Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Cream Cheese Pound Cake.

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Chicken Florentine Pasta

My oven hasn’t been feeling up to par lately, so I have been making a lot recipes~ a lot of chicken recipes~ that call for sauteing with lots of veggies. This recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman Cooks, Chicken Florentine Pasta. I used lots of garlic, the MOORE the merrier, right? This is a delicious dish using fresh vegetables and chicken, very healthy and wonderful comfort food. This is my newest favorite pasta dish. I love it so much, I am making it again this weekend. I love these types of recipes that are simple and delicious, you can’t go wrong!

 

Ingredients 1 pound Ruffles Pasta 4 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts Salt And Pepper, to taste 2 Tablespoons Butter 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil 4 cloves Garlic, Minced 3/4 cups Dry White Wine 3/4 cups Low-sodium Broth, More If Needed 1 bag Baby Spinach 2 cups Grape Tomatoes, Halved Lengthwise Parmesan Cheese, grated Preparation Instructions Cook pasta according to package directions in lightly salted water. Drain and set aside. Cut chicken breasts into chunks and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Heat butter and olive oil over high heat in a large skillet. Add chicken chunks in a single layer and do not stir for a minute or two in order to allow the chicken to brown on the first side. Turn the chicken and brown on the other side. Cook until done, then remove chicken from the skillet. Turn heat to medium. Add garlic and quickly stir to avoid burning. After about 30 seconds, pour in wine and broth, stirring to deglaze the pan. Allow the liquid to bubble up, then continue cooking until it’s reduced by at least half (most of the surface of the liquid should be bubbling at this point.) Turn off the heat. Add spinach, tomatoes, chicken, and cooked pasta to the skillet. Toss to combine; the spinach will wilt as you toss everything. Add plenty of Parmesan and toss to combine. Serve with extra Parmesan.

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Southern Chicken Pasta

Do you ever start making dinner and then come to realize that you are missing most of the ingredients in your recipe? Well that is exactly what I did for my Southern Chicken Pasta only to find out that this dish is fabulous! I have been making all types of pasta dishes with boneless skinless chicken breasts and this one was voted 5 stars out of 5 by my family! It has a great Southern Flavor with the caramelized onions and green beans and tomatoes, it’s like having a Southern Fried Chicken supper without the “Fried” part.

Ingredients

• 1 pound broken up Lasagne Noodles
• 4 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• I Red Onion, chopped
• 3/4 cups Dry White Wine
• 3/4 cups Low-sodium Broth, More If Needed
• 1 cup fresh green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces (steamed)
• 1 small can chopped tomatoes (drained)
  
• 2 ounces Parmesan Cheese, grated

Method

Cook pasta according to package directions in lightly salted water. Drain and set aside.
Cut chicken breasts into chunks and sprinkle on salt and pepper.
Heat butter and olive oil over high heat in a large skillet. Add chicken chunks in a single layer and do not stir for a minute or two in order to allow the chicken to brown on the first side. Turn the chicken and brown on the other side. Cook until done, then remove chicken from the skillet.
Turn heat to medium. Add onion and let cook until golden brown. After about 1 minute, pour in wine and broth, stirring to deglaze the pan. Allow the liquid to bubble up, then continue cooking until it’s reduced by at least half (most of the surface of the liquid should be bubbling at this point.)
Turn off the heat. Add green beans, tomatoes, chicken, and cooked pasta to the skillet. Toss to combine. Add plenty of Parmesan Cheese and toss to combine.
Serve with extra Parmesan Cheese.

This post has been shared with these fabulous blogs! Nettie

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{Sunday’s With Joy} Honey Mustard Roasted Cashews

This is one of those recipes that you make and you say, “Oh….WOW!” I snack on nuts every day. Cashews are one of my favorite nut, all buttery and crunchy, yummy on salads or just by the handful. This is a fantastic way to eat a cashew. I could eat up every little last piece of these wonderful Honey Mustard Roasted Cashews, but I must refrain myself! Your friend’s will be thrilled if you make these before you go to a party and bring them as a gift, or else you may be sitting in front of the computer shopping and then unbeknown to you, your bowl of nuts has vanished!  Not that this happened to me or anything like that.

