lemon pepper chicken sandwich

this thing is good!!! you've gotta try it! 

banana bread

banana bread is one of my all time favorite things... and this is the best recipe i've found so far (and i've tried quite a few). surprisingly, it's from an older cookbook called calling all cooks (and "oldie but a goodie" as i like to say)

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup oleo or butter

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/8 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp vanilla flavoring

1 1/2 cup mashed bananas (3 or 4 bananas)

1 cup nuts

Cream oleo; add sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Sift dry ingredients together; add alternately with buttermilk. Add vanilla, bananas and nuts. Bake in loaf pans (2 big or 4 small). Bake at 350 about 1/2 an hour (or until cake turns loose from sides of pans). 

Very tasty toasted with a little cream cheese! 

lemon chicken with croutons

from barefoot in paris

1 roasting chicken 

1 large yellow onion, sliced

good olive oil

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 lemons, quartered

2 T butter, melted

6 cups bread cubes (from a fresh baguette is best)

and some water

small potatoes, if you'd like (i use the gold ones, because they taste so yummy)

the contessa's recipe is for roasting this in the oven. i cook mine in the crock pot (because that's how my mom told me i could). 

clean the chicken off/out and then stuff a bunch of the lemon into it's butt (gross, i know...). then, put it into the crockpot with about an inch of water in it. after that, brush chicken with butter and sprinkle salt and pepper on. throw in your potatoes and cut up onion, kind of around the chicken. then put the top on, plug in and put on high for 4-4 1/2 hours. 

i got it all ready and started before church and by the time we got home, it was ready to eat.

oh, and don't forget the croutons. cut up the baguette and put in large skillet pan with a little olive oil. cook until crunchy. dip in the broth left over in the crockpot-yum yum!

plus, with the leftovers, you can make ryan's delicious sandwiches: 

pull apart the chicken and put it between some bread with a little salt and pepper (and cheese, if you like). put a little olive oil and butter in the bottom of a skillet pan and brown both sides of the sandwich! it's easy and tasty...and different! 

guacamole

(pronounced gua-ka-mol; not to be confused with guacomole, pronounce gua-ka-mol-ee)
this recipe is from an neat little cooking school we attended while in guatemala.

4 avocados
2 T finely minced white onion
1 tsp dry oregano
lime juice, salt, and pepper to taste

Scoop out the avocado, add other ingredients and mash all together. Then eat up... we like it a lot with lime tortilla chips! =)

"sunny morning muffins"

i wacthed an episode of "cooking for real" earlier this week and sunny anderson made these muffins. they looked so scrumptious that i insisted ryan and i go straight to the store to get the ingredients (actually, i convinced him we needed to go to the store to get chicken-we didn't have any meat for dinner-and while we were there, just so happened to get the ingredients needed for these muffins. if you could taste summer, i imagine this is what it tastes like

ingredients:
1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped
1 cup sugar, plus 2 T
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
pinch of ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 large eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1 lemon, zested
1/2 pint blueberries
1 cup chopped walnuts

preheat oven to 350.

in a small bowl, mix together strawberries and 2 T sugar, let sit 15 minutes until strawberries give off juices.

in a small bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt.

in a large bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, eggs, oil, 1 cup sugar, strawberries and lemon zest.

mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined (maybe 15 strokes). be careful not to overmix. fold in blueberries and walnuts.

scoop batter evenly into muffin cups (she used an ice cream scooper on the show-ingenious!!). bake until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out with a few crumbs, but not wet--about 30 minutes. cool on a wire rack.

ryan enjoyed his with lots of butter, while i enjoyed mine with a little cream cheese. yum yum yum!!

cream cheese brownies

I made these after dinner tonight and they were soooooo tasty!! We ate them right after they came from the oven and it was like a warm chocolatey-cheesecake, very similar to what I used to enjoy at O'Carrs in Birmingham!!!

4 unsweetened chocolate baking squares
4 semisweet chocolate baking squares
1/3 cup butter or margarine
2 (3 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar, divided
6 large eggs, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels, divided
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Melt first 3 ingredients in a heat-proof bowl (either in the microwave or on the stove), careful not to scorch! cool and set aside.
Beat cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter at medium speed until creamy; gradually add 1/2 cup sugar; beating well. Add 2 eggs, 1 at a time. Stir in 1 tsp vanilla. Fold in 2 Tbsp flour and 1/2 cup chocolate morsels; set aside.
Beat remaining 4 eggs in a large bowl at medium speed. Gradually add remaining sugar, beating well. Add melted chocolate mixture and 2 tsp vanilla; beat mixture until well blended.
Combine 1 cup flour, baking powder, and salt; fold into chocolate batter until blended, and stir in remaining 1 cup chocolate morsels.
Reserve 3 cups chocolate batter; spread remaining batter evenly in a greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Pour cream cheese mixture over batter. Top with reserved 3 cups chocolate batter; swirl with knife.
Bake at 325 for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool and cut brownies into squares. Yields 1 1/2 dozen.

parmesan chicken

maybe the best i've ever had! adapted from the one and only barefoot contessa...

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c all purpose flour
a good dash of salt and pepper
2 eggs
1 T water
3/4 c seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese (fresh if you have it)
unsalted butter
olive oil

spilt the chicken long-ways (to make it skinnier).
combine the flour, salt and pepper on a plate.
in a bowl, beat the eggs and water.
on another plate, combine the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.
coat the chicken breast on both sides with the flour mix, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread crumb mix, pressing lightly.

heat 1 T butter and 1 T olive oil in a large saute pan and cook the chicken-2 pieces at a time) on medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken.

if you have fresh cheese (even mozarella will do), sprinkle it over the top of the chicken and put in the oven for a few minutes to melt.

add a little pasta and salad and enjoy!! :)