Parmesan White Sauce Chicken

Parmesan White Sauce Chicken

1 package of chicken breasts, either flattened or filleted lengthwise to get four skinny patties
1 cup of your favorite White BBQ Sauce (we use Big Bob Gibson Original White Sauce)
3-4 c Parmesan Cheese, shredded
Salt and Pepper

1. Trim fat from chicken and fillet lengthwise.
2. Use salt and pepper to season the chicken and then place in a plastic bag.
3. Pour 1 cup of white sauce over chicken in bag and marinate for at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Grease the top of a double broiler pan with butter and line the bottom of the pan with aluminum foil (to save you from having to wash the bottom of the pan).
6. Use a fork to remove chicken from the bag and place on the top of the double broiler pan.  Spoon remaining white sauce over the chicken.
7. Cover chicken with parmesan cheese.
8. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-30  minutes.

Pork Tenderloin with Apples

Pork Tenderloin with Apples
adapted from this recipe

1 Pork Tenderloin
3/4 - 1 cup Pure Maple Syrup
2 1/2 T Cornstarch
3 Sliced and Peeled apples
3 T Dark Brown Sugar
2 T Craisins
2 T Golden Raisins
1 1/2 t Cinnamon

1. Cut pork tenderloin into halves or fourths.  Marinate pork in syrup in a plastic bag in the fridge for at least 1 hour before cooking.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Place pork in roasting pan, pour remaining syrup over it.
4. Combine all other ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  Mix ingredients well.
5. Spoon the apple mixture over the pork.
6. Cook at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes with the lid on the roasting pan.
7. Remove lid of roasting pan, stir apple mixture, put back in the oven to cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Note: The smaller the sections of pork are cut, the less time that it will need to cook.  The key is to cook for half the time with the lid on, and half the time with the lid off, to lock in the moisture.

Birds' Nests

I briefly mentioned these last year when I made them but didn't elaborate.  I'm now going to let you in on the best Easter candy secret of all....Birds' Nests.

Y'all.  I can't even begin to describe how good these are.  They are super easy to make (take maybe 10 minutes) and will get you some of the best cooking compliments of your life.  I'm sure others have known about these for years, but I didn't until last year when I saw them on Pinterest and now I MUST make them every Easter!

You can check out the recipe at The Curvy Carrot.  I think some people make these without the chocolate and with other stuff in them (and call them Haystacks), but I'm here to tell you that this is the BEST way to make them.  They would be super cute for a baby shower (you could use jelly beans if the Cadbury mini eggs aren't "in season") or really any occasion that you can think of.

My one tip is to make sure they stay COLD because they tend to get melty pretty quickly when set out at room temperature or warmer.  The meltiness doesn't make them taste worse (maybe even better), but it makes them even messier!  I wouldn't serve them at an outdoor party, for instance, and might only put a small dish out and continuously replenish from the fridge if possible.

Strawberry Cupcakes

I mentioned in my Easter post that we celebrated Gramme's birthday on Easter Sunday.  I asked her what dessert she would like since it was her birthday and, while she was reluctant to add more to my plate, she finally said that strawberry cupcakes would be good.  So I set out to find the best strawberry cupcake recipe and I'm happy to report that I think I found it!

I modified the Southern Living Triple-Decker Strawberry Cake recipe to make cupcakes and iced them with the Southern Living Strawberry Buttercream Frosting Recipe.  This made 48 cupcakes and enough icing to ice them with.  They were delicious and moist and so good.  I got tons of compliments on them and even sent the leftovers to work with Jason on Monday where they also got rave reviews.

Some notes from my cooking:

- I cooked each pan of cupcakes for about 12 minutes in a 350 degree gas oven set on Convection Bake.  You'll need to modify accordingly, just make sure to test a couple to make sure a toothpick comes out clean to ensure that they're done.  They're not as firm coming out of the oven as cupcakes usually are and if you leave them until they are totally firm they will end up browning as they cool.

- By using a smaller scoop to get my batter into the cupcake cups I was able to get cupcakes that were flat on the top and perfect for icing.  I would recommend filling no higher than halfway up the cupcake cup.

- I used a little less powdered sugar and chopped strawberries than the icing recipe called for.  My icing was a tad runny as I iced the cupcakes but hardened up to the perfect consistency by the next day when they were served.  You might want to let the icing sit a little while before icing the cupcakes to make it easier on you.

- These are much better the day after you make them and even better the day after that!  If you eat them still warm they are very rich.

