Paint's Chicken

This rich and creamy chicken dishes is one of my favorites! You can easily make as much or as little as you need.

Ingredients:

• 1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded 1/2" thick
• Garlic salt to taste
• 4 slices bacon, uncooked
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbs dried parsley
• 4 slices provolone cheese (or white cheese of your choice)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Spray baking dish with non-stick spray
3. Lay chicken breasts in dish. Cover with bacon then onion slices.
4. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes
5. While chicken is baking, mix soup, sour cream, lemon juice, and parsley
6. Drain grease from the chicken
7. Lay cheese slices on top of onions then pour soup mixture on top
8. Bake at 350 until bubbly, approximately 25 minutes
9. Serve over pasta

I serve these over wide egg noodles. Enjoy!

Taco Pockets

1 1/3 pounds ground sirloin or ground turkey breast
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon (a palmful) ground cumin
1 tablespoon, (a palmful) dark chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper sauce
1 teaspoon (1/3 palmful) coarse salt,
1 tablespoon (1 turn around the pan) vegetable oil,
4(12-inch diameter) soft flour tortillas
1 cup mild taco sauce
1 heart of romaine lettuce, shredded
2 small plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 cups shredded monterey jack

Directions

Combine ground meat with onion, garlic, spices, and salt and form 4 patties. Pan fry patties in 1 tablespoon oil over medium high heat for 7 minutes on each side.

To make a taco pocket, blister a flour tortilla on a hot griddle pan for 30 seconds on each side. Place tortilla on dinner plate and spread surface with 1 /4 cup mild taco sauce. Pile shredded lettuce, tomatoes and a handful of cheese in center of tortilla. Top veggies and cheese with cooked taco burger patty and wrap tortilla up and over patty on all four sides. Turn square pouch over and cut from corner to corner, making 2 taco pockets that will not crumble and drip like traditional tacos.

I found this recipe on the Food Network. It's one of Rachel Ray's 30 minute meal recipes.

strawberry pretzel salad

This is a family favorite! We usually have it as a salad, but it could easily be the dessert as well!

You'll need:
2 C crushed pretzels

3/4 cup melted butter
3 T sugar

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 C sugar
1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip

2 (3 oz) pkgs strawberry Jell-o
2 C boiling water
2 (10 oz) pkgs frozen strawberries - semi-thawed (take them out of the freezer when you start the crust)

To make it:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Combine pretzels, melted butter, and 3 T sugar in a 9x13 pan. Press into bottom-only of dish to form crust. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Set aside and let cool.
3) Combine cream cheese, 1 C sugar, and Cool Whip with mixer. Pour mixture over cooled crust. Be sure to smoosh the mixture to the edges of the pan to form a "seal" with the white layer (this keeps the Jello from sinking down to the crust).
4) Combine Jello with boiling water until Jello is completely dissolved. Add frozen strawberries in and stir until strawberries are melted. The strawberries should make the Jello start to set up, but if not, stick the Jello mixture in the freezer for 5-10 minutes - you want it at a "goopy gel" stage (you'll know what I mean :) - basically so it's not sheer liquid. The pour the Jello over the white layer.
5) Cover and refrigerate until Jello is set up!

Farmer's Cobbler

This is called farmer's cobbler because farmer's always had the ingredients on hand and could "whip up" a cobbler any time. It's a familiar favorite in our family. Especially with fresh picked blackberries!



1 stick of butter
1 cup milk
1 cup self rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 bag of frozen fruit or 2 cups fresh fruit

• Preheat oven at 350
• While oven is heating, place 1 stick of butter in a 11 x 13 x 2 pan
• Place in oven so butter can melt
• Meanwhile, mix milk, flour, and sugar together
• When butter has melted, pour fruit in the bottom of the pan (be careful with the hot, melted butter)
• Pour mixture over fruit
• Do not stir!
• Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes until cobbler is brown

enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Grilled Pork Chops with Italian Dressing Marinade

I don't know if this quite constitutes a recipe, it's only 2 ingredients, but it's SO good. We have these often! And if we buy an economy pack of pork chops we'll put them with the dressing and then Food Saver them for next time!

You need:
pork chops
Italian dressing

Place the pork chops in a bowl and pour the marinade over them. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or over night, turning/stirring the pork chops every few hours. Grill the chops and enjoy!

Black Eyed Pea Salad

With my recent frustration with what to feed Cailin, I found it amusing that a simple salad I made for my Mommy & Me group was such a hit not only for the mommies but also the kids in the class... including mine. It is so simple to make.

Ingredients:

1 Can Black Eyed Peas drained and rinsed
2 Green Onions chopped
1 Large Tomato diced or the equivalent of cherry tomatoes chopped or whole (about a cup)
1/3 cup Red Pepper chopped
1/3 cup Italian Dressing (I used Newman's Own Light Italian Dressing)
2 Avocados diced

There is no order in which to add the ingredients, but I added the avocados last just in case they might brown. I combined all of the ingredients the night before and let it sit covered in the fridge for the night and then threw in the avocados about 2 hours before class.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Easy Salmon

We're not huge fish connoisseurs at our house, but this one satisfies even my picky husband. And it's sooo easy!

What you need:
Salmon steaks
1 T fat-free mayo per steak (I use Miracle Whip Light and it's still good)
1/2 tsp lemon pepper per steak
1 tsp lemon juice per steak

What you do:
1) Pre-heat the oven to Broil
2) Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray
3) Place the salmon steaks on the cookie sheet, skin side down, if they have a skin
4) Mix the mayo, lemon pepper, and lemon juice in a bowl - don't forget to add the ingredients PER steak
5) Spread the sauce on the steaks
6) Broil for 12-15 minutes until the steaks are flakey and done

Super juicy and delish! :)

Home Made Waffle Mix

When my husband said he wanted to make his own waffle mix I thought he was crazy! But after seeing how easy it was, and tasting the difference. We'll never go back to premade waffles again!

4 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 1 cup
4 3/4 ounces whole-wheat flour, approximately 1 cup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 whole eggs, beaten
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
16 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
Vegetable spray, for waffle iron

Directions:

Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flours, soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In another bowl beat together eggs and melted butter, and then add the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Ladle the recommended amount of waffle batter onto the iron according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Close iron top and cook until the waffle is golden on both sides and is easily removed from iron. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.