Lemon Chicken

I found this recipe on www.life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com. I really love this blog! Everything I've tried I've loved and she always has great pictures. Anyway, I altered it a little...

1/4 cup flour
3 chicken breasts, cut into about 1 in squares
3 TBSP butter
Italian seasoning
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper

So the original recipe uses a crock pot. I did not...I made this recipe sans crock pot! I just didn't plan ahead and didn't have the time. I bet it would be really great using the crock pot though.

Boil chicken for 20 minutes. Cut into 1 inch squares, coat with flour, and saute in butter. Add Italian seasoning (I have NO idea how much I used. 1-2 teaspoons, maybe?), salt, and pepper. Then add chicken broth and lemon juice. Cook on low-medium heat for 10 minutes or so until the sauce thickens up a bit.

The original recipe called for 1/2 cup lemon juice. I halved that and used 1/4 cup. And the original recipe called for Good Seasons Italian dressing/seasoning mix. I have no idea what that even is and obviously had none on hand, so I used Italian seasoning.

Kendell was not excited but ended up liking it. I saw her take seconds. Chelsea gave it an "8". (probably just to make me feel good...bless her!) And Will cried himself to sleep because he wanted a quesadilla instead, silly boy. But we'll for sure have it again. It definitely hit the craving for lemon chicken that I have been having for the last few days. And the best thing about it....it was WAY easy. My kinda dish!

No picture, sorry. But link up to the blog above to see her fabulous pictures!

Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake:
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup flaked coconut
1 (15 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 pan. 

In large bowl, mix together sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Stir in carrots, coconut, and pineapple. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gently stir into carrot mixture. Stir in chopped nuts. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. 

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 (8ounce) package cream cheese (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar

In medium mixing bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Blend until creamy. Frost cake while still in pan.

This cake is AMAZING! I found it on allrecipes.com after my husband requested carrot cake for his birthday. Since then, I have been counting down the days to my birthday so I could have a great excuse to make this again. It is the best. Please give it a try and enjoy! :)
  
 

Banana Bread

1/2 cup crisco shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 mashed ripe bananas
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups flour
pinch of cinnamon
cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil and Flour 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Mix. Add the bananas, mix well. Add the baking soda, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly. Dough will be sticky. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar.

Bake 1 hour or until center is brown and set.

I found this recipe a few years ago on foodnetwork and it is amazing! The cinnamon sugar makes the top of the bread flaky and sweet and absolutely amazing. I hope you give it a try and enjoy!!!

Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes

Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes

1 1/2 lbs. green beans, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1 TBS. sugar
3/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 tsp. chopped basil
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut into halves

Place beans and water in a large saucepan.  Cover, and bring to a boil.  Set heat to low and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.  Drain off water and set aside.
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.  Stir in sugar, garlic salt, pepper and basil.  Add tomatoes, and cook stirring gently, just until sugar is dissolved. 
Pour the tomato mixture over the green beans and toss gently to blend. Serve.

Eggplant Pizza

2 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 large eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 (14 ounce) can pizza sauce

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Pizza toppings of choice

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Beat the eggs in a bowl. Mix the flour, salt, pepper, and oregano in a 1 gallon resealable plastic bag. Dip each eggplant slice in the egg, then drop the eggplant in the flour mixture one at a time, shaking the bag to coat the eggplant. Heat the vegetable oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Place the eggplant slices in the skillet to cook, turning occasionally, until evenly browned. Drain the eggplant slices on a paper towel-lined plate. Arrange the eggplant in one layer on a baking sheet. Spoon enough pizza sauce to cover each eggplant slice. Top each eggplant with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the preheated oven until the mozzarella cheese is melted, 5 to 10 minutes.

This was suprisingly good. I would recommend cutting the eggplant thinner than what the recipe says...the thicker ones were a little more chewy and weren't as good. I added garlic flavored crushed croutons to my flour mixture. We topped with chopped sausage (the kirkland italian sytle meatballs), green bell pepper, red bell pepper, onion, mushroom, and tomoato. And of course cheese! Sorry, I didn't get a picture of this.

Chicken Fajita Pizza

1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 2 inch strips
1 TBS olive oil
1 cup sliced green pepper
1 cup thinly sliced onion
2 tsp chili powder
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup salsa
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Unroll the pizza crust onto a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan; flatten dough and build up edges slightly. Prick dough several times with a fork. Bake at 425 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute chicken in oil for 5 minutes. Add the green pepper, onion, chili powder, garlic, cumin and salt; cook 3 minutes longer or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Spoon over crust; top with salsa and cheese. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Garnish with sour cream and diced tomato.

I tweaked this recipe a little. For the dough, I used Rhodes Rolls (I took 14 Texas style rolls, put them in the microwave for 2 minutes, then rolled them together to form my pizza dough) Also, I added red pepper and doubled the salsa. And I didn't have any fresh garlic, so I added a small amount of garlic salt. And something I always like to do when I make pizza crust is dust the bottom of the pan with yellow corn meal and pepper.

This is a great recipe! I think it would also be delicious to skip the pizza style and use the fajita mix in tortillas.

Enjoy!

Super Soft Snickerdoodles

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

cinnamon topping:
1/4 cup white sugar
1 TBS cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Heat oven to 450. Gentlly melt butter in a saucepan or microwave and let cool while mixing dry ingredients. Stir together sugars, flour, spices, baking soda, and salt. Wisk eggs into cooled butter and add vanilla. Sitr wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until it comes together.

Roll into balls and roll in cinnamon mix. Place on unlined ungreased sheet and flatten slightly. Bake 7 minutes, cool on pan 5min.

Dough can be refrigerated 5 days. It can also be frozen in logs.

I got this recipe from my day care provider. It is incredible! Be prepared to eat many!!