Thursday, September 25, 2008

Cranberry Chicken

6-8 chicken breasts
1 - 16 oz can of cranberry sauce
8 oz simple french dressing
1 pkg lipton dry onion soup mix

Place chicken in 9x13 pan. Combine cranberries, dressing, and onion mix. Blend until smooth and pour over chicken. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 60 - 70 minutes.

Serve with rice dish:

1 can Campbell's french onion soup
1 can water
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
1 cube butter

Combine ingredients into a 9x9 pan and place cubed butter on top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Grilled Chicken with Tomato-Avocado Salsa

For the salsa:
4 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped or 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeƱo chili pepper, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 avocado

For the chicken:
1/2 cup non-fat, plain yogurt
1/2 small red onion
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 4 to 6 ounces each
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa:
1. In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, red onion, pepper and cilantro.
2. Chop the avocado and sprinkle it with 2 tablespoons of lime juice to keep it from browning. Add the avocado and remaining lime juice to the bowl and toss to combine. (This can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.)

For the chicken:
1. In a small food processor, puree the yogurt, red onion, lime juice and cilantro to make a yogurt marinade.
2. Transfer the marinade to a shallow bowl or a plastic bag. Add the chicken and coat well with the marinade. Refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 8 hours.
3. Preheat the grill to medium-high.
4. Remove the chicken from the marinade, discard the remaining marinade and season the chicken with salt and pepper. Grill the chicken on both sides until it is cooked through, about 6 minutes per side.
5. Serve the chicken with tomato-avocado salsa.

(this came from http://www.foodfit.com/recipes TOTALLY GREAT SITE!)

Monday, September 22, 2008

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1C. canned pumpkin
1C. white sugar
1/2C. vegetable oil
1 egg
2C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. milk
1 TBS vanilla
2 C semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 C chopped nuts (optional)

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, oil, and egg. In separate bowl stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add the flour mixture and mix well.

2. Add the vanilla, chocolate chips, and the nuts.

3. Drop by spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes until light brown and firm.

Thanks Blissd2!

German Pancakes

Heat oven to 425 degrees
Melt 3 T butter in 9x13 pan
Whip:
6 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
Pour over melted butter cook for 12-15 min. until edges are brown. Serve with fruit, jam, syrup, or powdered sugar.

Another great recipe from Brooke Bowen... Thanks Brooke!

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous). And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Thanks Valerie Pahl for this great recipe!

Coming Recipes

I am participating in this recipe gathering thing and I am going to post the recipes that I recieve so that we can all enjoy... Here they come!

~Sarah

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Chicken Roll-ups

One of my favorite meals...

3 chicken breasts
1 package Cream Cheese - softened
1/4 cup Milk
Salt, pepper, and seasoning salt (to flavor)
Croissant Roll dough - the pillsbury kind that come in a tube thingy
Butter - melted
Croutons or Stove Top Mix

Bring water to a boil. Add chicken and cook for 15 minutes (or you can use leftover cooked chicken)
Cut chicken breasts into cubes (or shred the chicken)
Mix chicken, milk, cream cheese, and seasonings.
Put a spoon full of chicken mixture in croissant roll and wrap.
Dip in melted butter
Roll in Stove Top mix or smashed croutons. Put on cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes

Beef Stroganoff

This one's pretty quick and pretty good. We had this at least twice a month when we were first married! Enjoy!

Meatballs
1 lb Hamburger
1/4 tsp Garlic Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Salt
2 T Parsley
1/4 cup milk

Mix ingredients and make meatballs. Fry meatballs until brown in 1/4 cup margerine & diced onion.

Add 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup. Simer for 5 minutes uncovered. Add lid and simmer for 10 more minutes. Add 1/2 pint of Sour Cream.

Serve over extra wide egg noodles.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Peach Blueberry Cobbler

This is perfect for this time of year! Mmmm...

1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
3 cups fresh sliced peaches
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar

Melt butter in 2 1/2-quart baking dish (i use a 9x13 pan); set aside. Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar and baking powder. Add milk and stir until blended. Pour batter over butter in baking dish; do not stir. (it will be thick and a little molding is necessary, "do not stir" scared me, but don't sweat it, it works out!)

Combine peaches, blueberries and 1/2 cup sugar; spoon over batter. Do not stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.


Parmesan Chicken

Sarah - A Taste of Heaven

1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 pkg Good Seasons Italian Dressing
1/2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
6 Chicken Breasts

Mix cheese, dressing, and garlic together. Wet the chicken with water to help the mixture stick better, and coat with mixture. Place chicken on baking pan and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

*This is a SUPER easy recipe and it tastes sooooo good! I am a very picky eater and was ecstatic when I found this recipe. If you don't need to feed 6 people you can use however much of the mix you need and put the rest in a Ziploc bag to save for later. Very easy. My kind of cooking!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Lemon Basil Pasta

Anya -- McCormick Recipe

8 oz. linguine or other pasta
2 T. butter or margarine, melted
1 T. lemon juice
1 1/2 t. basil leaves
3/4 t. garlic salt
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
Sauteed cubed chicken (optional)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and return to pot.

Combine melted butter, lemon juice, basil, garlic salt, and pepper in small bowl. Add to cooked pasta and toss. 

Spoon into serving dish and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. 

Variations: Add 2 cups cooked, cubed, chicken or 1 pound cooked shrimp.

**This is one of Scott's favorites!

To my Friends and Family...

Anyone sick of cooking the same old thing every week? Well, I AM! I am on a search for easy, healthy, and yummy recipes that I can actually make (this part is key)! So, here's the plan... I am going to invite lots and lots of people to contribute to this blog in hopes of getting some fresh ideas on relatively easy cooking. So, here goes...

P.S. Label your recipe like I did in mine... so Pasta, Mexican, Chicken, Gluten Free, ect, ect.