Good Morning!!  What a beautiful day here today, and another busy one, so I must do this blog as promised.  We had an amazing dinner last night, and I wanted to share with you, two of the items we had.  One, if you are patient with me, is cooking a squash in a microwave.  This is something we did at home, and so I did mine that way last night.  The second item is bacon wrapped chicken breast.  I went online - checked out some recipes - wasn't exactly happy with what I found, so I just winged my own.  So - here we go...

Microwaved Squash

First, wash whole squash.  Pierce squash with knife, going fairly deep.  I used a paring knife and went aboit half the blade or a little more.  I peirced 4 times on the top - 4 times on the bottom - and 4 times around the sides - making the side piercings a little deeper.

Place squash in microwave and cook on high for 10 minutes, checking after about 5, and turning squash over.

Take squash out of microwave when soft when poked with knife.

Take tip of sharp knife, and flip out stem.

Cut squash in half.

Take large spoon and scoop out seeds and sinew.

Next, scoop out squash, being careful because it is hot.  If you find your squash still has a few hard spots, then just place bowl back in microwave and cook for another 5 minutes.   Mash squash,
adding butter, salt, and pepper.

Yummy, enjoy!!


Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breast

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, thawed
1 lb bacon
onion powder
basil
paprika

Rinse chicken breasts, removing any excess skin or fat from them.  Dry on paper towel.
Sprinkle seasoning on each breast. 

Next, roll each breast in bacon strips.  My bacon was kindda thin, so I used double slices.  Starting on bottom of chicken breast wrap around chicken. If using another strip, tuck second strip under first and continue to wrap.  Try to have all the ends underneath the chicken breast.  Slide toothpick in to hold bacon.  Set in a sprayed pan.  I used a glass dish, but think I would rather use a metal baking sheet or pan, because of broiling at the end.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes. Until chicken temperature reaches 180 degrees F, or chicken is done.  Then place chicken about 6 inches from broiler and turn broiler on for 3-5 minutes to crisp up bacon.  Watch so you do not burn the bacon.  Remove from oven and let rest for about 5 minutes.
BE CAREFUL!!!  THE BACON SPLATTERS WHEN YOU MOVE IT!!
Then Enjoy!!

Hello Friends!! Such a beautiful day here today, and should be outside right now, but seeing as I have not been able to blog for a couple of days, I had better share another recipe with my friends.
Today, I am going to share my hubby's favorite dessert!! Hope you all enjoy this one!

Pumpkin Pie with Graham Crumb Crust

Graham Crumb Crust

1 and 1/2 cups of graham crumbs
1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup margarine
1 egg white

(I make this triple for my 2 deep dish 9" pie plates. If they are regular pie plates, then one recipe per 9" pie plate.)

Combine ingredients thoroughly. Press over bottom and sides of pie plate, evenly. Paint crust with egg white.
Do not bake crust before filling with pumpkin.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 eggs (plus extra egg yolk from egg wash)
1 (15oz) can pure pumpkin
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Combine the spices. Beat lightly, eggs plus egg yolk, in a large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and spices. Then gradually add milk, stirring as you do. Pour mixture into crumb shell.
Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F.
Bake for another 40-50 minutes or until knife, when inserted near the center of the pie, comes out clean.
Cool on wire rack for about 2 hours.
Refrigerate.

Note: If I have more pie filling than I have crust, then I will often pour it into a casserole or glass pan of some sort, and bake it with the pie for the same time - hubby loves pumpkin custard even without the crust.

Pie fresh from oven

 

Side view of baked pie

Bowl of custard - a little bigger than a ramkin.

Side view of custard.

Good Morning Family and Friends!!!

Yesterday was a little busy, so I am terribly sorry that I did not get to post.  I see word of my blog is getting around tho! :)  I had a man come to me at church yesterday, and another man from the church came with him, and they said that he needed to talk to me.  I started wondering right off what I had done. LOL  Anyway, he had heard I was blogging some of my desserts and cooking goods, so he was told I was the person he should talk too.  To make this story short, I am going to help him with heading up his Dessert Banquet for one of our Missions in Haiti!!  I am honored to be able to help in this way!!  They are expecting at least 80 people, so there will be lots of desserts that night - LOL.

Well, before I got up this morning, I laid in bed thinking what should I share on my blog today.  Then, I thought it has to be something good, because I didn't share anything yesterday, and of course, today is MONDAY!!!  So, with that being said, here is today's recipe!!!

