Chicken Tonight

Asian Chicken and Rice

1 cup frozen peas
1 cup brown rice
1 medium chicken breast
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup oven toasted almonds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place chicken breast in a baking dish. Cook chicken until it is not pink when cut apart.
While the chicken is cooking, in a small saucepan boil the peas until they are tender. In another saucepan, cook the rice according to the directions on the package.
When the chicken is done baking, let cool before cutting into strips. Place chicken, peas and rice into a large skillet, stir in soy sauce. Mix ingredients and heat through. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

*To toast the almonds, place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes or until almonds are golden brown.

A Little Brittle

This is not your ordinary brittle that is made with peanuts, instead this is made with banana chips. I was going to make peanut brittle but as I was getting the ingredients out of the pantry the banana chips caught my eye and I thought why not change the recipe and see what happens.
Well, as you can see it was a success and the brittle tastes absolutely delicious.

Banana Brittle

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup banana chips
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon baking soda

Lightly butter a large cookie sheet. In a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, heat the first 4 ingredients to boiling, stirring constantly until sugar is completley dissolved. Stir in banana chips. Place a candy thermometer in place and continue to stir frequently until temperture reaches 300 degrees F. A small amount of the mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads, about 20 minutes.
Remove pan from heat, stir in butter and baking soda. Immediately pour on cookie sheet. Stretch mixture across the pan using the back of a spoon.
Cool brittle completely on cookie sheet that is placed on a wire rack. When brittle is cool, using hands break brittle into small pieces.

Mother's Day Wishes And A Dinner

First let me start off by wishing all mother's everywhere A Happy Mother's Day. I spent the morning visiting with my mother. We had a wonderful time.

Randy invited his mom over for dinner this evening. Randy did an excellent job in preparing the meal and I did lend a hand with making the pasta dish.

Shrimp Veggie Pasta

8 ounce package cream cheese, cubed

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

16 ounce package fettuccine

1/2 pound small shrimp

1 bag california blend vegetables

In a large saucepan, combine cream cheese, parmesan cheese, butter and milk. Stir over low heat until smooth. Meanwhile heat vegetables and cook pasta according to the directions on the package. In a large mixing bowl add the shirmp, vegetables, pasta and alfredo sauce. Mix until everything is blended well.

It's Ok To Be Sloppy

For lunch I wanted to make something to warm me up and I knew I didn't have much time to put a homemade soup together so I came up with this dish with ingredients that I had in the pantry and the fridge. Easy, simple, quick and tasty as well.

Creamy Style Sloppy Joe

1 pound ground beef

1 can mandwich sauce

1 can cream style corn

1 small onion diced

1 small green and red pepper diced

In a large skillet cook the ground beef along with the onions and peppers. Drain.

Place cooked ground beef and onion pepper mixture back in skillet. Add the mandwich sauce and cream style corn. Cook until heated through completely.

Serve over the pasta of your choice, or bread. I chose to make mine into a sandwich using slices of wheat bread.

A delicious meal to warm me up on a chilly afternoon.

Randy's Request

Banana Cream Pie

1 banana sliced

1 Honey Maid Graham Pie Crust

2 3/4 cups milk

2 packages Jello vanilla instant pudding

2 cups thawed Cool Whip

Place banana slices in crust. Pour milk into a medium size mixing bowl. Add pudding. Beat with wire whisk for 2 minutes. Gently stir in 1 cup of the Cool Whip; spoon into crust. Refrigerate 4 hours until pudding is set. Top with remaining Cool Whip.

Great For All Ages

If you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches then these bars will right up your alley.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
Martha Stewart's Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups grape jelly
1 cup salted peanuts, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the parchment, dust with flour, and tap out excess.
Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. With mixer running, add eggs and peanut butter; beat until combined, about 2 minutes. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined. Add vanilla.
Transfer two-thirds of mixture into prepared pan; spread evenly with an offset spatula. Using offset spatula, spread jam on top of peanut-butter mixture. Crumble remaining third of peanut butter mixture of top of jam. Sprinkle evenly with peanuts.
Bake until golden, 45 to 60 minutes, rotating halfway through. Tent loosely with foil if bars are getting too dark. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Run knife around edges and refrigerate, 1 to 2 hours. Cut inot about thirty- six bars. Cookies can be stored in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Oh So Delicious

Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes and Ham

5 russet potatoes, cut into cubes

1 cup cubed sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup cubed ham

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a 1 quart casserole dish, place cubed potatoes and ham. In a medium saucepan, mix milk and cheeses. Stir until melted. Add in flour and stir until thickened.

Pour cheese mixture over potatoes and ham. Cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour or until potatoes are no longer hard.