Chicken Cutlets

I haven't posted for a really long time, so I figured it was about time!
Chicken Cutlets is a really easy, yummy, and looks fancier than how long it actually took me.
from: the "I DO" cookbook

Sorry I wasn't able to get a good picture. I already put in my leftovers for lunch in a container before taking the picture, but you can see the Mornay sauce and parsley flakes on top.

Ingredients:

- 4 chicken breasts or 8 small chicken strips depending on what kind of chicken you buy. You can be your own judge, but I usually use more chicken than what it says and you'll see why later, but I don't like to waste ingredients and it makes great leftovers.
- 1 cup buttermilk or I use just a half a pint- it's a little over 1 cup, and I am talking about 1 Tbl. so I just use it all
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1-1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs- I don't really measure, I just pour a little at a time on a plate and coat the chicken, so I may use more than what they say.
- 2 Tablespoons of butter- I honestly don't think I use this much butter, but it is used to coat the top of the chicken, so again use your best judgment

Instructions:
Mix buttermilk, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in bag or bowl. Add chicken and marinate for 30-1 hour, they say overnight taste better, but I have never tried it. Drain chicken, chicken should still be fairly coated. Coat chicken with bread crumbs, melt butter and coat chicken with brush or pour on top. Cook in oven for 20-25 mins or until golden brown at 350 degrees.

I enjoy eating this on top of spaghetti noodles, I am sure any type of noodles would taste great. I also add a Mornay sauce on top of chicken and sprinkle parsley flakes on top of sauce.

Mornay Sauce:
- 2 Tbl. butter - I use all this butter
- 1 1/2 Tbl. flour
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 3/4 cup half n' half milk
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese - I use grated Parmesan cheese and it taste great, so use whatever is convenient for you.

Instructions:
Melt butter in sauce pan. Stir in flour. Using whisk, stir in chicken broth and half n' half. Bring to a gentle boil (I use medium heat the whole time) - about 2 mins. Add Parmesan cheese - simmer for 2 mins (It makes 1 1/2 cups)

Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie

This is from Todd Wilber's Top Secret Recipes. It takes a little while to make, but it is worth it. I made this for Sunday dinner and did all the work Sat. night while we watched a scary movie, so all I had to do was roll out the top crust and pop it in the oven.

Crust
1 &1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp. salt
2 egg yolks
3 TBS ice water
2/3 c cold butter
(1 beaten egg to brush on crust) optional

Filling
1 c sliced carrots
1 c sliced celery
2 c frozen peas
1 c chopped white onion
4 chicken breasts
4 TBS butter
5 TBS flour
2 &1/2 C chicken broth
2/3 c milk
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper

I just make sure I have 5 cups of vegetables- usually a frozen medley of sorts then I don't have to do any cutting at all.

Mix dry crust ingredients, make well in center and all wet ingredients, mix with fork and then your hands to finish. Make into disk- put in fridge for at least an hour

Steam veggies and poach chicken (cook in slightly salted water for 8 to 10 min)
in seperate pan melt butter and whisk in flour- add chicken broth and milk- stir until mixture comes to a boil, then cook for 1 more minute before reducing heat to low. Add all the chicken and the veggies and salt and pepper. Simmer on low for 5 minutes. Put into casserole dish (I like to spray dish with Pam first for easy cleaning)

Roll out dough the shape of the dish- seal on top of dish folding edges under. brush with egg if desired. His recipe calls for cooking in 6 individual ramekins, but I'm to lazy for that (and don't have the ramekins).

Bake 425*F for approx. 30 minutes (he says 30-45, but mine is always done by 30)

I can't find my picture, but will add it as soon as I've located it.

Menu: Nov 12 - Nov 17

Wednesday: Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
Thursday: Chicken and Broccoli Casserole over rice
Friday: We're going on a date with Brian's brother and his wife. I love eating out :).
Saturday: Turkey sandwiches
Sunday: Hungarian Goulash with green bean beans on the side. I love this recipe! I will definitely post it.
Monday: Personal size pizzas...I bought some pepperoni and a green pepper.

