Rosemary & Garlic Chicken

Another "Real Simple" recipe from my favorite magazine. I have been making this pounded-flat chicken dish for atleast 7 years and it tastes so good that it feels like a treat when I do make it.

Fresh rosemary is the best, but again I was out and used the dried rosemary. It totally works in a pinch and the dish is still quite tasty, but seriously - fresh, to me, is always best. That's why I TOTALLY can't wait to get my garden going this spring. My herbs make me most excited, because there is nothing more fun than snipping foods out of your very own yard to use for dinner every night.

Yay!!

Here's the recipe for you to try. The recipe calls for Sherry vinegar and I can never find that, so I use Sherry Cooking Wine. It's yummy and perfect if you ask me.


I served this dish with steamed cauliflower sprinkled with some parmesan reggiano

and this salad


Parents Review: We love it!
Kids Review: They love it too, I just try to keep the rosemary sprinkles off of their side. They are "no green" kind of eaters.

Butternut Squash Soup

Don't you love a girl who says that she'll post a recipe, and then totally forgets because her child is knee deep in potty training and running a high fever? Good. Cause that's what happened. I meant to post this soup recipe on Tuesday, but then our world started spinning with craziness and I just plain forgot. It isn't the first time you've heard me say those words and I'm sure it won't be the last. :-)

On to the soup.

I have had this recipe for years and I acquired it from my coveted and most favorite magazine - Real Simple.

I have yet to make something from this source that wasn't awesome in every way. Plus.......it's Real Simple. :-)

I told my friend Julie about this soup and how great it was and she said, "Hmmm.. It doesn't sound very good to me." But - I assure you that it is deceiving in it's name and the flavor is fab-u-loso!!



The parmesan is the real winner in this soup too and gives it lots of flavor. I splurged and purchased parmesan reggianno when I was at Trader Joe's a few weeks back. The fresh sage is also amazing and I was out of it this time around and substituted dried rosemary leaves instead. I like the sage much better, but in a pinch, I would totally do this rosemary thing again. Still very, very good.

Here's the recipe

I didn't make the croutons, but I SO want to. I will do them next time around. I actually just crunched up some parmesan and garlic pita chips in mine and it was pretty good as a substitute.

Parents Review: HUGE HIT!!!
Kids Review: They ate leftovers that night and didn't have any, but it is a hit or miss dish with them since there is green stuff floating around (sage or rosemary). :-)

Please try it! I think you'll love it as much as I do!!!

Have a great week!

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cookies & Chicken Salad

Sorry. I didn't make these. But I want to!!!

I have been craving these gooey treats for a long while now and my favorite place to purchase them is from a local bakery called Beth's Bake Shoppe. I have tried a couple of recipes recently that I found online to try to replicate them. One was far from what I was going for and the other one got me closer, but not quite right.

I am calling on you for help. Have you had a cookie such as this? Seen a recipe for something like this?


I need you! I am just not seeing anything online that is cutting it, so I am pulling from my second resource - YOU! :-)

So, I am on a mission. I bought this cookie (plus one more because they seemed small) today to remind myself of the flavor and look at the texture - ya know - for research. My commitment to food scares me.

Another mission I have been told that I need to be on is to find a recipe for great chicken salad sandwich. A friend named Amber has mentioned that another local shop - Hebrews Coffee - has an amazing one.

Guess what I feel compelled to do?

Well, go purchase a chicken salad sandwich from Hebrews for starters......for research. Once I see what's in it and if I even like this chicken salad that I am told is amazing - I will start scanning the internet and doing some sample work. I may even call upon you all again. Stay tuned for my discoveries!

I am excited.

Sorry that I have no recipe today - I am totally passing the buck in this post.

I also apologize that now I've made you hungry for chocolate and also for chicken salad sandwiches.

Hang in there.

Carli's Sausage Stuffed Waffles

Is it me or does my waffle look like a heart?

