Not your ordinary French Toast!

This is another great recipe we just tried! It came from a Taste of Home Cookbook...and I don't remember what it was called! It made a super fast, tasty breakfast! AND, it was easy to remove the egg for Jules and Derek.



Ingredients:
butter
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
10 slices of sandwich bread (the recipe called for french bread, but we used what we had)
10 slices thinly sliced deli ham
5 slices monterey jack cheese
5 tsp spreadable strawberry preserves

Directions:
1. Place 5 slices bread out on the counter. Top each slice with 2 slices of ham and 1 slice of cheese. Top with remaining bread slices.
2. In a wide bowl or plate, whisk together egg and milk until smooth. Dip the top and bottom pieces of bread into the egg mixture (just like you would for french toast). Spray non-stick spray onto skillet. Place sandwiches onto hot skillet over medium heat and cook each side of sandwich until lightly browned and cheese is melted.
3. For eggless sandwiches: spread thin layer of butter on the top and bottom of the sandwich (just like a regular grilled cheese sandwich). Place sandwiches on skillet and brown on each side.
4. Serve each sandwich with 1 tsp strawberry preserves spread on top.

Chipotle Remoulade Sauce

OH MY GOSH! We had this with crab cakes last night and it was out of this world good! I'll never have a plain crab cake again! :-)

Chipotle Remoulade
(from Recipezaar.com, recipe #46786)

Ingredients:
7 oz can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (We love very spicy food, and this was way too much for us! I used half a can and it was still a little hot for me)
2 tsp lime juice
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped (I used about 1/2 tsp dried cilantro)
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. In a blender (or food processor), puree chipotle and lime juice until smooth.
2. Whisk chipotle mixture into mayonnaise 1/3 at a time (I just did it all at once).
3. Stir in cilantro, salt, and pepper (I added just a pinch of salt and didn't add any extra pepper!)

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients for Chicken:
1 cup flour
½ cup cornstarch
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup water
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed

Ingredients for Sauce:
½ cup brown sugar
4 Tbsp cornstarch
16 oz. Pineapple chunks, reserve syrup
1 green pepper, chunked
½ cup vinegar
4 Tbsp ketchup
1 onion, chunked

Directions for Chicken:
1.Heat oil to 375 degrees
2.Beat flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, water and oil together until smooth.
3.Dip chicken into mixture and deep fry until golden.


Directions for Sauce:
1.Mix sugar and cornstarch
2.Add enough water to juice to measure 2 cups.
3.Stir juice, vinegar, and ketchup into cornstarch mixture.

4.Cook, stirring constantly until it thickens and boils.


5.Stir in Pepper and Onion. Cook until tender, stirring constantly.
6.Stir in pineapple, cook until tender, stirring constantly.
7.Serve over chicken.

I did half of the chicken this way, and the other half I just took plain cut up chicken breasts and sauteed in a little olive oil until browned. I wanted to see if I liked it enough that way to eat it (so it would save the fat and calories of the deep frying). It wasn't bad, but the fried is just so much better!!!

Valentine Biscuits

Southern Biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cup buttermilk, chilled

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.
3. Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the second pass will not be quite as light as those from the first, but hey, that's life.) Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 10-15 minutes.

Little Taste of Heaven Peppers

UPDATE: We made these the other night, and we did it much healthier and they were still every bit as good, maybe even better!
Instead of wrapping the peppers in bacon I just used a little bit of pre-cooked bacon (the kind you buy in the grocery store, already cooked) and a little shredded cheese on top of the pepper and cooked that way. SO YUMMY!


These have become one of my FAVORITE snacks! Of course, we make the fat free kind LOL!

Ingredients:
8 jalapeno peppers
about 1 oz smoked gouda (or regular gouda) cheese
8 slices bacon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wearing gloves, cut peppers in half lengthwise and remove seeds.
3. Slice cheese into very small sticks (about 1 inch long, 1/8 inch wide)
4. Place one slice of cheese into each jalapeno half.
5. Cut bacon slices in half. Wrap one half piece of bacon around each jalapeno stuffed with cheese (start on top, wrap around, and end on top of pepper).
6. Cook for about 15 minutes until cheese is melted and bacon is cooked.

