Happy Valentine's Day

This week my kids and I have had a great time making lots of Valentines Treats. Here are a few that we tried...
- Cupids Cups from Kraft Foods
- Heart Shaped Pretzels (We added red food coloring to ours to make them look pink)
- Glazed Brownie Hearts

To celebrate Valentine's Day I made my husband a candlelight dinner complete with romantic music & sparkling cider. We had a great time enjoying a quiet dinner, just the two of us (a rarity around our place!)

Our Menu:
Wedge Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing
French Bread with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar
Chicken Amore
Chocolate Raspberry Parfait
Sparkling Cider

Chicken Amore

6-8 Chicken tenders
1/4 lb angel hair pasta, cooked al dente
1 packet dry Alfredo Sauce Mix
1 T Olive oil
1 T butter
1 C milk
1/2 C water
1 C tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2 C roasted red peppers (found in a jar marinated in olive oil)
1 T capers, drained
1 T onion salt,
1 T Italian Seasoning
1/2 T garlic powder (or chopped garlic if you like a stronger garlic flavor)
Lawry's Herb & Garlic Marinade
Mozzarella cheese, grated

1- Marinate chicken for at least 4 hours in Herb & Garlic Marinade
2- Heat olive oil in skillet on Medium heat. Add chicken. Cook 5 minutes on each side or until the juices run clear. Transfer from pan to plate tented with tinfoil to keep chicken warm.
3- Add 1 T butter to chicken drippings in skillet. Allow to melt. Meanwhile, whisk together Alfredo mix, milk and water until there are no lumps in it. Add to butter in skillet and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat.
4- Add tomatoes, pepper, capers and spices. Simmer on low 5 minutes to allow sauce to thicken up a bit. Add cooked pasta and stir to coat.
5- Serve by plating pasta, top with chicken and a generous serving of grated mozzarella.

Wedge Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing

1 head Iceberg lettuce
Purple grapes ,halved
Dried Cranberries
Cucumber ,thinly sliced
Tomato, thinly sliced

Cut two wedge shapes out of the iceberg lettuce. Place on a plate already drizzled with dressing. Surround with halved grapes, dried cranberries, cucumbers and tomatoes. Drizzle with additional dressing and sprinkle with your favorite cheese.

Dressing:

In a blender mix:
1/2 C red wine vinegar
3/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 T minced onion
2 tsp poppy seeds
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 C strawberries, fresh or frozen ( I have also been known to substitue strawberry jam in a pinch!)

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

www.nataliedee.com

Have you ever put together the perfect meal in a crock pot, complete with an expensive roast and equally expensive vegetables, then gone to work. You come home expecting a delicious, ready-to-eat meal, and instead you smell..... nothing. You forgot to PLUG IN the crock pot. So instead of savoring a tender roast and sweet vegetables, you feed them to the garbage disposal and eat Cheerios and Moose Tracks Ice cream. How depressing!

Yes, I have to admit this has happened to me, on more than one occasion. So before you walk out the door, check to see that your crock pot is securely plugged in and the knob is turned to the 'On" position!

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 small chicken breasts pounded flat (or two large ones -fillet in half and avoid all that pounding)
4 thick slices ham
4 slices Swiss cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 C Sour Cream
1/2 C milk
1/2 C bread crumbs
1 T Italian seasoning

1- Place flattened chicken breasts flat down on a plate. Place 1 slice of ham and 1 slice of cheese on top of each breast. Fold the chicken breast into thirds, rolling the ham and cheese in the middle of the chicken. Secure with two toothpicks. (I find that if I always use two, I always know how many to look for before I eat it)

2- Place chicken toothpick side up in the bottom of a crock pot. Meanwhile mix Cream of chicken soup, sour cream and milk in a bowl. Pour the mixture into the crock pot so the chicken breasts are almost covered. If you have any sauce left save in the fridge for later.

3- Sprinkle with bread crumbs and Italian Seasoning. Cover and cook on High for 4-5 hours.

4- Remove Chicken Cordon Bleu's from crock pot and pour sauce into a gravy dish to serve over the top, or on mashed potatoes. You may want to strain the sauce to remove any bits of chicken that fell off. Also, if you had any sauce left from earlier, warm it in a saucepan before adding to the remaining sauce.

Enjoy!

