Snickerdoodles

I made this for a Christmas Cookie Exchange, therefore you can see that I am running really late on getting this updated.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/, picture from my kitchen

French Toast Casserole

I made this for my family and they loved it. It will defiantly be used again.

INGREDIENTS

• 5 cups bread cubes
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup white sugar, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly butter an 8x8 inch baking pan.
2. Line bottom of pan with bread cubes. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and vanilla. pour egg mixture over bread. Dot with margarine; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake in preheated oven about 45 to 50 minutes, until top is golden.

Recipe from Allrecipes.com and picture from my kitchen.

Savory Crescent Chicken Squares

INGREDIENTS:

1	package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1	tablespoon LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened
2	cups cubed cooked chicken
1	tablespoon chopped fresh chives or onion
1/4	teaspoon salt
1/8	teaspoon pepper
2	tablespoons milk
1	tablespoon chopped pimientos, if desired
1	can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
1	tablespoon LAND O LAKES® Butter, melted
3/4	cup seasoned croutons, crushed

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, mix cream cheese and 1 tablespoon softened butter; beat until smooth. Add chicken, chives, salt, pepper, milk and pimientos; mix well.
2.	Separate or cut dough into 4 rectangles. If using crescent dough, firmly press perforations to seal. Spoon 1/2 cup chicken mixture onto center of each rectangle. Pull 4 corners of dough to center of chicken mixture; twist firmly. Pinch edges to seal. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush tops of sandwiches with 1 tablespoon melted butter; sprinkle with crushed croutons.
3.	Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Recipe from Pillsbury.com and picture from my kitchen

“Citi’s Chicken”

Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs
6 chicken drumsticks (I did 6 chicken breasts)
1 egg
1 c. yogurt (I used vanillayogart)
1/8 c. olive oil
1/4 c. white wine (of chicken stock if you don’t use alch.)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp freshly ground pepper (I used lemon pepper)
1/4 c. flour
3 c. cornflakes
1 1/2 c. oatmeal
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp fresh oregano

Directions:
-Clean and pat dry chicken pieces.
-Place chicken into a large freezer bag.
-In a blender, combine egg, yogurt, olive oil, wine/stock, salt and pepper and blend on high to whip together.
-Pour mixture over chicken and seal bag.
-Make sure marinade is covering all pieces and sides of chicken and place in fridge to marinade.
-Marinade chicken at least one hour and up to 24.
-Preheat even to 400 degrees.
-In bowl of food processor, combine remaining ingredients and pulse to a coarse meal, cutting the spices into the breading.
-Remove from bowl of food processor and place in a shallow dish or wide-bottomed bowl.
-Line a baking sheet with heavy duty tinfoil and top with wire baking rack.
-Remove chicken from fridge and with a set of tongs, pull one piece of chicken out of the marinade, shake to remove excess and dredge in breading mixture.
-Cover completely in breading mixture, shaking lightly to remove excess, and place on wire rack.
-Repeat with all pieces of chicken.
-Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and place baking sheet in oven.
-Bake until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees, about 50-60 minutes.

Recipe from Good Things Catered picture from my kitchen

All Around Good Smoothie

I have been working out and I have read several places that you need to up your protein intake when working out to boost your metabolism. I also had a banana that I needed to get rid of so this seemed like a great option. I could not get Lenny to try it though because he won't touch any smoothies with yogurt.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup nonfat milk
• 1/2 cup fat-free plain yogurt
• 1/2 frozen banana, peeled and chopped (I used a whole banana)
  
• 2 tablespoons powdered protein supplement
• 1 1/2 tablespoons flax seed
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries

Directions:

1. In a blender, blend the milk, yogurt, banana, protein supplement, flax seed, honey, and strawberries until smooth.
   

Recipe from allrecipes, picture from my kitchen.

Pot Roast

Lenny made this recipe up last year after looking for a recipe for pot roast last year and not finding exactly what he as looking for. I am sure that other people have made it this same way, but we really like it. It is so tender and delicious!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 pot roast, chuck, bottom round, rump, etc., about 3 to 4 pounds
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
• 1 can cream of Chicken soup
• 12 oz Pepsi

Preparation:

Mix all together, put in slow cooker. Cook 8 to 10 hours on low.

Banana Bars

I had four really, really ripe bananas that I needed something to do with. I saw this recipe on April's Blog so I decided to make it since it took three bananas and that only gave me one more banana to get rid of. I took this to our Church's Wednesday night dinner and everyone thought that they were amazing.

Bars -

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream (I used light)
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (I used three ripe bananas)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10 x 15 inch jellyroll pan or one 9X13 pan and an additional 8X8 pan. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; stir into the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into the prepared pan(s). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bars to cool completely before frosting.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup white sugar (you can use either granulated sugar or confectioners’ sugar - the confectioners’ sugar tends to dissolve better and not be as grainy but either one works fine) (I used confectioners)
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

Directions:

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Set aside. In another medium bowl, beat whipped cream until stiff peaks form (it helps to use a chilled bowl and chilled beaters). Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture.

Recipe from Allrecipes.com and picture from my kitchen