Tuesday we're off to Colorado!! We are leaving Brian for a week :(. I'm sad that I won't get to make him dinner. We're going to miss him so much.

As you can tell from my menu, I have been trying to plan cheap meals. So, it's kind of a boring menu, but I will have better ones in the future!

Tomato and Pesto Pizza

So, Paul and I switched around our meals for the week because we needed something quick last night. And oh my goodness. This pizza was so yummy! It has so much flavor! The pesto combined with the tomatoes and cheese just works. It's simple and fast, and it's DEE-vine. Seriously.

Tomato and Pesto Pizza
Ingredients:
pizza dough (I used the Pillsbury kind in the tube...it was very yummy!)
1/4 c. pesto (I think I ended up using more than that...I just spread a thin layer over the whole crust...I didn't measure)
2-3 c. mozzarella cheese, grated
2-3 fresh tomatoes, sliced
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese
dried basil


Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees (the original recipe says 400, but the pizza dough I used said 425). Roll out your pizza dough onto a greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Spread pesto evenly on top of the dough. Sprinkle generously with mozzarella cheese. Place tomatoes on top of the cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Next, sprinkle with additional mozzarella cheese (as you can see from my pictures we ran out of mozzarella, so I had to use cheddar), parmesan cheese, and finally, basil. Bake for 12-15 minutes, checking after 10. Ours was actually perfect after 10 minutes.


The only drawback I can think of about this pizza is that pesto is pretty expensive to buy. It seems that it would be cheaper to make your own, but that would make it ever so much more difficult. The recipes for pesto I looked at all take at least 45 minutes to prepare. I guess you just have to weigh your options...splurge on the store-bought pesto, or be adventurous and make your own!

Oh, and Mandy pointed out that you could add chicken to the pizza, and it would probably be delicious, too!

Thank you Favorite Family Recipes for this amazing pizza! Here's a link to the original recipe on their site: Tomato and Pesto Pizza.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

This is pretty much the easiest (and maybe even cheapest!) of the casseroles I grew up on. If you like tuna, cream cheese, and peas, you'll probably love this recipe! :)

Tuna Noodle Casserole
Ingredients:
1 can of tuna
8 oz. wide egg noodles
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 can milk
grated onion (to taste)
1 c. frozen peas
cheddar cheese, grated
potato chips (a couple handfuls, crushed)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook noodles. Meanwhile, mix together tuna, soup, cream cheese, milk, onion, and peas in a separate bowl. Once noodles are done, drain them and add them to the tuna mixture. Toss to coat. In a casserole dish, layer noodle mixture with cheese. Top with cheese and crumbled potato chips. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.


Sorry for the dark picture! I was in a hurry (I was hungry! ;) ) and I didn't end up getting any good ones. I also didn't have any potato chips, unfortunately. They really add a fun texture, but I couldn't justify buying a whole bag of them for this one recipe.

Menu: November 10 - November 17

It's about time I have a menu planned! Here's hopin' I stick to it!

Monday (today): Chicken salads
Tuesday: Tuna Casserole
Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan (FFR)
Thursday: Taco Soup (FFR)
Friday: Creamy Italian Chicken
Saturday: Tomato and Pesto Pizza (FFR)
Sunday: Curry
Monday: Pasta Toss (Hatrack Cookbook)

Wow, it's been so long since I planned a menu! It was so hard! I don't know what made it so hard for me, but it took like over an hour. Phew!

Almond Poppyseed Mini Muffins with Glaze

Way back when we went to Crate and Barrel and bought our grill pan, we also bought a mini muffin pan. I finally used it for the first time yesterday! I needed to bring a dessert to the ward new member social, and I completely forgot about it before yesterday, so I had to make something with ingredients I already had on hand. I turned to...you guessed it! Allrecipes.com!

This recipe is for Poppy Seed Bread with Glaze, but I saw in the comments that someone had made mini muffins with batter they had leftover. So I did some research on how long to bake mini muffins, and decided to give it a shot! They were a big hit! All 72 mini muffins are already gone.


