Bacon Wrapped Chicken Recipe

I stumbled across this recipe while searching for something else. I tried it the other night and really enjoyed it so I figured I'd pass it along.

4 chicken cutlets (Even though I use cutlets, I still pounded them out to make them thinner)
chive and onion cream cheese
bacon
salt and pepper

Pound out the chicken cutlets. If you use breasts, you'll really have to pound them out. Season with salt and pepper. Smear your desired amount of cream cheese on each chicken breast and roll them up. Wrap a slice of bacon around each chicken breast. You can secure it with a toothpick if you think it's necessary.
It's up to you what pan to bake it on- if you use a baking dish, it'll keep the chicken moister because the juices will stay with the chicken. The downside is that the bacon on the bottom will not be crispy. If you cook it on a broiler pan you will have crispier bacon all around but you risk your chicken being drier if you over cook. Do what you want! Personally, I backed it in a glass dish and then switched it to a broiler pan. Bake 35 minute at 400 and broil for another 5 to get the bacon crispy.

Banana-Pecan Rum Cake Recipe

This is basically banana bread, in a cast iron skillet, with a crunchy top.  And to be honest, it's the second time I have baked it in 24 hours.  The first time I wasn't paying attention and dumped the entire container of sour cream into the batter rather than just 1/2 cup and then couldn't figure out why it wasn't baking.  And then it overflowed inside the oven.   

Banana-Pecan Rum Cake 
8oz cream cheese
1 stick softened butter
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
3 mashed bananas
1/2 cup sour cream 
1 tsp rum extract
2 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
 chopped pecans
Extra brown sugar for topping 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 12" cast iron skillet with flour cooking spray. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and brown sugar until just combined.  Add eggs one at a time.
3. In a small bowl, mash 3 bananas until just mashed but leaving a flew chunks.   Add bananas and sour cream to cream cheese mixture and mix.
4. Add flour, one 1/2 cup at a time, to the wet mixture until just combined.  Do not over mix and liquefy.  Add remaining dry ingredients.
5. Pour batter into cast iron skillet and sprinkle top with a good amount of extra brown sugar and chopped pecans.  It creates a crust on top that is my favorite part.
6. Bake for 30+ minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

A little note about this cast iron skillet in particular....My grandmother gave it to me for Christmas 2 years ago.  She wasn't able to be there with us that year so she included a card explaining that this cast iron skillet was now 5 generations old and she wanted me to have it.  It is probably one of the most special gifts I've ever received. 

Homemade Blueberry Muffins Recipe

Blueberries will be coming into season pretty soon- a lot earlier than normal because of how warm it's been.  I've seen blueberry bushes at the nursery with full-size blueberries on them already.

 If you haven't ever tried to make homemade blueberry muffins you really need to.  That box mixes with the little can of blueberries the size of peas is nothing compared to homemade blueberry muffins with giant blueberries.  This recipe is really easy and really good- even Todd who hates blueberry muffins said, "those are really good....I'll eat those."  I'll be honest...I have more kitchen disasters than I care to admit.  I made these last night and used self-rising flour by accident.  They exploded all over my oven.  So we went for round two today....this time with all purpose flour.

Homemade Blueberry Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour (not self-rising..note to self...)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs 
2 cups blueberries 

Crumble topping
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon 
1/4 cup butter (cool...not solid but cold enough that you can make a crumble out of it)

Direction:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl beat flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, room temperature butter, vanilla, milk, and eggs until combined.  Gently fold in blueberries.
3. Fill muffin liners 1/2 to 2/3 full with batter.  (I used jumbo liners and got 11 muffins out of this batter).
4. To make crumble topping mix dry ingredients in a small bowl and add butter that you've cut into small cubes.  With your hands "snap" the butter cubes with the flour mixture until it begins to come together and becomes a crumble.  Stick with it...as your hands melt the butter a little it will start to make a crumble.  Top each muffin with a little crumble topping.
5. Bake 20-30 minutes depending on your oven and the size of your muffins.

How To Make Blueberry Lavender Jam

Lavender is a weird thing.  Either you love it or you hate it.  There is the hippie-type pungent lavender that lines the aisles of Whole Foods in the form of goat's milk soap and bath salts.  File that under gross...right after patchouli. 

Then there is the sweet smelling lavender that has a hint of vanilla.  That's good lavender.  I have several different types of lavender in my yard.  It's really too humid and hot here for lavender to grow and bloom like it should but I like them just the same. 

