Chicken Cordon Bleu

I have loved chicken cordon bleu since I was little. I've used several recipes, and have combined parts of them to make this. It is great!

8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
8 slices cooked ham
4 slices Swiss cheese, cut into 1 inch pieces
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup cornflakes cereal crumbs or bread crumbs
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Place each chicken breast half between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet to about 1/8 inch thickness. Place a finger of cheese on each ham slice and sprinkle lightly with paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Roll each chicken breast with ham and cheese inside. Tuck in ends and fasten with toothpicks.

Place melted butter in a small bowl and place crumbs in a shallow dish or bowl. Dip each chicken roll in butter or margarine, then roll in crumbs, turning to coat thoroughly. Place coated in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish.

Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for about 40 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and juices run clear. Serve with cordon bleu sauce, if desired. You can also bake the chicken in the sauce.

To Make Cordon Bleu Sauce: In a small saucepan mix together the soup, sour cream and lemon juice. Heat over low heat, stirring occasionally, and serve hot over chicken rolls. Makes about 2 cups; 8 servings of 1/4 cup each.

Spinach Artichoke Lasagna

I made this recipe up a while ago, creating the best lasagna I have ever tasted! Give it a try. It is a cheesy spinach artichoke filling with chicken and marinara sauce. I guarantee you will enjoy it!

INGREDIENTS
1 box lasagna noodles

spinach artichoke spread:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 cup fresh basil, or 1 teaspoon dried basil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup finely minced onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

Cooked chicken, shredded
Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese blend
1 can spaghetti sauce


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350
Cook the noodles until nearly done
Combine all ingredients for the spread
Layer the noodles, spinach spread, chicken, spaghetti sauce, and cheese.
Continue layering
Cook in the oven for about 40, or until warmed through.

Blueberry Muffins

These are wonderful. I replaced half the sugar with sugar substitute and they were still delicious! I will have to try adding honey for the other half of sugar. It sure would make them healthier!

Ingredients

* 4 eggs
* 2 cups white sugar
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 cups sour cream
* 2 cups blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 24 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. In large bowl beat eggs, gradually add sugar while beating. Continue beating while slowly pouring in oil. Stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda.
3. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream. Gently fold in blueberries. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Zesty Lemon Bars

I have always loved lemon bars, and for a long time I have been on a search for the "perfect" recipe. It seems like the crust isn't right, or the filling is too sweet. This recipe, after some tweaking, is the best I have found. Enjoy!
Ingredients

*For the crust
o 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, plus more for pan
o 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
o 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
o 3 tablespoons cornstarch
o 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
*For the topping
o 2 cups granulated sugar
o 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
o 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
o 1/3 cup + 1 tbls freshly squeezed lemon juice
o 1 tsp lemon zest
o 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
o 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the center of oven. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

2.To make crust: In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and salt; process to combine. Add butter to processor and process until mixture is pale yellow and resembles a coarse meal, about 10 seconds. If you don't have a food processor, whisk together flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and work into flour mixture using a pastry blender or your fingers.

3.Pour crust mixture into prepared baking dish, pressing down with your fingers to create a 1/4-inch-thick layer along the bottom and 1/2-inch up the sides, pressing firmly at the edges to seal. Transfer pan to freezer and freeze for 30 minutes. Transfer to oven and bake, rotating pan once during baking, until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

4.Meanwhile, make the topping: In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, and flour; stir in lemon juice, zest, milk, and salt until well combined.

5.Remove baking pan from oven. Stir topping and pour into warm crust. Return pan to oven and continue baking until topping is just set but not browned, about 20 minutes.

6.Transfer baking pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into 20 squares. Serve immediately or wrap each bar tightly with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Buttermilk caramel syrup

This sauce is absolutely delicious on waffles, and great on ice cream as well.

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 3/4 cup buttermilk
* 1/2 cup butter
* 2 tablespoons corn syrup
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a saucepan, stir together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda. Bring to a boil, and cook for 7 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla.

Waffles

This is my favorite waffle recipe...


Ingredients

* 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1 egg
* 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
* 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
* Butter and syrup, for serving

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes.

Preheat a waffle iron. Do not use non-stick spray on the waffle iron; the oil in the batter will allow the waffle to release easily. Follow the directions on your waffle iron to cook the waffles. Serve immediately with butter and syrup.

Apple Strudel Muffins

These taste so good! Try them, they're easy!

