Super-Quick Salsa Chicken (recipe from: Betty Crocker Magazine Aug/Sept 2010)

Ingredients:

-1 c. white rice

-2 c. water

-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 1/4 lb)

-2 T. olive oil

-1/2 t. salt

-1/4 t. pepper

-1 medium zucchini, chopped (2 c.)

-1 c. salsa (I used my peach salsa b/c that's what I had on hand...see previous recipe)

-1 can corn

-1/4 c. sour cream***

-2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

***I made a cilantro-ranch dressing instead of using sour cream. (mix about 1/2 c. nonfat ranch with the 2 T. cilantro)

Directions:

1. Cook rice in water as directed on package. Meanwhile, between pieces of waxed paper, place chicken smooth side down and gently pound with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick.

2. In 12-inch skillet, heat 1 T. oil over med-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Cook chicken in oil 6-10 min, turning once, until golden brown on outside and no longer pink in center. Remove chicken from skillet; cover to keep warm.

3. In same skillet, heat remaining 1 T. oil. Cook zucchini in oil 3 min, stirring occasionally. Stir in salsa and corn. Reduce heat to medium; cook 2 minutes longer or until thoroughly heated.

4. Serve chicken over rice; top with vegetable mixture, sour cream (or dressing) and cilantro.

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Peach Salsa

This is a recipe based on one I first made from my Betty Crocker cookbook (which is where the pic comes from). It's made to go with cornmeal breaded chicken, but we also like to make a big bowl just to eat/use as salsa (hence, this recipe is about 1.5-2x the original). A couple words of warning: 1. It's very addictive! 2. It's best if you can find peaches that are ripe enough to be sweet, but still firm and 3. It really can only be made right when peaches are in season, so for all you fellow Midwesterners, enjoy it while you can!

Ingredients:

-4 1/2 cups peaches, pealed and chopped (6-7 medium peaches)

-2 1/2 cups tomato, chopped (~2 large tomatoes)

-3/4 to 1 bunch green onions, chopped

-1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro (can also use dried, but I recommend at least getting the cilantro in the tubes - found in the produce section, near fresh herbs in containers)

-1/4 c. + 2 T. vegetable oil

-1/4c. cider vinegar

-1/2 t. salt

Directions:

1. Chop peaches, tomato, and green onions. This is made to be a chunkier salsa, so it can be coarsely chopped.

2. Add oil and vinegar, stir to combine. Add chopped cilantro and salt to taste.

3. Refrigerate until chilled. Enjoy with tortilla chips or in your favorite summer recipes.

4th of July Lemon Cream Cake

A variation of a lemon sheet cake my Grandma makes, this cake was originally the creation of Shawna and mine the night before my housewarming party. This particular one was made at my Grandma's house in Nebraska for our 4th of July celebration.

Ingredients:

-1 box lemon cake mix (and ingredients listed on box)

-1 can lemon pie filling

-1 carton instant lemon pudding mix

-flour (to increase density of the cake)

-1-8oz. block cream cheese, softened

-1 c. butter, softened

-5 c. powdered sugar

-1 T. vanilla extract

-blueberries and strawberries, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of 2 9-inch cake pans with shortening, dust with flour.

2. Prepare cake as directed on box. (I usually add at least a cup of flour to boxed cakes, so they are more dense) Add lemon pudding mix and about 1/3 of the can of lemon pie filling. Divide batter between the two pans and bake according to package directions. (~30 minutes)

3. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, make the icing. Soften cream cheese and butter either by letting sit at room temperature, or in the microwave. Blend with mixer until smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing until incorporated. Add vanilla last. Reserve about 3/4 c. of the icing to make the filling.

5. For the filling, fold remaining lemon pie filling into ~3/4 c. cream cheese icing until well mixed. Assemble cake with lemon filling between the two layers and icing over the top and sides. Decorate as desired. Refrigerate until serving.

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(My mom used the cake tops and leftover icing/filling to make her own version)

Shimmering Strawberry Pie (recipe from: Better Homes and Gardens)

(Picture curtesy of my fav photographer, Shawna Rae)

Ingredients:
- 1 pie crust (I used the roll-out Pillsbury ones, but by all means, make your own if you have time! :) )
-6 cups strawberries, halved
-1 cup water
-1/4 cup sugar
-2 tablespoons cornstarch
- Few drops red food coloring (optional)
- Light frozen whipped dessert topping, thawed (*I made my own - see recipe below)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll out crust in a pie plate, trim and flute edges. Prick bottom and sides of pastry generously with a fork. Use pie weights (or dried beans) to keep crust from bubbling. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until pastry is golden. Cool on a wire rack.

2. In a blender or food processor bowl (or Magic Bullet) combine 1 cup of the strawberries and the water. Cover and blend or process until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes.

3. In a medium saucepan stir together sugar and cornstarch; stir in strawberry mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. If desired, stir in enough red food coloring to tint a rich red color. Cool to room temperature.

4. Fold remaining strawberries into cooled mixture; transfer mixture to pastry shell. (I layered mine to give them a "shingle" look. I've also seen people leave them whole and put them stem side down in concentric circles.) Cover; chill for 3 to 4 hours. If desired, serve with whipped topping.

