Ranch Chicken Kabobs

In the summertime, I like to grill most nights. I love finding new ways to grill up chicken! This recipe was great!  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup ranch dressing

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to

taste

5 skinless, boneless chicken breast

halves - cut into 1 inch cubes

Directions:

 Mix all the ingredients together. Pour over chicken(I marinaded the chicken after it was already on the skewers)and let it marinade for a minimum of 30 minutes in the refrigerator (longer is even better!). Grill and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from All Recipes.

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Pineapple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Once again, here is another amazing recipe I found thanks to Pinterest. The recipe is courtesy of The Big Red Kitchen. It is sooo incredibly good! There are some updated baking tips for this recipe on their site, if you want to check it out. I did bake it at a lower temp. and a longer time then called for. Oh...I also cheated and bought pre-made cream cheese frosting. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
20 ounce can (about 2 cups) crushed pineapple, in juice, don’t drain
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup nuts- optional(I didn't add any)

Directions:

 Mix all together until smooth. Pour into greased 9×13 inch baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Baking temp. and times WILL vary. (I baked mine at 325 for 50 minutes. The edges were dark, but not burned.) If your cake does not look done after 30 minutes, keep checking it at 5 minute increments.

Icing:

 8 ounces cream cheese
4 T. butter
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup nuts- optional

Directions:

 Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add Vanilla. Slowly add sugar and blend after each addition. Fold in nuts if desired. Ice cake while still a bit warm.

Recipe courtesy of  The Big Red Kitchen. Pin It

Healthier Strawberry Banana Bread

In an effort to save some over-ripened strawberries and bananas, I decided to whip up a loaf of strawberry banana bread. I took my recipe for Healthier Banana Bread and added in about 1&1/2 cups of strawberries. This recipe is a first for me and one I will definitely add to the breakfast rotation! You can also use blueberries in place of the strawberries.

Ingredients:
2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teas. baking powder
1/2 teas. baking soda
1/2 teas. salt

2 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce (you can use 1/2c butter if you prefer)
3/4 cup sugar (you can use 1c sugar if you want it even sweeter)

2-3 medium ripe bananas
1&1/2 cups of strawberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Then mix or beat together eggs, applesauce and sugar. Add mashed bananas to the wet ingredients and mix well (I just throw the whole bananas into my kitchen aid mixer with the rest of the wet ingredients and beat, leaving it still a little lumpy). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix. Fold in strawberries.

Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for about 65 minutes.

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German Chocolate Cake Bars

These bars were AMAZING! If you are a chocolate and coconut lover like me, then you'll love them. I found the recipe while looking around in the food section on Pinterest. Have you checked out Pinterest yet? If not, you really should. There are sooo many wonderful things to look at! My favorite, is the endless supply of delicious recipes! Just don't go on there hungry...you'll be sorry! This recipe was from Six Sister's Stuff. I love their blog! They have a ton of great recipes, so check them out.


Crust:
1 box devil's good cake mix (not the kind with pudding added)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg

Filling:
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup chopped pecans(I used only 1/2 cup)
1 cup shredded coconut (I used sweetened coconut)
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips(I think I used closer to 1 cup, and I used a combo of milk and semi-sweet chips)


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan (I used non-stick cooking spray).
In a medium bowl, mix together the cake mix, butter and egg, and press into the bottom of the prepared pan. The crust should not come up the sides. Bake for 7 minutes and remove from the oven. The crust will not look done.
While the crust is baking, mix together the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, egg, pecans and coconut. Pour evenly(IMPORTANT TO POUR EVENLY BECAUSE IT'S HARD TO SPREAD ON WARM CRUST WITHOUT THE CRUST SPREADING) over the warm crust and sprinkle evenly with the chocolate chips. Bake for 24-30 minutes, until the top is a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely before cutting into squares. Enjoy!!

