French Onion Chicken

I saw this recipe on a commercial on tv and wanted to try it out. Boy am I glad that I did. Mike LOVES this recipe and it is easy to make. We make it probably 2 or 3 times a month!

French Onion Chicken

I large can French Fried Onions (found near the green beans)
3 chicken breasts, cut in strips
1/2 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
seasons of your choice

1. Pour the onions in a bag and crush.
2. Dip the chicken in the flour, shake off excess.
3. Dip in beaten egg.
4. Cover in crush onions.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until chicken is done.

**I put a cooling rack in the bottom of my baking pan so that the air can crisp up both sides of the chicken

Chinese Honey Ginger Chicken

I absolutely LOVE the flavor of ginger and Mike really likes ginger so we thought this would be the perfect combination. The flavors really are great and this is WAY easy to prep and freeze!

Chinese Honey Ginger Chicken

6 chicken breasts
4 tsp chopped yellow onion
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh minced ginger
2 tbsp sherry (alcoholic or cooking) **I just added 1 tbsp water and 1 tbsp more soy sauce
1/4 c chives

Combine all ingredients in a freezer container or Ziploc bag. Freeze.

Instructions from Freezer:
Allow to thaw. Pour Chinese style honey ginger chicken into a casserole dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and bake for 20-30 minutes. Serve. Great with rice!

*** I would cut back the amount of ginger just a little bit and add a little more honey personally

Raspberry Chicken

So I realized that the past 3 recipes I have are chicken. Most of my freezer meals are chicken actually. It is because all you have to do is dump it in the bag and freeze it. Now that is my kind of prep :D I have several new "dump" recipes to try out next month too :)

Raspberry Glazed Chicken Freezer Recipe

1 1/2 lbs chicken pieces (breasts, thighs, legs, etc)
3/4 cup rasberry jam
3/4 cup ketchup
1/8 cup white vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp salt

In a small bowl, combine jam, ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder and salt, stirring well. Put chicken in a ziploc bag or freezer container and pour sauce over top. Refrigerate for about 1 hr, turning every 15-20 minutes. Place container or bag in freezer.

To cook:
Thaw chicken in refrigerator over night. Remove chicken from container or ziploc and barbeque on the grill, or cook in the oven at 350F for 35-45 minutes (time will vary depending on chicken pieces you chose) until juices run clear and thermometer registers 165F. Great over rice

Caribbean Jerk Chicken

Mike and I were watching Kitchen Nightmare the other night and they had a Jamaican restaurant on. Ever since then, I have been craving this AMAZING recipe of Jerk Chicken that I made in culinary school. Of course I have no idea where that recipe is, but I did happen to have a batch of this recipe in my freezer. :) Turned out great too!

Caribbean Jerk Chicken Freezer Recipe

2 1/2 lbs chicken pieces
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp ground red pepper flakes
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix

Combine ingredients except chicken in a small bowl. Add chicken to a freezer bag, then add Caribbean Jerk mixture. Carefully move the chicken around so it is thoroughly coated, then freeze.

On cooking day, thaw in refrigerator and remove chicken pieces, disposing of the leftover marinade. Barbeque on a grill or bake in a 375 oven for approx 60 minutes (may vary depending on which chicken pieces are used.

** I again used frozen cutlets for this meal. I never thought about using frozen chicken until my sister suggested it. It makes the prep SO much fast and easier.

Easy Teriyaki Chicken

Mike really enjoyed Chinese food so when I found this recipe, I knew I had to try it. Unbelievable!!

Easy Teriyaki Chicken Freezer Recipe

1 chicken, cut up (or equivelant amount of chicken pieces of your choice)
1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tsp garlic salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white wine or apple juice
1/2 tsp dried ginger

Place chicken into a freezer bag. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients and add to bag. Remove air from bag, seal and freeze.

On cooking day, defrost in refrigerator. Preheat oven at 425 and bake chicken for 30 minutes (may take longer depending on chicken piece choices). Or grill on a barbeque until chicken is no longer pink.