- I put my icing into a pastry bag and piped it onto the cupcakes.  This uses more icing than the traditional way of icing (with a spatula or knife) so be aware if you're making a full 48 cupcakes and only one batch of icing.  You'll notice in the picture that the cupcakes on the top level of the stand had much prettier icing on them than those on the bottom.  I started to run out of icing and so didn't use as much on the bottom cupcakes.  If you want the perfect shape for the top of the cupcakes you might want to make 1 1/2 recipes of frosting.

Cauliflower Poppers

For some unexplainable reason I have always like cauliflower.  However, no one else even in my extended family even remotely agrees with this like.  But I saw on Pinterest a pin for Cauliflower Poppers and it looked like they were dipping them in ketchup, so I thought that this might be a sneaky way to get Charlotte to eat her veggies.

Delighted Momma's recipe (which I followed) calls for 1 teaspoon pepper and two heads of cauliflower.  I ended up only making them with one head of cauliflower but didn't think to cut the pepper.  This resulted in very spicy poppers.  Charlotte tried one but said they were too spicy and I didn't blame her, they were almost too spicy for me!  But aside from the spice they tasted great!  I'll definitely be making these as a more common side dish in our family but will probably limit the pepper by quite a bit.

Raw cauliflower that's been coated with olive oil, salt, and pepper

Baked Cauliflower Poppers

Chicken and Artichoke Calzones

My friend, Erin, has blogged about her Chicken and Artichoke Calzones multiple times.  She always talks about how this is her "go to" dish for new Momma's or those hurting.  And when she blogged about them a few weeks ago I knew it was time to finally try them out.  Boy am I glad that I did!  They were fantastic and everyone (except James who isn't eating much of anything these days) gobbled them up.  They're a little time consuming to make if you're chopping by hand but well worth it.

All the yumminess before it went into the calzones.  I'll be honest and say that I stole a bite or two and even like this it was fantastic.  I bet it would be great on two thick slices of fresh bread! Maybe grilled into a panini! Yum!

Wrapped up in my (not so pretty) calzones

Fresh out of the oven!

The recipe makes six very full calzones.  You could easily probably make 12 normal sized calzones if you got two cans of pizza crust. I also made mine with thin crust pizza crust (just what I happened to get) and I'll probably try it with thick crust next time.  Or not worry about getting all the filling into the calzones.  Even by stuffing mine to the brim I had filling left over.

Gooey Cookies and Cream Double Chocolate Cake Bars

Jason came home three days before his engineering Christmas party for work and told me that it was a potluck.  Awesome.  I requested that he try and sign us up to bring a dessert since there were so many on Pinterest that I've wanted to try.  Thankfully, we were able to bring a dessert so I emailed him a few choices like Nutella Pretzel Brownies, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pie,  German Chocolate Cake Bars, Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, Best Ever Buckeye Brownies, Peanut Butter Eclair Cake, and a Triple Chocolate Trifle. (Can you tell that peanut butter and chocolate are my love languages?!?)

Jason chose Picky Palate's Gooey Cookies and Cream Double Chocolate Cake Bars and I have to say that I'm glad that he did!  These were pretty easy to make and baked quickly and tasted great.  They were very rich warm but weren't too rich when they were cooled.  And were just as yummy a day or two later as we enjoyed leftovers!  Definitely a good option if you're looking for a pick up dessert to take to Christmas dinner!

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Last week I tried a new crockpot soup recipe.  It's from Today's Mama and I found it via 365 Days of Slow Cooking.  I paired the soup with homemade Honey Oatmeal Bread and it was a delicious meal.  I'm looking forward to making it often this winter!

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup
Honey Oatmeal Bread

Alpha Chi Brunch

A few weeks ago I hosted an Alpha Chi Alum group at my home for a morning meeting.  I loved the treats that I served and wanted to share in case you need an easy brunch menu that can be (mostly) done ahead of time.

Easy Monkey Bread Breakfast Ring

Note: In the future, I will probably tear my biscuits in half before putting them in the pan because putting them in there whole means you get a huge piece when you get one to put on your plate.

When I made it: Morning of because it's EASY to throw together

Poppyseed Bread

Note: I'm not sure if I just read the recipe wrong or what but I used the disposable bread pans and since they were small I split the recipe up into six of them.  That still gave me fantastic bread but gave me very short slices.  I would recommend using those pans but filling each one up before moving on to the next pan.

