Apple and Thyme Chicken

• 2 whole boneless and skinless chicken breasts, halved and all traces of fat removed
• butter flavored cooking spray
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 medium Granny Smith apple or other tart green apple, thinly sliced and cored
• 1  shallot, minced
• 1 T. fresh thyme leaves OR 1 t. crushed dried thyme
• 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry with paper towels.  Lightly spray a baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt (if using) and pepper.  Place in a single layer in the prepared baking dish. 

3. Arrange apple slices over and around chicken breasts.  Sprinkle with shallot and thyme leaves; pour on the balsamic vinegar.

4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until chicken is opaque throughout (cut to test).

Tomato Basil Chicken

• 1 T. Vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken, breast halves
• 1 can Tomato Soup
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 T. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 t. dried basil leaves, crushed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced OR 1/4 t. garlic powder

1. Heat the oil 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 and set aside.

2. Stir the soup, milk, cheese, basil and garlic powder.  Heat to a boil.  Return the chicken to the skillet and reduce the heat to low.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

3. Serve

The chicken can be served over pasta, rice, or by itself.

Monte Cristos

These sammies are gooood! They are easy, and even better, you can pretty much do what you want with them.

Building your sandwich: {My rendition}

Spread some low fat cream cheese on one of the slices of bread. Place some kind of sandwich meat on top. {We went with ham} Top the meat with Swiss cheese, then sliced tomatoes. Put the sandwich together. 

Here is where the Monte Cristo part comes in.

In a bowl, scramble eggs {I do one egg per sandwich} with a titch of milk and about a 1/4 t. dried basil.  Then, whip out your french toast skills and dip both sides of the sandwich in the egg. Place on a warm frying pan and cook, browning both sides. To get the nice browning and melting of the cheese, cover while cooking.

This is a new favorite in our house. It's a great simple sandwich, everyone loves it, AND you can mix and match ingredients to build your own Monte Cristo to your own likings if you so choose.  I highly recommend trying these.

Chicken Cabbage Salad

This is one of my all time favorite salads! It's great as a main dish or a side dish; you choose.

• 1 head cabbage, shredded
• 2 pkgs. Top Ramen Chicken-flavored noodles, crunched up
• 3 to 4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
• 4 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts
• 1/2 c. slivered almonds

Combine ingredients in a large bowl.

Dressing:

• 2 pkgs. Oriental seasonings from Top Ramen noodles
• 1/2 c. vinegar
• 1 c. oil
• 2 T. sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl, then pour over chicken and cabbage salad.  Stir until salad is well coated. Refrigerate for an hour for the best flavor.

Classic Eggs Benedict

• 1 t. White Vinegar
• cold eggs
• English muffins, split and toasted
• Canadian bacon, warmed

In a skillet with high sides, bring 2-3 inches of water and vinegar to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer gently.  For each egg, break the cold eggs into a custard cup or saucer.  Hold the dish close to the water surface, slip the egg into the water. {This is called poaching an egg}

 Cook 4 eggs at a time, uncovered, for 3-5 minutes or until the whites are completely set and the yolks begin to thicken.  With a slotted spoon, remove each egg. Repeat with remaining eggs.

 Top the toasted English muffin and warmed Canadian Bacon with the poached egg.

Top with Hollandaise Sauce. 

Hollandaise Sauce:

• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 c. water
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 1/2 c. cold butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 1/8 t. salt
• 1/8 t. paprika
• dash of salt

In a small heavy sauce pan or double boiler, whisk together the egg yolks, water and lemon juice.  Cook and stir over low heat until mixture begins to thicken, bubbles around edges and reaches 160 degrees, about 20 minutes.  

Add butter to yolk mixture, one piece at a time, whisking after each addition until butter is melted.  Remove from the heat; stir in the paprika, salt and pepper.  Serve immediately.

{Tip: for a quick fix, a simple Hollandaise Sauce mix packet works great as well}

Bon Appetite!

Chewy Brownie Cookie

I've never been a huge fan of frosting.  This created a problem when it came to things like brownies.  I love brownies,hate frosting but it seems like you never have one without the other. Here is a brownie that doesn't need frosting!! They are taaaaasty! So good, I actually had someone ask me to marry him when he ate them. Here is the recipe:

• 2/3 c. butter
• 1 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 T. water
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1/3 c. cocoa
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. soda
• 1 12 oz bag of chocolate chips

 Cream together butter and sugar.  Add water, vanilla and eggs. Mix well. Add dry ingredients. Bake at 375 degrees for 17-19 minutes in ungreased pan.

Enjoy!

Easy Italian Chicken

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 pkg. Zesty Italian Dressing Mix
• 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, cut into chunks
• Bow tie pasta noodles, cooked

Combine chicken soup and dressing mix in a bowl.  Add a little milk or water to make it creamy like a gravy.  Place the chicken breasts in casserole dish or crockpot.  Slice cream cheese into chunks, placing around on tip of chicken.  Pour soup/dressing over top.  Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees or in a crockpot for 4 to 5 hours on LOW.  Shred chicken and spoon over bowtie noodles.