Recipe found on www.sixsistersstuff.com and was originally by Paula Deen
 
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Italian Bread

I love making homemade bread. I always make my dough in my bread maker first, then bake it in the oven. The  recipe  I found on Food.com was so easy! It is now my go to Italian bread recipe. The only thing I might do differently next time, is add a bit more salt.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup water, warmed
2. 2 tablespoons olive oil
3. 2 teaspoons sugar
4. 1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
5. 3 cups all-purpose flour
6. 1/2 teaspoon salt
7. 1 whole egg whites
8. 2 tablespoons cornmeal  (I didn't use)

Directions:

1. Add into bread machine container, warmed water, olive oil, sugar, yeast. Let yeast foam a bit.
2. Dump in flour (start with 2 1/2 cups); add salt on top of flour.
3. Turn on bread machine to dough setting. Watch for the first bit and add flour as needed to get a good dough. (elastic and not sticky).
4. Get cookie sheet ready by lightly oiling with olive oil and sprinkle on cornmeal.
5. Form dough into loaf and set on cookie sheet with tea towel to cover until doubled in size.
6. Preheat oven to 375*F.
7. Cut slits diagonally in loaf with sharp knife. Brush with egg white.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and when you knock the bottom of bread it sounds hollow.

Original recipe found over at Food.com. 

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Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

These were amazing! I found the recipe on Pinterest which let me to the Pennies on a Platter blog(Check it out!). I love that these taquitos are baked and not fried! They are easy to make. We all loved them! Give them a try and enjoy!

3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup green salsa
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice (juice from half a lime)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro(I did not use cilantro)
2 Tbsp sliced green onions
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup shredded Mexican flavored cheese
small flour or corn tortillas(I used flour)
kosher salt
cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 425˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, salsa, lime juice, ground cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic. Once combined, stir in the cilantro and green onions. Add the chicken and cheese; mix thoroughly.
(If you decided to prep this in advance, refrigerate the mixture at this point until ready to continue.)

Working with a few tortillas at a time, heat them in the microwave between two paper towels until they are soft enough to roll (about 20 – 30 seconds).

Spoon 2-3 Tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto the lower third of a tortilla. Roll the tortilla as tightly as you can.

Place the rolled tortilla seam side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas until the mixture is gone.  Make sure the taquitos are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt.(I didn't sprinkle with salt)

 Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until crisp and golden.
Serve with salsa, sour cream or guacamole.

Thank you Pennies on a Platter! Pin It

Ice Cream Cake

My daughter loves ice cream cake, so for her birthday this year, I decided to make her one. I found a really easy recipe, that ANYONE can make. It doesn't involve melting any ice cream first, because you use ice cream sandwiches. The cake was so good and my daughter LOVED it! Thank you Jamielyn from I (Heart) Naptime!
Ice cream sandwiches(about 10ish)
Tub of whipped topping(Cool Whip)
1/2 jar of chocolate fudge
1/2 jar if caramel sauce
Your favorite candies chopped up. We used Twix and Milky Way

Lay  the sandwiches in a 9X13 pan. Then spread a layer of caramel and fudge. Sprinkle candy for the next layer. Cover with whipped topping and drizzle with more fudge, caramel and candy. Put cake in freezer for at least 2 hours. Enjoy! Pin It

Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate!

 Are you on Pinterest yet? Well you should be! There are so many amazing things on there like this recipe I am going to share with you. The recipe is the "Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie n' Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar" by Amanda over at KevinAndAmanda.com. This bar cookie is packed with as much yumminess as the title would lead you to believe. 

Edited to add-I just typed out this whole blog post and realized I never got a picture of these yummy bars! Ugh! Well, check out Amanda's site to see her pics. They are amazing!

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12 ounces) milk chocolate chips(I used semi-sweet)
1 pkg Double Stuffed Oreos(I used regular Oreos)
1 Family Size (9×13) Brownie mix
1/4 cup hot fudge topping(I didn't add this, but it would be awesome!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to thoroughly combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, then slowly incorporate into the mixer until the flour is just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the cookie dough in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish that’s been lined with wax paper and sprayed with cooking spray. Top with a layer of Oreos. Mix together brownie mix, adding an optional 1/4 cup of hot fudge topping to the mix. Pour the brownie batter over the cookie dough and Oreos. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-55 minutes.

