Combine ingredients. Serve with your favorite vinaigrette. We used Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette, but it would also be good with raspberry or pomegranate vinaigrette.
2 c. Chex cereal
2 chicken breasts
12 oz angel pasta
½ stick butter
zest of 2 lemons
juice of 4 lemons
1 c half and half
1 ½ c grated Parmesan cheese
at least 20 basil leaves (the more the better), chopped
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 medium zucchini
1 t dried oregano
salt and pepper
Place chicken in a zip-lock back with the juice of one lemon (about 3 T), 2 T olive oil, and 2 T red wine vinegar. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes. Slice your zucchini in half length-wise. Drizzle or spray with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Salt and pepper chicken. Grill chicken and zucchini (I broiled it in the oven). The chicken takes longer than the zucchini. Chop and set aside.
Cook your pasta. (I always use angel hair pasta because it cooks in just 4 minutes!) Drain and set aside.
In a medium pan, melt butter over medium heat. Squeeze in the juice of 3 lemons (about 9 T). Whisk together. Pour in half-and-half. Whisk until hot. Add about a cup of cheese and whisk until melted. Salt and pepper.
Combine zest, oregano, basil, pasta, chicken, zucchini, and sauce in a large serving bowl. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and enjoy!
Slice onions and cook in 1/4 stick butter until soft and light brown. Remove and set aside.
Slice steak against the grain. Season with Lawry’s.
Heat 2 tablespoons butter over high heat (in same skillet) until melted and beginning to brown. Add meat in single layer. Cook one side until brown, then flip and cook until brown, about a minute on both sides.
Add 1/2 cup (at least) Worcestershire sauce, 5 to 6 shakes Tabasco, and 2 tablespoons butter. Add cooked onions. Stir to combine.
Butter halved French rolls and brown in skillet.
To assemble, lay bottom half of French roll on plate. Add cheese, meat mixture, followed by a spoonful of juice from the pan. Top with other half of roll, cut in half, and devour!
It's also just as yummy to use less butter. You could probably even only use half the amount.
12 rolls, I used this recipe
Mayo
Ham (black forest is good or a spiral cut ham would be extra tasty)
6 slices Swiss cheese
¼ c. melted butter
2 t. mustard
A few shakes Worcestershire sauce
2 t. poppy seeds or sesame seeds (I’ve tried both ways and like it.)
Slice rolls in half so they open. Spread mayo on top and bottom of the inside of each roll. Assemble rolls with cheese and ham. Place all of these on a baking sheet. Mix together the melted butter, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and poppy or sesame seeds with a whisk. Brush this mixture all over the tops of the rolls. If needed, cover with tin foil to prevent from browning too much. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until heated through.
1 c. butter, softened
2 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
3 c. quick-cooking oats
2 ½ c. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
Chocolate layer
2 t. butter
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 c. (12 oz.) chocolate (semisweet or milk chocolate)
1 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the oats, flour, salt, and baking soda in a separate bowl; stir into creamed mixture. Press 2/3 of oat mixture onto a greased cookie sheet with high sides (jelly-roll pan). It’s also works great to cut the recipe in half and use the half size cookie sheets.
In a saucepan, combine milk, chocolate chips, and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. (Or do this step in the microwave). Remove from the heat; stir in walnuts and vanilla. Spread over the crust. Sprinkle with remaining oat mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool. Cut into squares.
Yield: 4 dozen
Recipe: adapted from Becky Higgins
Crust:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
Cream together the butter and powdered sugar on medium speed. Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour and salt. Mix until combined and smooth. Press the crust dough into the 8x8 cake pan. Make sure the crust is evenly spread out. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven.
filling:
2 large egg yolks
1-14 oz. can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
6 ounces fresh raspberries
Once the crust is cool, combine the egg yolks and condensed milk until well mixed. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir until mixture begins to slightly thicken. Gently fold in the raspberries. Fold carefully so you don’t break the raspberries.
Pour the lemon raspberry filling evenly over the graham cracker crust. Bake for 15 minutes, or until just set.
Cool to room temperature, then chill for at least one hour before serving. Cut into bars and serve. Keep bars in the refrigerator-up to five days.
*Note-use fresh raspberries and make sure you gently fold the berries into the lemon filling or you will have pink bars.
Yield: 16 bars
Recipe adapted from: Two Peas and their Pod
P.S. Stacie wanted me to add that she had just finished a softball game. She was a champ and let me take a picture with her anyway. I don't know what she's worried about; she looks good!
22 skewers (plus more for leftover fruit)
11 oz. can Mexican corn, drained4.5 ox can chopped green chilies
1 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese (8 oz.)
½ c. Parmesan cheese
½ c. mayonnaise
Corn chips, for dipping
Heat oven to 350. Grease a small casserole dish.
Mix corn, chilies, cheeses, and mayo until fully combined and spread into dish. Cook, uncovered for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges.
Recipe: Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood
Sprinkle on cheeses and add sliced onions, chilis, steak, and cilantro. 
Cook for about 17 minutes or until outer crust is golden brown. Allow to cool before slicing.
Dip in green taco sauce if desired.