Ingredients

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
* 1 1/2 cups chopped apples (I use granny smith and grate them)

*1/3 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.
4. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.
5. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

Eye of Round Roast

Possibly the best roast recipe I have come across...
Ingredients

* 1 (3 pound) beef eye of round roast
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 tsp italian seasoning
* 1 tsp garlic powder or garlic salt
-(fresh garlic can be used as well. Mince 3 cloves well)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Season the roast with seasonings and salt and pepper. Place in a roasting pan or baking dish. Do not cover or add water.
2. Place the roast in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C). Roast for 21 minutes (seven minutes per pound) then turn off the oven and let the roast sit in the hot oven for 2 1/2 hours. Do not open the door at all during this time!
3. Remove the roast from the oven, the internal temperature should have reached at least 145 degrees F (65 degrees C). Carve into thin slices to serve.

Chocolate on Chocolate Cupcakes

These cupcakes are wonderful! Chocolate cake is filled with chocolate filling, then topped with chocolate frosting!

Cupcake:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 1/3 cup water
2/3 cup oil
1/2 cup sour cream
3 eggs

Bake as directed by the box. When done, hollow out a small portion of the middle to pour in chocolate ganache.

Filling:
1 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

Heat chocolate and vanilla in the microwave till melted, then stir in vanilla. Pour a small amount in the hollowed out center of each cupcake.

Frosting:
1 cup butter
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup melted chocolate chips (or more depending on how rich you want it)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
powdered sugar (enough to get to desired consistency)

Cream butter, then add sour cream. Pour melted sugar in and beat on high, incorporating it before the chocolate cools. Add the vanilla and start mixing in the sugar. Continue until desired consistency has been met. Frost cupcakes.

Adding a garnish is easy and makes the cupcake so much more fun to eat. Grated chocolate, coconut, or nuts make a great addition.

Candybar Coupons

These are fun gifts to give someone especially when you are looking to save money. Here are the directions.

Supplies:
candy bars (Hershey's work the best)
Craft/scrapbook paper
Printed sheets of coupon ideas (ex: breakfast in bed, movie night, etc)

Wrap each of the candy bars in paper (the size will vary depending on the candy bar), securing with non-toxic glue.
Cut out the coupon labels in a fun pattern, and paste onto the front of the paper covered candy bar.
Give away!

Geometric Pomanders

Pomanders are foam balls soaked in water, then covered in flowers. A less expensive, but equally beautiful option is this geometric paper pomander. It is quite easy  and looks great. Here are the steps...

MATERIALS
Craft or scrapbook paper
Drinking glass with a 2” diameter (for a smaller ball trace a 1” diameter circle)
Plain cardboard/cardstock (for template)
Ruler
Scissors
Pencil with eraser
Glue stick
Hole punch (optional)
Ribbon or thread (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Place your drinking glass onto the piece of plain flat cardboard/cardstock. Using the pencil to trace around the base of the glass to create a circle. Use your scissors to cut out the circle.
2. Repeat the first step, but after tracing the circle use your ruler to draw an equilateral triangle in the center (so each point touches part of the circle). Cut only the triangle out, using scissors.
3. Using your circle template, trace lightly around your favorite portions of the scrapbook paper and cut out. Look for complementary colors and patterns or mix and match for a more vibrant look. Erase any pencil marks that may be visible. You’ll want to do 20 circles for each ball.
4. Once you have your circles cut out, place the triangle template face-up in the center of the circle. Carefully, fold the edges of the circle that peek out up around the triangle, making tight creases. Do this with each of your paper circles. You’ll have 3 folded up areas on each circle.
5. Once you have all your circles creased and ready to go, you can start gluing it all together. Start with 2 pieces and use your glue stick to glue two folded edges together with the top points of the triangles pointing up, pressing lightly to adhere. You’ll keep repeating this process to form the top and bottom of the ball.
6. Think of it as a group of 5 paper circles on each end with all triangles facing up and 10 paper circles running through the center with triangles alternating up and down. The center should form a band instead of a circle.

Barbequed Tri-tip with Onion

INGREDIENTS

Caramelized red onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 red onions
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Tri-tip
1 teaspoon garlic powder
teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 1 1/2- to 1 3/4-pound beef loin tri-tip roasts, trimmed of all but 1/4 inch of fat
2 tablespoons olive oil
Barbecue Sauce:
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup steak sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbls molasses

DIRECTIONS

For caramelized red onions
Melt butter with olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until deep golden brown, stirring frequently, about 30 minutes. Stir salt, and pepper. Remove from heat. Stir in chives just before serving.

For tri-tip
Prepare barbecue sauce (mix all ingredients together). Mix garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in small bowl. Brush both sides of tri-tips with oil and sprinkle with garlic-powder mixture. Grill tri-tips 5 minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium-low, or if using charcoal grill, move meat to cooler side of grill. Cover and grill until thermometer inserted into thickest part of meat registers 125°F to 130°F for medium-rare, brushing with barbecue sauce and turning every 10 minutes, about 30 minutes longer.

Transfer tri-tips to work surface; let stand 10 minutes. Cut meat crosswise into very thin slices; arrange on platter. Surround with caramelized onions and serve.