Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Super Yummy Super Easy

This has become a family favorite. Everyone likes it and the chicken comes out "juicy" just how Griffin likes it. :) I got the original recipe from Penny Pinching Main dishes by JoAnna M. Lund. I have tweaked it a bit, like I do most recipes My notes are in parenthesis. I hope that you enjoy it as much as we do.



Chicken Cola Bake


16 oz skinned and boned uncooked chicken breasts, cut into 4 pieces (I use 5-6 IQF boneless skinless chicken breasts)

1/2 cup diet cola ( we don't do diet, so I use regular)

1 can cream of Mushroom soup (she suggest Healthy Request, but I use whatever I have on hand)

2 tablespoons dried onion flakes (use a bit more, maybe 3 Tbsp)

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes (If I don't have these, I leave it out and it still tastes good.)



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken pieces in a baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine cola, soup, onion and parsley flakes using a wire wisk. Pour mixture over chicken. cover and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until chicken is tender.




Friday, December 7, 2007

Great Find

My old breadmaker is dying a slow death. I do have to say it has held up well . It's about 8 years old. It is just getting progressively louder. The motor is working harder, the beater thingie (yes, that's the techical term. LOL) is squeaky, the nonstick is starting to come off in place. All in all it has served me well, but I knew I would have to start looking for a new one soon. :)

I had been looking at this machine, but it was a little out of my price range right now and I would have had to save up for it. I was at the Goodwill store the other day and stumbled across this for $15. It is wonderful. I LOVE it. It's quiet, compared to my old machine. It has a setting for 3 different size loaves. It makes jam!!! What a great find. I am so thrilled. I plan on making tons of bread with it. Ok, maybe not tons, but you know what I mean. :) I will definately be posting pictures and recipes as I make them. This is so gonna rock. :)

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Yummy Biscuits



I made these biscuits last night for dinner. They turned out wonderfully. I used the following recipe from Hillbilly Housewife. I didn't freeze them, I just baked them straight away.





Paula's Purty Nearly Instant Biscuits

6 cups self-rising biscuit flour (OR 6 cups flour, plus 3 tablespoons baking powder & 1 Tablespoon salt)
1 cup shortening
2 cups buttermilk OR sour milk OR yogurt thinned with a little milk or water
This recipe is inspired from a very dear friend named Paula. It involves preparing biscuits from scratch and then freezing the unbaked biscuits. Paula created the idea because her family always wanted her good biscuits for supper, and she needed a way to make them hot, and fresh, even on days when she didn't feel like baking. The results are divinely inspired.
First get out a large mixing bowl. Measure in the self rising biscuit flour (or flour, baking powder and salt). Add the firmly packed shortening and mash it into the flour with your fingers or a fork. DO Not Overmix. The shortening should be casually combined with the flour, and small chunks the size of dried beans should remain. This is what makes the biscuits flakey. Now stir in the buttermilk or sour milk or thinned out yogurt. Stir it up until you have a nice soft dough. Knead the dough about 10 or 12 times. NO more, No less. This activates the gluten in the flour just enough to make good biscuits. Roll the dough out into a nice thick slab. I use a rolling pin, but any sturdy jar or glass will do. Cut the dough into biscuit shapes. Use a clean can or glass rim, if you don't have a biscuit cutter. Tuna cans are just the right size for big breakfast biscuits. Continue rolling and cutting until all the dough is used up.
Lay waxed paper on a plate or large pan. Arrange the shaped biscuit dough on the waxed paper. Freeze overnight. The next morning the biscuits can be gathered up and stashed in plastic freezer bag.
When you want to cook them, just take out the specific number you want and place them on a lightly oiled cookie sheet or pizza pan. Bake in a preheated 425 to 450° oven for about 10 minutes. The biscuits will rise up beautifully and will be a nice golden brown when done.
These biscuits are better tasting, and much cheaper than canned whack-'em-on-the-counter-biscuits. The whole recipe makes between 30 and 35 medium sized biscuits, or about 20 big breakfast size biscuits (grand-sized).

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Chocolate Soda Cake

A couple of weeks ago I picked up some diet chocolate cherry Dr. Pepper. I drank one, it was alright. It was a little to chemically for me, if you know what I mean. :) Anyway, I had been looking for ways to use it up. In my search I came across this recipe for Chocolate Soda Cake . I figured it would be a great way to use up this soda.

Chocolate Soda Cake
Recipe #147890

12 servings
40 min 10 min prep

1 (18 1/4 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 1/4 cups diet cola- (which is a tad less than one can of soda. I used the diet chocolate cherry dr. pepper I mentioned earlier)

Mix dry cake mix with soda. Don't pay any attention to adding oil, egg, etc.
Pour into floured cake pans, bunt pan, muffin tins, etc.
Bake according to directions on box.

**********************

So, Griffin and I are making this cake for dessert tonight. It was super easy to mix up. We poured it into my Pampered Chef Fluted Stoneware Pan that I picked up somewhere for $5. :) I also sprinkled some halved maraschino cherries onto the batter and sorta poked them into the batter. It's in the oven and has to cook for about 40 minutes. I am going to melt some chocolate chips and drizzle that over the top once it is cooled. I will be sure to update later and let you all know how it turned out.