Chocolate Strawberries

3 lbs of strawberries, washed and dried (In Canada - 2 quarts; In US - 3 of the 1 lb clamshells)
1 bag of white chocolate chips
1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips - I like the Hershey's Dark Special chips!!!
2 tsp. vegetable shortening

Wash and dry strawberries, leaving on paper towel to remove moisture from berries.  In microwave, melt 1 bag of chocolate chips with 1 tsp vegetable shortening for about 45 seconds on high, placing back in microwave after stirring for about another 15 seconds.  This should be all melted by then...some microwaves may not even take that long.  Stir until smooth.  Dip strawberries, holding on the hull, and roll in melted chocolate, placing on wax papered cookie sheets, or foil lined plates.  Repeat with the other bag of chips and coat all strawberries.

Edible sugar or crushed nuts or anything you would like can be sprinkled on these after they have been dipped.  Work quickly as chocolate begans to harden quickly.

I hope to soon get a chocolate melting pot, and this will make them so much easier to do.  You can also do all brown chocolate or however you want.  Just remember, 1 tsp of vegetable shortening to every bag of chips you use.

White chocolate because Momma is allergic to brown chocolate.

Semi-sweet chocolate for Dad.

Yummy!

Love how they are shiny!!

These ones were sprinkled with edible gold glitter for my neice's

Hollywood themed party.  Big hit they were!

Ran out of berries and had some left over chocolate, so did marshmallows!

HAPPY FALL EVERYONE!!

What a beautiful, sunny, crisp fall morning!!!  The leaves are changing color here...I can almost smell the pumpkins!!!  A great imagination or what?! LOL

Well, last night was a big dinner.  I roasted a small chicken and pork roast together - delicious!!  And my sausage and apple stuffing was yummy too!!!  I started using a recipe, but then started making my own recipe from the one I was using because it was for filling a bird, and mine was too small to fill.

Roasted Chicken and Pork Roast

1 5 lb Chicken - thawed
1 5 lb Pork Roast - thawed
2 medium sweet onions
1 -2 cups chicken broth
1/2 pkg onion soup mix
poultry seasoning

Rinse chicken in cold water, and remove any giblets and neck if you do not care for it.
Pour chicken broth into roaster - enough to cover bottom of roaster.
Place chicken and pork roast, side by side.
Sprinkle poultry seasoning over chicken.
Sprinkle onion soup mix over pork roast.
Peel and quarter onions and place around chicken and pork roast.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 2 and 1/2 hours.  If cooking too fast, then turn oven back to 300 degrees F for about 1/2 hour.

Ready for the oven!

Coked to perfection!

Pork Roast!

 

Chicken!

Sausage and Apple Stuffing

8 cups cubed white bread  (I used french bread)
1 pound country sausage
2 medium sweet onions, diced
3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp poultry seasoning

Cube bread and leave out on a cookie sheet to dry out; or place in oven at 250 degrees F for 10 minutes or until dry to the touch.  When ready to make stuffing, place bread cubes in a large mixing bowl.

Brown country sausage in frying pan; breaking into pieces as it cooks.  Cook until there is no pink left in the sausage,  With a slotted spoon, remove sausage from frying pan, and add to the cubed bread.  Mix together, breaking up any larger pieces of sausage.

Pour fat from frying pan, reserving but 1 to 2 tablespoons for sauteing onions.  Add onions; saute them until they are tender, not brown.  Stir in the chicken broth and apples; heat to boiling.  Pour over bread and sausage mixture; add poultry seasoning.  Mix or toss until evenly moist.

Place in buttered 9x13 pan, and bake at 350 degrees F for about 30-45 minutes.

NOTE:  If you are not using this stuffing to stuff a bird, then please add 1 cup of chicken broth rather than 1/2 cup.  You may even want to add a touch more when you go to put it in the pan to bake.  Make to your taste for moistness.  I used just the 1 cup and it was a little dry, but so tasty!!

Yields : Makes enough stuffing to stuff a 10 to 12-pound turkey or chicken.

Ready for oven!

See how nice and chunky it is!

All cooked and ready to eat!

Very tasty!!

Enjoy folks... before we know it, it will be Thanksgiving!!

Rain drops keep falling on my head!!!  But today, I am thankful for the rain!!!  It has been so dry here for most of the summer, and so for that, I shall not complain.  My house is smelling delicious with my chicken and pork roast in the oven, but that will be for tomorrow - so keep licking your lips! LOL

The recipe I am going to share with you, I had found on Taste of Home website. 
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Dutch-Apple-Pie-2

This is a delicious pie, and I will share the recipe here and post my progress pictures of it.  I wanted to give credit where it was due, and I hope I did this properly for assigning credit.