When I made it: Day before and warmed in 300 degree oven before serving

Fiber One Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Note: These are fantastic and one of my go-to muffins for weekend mornings.  The mix made almost 50 mini muffins though so make sure you need enough before you start making mini ones instead of regular sized ones!

When I made them: Day before and served them room temperature (could also reheat)

I also had two friends bring items and they brought a bowl of sliced fruit with dip and a breakfast casserole.  I served lemonade (for the kids), orange juice, and water.

James' First Birthday Dinner Menu

I often have a hard time coming up with complete menu's.  So I thought I'd share our menu for James' birthday dinner.  We had around 20 family members and ended up with just enough food.  Next time I'll make more because I would much rather have too much than not enough!

James' First Birthday Dinner

Two recipes of Crock Pot Barbecue

(with buns -- both slider size and regular size)
(I accidentally got beef instead of pork but Jason claimed that it tasted fine.  I would make sure that you get close to 5 lb roasts if possible, because mine were closer to 4 and we didn't have quite enough.)

Large bowl of cut fruit

One recipe of Broccoli Salad

One recipe of Mrs. Kelly's Baked Beans

One recipe of Corn Casserole

(So, so, so good! Should have had at least two recipes of this!)

One recipe of Slim Potato Casserole

(this was a little bland but at the same time too peppery -- it could have used a lot more cheese!)

One recipe of Arkansas Green Beans

(Jason said that these were the best green beans that he's ever had.  I would have to agree.  They were out of this world!)

Strawberry Birthday Cake

Cheesy Chicken Crescents

I have seen recipes that involved using crescent rolls to make a ring and so when I was searching for dinner a few weeks ago I thought that I would take that idea and modify it to what I had on hand.  What resulted was a meal that I loved and every single member of our family ate!  Plus, it was somewhat healthy!  I hope it's a hit with your family too!

Cheesy Chicken Crescents
Serves 4-6

2 tubes of Crescent Rolls
1 package of pre-cooked chicken
1/2 can of Organic Soybeans
2 handfuls of Spinach, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 can of Cream of Cheddar Soup
1 cup of Cheddar Cheese

1. Mix chicken, soybeans, spinach, and soup.
2. Lay crescent roll triangles out overlapping to create a sunburst/ring shape.
3. Spoon chicken mixture onto large part of crescent rolls.
4. Wrap crescent roll dough around chicken mixture.
5. Top with cheddar cheese.
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 F for 20-25 minutes.

Lazy Mom's Lazy Cake Cookies

For two people with such a sweet tooth this recipe has become our kryptonite.  It is astonishingly easy and AMAZING! If you haven't seen this on Pinterest yet then you need to go and repine it and make it the next chance you get.  So good and so easy!

Lazy Mom's Lazy Cake Cookies

1 box Yellow or White Cake Mix
2 Eggs, beaten
5 T melted Butter
2 cups Chocolate Chips (or M and M's or anything!)

Mix together, put in greased pan, bake on 350 degrees for 20 minutes!

*Recipe via Lazy Mom.  She has great recipes! Go check her out!

James' Christening Menu

On Sunday we had James' Christening and afterwards our family came over to our home to enjoy lunch.  Mom and I put together and meal and I was very happy with the way it turned out and the ease that it took to prepare everything.  We fed almost 25 people with this so I wanted to share what we had made in case you are in need of an easy menu for a lot of people!

Slow Cooker BBQ (2 recipes, cooked on Low for 13 hours) with Buns

Slow Cooker Baked Beans (recipe below)

Strawberry Spinach Salad (substituted Strawberry's for Apple's)

Cut Fruit

The Pioneer Woman's Fancy Macaroni

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Cake

Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Baked Beans

Ketchup

Yellow Mustard

Chopped Onions

Bacon

Brown Sugar

Worcestershire Sauce

1. Mix all together in a slow cooker and cook on High for 6 hours or Low for 8.

Grilled Romaine with Marinated Cherry Tomatoes and Feta

I haven't been doing Recipe Wednesday lately because the recipes that I've been cooking are mostly from eMeals and I don't feel like it would be right to share those recipes online.  But last weekend my parents had us over for a Memorial Day cookout and in addition to the rest of the wonderful meal they made a grilled salad that was amazing!  I took some pictures before we served it and wanted to share the recipe because it truly was maybe one of the best salads that I've ever had!