Valentine Cookies

This recipe made about 40 3-inch heart shaped valentine cookies. They are light and a little flaky, and super delicious! I got it from www.recipezaar.com (#155480).

Ingredients:
2 cups butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 bag white chocolate baking chips
6 red chocolate candy melts
1 Tbsp shortening
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until well creamed. (I read on a baking website the other day that to actually cream butter and sugar, you should mix in a mixer for 7-10 minutes...I mixed for about 2).
2. Beat in vanilla.
3. Combine flour and cocoa in separate bowl; gradually add to creamed butter mixture.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness (if they are too thin, they will break apart after baking).
5. Cut with a heart-shaped cookie cutter and place about an inch apart on baking sheet (I use stones for everything I put in the oven).
6. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes.
7. Remove to wire racks to cool.
8. In a microwave safe bowl, heat vanilla chips, shortening, and red chocolate candy melts until melted, stirring every 20 seconds. DO NOT OVERCOOK! It will burn quickly!
9. Dip both sides of the cookie into melted mixture (so you make a v-shape from the point of the cookie out to the middle of both rounded tops).
10. In a ziploc bag, melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips in microwave, kneading every 20 seconds until well melted (again, DO NOT OVERHEAT!)
11. Drizzle over cookies as desired.
12. Place on wire rack to dry.

For the ones with the hearts on them, I used a wilton cookie cutter that has a stamp in it for valentine cookies. We stamped the heart design into the cookies and traced them with red cookie icing after the cookies cooled off. Then we drizzled with chocolate! Yummy!

Pizza Cake

So, I for this cake I made 1 14" round chocolate cake and 1 14" round yellow cake. I cut both in half and stacked them, so when put together, I had 1 2-layer cake that was half chocolate and half yellow.
I then used a beige icing to cover the entire cake. I used red icing to make the "sauce". I used regular white icing, piped out of a small hole in a ziploc baggie for the cheese, and topped it with a bunch of marzipan toppings! I think it turned out great!

Marzipan

This is a recipe I got when I took a cake decorating class a few years ago. It isn't the greatest tasting stuff in the world, but you use it to mold objects out of for cakes (I don't like the rolled fondant that you can use either). It's easy to work with (like PlayDoh) and it looks great!
I'm using this for making a Pizza cake for our worship team meeting. I'll post those pictures when it's done!

Ingredients:
8 oz Solo Brand almond paste
2 egg whites
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
extra powdered sugar for kneading
cornstarch, if needed

Directions:
1. In Kitchen Aid Mixer bowl, combine almond paste, eggs, and extract. Add sugar about a cup at a time (at LOW speed to keep in bowl!). Mix until smooth. Should be the consistency of heavy pie crust or thick playdoh. If it's too dry, add cornstarch about 1 Tbsp at a time until it's all combined.
2. Use as you would Playdoh or clay to shape objects out of it. You can mix gel food coloring into it to make it whatever color you wish. If it's sticking to your hands or a cutting board, use knead with more powdered sugar.

Pampered Chef Speedy Streusel Apple Pie

This pie takes a little time, but it is totally worth it!

Ingredients:
2 homemade pie crusts
1 egg, separated
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
5-6 medium red baking apples, such as Jonathan (about 6 cups)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Powdered sugar
Vanilla ice cream or thawed, frozen whipped topping (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place one pie crust in a deep dish pie plate, gently pressing dough into bottom and up sides. In a bowl, separate egg white from yolk. (Set yolk aside for another use.) Whisk egg white until frothy. Brush egg white over bottom and halfway up sides of crust; set crust aside (I skipped this step b/c of Julie's egg allergy and it turned out perfect anyway).
2. For streusel, finely dice remaining crust; place in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon to batter bowl; toss and set mixture aside.
3. For filling, core and slice apples, leaving peel on; cut slices into quarters. In large bowl, combine apples, lemon juice and vanilla; toss to coat. In small bowl, combine cornstarch, remaining sugar and remaining cinnamon; mix well. Add cornstarch mixture to apples; stir to coat evenly. Spoon apple mixture into crust. Sprinkle streusel evenly over apples.
4. Place pie in microwave oven. Microwave on HIGH 8 minutes or until apples are very hot, rotating dish after 4 minutes. Immediately place pie on bottom rack of conventional oven. Bake 18-22 minutes or until topping is deep golden brown. Remove pie from oven to cooling rack; let stand 15 minutes.

