So tonight I wanted to make a homemade Caesar salad.  Unfortunately, I forgot to purchase canned anchovies.  And I don’t think you can make an honest Caesar dressing without them.  So I took the ingredients I had on hand and threw this salad together.  Turned out great.  Easy to throw together and even the hubby enjoyed it.  Enjoy!

Roasted Romaine with Crusted Chicken Breast

1 head of romaine lettuce

boneless chicken breasts

sliced parmesan cheese

cherry tomatoes

dried cranberries

oil, salt, pepper

Take the romaine lettuce head and slice in half the long way.  Place on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  Roast in the oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

The crusted chicken can be any type of crusting you like.  I actually used Kraft’s chipolte lime crusting package found in the packaged cheese isle.  I used the crusting crumbs and added  a bit of regular grated parmesan cheese.  I crusted the chicken breasts and fried them in olive oil until crispy.  Then I transferred them into the oven to finish baking with the romaine for about 15 minutes.  Once the chicken is done, slice and lay over salad.  Drizzle with your favorite dressing.  I used a great poppy seed dressing.  My hubby prefers the plain, old fashioned French.  Enjoy!

And FYI, I also roasted up some extra asperagus I had on hand, we love to eat this with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Yummy!

This recipe is an old one, my mom would make these all the time when I was growing up.  I have no idea who she got the recipe from, but the name of the recipe is “Bushel of Cookies”.  This is a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe, but it supposedly makes 96 cookies!  I must make them too big, because I never get that many out of a batch, but it is a big batch with 5 cups of flour in it!  And out of all the chocolate chip cookie recipes I’ve ever made, this is by far the best dough to eat raw.  Yummy!  Of course, there are raw eggs in it, so eat at your own risk.  Me, I risk it all every time I make these and eat half the dough before it even makes it to the pan.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1 c. butter, room temp

1 c. Crisco (I used butter flavor)

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 c. white sugar

4 eggs

2 t. vanilla

5 c. flour

1 t. salt

2 t. soda

1 bag chocolate chps

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream together butter, Crisco, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Stir til light and fluffy,  (I used my stand up mixer).  Add flour, salt and soda into the creamed mixture.  Add chocolate chips.  Drop by teaspoon full onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-9 minutes or until lightly brown.  Enjoy!

I just had to post this picture from a recent night of fun.  This wonderful group of women have been friends for almost 10 years, after getting to know each other in a small group at church.  It sounds like a few of them still go to that same church, but there are also others who have moved to different churches, moved out of state or are moving out of state soon.  They decided it would be fun to do a photo shoot to capture them all together one more time.  And I was blessed to be able to take the pictures.  Thanks ladies, for including me in your fun night!  May you all be blessed as you live out your separate lives, all the while remaining friends.

I got this recipe from a close family friend a few years ago.  Our mom’s have known each other for over 30 years and we grew up as neighbors, also becoming the best of friends.  Andrea made these awesome banana bars at one of our little get-togethers and I just had to have the recipe.  She so kindly gave it to me, hopefully it’s not a family secret recipe because I am going to share it with you all!  The recipe calls for a 10×15 pan, but I used a 9×13.  Still tasted great, just a little thicker.  I was also excited to use some beautiful and tasty brown sugar brought all the way from Guyana from my special friend Kristin.  Enjoy!

Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

2 c. flour

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

1 t. salt

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. shortening

2 eggs

1/2 c. buttermilk

2 ripe bananas

Combine all and beat for 2 minutes.  Turn into a greased 10×15 jelly roll pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.  Cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 oz. cream cheese, room temp

1 1/3 c. butter, room temp

1 T. milk

1 t. vanilla

2 c. powdered sugar

Beat all but sugar till creamy.  Stir in sugar until smooth.  Spread over bars.  Enjoy!

I found this recipe in an issue of Martha Stewart Everyday Food.  It called for ham, but I opted for all veggies.  This is an easy, delicious weeknight meal.  And you could easily change up the filling to suit your tastes.  Enjoy!

Veggie Omelet Cups:

4 cups frozen hash browns thawed

4 T butter melted

salt/pepper

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  Spray 4-6 ramekins or a 6 spot large muffin tin.  Mix thawed hash browns and butter in a bowl.  Add in a dash of salt/pepper to taste.  Place 1/4 cup of hash brown mixture into prepared ramekins, firmly pressing into bottom and up sides of each cup.  Bake 15 minutes.