Dutch Apple Pie

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
3/4 cup butter, melted

Filling
2/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1 and 1/4 cups cold water
3 cups diced peeled tart apples
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the first 4 ingredients.  Set aside 1 cup for topping.  Press remaining into an ungreased 9" pie plate; set aside.
For filling, combine sugar, cornstarch and water in a large saucepan until smooth; bring to a boil.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes, or until thickened.  Remove from the heat; stir in apples and vanilla.
Pour into crust; top with reserved crumb mixture. 
Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 - 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
Cool on a wire rack.

Yield : 6 - 8 servings

This may be served with whipped topping or vanilla ice cream, but I liked it just by itself!!
Enjoy!!

Stage 1 : Crust

Stage 2 : Apple filling

Looking good, eh!

Stage 3 : Crumble topping

Stage 4 : Baked to golden brown

So tasty looking!!!

Oh, Christmas time's a-comin', Christmas time's a-comin', Christmas time's a-comin', and I know I won't be goin' home!  Singing in the kitchen again!!!
Ok, Christmas is on my mind again this morning.  Yes, I should be getting the concert parts together and blogging later, but blogging is so much fun!!  For me anyway!! 
Nothing will be cooking in the kitchen today, seeing as I am going out today!! :D  Treat day!!!  But, I am going to post another one of the recipes that I used to make at Christmas, but probably will not make them this year.  This recipe I got from a lady I used to help out and houseclean for.  I loved Christmas time, because she got me to help her make her recipes that she made, and so I got to learn new recipes!!!  Who does not like getting paid for doing something so fun!!  For her privacy, I will not name her with this recipe.

Cherry Surprises

1/2 cup firm margarine
1 and 1/2 cups icing sugar (confectioners sugar for my American friends and family)
1 and 1/2 cups medium flaked coconut
1/2 tsp vanilla (may also use almond or rum flavoring)
Graham cracker crumbs
Red and green maraschino cherries - quartered or halved

Mix first 4 ingredients together and roll into small balls.  Roll ball in graham crumbs.  Press thumb in middle - cracking the ball.  Decorate with red or green maraschino cherry piece, placing cherry in depression.
Keep refrigerated, and store with wax paper between layers.

So easy and quick to make and they look like you

have spent a long time making them.

This is one batch. I make them small

because they are sweet.

Now do these not look tempting?

Oh what a beautiful morning!  Oh what a beautiful day!
I have this wonderful feeling, something is coming your way!!

Yes, I may not be spending time in the kitchen today, but I can still sing when I am not there!!  Today has been a day for errands, and thankfully there was leftovers of bacon cheesesticks and homemade pizza for hubby while I was gone.  Tonight will be a simple dinner - nothing elaborate.  Just boiled boneless, skinless chicken breast and green beans - not sure what else might pop up to go with this healthy meal.  Tummys have been a little upset around here lately - I think it is that flu bug that has been going around - at least I hope and pray that is all that it is.  So dinner tonight is comfort food.

On to what to blog.  I think today I will share with you my dinner from the other night.  Another one of  hubby's favorites.  I call it chicken stir-fry Karen style - he calls it chicken boil - lol.  That is because I use chicken broth rather than oil in my stir-fry...you know - gotta watch those calories and all - especially with the pizza splurge!!!

Karen's Chicken Stir-fry

1 and 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast - still partly frozen (about 4 breasts)
1/8 cup low-fat, no added msg chicken broth
2 large sweet onions
1 small bag of baby carrots
1 (8 oz.) pkg fresh mushrooms
1 can green string beans
4 - 6 Tbsp. Soy sauce

While chicken is still partly frozen, slice into slices - not too thin - for stir-fry. Continue to thaw.
Peel onions, cut in half, and then slice each half so onion pieces are larger.
If baby carrots are nice and small, then all you need to do for those is to rinse them, if larger, then cut larger ones in half length-wise.
If fresh mushrooms are whole, then slice those also.
Open and drain can of green beans.