Spicy Chicken Nugget Salad

OK, so I just made this one day when I was heating up chicken nuggets for the kids, and I LOVE it! It's so quick and easy! And tastes delicious!

Ingredients:
Lettuce, chopped
Carrot matchsticks
chicken nuggets (I use 4 per person)
spicy barbecue sauce
blue cheese dressing
croutons
Kraft parmesan, romano, asiago cheese blend (shredded in refrigerator section)

Directions:
1. Mix together lettuce and carrots.
2. Heat chicken nuggets in microwave until hot. Cut into small pieces. Mix with barbecue sauce in medium bowl. Place on top of lettuce.
3. Top with croutons and blue cheese dressing. Sprinkle with cheese.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I found this recipe on recipezaar.com as well, but I tweaked it just a bit. It called for enchilada sauce, but I didn't have any, so I used a can of crushed tomatoes and some taco seasoning instead. It was pretty good! Almost the same as Chili's!

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 chicken breasts (or about 2-3 cups rotisserie chicken meat)
1/2 cup diced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups chicken broth (I mad with water and chicken base)
1 cup masa harina (fine corn flour found in Mexican food isle of grocery store)
2 cups water
30 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp taco seasoning
16 oz Velveeta cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
5 cups water
toppings: crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Add 1 Tbsp oil to large pot over medium heat.
2. Add chicken to pot and brown for 4-5 minutes per side (skip this step if using rotisserie chicken).
3. Set chicken aside.
4. Add onions and garlic to pot and saute over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until onions begin to become translucent.
5. Add chicken broth.
6. Combine masa harina with 2 cups water in a medium bowl and whisk until blended.
7. Add masa mixture to pot with onions, garlic, and broth.
8. Add remaining water, enchilada sauce, cheese and spices to pot and bring mixture to a boil.
9. Shred the chicken into small, bite-size pieces and add to pot.
10. Reduce heat and simmer soup for 30-40 minutes or until thick.
11. Serve soup in bowls. Garnish with crushed tortilla chips and sour cream. Top with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.

Mushroom Pot Roast

Ingredients:

1 chuck roast (pot roast)
1 1/2 pounds baby carrots
6 medium baking potatoes, diced
1 packet onion soup mix
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
pepper, to taste
water to cover

Directions:

1. Put carrots and potatoes in bottom of large crock pot.
2. Cut meat into large pieces (2 inches x 3 inches). Place on top of the veggies.
3. Mix together soup mixes and about 6 cups water. Pour over meat and vegetables.
4. Add more water if necessary, so the meat and vegetables are covered.
5. Sprinkle with pepper.
6. Cook on high for 6 hours.

Hash Brown Casserole

I got this recipe off of recipezaar.com (posted by kcdelong). It was very yummy!




Ingredients:
2 lb frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/2 cup melted butter
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
8 oz sour cream
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups crushed cornflakes
1/4 cup melted butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl, combine potatoes, 1/2 cup melted butter, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, chopped onion, cheese, salt and pepper.
3. Place mixture in a 3 quart casserole dish.
4. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, saute cornflakes in 1/4 cup melted butter, and sprinkle the mixture over the top of the casserole.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.
6. To freeze: Assemble casserole. Wrap tightly with foil and freeze.
7. To serve: Thaw in fridge overnight. Bake as directed.

Big Soft Chewy Ginger Cookies - EGG FREE!

These cookies were posted on Jenn Harrison's blog and I just had to try them. Julie is allergic to eggs so I had to substitute applesauce for the egg. And I didn't have ground cloves, so I didn't add that either...but they are AWESOME!



Big Soft Chewy Ginger Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves (I didn't use this)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
6 tablespoons white sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an un-greased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.