Cooking Chicken......

Ok- so today- I tried something new. I'm sure it's not new for anyone but me- but it was TASTY!

I live in an apartment complex so I don't really have the opportunity to grill out- ever. And- I don't have a george foreman grill-

So I'm kinda stuck......right?

Well- tonight- I cooked chicken- in my toaster oven!!!!

And it was FABULOUS!

I took a pan....coated the bottom with olive oil- then placed 2 pieces of thawed chicken in the middle. I then proceeded to baste the chicken with olive oil- then sprinkled Italian seasoning on it.....along with a bit of oregano, salt, and pepper.

I cooked it on 350 for 30 minutes and it turned out sooooo tasty!

The chicken was really moist- and the seasonings were perfect.

No more complaining for me about not being able to cook chicken in my apt!

Strawberry Sensation....

YUM! First off. This recipe came from a Kraft food magazine and it was SOOOOO delicious!!! The picture does not really give a good example of what it is to look like- but believe me. It's great.

4 cups fresh strawberries, divided
1 can (14 oz.) Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip Topping, thawed, divided
8 OREO Cookies, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. butter, melted

LINE 9x5-inch loaf pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Mash 2 cups of the strawberries in large bowl. Add condensed milk, juice and 2 cups of the whipped topping; mix well. Pour into prepared pan.

MIX chopped cookies and butter. Spoon over whipped topping mixture. Cover with ends of foil and gently press cookie mixture into whipped topping mixture. Freeze 6 hours or until firm.

INVERT dessert onto serving plate when ready to serve; remove pan and foil. Spread remaining whipped topping onto top and sides of dessert. Slice remaining 2 cups strawberries; arrange over dessert.

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/strawberry-whipped-sensation-109477.aspx

This link will even give you a video as to how to make it :-)

-also- don't put the final whip and strawberries on until you are ready to serve. :-) especially if you live in texas. it will melt fast. :-)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1/2 C white sugar

1/2 C brown sugar

1 C butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

1/2 C flour

1 C chocolate chips

1 C walnuts or pecans, chopped

1 9" deepdish unbaked pie shell

vanilla ice cream or cool whip

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F. In large bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Add flour and sugars and beat until well blended. Blend in melted butter. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Bake pie on a cookie sheet for 1 hr.

Serve warm with ice cream or cool whip.

It is good to have a second pie dish that you can put under the original, as the butter has been known to leak.

This is a very rich and delicious pie. I think it is too sweet without the ice cream or cool whip.

We have been making this for years in our family. For a long time, it was a winter dessert, but I decided to make it for a couple of occasions this summer, and I have found that it is just good in summer as in winter!

Chewy Peanutbutter Cookies

Bring to a rolling boil:

1 C white sugar

2 C brown sugar

1 Pt karo syrup

Pour over

8 C Special K Cereal

3 C (24 oz) peanutbutter (my grandma swears by Chunky, but I use creamy)

1 t vanilla

Stir well

Dropout spoonfuls quickly onto wax paper.

Yields--75

These cookies are a tradition in my family that goes back to my maternal greatgrandmother. I make them every 4th of July, and they are always a hit!

Cinnamon Rolls

This past week I was in Washington visiting family. My aunt and uncle have 11 children- and the last 3 days of the vacation were spent hanging out with just the 11. My aunt and uncle took off for a little vacation of their own.......so, Monday morning, I figured I could help out with the cooking by making my dad's recipe for cinnamon rolls. Yum!!! A picture will soon follow- I promise (wasn't taken on my camera).... But for now- here is the recipe:

1/4 C. warm water
1 C. warm milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/4 C. melted butter
1 TBS yeast
5 Cups of flour

Mix water, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, butter in large bowl. In separate bowl, mix yeast with several cups of flour. Add mixture to the first bowl and stir. Add remaining cups of flour and let rise until doubles. Punch down, cover, and let rise again. Punch down the dough and begin the rolling process.

On rolled dough- 1/4 cup melted butter, 1 cup brown sugar, and cinnamon to coat.

Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Glaze:

1/4 Cup melted butter
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 lb powdered sugar.

Mix and glaze over hot cinnamon rolls.

Snickerdoodles....

So this is sort of a lame 'first' recipe for this blog- but I made them this weekend so I figured I'd take a pic and post them here. :-)

So the recipe is as follows:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp cream of tarter

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Mix ingredients and bake at 400 degrees. I set my timer for 6 minutes- then watched them for the last minute just so they wouldn't be too brown. When the edges are slightly brown- time to get them out of the oven!

We'll See How This Works......

So this blog is going to be where Amy and I, Minda, post new recipes that we try and like. You will not find bad recipes here. You might find funny stories about how recipes flopped- but we'll try and post recipes and pictures of foods that are GREAT! :-)

Ok. That's all for now.