Lasagna Chicken

This is my current favorite chicken dish.  The prep takes a little time, but is worth it!  Serve with steamed vegetables and a great roll or breadstick - my kids love it!  My recipe is very low fat and so I can have it whenever I want!

Lasagna Chicken

10 chicken breasts

1 15 oz. carton non-fat ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese

1/2 cup mozarella cheese

Frozen, chopped spinach that is thawed 

(I buy a 10 oz. box and only use 1/4 of it - you can add more)

Classico Tomato and Basil spaghetti sauce

Mix the three cheeses and egg together in a bowl.  Squeeze spinach in hand to drain 

excess liquid before adding to cheese mixture.  Set aside.

Pound chicken breasts with tenderizer mallot or bottom of a glass until about 1/2 inch thick.  I put the meat in between 2 pieces of Press and Seal Saran Wrap to keep the mess at bay.

Add a heaping spoonful (flatware tablespoon) of cheese mixture to middle of breast.  Fold in each side and secure with a wooden toothpick.

Place in glass or stone casserole dish.  Spoon spaghetti sauce onto top of each chicken roll.

Bake at 350^oF for 60 minutes.  Drain juice from dish before serving.

Snickerdoodles

I love this recipe!  I am starting to make these every Sunday with Marti's Chocolate Chip Cookies...

Snickerdoodles

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

cream together, then add:

1 tsp. baking soda

2 t. Cream of Tartar

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix, then add:

2 3/4 c. flour

Refrigerate for 30 minutes, roll into 1 inch balls, dip in a mixture of 

cinammon and sugar (I only dip the top), place on parchment lined 

cookie sheet and bake at 375^oF for 8 - 10 minutes.

Three Bites of Sugary Goodness

It's Marti's fault.

She is my sister and she taught me 

how to make them.
I have made my girls memorize and perfect
the recipe starting at age 10.

It took years to perfect them.

Jeff calls them "Crisco Disks", yet he still eats them.

We make them every Sunday and invite any and all to join in the feast

starting at 7:00p.m.

Marti's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup shortening

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

blend well then add:

1tsp. salt

1tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. water

blend well then add:

2 1/4 cups flour

add more flour until the dough is just past sticky and shiny.

Mix in 1 cup chocolate chips.

Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.

Bake on parchment paper 

(I use the medium Pampered Chef Cookie Scoop) 

at 350^oF for about 10 minutes.

Chalkboard Platter

You might say I'm a little obsessed with chalkboards right now.
It's true.

I bought a silver platter on eBay for $9.
I bought a pint of chalkboard paint

at OSH and painted several coats on the flat part of the platter.  

It sits on my kitchen counter on an easel and I use my favorite chalk pen

to write whatever I want.
Messages of encouragement, announcements,

menus, etc.  It's a pretty message center.

I've seen the center of porcelain trays painted too and the trays also

look great hung on the wall.

On Sunday I remind the family what is coming....

Stay tuned for another chalkboard post tomorrow!

OOPS!

I have just been informed that I left out the most important ingredient in Grandma Van Doren's bread recipe - SUGAR!!!  Please know that the recipe has been fixed and I'm so sorry if you have already made it.
Julie

Pizza Dough

Probably once a week I make pizza for dinner.

I can make it faster than it can be delivered

and it costs cents to make.  

Pizza Crust

Make a single batch for thin crust or

double batch for thick...

1 cup warm water

1 Tbsp. active dry yeast

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 425^oF.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Add more flour if needed

until dough pulls cleanly away from the side of the bowl.

Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth.

Press onto greased round pizza pan.

If making thick crust, bake crust without toppings for 

10 minutes.  Remove from oven, top with favorite toppings

and return to oven for another 8 - 10 minutes.

For thin crust, there is no need to pre-bake.  Just top uncooked
crust and bake for about 15 minutes.

Grandma VanDoren's White Bread

Grandma VanDoren's White Bread

I don't have a Grandma VanDoren, but I love her for this recipe!

It never fails me!

Makes 4 loaves:

4 cups warm water

4 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar

4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup oil

About 11 cups flour

Combine water, yeast, salt, oil, sugar and 4 cups flour.

Mix thoroughly, stop and let sponge rise until doubled in size.

Gradually add more flour until dough pulls cleanly from side of bowl.

Turn out onto floured surface or let mixer knead for 

5-6 more minutes until dough is smooth.

Form dough into ball and place dough in a greased bowl,

 turning once to grease both side.  

Cover loosely and let rise until doubled in size.

Punch dough down and divide into 4 equal balls.

While forming loaves, heat oven to lowest temperature and when it 

has reached that temperature, turn the oven off.

For each ball/loaf, roll dough out into a flat rectangle.  

fold each end in, overlapping like a letter.

Roll folded dough out into another rectangle that is not 

wider than your bread pan and about 3/4 inch thick.  

Roll dough into a log starting with the short side.  

Pinch end along roll to seal, turn over to make that the bottom and tuck ends of roll under. 

 Place in a greased bread pan. 

 Let rise in warmed oven with door partially opened until doubled in size
or let rise on the counter until doubled in size.

Carefully remove pans, heat oven to 350^oF and 

then bake about 35 minutes until golden brown on top.  

Take bread out of pans after 5 minutes and let cool on a wire rack.

Owls - Whoo Whoo!

Owls are very trendy right now.  I hosted an Owl themed shower and made these cute owls as decorations.  To see the tutorial from "Juicy Bits", click HERE.

Since mine were not to keep, I did less stitching and more glueing.

Burlap Wreath

This is a cute spring wreath you can customize to match your decor or theme.  To see the tutorial from "Tatertots and Jello" click 

HERE.

