Parmesan Chicken

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Parmesan Chicken is an Italian classic. I played around until we got it just the way we wanted. We serve it over pasta with salad, over Parmesan Crusted Cauliflower,  or on its own with a side of garlic bread & salad.

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts
1 cup Bread Crumbs
1 cup Parmesan Cheese
2 Eggs
2 T Olive Oil
2 T Water
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 Can Hunts Four Cheese Spaghetti Sauce
1-2 cups Shredded Cheese

Directions:

Pound the chicken out to flat to approximately 1/2 inch thick. Mix together bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in bowl. Beat together eggs, 2 T olive oil, and water.  Cut chicken breasts in 2 or 3 portions each. Dredge each piece first in the bread crumb mixer. Start heating heavy skillet on medium high heat with 1/4 cup olive oil. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Dredge each piece of chicken in egg mixture followed by the bread mixture again. Pan fry for 3 minutes on each side. Pour 1/2 cup of sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish. Place the pan fried chicken on top of spaghetti sauce and then top with the remainder of the spaghetti sauce.  Bake for 25 minutes. Top with cheese return oven 3-5 minutes until melted.

Black Forest Cake

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In my living memory my Mom made this cake for Birthdays, special occasions, and Thursdays. My Dad and I share a Birthday and since this was his favorite cake this was the cake we always had. Last year I made it for LeeAnn’s Birthday. That may be because it is the only cake I know how to make.

Ingredients

3/4 cup Margarine (NOT BUTTER or OIL)
1 2/3 cups Sugar
2 Eggs
2 1/2 cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
5 Heaping Tablespoons of Cocoa
1 1/2  cup Ice Cold Water
1 tsp Vanilla
Zest from one large Orange

Whipping Cream*
1 can Cherry Pie Filing
1 small jar Maraschino Cherries

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a mixer cream together butter, sugar, vanilla for 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs and mix 2 to 3 minutes. In a separate bowl combined flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa. Add dry ingredients, cold water, and orange zest in to the mixing bowl. Mix on slow until all ingredients incorporate in to batter. Mix on high speed for 2-4 minutes. Pour batter into greased 9 inch round pans. Bake for 45 – 60 minutes until a toothpick comes out dry. Turn out onto cooling racks

*Whipping Cream Ingredients

2 cups Whipping Cream
1/4 cup Sugar
1 T Vanilla

Directions

Add all ingredients into mixer. Whip on high until it forms stiff peaks.

Assembly

Cut cake rounds so they are flat on the top. Place the first cake on to a cake tray. Cover with pie filling make sure it does not run over the edge. Top with second cake layer. Cover with whipping cream. Decorate with maraschino cherries. Refrigerate if not serving immediately.

 

 

Spinach Bacon Quiche

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I love quiche in general, but never found one that had a lot of vegetables in it so I made one. It is a family favorite for any meal. Sometimes we eat if for breakfast and other times we eat it for dinner. I have removed the vegetables and just made Bacon Quiche.

Ingredients

3 frozen Pie Shells
10 large eggs, beaten
8 oz Cream Cheese at room temperature
1 cups heavy cream
2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach, packed
1 cup Bacon Real Bits
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup dried Onions
1 tsp Minced Garlic
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese Shredded
1 cup Swiss cheese Shredded

Directions

Prepare the pie shells as per the directions on the package for a non-baked pie. Remove from oven and turn oven to 425 degrees.

Beat together eggs, whipping cream and cream cheese. Stir in remaining ingredients. Divide in to the 3 prepared pie shells evenly.

Bake at 425 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes until medium brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Variation

1- Use refrigerated pie crust cut and press into a large casserole dish (approximately 11×14). Bake as directed on the package for a non-baked pie.

Yorkshire Pudding

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My father-in-law is from England, so Yorkshire Pudding was a staple in their home. I know there are several recipes for it, but this is the one I learned from my Mother-in-law.

Ingredients

2 cups Milk
3 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
About 1/4 cup rendered beef or pork fat, olive oil or melted butter

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. In the mixer beat together milk and eggs. Add flour and salt and blend until smooth. Batter should rest for 2 house in the refrigerator in a non metal container.  In muffin tin place 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon of fat. Heat muffin tin with the fat in it for 5 minutes. Remove batter from refrigerator and stir with a wooden spoon. Pour batter into hot tins, filling each tin 3/4 full. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with gravy.

Variation – Toad in the Hole

Brown 1 lb Sausage in a cast iron skillet. (We prefer Irish Sausage) Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Remove batter from refrigerator and stir with a wooden spoon. Pour batter into hot tins, filling each tin 3/4 full. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with gravy.

 

White Chocolate Lemonade Cookies

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I love Lemon flavored desserts, so I decided to create a cookie. It has become a favorite of family and friends.

Ingredients

1 cup Butter
2 cups Sugar
3 Eggs
1/4 cup Sour Cream
2 tsp Lemon Juice
25 drops doTerra Lemon Essential Oil
1/4 cup Cornstarch
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
4 cups Flour
1 12 oz Bag White Chocolate Chips

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar, Stir in eggs, sour cream, lemon juice, and lemon essential oil. Sift together dry ingredients and mix into wet ingredients. Stir in White Chocolate Chips. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes.

 

Citrus Popcorn

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I grew up with my mom making candied and caramel popcorn for picnics and summer holidays. As I have gotten older I still crave them, but often find them too sweet. I created this recipe to meet my craving with out being overly sweet.