I happen to also love the taste of lavender.  It's not all that common to find lavender as a flavor in foods (I first tried it in a popsicle) so when I wanted how to make blueberry lavender jam, I had some work to do.  I found a few recipes with lavender buds added directly to the jam but really, who wants to eat a dried flower bud on toast? Not me.

I started with a basic blueberry jam recipe.  If you're looking for a good starting point for canning, I recommend Food In Jars.  (Steer clear of any pectin-free jam recipes.  I'd like to consider myself fairly experienced at this point and I can't even make those work.)

Ingredient:
6 cups of smashed blueberries (about 8 cups whole berries)
5 cups sugar 
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 (3oz) packets of liquid pectin
1/2 ounce dried lavender buds (found at Fresh Market) that have been steeped in 3/4 cup boiling water for 10 minutes to make a "tea". 

Direction:
1. Combine smashed blueberries and sugar in a large pot.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently so the bottom doesn't burn.  
2. Add lemon juice and cook for about 15 minutes until jam starts to thicken and is shiny.
3. Add pectin packets and return to a boil for a full 5 minutes.
4. Remove pot from heat and ladle into sterilized jars.  (Sterilized = washed in the dishwasher and kept hot in a 200-degree oven while you are making your jam.)
5. Fill each jar leaving 1/2" room at the top of the jar. Wipe off any jam on the rims of the jars before putting sterilized hot lids and rings on.

Now..if you want plain ole blueberry jam you're done! If you want to add lavender, you're almost there.  I tried a few batches and what I discovered is no matter how much lavender "tea" I added to my jam while it was cooking, I could never really taste it in the finished product.  What I did instead added 1 1/2 Tbsp of lavender tea to each pint after I filled them and then gave them a quick stir.  For some reason, adding the lavender at the end helps the flavor really come through.

My absolute favorite way to eat this blueberry lavender jam is on a piece of crusty bread with goat cheese.  Publix has honey goat cheese that goes perfectly.  Delicious!

Broccoli Salad Recipe

Ingredient:

1/3 cup fat free mayo

1/4 cup plain fat free yogurt

3 tbsp sugar (I use splenda)

1 tbsp white vinegar (I like to use a little more) 

Salt & Pepper

1 bunch broccoli

3 bacon slices, fried & crumbled

1/3 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

After that Mix them altogether

Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe

Ingredient:

Buttermilk Biscuits

 2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold (!!), cut into very small chunks
1 cup buttermilk

Direction:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. "Snap" the butter into your flour mixture.  Literally pick up the small chunks of flour covered butter and snap them between your fingers.  This will flatten each little piece of butter but keep the butter "in tact" so you will be able to taste it in your biscuits.  Don't try to cream the butter into your dough.  You can see the butter in my dough in the picture above.
4. Add buttermilk until it's just combined.  Do not over mix.  Dough should be very sticky.
5. Turn dough out onto a floured dough board and gently press it to 1/2" thick.  Do not use rolling pin.  It should be lumpy and bumpy!  Fold the dough in half and gently press it together again (don't press together too much...that "fold" is what makes them easy to split open once they're baked!).  Fold it in half one of more time and press it out to 1" thick.
6. Using a biscuit cutter, cut into rounds.
7. You can use the scraps but they will not be nearly as good as the original biscuits.  
8. Place biscuits on a cookie sheet- if you want soft sides and "taller" biscuits, make all of the sides touch on the baking sheet.  If you want "crunchy" edges, don't let them touch.
9. Bake approximately 10 minutes until golden brown.

I obviously baked mine without the sides touching which is why they aren't as tall as you're probably used to seeing them.  The insides are still incredibly fluffy and perfect, they just have a nice "crust" on the outside which I personally love.

I love biscuits and honey...especially this honey from the Blue Ridge Mountains.  I swear the taste better if the honey is dripping down between your fingers.