*****CAKE IS DONE*****

So, here it is. :) The whole drizzled chocolate thing didn't quite work out, so I had to spread it on the top. It looks delicious and I am sure it will be.



Griffin is so excited about it. He can't wait to eat it. I hope he makes it until after dinner. :)

Monday, November 26, 2007

Long time no post.

Well, it's been a while. I never did get those brownies made. We moved halfway across the world since that last post. We have finally adjusted to Texas after spending the last 8 years in England. Well, maybe not 100% adjusted, but adjusted enough. LOL

We have finally settled in and I am just getting back to blogging. :) So, look for more posts, more pics, and more recipes shortly.

Friday, April 6, 2007

On The Search

I am on the search for a low fat, high fiber brownie. I have a plan in mind that I think will work out, but I just need to experiment. I think I will do it next week while the kids are out for spring break. Sounds like a great way to spend a week, doesn't it? :)

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread

Last night we had oven BBQ chicken thighs for dinner. I thought corn bread would be great with the chicken. As I was digging through the fridge for inspiration, I came across some jalapenos and cheddar cheese and decided to make Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread. It was fabulous. Even the little ones and hubby ate it, and they don't do spicy. I will definatley make it again. Here's the recipe.


Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup canola oil
3 TBSP egg substitute ( I used the All Whites brand which is obviously, all egg whites. LOL)
4 jalapenos, seeded and diced
1/2 cup Kraft 2% cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray an 8 or 9 inch pan with cooking spray. Put dry ingredients into a bowl. Mix the milk, egg substitute, and oil in a seperate bowl until well mixed. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Add jalapeno and cheese to bowl. Mix until just blended. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes until browned and tests done.


I baked this in the Pampered Chef Square Baker. I cut this into small pieces and got around 16 pieces out of the pan. It turned out really moist and yummy.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

I just made the best throw together pizza ever, so I thought I'd share the recipe.


Buffalo Chicken Pizza

1 pre made pizza crust-I used Gourmet Italia brand
Hot sauce
cooked chicken, diced or shredded-I used 1 tenderloin because that is all I had in the fridge, but it would have been better with more. This tenderloin had also been sitting the the fridge marinading in hot sauce for a couple of days.
margarine, melted-I only used 1 tsp, but I am trying to watch my fat and calorie intake.
Shredded cheese of your choice- I used some mozz and cheddar

Mix the margarine and hot sauce in a bowl and spread over pizza crust. Put the chicken on the crust and top with cheese. Bake at 450 until cheese is melted.




This has got to be the best throw together dinner I have made in a while. It was so good. :)

Easy Peasy Roasted Potatoes

I made these last night to go along with the meatloaf. YUM


Easy Peasy Roasted Potatoes

1-2 potatoes per person, depending on the size. I used about 8-10 for the 5 of us, but they were tangerine sized potatoes. :) Plus there were leftovers for Dave's lunch.

3-4 TBSP diced onion, I used the dried stuff because it was easier.

1-2 TBSP olive oil

seasoning of your choice- I have used fresh rosemary, chives, Ms. Dash, steak seasoning, etc. The possibilities are endless.


Wash and quarter the potatoes. If they are bigger ones, you might want to cut them smaller. Just make sure all the potato pieces are around the same size for even cooking. Put the potatoes in a large bowl with a lid. Drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes. Add the seasoning to the potatoes. Put the lid on the bowl and shake until the olive oil and spices are evenly distributed among the potatoes. Pour into a baking dish. I used a Pampered Chef Square Baker. Bake at 350 for about an hour. I stirred them around about 30 min in to get them evenly browned. When the potatoes are tender, they are done. Of course, smaller pieces are going to cook faster.

This took me all of 10 minutes to assemble and get in the oven. Very easy. Very delicious. Always a hit.

Yummy Meatloaf

I don't know about you guys, but I have a hard time getting my family to eat their veggies. Well, let me clarify. They eat veggies, but it's basically corn, peas, and green beans. I can occasionally get the hubby to eat brussels sprouts ( he likes them, no one else does) and the kids will eat a floret or two of broc or cauli. They are not very adventurous when it comes to veggies. So, I have to come up with creative ways to get veggies in them. Last night I made this meatloaf. It was a hit, as meatloaf always is, and no one even noticed the veggies.


Yummy Meatloaf

2 lbs lean ground beef
2 eggs
4-5 carrots, shredded
1-2 zucchini, shredded
1 onion, shredded
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

To start off, I shredded the veggies in my food processor using the finest shredding blade I had. I put the veggie mixture into a large bowl with the ground beef. I added the eggs and the salt, pepper and garlic powder. You can use whatever spices your family likes. Mix everything together really well. I used my hands. I hate using my hands, but I think it works best and it doesn't dirty any dishes. LOL take mixture and put into a pan. I use a terra cotta lasagna pan. I don't know what size it is. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

This turned out great. Everyone loved it and, like I said, no one even noticed the veggies. Definitely a keeper.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Healthier Lifestyle

So, I am embarking on a healthier lifestyle. With this lifestyle change comes big food changes. So, I am going to use this blog to post new reicpes and food related stuff. :) Check back for more soon.