Lemon and Thyme Chicken

This is a super easy, throw together type of dish if you are short on time. And as a bonus, people love it, I've made this when we've had company and it has gotten rave reviews. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup of chicken broth
• Zest from 1 lemon
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• Two sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 lemon cut into 4 wedges

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a baking dish with cooking spray.
• Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute, making sure not to burn the garlic. Add the chicken broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, and thyme leaves to the pan. Pour the mixture into the baking dish. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Place the chicken in the baking dish along with the lemon wedges and the two sprigs of thyme.
• Place into the oven and bake, basting occasionally, for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear. Remove from the oven and let the meat rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Drizzle the pan sauce on top of the slices of chicken and serve.

Portillo’s Chopped Salad with Sweet Italian Dressing

I found this recipe on Mel's Kitchen Cafe. I have made this as a side dish salad and love it. My kids even liked it. I had the leftovers for lunch all week long and it was delish. 

Ingredients-
Sweet Italian Dressing:
• 1/3 cup white or regular balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 teaspoons sugar, honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Salad:
• 8 ounces (about 1 cup or so) uncooked Ditalini pasta (see note above)
• 5 cups chopped lettuce (use what you like: romaine, spring mix, iceberg or a combo)
• 1 cup chopped red cabbage (see note above)
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 - 1 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 2 cups cooked, diced chicken (see note above)

DIRECTIONS

1. For the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a blender or jar. Process or shake until well-combined. Add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed. You can make and refrigerate the dressing a week or two in advance.
2. In a pot of salted, boiling water, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse quickly with cool water so it doesn't stick together while it cools. Pour a few tablespoons of the dressing over the pasta and stir lightly. Set aside to cool to room temperature (spreading it into a flatter layer - versus mounded in a bowl - will speed up the cooling process).
3. In a large bowl, toss together the lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, and green onions. Add the cooled pasta, bacon, gorgonzola cheese, and chicken.
4. To serve, you can toss the salad with the dressing before serving - or, if you anticipate leftovers, add dressing only to the portions of salad served and then store the dressing and salad separately for fabulous leftovers.

PUMPKIN SPICE COOKIES WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Pumpkin Spice Cookies Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Butter (Sweet Cream Salted)
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
• 2 Cups Flour
• 4 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 2 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
• Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:
• 1/2 Cup Butter (Sweet Cream Salted)
• 8 oz. block of Cream Cheese
• 3 tsp. Vanilla
• 4 cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• In a mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and pumpkin and mix well.  Sift flour, baking powder, salt and spices together and fold into cookie batter.  Mix until well blended.
• Drop a spoonful of the cookie batter onto a cookie sheet.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes.
• Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a mixer until blended.  Add powered sugar  a cup at a time and continue to mix until sugar is incorporated. Finally, add cinnamon.
• I found this recipe on pinterest of course, and Im obsessed with it. The cookies turn out so soft and stay soft for days. And the frosting is to die for. Also, I halfed the frosting recipe and still had extra, so I would definitely half the frosting. These are a must try guys!!!

CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD

I found this on Pinterest but have made a few tweeks to it. You can add or take away whatever you like (I've seen people add avocado, mango, mandarin oranges, etc.). Also, with the salad ingredients, the measurements are just suggestions - - I usually add more of my favorite things (edamame and almonds) and less of what I don't love (green onions)...it's whatever you want.

Salad Ingredients:

• 2-3 chicken breasts marinated and baked in Lawry's Sesame Ginger marinade and cut into bite-sized pieces (while cooking, cover with tin foil and flip chicken once, half way through). 
• 1 (16-oz) bag coleslaw
• 1 head romaine lettuce
• 1 c shelled and cooked edamame (I buy a frozen bag that can be thrown in the microwave)
• 1/2 c thinly sliced almonds
• 1/2 c thinly sliced green onions
• 2 (3-oz) pkgs of Ramen Noodles, crumbled (you will not use the seasoning)
• Asian Honey Vinaigrette (see ingredients below)

Asian Honey Vinaigrette Ingredients:

• 2/3 c vegetable oil
• 1/3 c honey
• 1/3 c rice wine vinegar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp sesame oil
• pinch of salt and black pepper

Heat oven to 425. Spread crumbled ramen noodles and sliced almonds out on a baking sheet and stir to combine. Bake for about 5 mins, or until the almonds and noodles are slightly toasted and golden. Remove baking sheet and give mixture a good stir to toss. Return to the oven and toast for additional 3 mins. Keep a very close eye on the mixture so it does not burn. Remove and set aside. 

