Boston Market Cornbread

I was so happy to find this copycat recipe because Boston Market has my favorite cornbread.  It is os moist and lightly sweet and I love the little peices of whole corn in them.  I usually make it into muffins and freeze them since it makes a ton (36 muffins).  This time I made them for our ward chili cook off last night since it was a great excuse not to have my freezer filled up with them.

Boston Market Cornbread

2 boxes Jiffy cornbread muffin mix

1 box butter recipe cake mix

5 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter softened

15 oz can creamed corn

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all dry ingredients together in large bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Pour into greased cupcake pans or mini loaves.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top and toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool slightly in the pan.  remove and serve warm (with honey butter!)

Tuna Noodle Casserole

I found this recipe several years ago and it has remained one of my tried and true.  It's my favorite tuna casserole.  A big thanks to my hubby hubsband for making it for us this time!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 1/2 cups milk

2 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2 sm cans tuna or 1 large

2 cups grated jack cheese

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup fresh carrots sliced or 1 cup frozen carrots(if using frozen just skip the first step of sauteing)

1  to 1 1/2 cups curly noodles, I like to use rotini

2 Tbs butter

1/2 cup bread crumbs plain or seasoned

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt 1/4 cup butter in med/lrg sauce pan and saute carrots until tender.  Whisk flour and milk until smooth. Add milk to sauce pan.  Add peas (and frozen carrots if using).  Stir often until thickened ~15 minutes.  Remove remove from heat and add cheese and stir until melted. Add drained tuna and salt, pepper and parsley.  Pour into 9x13 casserole dish and spread evenly.  Mix in uncooked noodles, adding a cup first and making sure all the noodles are coated and covered well; add more noodles if there is room for them to be well covered in sauce.  bake for 20-30 minutes, stirring it up halfway through.  Remove from oven, making surenoodles are tender and add dollops of butter on top then sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake another 10 minutes.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

This was a really simple, yummy soup; perfect for a chilly day.  Jon usually considers soup more of a side, but he especially liked this one; the fact that he was happy enough with it to have it as a meal all by itself was high praise.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

1 lb ground Italian sausage

1 onion, chopped

3 potatoes, sliced into bit size pieces

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 32 oz boxes chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste if desired

fresh, shredded Parmesan cheese

toasted bread slices, optional

In a large soup pot, cook sausage until done.  Remove from pot and put aside in a bowl.  Add broth, potatoes, onion and garlic to pot and cook until potatoes are tender but not mushy.  Add cream and sausage to soup and heat through.  Pour into bowl over buttered toast and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.  I really didn't need any salt at all since the sausage and cheese added enough flavor naturally.

Lighter Sesame Chicken and Fried Rice

Well, I am usually a little skeptical of recipes that have any "diet" buzz words in them but my friend Jen assured me this one was really worth a try.  This is the second time I've made this chicken and  will not be the last.  Whether it's "light" because, as the recipe describes, it "is sauteed in a little oil instead of deep fried" or because it is perfectly light in flavor (but in a really good way-Jon usually steers clear of chinese food since it tends to be heavy and globby), either way "light" is not a bad thing in this recipe and you'll be gobbling it up as if you never knew it was healthier for you.

Lighter Sesame Chicken

Jen Henrie/FOOD magazine

3 Tbs honey

2 Tbs sesame seeds

2 Tbs soy sauce

1 garlicclove, finely chopped

2 large egg whites

1/4 cup cornstarch

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks

salt and pepper

2 Tbs vegetable oil

4 scallions, thinly sliced

In a small bowl combine honey, soy sauce, sesame seeds and garlic.  Set aside.  In a large bowl whisk together egg whites and cornstarch.  Add chicken; season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 Tbs oil over med-high heat.  Add half the chicken; cook turning occasionally, until golden brown and opaque throughout.   *Note:  For me, at least, when i put the chicken in it turns into a kind of chicken-cornstarch pancake once it hits the oil, so make sure to cut through and separate the individual pieces with a spoon or spatula.

  Transfer to a plate; repeat with remaining chicken.  Return ll chicken to skillet; add reserved sauce and scallions, toss to coat.

I like to serve this with steamed broccoli and fried brown rice.

Fried Rice

Leah Matthews

There aren't any measurments because i just do it by eye and by what I have already in my freezer or fridge according to how much rice I'm making.

brown rice, cooked

scrambled eggs, cooked

frozen peas and carrots

green onion, sliced

garlic

butter/margerine

sesame seeds

onion, chopped

soy sauce. to taste, but go slow; you can always add more

Saute onion and garlic in lots of butter (enough to fry rice in later) until onion is tender.  Add all remaining ingredients and toss to mix.  Cook until heated through.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Jon and I really enjoy Thai and Ethiopian food, but I had never had Indian before.  I think I mostly stayed away from it since it has a reputation for being quite spicy hot.  This dish does have some heat from the cayenne (which I even cut down) and the jalepeno (which Jon insisted I leave in) but with a glass of milk I was able to handle it and even enjoy the meal.  The flavor of the sauce and spiced chicken was worth the heat and the smell of the cinnamon as it was cooking was lovely.  I served this with mixed vegetables.

Chicken Tikka Masala

My Kitchen Cafe

1 cup plain yogurt

1 Tbs lemon juice

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp cayenne pepper ( I substituted with 1 1/2 + 1/4 tsp paprika and 1/4 tsp cayenne to cut the heat)

2 tsp black pepper (only added 1 tsp since I'm not a big pepper fan)

1 Tbs minced fresh ginger (I didn't have any so I left it out)

1 tsp salt

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

Combine all ingredients in medium bowl ,except chicken.  Add chicken pieces and refrigerate one hour.  Grill or cook chicken in frying pan.  Discard marinade.  (I fried mine and by the time the chicken was done there really wasn't any marinade left to discard; it had all become a kind of spice "breading."

1 Tbs butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (used canned jalepeno's 2nd time, did it help?)

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1 cup cream

1/4 cup chopped cilantro, for garnish

Melt butter in large skillet over med heat.  Saute garlic and jalapeno for one minute.  Season with cumin, paprika and salt.  Stir in tomato sauce and cream.  Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 min.  Add chicken and simmer another 10 min.  Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro.

Banana Bars with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Well, mine turned out more like a cake, but regardless of the form the taste was truly scrumptious! This dessert was deceptively light; at the first bite you almost think you may not need that cold glass of milk with it but further in it reveals it's subtle richness. The frosting was probably the best cream cheese frosting I've had. If you like bananas, cream cheese or cake this will not dissapoint.

Frosted Banana Bars

Allrecipes.com

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (I used three)

Preheat oven to 350. grease 10x5 inch jellyroll pan or one 9x13 pan. In a lrge bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl: stir into the batter. Finally, mix in the mashed banana. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Ohhh, this is sooo good!

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened to room temp

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. beat until light and fluffy. Set aside. In another medium bowl, beat whipped cream until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.