Broccoli Bacon Salad

I love this recipe, but it's a hard one to write down. I do it different every time, so hopefully you get the gist of it!

The Goods

4-5 stalks of broccoli, florets only, cut into small pieces

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 package bacon, cooked till crisp

sunflower seeds

red onion

mayo

red wine vinegar
sugar

Fill bowl with cut broccoli florets(eyeball amount), add shredded cheese, sunflower seeds (just eyeball amount), chopped red onion (eyeball amount again). Cook bacon, and crumble. Set aside till ready to serve.

Dressing

1 cup mayo, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbs red wine vinegar. I usually make a pretty big salad and have to double or triple the dressing, it's another one of those eyeball it moments...

Add dressing and broccoli just before serving and enjoy! I also make the dressing ahead of time and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours.

Beach Street Lemon Chicken Linguine

Another mykitchencafe. I know, I know. I have an addiction.

I think the name is quite misleading for this recipe. There is lemon involved, though we barely tasted it. (Which is a good thing, cause we don't love a strong lemon taste). To me, it was just so light, and the chicken. Oh the chicken! The marinade is perfection. We couldn't stop eating it!

The Goods

1 package of linguine

2 tbs olive oil

zest from 1 lemon

juice from 1 lemon (we used about 3/4 of the lemon juice, just because we didn't want it very lemony, and it was just tasty!)

3 green onions chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup grated parm

Marinade (YUMMO)

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 tbs Cajun seasoning

juice of 1 lemon

2 tbs fresh minced parsley

2 tbs brown sugar

2 tbs soy sauce

2 chicken breast sliced thin

Combine marinade ingredients and chicken in zip lock bag and let it sit for a good 3-4 hours.

When you are ready to cook, pour entire contents of the bag into a skillet, and let the chicken cook through.

Combine juice of lemon, parsley, lemon zest, olive oil, and green onions in a small bowl and set aside.

While the chicken is sauteing, cook linguine in boiling salted water till cooked. Drain and return to pot. Pour your lemon juice, parsley, grn onion mixture in with the pasta and stir to coat. When he chicken mixture is cooked add the pasta mixture to the pan and stir through, adding parm as you go.

Serve warm and devour!

Pepper Jack rolls

Another one from mykitchencafe. (I really should start cooking my own recipes again, but hers are so much better!) If you are actually reading my sad little cooking blog you really should just go to hers instead! :)

These were so good, so easy, and so different. I LOVE these rolls and already can't wait to make them again. We love pepper jack around here!

The Goods

Dough

4 1/2 tsp. of Instant yeast

1/2 cup warm h20

1 cup lukewarm milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cups softened butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

5-6 cups flour

Filling

8 oz. of pepper jack cheese, cut into 15 cubes.

Topping

2 tbs. butter
1/4 cup italian bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated parm cheese

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp water. (I just realized I used the whole egg...they turned out great so I hope that doesn't matter!):)

Mix all the dough ingredients together till the dough is soft and elastic. Don't add too much flour or the rolls will be heavy, just enough that it's not too sticky. Place in a buttered bowl, cover and let raise for 20-30 minutes in a warm place.

Punch the dough down, and knead for a minute getting the dough soft again. Separate into 15 pieces, then take each piece and form in a small ball shape. Take your cheese cube and stuff from the bottom up, then pinch the bottom closed and set on a greased 9 by 13 pan.

Let raise again for 20-30 minutes till the rolls have risen and doubled in size.

While the rolls are raising, mix the butter, bread crumbs, and parm together in a small bowl, and mix you egg yolk and water in another. When the rolls are done raising brush with the egg mixture and then add your crumb mixture on top.

Bake for 15-18 minutes (my actually need about 20), at 375. They should be lightly brown on top. Serve warm, so they ooey, gooey, and perfect!

Sunflower Cake

My mother in law loves sunflowers, so for her b-day this year we made this darling cake. Just thought I would share.