**I used frozen chicken cutlets and the chicken marinaded beautifully while it thawed.

Mexi Beef Casserole Freezer Recipe

Recently I decided that I wanted to spend 1 day a month prepping and freezing meals for the month. I ended up with 20 meals (some were duplicates of course) in the freezer to use for this month. Every time I try one, I'll post it on here :)

Mexi Beef Casserole Freezer Recipe

1 pound ground beef
1 15-oz can sweet corn, drained
1 cup mild, chunky salsa
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1 pkg cooked egg noodles
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup taco sauce
1 package taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup tomato sauce

Cook egg noodles according to instructions, drain. Meanwhile, brown beef in a skillet until brown and fully cooked. Drain any grease. In a bowl, combine all ingredients, then pour into a freezer container or a 9x13 baking dish. Freeze (may want to allow it to come down to room temperature before placing in freezer)

On cooking day, thaw completely in fridge (take it out the night before or morning of). In a preheated 325F oven, cook for 30-45 minutes, or until bubbly and completely hot throughout. Serve!

**I also mixed in some grated cheddar cheese. Yum!
***Because it is only Mike and I, I split this recipe in to 2 9 by 9 pans.

Molly's Birthday Cake

This is a cake that I put together for Melanie Ashcraft. Her daughter, Molly, turned 7 last month. The picture of the top was supposed to be edible, but I couldn't get it off the paper without ripping it :( Thanks Melle for using me!

Awesome Spaghetti Sauce

I have always been the kind of person who makes her spaghetti from a box or a jar. Well, last night I was CRAVING spaghetti. I looked online, found a recipe, and fell in LOVE!

Easy Spaghetti Sauce

1 15 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1/4 onion, diced
3 garlic gloves, diced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp salt

1. Saute the onions in a little vegetable oil until translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add garlic and cook 2-3 minutes.
3. Add all of the other ingredients and simmer on LOW for 45 minutes, up to an hour and a half. The longer you simmer it, the better it tastes.

*I added pre-made frozen meatballs the last 30 minutes and served it over spaghetti.

Jen and Brad's wedding

This past weekend, I was in a wedding of a really good friend from high school. I was the maid (matron?!) of honor AND I did the wedding cake! I will never do that again! Well, except for Jen but then again a bridesmaid doesn't do much in a mormon wedding ;)

I stayed up WAY late the night before the wedding decorating the cake and woke up WAY early the next morning so that I could finish decorating it, get my hair and makeup done, and finish getting ready for the wedding.




Mike drove all the way down the Spring on Friday night after work to help me with the cake. I don't know what I would have done without him! He was helping me ice the cake and when I had my back to him, he wrote this on the cake for me. He is truly the best thing that has ever happened to me. :D

John and Bailey's Wedding

Here is my latest creation. It was probably one of the hardest I've done! It was HUGE!! The hardest part was transporting it to the reception. It took me, my mom and my dad to drive it down there safely. Oh man did it get banged up on the way. Luckily I was able to touch it up, put it together and enjoy the reception. The bride and the groom were happy, I hope. ;)

It's been a crazy week!

Tuesday consisted of:
a. going to work for 7 hours
b. grocery shopping for cake supplies and more cake pans!
c. baking half of the cakes for the wedding this weekend
d. helping mike study for his physics test
e. falling asleep on the couch instead of helping mike study :(

Wednesday consisted of:
a. missionaries coming over to give us a message
b. temple recommend interviews with the bishop
c. making dinner and eating dinner
d. helping mikey cram for 2 more tests
e. PAY DAY :D

Thursday consisted of:
a. going to work for 7 hours
b. going to U paint it (ceramic painting place) with Melissa my ex=roommate (it took almost 3 hours!!)
c. cramming dinner down our throats
d. classical concert of a flute and guitar for Mike's music class
e. catching up on my Lie to Me episodes

