Lemon Bars

Ingredients:

Crust:
1/2 pound butter (two sticks), at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Filling:
6 extra large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (3-6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour

powdered sugar for garnish


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in a large bowl. With the mixer on low, add the flour and salt until just mixed. Press the dough into a 13X9 pan going up 1/2 inch on the sides.

3. Bake crust for 15-20 minutes or until light brown. Let cool and leave the oven on.

4. For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour on the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

5. Let cool at room temperature.

6. Dust with powdered sugar.

*I bought 2 lemons and had just under two tablespoons zest and less than a cup of lemon juice. I added enough bottled lemon juice to fill the required cup and they turned out great. Rick thought they were too lemony but our families loved them.

*Recipe from the Food Network Website
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-bars-recipe/index.html

Speedy Chicken Stir-Fry

I love this recipe because it uses my new favorite dressing!

Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame is really yummy -- less gloopy than some of the creamy dressing and really flavorful! It tastes great in a spinach salad, with some sliced almonds and mandarin oranges.


Like the recipe name says, this was super-speedy! I loved the dressing which had a little kick from the red pepper and some crunch from the peanuts. Next time, I will add more veggies -- maybe use a bag of frozen stir-fry veggies.

The sodium content is a little high for this recipe, but substituting with the light version of the dressing and low-sodium soy sauce, you could cut it down a little. In any case, it's definitely lighter than take-out!

source

Ingredients

1/2 lb. angel hair pasta (capellini), uncooked

2 cups small broccoli florets

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1/2 cup KRAFT Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/4 tsp. each ground ginger, garlic powder, crushed red pepper

1/3 cup chopped PLANTERS Dry Roasted Peanuts

COOK pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding broccoli to the boiling water for the last 3 min.
MEANWHILE, spray large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 6 to 8 min. or until done, stirring occasionally. Stir in dressing, soy sauce and seasonings; cook 1 min., stirring occasionally.
DRAIN pasta mixture; place in large bowl. Add chicken mixture; mix lightly. Serve topped with nuts.
Go get this dressing and enjoy!

Orange Chicken

Another delicious meal from Iowagirleats....sorry gals, I'm addicted to her blog. :)

Serves 2

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 chicken breasts, pounded so they are the same thickness

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

Juice of 2 oranges

4 teaspoons brown sugar, divided

Directions:

1. Heat oil on medium-high skillet on the stove.

2. Combine flour, paprika, salt and chicken breasts in a sealed plastic bag. Shake to coat the chicken.

3. Shake excess flour from chicken and cook in the hot oil until golden brown on both sides, but not cooked through (it'll finish cooking in the oven.) Move to a non-stick sprayed baking dish.

4. Juice 2 oranges, then add the juice to the hot skillet. Let it reduce by half, then pour the juice over the chicken.

5. Crumble 2 teaspoons of brown sugar over each chicken breast.

6. Bake for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through, finishing with a few minutes under the broiler to caramelize brown sugar, if needed.

Enjoy!! It's delicious. :)

Thanks Iowa Girl!!

http://iowagirleats.com/2011/04/12/what-happens-in-vegas/

Shepard's Pie

Another delicious recipe from www.iowagirleats.com!! This is a little late for St. Patty's day, but definitely worth making any day of the year!! Check out Iowa Girl's blog for photos and step by step instructions, but here is the recipe for easy access. :)

Serves 5-6

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients:

4 cups mashed potatoes

garlic salt

1 lb ground beef

1/3 cup onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth

2 cups frozen vegetable medley

salt and pepper

Directions:

Brown ground beef, onions and garlic in a large skillet on med-high heat. When meat is completely cooked, stir in flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and chicken broth. Simmer for 5-6 minutes or until sauce is thick. Turn the heat off and stir in frozen vegetables and salt and pepper, to taste.

Pour beef mixture into a large, oven proof casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes and smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle garlic salt on top of mashed potatoes.

Place casserole dish on a large sheet pan (in case the sauce overflows) and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Ladle and serve!

http://iowagirleats.com/2011/03/17/this-is-life-altering-right-now/

Sweet and Tangy Pork Loin

3/8 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/8 cup honey
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 garlic gloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 pound pork loin
1 small onion, sliced (optional)
chopped green onions (optional)
sesame seeds, toasted (optional) I didn't have any and it was great without them.

In a bowl combine brown sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, honey, vinegar, garlic, and salt. Place sliced onion on the bottom of a crock pot. Place the pork loin on top of the onions. Then pour the sauce over everything.

Cover and cook on low until a meat thermometer reads 160-170 degrees. This will take about 5-6 hours. There is plenty of sauce so you I think you could start this in the morning and it will be ready when you are home from work.

Top the pork loin with green onions and/or sesame seeds if you desire.


*Rick and I really liked this recipe. We served it with rice and mixed veggies. We have enough left over for another meal or tomorrow's lunch.

Moment of Weakness - Mom's Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars

Ugg....I probably shouldn't be eating this bar right now, but it is SOOOOO worth it. :) This is my mom's SUPER easy peanut butter rice krispie bar recipe, and it always hits the spot!

Melt in microwave or on stove:

1 cup sugar

1 cup white corn syrup

2 cups peanut butter

Mix 5-6 cups of rice krispies into this mixture

Smooth into a 9x13 pan.

Melt a bag of chocolate chips and cover the peanut butter mixture.

Go ahead, have a moment of weakness with me. :) Enjoy!

Megan's Chicken Marsala

Yum....hopefully my friend Megan doesn't mind that I post this on here. :) She made it for us for supper one time. I told her I had to have the recipe, and she was nice enough to share it with me. Normally, chicken marsala also includes mushrooms, but since neither she nor Tom and I like mushrooms, we use this mushroom-FREE recipe.  Feel free to add them when you cook the shallots and garlic, if you wish.

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts

salt

pepper

3-4 garlic cloves

1-2 shallots

1/2 bottle of marsala wine

6 tbsp heavy cream

spaghetti

At least an hour before you are ready to cook, brine your chicken in water with salt (I used 4 cups of water with 4 tablespoons of salt). After an hour, rinse off the chicken, or they will be too salty after you cook them. Salt and pepper the breasts as you wish. (I actually forgot to do this tonight, but it had enough salty flavor from the brining, that it didn't really matter...)

Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil on medium-high and pan fry the breasts. Cook them until they are just fully cooked, and then move the chicken to a plate on the side. Mince 3-4 cloves of garlic and 1-2 shallots and saute them in the pan you took the chicken out of. When the garlic is slightly browned, add 1/2 the bottle of your marsala wine.

Simmer your wine sauce for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, start boiling water for your spaghetti, and begin cooking the noodles when the water boils. When your sauce starts to thicken, add the 6 tbsp of heavy cream. Stir and reduce the sauce a bit more - then you can add your chicken to the pan to reheat, and serve the chicken and sauce on top of spaghetti.

Delicious!! (Megan, feel free to alter this recipe....I hope I did it justice!!)

*Recipe adapted from http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/59/Chicken-Mushroom-Marsala