Swiss Chicken

Easy and delicious, this Swiss Chicken is sure to satisfy!
(I'm not usually a fan of Swiss cheese so don't let that scare you off if you are like me!)


Swiss Chicken:

What You'll Need:
4 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts
s & p
8 slices of Swiss cheese
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 cup stuffing
4 Tb melted butter

Here's How:
1.  Pre-heat oven to 350*. Place chicken in a 9x13 dish. Season with salt and pepper.

(The recipe calls for 4 pieces of chicken, but I only had three. It turned out just fine!)

2. Layer 2 slices of cheese on each piece of chicken.

3. In a bowl mix the soup and stock. Pour over chicken.

4. Sprinkle stuffing on top and pour melted butter over all.

5. Bake 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

I serve mine over colored pasta that is cooked and buttered.
Enjoy!

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Easy Ranch Potatoes

Easy is what is really important here.... that and the fact that these are extremely hard to stop eating. So much so, you might not ever need to eat french fries again!

Easy Ranch Potatoes

Here's What You'll Need:
4 large potatoes (I use red potatoes when I get them on sale, but russet potatoes work great too)
1 packet ranch salad dressing mix (If you do anymore than 4 potatoes, just use 2 packages of ranch and add more oil)
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Here's How:
1. Scrub potatoes and then cut into 1 inch cubes. Place them into a bowl.

2. Mix salad dressing mix and oil into potatoes.

Spread onto a baking sheet. Single layer!

(If you are not using a stone baking sheet, cover your baking sheet with foil, before adding the potatoes, to help with clean up.)

3. First, I preheated my oven to 375*.

Then I turned around to the starving (screaming) boy on the floor. I cranked the temperature up to 400* to prevent complete starvation.

Little Buddy doesn't do hungry very well, so a snack was a must until those yummy potatoes were done!

("Whatcha got?" Was my question here!)

4. Bake for about 40 minutes or until desired crispness. You can pull them out after 30 minutes but I love the dark bits that you get when you leave them in longer!

And there you go! The perfect side to just about anything you have planned for your upcoming week!

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Mini Blackberry-Apple Crumbles

I'm seriously not trying to throw sweets in your face this week! (I'm pretty sure I'm the only person blogging about desserts.) 

Oh well, this is only the 4th dessert recipe this year! ;)

Keep reading because you'll love the price!

$1

Yep! I bought blackberries for a buck (everything else I already had).

And I knew I wanted a nice big pile of crumble on top...

Mini Blackberry-Apple Crumbles

What You'll Need:

1 pint blackberries

4 Tb applesauce (I used my homemade cinnamon applesauce)

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 Tb flour

4 Tb quick cooking oats

1/4 tsp. salt

4 Tb cold margarine

Here's How:

1. Divide your blackberries evenly among 4 ramekin baking dishes.

2. Top with a tablespoon of applesauce in each ramekin.

3. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, oats and salt.

(I would add cinnamon here if are not using cinnamon applesauce.)

Add butter and blend with a pastry blender or fork.

4. Divide crumb topping evenly over blackberry/applesauce mixture.

5. Bake at 375* for 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden!

I decided to spare you the picture of the giant scoop of vanilla bean ice-cream I dumped on top of my Blackberry Apple Crumble.

Don't worry, I'll do some crunches right now so we all feel less guilty!

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The Night Before the Most Magical Place on Earth!

The night before we left for our GREATLY anticipated trip to Disney World.... and yes, I said the night before.
Side note: I have this great talent (inherited from my mother) to work efficiently and incredible fast when I'm under a super time crunch!
Sooo.....  I had gotten all my other 'chores' finished; laundry, packing, cleaning up the house-so you don't have to come home to a mess, etc.
It was 9 pm (*yawn*, just thinking about it) and I decided to make Reese some Disney Princess headbands for the trip. A Pinterest pin I had pinned awhile ago gave me the idea. The website led me to a place to buy them. $15 a head band was the asking price (ouch).
I decided to save myself the $100 and make them!

Here's what I came up with:

In order of appearance...
Ariel, Snow White, Aurora, Belle, and Cinderella

We couldn't go to Disney World without Mouse accessories!

Minnie

(The Minnie headband idea was taken from this hair clip I had made for Reese to wear at Graham's 'Mickey Mouse' 2nd birthday party. They were party favors for the girls too!)


Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

Snow White

Ariel

Cinderella

Belle

My favorite Princess is Belle. So glad she liked the headbands! :)

When I showed Reese all the headbands I made for her, she said, "Where's Rapunzel?"

Oops! (I didn't have a picture to follow to figure out how to make her.)

"Next Disney trip!", I promised.

(Original headbands found here.)

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Sugar Cookies

I know, I know... most people are trying to slim their waist line this time of year. 

But who doesn't love a good sugar cookie?

(Especially when little fingers are involved in the making...)

A true boy- loving the mess!

The great wait... 

A 2-year-old can be creative.....

.....and hungry! :)

My other little artist taking her time to get those snowflake cookies just right...

The more icing, the better????

Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs

What you'll Need:

2/3 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 Tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

Here's How:

1. Preheat oven to 375*. In a large bowl, beat butter on medium for 30 seconds. Add sugar, powder and salt. Beat until combined, scrapping bowl occasionally.

2. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining four.

3. Divide dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill dough about 30 minutes or until easy to handle.

4. On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough at a time until 1/4 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut dough into desired shapes. 

5. Place cookies 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 7-8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are barely light brown. 

6. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Ice and decorate as desired.

(Recipe from the Better Homes and Garden New Cookbook- 14th Edition)

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Pumpkin Pie

I don't know about you, but my pumpkin pie habit is hard to kick every January. These yummy pies can be found everywhere in November and December. So, why not have that fresh pumpkin pie smell in your home all winter? If you agree with me, here's an easy recipe!

Pumpkin Pie

What You'll Need:

single pie crust

1 3/4 cups fresh (or canned) pumpkin

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 eggs, slightly beaten

3/4 cup milk

Here's How:

1. Preheat oven to 375*.

Prepare and roll out pastry for crust.

2. For the filling, combine pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Add eggs; beat lightly with a fork until combined. Gradually add milk; stir until just combined.

3. Place the crust lined pie plate on the oven rack. Carefully pour filling into pie crust. 

Cover the edges with foil to prevent over-browning.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 25 minutes more or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. 

4. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill within 2 hours.

Serve with whipped cream!

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Chocolate Snowflake Cookies

Chocolate Snowflake Cookies


What You'll Need:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
powdered sugar

Here's How:
1. Preheat oven to 350*. Lightly grease cookie sheets.
2. Combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl.

3. Beat butter, sugar and brown sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until well blended.
4. Add flour mixture; beat just until blended.
(This is where I find chilling the dough will make the rolling process much easier. I divide the dough into 1/2's, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for an hour.)

5. Place powdered sugar in a shallow bowl. Shape heaping teaspoonfuls of dough into balls. Roll balls into sugar.

6. Place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.

7. Bake about 11 minutes or until set and no longer shiny. Cool on cookie sheets 2 minutes then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen.

(Good recipe Cute Bell!)

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