Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Another great find on pinterest! I made a couple modifications to this; so easy and delicious! My family loves chicken, but sometimes you feel like you make it the same way all the time. This is just a few ingredients and so so easy to make!

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breasts
8 slices of uncooked bacon
2 peppers, either sweet red or orange ( cut in long strips)
1 1/2 cups shredded  cheddar cheese(any kind you like!)


Directions:

~ carefully butterfly each chicken breast to make them thin.

~lie each breast flat, season with salt and pepper. I use spicy garlic seasoning.....makes everything taste better!

~place strips of pepper across chicken and cover with a generous amount of cheese

~ roll each breast and secure with a toothpick. I wrapped two slices all the way around the chicken, but I think it would be better if you cut each piece in half, so you would have 4 small pieces for each piece of chicken and it would be crispier.

~place chicken in a 9 X13 casserole and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

~ if you like you bacon well done, you can place under broiler for 2 minutes. 

Cheesy Potato and Pork Bake

I was feeling the need to try something different, now that the weather is getting a bit colder. I have been very lucky with recipes I find on Pinterest; they are always recipes someone has tried and even adjusted to their liking. When a realized I had a nice boneless pork roast begging to be cooked, I was tempted by this flavorful recipe. It's a winner!

Ingredients:

3lb of russet potatoes
1 bay leaf
3-5 TBS olive oil for the pork
2-3 lbs of boneless pork
1 TBS soy sauce
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
4 oz heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup fresh dill
1/2 TBS of Mrs. Dash seasoning
1 cup of mozzarella cheese

How to make:

1~ Wash and peel potatoes. Cut them into chunks and place them in a pot with cold water. Add the 1 bay leaf and a little salt. Cook for 15 minutes on medium high heat until you can pierce with a fork, but not fully cooked. Drain potatoes and set aside.

2~ While potatoes are cooking, cut pork into chunks and cook in olive oil in a skillet for 10 minutes. Add 1 TBS soy sauce.

3~ Then add diced onion and fresh garlic, saute until golden brown.

4~Preheat oven to 350.

5~In a large bowl, combine the cooked potatoes, fresh dill, heavy whipping cream, 1 TBS Mrs. Dash seasoning and gently mix together.

6~ Empty into a 9X13 baking dish and top with the cooked pork. COVER baking dish with foil and place in oven for 20-30 minutes.

7~ Remove foil and top with at least one cup of mozzerella cheese. Put the dish back in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Caprese Pasta Salad

I absolutely LOOOVE to make a tomatoe salad in the summer time, so when I saw this recipe, I had to try this!! It is sooooo good, soooooo easy, and oh so pretty!

Ingredients:

1 lb of your choice shape pasta

1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered

1 container mozzerella balls, or you can cube a pound of mozzerella

1 cup of fresh basil, cut into ribbon strips

Homemade dressing:

2 large cloves of fresh garlic, squeezed thru a press

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons of olive oil

How to make:

Cook pasta as directed. Drain and set aside.

Mix the three ingredients for the dressing and set aside. This is alot of dressing, so be sure to put it in something you can pour. I have my leftover saved for another salad.

Here's the dressing and my fresh, home grown basil. :)

Now place the pasta in the bowl you will serve the salad in. Toss it with the dressing, adding a little at a time.

Toss in diced tomatoes, mozzerella balls, and strips of basil. 

Simple and beautiful !! 

Garlic and Oil Pasta with Chicken and Asparagus

Since I have been making weekly trips to the Farmers Market, it has inspired me to try new recipes! I can't resist the opportunity to purchase slender asparagus and then hunt down a recipe. This was the perfect summer dinner. I made some changes and it was a success!


Ingredients:

1 lb. of pasta, cooked al dente
approx 1 lb of boneless chicken, sliced thin
1/3 cup olive oil
1 lb. of fresh asparagus, cut into one inch pieces
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
a bunch of scallions, sliced and separate the white and green parts
one small handful of fresh parsley, chopped
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/2-1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes

I like to use alot of bowls when I cook. It helps when you are ready to start cooking, since this really doesn't take long to throw together. It's all in the prep work!