Grilled Romaine with Marinated Cherry Tomatoes and Feta

Yields 6 servings

1 pint Cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise

1/2 teaspoon Coarse salt

3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

1 teaspoon Sugar

1/3 cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, plus more for Romaine

Coarse Salt and Ground Pepper

1/3 cup Shaved Red Onion

3 hearts Romain, halved lengthwise, left attached at the stem end

15 mint leaves, sliced

4 ounces Feta, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1. In a nonreactive bowl, toss tomatoes with 1/2 teaspoon salt; let sit 15 minutes.  In a small bowl, combine vinegar and sugar; whisk in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Add vinaigrette to tomatoes, stir in red onion and refrigerate.

2. Heat a charcoal or gas grille to medium-high.  Brush cut sides of lettuce with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place lettuce on grille, cut side down, and allow to char lightly, 3 minutes per side.  Remove lettuce to a platter.

3. Fold mint and feta into tomato mixture.  Spoon tomato mixture over romaine and drizzle some of the marinade over the dish.  Serve immediately.

*Recipe via iVillage

Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole

This month is turning into the month of breakfast recipes!  This is another one from our Christmas morning brunch.  It was good to feed a crowd.  I felt like it could have used a little more salt and pepper but it was still great the way it was.

Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole

8-10 servings

6-8 Strips of Bacon

1 Onion, peeled and chopped

1 clove Garlic, peeled and minced

1 Red or Green Pepper, seeded and chopped

1 2 lb bag frozen Hash Browns

1 1/2 cups Shredded Cheese

12 Eggs

1 cup Whole Milk

1 teaspoon Dried Dill

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

1. Spray crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Cook bacon until crisp, cool, then chop into 1/2 inch pieces.  Set aside.

3. Saute onion, garlic, and bell pepper for 5 minutes.

4. Place 1/3 of frozen hash browns in the bottom of the crock pot.

5. Add 1/3 bacon, 1/3 of the onion mixture, and 1/3 of the cheese.

6. Repeat layers, ending with cheese.

7. In a large bowl mix eggs, milk, dill, salt, and pepper. 

8. Pour over ingredients.

9. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. 

From A Latte' with Ott, A via Pinterest

Peanut Butter Chocolate Delight

If you're in need of an easy dessert that you might be able to make just from what's in your fridge and pantry this is a good one.  It's something that Jason and I whip up on night's when we need a little pick me up or want to celebrate a little.  This is a single serving dessert so don't expect to make it for a crowd but it sure is the thing to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Delight

Serves 1

1 sheet of Graham Crackers

1/4 cup Reese's peanut butter chips

Instant chocolate pudding

Cool Whip

Graham Cracker Crumbs

Milk

1. Mix up pudding with milk as instructed on package and let chill.

2. Microwave peanut butter chips in 30 second intervals until it is melted, stirring between each interval.

3. Crush up a few graham crackers to make crumbs.  I keep these in my pantry.

4. Lay out one graham cracker sheet.

5. Spread melted peanut butter chips over the graham cracker.

6. Spoon and spread pudding over the peanut butter.  Let chill for 5 minutes or as long as you can stand.

7. Top with Cool Whip.

8. Garnish with graham cracker crumbs.

Baby Food: Peas, Carrots, and Sweet Potatoes

When I had Charlotte people would mention making my own baby food and I would almost convulse at the thought of it.  So Charlotte ate 100% store bought baby food and while I did try to buy organic most of the times, often they didn't have as good a variety of combinations in the organic section so I would get non-organic.

But for some reason I had an itch to make my own baby food for James.  I'm not sure why since I have four times less time as I did when I had Charlotte but, regardless, I decided to try it.  A well meaning family friend gave me The Baby and Toddler Cookbook when James was born and I finally put it to good use once James turned six months old.

On my first baby food outing I made sweet pea's and carrots.  Then, over the weekend I made sweet potatoes.  Not the most fun baby food but they have to start with the basics.  I did make a run to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get some needed items -- namely a steamer basket and ice cube trays -- but other than that I already had everything that I needed.

I think the cookbook will come in more handy when I'm trying to think of new things to feed James but since this was pretty basic I just needed to know how long I needed to steam this stuff since I had never steamed anything before.

I was very happy with the end product (even though James still isn't a fan of the pea's) and especially with how easy it was.  It took me less than an hour to make both of these batches and I got 24 cubes of baby food out of it.  I'm sure that it will take less time when I'm more confident with what I'm doing and don't want to do one step, slowly, at a time to make sure I'm doing everything right!

And as far as storage goes, the cookbook that I have says that homemade food can be kept in the fridge for 3 days in an airtight container and in the freezer for 3 months.  If you are defrosting frozen food defrost in the fridge and not on the counter.