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Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Usually I prefer blueberry muffins without any sugary topping. Some of the muffins I've had from the bakery are waaay too sweet for me! Not sure why, because I LOVE sweets! Well I decided to try a blueberry muffin recipe I found at allrecipes.com. Oh my! These were amazing! The perfect amount of sweetness for me. The topping was incredible! The kids loved them too. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

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Whole Grain Waffles

In an effort to provide my kids with more healthy breakfast choices, I decided to make up a batch of waffles to freeze. I found a recipe for whole grain waffles over at allrecipes.com that were amazing! The kids loved them! Surprisingly, they do not have a very strong grain taste. Give them a try!

Ingredients:

2 eggs, beaten

1 3/4 cups skim milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup flax seed meal

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Beat in whole wheat pastry flour, flax seed meal, wheat germ, all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt until batter is smooth. Preheat a waffle iron, and coat with cooking spray. Pour batter into waffle iron in batches, and cook until crisp and golden brown.

To freeze, I just stacked, cooled waffles into a freezer bag. Pin It

Is Making It From Scratch Any Cheaper?

Lately I've been wondering if it is cheaper to make everyday items from scratch, or to just buy them. Now of course some things just taste better when they are made from scratch, but sometimes it may not be worth the extra time in the kitchen if the cost equals the cost to just buy it. Here's an interesting article I stumbled across, written by Jennifer Resse. It highlights a few everyday pantry items and shows us if it is more cost effective to buy them or to make them. You can check it out here. Pin It

Baked Chicken Skins

Before you get all grossed out, I'll let you know ahead of time, that these were for my dog! That being said, you can certainly make them for yourself. After all, skin off a fried chicken is pretty tasty! Anyway...I always skin my chicken before I cook it(unless I'm baking it, then I skin it after because it keeps it moist). As I was skinning a pack of chicken I decided I'd try to bake it up for my dog, as a treat. All I did was lay it on a lightly sprayed, foil lined baking pan. I baked them at 400 for about 15 minutes. Your dogs will love them! Keep the rest in the fridge if you have leftovers. If you do want to make these for human consumption, I'd sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and any other seasoning of choice(before putting them in the oven). Pin It

Homemade Granola Bars

 I'm really trying to make more everyday items from scratch. My family loves granola bars, so I decided to try these homemade granola bars from Allrecipes.com. We all loved them! Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour(I used whole wheat pastry flour)
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.  

recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com

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Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

I have a new favorite recipe site. OnceaMonthMom.com  . I will do once a month cooking from time to time (or my version of it anyways). Once a Month Mom has a TON of wonderful recipes and advice for anyone wanting to try once a month cooking. I made Italian sausage tortellini soup tonight and it was delicious! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

• 1 lb Italian sausage( I used sweet Italian sausage)
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 5 cups beef stock
• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped(I used canned)
• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• 2 cups zucchini, sliced
• 1/2 cup carrot, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups red bell pepper, diced  (I didn't use)
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 Tablespoons basil, dried
• 1 Tablespoons oregano, dired
• 10 ounces tortellini, cheese, fresh
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

Directions:

 Saute sausage in a large pan. When the sausage is cooked almost all the way through, push to the side and add onion and garlic. Saute for a few minutes, untill onion and garlic are soft. Drain fat. Add stock, tomatoes, tomato sauce, zucchini, carrot, bell pepper, wine, basil and oregano. Simmer for 40 minutes, until carrots are soft. Add tortellini to boiling soup. Follow package directions on tortellini for cook time. Serve with parmesan cheese on top.

Recipe courtesy of Kelly at onceamonthmom.com Pin It

Scalloped Potatoes

Tonight was my first attempt at making homemade scalloped potatoes. The recipe I found was on Food.com. It was really simple and very tasty. Enjoy!
 
Ingredients:
4 cups thinly sliced, peeled potatoes
3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour
1 & 1/2 cup milk
1 teasp. salt
1 dash cayenne pepper ( I used black pepper)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese ( I also threw in some grated parmesan cheese)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese for top

Directions: In a small sauce pan, melt butter and blend in flour.  Let sit for a minute. Stir in cold milk with a whisk. Cook on low until smooth and boiling while stirring occasionally with a whisk. Reduce heat and stir in 1 cup cheese. Place a half of the sliced potatoes in a lightly greased one quart casserole dish. Pour half of cheese sauce over potatoes. Repeat. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top(I added this closer to the end). Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 350.