Almond Poppyseed Mini Muffins with Glaze
Ingredients:
3 c. flour
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. baking powder
3 T. poppy seeds (this was a LOT of poppy seeds...2 T. may have been enough)
1 1/3 c. vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
2 1/4 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
2 t. almond extract

Glaze:
1/4 c. orange juice
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract
2 c. powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease mini muffin pan. Mix together flour, salt, baking powder, and poppy seeds. Add oil, eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and almond extract and mix well. Spoon into prepared muffin pan. About 1 heaping tablespoon per muffin. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Meanwhile, prepare glaze by mixing the wet ingredients and then adding powdered sugar until it reaches the desired consistency. I used all 2 cups.

Remove muffins from pan and transfer to a wire rack. While still warm (but not too warm! don't burn yourself! ;) ) dip the top of each muffin in the glaze. Allow excess to drip off before returning muffins to the wire rack to cool.

**Spray muffin pan between each batch so the muffins are easy to remove.

**The original recipe calls for butter flavored extract. I don't even know what that is, let alone have it in my cupboard. The comments on allrecipes.com said it was ok to leave it out, so I slightly adjusted the amounts of vanilla and almond extract to make up for it.

**By the way, as you know, I always let the measuring spoon overflow into the bowl when I'm dealing with vanilla. Almond extract on the other hand, is rather strong stuff. I never let the measuring spoon overflow with it, in fact, I always slightly underfill the measuring spoon.

Here's a link to the original recipe if you'd prefer to make bread instead of muffins: Poppy Seed Bread with Glaze.

Kaylene's Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

This is a recipe I got from my friend, Kaylene. They are always a big hit with whoever I make them for. :) Even if it's just me. Ha ha. I made them for playgroup last week, and the little kids loved them even though they have oatmeal in them.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
1 c. (2 sticks) soft margarine or butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
1 c. peanut butter
2 c. and 2 T. flour
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 1/3 c. oatmeal (not instant)
1 bag chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Blend butter with sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter, mixing well. Add salt and baking soda. Add flour and blend well. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned.


The recipe makes tons of cookies (I was living off of them for a few days after I made them ;) ). Enjoy!

Baked Ziti

This is one of Paula's recipes. She was going to post it a little while back, but forgot to take a picture and never posted it. It's delicious! It's a variation on lasagna (similar ingredients, different noodle). I made this the other day to bring to someone in my ward, and I almost forgot to take a picture of it, myself!


Baked Ziti
Ingredients:
12 ounces ziti (small tube pasta...I actually used penne)
2 lb. ground beef (I always use less than this...probably more like 1 1/2 lbs)
1 jar spaghetti sauce of your choice
2 eggs
1 carton (15 ounces) ricotta cheese)
2 1/2 c. grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. parmesan cheese

**This time I decided to add a little to the recipe. I added a chopped up onion, some fresh mushrooms chopped up, a couple small cloves of garlic, minced, about 1/4 t. basil and some pepper. These additional ingredients are unnecessary, but they add to the flavor.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta. Meanwhile cook beef (I added onion and garlic right off the bat) and drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce (this is when I added basil, pepper, and mushrooms). Simmer. In a separate large bowl, combine eggs, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese. Drain pasta and add it to the cheese mixture. Toss to coat.

In a greased 9x13 baking pan, spread 1/3 of the meat sauce. Top with half of the pasta mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining meat sauce. Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

This recipe makes A LOT. It was enough for me to bring to a couple in our ward for dinner, for Paul and me for dinner that night, and for lunch for Paul for two days. I made this when I was pregnant and put it in the freezer to have when James was born. It's a nice, easy meal. But it's a bit expensive because of all the cheese.