I made mine to match my Owl Baby Shower.  

See the next post for instructions to make the cute little owl.

Play Dough Valentines

Play Dough Valentines

For a class of 30, I quadruple this recipe and have some

leftover to keep at home.

In a saucepan place:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

2 tsp. Cream of Tartar

1 cup water

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes 

stirring constantly.

 (your arm WILL scream in pain!).

It is done when it is thick and pulls cleanly 

from the side of the pan.

Dump on counter and knead until smooth.

Add food coloring and knead until marbling 

is gone and color is consistent.

Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick.

Cut with a heart shaped cookie cutter.

Place in a sandwich bag and seal so play 

dough stays fresh.

Create labels on the computer and you have 

a cute valentine.

Sometimes I say on the label, 

"My heart is soft for you, Valentine!".

(Pictures lovingly taken by Makenna the Awesome)

Valentine's Day Decorations

I don't have any Valentine's Day decorations.

New Beginnings just happened to be a red with white polka dot theme

and so the girls and I took an afternoon to do double duty - 

Valentine's decor that we could use for New Beginnings.

First, the one and only decoration - a heart wreath.

I added a new black and white ribbon and hung

it off-centered on the front door.  Love it!  

Love off-centered hearts!

Next....

Tall topiaries.

I bought white hydrangea balls, 2 dowels, 

and 4 white pots on clearance for $2 each.

I cut the dowels into 4 equal pieces, stuck 

each in styrofoam in the pot, painted them red,

stuck a hydrangea ball on top.

I then took apart a red rose ball.  I pulled each rose off and stuck it

into the hydrangea ball to create polka dots.  

I added a bow under the ball and bright green moss around the base 

and wahlah....

Next....

A low daisy topiary that sits on a glass vase.

I bought an 8" styrofoam ball, 30 silk gerber

daisies, about 10 small white silk flowers,

and I used more red roses from the red rose ball

and pieces of white hydrangea from a leftover

hydrangea ball.

I sat the ball on top of my vase, knowing that I wouldn't

 be covering any part of the ball that was inside 

the vase.  I cut the daisies leaving only one inch of 

stem under the flower and poked them into the 

ball covering it evenly.  

I filled in any gaps with the white flowers

 and white hydrangea creating a polka dot 

look and then filled in any leftover gaps 

with the small red roses.

To cover the uncovered ball in the vase, 

I wrapped the top of the vase with wide 

ribbon and tied a big bow.

Next....

Framed I Love You cards.

I bought an 8 x 10 frame, wrapped the glass in burlap,

and hot-glued I Love You notes on top of them.

The notes come from "Paper Source", one of my favorite

stores and say, "I love you" in about 40 languages.

I chose Chinese, English, Jordanian, Morse Code and

Text.

I <3 burlap!

       

Next....

Two easy things.

4 rose covered hearts in a glass jar.

Vinyl word "love" on a glass block with

a ribbon around it.

Here they are.

I have Valentine's decorations now

and New Beginnings was super cute!

Lion House Rolls

Lion House Rolls

Seriously, these could be dessert!

Makes 12-15 rolls

2 cups warm water

2/3 cup nonfat dry milk

2 Tbsp. active dry yeast

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup shortening

1 egg

About 5 cups flour

Mix water and dry milk until milk is dissolved.

Add yeast, sugar, salt, shortening, egg and 2 cups flour.

Mix until wet.  Add 2 cups flour and mix well.

Add flour slowly until dough pulls cleanly from side of bowl.

Continue to knead (by hand or mixer) for 5-6 minutes

until dough is smooth.

Place ball of dough in a large, greased bowl, turning

once to coat both sides of dough. 

Cover loosely and let rise until doubled.

Punch down dough.  Divide into 2 equal parts.

For each part, roll out dough into rectangle that is about 12"X 18".

Roll dough into log starting with the long side.

Pinch seam to seal and turn over to make seam the bottom.

With a sharp knife or pastry scraper, cut log into 3 inch sections and place 

on baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Let rise in warmed oven (see Grandma Van Doren's White Bread)

 until doubled in size.

Bake at 375^oF for about 12 minutes until golden brown.

Bread Bowls

"Bread Bowls"

2 packages active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups warm water

2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

7 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 cup cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour.  Mix well.

Continue to add flour until dough pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 6 minutes 

OR continue to knead in mixer for 5 - 6 minutes.

Lightly oil large plastic bowl,  place dough in bowl and turn to coat with oil.

Cover and let rise in draft free area until doubled in size, about 40 - 60 minutes.

Turn on oven to lowest temperature for 5 minutes then turn off.

Punch dough down, divide into 4 equal portions for large bowls or 6 for small bowls (I do 4).

Shape into round balls and place on lightly greased 

baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal.

Let rise in warmed oven with door half-way opened 

until balls double in size, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 400^oF for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown.

To make bowls, carve top of bread like a pumpkin, 

with knife pointed down and at an angle.  

Remove cone-shaped lid and scoop out hole to be a little wider.

Fill bread bowls with soup and serve with lid on side.

Lion House Easy Cherry Cheesecake

"Lion House Easy Cherry Cheesecake"

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup melted butter

8 ounces softened cream cheese

2 Tbsp. milk

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

1 8oz. tub of Cool Whip

1 - 2 cans cherry pie filling

In a 9X13 pan mix graham cracker crumbs with butter.  

Use a fork, level well and press firmly.

Combine cream cheese, milk and vanilla until creamy.

Fold in Cool Whip until thoroughly mixed. 

Spread over crust.  Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.  

Spread with cherry pie filling and refrigerate until served.