 

 

 

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Freezing Sandwiches

Did you know that you can freeze sandwiches? Well, you can! I started doing just that a few months ago for my husband's lunches. I love doing this for a couple reasons. One...it's so much easier making a week's worth of sandwiches all at once instead of one every day. Also, I love using up the lunch meat, cheese and bread before it goes bad. I'm assuming I'm not the only one who finds random packages of meat and cheese in the fridge, with just a couple pieces left in them. You're left wondering how long it's been open, or if it's still good. Then you just throw it in the trash to be safe. I hate having to do that...

 I've only tried this with meat and cheese sandwiches, but here are the directions:

Make up the sandwich with meat, cheese, and bread of your choice. Wrap it up in plastic wrap. Then wrap in foil. Put it in the freezer. You might want to label them also. You can either thaw them in the fridge the night before, or  they might thaw out in a lunch bag in time for lunch. My husband likes to heat them in a microwave at work sometimes also. If you want to add any condiments, lettuce, tomato, etc...do this before you eat it, NOT before you freeze it. Enjoy!


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My New Favorite Toy

I have been wanting an apple peeler, corer, slicer since forever! The only ones that I've ever seen, however, are the kind that hook on to the side of your kitchen counter. I've tried those, and they just do not work on my counter... at all! I was so happy to find one that actually suctions right on to the top of your counter. I got it in the mail today, and I tried it tonight. I love it! It works perfectly and now, dare I say it, I can almost feel fall in the air....You can check it out over on Amazon. Pin It

Protein Pancakes

I don't know why, but I have the hardest time getting the right amount of protein in my diet. I do drink protein shakes after my workout, but frankly I feel like I'm on an episode of Fear Factor every time I do. They're pretty gross....So while looking for some high protein recipes online, I found a recipe for protein pancakes on Food.com. They're actually really good! The flavor reminds me of french toast. Give 'em a try!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 egg whites

Directions:
Put all of the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour onto a hot griddle sprayed with non-stick spray. Cook like regular pancakes. Top with your favorite pancake toppings(I topped mine with butter spray and sugar-free maple syrup). Enjoy!




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An "Extreme Couponer" Sharing Our Recipes

Tammilee from Tammilee Tips has been featuring some of The Lonely Baker's recipes on her blog for her new "Make it Monday" posts. Tammilee posts a budget friendly recipe every Monday. She has been featured on the TLC show Extreme Couponing. Her episode was one of my favorites, because she shopped for "normal" everyday items. I had the opportunity to take one of her coupon classes. The class was awesome and it was filled with a lot of useful information.
I personally use coupons when I shop for my family and have found her site very helpful. You will find a lot of tips on her blog to help save you money! It is definitely possible to cook great meals for your family, on a budget. Go over and check it out! Pin It

Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade

It's summer!!!! And I'm loving every minute of it! I love fizzy drinks, so I'm really loving my new find for this strawberry lemonade. I saw a recipe for a low calorie strawberry lemonade over at The Hungry Girl. I changed it up a bit(not that it needed changing, but I was working with what I had) and it's amazing! My new favorite drink!  You can play around with the amounts listed.

1 cup diet ginger ale about 1/2 a can
about 1/2 cup of cold water
Half a packet of diet powdered little drink packet in lemonade or strawberry lemonade flavor, like Crystal Light. I like the strawberry lemonade flavor, Target brand
4 frozen unsweetened strawberries
1/3 cup crushed ice or 3 ice cubes

Put ice, strawberries and ginger ale in blender. Add drink mix and water. If using a magic bullet, just fill water to almost top. Blend until smooth. Warning!!! It's fizzy, so it will want to fizz over when you take the bottom off of the Magic bullet, so go slow. I'm not sure what happens in a regular blender.

Enjoy! Pin It