Stuffed French Toast
1 loaf French bread
½ c. fresh fruit, I used strawberries
1 8 oz. package plain cream cheese
2 eggs
1 T. cinnamon
½ c. milk
2 T. butter
Heat frying pan to 325 degrees.
Cut French bread into 2-3 inch wide slices. Then, with a paring knife, go back and cut halfway into each slice, in the center, creating a pocket that your fruit mixture can be stuffed into.
In a bowl, place the room temperature cream cheese and fruit in a bowl and combine well.
In a separate bowl, break 2 eggs; add cinnamon and milk and combine well.
Now take fruit mixture and stuff into the pockets of your French bread slices.
When done stuffing each piece of bread, completely coat each piece in egg mixture. Make sure all sides are covered. Do all pieces before frying.
Put 2 T. butter or cooking spray onto frying pan. Add all the bread to the skillet and cook roughly and 3-6 minutes on each side, until it is golden brown. You want to make sure the cream cheese mixture heats through. If it is golden and not quite cooked through, heat in microwave to a 30 seconds or so.
When done frying, serve with or without maple syrup.
Salt and pepper your ribs thoroughly. Pour some sauce in the bottom of a large pot, add ribs, pour remaining sauce on top. Cover with a lid and cook on high until it begins to boil. Stir the ribs and turn them down to low. Stir every 15 minutes for about 3 hours, or until they start to fall apart. Yum! It's important to leave the lid on tight unless you are stirring the ribs.
FYI: You can also cook these in the crockpot and it's very similar to the stove top. Just cook on high until they boil, and turn to low for the remaining cooking time. Stir every 15 minutes.
Recipe adapted from: Get Off Your Butt and Bake
Pour prepared cake batter into a greased 12" Dutch oven. Spoon raspberry pie filling into clumps over cake batter. In a small mixing bowl cream together cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Drop by tablespoons over top of cake.
Place lid on oven. Bake using 8-10 briquettes bottom and 14-16 briquettes top for 1 hour or until top center of cake springs back when touched.
Serve warm with ice cream as topping.
Serves: 10-12
Recipe from Byron's Dutch Oven Recipes
In a medium bowl, whisk together the lime juice, 4 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, jalapeño, cilantro, salt and pepper. Reserve ¼ cup of the marinade; set aside. Place the chicken breast halves in the marinade and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Brush both sides of the onion rounds and peppers with the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Remove the chicken breast halves from the marinade and transfer to a hot grill; discard the left over marinade. Place the onion rounds and peppers on the grill (you want this side of the grill to be cooler). Cook the chicken until it is well browned, 3-4 minutes. Flip the chicken and continue grilling until it is no longer pink inside. Meanwhile, cook onions and peppers until spottily charred and crisp-tender, about 8-12 minutes, turning once or twice as needed. When the chicken and vegetables are done, transfer them to a large plate and tent with foil to keep warm.
Separate the onions into rings and place them in a medium bowl. Slice the bell peppers into strips and add them to the bowl with the onions. Add 2 tablespoons of the reserved unused marinade and toss well to combine. Slice the chicken into strips and toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons of reserved marinade in another bowl. Arrange the chicken and vegetables on a large platter with the warmed tortillas and serve.
Recipe from Annie's Eats
French Toast:
Syrup:
Sauce: Cook water, sugar, and cornstarch until thickened. Stir in blueberries and simmer for 10 minutes. Add butter and stir until melted. Serve over the french toast.
Recipe from Real Mom Kitchen
Yield:24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)
For the filling:
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
For the frosting:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
2½ tsp. vanilla extract
For decoration:
Tiny chocolate chip cookies (like mini Chips Ahoy or your own recipe)
Mini chocolate chips
Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Blend in the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners filling each liner 1/2 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the cookie dough filling, combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, about an hour.
To fill the cupcakes, cut a cone-shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with a chunk of the chilled cookie dough mixture.
To make the frosting, beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.
Frost the filled cupcakes as desired, sprinkling with mini chocolate chips and topping with mini chocolate chip cookies for decoration.
Recipe from Annie's Eats
This is a great copy-cat recipe from the Rachael Ray show. I really enjoyed it!
Mac-n-cheese
· 1 cup skim milk
· 5 teaspoons flour
· 2 cups freshly shredded medium cheddar cheese
· 2 teaspoons margarine
· 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 salt
· 3/4 cup uncooked macaroni
Whisk the flour into the skim milk in a small saucepan then place it over the medium low heat.
Add the shredded cheddar cheese, margarine, and salt and stir often with a spoon until the cheese begins to melt. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Use a whisk to stir the sauce every couple of minutes so that it becomes smooth and thick.
While the sauce thickens. Prepare the macaroni by dumping 3/4 cup uncooked elbow macaroni into rapidly boiling water. Boil for 8 minutes or until tender and then strain. You should have about 1 3/4 cups of cooked macaroni.
When the cheese sauce has simmered for 30 minutes, pour the pasta into a medium bowl. Gently stir in the cheese sauce and then pour mixture into a loaf pan or casserole dish. Cover and freeze.
When you are ready to dive into your macaroni and cheese preheat the oven to 350, bake the frozen macaroni for 50-53 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown slightly