1 T olive oil

1/4 cup chopped red peppers, onions, mushrooms, green peppers, jalapenos, etc…

3/4 C grated cheddar cheese

4-6 large eggs

Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute 1 T olive oil and any chopped veggies or meat you decide to use.  Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Divide veggie mix evenly among cups.  Top with 3 T of grated cheddar cheese.  Crack 1 large egg onto the top.  Season with salt/pepper.  Bake until whites are set, 8-10 minutes.  With a small spatula, remove from cups and serve immediately.  Enjoy!

The last time I made soft pretzels was in home economics class in 7th grade.  I found this recipe in the winter issue of Phyllis Hoffman Celebrate and thought it would be fun to make after church today.  It calls for you to make it in a stand up mixer with a dough hook, but my mom does not have one of those at her house, so I just used a spoon and my hands to kneed it.  They worked well and were very tasty.  Have fun!

Soft Pretzels:

1 1/2 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees)

1 T honey

3 t kosher salt, divided

1 package active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups bread flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 T water

1 egg yolk

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine milk, honey, 2 t salt and yeast.  Stir to combine.  Allow mix to stand for at least 5 minutes or until mixture begins to foam.  Add all purpose flour, bread flour and butter.  Using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until combined.  Increase speed to medium and mix until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl, about 4-5 minutes.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap or towel and place in a warm place.  Let stand until doubled in size, about 1 hour.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.  Divide into about 16 equal portions.  Roll each into a 12″ rope.  Shape into a pretzel shape (or any shape you like) and place on prepared baking sheet.  In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and water.  Using a pastry brush, coat pretzels with egg mixture and sprinkle with remaining salt.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a deep golden brown.  Remove and enjoy!

I found this recipe in the winter issue of Phyllis Hoffman Celebrate.  It’s been snowing here all day and I was craving something warm and comforting tonight.  I loved these, they really hit the spot.  They were super easy to make and would be great for a super bowl party or appetizer party.  Enjoy!

Sweet & Spicy Ham & Turkey Sliders

2 (12 piece) packages Hawaiian rolls

1/2 cup butter

2 T sliced green onions

2 T seeded and chopped jalapeno peppers

2 T deli mustard

1 t sugar

1 t Worcestershire sauce

3/4 lb thinly sliced deli turkey

3/4 lb thinly sliced deli ham

6 slices provolone cheese (or Velveeta, which is what I used)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Without separating, slice rolls horizontally.  Set aside.  In a small saucepan, combine butter, jalapeno peppers, mustard, sugar and Worcestershire sauce.  Cook over medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes, until butter is melted.  Brush melted butter mixture on both sides of the rolls.  Layer ham, turkey and cheese on rolls.  Add some of the sliced green onions.  Close rolls.  Brush tops with extra butter mixture.  Wrap rolls in tinfoil.  Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I had the pleasure of taking Addi’s 3 year pictures today.  Mom actually wanted some pictures of her two kids together and we got a few of those too.  But I am going to post each part separately.  I have been friends with Mom since middle school, and we make sure to see each other at least once per month.  Thanks for letting me play with you all this morning.  Enjoy!

I have been wanting to make these for months now.  I finally found the time to do it.  And this recipe was in this month’s issue of Cuisine At Home magazine.  These were very easy to make and tasted great!  I ate at least half for my dinner tonight dipped in ranch dressing.  Yummy!  Enjoy!

Fried Pickles

Vegetable oil

1 jar dill or sweet pickle slices (I used Famous Dave’s Spicy Pickle Chips)

1/2 cup ranch dressing

1 egg

1 cup flour

2 cups panko bread crumbs

1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix

Heat 1 inch of oil in a large fry pan over medium heat to 360 degrees.  Drain pickles, reserving 3/4 cup of pickle juice.  Whisk pickle juice, dressing, egg and flour together until smooth.  Combine panko and dry ranch mix in a shallow dish.  Pat pickles dry with paper towels.  Dip pickles into batter, letting excess drip off.  Then coat in panko mix and drop into hot oil.  Fry pickles in batches until golden, 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

I found this recipe in the most recent Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine.  I actually had some pure maple syrup in the refrigerator that needed to be used up, so I thought I’d give this a try.  These cookies were very easy to put together

Maple Oatmeal Cookies

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup flour

1 t salt

1/4 t baking soda

3/4 cup butter, room temp

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 egg

1 t vanilla extract

1/8 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, stir together oats, flour, salt and baking soda.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on high until pale and fluffy, 3 minutes.  Beat in maple syrup, egg, vanilla and 1/8 cup of water, scraping down bowl as needed.  With mixer on low, beat in oat mixture in 2 additions until just combined.  Drop dough in rounded teaspoons, 2 inches apart onto sprayed baking sheets.  Bake until edges are golden, about 11 minutes.  Let cookies cool on sheets until set, about 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.