It's another Carli-recipe. She made this one up herself one night and served it for herself and her kiddos while her husband happened to be out of town. She loved it and shared it with us. I'm SO glad she did!!

I used Jimmy Dean's Maple flavored sausage, cooked it up, and poured it in my waffle batter. I don't usually use mixes for pancakes or waffles, so I was excited to see that she had a recipe to make the waffles too. The only thing I changed was that I used half whole wheat flour and half white. I like the taste and the fiber is nice too. From scratch is so much better and it really doesn't take much more time.

Here's the link to her recipe.



Parents Review: It was so different and so filling. I could only eat about 3/4 of ONE waffle. It was very thick and dense (some of that was the whole wheat flour I have too), but I loved all the flavors. I poured syrup over it and devoured it. I actually kept eating them cold throughout the day for a snack. Doesn't that sound healthy? :-) David is eating healthy right now and only had a bite, but he really liked them too.
Kids Review: Little Girl said she didn't like it, but then preceded to eat it, so who knows with that picky girl. Baby Boy ate one and begged for me!

SCORE!

Gotta try it!!

Carli's Home-Made Spaghetti Sauce

You're going to fall in love with me....or maybe Carli.......or maybe just this sauce!

YUM!

My friend Carli over at The Dinner Drama posted a recipe for homemade spaghetti sauce. We had our lifegroup coming over tonight, so I wanted to try it. I cooked it for 6 hours total on the stove like she said and it was perfection. You taste the sausage, the 2 different wines, the garlic, the spices and the amazing flavors! The only thing I didn't add was the mushrooms because I'm not a mushroom girl.

Here's a link to her recipe. It's almost too good to share, but you girls out there deserve great sauce! Ha! When you pop over to Carli's site - please tell her you came from here. She will love to have you say hello. She is my dear friend who lived down the street from us during our brief time in Indiana. She was my lifeline and I love her dearly. I love her cooking too. And so will you!

Here's my plate at our life group dinner. My friend Cheri reminded me to snap a picture before I sat down. What a great friend! Her hubby made these yummy meatballs too and they were to die for! I probably need to get this recipe from him now! They were awesome!


We eat well. Can you tell?

Let me know if you give this one a try!

Parents Review: Wow!
Kids Review: Sauce is sauce to them. They aren't foodies like us......yet! :-)

Naked Burritos

My friend Julie and I started making these back in the day when we were both on Weight Watchers (surprise) and we wanted a fun and yummy meal.

This is how I make it.

I marinate some chicken tenders or chicken breasts in italian dressing for 2 hours up to 24 hours.

Grill or broil chicken. I like to broil chicken in my oven on "High" for about 7 minutes per side. It makes the chicken a little crispy.

Brown Rice
Refried Beans
Sour Cream
Guacamole
Cheese
Diced Tomatoes
Salsa Verde or any salsa you like

Whole Grain Chips to dip in your mixture and enjoy!

Julie also gave me these cute little bowls as part of my Christmas from her and they are perfect for my little dinner display.






I didn't have any diced tomatoes which would have added a lot to this dish in the way of color, so forgive the blandness in the "look" of this dish. You just have to trust me on the yumminess.

Parents Review: We always love this meal
Kids Review: They love it because we have chips with dinner and they enjoy putting on their own toppings.

Home-made Hot Cocoa

We've been playing in the snow a lot this week and that always means Hot Chocolate. I found this simple little recipe online, but it tastes heavenly and divine. I wanted to share the chocolatey-goodness.

Here You go.

In a saucepan, on low heat, mix 2 Tbsp water, 2 Tbsp Sugar and 1 Tbsp Cocoa. Let it get warm for 1-2 minutes and stirring so it won't stick.

Next, add 1 Cup milk with a little splash of vanilla and stir. Heat until it's the temperature you like.

This recipe is for 1 SERVING. It's so good!





Here is Little Girl's special cup with her chocolate delight. We were out of marshmallows, so a dollop of Cool Whip had to do.


Make a cup and stay warm!!