Deconstructed broccoli stuffed chicken breasts

This recipe is fabulous we loved it and I will definitely make it again. I got the recipe here, but I have included the changes that I made(dicing the chx)

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced.
  
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 2 T. butter or margarine
• 2 T. flour
• 1 1/4 c. milk
• 1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese, cubed or shredded
• 2 c. frozen broccoli
• 1/2 t. thyme
• 2 T. butter or margarine
• 1 c. breadcrumbs

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place in small casserole dish (8×8 or 9×9).

2. In a small saucepan, melt 2 T. butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk, bring to a boil and cook until thickened to gravy consistency. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted. Add the broccoli. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Pour over chicken.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

4. Melt 2 T. butter or margarine and combine with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over chicken and return to the oven. Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until browned and chicken is fully cooked.

Sarah Dixon's famous pizza

Those of you who know my mom know this recipe. Those of you who dont are missing out. I have also added the toppings I used when I made it for E's birthday.

1 pkg (or 1 Tablespoon) active dry yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
About 4 cups bread flour
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Sauce:
1 can tomato paste
1 tomato paste can water
Italian seasoning
Garlic salt

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let proof 5 min. Stir in 1 cup flour and salt. Add 1 more cup flour; stir well and add olive oil. Add remaining flour 1 cup at a time until dough is too stiff to stir. Turn out and knead for 10 mins, adding additional flour if needed. Oil bowl and blce dough in it to rise one hour or until double. Roll out into oiled pizza pans; top with sauce, seasoning, garlic salt, cheese and toppings. Bake at 450 fro 10-15 min on the bottom rack.

For E's birthday I made a BBQ chicken and a creamy pesto and tomato. They were both UH-mazing.

For the BBQ chicken I used

BBQ sauce instead of tomato sauce
Cheese
chicken
sauteed onions
Bacon

The onions and bacon are not absolutely necessary, but they truly send it over the top.

For the creamy pesto sauce I followed this recipe:
(sorry this is not very exact, you can make something up that seems like this)

1 cup fat-free less-sodium chicken broth
A half a small jar of pesto
1 (8oz) block fat-free cream cheese -- softened

Combine all ingredients in a blender. This actually make enough sauce for 1 lb of pasta, but I froze some of it. Its really good on pasta.

I used this sauce instead of tomato sauce, followed by cheese, diced tomatoes, and onions. It was so so yummy.

Barbie Cake

The basic instructions for making a barbie cake can be found here. There are two videos from two different people showing you how to do it. Even if you think you know how to do it I recommend watching the videos. Its pretty easy.

I used two boxes of cake and doctored them using this recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 (18 1/4 ounce) package devil's food cake mix

• 1 (4 ounce) box instant chocolate pudding mix

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Grease 2 9-inch round cake pans.

3. Dust with flour and tap out the excess; set pans aside.

4. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.

5. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute.

6. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

7. On medium low speed, continue to blend for 2-3 minutes more.

8. The batter will be very thick and should look well combined.

9. Pour batter into prepared pans and smooth it out.

10. Bake for 27-32 minutes

Banana bread pancakes

This recipe comes from Cooking during stolen moments one of my favorite recipe sites.

These pancakes taste just like banana bread in pancake form. And you know how the crust of banana bread is the best part? Oh yeah, these are better than banana bread! These are so delicious.

Banana Bread Pancakes

• 1/2 c. butter or margarine, melted
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 egg
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/4 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/3 c. milk

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the melted butter or margarine with the sugar. Add the vanilla and egg and beat for 2 minutes. Add the mashed banana until combined.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Slowly add to the mixing bowl just until combined. By hand, stir in the milk.

3. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Grease well. Use about 2 T. batter for each pancake. They will spread considerably.* Cook about 5 -6 minutes, flip and cook an additional 3 minutes. Grease the griddle or skillet well in between each batch.

This is very true. If you make them too big they are hard to flip.

Eggwiches

I found this recipe through the Once a month mom site. Its pretty basic but I had never thought to make these by myself. We really like them. I highly recommend toasting the english muffins. And dont microwave them in the plastic wrap or they get soggy.

Eggwiches

--> (12) English Muffins, toasted
--> (1) Dozen Eggs, scrambled (I use a big electric skillet for this)
--> (6) American Cheese Slices, halved
--> (6) Deli Ham Slices, halved
--> butter (optional, smear the toasted muffins)

Scramble eggs; while eggs are cooking, split and toast muffins (adding smear of butter if you wish). Once eggs are cooked, set up an assembly line of muffins, eggs, cheese, & ham; assemble and wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze wrapped eggwiches in freezer bags or freezer boxes. Makes 12.

The beauty of the eggwich recipe above is that it is basic; you can spruce it up however you'd like with different cheeses, meats, veggies, and spices.

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I have a new favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe! True story: I was raised to make fun of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. True story: Isaac was raised to make fun of oatmeal raisin cookies. That pretty much sums up our marriage.

This recipe was adapted, using the comments, from here.

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons (seriously!) vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used part whole wheat)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar for 3 mins. I have a cookie recipe that has you do this so I always do it when making cookies. It seems to do something.
   
2. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.
   
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, and chocolate chips.
   
4. Put them in the fridge for 2 hours or so. I dont know why but I made one pan worth and they spread too much, then I decided I didnt want to make all the cookies that min and I remembered a review saying to do this. The rest came out absolutely perfect!
5. Bake for 12 minutes at 325 Let them sit for a bit. They get cooked more and then they dont fall apart.
   

Berry syrup

I made some delicious blueberry syrup for our waffles this morning. I found this recipe here. But I changed it a little to suit my needs. It made about 6 servings I think, depending on how excited you got about it. (not 6 pancakes, people)

• 1 c. water
• 1 c. sugar
• 3 c. blueberries (or any kind of berry frozen is ok)
  
• 1 1/2 T. cornstarch or arrowroot powder
• 1 T. water

1. In a medium saucepan, combine water and sugar. Bring to a slow boil and boil for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add berries to syrup, reduce heat and simmer another 5 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch or arrowroot powder with the water. Slowly stir into the syrup, bring back to a boil and cook until thickened. (If you want it thicker/thinner you can use more or less cornstarch respectively)

3. If you are Amy and hate fruity texture you could put it in the blender, you might need to add cornstarch to make it thicker, I dont know what the blue berries will do.