What I liked about this recipe:

1. Its easy. I'm all about easy.

2. The versatility of it. Crockpot OR oven.

3. So much flavor for such simple ingredients

4. It makes lots. Leftovers!!

Freaky Pizza Fondu

Freaky Pizza Fondu

{Not really sure why its freaky. Maybe because it's "freaking" tasty??}

• 1 medium red pepper, chopped (about 3/4 c.)
• 1/2 c. finely chopped pepperoni
• 1/2 of an 8 oz. package cream cheese, cut into cubes (about 1 c.)
• 1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 3/4 c. Prego Traditional Pasta Sauce {I like 3 cheese instead} 
• 1 loaf Italian bread (about 1 lb.) cut into cubes

1. Place the pepper and pepperoni in a 1 -quart microwavable dish.  Cover and microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes or until the pepper is tender, stirring halfway through cooking.

2. Add the cream cheese and the Parmesan cheese and stir until it's smooth and well blended.  Stir in the pasta sauce.  Cover and microwave on HIGH for 5 minutes or until hot, stirring halfway through cooking.

3. Serve warm with the bread cubes for dipping. 

I recommend making this for a group of people if you don't want to eat all yourself...because you will. It's thaaaat good.

{ Use corn tortilla chips instead of bread for dipping to make this gluten free}

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

• 1 32 oz. bag frozen southern style hash brown potatoes, thawed
• 1 6oz. can french fried onions
• 1 c. frozen peas, thawed
• 1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 2 cans Cream of Celery Soup
• 1 c. mild

1. Stir the potatoes, 1 1/3 c. onions, peas, cheese and bacon in a 13x9x2 inch shallow baking dish.  Mix the soup and milk in a 1 qt. bowl and pour over the potato mixture. Cover the dish.

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot.  Uncover the dish and stir the potato mixture.

3. Sprinkle with the remaining onions. Bake for 5 minutes more or until onions are golden brown.

This was a great easy casserole but there are some things I may do differently next time. Fewer onions and maybe cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup instead of celery.  That's what I love about recipes. Try them once then do my own variations.  Enjoy!

Walzones

We tried something a little different for dinner tonight. Walzones! They are basically Calzones that are cooked on a waffle iron.  

They are really simple. 

Start with pizza dough. Roll it out. Place your favorite toppings, cheese, and pizza sauce on one half of the dough, then fold it over and seal. You can make one great big one or several small ones. You decide.

Before

 Next step is to put in on a waffle iron and let it do its thing.

After

They taste great and we found them to be kind of fun!

Peanut Butter Crumble Pie

Peanut Butter Crumble Pie

• 1 c. Crunchy Peanut Butter
• Powdered Sugar
• Pudding (Chocolate or Vanilla)
• Cool whip
• Any kind of pie crust

 In a bowl, mix together peanut butter and powdered sugar until it is a "crumbly" texture. Lay some of the peanut butter crumble in the bottom of the pie crust.  

Then add your choice of pudding.  

 Add another, but lighter, layer of crumble. 

 Then a layer of Cool Whip and top the pie with remaining crumble.

Grape Jelly Meatballs

Grape Jelly Meatballs

•  2 12 oz. Jars Heinz Chili Sauce
•  1 32 oz Jar Grape Jelly
• 1 bag precooked frozen meat balls (about 80)

Put jelly and chili sauce in a  pot. Heat until jelly is melted and sauce is smooth, stirring often. Add frozen meatballs to a crock pot. Add sauce. Heat on high for 3 hours or until meatballs are warm.

Enjoy!

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken

•  6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 (8 oz.) ctn. Whipped cream cheese with onion and chives {I never use it all}
• 1 T.butter or margarine, cubed
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 6 bacon strips

Flatten chicken to 1/2 -inch thickness.  Spread 3 tablespoons {I never do this much. just eyeball it}over each.  Dot with butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roll it. {I like to keep mine flat} Wrap each with a bacon strip.  Place seam side down, on a greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. 

Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until juices run clear.  Broil 6 inches from the heat for 5 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

{My secret: a slice of pepper jack cheese on top of each chicken breast immediately after it comes out of the oven to melt.}

Serve with a yummy salad and some creamy garlic mashed potatoes and you've got it made.  Maybe, I'll share that recipe someday too.  :) Try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 split chickens

Corn flakes or bread crumbs

Swiss cheese

Butter

Lunch Meat Ham   

Split chicken breasts; place ham and cheese rolled up in  ham inside the chicken.  Make sure the cheese is not showing.  Dip chicken into melted butter, then corn flakes or bread crumbs. Bake in over for 40 minutes or until done at 400 degrees.

Sauce:

1 can cream of chicken soup                                 1 tsp. Lemon juice

1/2 c. Sour cream                                                 Salt and pepper to taste

Serve on baked chicken

I don't have a picture of its yumminess, sorry, I guess we just snarfed it down too fast!