Back At It Again

I am back into cooking and posting. The last few days have been very busy and I did not have the chance to do any cooking or baking. Yesterday was my day off and I spent part of the day finding some new recipes to try and this is one I found and knew I wanted to try. I made this to go along with the chicken I made. Randy worked the later shift yesterday so this will be his dinner for tonight.

Broccoli with Lemon Almond Butter

2 cups fresh broccoli

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup blanched, slivered almonds

In a large skillet on medium heat, melt the butter. Add the lemon juice and stir. Next add the broccoli and almonds. Cook until broccoli is tender and everything is blended together.

What To Do With Potatoes?

That is the question I was asking myself this morning. I had a few potatoes left in the bag and I didn't want them to go to waste. What is better than potatoes roasted in the oven with the seasonings of your choice? A nice addition to any meal.

Oven Roasted Potato Wedges

4 medium size potatoes
2 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium size bowl, mix the butter, oil, cheese and salt until it forms a thick paste. Throughly coat the potatoes completely. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake uncovered at 450 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until tender, turning once.

Nothing Beats A Muffin

Pineapple White Chocolate Muffins

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1 8 ounce can pineapple chunks

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin with non stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, and baking powder. In a small bowl, beat egg, milk until blended; stir into flour mixture just until moistened. Fold in chips and pineapple chunks.

Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake 25 minutes until golden. Immediately remove muffins from pan; serve warm or cool on wire rack to serve later.

Cupcakes for the 4th

This evening Randy and I are leaving for Pennsylvania for the 4th of July weekend. We are going to be visiting with some of Randy's family. In honor of the 4th I made some cupcakes. I did cheat a little in making these and used a cupcake mix and can frosting but my love and goodness went into making these.

4th of July Cupcakes

1 box confetti cupcake mix
1 can vanilla frosting
red food coloring
blue food coloring

Prepare cupcakes according the directions on the package. After the cupcakes have cooled, it is time to decorate. In 2 small bowls, mix together the red and blue food coloring with the frosting.
I went with the red, white, blue to represent the flag.


I hope that everyone has a safe and wonderful 4th of July.

I'm In Love With...

the Cooking Light Magazine. I have been buying the magazine for the past couple of months but I have finally decided to subscribe to it. I am very impressed with all the amazing recipes and all the informative articles this magazine has. One of the amazing recipes that just so happened to catch my eye was from this month's issue.

Banana-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (I used White Chocolate Morsels)
July 2009 Cooking Light

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (1 medium)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat on medium speed using a hand mixer until smooth. Add egg; beat well.
Combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt in a medium size bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture in bowl. Beat with mixer at medium speed until well blended. Stir in white chocolate morsels.
Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls (I used a cookie scoop instead), 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. The first batch I used the cookie sheet with spray but for the next two batches I opted to use the air bake cookie sheets. I had better luck with this because the first batch seemed to crisp up.
Bake at 35o for 18 minutes or until golden. Cool on pans for 2 minutes, remove and place on wire racks to cool completely.

Of course after the cookies were done I did have to try one, love the blend of flavors. Such a great tasting cookie!

It's Strawberry Time

It is strawberry picking time. I haven't had a chance yet to go but I am hoping to. With thoughts of this I wanted to make something with strawberries and found this recipe for strawberry sauce served over chicken. It may sound like an odd combination but the taste is fantastic. This is Randy's dinner for tonight and I am hoping he feels the same way too.

Strawberry Sauce Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 cups fresh strawberries, cut into pieces

1/8 cup sugar, or more depending on taste

Bake chicken at 350 degrees F until no longer pink and cooked through completely. Set aside.

In a bowl mix together cornstarch, lemon juice, strawberries and sugar. Pour mixture into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, boiling for about 2 minutes. Serve over hot chicken that has been set aside.

I'm Feeling Peachy

Well I did make this dessert with blueberries as well but I am not feeling blue. I am actually feeling pretty peachy. I had blueberries and peaches that I did not want to go to waste so I decided to make some cobbler. I am already thinking about the next time that I make this and changing up the fruits. An update on the bread pudding from yesterday's post, Randy loved it. He said it was delicious.


Blueberry Peach Cobbler

1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice
5 cups sliced, peeled peaches
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
dash salt
1/4 cup cold butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

In a large saucepan, combine the brown sugar and cornstarch. Stir in juice until blended. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Add the peaches, blueberries, butter and lemon juice. Pour into a greased shallow 2 quart baking dish.

For topping, in a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until coarse crumbs form. Stir in milk and egg. Spoon over fruit mixture. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbly and toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve warm.