Parmesan Chicken

This Is Barefoot Contessa's Recipe:

Barefoot Contessa’s Parmesan Chicken

serves 6 (Although I would say it could easily do 8 chicken breasts if needed)

6 boneless skinless chicken Breasts

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt (I have if you don’t)

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper ( I use regular pepper)

2 extra large eggs

1 ¼ cups seasoned dry breadcrumbs

½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (I buy the pre grated parmesan in the bag, not the green container)

Unsalted butter (I use salted cuz it is what I keep on hand)

Olive oil

Pound the chicken breasts until they are ¼” think.  You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate.  On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 Tablespoon of water.  On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and ½ cup parmesan cheese.  Coat the chicken breast on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture.  Pressing lightly.

Heat 1 Tablespoon of butter and 1 Tablespoon of Olive oil in a large sauté pan and cook 2 to 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until cooked through.  Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts.

NOTE: I typically make this with Boneless skinless chicken tenders and it will make 8-10.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

2 Cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/3 cup jam (any kind)

1. Preheat oven to 350* and spray mini-muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
(Makes 24 mini muffins/12 regular size muffins)
2. Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in small bowl.
3. In another bowl, whisk together peanut butter, egg, and melted butter.
4. Add dry ingredients and stir until flour disappears. Be sure not to stir too much!
5. Fill muffin tins half full with batter. Top each with 1/2 tsp. jam, then spoon the rest of the batter on top.
6. Bake for 20 mins or until lightly browned.
Enjoy!

Tara and Christina's Shower Menu

Here are the links to all the recipes that were served at the shower.  Hayley did a fabulous job in the planning and preparing of all the yummy goodness!


Hot Artichoke and Spinach Dip with Pita Chips

Potato Bites



Veggie Bars

Apples and Toffee Dip

Edible Arrangement of Fruit (if you google it there are a ton of how to's The biggest helps was stuff your vase or bowl with a head of lettuce, start with the biggest fruit and move on to the fillers like grapes and strawberries.)

Razzleberry Pie-someone said putting in a teaspoon of Tapioca will make it thick if you like it less runny...

Oreo Truffles

Cherry Chip Cupcakes with Wilton Butter Cream Frosting

Monkey Bread  with no raisins or walnuts.  I am not sure this is the exact recipe but they are all pretty close to the same.

Walnut Blondie w/ Maple Butter

I believe this is a knock-off recipe of Applebees White Blondie.

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup flour sifted

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg beaten

1 TB vanilla

1/2 cup white choc. chips

1/3 cup butter, melted

Add soda, powder, and salt to flour. Sift again. Add nuts, mix well.

Add sugar to melted butter, add egg and vanilla, mix well. Add flour to mixture a little at a time until mixed well. Stir in choc. chips.

Spread dough over 9'' pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 min.

Maple Butter Sauce

3/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

In pan, add syrup and butter. Cook over low heat until butter is melted. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Add walnuts if desired.

Beef Ole

This recipe is one that my grandma makes, she clipped this recipe from a newspaper years ago.  IT is always a must have when I visit.  No one can make it like she does!

1lb Ground Beef

1 cup Water
1 pack Lawry’s Spaghetti Sauce mix
½ teaspoon Chili Powder
1 (8-oz) tomato sauce
Fritos Corn Chips
Tortilla Chips

Plus your favorit toppings.

Brown beef. Add seasonings, water, and sauce. Simmer uncovered 30 minutes until sauce thickens. Serve on a bed of Fritos and tortilla chips crumbled together. Top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and grated cheese. Salsa, sour cream and olives are a must in our home as well.

Cream of Soup Substitute

You know when you find a recipe you don't want to loose..well this is my catch all recipe place.  A friend form church gave me this recipe and as soon as my canned soups are depleted I am going to try this.  She said it is great and the recipe says: "Here's a lowfat, low-cost recipe forcreamed condensed soup."  It is from a cookbook called "Set for life"

Slim Cream of Soup Mix

2 cups instant nonfat dried milk
1 cup cornstarch
3 TBSP low sodium chicken boullion granules
2 TBSP dried minced onion
1/2 tspn thyme leaves, cruched (optional)
¼ tsp pepper

Mix together and store in an airtight container

Slim Cream Soup
1/3 cup dry Slim Cream Soup Mix (see above)
1 ¼ cups water or skim milk

Combine soup mix and water or milk in small pan, bring to a boil and stir until thick. For a casserole or cream soup: combine soup mix and water or milk. Add to casserole or soup, it will thicken as it cooks.

Yield 1 ¼ cups Equals 1 10 ¾ ounce can condensed soup.

Variations:
Cream of Mushrrom Soup Add 1 4oz can mushrooms. Drained
Cream of Vegetable soup Add ½ cup diced cooked vegetables
Cream of Chicken soup Add ½ cup cooked diced chicken

Gooey Chocolate Brownies

I made brownies from scratch before and it was not worth the effort.  These however ARE!~  I made them in less than an hour, so it may take about 15 minutes longer to make these then those good ones from the box!
Let’s Cook: A book for kids who love to cook


Ingredients

6oz dark chocolate broken into pieces (I uses 1/2 bag bittersweet choc chips)
1 1/2 stick butter
1 1/4 cup sugar (I used white but the recipe says golden superfine sugar..is that supposed to be brown?)
pinch of salt
3 large eggs
1 scant cup all-purpose flour
2tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the cake pan, 8” square, and line it with nonstick baking parchment.

2. Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl. Melt over a pan of simmering water. Stir until smooth. Remove pan from the heat. Cool Slightly.

3. Add the sugar and sale to the melted chocolate. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add them gradually to the mixture.

4. Sift the flour into the mixture and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and stir in the chocolate chips.

5. Scrape the mixture into the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is pale brown and the middle is soft. Remove from the pan.

6. Allow the brownies to cool in the pan before cutting into pieces. Remove from the pan and serve with ice cream to make a delicious dessert.

Chocolate Scotcheroos

Ingredients

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions

1. Place corn syrup and sugar into 3-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter. Mix well. Add Rice Krispies cereal. Stir until well coated. Press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in 1-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over cereal mixture. Let stand until firm. Cut into 2 x 1-inch bars when cool.

Pesto Chicken Pizza

I guess with pizza, this is more of a topping suggestion or theory than an actual recipe. But it was delicious and I thought I should share. Sorry I didn't take pictures, it didn't last that long!
I put jarred pesto, fresh mozerella, fresh tomatoes and shredded chicken on top of my favorite (aka store bought) pizza crust. It was DELICIOUS (and green for St. Patty's Day)!!!! I might have skipped the chicken if my husband ate tomatoes... but the chicken was for him, and it actually made the pizza more filling, so that worked.
As a suggestion, if you like pesto at all, I would buy it at Costco, where it is about 1/4 the price as the regular grocery store, but you will have so much left over. Anyways, it was a good alternative to the regular pizza sauce, and was a little lighter than a standard pepperoni pizza.