Catalina chicken

My poor mom. She fought a losing battle trying to make dinner for all of us. I didn't like red meat, Dad didn't love pasta, my sister was pickier than all of us, and veggies caused a fight... I can't imagine. Luckily chicken was (pretty much) always safe. This is one of the chicken meals that my mom made pretty frequently throughout my childhood. It's not a culinary masterpiece but it is tasty! I like to serve it over egg noodles, but rice or mashed potatoes also work. It produces a lot of extra sauce so you want something to use the sauce with!

Source: My mom =)

Ingredients:
3-4 chicken breasts
About 1 cup of Light Catalina dressing
1/2 packet of Lipton's onion soup mix

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 375.
2- Lay the chicken in a shallow baking dish.
3- Sprinkle the onion soup mix evenly over the chicken.
4- Pour the dressing over top. (At this point you can pop in the fridge to marinade, or proceed to step 5)
5- Bake until the chicken is cooked through.

"The Chewy"

Every so often a recipe becomes the "it" recipe on the cooking board I frequent. This recipe is definitely one of those "it" recipes. Everyone seems to be making it. I love chocolate chip cookies so I figured if everyone is making this recipe it must be worth a shot. I l-o-v-e these cookies. They were perfect and delicious. Now I can't wait to send them to work with John tomorrow before I eat them all!


Source:Alton Brown

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Roasted Garlic and Cherry Tomato Pasta

I love pasta. I think that is quite evident based on my blog. It is just so diverse and you can make it so many ways. This recipe was truly excellent. Roasted garlic is one of my favorite flavors. I love how the cloves smush into a paste- yum. The combinations of flavors was light but robust. I highly recommend this recipe!

Source:The Crepes Of Wrath

Ingredients:

1/2 pound whole wheat penne pasta
1 large bulb of garlic, top sliced off
3-4 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half (I used one pint of grape tomatoes- next time I would use 1.5 pints)
1 large red onion, roughly quartered
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons of olive oil
A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper
An extra glug or two of olive oil
A large handful of grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the top off the bulb of garlic so that almost all the cloves are exposed. Place the garlic in a large greased and/or lined roasting tray.
2. Prepare the cherry tomatoes by slicing them in half. Place the tomatoes in the roasting tray alongside the garlic. Prepare the red onion by peeling and slicing into rough quarters, place alongside the tomatoes and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and using a pastry brush, brush the mix over the tomatoes, the red onion, and the garlic bulb. Sprinkle the tomatoes, garlic, and onion with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper.
4. Roast the tray of vegetables in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the tomatoes have reduced to half their size (I roasted it for 35 minutes).
5. While the garlic, tomatoes, and onion are roasting, bring a medium sized pot of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain the pasta in a colander and set aside.
6. When the tomatoes, garlic and onion are cooked, remove them from the oven and using a fork/spoon/whatever, mash all the ingredients together in a large bowl until you have a thick, mushy sauce. Tumble the cooked pasta into the bowl and add the Parmesan cheese and an extra glug or two of olive oil. Toss everything together until the pasta is evenly coated.

A Blog Award!

I am sorry I have been MIA- I was on a WONDERFUL cruise with my whole family and close family friends. We went to Key West and Cozumel and had an awesome time. To top it off John and I won a free 5 night cruise from a raffle ticket so we are planning to go away again in either November or March.

When I returned I saw I received this award from The Cooking Nurseand was so excited. I like to know that people actually read my blog and enjoy it! So thank you for the award, I am very excited!

Here are the rules to this award:
1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.
3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Here are a few blogs that I love right now. I could do 15 but I decided to do my top 5!:

Milk and Honey

Lauren's Kitchen

Made by Melissa

Joelen's Culinary Adventures

A Taste Of Home Cooking

Diet Coke Cupcakes

This will be my last post for a week. John and I are going on vacation- but I promise to return with yummy recipes soon!