*Stabilized whip cream: (Gelatin stabilizes the whip cream and keeps it from collapsing)

Ingredients:
-1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin-4 teaspoons cold water-1 cup heavy whipping cream-1/4 cup sifted icing sugar (confectioners sugar)

Directions:

1. In a small pan, combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until thick.

2. Place over low heat, stirring constantly, just until the gelatin dissolves.

3. Remove from heat; cool (do not allow it to set).

4. Whip the cream with the icing sugar, until slightly thick.

Strawberry Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients:

-1 1/2 c. flour

-1/2 c. sugar

-2 1/2 t. baking powder

-1 t. cinnamon

-1/4 t. salt

-2/3 c. vanilla yogurt

-1/4 c. butter, melted

-3 T. milk

-1 large egg, beaten

-1 small jar strawberry jam (~1/4 c.)

-1 T. sugar

-1/2 t. cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together first 5 ingredients. In a small bowl, combine wet ingrediets (yogurt - egg).

3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the yogurt mixture. Stir until just moistened.

4. Spoon batter and jam into greased muffin tin, alternating 1 T. batter, 1 T. strawberry jam, and top with batter (try to cover completely so the strawberry ends up being a filling....I will say, this is not always possible, no matter how hard you try, so don't get discouraged! It does look prettier though...)

5. Combine 1 T. sugar and 1/2 t. cinnamon, sprinkle over the tops. Bake 13-15 minutes, then cool on rack for 10-15 minutes.

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Pecan Orange Glazed Croissant French Toast

In an attempt to recreate a dish we had at a B&B on our honeymoon, I used leftover croissants to make french toast with an orange and pecan glaze. It was a trial/error sort of thing, relying only on an almost-4-year-old memory, so forgive me for not having exact ingredient measurements. But in the end, it turned out pretty darn close to the original.

Pecan Orange Glazed Croissant French Toast

Ingredients:

(made enough for 6 people)

-8 large croissants (at least day old works best)

-4 large eggs

-2/3 cup milk (I also added a splash of Italian Sweet Cream coffee creamer)

-1 t. vanilla extract

-1/4 t. cinnamon

-4 T. butter, divided

-1 small jar orange marmalade

-2 T. orange juice

-1 1/2 c. chopped pecans

Grilled Chicken and Steak Kabobs

Craving some summer?  Here's a cure for that end-of-spring, itching-for-summer feeling:

Caribbean Chicken Kabobs


Ingredients:
-1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cubed
-3 T. Caribbean Jerk seasoning
-1/4 c. olive oil
-1 small pineapple, cut into 1-inch cubes
-1 red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
-1 each, red and green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces

Homemade Pizza (dough recipe from: Martha Stewart)

Pizza Dough
Makes four 12-inch pizzas. Make the night before and let it rise in the fridge so it's ready to go the next day.

Ingredients:
-2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one 1/4-ounce envelope)
-2 cups warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
-5 to 5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
-2 teaspoons fine sea salt
-Extra-virgin olive oil, for bowl
-toppings (sauce, cheese, meat/veggies of your choosing....see below for our favs)

Directions:
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in 3 cups flour and the salt, stirring until smooth. Stir in an additional 2 cups flour; continue adding flour (up to 1/2 cup), 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until dough comes away from bowl but is still sticky.



2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead with lightly floured hands. Start by slapping the dough onto the counter, pulling it toward you with one hand and pushing it away from you with the other. Fold the dough back over itself (use a bench scraper or a wide knife to help scrape dough from surface). Repeat until it's easier to handle, about 10 times.



3. Finish kneading normally until dough is smooth, elastic, and soft, but a little tacky, about 10 minutes.

4. Shape dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl; turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume, 2 hours. Press it with your finger to see if it's done; an indent should remain.



5. Scrape dough out of the bowl onto floured surface, and cut it into 4 pieces. Shape into balls. Dust with flour, and cover with plastic. Transfer to refrigerator, let rise overnight.

When ready to bake:

6. Place a pizza stone (these range from really expensive to mine which is ~$10 from Target) on floor of a gas oven (remove racks) or bottom rack of electric oven. Preheat oven to at least 500 degrees.

7. Shape dough into a round. Holding top edge of dough round in both hands, let bottom edge touch work surface. Carefully move hands around edge to form a circle, as if turning a wheel.



Hold dough on back of your hand, letting its weight stretch it into a 12-inch round. Transfer dough to a pizza peel (or an inverted baking sheet) lightly dusted with semolina flour (I've used all-purpose flour instead and it works fine, but the bottom of the crust is floured). Press out edges using your fingers. Jerk peel; if dough sticks, lift, and dust more flour underneath.



8. This is where the toppings come in! My favorite is a blend of Martha's Oven-Dried Heirloom Tomato Pizza and Margherita pizza and for Mike, a BBQ Hawaiian Pizza.

9. For my pizza: Drizzle olive oil over pizza dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Arrange soft mozzarella cheese evenly over olive oil. Top with tomatoes (slice and roast in the oven first until slightly dried) and basil leaves; season with salt and pepper. I like to add prosciutto to Martha's recipe and sprinkle Italian seasoning blend over the top.




10. Heat oven to broil. Align edge of peel with edge of stone. Tilt peel, jerking it gently to move pizza. When edge of pizza touches stone, quickly pull back peel to transfer pizza to stone. (Do not move pizza). Bake until crust is crisp and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove pizza from oven using peel; drizzle with additional olive oil, if desired. Slice and serve.






Drizzle w/ olive oil just after taking out of the oven.

11. For Mike's BBQ Hawaiian Chicken Pizza: Spread your favorite BBQ sauce (we like Sweet Baby Ray's or my homemade version) over the crust. Top with chopped chicken, chopped pineapple, and sliced red onion. Cover with shredded cheese (Michael likes his cheese over his toppings; personally, I like it the other way around, but doesn't really matter) and sprinkle with Italian seasoning blend. Finish the same as above.











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