I am going to try and share recipes as I come across them but I also started a Pinterest board for it too in case you're interested and want to check it out.  Before you start cooking I'd check out the "Dirty Dozen" list to make sure you buy organic produce that's listed on the dirty dozen.

Baby Food: Sweet Pea's

1 package frozen pea's

1. Fill pan with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil.

2. Place steamer into boiling water and pour pea's into steamer.

3. Let pea's steam for about 5 minutes, or until they are bright green and easily smash-able with a fork.

4. Run pea's under cold water to stop them cooking.  Reserve cooking liquid.

5. Pour pea's into a food processor (or blender).  Puree until they are the desired consistency, adding cooking liquid/milk to help thin out the mixture.

6. Pour into ice cube trays and cool until they are room temperature.  Cover with saran wrap to seal them.  After they are frozen you can transfer the cubes into a plastic bag.

Baby Food: Carrots

1 bushel organic carrots

1. Fill pan with 1 inch of water.  Bring to a boil.

2. Place steamer into boiling water and pour carrot's into steamer.

3. Let steam for 6-8 minutes or until they are tender.

4. Remove carrots and run under cold water.  DO NOT reserve cooking liquid.

5. Pour carrots into a food processor.  Puree until they are the desired consistency, adding fresh water/milk to help thin out the mixture.

6. Pour into ice cube trays and cool until they are room temperature.  Cover with saran wrap to seal them.  After they are frozen you can transfer the cubes into a plastic bag.

Baby Food: Sweet Potatoes

2 sweet potatoes

1. Scrub the sweet potatoes clean.

2. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes or until they are soft when you prick with a fork.

3. Scrape the insides into a food processor or blender.

4. Blend until you reach your desired consistency, adding water/milk as needed to help thin out the potatoes.

5. Pour into ice cube trays and cool until they are room temperature.  Cover with saran wrap to seal them.  After they are frozen you can transfer the cubes into a plastic bag.

(Step 5)

Even though James wasn't the biggest fan the first time he tried them, he ate the peas better than cereal!

Blueberry Crumb Bars

On Christmas morning we invited our parents and siblings over for brunch to see Charlotte's toys and so that we got to see everyone on Christmas day.  I made a few things and one of them were these Blueberry Crumb Bars.  They were very easy and so wonderfully good!  I made them the day before and served them cold and they were great!  The longer they sit the more sour the blueberries get so I wouldn't make them too far ahead of time but the day before was perfect.

Blueberry Crumb Bars

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup shortening

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

1 pinch ground cinnamon (optional)

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

3 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and cinnamon, if desired. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

From Jam Hands via Pinterest

White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

One of my parents friends makes these cookies and I think they're wonderful.  I felt better about eating more than one of them when she (who is a trainer) said that there wasn't any white sugar in them so they were sort-of healthy.  I later saw the recipe and there's lots of brown sugar, butter, and chocolate in them but they are divine!  If you don't like "stuff" in your cookies these probably aren't for you, but then again, I don't typically like "stuff" and I love these.  Try them and see if you love them as much as we do!

White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

2 2/3 cups old fashioned oats

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup dried cranberries

6 oz white chocolate broken into pieces

1/2 cup walnut halves finely chopped (optional)

1 cup unsalted butter

1 1/3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (or use my favorite new cookie sheets!).

2. Whisk oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in cranberries, chocolate and nuts.

3. Melt butter for 4 minutes until brown. Pour butter into large bowl and whisk in brown sugar until combines. Whisk in cinnamon, then eggs and vanilla, beating well after each. Add dry mixture and stir. 

4. Shape into ping-pong ball size. Bake 16 minutes. Cool on rack.

Ham and Chicken Croissants

After eating the French Dip Croissants that my mom made recently I thought I'd try the same concept with what I had on hand.  I have always loved Chicken Cordon Bleu so I tried a very simple version.  It's, obviously, different than a traditional Chicken Cordon Bleu but I loved the taste.  And you could use this concept with whatever meat or cheese you have in the fridge.  I didn't put any condiments on these before I baked them but I bet they'd be divine with some honey mustard if, unlike me, your husband likes honey mustard.

Ham and Chicken Croissants

16 slices of deli Chicken (sliced thick)

16 slices of deli Ham (sliced thin)

16 slices of Swiss Cheese

2 rolls of Croissants

1. Unroll croissants and stack ham, chicken, and cheese on them. 

2. Roll back up and place on a cookie sheet.

3. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until the rolls are golden.