A few good deals

- Free Pampers Sample

Check out the sample of Pampers new Pampers Dry Max. It looks like the sample includes 3 newly redesigned Pampers Cruisers, and you can pick up some great coupons as well. And as an added bonus if your sample has the Team USA logo on it, you win a year supply of diapers.

http://www.pampers.com/



- Magic Bullet to Go Giveaway with "Stretching A Buck"

Check out the Stretching a Buck blog for a chance to win a Magic Bullet to Go. My parents have one of the original Magic Bullets and it was a great little blender, perfect for Quesadilla filling, guacamole, salsa, pesto, and even chocolate milk.



www.stretchingabuckblog.com/2010/01/giveaway-magic-bullet-to-go.html

Asian Chicken Stir-fry

This is one of my favorite speedy meals! It is perfect for the nights when you aren't sure what to cook. I usually have everything in my pantry and the Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing has become a staple in my fridge- it is great on everything!

Oh, and I must give credit where credit is due.... I got this recipe from Kraft foods.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/

8 oz. angel hair pasta, uncooked

2 cups broccoli florets

1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1 C. Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing (I like the lite)

2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

1/4 - 1/2 tsp each; ground ginger, garlic powder, crushed red pepper

Sesame Seeds

1- Cook pasta as directed on package, adding broccoli to the boiling water for the last 3 minutes of the pasta cooking time.

2- Coat a skillet with cooking spray. Heat on Medium- high heat. Add chicken, cook 6-8 minutes until cooked through. Stir in dressing, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and crushed red pepper. Cook 1 minute while stirring.

3- Drain pasta and broccoli and place in a large bowl. Add chicken mixture. Toss lightly. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or 1/3 c chopped peanuts.

Gnocchi with Alfredo Sauce and Peas

Aka: Rocket Soup

My son just celebrated his 2nd birthday and since he is very into Little Einsteins at the moment, I created this "Rocket Soup" for him. There is an episode of Little Einsteins where the characters make Rocket Soup... The song to make it says "Mouse has cheese and Knight has peas and Joey has the jumping beans, and that is how you make the Rocket soup." So here is it, Rocket Soup, complete with cheese, peas and jumping beans (also now known in our family as gnocchi potato dumplings.)

1 3/4 C water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 pkg. (mine was 17.6 oz) Gnocchi Potato dumplings (you should be able to find these in the pasta section)
1/2 jar of your favorite Alfredo sauce (I like the Walmart brand believe it or not...)
1 C frozen peas
1/2 C Monterrey Jack cheese crumbles

1. Pour water into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and add chicken bouillon. Stir until dissolved. Add gnocchi and cook in boiling water until they float to the surface (about 2-5 minutes).
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Add Alfredo sauce and frozen peas. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes or until the peas are done. Stir occasionally.
4- Remove from pot and place in a serving dish. Sprinkle with cheese crumbles and serve immediately.

Serve with chicken breasts marianated in Italian dressing, and either grilled or pan cooked.

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas everyone- hope you had a wonderful day!

For Christmas Eve I decided to start a new tradition- gingerbread chocolate chip pancakes. Check it out...

1 1/2 C flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C light molasses
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 C milk
8 tsp cooking oil
3 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 egg whites, beaten until stiff
1/2 + chocolate chips

1- Combine ingredients in order listed. Fold in the egg whites last.
2- Pour onto a lightly greased griddle. Sprinkle with a few chocolate chips
3- Brown on both sides
4- Serve with syrup, cream cheese, jam or yogurt

Blueberry Chocolate Chip Muffins with Lemon Glaze

These are a great morning treat- the lemon glaze really sets off the blueberry flavor, and the hint of chocolate makes this muffin every girl's best friend!


Muffins:
1/2 C butter (1 cube)
1 C sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 C sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 C frozen blueberries
1/3 C mini chocolate chips

1- In a medium bowl cream together butter, sugar and eggs
2- In a separate bowl stir together the baking powder and flour. Add to cream mixture.
3- Then add sour cream and vanilla. Mix well.
4- Stir in (by hand) the blueberries and chocolate chips.

Lemon Glaze:

1 C sugar
1/8 C cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
1 C water
1/2 C butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

1. Put sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan. Stir until well blended, then add water.
2. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Stir constantly.
3. Remove from heat and stir in butter and lemon. Continue stirring until butter is melted and mixture in creamy.

Pour a small amount over each muffin.