cup finely diced white onions
½ Cup finely diced red bell pepper
2 large cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 12 oz can chunk chicken, drained (I used 1 grilled chicken breast, diced small)
¼ Cup packed fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
¼ Cup Verde Salsa (I use Herdez brand) (I used regular salsa)
2 Tablespoons prepared ranch dressing (I used Spicy Ranch which I think complimented this recipe well)

½ package wonton wrappers (I used the brand Nasoya, found in produce section of grocery store)
1 egg white whisked with 2 Tablespoons water

1. Heat oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onions and bell pepper for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in garlic for 1 minute and remove from heat.

2. In large bowl add onion mixture, chicken, cilantro, salsa, ranch, salt and pepper. Mix until well combined.

3. Place 1 Tablespoon chicken mixture in center of wonton wrapper. Brush bottom edge with egg white wash, fold over filling and press edges together firmly, forming a triangle shape.

4. 2 options of cooking. 1st is place about 1 inch of canola or vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. When hot, place 4 wontons at a time into oil. Cook 1-2 minutes per side or until golden brown. 2nd option is place wontons on a baking sheet; bake at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until crispy, flipping once half way through cooking.

5. Serve with Ranch dressing or salsa if desired. (I served them as is and it was great!)

My First Award!

I was THRILLED when I saw that Stefanie from Kickin It In The Kitch had nominated little ol' me for the Lemonade Award. Now all of you reading this who have a food blog have seen this award circulating for awhile but I was thrilled that I received it. I am still amazed that people actually read what I eat for dinner haha!!



Now the rules are as follows:
- Add the logo in your blog.
- Add a link to the person who gave you the award.
- Nominate 10 other (refreshing…like lemonade) blogs of your choice.
- Don’t forget to add links to those blogs in yours.
- Also leave a message for your nominees in their blogs, informing them about the award.

So here are my nominees! I tried to pick people who haven't gotten it over and over, but the few people on here who did get it over and over I couldn't leave you out because you truly are my favorite blogs! I had a hard time picking only a few because I read many many food blogs daily... So take the time and check these out, they are all great!

1- My Kitchen Journey
2- Elizabeth's Edible Experience
3-Tricia's Kitchen
4-Julie's Foodie
5-Lauren's Kitchen
6-...and a cookie for dessert
7-Annie's Eats
8- Baking Blonde

Broccoli and Cavetelli

At my bridal shower I was given a recipe book full of recipes from my family and friends. For some reason I haven't gotten around to making anything from this book yet! I decided I should start trying these recipes and decided to start with broccoli and cavatelli. This recipe is courtesy of a family friend and was very good. I would recommend using less garlic though. I love garlic and felt that 6 cloves was WAY too much... I would probably do 3-4 next time. I also added red pepper flakes... but next time I wouldn't.

OH! I almost forgot to mention- this is my 100th blog post! WOO HOO!

Ingredients:
1 bag of cavatelli
1 bag of Steam Fresh broccoli
1/4-1/2 cup of EVOO (I used 1/3)
6 cloves of garlic
parsley
basil
salt
pepper
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1- Cook cavetelli and broccoli both according to packages, set aside.
2- In a skillet heat the oil with the garlic. Add the seasonings to taste.
3- Toss in the pasta and broccoli. Heat until hot throughout. Top with parmesan.

Oreo Fudge Bars

We are going to a friends house for dinner tonight and I volunteered to bring along a dessert. It was requested that the dessert be something chocolate, so I thought these would be perfect! I made them last night and left them in the refrigerator over night. When I sliced them today I cut myself a small piece and OH MY- they are fabulous. Give this recipe a try- it's amazing!

Ingredients:

1 16oz. package of Oreo cookies
1 stick butter, melted
1/4 tsp satl
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (could use another 1/2 cup semi-sweet chips if you like)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325.
Line a 9×13 pan with foil and lightly spray with PAM.
Set aside 6 Oreo cookies for the toppings.
In a small food processor grind the rest of the cookies. If you don’t have a food processor, just pound with a rolling pin until the cookies are fine crumbs. Add the salt to the crumbs and stir to combine.
Melt butter and gently stir together with the cookie crumb mixutre.
Press firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
Coarsely chop the remaining cookies into chunks and set aside.
Over a double boiler or in the microwave, melt 3/4 cup semi-sweet and 1/2 cup milk chocoalte chips together with the condensed milk and vanilla.
Stir frequently until smooth.
Spread evenly over the prepared cookie crust.
Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips and the Oreo cookies chunks over the top of the filling. Press down gently into the chocolate topping.
Bake for 20-22 minutes oven.
Allow to cool on counter for 1 hour. Chill in fridge until completely cold and set before cutting into bars or it will make a big mess.

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

I can not emphasize how AMAZING these cookies are. Cathy had sent John home with one of her amazing cookies for me to try. They were so good and I was dying for more... so I decided to make a batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I didn't have any oatmeal so I looked for a recipe and came up with these. Words can not express how much I love these- soft, chewy, peanut buttery goodness. Try them- you WON'T be disappointed.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup chunky or smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate chips)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°.
Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars until light. Add the egg and mix until fluffy.