1 round chocolate cake mix

2 boxes of Twinkies

chocolate frosting

chocolate chips

yellow frosting

Cook your round cake and let it cool. Once it's cool frost in with the chocolate frosting and place in the center of a large round platter. Place chocolate chips all over the top of the cake. Next lay twinkies side by side around the cake. Frost with yellow frosting, dabbing the bottom of the spoon over the top so the frosting has peaks in it.

That's it! So easy and so cute!

Breakfast Pullaparts

I found these beauties over at pickypalate.com. (Her site is amazing and her food is Delicious, not to mention her pictures are drool worthy(so much better than mine) ...check it out.)

These were so much fun, and we all really enjoyed them, though next time I am making them with spinach and bacon...and mozzarella. Yum.

She used Texas sided baking cups for hers, and I realized I didn't have that size just before I made them, so I used a 12 cup pan and made them smaller. I had to alter the recipe a bit to make them work though. To get her recipe click here....And below is my alteration with the smaller cups.

The Goods

1 Can Pillsbury biscuits

1 Cup Broccoli or Spinach, cooked.

1/2 Cup Bacon or Sausage, cooked and cut into bite sized pieces

5 eggs

3 tbs milk

1 Cup shredded cheese of choice

Preheat oven to 350 and spray muffins tins with cooking spray. Cut your biscuits into 8 triangles and put 4 or 5 triangles in each tin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Next sprinkle meat and vegetable inside each tin over the biscuits. Next mix your milk and eggs together and pour inside each baking cup. Use a fork to make sure the eggs spread around each side of the biscuit squares. Sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 28-30 minutes, or till the cheese is melted and browned and a toothpick comes out clean when put in the center. Let Cool for a few minutes before removing them from the tins.

We served them with hash browns and called it dinner... yum.

She recommends serving it with Colulla hot sauce...we had none and they were fantastic without it.

Chicken Tortillini Bake

Another delicious recipe from My Kitchen Cafe. If you can't tell, we love pasta. It's something that actually pleases every single person in the family, which isn't really as easy as you'd think!

This one was so easy, peasy, and just yummy.

The Goods

16 ounce package of cheese tortellini

(I used bertolli, like always)

1 tbs oil

2 cups (about 2 chicken breasts) chicken cut up into bite size pieces

3 green onions finely chopped, white and green parts

2 tbs flour

1 cup chicken broth

8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms

3/4 cup reduced fat sour cream

8 oz (2 cups) shredded Monterrey jack cheese

Bring a pot of water to boil and cook your tortellini for a few minutes. (It will continue cooking while baking, so you just need to get the process started). Drain and set aside.

Heat you oil in a large nonstick skillet, and add chicken pieces and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and green onions till chicken is cooked through and the veggies are softened. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir for a few minutes. Next add the chicken broth, and stir till thickened. Then add the sour cream, and let sit till it is warmed through, and creamy.

Spray 13 by 9 inch pan with pam. Add the tortellini, half the cheese, the chicken mixture, and then the rest of the cheese.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 15 more minutes till it is bubbly and melty, and gooey too!

Enjoy!

Twix Cookies

My husband is a LOVER of Twix candy bars. They are his weakness and there is always room for one in his opinion. The other day I decided to combine my love of Chocolate chip cookies, with his love of the Twix bar.

Magic.

I will warn you not to expect a whole lot of the crunchy shortcake that is found in the bottom layer of the twix, it seems to disappear, but the melted caramel and chocolate make this cookie so delicious!

The only flaw is that the Carmel melts and makes a pretty big mess. I found, after a few pans cooked, that the easiest way to get the cookie to keep it's round form and get it off without it sticking to everything, is to wait till the cookies are completely cool.

The Goods

2 sticks softened butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

chocolate chips

3 twix bars

Pre-heat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugars till well combined. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients, and add slowly till just blended. Chop twix bars into small pieces, and add as many chocolate chips as your heart desires.

Place tbs sized balls on baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between (these cookies spread a bit while cooking due to the yummy caramel!)...

Let cool, remove, and enjoy!