Golden Pork Chops

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and adapted it according to a couple of the comments that people had posted about it. Here's the recipe I made (I'll link to the original recipe at the end):

Golden Pork Chops:
Ingredients:
6 thinly sliced boneless pork chops
olive oil
Lawry's or other seasoned salt
salt
pepper
1 onion, chopped
1/2 c. fresh mushrooms, sliced (I don't like big pieces of mushrooms, so I chopped mine up pretty small)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans condensed golden mushroom soup (Campbell's)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork chops on both sides with Lawry's, salt, and pepper. Brown pork chops in the skillet for 1-2 minutes per side. Place pork chops in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. In same skillet, sautee onions and garlic for a few minutes. Add mushrooms and golden mushroom soup. Stir. Pour mixture over pork chops. Bake, covered, for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes. Serve over rice.


These pork chops were surprisingly yummy. Paul liked them a lot and said he would like this to be one of our regular recipes.

Here's the recipe on allrecipes.com: Golden Pork Chops

Country Captain Chicken

It's been so long since I made this recipe! I haven't been very successful with the slow cooker recipes like I used to be. I have a bunch of recipes I want to try though, so hopefully I bring it out again soon!

This recipe, like most slow cooker recipes, was nice because I could put it together and let it cook itself. It had a little more prep than some other recipes that I've made, but it was a really good dinner. It had a surprising flavor, and both Paul and I enjoyed it.

Country Captain Chicken
Ingredient:
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (I actually just used two boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into pieces)
2 T. flour
2 T. oil, divided
1 c. chopped green bell pepper (I just chopped up one smallish pepper)
1 large onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped (I actually forgot to put this in when I made it)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c. chicken broth
2 c. canned crushed tomatoes
1/2 c. golden raisins*
1 1/2 t. curry powder
1 t. salt
1/4 t. paprika
1/4 t. black pepper

*Paul doesn't like raisins. But I had a feeling they wouldn't seem like raisins once they were cooked for hours and hours, and I was right. They really added to the meal, so I recommend putting these in even if you are apprehensive.

Directions:
Coat chicken pieces with flour, set aside. Heat half of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, onion, celery, and garlic. Cook and stir for about five minutes or until onion starts to get tender. Place vegetables in the bottom of your slow cooker. Heat remaining half of oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add flour-coated chicken. Brown for five minutes on each side. Chicken will not be fully cooked, but it will finish cooking in the slow cooker. Add chicken pieces to the slow cooker. Pour broth into the still-hot skillet. Cook and stir, scraping off bits of chicken or vegetables at the bottom of the skillet. Pour into slow cooker. Add tomatoes, raisins, curry powder, salt, paprika, and black pepper. Gently stir the spices into the tomatoes to disperse them into the mixture. Cover. Cook on low for 3 hours. Serve over rice.


Like I said, this recipe had a surprising flavor. It was very interesting and yummy. I highly recommend giving it a try at least once.

Grace's Fall-Off-the-Bone Ribs

It's me! I'm alive! I have a whole bunch of recipes to post because it's been so long since I last posted one. I don't know why, but I think I needed a little break. I'm ready to get caught up, though, so here we go!

This recipe is a family favorite in Paul's family. And I know why! These ribs are delicious and actually very easy to prepare.


Grace's Fall-Off-the-Bone Ribs
Ingredients:
1 rack of pork ribs
triple recipe of Ishimoto family Sweet and Sour Sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Wrap rack of ribs generously in foil. I should have taken a picture to give you an idea of what it looks like, but you just wrap the foil around and cinch it at the top like a little tent. Make sure the foil is crimped shut all the way across.. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 2 1/2 hours. (Yes, you do not need to season the ribs at all first. Don't worry, they turn out delicious!) Prepare Sweet and Sour Sauce. After 2 1/2 hours, open up the foil and flatten the rack of ribs if needed. Pour on about 2/3 of your Sweet and Sour Sauce (be generous). Continue to cook (with foil still open) for 30 minutes. At this point, increase the temperature on the oven to broil, and pour the rest of your sauce on top. Broil for about two minutes. This gives the ribs a nice charcoaled scent and seals in the flavor.