Blend the flour, baking powder, soda and salt together well. Add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the chocolate chips.

Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375°.

Steak Bites

This recipe is from the Pioneer Woman and it was awesome. I used MUCH less butter then she did but it came out great. If your looking for a new way to make steak give this a try- we both loved it.

A little warning though- this recipe calls for a screaming hot pan. I took this step VERY literally and set off the smoke alarms- so be careful haha!!

Ingredients:
1 sirloin steak
salt
pepper
butter (I used 1 tablespoon for a 1 lb steak)

Directions:
1- Slice off the fat. Then slice the steak into 1 inch cubes. Season with salt and pepper.
2- Preheat a large skillet over high heat until it is smoking hot.
3- Add the butter and allow it to begin to brown.
4- Add the steak and allow it to sit and brown on one side. (The Pioneer Woman recommends 45 seconds but I like my meat MUCH more well done- I did it about 1 1/2-2 minutes.)
5- Flip the steak. Allow to cook until desired level.
6- Remove from heat, drizzle with the butter from the pan if desired (I poured it all on John's portion and he said it was great with the extra butter.)

Parmesan Potato Balls

I have a hard time coming up with new and interesting side dishes. I have a rotation of things that we like and often fall back on one of those. So when this recipe popped up on Brooke's blog for Parmesan Potato Balls I was intrigued. To me these taste a lot like a potato kinish. Give them a try- they are quite tasty!

I did half the recipe and it was more then enough for the two of us.

Ingredients:

3 cups prepared mashed potatoes
2 ounces cream cheese, softened (omitted)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 1/2 teaspoons onion soup mix
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 dash pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese into the potatoes until smooth. Stir in Parmesan cheese, soup mix, salt, hot pepper sauce and pepper. Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place the egg and breadcrumbs in separate shallow bowls. Dip potato balls in egg, then roll in crumbs. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.

Rigatoni Arrabbiata

First let me say I AM SORRY for another pasta recipe! I swear I wasn't planning on pasta tonight but John had to work later then expected and this meal would reheat much better then my original plan.

Ok enough with disclaimers... I love arrabbiata sauce. When I go out for Italian food I much prefer a spicy tomato based sauce over a cream sauce. I found this recipe in my Rachel Ray "Just in Time" cookbook. It is originally titled "whole wheat pasta arrabbiata with arugula" but I left out the arugula because neither of us is particularly fond. This was SPICY! (I do mean that in a good way though.) If you aren't a fan of spicy food I suppose you could leave out the crushed red pepper but that defeats the point in my opinion. I halved the original recipe and it was perfect for the two of us. However, I didn't half the balsamic or the red pepper flakes (which might explain the heat!) Enjoy!



Ingredients:

Salt
1 pound whole wheat penne rigate or gemelli pasta
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 small red onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, grated
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
One 28-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
Black pepper
1 cup grated pecorino-romano cheese
4 cups arugula, coarsely chopped (omitted)


Directions:
1-. Cook pasta as directed. Drain, reserving a ladleful of the cooking water.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat the EVOO in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and crushed red pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, then the tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
3. Add the pasta and reserved pasta cooking water to the skillet and toss for 1 minute. Add the cheese, then toss in the arugula and cook until wilted, 1 minute longer.

Zucchini and Spinach Lasagna

I love lasagna and am always trying to find new ways to make it. I attended a baby shower a couple of weeks ago and had an AWESOME piece of veggie lasagna that was full of zucchini and eggplant. I wanted to replicate it tonight but unfortunately the eggplant at the food store looked horrible. I fell back on spinach because spinach is always yummy in lasagna! This came out great and I would highly recommend it.

The recipe below yields between 2-4 servings, depending on your portion size. It would be 2 LARGE slices or 4 small/normal. Perfect for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow!

Ingredients:

8 lasagna noodles, cooked according to directions and set aside
1 zucchini, peeled and sliced long ways (not into circles)
1/4 of a package of frozen chopped spinach, squeezed to remove liquids
1 cup of ricotta cheese
1/4 cup of light cream
2 cups of marinara sauce
1 cup of mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350.
2- On a preheated grill pan, grill the zucchini slices until cooked through. (You can bake or sautee them if you don't have a grill)
3- In a saucepan combine the spinach and sauce. Cook until warm. Add the cream, stir to combine.
4- In a small baking dish coat with a layer of sauce. Add a layer of noodles. Next spoon a layer of ricotta, spread evenly.
5- Top with the slices of zucchini (I put all of the zucchini in one layer but if you had a large zucchini you could use it in more then one layer).
6- Sprinkle with mozzarella and top with more sauce.
7- Repeat with noodles, cheese, sauce, and any remaining zucchini until all ingredients are used.
8- Pour the remaining sauce on top and sprinkle with some mozzarella cheese.
9- Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to stand 5 minutes before serving.