Add ingredients (including vinaigrette) together in a large bowl, and toss until combined. (Add the dressing slowly, while mixing - I have never had to use all of the dressing...even when I've made a bigger salad).

Mom's Marinated Turkey Breast (or any other meat marinade)

I never make this without someone asking for the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

 - 1 c soy sauce

 - 1 c vegetable oil

 - 2 c sprite

 - 1/2 tsp horseradish 

 - 1/4 tsp garlic

Mix and pour over meat. Marinate overnight in fridge. Grill and serve. 

DINNER ROLLS

A girl in my Arizona ward made these (she got them off Pinterest). They have turned out perfectly for me every time. They are light a fluffy and buttery.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 c milk

3/4 c + 1 TBS sugar

1 egg

1 TBS salt

2 TBS yeast

2 c warm water

about 9-10 c flour

at least 1 c butter

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Scald 1 1/2 c milk, 3/4 c sugar and 1/2 c butter, in a microwave safe bowl, for about 2 mins. Cutting the butter into pieces helps it melt faster. There will probably be some little cubes of butter still floating in the hot mixture, they will melt. 

2. add yeast to the hot mixture, but it will be too hot to just dump the yeast straight in (it would kill it). To cool it down stir in 1-2 c of flour, then add 1 egg and 1 TBS salt, and leave it to cool for a couple of mins. Meanwhile, in a measuring cup dissolve 2 TBS of yeast in 2 cups of warm water and 1 TBS sugar. Let it sit for a couple of mins until it is bubbly. 

3. Make sure your milk mixture is just warm, not boiling and add the yeast mixture. 

4. Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 9-10 c of flour (counting the flour you have already added to cool it earlier). I would recommend only adding 2 c at time and stirring in between. These rolls turn out so much better when they are mixed by hand. 

5. At the end the dough will be dense and sticky, and may be hard to stir, you can use your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour if needed. Be sure not to add too much flour. Then smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place and let it rise. 

6. When your dough is close to raising completely, butter 2 cookie sheets and set them aside. 

7. Let the dough raise until it has doubled in size (usually about an hour, I think). 

8. Cover your working space with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Dump your dough out and divide it into 4 balls. Eyeball the sizes, then lift them up and feel the weight of each ball. Try to make them even, but they don't have to be perfect. 

9. Using one ball of dough at a time: roll the dough into a circle of a floured counter. Once it is rolled out spread the top with butter from edge to edge. You will use about 2 TBS of dough (I get the butter super soft/partially melted and use a brush spread it out)

10. Cut the dough into quarters using a pizza cutter.

11. Then cut each quarter into 3 pieces. You should end up with 12 triangles from each circle of dough.
12. Roll the dough  starting with the wide end of the triangle.

13. Tuck the tail of the triangle under the roll and place it on the buttered cookie sheet. You will make 3 rows, with 8 rolls per row. This will give you 24 rolls per pan. Two balls of dough will fill 1 pan. You will get a total of 48 rolls!

14. Pre-heat over to 350. Place the pans of rolls in a war, place (on top of oven if possible) to let them rise. Once they are touching and full in size, cool(one pan at a time) in the oven until they are golden brown. About 10-15 mins. FYI - I do NOT let my rolls get as brown as the picture - if I do the bottoms would be burned...and I like mine really soft. 

15. While they are still hot a fresh out of the oven run a stick of butter over the tops of the rolls for a delicious buttery glaze.  

TACOS - Green salsa

Tacos are our favorite food. We make them lots of different ways and love them all. Right before we moved to Dallas a friend had us over for dinner. The tacos we had that night have become our current favorite. Mostly because they are delish and partly because there are only 2 ingredients and it's SO SO easy.

Ingredients:

 - chicken breasts (goes a long way since you shred it)

 - at least 1 container Green salsa (you really need to use this brand - its way better than others for this)

Place chicken in crockpot and cover with this green salsa. I usually buy a couple cans and use the bigger size. I really like to cover my chicken well to make sure it doesn't dry out. A little too much is better than not enough in my book. I usually just put my frozen chicken in and turn on low for 4-6 hours. As soon as it is cooked through I shred it and put it back in on warm and let it marinate for at least 30 more mins (or until you are ready to eat). You can eat right away but tastes better if you let it marinate longer. Add whatever toppings you like...some things we use for these are listed below. 

Optional ingredients:

 - uncooked tortillas (in the refrigerated section. These are the BEST and we always use them when making tacos)

 - fresh limes (really yummy to squeeze lime juice on top)

 - shredded cheese

 - black beans

 - lime cilantro rice (or any kind of Mexican rice you like)

 - chopped cilantro (I only use this about half the time)

 - Regular red salsa

 - chopped tomatoes