Ingredients

1 Bag Popcorn Kernels – 36 cups of popped popcorn
1 14oz Bag  Yellow Candy Melts
1 14oz Bag  Orange Candy Melts
1 14oz Bag  Green Candy Melts
50 Drops doTerra Lemon Essential Oil
40 Drops doTerra Wild Orange Essential Oil
40 Drops doTerra Lime Essential Oil

Directions 

Air pop 12 cups of popcorn for each color/flavor place in large bowl. In a glass or ceramic microwave safe bowl melt one color of candy melts at a time on half power for 2 minutes. Stir and return to the microwave on half power for an addition 1-2 minutes until melted. Add the essential oil and Stir. Lemon in yellow. Wild Orange in orange. Lime in green. Pour candy melts over the 12 cups of popcorn and stir until all of the popcorn is coated. Pour out on to waxed paper. Repeat for the next to colors. Allow 20 – 30 minutes for the candy melt to set. Combined all three flavors together. 

Clearly this is a VERY LARGE batch. You can make one flavor rather than all three our you can divide the batch as follows:

1/2 Bag Popcorn Kernels – 9 cups of popped popcorn (3 cups per flavor)
3.5oz  Yellow Candy Melts
3.5 oz Orange Candy Melts
3.5 oz  Green Candy Melts
13 Drops doTerra Lemon Essential Oil
10 Drops doTerra Wild Orange Essential Oil
10 Drops doTerra Lime Essential Oil

Chicken Zucchini Casserole

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I grew up with my mom making a Zucchini Casserole as the vegetable side dish. Like many of our family favorite dishes Joseph and I discussed how we could make it better. As we made various changes we would discuss what we liked as well as how we could continue to improve upon it until we came up with this recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup Diced Onions
1 cup Shredded Carrots
1 T Minced Garlic
2 T Butter
2 cups Cooked Cubed Chicken (I have used grilled, smoked, and pan fried)
2 – 10 oz Cans of Cream of Chicken Soup
1 cup Sour Cream
2 cups Cubed Zucchini
2 cups Yellow Squash
1 bags Cheese Croutons
1-2 cups Shredded Cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degree. Melt butter in skillet over medium high heat. Once the color starts to brown add in onions, carrots, and garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent.  Pour into a 9X13 Casserole dish. Stir in zucchini and yellow squash. Stir in chicken, soup and sour cream. Top with croutons. Bake for 25 minutes. Top with cheese and continue baking for 5 minutes.

Variations:

  • 4 cups Zucchini rather than 2 cup Zucchini and 2 cups Yellow Squash
  • Stir Croutons in to the mixture.
  • Add cheese prior to topping with croutons and bake for 30 minutes.

 

Carrot Cake

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We LOVE Carrot Cake. I can’t even remember when I started making it. We love it thin in a sheet pan, layered with frosting in the middle, but our all time favorite is in Ice Cream Cones.

Ingredients

2 cups All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cups Grape Seed Oil
2 cups Sugar
4 Eggs
10 oz Crushed Pineapple
2 1/2 cups Carrots
1/2 cup Coconut Flakes
1/2 cup Chopped Pecans or Walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup Raisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl cream together oil, sugar and eggs. Add into dry ingredients and mix well. Add in carrots, pineapple, coconut, nuts, and raisins. Pour into Greased and floured pan. Bake for 40 – 60 minutes depending on the size pan.

3 – 9 inch round cake pans
2 – 1/4 sheet pans
1 -19 x 12 inch pan
60 Ice Cream Cones

Allow to completely cool. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.



Chicken Zucchini Pan Fry

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We found a recipe for Zucchini Boats that had chicken, nuts, mushrooms and onions bake in zucchini. It was a lot of work and the flavor was good, but as usual we wanted to improve on it. After a couple of tries we landed on the following recipe which has become a family favorite.

Ingredients:

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts Cubed
2 T Olive Oil
2 cups Zucchini Cubed
2 cups Yellow or Crookneck Squash
1 cup Onions Diced
1 cup Mushrooms sliced
1 cup Cherry or Grape Tomatoes cut in half
1 cup  Nuts (Walnuts, Pecans)
1-2 cup Crumbled Goat Cheese

Directions

In a large cast iron skillet. Grill cubed chicken over medium heat. Remove from a pan. Saute onions until caramelized.  Remove from pan and add to chicken. Saute mushrooms. Return chicken and onions to the pan. Stir in zucchini and yellow squash and cook for 5 minutes. Add in nuts and tomatoes. Cook 2 – 3 minutes. Stir in 1 cup Goat Cheese just before serving.  Sprinkle with additional Goat Cheese when serving. We enjoy it with Pita Bread.

Thai Chicken & Broccoli in a Peanut Sauce

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I love Thai Food with the spices and peanuts. I started playing around with different Thai Peanut Sauces, but didn’t find exactly was I was looking for. After playing around I came up with one I really enjoy. You can increase the spicy level by adding more chili flakes and chili oil. My basic recipe is mild. Serve over rice or noodles. This recipe doubles and triples very nicely.

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breasts
2 T Peanut Oil
1 1/2 cups Smooth Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1 1/2 cup Water
1 T Chili Flakes
1 T Chili Oil
2-3 cup Broccoli
1/2 cup Dry Roasted Peanuts

Directions:

Cut Chicken Breasts into bit size pieces. Brown in wok with Peanut Oil.

Cut Broccoli into bit size pieces.

Add in Peanut Butter, Soy Sauce, Water, Chili Flakes, and Chili Oil, Stir until it creates a smooth sauce.

Stir in Broccoli and Peanuts and cook for 3-5 minutes.

Serve over noodles or rice.