Balsamic Chicken

I have to give credit where credit is due--this is Camey's recipe. I am doing this for dinner tonight!

For the chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt and ground pepper
4 Tbsp olive oil, divided

For the sauce:
1 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp butter, softened
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
1 cup of chicken broth

Set the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 Tbsp of the olive oil. Once the oil runs quickly in the pan, add two chicken breasts. Cook on each side until well-browned, about 3 minutes on each side. Once browned, place chicken breasts into the prepared baking dish. Add 2 more tablespoons of oil into the pan and brown the other two chicken breasts. Remove the pan from the heat and set the chicken breasts in the baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

In a small bowl, combine flour and butter. Mix, making a paste. Set aside. In the same pan that the chicken was browned in, add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Once hot, add minced garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Add balsamic vinegar and bring to a simmer, while scraping the bottom of the pan. Pour in chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Whisk in butter and flour paste and simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Serve sauce over chicken breasts.

I serve this over rice

Nestle Toll House Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies

 

I LOVE Nestle Toll House cookies! When I make chocolate chip cookies, I only make the 'Original Nestle Toll House' recipe. I think it's the best. Yesterday, I decided to make their chocolate chip oatmeal recipe- They were sooo tasty! 

• 1 3/4 c. flour*
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 c. packed brown sugar
• 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 TB milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 c. quick or old fashioned oats
• 2 c. semisweet chocolate chips*
• 1 c. coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, & salt in a small bowl. Beat brown sugar, butter, and granulated sugar in mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs, milk, & vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and chocolate chips. Mix well. Drop by rounded  TB onto ungreased baking sheet. 

Bake 9-10 mins for chewy cookies and 12-13 for crispy. Cool on baking sheets for 1 min; remove to wire racks to cool completely. 

Yields: 48 cookies (4 dozen)

*My variations: I found that this recipe needs more like 2 c. of flour rather than 1 3/4 c. Also, 2 cups of choc. chips is almost too much. Next time, I will put a little bit less. And lastly, I love chewy cookies, and to get them just right in my oven- I cooked them for 8 1/2 mins instead. I guess you'll just have to experiment with your oven to see what time works best!

If you love these, you'll love the original Toll house chocolate chip cookies recipe. To find that recipe, go to verybestbaking.com or click on the Nestle link in the upper right portion of this blog!

eazy Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:

2 (16 ounce) can peaches (if your ambitious you will opt to do fresh peaches, I'm not.)

1 yellow cake mix

1 1/2 sticks butter

1-2 tsp cinnamon

sprinkle of brown sugar and nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Pour peaches and juice (drain one can) into 9x13 pan.

3. Pour cake mix over the top. Pat cake mix down until it mixes with the juice.

4. Take butter and use a grater to shave butter evenly over the top. If you want you can just slice it and layer it on the cake. (if you use the grate make sure it is frozen or very firm.)

5. Sprinkle your cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar on top.

6. Put in oven and bake for 45 minutes or until brown.

Serve with whipping cream or vanilla ice cream.

Mexican CAN CAN

photo credit

This is similar to just a regular Taco soup recipe...just FASTER. and I love that. 

My grandma put this recipe together. You basically just dump in CAN after CAN. That's it! No adding cooked hamburger, spices, etc.

• 2 cans Mexican Style Tomatoes
• 2 cans of chili
• 1 can of corn (no draining necessary)
• 1 can white beans (no draining necessary)
• 1 can black beans (no draining necessary)

combine all and heat thoroughly. Top with sour cream, shredded cheese, and tortilla chips.

Homemade Oreos

Picture credit

This is one of my FAVORITE desserts. ALWAYS a hit!

• 1 Devil's Food Cake mix
• 3/4 c. shortening
• 2 eggs

Mix all together and roll into small balls- (They spread out a lot in the oven).

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 mins (depending on the size of the balls)

Filling:

• 1 8oz. cream cheese
• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 1 TB Milk  
• optional-add mint extract and green food coloring to make MINT OREOS!

Beat together till smooth. (Also, you can just use store bought cream cheese frosting but it DOESN'T taste as good.)

Frost between 2 cookies to make a sandwich. Serve immediately. Freeze or refrigerate. (They still stay soft in the freezer and taste so good! that is my preferred way to store them.)

White Chili

Ingredients:

3 large boneless/skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
1 medium onion diced
1 spoonful of mince garlic

2 15.5 oz cans great northern white beans rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
2 (4oz) cans chopped green chilies

Seasonings:

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp pepper


1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions:

In a Large sauce pan saute chicken, onion, and garlic until chick has a few brown side and no pink. Add beans, broth, chilies, and seasonings. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer about 20 mins uncovered. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and cream. Serve immediately.

Again I use rotisserie chicken from Costco or even canned chicken to make this meal that much quicker!!

Chicken tacos

2 large chicken breasts
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 4 oz diced green chiles
1 tsp kosher salt
A few grinds black pepper
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chile powder
Corn tortillas for serving

In a large pot of boiling water, boil chicken breasts until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove chicken from water and set aside to cool. Once cooled, shred chicken into bite-size pieces, discarding fat. Set shredded chicken aside.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil. Once oil runs quickly in the pan, add onion and 1/2 tsp salt. Saute onion until softened and lightly browned. Add shredded chicken, pinto beans, green chiles, 1 tsp salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin and chile powder. Gently stir to combine, being sure to not smash the beans. Cook until beans are heated through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Serve chicken in tacos shells with tacos toppings. We've also used fresh flour tortillas.

We put shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa, tomatoes ,sour cream on as toppings.

I also had it sit on the stovetop on low heat for about 10 minutes while we were waiting for the husband to get home and put a splash of chicken broth in the bottom so that the chicken would be tender. Yum