If you have ever done Weight Watchers you know about Diet Coke Cupcakes. I have been hearing about these mysterious things for years now but never made them because honestly, it sounds gross! Soda+Cake Mix= Not good. However, I was very wrong! I decided to make them for my end of the year class party because one of my students can't have egg and therefore has NEVER had a cupcake before in his life. I couldn't handle that fact and needed this poor 7 year old to try a cupcake immediately. They were really good. The kids had no idea they were different. Neither did John- so I guess they are pretty close to the real deal!


Ingredients:
1 box of cake mix
1 can of diet soda

Directions:
1- Combine the two ingredients.
2- Stir until thoroughly combined.
3- Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way.
4- Bake approximately 15-20 minutes.

** 2 points per cupcake without icing

Orange Chicken

I love "Chinese food" (aka- Americanized Chinese food!) One of my favorite things is orange chicken. However I have only had it once because it is SO bad for you. Between the fried chicken, sauce, and who knows what else- it isn't the best choice. When I stumbled across this recipe I knew I must try it. I am so glad I did- it was excellent. It was the right amount of spice too- often orange chicken can be very spicy. I would definitely recommend this recipe!

Source: LaaLoosh

Ingredients:
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 2-inch strips
2 cup cooked white rice, kept hot
Rind of a small orange sliced into thin strips
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cup canned chicken broth, reduced-sodium
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp peanut oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 medium scallions, chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or 1 dried chili pepper, minced
1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:
In a bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, broth, sugar, cornstarch, ginger, and vinegar, then set aside.
In a large skillet, heat peanut oil on medium-high heat. Add orange rinds, scallions, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about 2 minutes. Add in the chicken and cook for approximately 6 minutes, or until chicken is golden brown.
Now mix in the sauce and let simmer until the chicken is cooked all the way through and the sauce starts to get thick, this should take approximately 3-4 minutes. On a plate, serve chicken and sauce over rice and garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

** 6 points per 1 cup of chicken and 1/2 cup of rice

Margherita Pizza

I love making pizza. This literally took 10 minutes to throw together and it was awesome. John and I both love margarita pizza and often order it when we are out. I decided to make it at home and we both really liked this! I didn't use a recipe- rather just incorporated the ingredients that are typically served on margherita pizza. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Pizza crust
1/4 cup of tomato sauce
Fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
1 plum tomato, diced
Fresh basil, torn, approximately 10 leaves

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 450.
2- Assemble the crust with sauce, cheese, tomatoes, and basil (in that order.)
3- Bake until the cheese melts and the crust is crisp.

Baby Cupcakes

When I first saw these cupcakes on Taste and Tell's blog I was in love. They are just precious! I was dying for an occasion to make them. Today my friend Sue from work found out she is having a baby boy (YAY!!!) and I wanted to make a surprise to bring to work for her to celebrate the exciting news. I decided to go with these cupcakes. I did make a few changes (::coughs:: short cuts ::coughs::) but I thought they came out pretty cute! On Taste and Tell she used candy melts and chocolate for the eyes and smile. Hers came out AWESOME! She also has step by step pictures which helped me a lot. Below is my version.

Source: Taste and Tell

Ingredients:
1 batch of cupcakes, any flavor
1 batch of frosting- Duncan Hines Buttercream was a very nice shade of cream- not as white as it looks in photos
1 tube of black frosting gel
1 tube of blue (or pink!) frosting gel, refrigerated
1 bag of life saver candies

Directions:
1- Once cupcakes are entirely cooled top with frosting.
2- Using the black frosting gel create two eyes on each cupcake.
3- Next form the smile, leaving a gap in the middle for the pacifier.
4- Using a butter knife, stab the cupcake in the center of the gap between each half of the smile (this is where you will push the life saver).
5- Using the blue (or pink!) frosting gel create an oval in the middle of the smile.
6- Push the life saver into the frosting.
7- Refrigerate to set.