Once you are ready to start cooking, put about 1/8 of a cup of chicken broth in large nonstick frying pan, or chicken fryer pan.  Let this heat up, and then start laying chicken slices in to cook.  You may even want to use less broth if your chicken is not totally thawed.  Sprinkle a little salt or whatever seasoning you like on your chicken, or you can leave it plain.  Flip chicken slices over to cook thouroughly.  Once chicken is cooked, remove to a plate covered with a paper towel.  This will rest the chicken as you start the veggies.  Drain the broth from the pan and wipe pan out with paper towel.

Add a few more drops of chicken broth to pan and add sliced onion, mushrooms and baby carrots.  Watch that they do not go dry, but the fresh mushrooms will put off some liquid.  I cook this for about 15 minutes, watching and stirring about every 5 minutes.  If you prefer your carrots not to still have a crunch, then cook a little longer.  Return cooked chicken to pan and add green beans.  Stir and heat about another 5 minutes till beans are hot.  I also add my soy sauce at this time - it varies as to how much you would like on your food.  Lightly I would say about 4 Tbsp.

This can also be reheated.  Heat up nonstick pan and add leftover stir-fry. There will be some liquid in the leftovers, so I usually just keep my eye on it, stirring often and covering it.  Takes about 5 minutes to reheat on stove.

Note : If you are using can mushrooms, add at the same time as your green beans.

TIP:  When storing fresh mushrooms that have been purchased, remove from wrapped containers, 
         and place in paper lunch bags, then put in vegetable crisper in your fridge.  This prolongs their
         freshness, and keeps them whiter longer.  The paper bag draws the moisture rather than them
         sitting in the airtight containers where they begin to rotten.

Bon appetit!!!

 

 

Good afternoon everyone!!!  Hope you are all having a wonderful day today.  We have fall like weather today - when I got up, it is was only 42 degrees F here!!!!  But clear blue skies and definitely fall is in the air!!!

First off, I would like to apologize for not proof reading my blogs enough.  Being a teacher and a tutor, this is not good for me - lol.  Thanks to my teacher sister for pointing this out to me this morning, so I will try much better from here on!! :D

The recipe I am posting today took most of my morning, but my dear hubby is so worth the work, and my dear friends here are so worth the time to stop, wash your hands, take photos!!!! I love it all!!!  So here is todays recipe and all the pictures - warning, it is long!! :D

Homemade Pizza and Bacon Cheesesticks

This reipe is a homemade crust, and the recipe came from my sister, Teresa.

Teresa's Pizza Crust

Combine :
2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 and 1/4 tsp fast active yeast

Make a well in the center of dry ingredients, and add :
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup warm water (not too hot - it will kill the fast active yeast)

Blend well and let stand for 5 minutes.
Spread crust out on a sprayed pizza pan.
Bake at 425 degrees F for 25 minutes.

I doubled this recipe to make 2 16" pizzas.

Bacon Cheesesticks

Cover crust with butter or margarine.

Next, add cheese.  I used shaker parmesan, 2 cups shredded parmesan, 2 cups shredded pizza cheese, and 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese. Then on top of cheese, shake a bag of fresh baconbits.

 

Bake at 425 degrees F for 25 minutes - placing on top shelf will make your cheese nice and brown as in the next picture.

When you have sliced pizza into sticks, serve with leftover pasta sauce or pizza sauce.

Pizza

After you have the crust spread out on sprayed pan, place your sauce. I used a meat pasta sauce since my hubby cannot use anything too spicy with too much tomato acid. Then, I added shaker parmesan cheese, 2 cups parmesan shredded cheese and about 1 cup mozzarella cheese.
Then comes the meats. I used a little less than a pound of both bulk country sausage and hamburger.
I fry these up before I put them on the pizza so as to keep down on the fat that will sit on the pizza.  Another hint, I also fry my burger with some water to help take the fat out of the burger, and then strain the meat!!  I also did this with my sausage today, and it seemed to really help with keeping the fat down.
After the meats, I then put on fresh sliced mushrooms.  I only needed  a little over half of an 8 oz. package of pre-sliced fresh mushrooms.  Then, to top it all off, spread 2 cups of shredded pizza cheese.

Bake at 425 degrees F for about 30 minutes - due to the meats, and the thickness of the pizza, I like to cook it a little longer,  I do not really like too much of a doughy crust.
And then you have...

Here they are ready for serving :

 

 Bacon cheesesticks ready to be served with left over pasta sauce for dipping.

How about a slice of pizza?

Care to sink your teeth into this yummy pizza?
By the way, this freezes well, speaking of which, I must now go and package it up for the freezer.
Have a great day friends!!!!!!