We served our ribs with steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes. It was a delicious dinner! And, you may be thinking that one rack of ribs is a lot for two people. Well........


Look at those clean bones! The meat really does fall right off of them. It was so yummy.

*Note: Paul and I bought an 'extra meaty' rack of ribs (it was labeled that way at the store). I highly recommend buying that kind because I get annoyed with ribs that have hardly any meat on them.

Big Noodle Soup

This is a chicken noodle soup that Brian had growing up and they called it big noodle soup, referring to the homemade noodles. As you can tell from the picture, Brian likes more stuff in his soup than broth. I always have more broth.

This recipe is more for the noodles than for the actual soup. I don't have an amazing soup recipe. It always tastes good, but it's just basic. You boil a chicken breast until cooked and then shred it. Meanwhile boil some water and add the veggies/onion and how ever many bouillon cubes for the amount of water. Once you give the veggies a few minutes add the chicken and cook the noodles.

Noodles:

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3 eggs
2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Directions:
Measure flour into bowl; make a well in center and add eggs and salt. With hands, thoroughly mix egg into flour. Add water and mix. If you need more water, add it a little at a time. Knead until smooth and elastic...about 10 minutes. Roll dough paper thin (make sure to coat surface with flour). Cut noodles to desired thickness (a good way to do this is with a pizza cutter). Put into boiling soup and cook for 12-15 minutes.

*I've never made these noodles, Brian always does it. So, hopefully I got the directions right and it's not too hard.

Easy Breadsticks

We served it with breadsticks and they were delicious. You just let some rhodes rolls (one per breadstick) sit out until they are defrosted but still cold (you can microwave them a little if you're in a hurry). Then you roll them into skinny strips and line them up on a cookie sheet. Let them rise until doubled in size (just like you would with rolls). When they're ready to go in the oven you coat them with melted butter. Bake them for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until golden brown. When you pull them out put another coat of melted butter on them. There is a very similar recipe on the bag of rolls as well.

Navajo Tacos

I got this recipe from a girl in the ward. It was fast, easy to make, and kid approved. I forgot to take a picture of one topped with goodies, but here's one of the pieces of flat bread. This is a little size for my little eaters. They puff up a lot in the oil, so I'm going to flatten them even more for next time.

Flat bread:
3 c. flour
1 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
Mix all ingredients together (you may have to add a little more milk if it is on the dry side). Roll into balls and then flatten. I usually get about 7 or 8. Fry in oil until a golden brown on both sides.
Top with: chili, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, olives, cheese, green onions, sour cream and salsa etc.

Creamy Italian Chicken

I am way behind on posting recipes! This is a recipe that I tried a couple weeks ago and it turned out great! It had a really good flavor and the chicken wasn't dry like I thought it might be. Plus, it's a crockpot recipe and is very easy. Basically, I highly recommend it.

Unfortunately the night that I made it we were in a hurry and forgot to take a picture of it until I had eaten half of it so it's not the best picture. So, if any of you try it, you could take a better picture of it and we could replace this one.

Also, I served it with mashed potatoes and cooked carrots on the side. The recipe tells you to serve it over noodles or rice. I think it would be good that way, but Becca likes mashed potatoes more.

Creamy Italian Chicken
Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
1/3 cup water
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of chicken soup
1 can (4 oz.) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

Directions:
Place chicken in crockpot. Combine salad dressing mix and water; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours (I flipped them halfway, but the recipe doesn't tell you to do that). In a bowl whisk together soup and cream cheese until blended (soften the cream cheese first). Stir in mushrooms. Pour mixture over chicken and cook for 1 to 3 hours longer or until chicken juices run clear. Serve over rice or noodles.

* When I bought a salad mix envelope I was confused because there were different sizes. It's supposed to be about 1.25 oz. Also, I put more like 1/2 cup water. I put a little extra because it didn't seem like very much water.

* Like I said, it was good with mashed potatoes. We used the yummy sauce as gravy. But just a warning, it was a pretty heavy meal that way.