Slow Cooked London Broil

Yum! I made this last night and it was awesome. I have had this recipe bookmarked on my computer for quite some time but for one reason or another I never would get around to it. It was so good. The meat was so tender that it fell apart when I tried to slice it. The gravy had good flavor and was a nice consistency. I threw in some potatoes and carrots after about an hour of cooking and the whole meal was cooked perfectly in about 8 hours. This made enough for dinner for tonight and a full tray for the freezer for another night. Very little effort and 2 delicious meals= a winner!

This picture really shows how tender the meat was.


Source: All Recipes

Ingredients:
2 pounds flank steak
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup (I used the reduced fat kind)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup (I used the reduced fat kind)
1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix

Directions:
Place meat in the bottom of the slow cooker; if necessary, slice meat to make it fit!

In a medium bowl, mix together mushroom and tomato soup. Pour mixture over beef. Sprinkle dry onion soup mix over top.

** 5 points for 1 serving (1/8 of the meat and gravy)
Cover, and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins

Ugh. Sorry about the picture... it's horrible, I know. For some reason all of my pictures of these muffins came out horrible and this was shockingly the best one.

But anyways, these muffins were way to good to not post. I made them for John's breakfast meeting and I loved them. They were so moist yet had a slight dense composition from the oats. I will definitely make them again. I highly suggest using muffin liners though because I had a miserable time getting them out of my pan. I never have trouble, everything usually just pops out. I think something about these muffins texture made them impossible to get out!

Source: All Recipes

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup applesauce
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Combine dry ingredients; add alternately with applesauce to the creamed mixture. Stir in oats and chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

Crustless Spinach Quiche

It's my turn again to make breakfast for my husbands office. I made a quiche last time so I wasn't thrilled with the idea of making quiche again but I was short on time and quiche is so easy. I found this recipe on Allrecipes and liked how it wasn't full of heavy cream and bacon (like my last quiche haha!) I wasn't sure about crustless since crust is the best part but I decided to go with it anyway. This came together extremely easily and quickly. It looked beautiful when it came out of the oven. Obviously I can't try it since it would be rude to send a quiche with a slice missing but I am sure it's excellent- it certainly smells fabulous.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
5 eggs, beaten
3 cups shredded Muenster cheese (I used cheddar)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.

Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Salad Stuffed Shells

Once May rolls around our weekends are full of BBQ after BBQ. I found this recipe awhile back and have been dying for summer so I could make them. I brought them to my parents and thought they were pretty good. I made a simple garden salad but the options are limitless! Below is what I used but it is up to you and your tastes.

Ingredients:
Lettuce, chopped
Cucumbers, diced small
Tomatoes, diced small
Shredded cheddar cheese
Carrots, diced
Jumbo shells, cooked and cooled
Salad dressing (I used roasted red pepper Italian- yum!)

Directions:
1- Take all of your salad ingredients and toss them together in a bowl.
2- Stuff each shell with salad until it is full.
3- Right before serving drizzle dressing over the shells.

Apple Tart

As I mentioned in my previous post I was in charge of dessert for a BBQ this weekend. Ever since the Pioneer Woman posted this recipe for apple tart last week I have been drooling and knew this was a definite must make! It really was so easy. I will say that I didn't use even half the apples so next time I would just use 2 instead of 4. Easy and delicious!


Ingredients:

1 sheet puffed pastry, cut into half OR thirds
3 to 4 apples, cored, halved, and sliced (but not peeled) ( I could have used 2 and had plenty)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 415 degrees.
Place puffed pastry rectangles onto a baking pan that’s been sprayed with nonstick spray.
Add sugar and salt to apples. Stir to combine. Allow to sit for a few minutes.
Arrange apple slices on the pastry rectangles in a straight line, overlapping as you go.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown.
Remove from pan immediately and place on a serving platter. Serve plain, with caramel topping, whipped cream, or a sprinkling of powdered sugar.