First get your water boiling for the pasta. I used Penne Pasta, but you can use any variety you like.

While the water is boiling, you can saute the thinly sliced chicken in the cloves of minced garlic and olive oil in a large skillet. Remove the chicken and place in a bowl while you then saute the asparagus on mediun heat.

Add the sliced cherry tomatoe, parsley and the whites of the scallions and cook briefly.

Your pasta should be boiled now. Drain the water from the pasta and add to the sauteed vegetables.
 Add your cooked chicken.

Serve with grated pecorino romano cheese and top with greens of scallions. Bellisimo!

Chocolate Strawberry Nutella Cake

Once again, I have pinterest to thank for this yummy dessert!! I love to search for food ideas this way; it can be very addicting! I've always loved to make angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream in the summer. When I read through a few recipes, I realized I had everything to try a chocolate version! WARNING: this is a very dense, filling dessert and probably 583,405 calories, so only a small slice is needed. Tasted more like a pound cake! Could be because there's two sticks of butter!! :)

Ingredients:
 FOR THE CAKE:
2 sticks butter
4 heaping TBS cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1- 1 1/2 cup of Nutella

FOR STRAWBERRIES:
2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

FOR WHIPPED CREAM:
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two round baking pans with cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the cocoa and stir it until smooth. Pour in the boiling water and let the mixture bubble up for approx 20 seconds and then turn it off and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, blend buttermilk,baking soda, eggs and vanilla. Set aside.

In another large mixing bowl, mix the sugar, flour and salt. Stir in the hot chocolate mixture until it's combined.

Pour and divide the batter into two round pans evenly. Bake for 18-22 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the strawberries by stirring them with the sugar and the vanilla. Let them sit for 15 minutes then drain off the excess juice.

Whip the cream and the powdered sugar.

Spread half the Nutella over the bottom layer of cake. Spread on half the whipped cream and top with half the strawberries. Place second layer of cake , repeating the same steps.

NOTE: Don't start to assemble more than an hour before serving. The cake needs to be refidgerated.

I know you want a piece!!

Asian Spaghetti and Flounder

Ok, so it's really been a challenge cooking this week with the temperatures soaring near 100 degrees!! Too hot to grill, too hot for the oven, so I looked for some new stovetop ideas!! I. Love. Pinterest!!

This was so easy and healthy!!

Ingredients:

1 lb uncooked angel hair pasta
1-2 cups uncooked broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
4 green onions, diced
2 TBS canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 TBS sesame seeds, toasted

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the broccoli, carrots and onions until tender.  Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer.

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, cayenne pepper and sugar. Add sauce to pasta, tossing to coat. add sesame seeds.

The flounder is first dipped in egg, then dipped in a random amount of panko bread crumbs and old bay. The fish was fried at 300 degrees in a skillet using "Plenish". Bet you wish you knew what plenish is! ;)

Mediterranean Stuffed Pork Chops

Ok, so it's been for-ev-er since I've blogged, but those of you who really know me, understand I've had sort of an epiphany lately. I joke that it's my new coffee pot making amazingly delicious coffee, but it's actually been a series of events happening to me. And I really, really wanted to make something new!

The ingredients:

4 thick cut boneless porkchops
4 ounces goat cheese
fresh spinach leaves

3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 small onion, chopped
black olives
1 fresh lemon
white cooking wine

garlic powder(or fresh garlic if you have it on hand), black pepper to season
olive oil


Cut the boneless porkchops in half forming a pocket. Spread the inside with the goat cheese. This was the first time I ever tried this cheese; the name is weird, but it's very mild and tasty!

In a large skillet using olive oil, season the porkchops with black pepper and garlic powder. Sear the chops until golden brown and remove from heat. Place them in a 9X13 glass pan.

Saute the onion, tomatoes and black olives (which you can omit if you dislike) Add a splash of the cooking wine (approx 1/2 cup and squeeze the juice of one lemon. Mix together and pour over the porkchops.

Bake uncovered @400 degrees for approx 20-25 minutes, depending on thickness.