Some people swear that White Lily flour is far superior to any other type of flour...it's all I've ever used because that's what my grandma uses.  It's what I grab when I'm at the grocery store just like people who prefer Heinz over Hunts...or Duke's (or Blue Plate!) over Kraft. Whether it's really better...well, you be the judge of that. :)

ETA: There was a question about using self-rising flour opposed to the all-purpose flour I had originally listed in the recipe.  I used self-rising which is what I pretty much use for everything.  I have a special seasoned flour I use to frying things so nearly everything else I bake would only benefit from the leavening and salt in the self-rising flour.   Sorry for the confusion. ;)

Chocolate Chess Pie Recipe

This Chocolate Chess Pie is my gramma's recipe.  I thought it would make a perfect addition to our New Year's Day black eyed peas and collards.  Well.  What happened was...I made the first pie.  And then we ate it.  I had every intention of taking pictures of it for my blog. But we demolished it.  At 10:00am. So then I made another one.  And we ate half of that one too.  Before I could take pictures.  It just happened.  In our defense, we shared some with my neighbors.

If you've seen the movie The Help, you remember Minny's chocolate chess pie.  I did a little google search to find the actual recipe they used for the the movie and it's nearly identical to my gramma's recipe.  I made The Help's version too.  We had a little taste off and really couldn't tell the difference between the two.

It's a fudgy-gooey chocolate pie.  Nothing fancy about it.  Just good.  My gramma's version has sugared pecans on top but I am kind of pecaned out after Thanksgiving and Christmas so I left them off.

Happy New Year's weight loss! ;-)

Gramma's Chocolate Chess Pie

1 pie crust
1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
2 1oz squares unsweetened chocolate baking squares
1 5oz can evaporated milk (2/3 cup)
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Option pecan topping:
1 1/2 cup pecan halves and pieces
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Direction:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt butter and chocolate squares in 30 second intervals in microwave safe bowl.  Stir after each 30 seconds until smooth.
3. Whisk evaporated milk, eggs, and vanilla together. Add to chocolate mixture.
4. Stir together granulated sugar, flour, and salt, then add to chocolate mixture whisking until smooth.
5. Press pie shell into 9" pie plate.  Prick bottom with form.
6. Pour filling into pie shell and bake for 45 minutes (maybe 50 depending on your oven).

For pecan topping:
1. Bake pie for only 40 minutes.  Remove from oven.
2. Stir together pecans, light brown sugar, corn syrup and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Sprinkle over pie.  
3. Bake an additional 10 minutes.

Let cool at least one hour before serving. Top with whipped cream.

Caesar Salad Dressing Recipe

This Caesar salad dressing recipe came from my mom.  She always has a jar of it in the fridge and I would sit at the kitchen counter with a head of romaine lettuce, break off pieces and stick them in the jar.  If she made it for a get together, holiday, or party, she would make extra and put it in little jars so if someone loved it, she could send a little jar home with them.  It's a better-the-next-day dressing, so make it ahead of time.  Try to ignore what you're putting into it.  Just trust me.  It's good.

Because I made this for Easter dinner, I made my own croutons.  I've never made croutons before but now that I have, I won't ever buy them pre-made.  These were SO good!  I bought a small "artisan baguette" (it looked like a mini loaf of good bread, the size of a hoagie) for $0.90 at Super Target.  I was only making croutons for two people so that made more sense.  I took it out of the package and let it sit on the counter for a few hours.  Cut it up into little cubes.  Melt a few tablespoons of butter and a splash of olive oil in a skillet over medium.  Dump your cubes into the skillet and add salt, pepper, and minced garlic (I love that little jar of minced garlic that you find in the produce section), and a little garlic salt.  Toss and let them brown until they start to crisp up.  Mine were light golden when I took them out and let them dry on a paper towel.

Caesar Salad Dressing
2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (the cheap shake stuff in the can)
1 tablespoon anchovy paste (I know, just go with it.  It's by the tuna fish.)
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon curry powder

Mix all ingredients together but do not beat them!  

Cherry Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe

I love pound cake.  I love cherries (especially maraschino cherries...and the juice). The two together should be great, right? Right!  If I were having an Easter brunch at my house...I think this would definitely be on the dessert table. 

Cherry Vanilla Pound Cake
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups sugar
5 large eggs, room temperature
3 1/4 all purpose flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 10oz jars maraschino cherries, drained and chopped (save the juice!)
1 vanilla bean, scraped and reserved

Direction:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray a bundt pan with nonstick spray with flour.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until creamy.  Add sugar, beating until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.
3. In another bowl, sift together 3 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt.  Gradually add, one cup at a time, of flour mixture to butter mixture until combined.
4. Toss chopped cherries with 1/4 cup flour.  Add to batter and gently stir.  Add vanilla bead seeds. Stir.
5. Spoon into bundt pan and gently tap on counter to release any air bubbles.
6. Bake approximately 1 hour 20 minutes until wooden pick comes out clean.
7. Turn pan upside down on wire rack to cool and allow cake to release.

Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons whipping cream
2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice

Mix together and add additional tablespoons of cream until it thin enough to drip down side of cake.

Chicken Pot Sticker Veggie Soup Recipe

I saved this recipe from Danica's Daily (one of my favorite meal idea blogs) a few weeks ago.  I finally made it over to Whole Foods last night to find pot stickers since we don't have Trader Joe's here.  I wasn't able to find the mini pot stickers so each serving has half as many pot stickers as hers does but that doesn't change the taste at all.  I loved this! 

2 tsp sesame oil (I just used olive oil because I didn't have sesame)
3 carrots, peeled and sliced 
2 summer squash, halved and sliced 
2 c fresh sliced white mushrooms 
1 garlic clove, minced
32 oz Organic Chicken Broth
3 Tbsp Annie’s Organic Teriyaki Sauce (I probably used 6 tbsp and it was a little salty)
1 tsp (dashes) Srirachi or your favorite hot sauce (I used Crystal and added probably 4tsp)
1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Package Trader Joe’s Mini Chicken Pot Stickers
6 c Organic Spinach
4 Scallions, sliced

1. Heat sesame oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat.  Add carrots through garlic and sauté for four minutes.  Add Teriyaki Sauce, hot sauce and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil.
2.  While the soup boils, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet and add pot stickers.  Cook for two minutes or until slightly browned and remove from heat.
3.  Add pot stickers to the soup mixture and boil one minute.  Add the spinach and cook for an additional minute.  Remove from heat and stir in scallions, reserving a small pinch to top soup boils.

I didn't use exact measurements or times when I made mine.  It's a soup.  Cook, taste, add, cook, taste, add.  You get the point.  I loved that this didn't make a huge pot of soup that will go to waste- it's just enough for a few meals.

Cinnamon Sugar Nuts Recipe

Everyone loves those sugary cinnamon nuts that they sell in every mall come December.  I have tried a few different recipes in the past that weren't just right.  I found this one on Pinterest and using that bloggers method with a few changes of my own, I think I found a winner!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup water plus 2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup white sugar (for step 4, an additional 1/8 cup) 
1/4 cup brown sugar (for step 4, and additional 1/8 cup)
1 HEAPING tablespoon cinnamon (so really 1 1/2)
2 cups of nuts (I used almonds and pecans)
1 tablespoon vanilla

1. In a heavy saucepan, add brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and water.
2. Heat over medium until it starts to boil...let it cook down a bit to thicken.
3. Add nuts and turn the heat up to high.  STIR CONSTANTLY until the mixture really begins to thicken and the suguary mixture is really sticking to the nuts.  It should dry out pretty quickly and become harder to stir.
4. Remove from heat and QUICKLY add vanilla and your remaining brown and white sugar.  Stir, stir, stir!
5. The mixture should stick immediately to the nuts.  Dump them out on to wax paper to dry.

After they have dried and cooled, store whatever is left of them (haha!) in an airtight container.  They should last a week or two...but I doubt they'll make it that long!

Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork and Simple Slaw Recipe

Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork

Pork Butt Shoulder (For reference, I'd say 2.5lbs would make 4-5 sandwiches)

Root Beer (Buy name brand- the cheap stuff is too sweet.  I might have also bought the glass bottles because I'm a sucker for nostalgia.)

Salt and Pepper

Your favorite BBQ Sauce (I like vinegary BBQ sauce...I'm definitely NOT a ketchup based sauce girl. I got mine from a restaurant in Georgia.)

1. Cover your pork butt with a good layer of salt and pepper.  I think I also threw some garlic salt.

2. Put your pork butt in the crock pot on HIGH and set the timer for 8 hours.

3. Pour root beer into crock pot until it's about 1/2 way up the pork.

4. Cover...and wait. I did flip my pork over about half way through.

5. At the end of the 8 hours, shred up the pork with two forks and cover with your favorite sauce.

Simple Slaw
Whole mess of thinly shredded cabbage
a shake of salt and a shake of pepper
1 tsp celery seed
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup cider vinegar

Put it all in a jar and shake it up.  I make this several hours ahead of time so it has time to sit.

Now, I wouldn't eat a whole pile of this on it's own as it's not your typical sweet mayo-ish slaw.  I like mine very vinegary and ON my BBQ sandwich.  I want it drippin' down my arms!