I am fortunate to be a part of a wonderful group, Sunday’s With Joy, and this recipe was chosen this week from Joy The Baker Cookbook. Do yourself a great favor and get yourself a copy of  this wonderful cookbook. I have loved every recipe that I have made from this cookbook, you will too! Nettie

This post has been linked up to these fabulous blogs! Nettie

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Best Chocolate Sheet Cake

It’s Judy’s Surprise Birthday and I have been wanting to make this incredible cake ever since I saw it on The Pioneer Woman Cook’s Blog. She says it’s The Best Sheet Cake Ever, and I trust her. Everything that I have made from her blog has been delicious and my kids have asked me to make it all the time! Well she was right! Friends were going back for second and third pieces! I wanted to make a delicious cake for Judy and her friends, since I didn’t know how many people were going to be there to surprise the HECK out of her, I thought that a sheet cake would be perfect! I read every single one of the comments on TPWC Blog, which is saying a lot ( she usually gets around 800 comments or MORE per post) and so many people commented that this cake was really difficult to mess up. I thought of this the whole time that I was talking to my best friend while trying to make the cake and frosting. Do you ever do that? Leave out an ingredient while you are having a serious conversation on the phone? I have, sugar , while making pies, not good at all!I didn’t leave out any ingredients for this cake, but my mind was really concentrating on two things at one time. I recommend this if you are feeling lazy and need to be challenged! Talking and Baking!

This sheet cake is wonderful warm after just being freshly frosted or perfect the day after for breakfast, or as a late snack, or before lunch, or after a hike! My kids are asking me to make another sheet cake since this one was whisked away for the party, okay kids, for your birthday! Make sure to decorate the cake if you like, I am in no way a skilled baker-ess, I drew out JUDY and a Heart, but it was still hard to tell what that exactly was…

As we were all hiding waiting for Judy and Tom to come back from their date night, Judy’s Mother called Judy from the back room asking her if she could show her something on the computer, the lights were off, we were quiet as mice, we all jumped out and yelled SURPRISE!! Thank goodness, Judy is young and has a very strong heart, I would have collapsed, don’t yell at me and come jumping out at me from a dark room, years will come off my life! You are an amazing sport Young Judy!!

Judy still trying to recover, you did a great job Tom keeping it a secret!

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:
2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa Powder2 sticks Butter
1 cup Boiling Water
1/2 cup Buttermilk
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla

FOR FROSTING:
1/2 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
1-3/4 stick Butter
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
6 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Note: I use an 18×13 sheet cake pan.
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake. Enjoy! Take this sheet cake to your next party, you will make lots of friends! Nettie This post has been linked up to these fabulous blogs!

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< Sunday’s With Joy > Apple Crisp

This recipe comes from Joy The Baker Cookbook, 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes. I have changed the recipe a bit by adding a cup of blueberries for the filling, I just had to, I have a lot of blueberries still! For the topping, I also added a half cup of slivered roasted almonds and a half cup of unsweetened coconut. Apple crisps are just perfect like that, you can add whatever you have on hand, in this case I happen to have lots of almonds, pecans and coconut!

Lily is having her first dinner party with sister and brother in law and we are invited and I am in charge of bringing dessert! Oh goody, I made two apple crisps! We served the apple crisp warm over ice cream. Lots of ooohs and ahhhs were going on, so I think the party was a success!

It was a perfect day for apple picking! Have to get the right apples for the crisps!

Last day to pick Paula Red’s and Ginger Gold’s. Just keep walking until you get to a fence, slim pickings but if you are persistent, you can find them!

First stop, taking thousands of photos of sunflowers. Hubs likes taking just as many pics as me, probably more! Joy The Baker calls this crisp, “Man Bait Apple Crisp”. I’ve got my man and he is in love with Sunflowers and me. He’ll be even more in love with me when he tastes this crisp!

Second stop, grape vineyard, lots of photos of grapes too, because we can.

Oh yes, I remember this is why we came to the apple orchard, to pick apples!!

Of course the star of the show, The Moore Paparazzi is going crazy for these beauties.

How many can we get? As many as you can carry!

 

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Peanut Butter Cookies

Somehow I imagined that my daughter and I would be baking peanut butter cookies for her Girl Scout Troop Meeting, but the days get away from us and I ended up baking them, which really is such a therapy for me. I really love to bake, I feel like all is well with my world. Plus, I know that when we are having snow blizzards in a couple months, we will be having lots of mother/daughter bake -a – thon’s going on!

Peanut Butter cookies are one of my favorite cookies. One reason is that they are very easy to make, the other reason is that I always have all of the ingredients on hand. My family loves PB & J  and PB & Fluff sandwiches. Have you ever seen an exploded PB & Fluff sandwich? Don’t leave it in your locker all day! I have used Natural peanut butter to make these wonderful cookies. Peanut butter cookies are instantly recognized for their crisscross pattern . I used crunchy peanut butter for these cookies, but you can use smooth peanut butter if that is what you prefer. P.S. In case you were wondering, the Girl Scouts loved them! 
Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour

Directions:

1.Mix butter and sugars together using a hand mixer or Kitchen Aid. Add in all remaining ingredients and mix until combined.
2.Roll the dough into small 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet. Squish to about 1/4 inch thick using a fork, making a crisscross pattern.
3.Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Let cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, transfer to a cooling rack. Makes 3 dozen cookies.
Inspired from The Joy Of Cooking Cookbook. This post has been linked up to these fabulous blogs:

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