Sugar Cookie Bars

Ingredients

 1 cup butter room temperature

2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 cups flour

Cream butter, sugar, and eggs one at a time then add dry ingredients. Grease cookie sheet and bake @ 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Usually closer to 15 minutes. Wait until it starts to get light brown and then pull them out. (The dough is really sticky, I always spray my hands with non-stick spray and then press dough onto cookie sheet.)

Frosting

1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup shortening (I use butter flavored)
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
4 TBSP. milk
pinch of salt

Add almond extract (or other favorite flavoring) to taste (I add about 3/4 tsp. but you might want to start with a 1/2 tsp. and taste it to see if you like more or not.)

Add food coloring of your choice

Alternate Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
Zest of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
5 cups powdered sugar
Colored sugar or sprinkles, optional

 In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice. Slowly add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Mix until smooth.

Cake Mix Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

1 Box yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
1 Small box instant vanilla pudding (just put in the powder!)
1/4 Cup water
3/4 Cup vegetable oil
2 Eggs
1 Cup chocolate chips. I used 1/2 cup holiday mini M&M's and 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake mix, pudding, water, vegetable oil, eggs and chips or M&M's in large bowl.

Pour the batter (it's going to be thick) into a greased 10x13 baking dish. I sprayed my dish with nonstick cooking spray which worked well.

Bake your bars for 20-30 minutes (I took mine out at 25.)

It may look sort of raw in the middle but if the edges are just golden and starting to get crispy, it's probably perfect.

Crispy Black Bean and Rice Burritos

Ingredients

• 1 can of black beans
• ½ can of canned corn
• 1.5 cup mozzarella or Mexican blend shredded cheese
• 1 cup cooked rice (Optional)
• ½ bell pepper, chopped
• ½ onion, chopped
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoons cumin
• juice of half a line
• 8 medium flour tortillas

Instructions

1. Heat a large skillet to medium heat, add the bell peppers, onion, beans, corn, cilantro, butter, juice of the lime, and spices, saute for 2-4 minutes on high. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. To make the wraps, Lay tortilla flat on plate or counter, add ¼ cup of the bean mixture, 2 tablespoons rice, 2-3 tablespoons cheese. Be sure to leave about 2-3 inches from the corners. Wrap burrito by folding over the edges. Continue this for all 8 burritos. 
3. The original recipe says to fry these, but I just spray them with cooking spray and "fry" them that way. Still nice and crispy. When you put them in the pan, spray the seam side, and lay it down first, that way the burrito doesn't fall apart when you flip it. 
4. 
   
6. Serve warm with sour cream or salsa.

Honey Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients:

1.5 boneless skinless chicken tenders
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP minced garlic
1/2 tsp. black pepper (this was way too spicy for me...maybe just 1/4 tsp if you don't want it so spicy)
1/4 tsp salt
2 TBSP sesame seeds
*Serve over rice

Instructions:

Chop chicken into pieces. Put chicken in large bowl and add teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, honey, garlic, and salt and pepper. Transfer everything from bowl into a heated and lightly oiled pan. Cook on medium high heat for about 5 min, stirring occasionally. Put heat on high, stirring occasionally. Cook till sauce has reduced, about 10-15 min. When sauce is thick, remove from heat and add sesame seeds. Let rest about 5 min and serve over rice.

Baked Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, fat trimmed, sliced in half (length wise)
3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 TBSP melted butter OR olive oil (I use olive oil)
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup marinara sauce or spaghetti sauce
cooking spray
spaghetti noodles

Instructions:

Preheat over to 450 degrees. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine breadcrumbs and parm cheese in a bowl. Lightly brush butter/oil onto chicken, then dip into breadcrumbs mixture. Place chicken onto baking sheet and then lightly spray a little more oil (or cooking  spray) onto chicken and bake for 20 min. Turn chicken over, bake another 5 min. Remove from oven, spoon 1 TBSP sauce over each piece of chicken and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake 5 more min or till cheese is melted. Serve over spaghetti noodles.

**I never cook it for the full 20 min at the first or it is way too dry. Maybe just our oven, but 12-15 min is all I cook it. Enjoy :)

Oven-Roasted Root Vegetables

 

1 large butternut squash, (1 1/2 to 2 pounds) halved, seeded and peeled

• 3 large Yukon gold potatoes (1 1/2 pounds), scrubbed
• 1 bunch medium beets, (about 1 1/2 pounds), scrubbed and tops trimmed
• 1 medium red onion (or a large scallion)
• 2 large parsnips (about 8 ounces) (I don't like these so I don't use them)
• 1 head garlic, cloves separated, and peeled (about 16)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place 2 baking sheets in the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.

Cut all the vegetables into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Cut the onions through the base core to keep some of the layers in chunky pieces. Toss all the vegetables with garlic, olive oil and salt in large bowl. Season generously with pepper.

Carefully remove the heated baking sheets from the oven, brush or drizzle with olive oil. Divide the vegetables evenly between the 2 pans, spreading them out to assure they don't steam while roasting. Roast the vegetables until tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Copyright 2005 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved.

 

Balsalmic Chicken and Mushrooms

I had some leftover chicken broth and mushrooms the other day so I decided to
 try this recipe. It ended up being really yummy! 
We had it with broccoli and the sauce tasted good with it too!

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 
1/2 tsp sea salt 
1/2 tsp pepper 
1 package button mushrooms washed patted dry and sliced 
3 tsp, minced bottled garlic 
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 
3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth 
1 bay leaf 
1/4 tsp dried thyme 
cooking spray 

Preparation 
*Season chicken with salt and pepper. Spray non stick skillet with cooking
 spray and heat to medium high. 
*Add the chicken and saute until brown on one side. 
*Add garlic and flip over chicken breasts and add mushrooms. 
*Continue cooking while stirring mushrooms. 
*Cook for about 3 minutes then add vinegar, broth, bay leaf, and thyme. 
*Cover and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
*Remove chicken, set aside and keep warm.
*Continue simmering sauce, uncovered for about 7 minutes. 
*Discard bay leaf and pour mixture over chicken and serve. 

Mixed Berry Cobbler

Adapted from: Bake or Break blog (italics are changes I made)

• 3 cups assorted berries (frozen)
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• Orange zest
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• Slivered almonds or other chopped nut

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a 9”x 6” rectangular or 8” round baking dish (I used a 8x8 square pan).

Place berries in prepared pan. Drizzle with lemon juice and orange zest.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, almond extract and vanilla until well-blended. Mix in dry ingredients until mixture resembles crumbs. Drop dough evenly on top of berries. Sprinkle nuts on the top.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until top is lightly browned and fruit is bubbly.

Lemon Pepper Pork Tenderloin

From: Taste of Home

Ingredients
2 teaspoons garlic salt
2 teaspoons garlic-pepper blend
2 teaspoons lemon-pepper seasoning
1 boneless rolled pork loin roast (about 5 pounds)
BASTING SAUCE:
3 cups water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-1/2 teaspoons dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic-pepper blend
1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Directions
Combine the garlic salt, garlic-pepper and lemon-pepper; rub over
roast. Place on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered,
at 325° for 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until a thermometer reads
145°.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine the basting sauce
ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for
10
minutes. Brush over roast occasionally while baking. Let roast
stand 10 minutes before slicing.