Marshmallow Fondant

Another first for me! :-D I recently came across this (thanks to my ridiculously crafty friend :-P ) and have been wanting to try it. Decided the baby shower tomorrow was the perfect opportunity. :-) It didn't go too badly, especially considering it was my first time and I was really nervous. Think I'll probably use it again for a special occasion. :-)

I'll try to post instructions at a later date.

Chicken Alfredo

I have always loved chicken alfredo. Always wanted to try making it myself too but I was always a little scared. lol It just seemed to be one of the more complicated foods. Well I was feeling adventures last week and we had some Parmesan cheese in the fridge (usually it disappears very quickly) so I thought I would finally give alfredo a shot. I looked all over the internet for a recipe but they all had some ingredient I did not have. I finally chose one (though I still had to tweak it a bit to fit my pantry) and got started. It turned out so good!!! And it wasn't really that difficult. Just enough to make it fun. :-) Let's see if I can remember it all...


Ingredients:


2 lbs chicken
1/2 cup butter
6 oz shredded cheese (I used a sun-dried tomato mozzarella blend)
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp garlic powder
6 oz Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp pepper


Directions:


Melt butter in a saucepan over med heat. Add shredded cheese and keep stirring to it won't stick until it's melted down with the butter. Gradually add milk, stirring to keep out lumps. Add garlic powder and pepper. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Turn heat down and allow to simmer for 15 minutes or so, stirring continually to keep from sticking. 
At the same time, dice uncooked chicken and place in a skillet with 1 Tbsp oil over med-high heat. Season to your liking (I used salt, pepper, and garlic powder). Cook until done, "stirring" frequently to keep from burning. 
When the chicken is done put it in the sauce and let sit for 10 minutes or so, until noodles are done and you are ready to mix together and serve. 


I made 2 pounds of angel hair noodles and there wasn't quite enough sauce. The flavor was fine bit I like it a little more wet so next time I'll probably do 1 1/2 of the recipe. If you like yours very wet I would advise this recipe per pound of noodles...if that makes sense. lol 

Insanely Quick and Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Just recently re-discovering an old recipe (another from the Beany Malone Cookbook) and in remembering (and tasting) how much I love it I thought I'd post the recipe card. :-)

Sorry it's a little blurry. It's a phone pic. :-P

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla


Directions:
Slightly beat egg then add to other ingredients and mix well. Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet and cook for 12-15 minutes at 325*. Makes appx 40.


I love this recipe because it whips up so fast and makes a decent amount of cookies, a good thing in a family of 8. :-) I also love this recipe because the are still chewy the next day instead of getting hard like so many home-made cookies do (which if any one has any tips for me on this subject, please, feel free!).
That's it!

Pineapple Cake with Buttery Milk Syrup

Yet again, courtesy of AllRecipes.com I have found another amazing recipe. This cake was so good and also a great pantry cake because the ingredients are all things you most likely will already have in your pantry except for maybe the pineapple. . . which isn't hard to get. Your local grocery store probably has some. :-P Also, I only had pineapple chunks so I utilized a cheese slicer and proceeded to     make my own crushed pineapple.

Disclaimer: I did not take this photo but took it from the recipe at All Recipes.

Here's the link if you wanna go to the site http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pineapple-Cake-II/Detail.aspx
Or you can just take it from here.


Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
20 oz can of crushed pineapple


Directions:
Mix dry ingredients. Stir in the beaten eggs and pineapple with it's juice and mix well. Pour in lightly greased 9x13 pan and bake for 30 min at 350 degrees. While baking, make the syrup.


Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla


Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil over med/high heat and cook for 5 minutes. Pour over the cake while it is still warm.


I made this for the first time a couple of weeks ago for something at my church (I tried out a new recipe for a public function!) and it was definitely a hit. Though, some did say they might like it just as well with out the rich, yummy, delectable syrup. So, I still had some pineapple this week with which I made another cake but didn't make the syrup this time. It is good with out the syrup but almost like a completely different cake. So give it a try and let me know what you think!

Soul Smothered Chicken

Soul Smothered Chicken

Courtesy of AllRecipes.com I recently tried a new recipe. It turned out pretty good except I didn't cute the carrots small enough wasn't able to let it cook long enough so the carrots weren't quite done. :-/ That aside, it's a pretty yummy recipe while not being too complicated yet just complicated enough to be fun. Here 'tis!

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter

1 whole chicken (or 4 boneless/skinless breasts cut in half)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

3/4 c flour

3 c chopped yellow onion

1 c chopped celery

3 cloves chopped garlic

2 c chopped carrots

3 c chicken broth

3 Tbs flour

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken pieces with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Dredge in 3/4 cup flour, place in the skillet, and brown on all sides. Set chicken aside, and drain skillet, reserving about 1 tablespoon butter. Reduce skillet heat to medium-low, and stir in onions, celery, garlic, and carrots. Cook 5 minutes, until tender. Stir in the flour, and cook 5 minutes more. Pour in the chicken broth, season with cayenne pepper, and remaining salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Return chicken to the skillet, cover, and continue cooking 30 minutes, until chicken juices run clear and gravy has thickened.

For a full cooking story on this recipe click here :-)

Thanksgiving Menu

Well I've been talking about Thanksgiving a lot so I thought I'd make a special page where I put all of my Thanksgiving recipes as I choose the "line up". :-) Click on "Thanksgiving Menu" on the right to see all of the recipes together. So check back soon and see what we're having for Thanksgiving this year!

Ranch Pork Roast

Made this for the first time a year or so ago and it was wonderful! Because of the meat and cream cheese it's not the kind of recipe I can do all of the time but Mama bought some meat and I told her about this recipe so it's in the crock pot right now. :-) Someone one FB requested the recipe so I thought I'd just post it on here. Simple and way yummy. :-)




Ingredients: 
2 1/2 lbs pork roast/steak whatever :-)
1 lb potatoes
1 small can of cream of chicken soup
1 8 oz cream cheese
.4 oz of ranch dressing powder 


Directions:
Dice potatoes, brown meat, and mix up the soup, cheese, and dressing. Put all into the crock pot and cook on low for 9 to 10 hours or on high for 4 1/2 to 5 hours. 


FYI, I doubled the recipe and added a couple of lbs of potatoes to make it stretch...and put a blob of plain yogurt in for the second 8 oz of cream cheese. It's a very forgiving recipe. :-)