Friday has so far consisted of:
a. going to work for 7 hours
b. going to the grocery store to get MORE cake supplies (it's a huge cake)
c. baking more cakes for the wedding this weekend
d. packing and making sure I have everything
e. stressing out about whether I can transfer it the the wedding ok
f. also stressing out about whether the ribbon is the right color?!?
g. ENJOYING THE BEAUTIFUL WEATHER...from the inside of my house ;)

Saturday WILL consist of:
a. waking up early to drive home (YAY!!!)
b. trying out a different technique to make my icing so that it is truly "white"
c. decorating a 4 tier cake (16", 12", 8", 6") for the wedding
d. transferring the cake to the reception ( :S )
e. putting the cake all together ( :S )
f. enjoying the reception
g. GETTING PAID!!

Congrats John and Bailey :D

Pictures coming soon. Now don't get me started on next week!!!

Pumpkin Doughnuts

Pumpkin Doughnuts

2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground ginger
dash nutmeg (I do a double dash ;) )
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
Oil for frying
Spiced sugar***

1. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add the 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Beat until combined, scraping the bowl occasionally. Beat in the pumpkin, buttermilk, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour until well combined. Cover and chill 3 hours (I actually chilled mine overnight and it still turned out great)

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/2 in thickness. Cut with floured 2 1/2 in doughnut cutter, dipping cutter into flour between cuts. Reroll as necessary.

3. Fry doughnuts, 2 or 3 at a time, in deep, hot fat (365 degrees) about 2 1/2 minutes per side or until golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel. Coat warm doughnuts in spiced sugar. Makes about 12 doughnuts plus holes.

***Spiced sugar: combine 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

So it's fall time and I absolutely LOVE fall! Especially cooking with pumpkin! I found this recipe and just had to try it out!!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

4 oz cream cheese
3 heaping tbsp pumpkin puree
3 tbsp sugar
1 box brownie mix

1. Mix the brownie mix according to the package.
2. Cream together the sugar, cream cheese and pumpkin in a mixer until smooth and creamy.
3. Pour the brownie batter into a greased 9 X 13 in pan.
4. Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the brownies. Use a knife to swirl it together.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

** I added about 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a 1/4 tsp nutmeg to the pumpkin mixture. It tasted like like pumpkin pie!

Pasta alla Carbonara

Pasta alla Carbonara

1 lb spaghetti or other long pasta (i.e. linguini or fetuccini)
1/2 lb bacon
1 pt heavy cream
2 eggs
4 oz Parmesan

1. Cook pasta and set aside.
2. Cut bacon into 1/2 in pieces. Cook until crisp.
3. While the bacon is cooking, combine the eggs, cream and cheese in a bowl.
4. After the bacon is crisp, add the pasta to your pan. Coat the pasta in the bacon grease and heat through.
5. Add the cream mixture and combine. Heat through and serve!


* I love having all the bacon flavor in this dish. If you want to drain a lot of the grease off, feel free to do it. It won't affect your dish that much!

Cornbread Hamburger Pie

My husband LOVES cornbread. We eat regular shepherd's pie all the time and he told me he had it with cornbread on top on his mission. When I found this recipe, I just had to try it out!

Corn Bread Hamburger Pie

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 can condensed tomato soup, undiluted
1/4 cup salsa
1 tbsp steak sauce (optional)
1 package (8 1/2 oz) corn bread
1 can green beans, drained
1 1/2 cups frozen corn

1. In a 10-in ovenproof skillet, cook the beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain.

2. Stir in the soup, salsa, ketchup and steak sauce if desired.

3. Meanwhile, prepare corn bread batter according to package directions; let stand for 2 minutes.

4. Spoon over beef mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until slightly browned.

Yay new blog!

I have this crazy love of recipes. I love cookbooks, cooking, food, grocery shopping... you get the picture. So I decided that I wanted to start a blog of the recipes that I have tried and liked so that maybe you guys could try them out too!