Monterrey Chicken

Again, this post has no pictures.  I am just simply trying to get some of our favorite recipes from the past couple months typed up and recorded.  I am SO far behind.

This chicken dish is so easy and simple.  You will see in the steps that you are supposed to bake it for a few minutes to melt the cheese.  I simply did this all outside on the BBQ grill.  I am one of those people that has no problem throwing cake pans or cookie sheets onto the grill if it means that I do not have to turn my oven on in the summer.  THAT being said, this meal was AWESOME for us!

Here is what you need:
Chicken Breasts (I did three...one for each of us)
1/4 Cup BBQ Sauce
1/4 Cup Real Bacon Bits
1 Cup Shredded Cheese
1-14 oz Can of Rotel tomatoes with Green Chilies

1) Preheat oven to 400.
2) Grill chicken until no pink.  Place on a cookie sheet.  Top each chicken breast with BBQ sauce, cheese, tomatoes, and bacon bits.
3) Bake about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy! Simple as that! :D

Girl Giraffe Rag Blanket

I made this cute little blanket for a friend and neighbor expecting her first baby girl. She was going with the pink and green jungle theme, and this is what I finally decided on. I LOVE it.

Front and Back together

Front of the blanket

Close-up of the front

Pizza Casserole

This casserole was quite a yummy twist on pizza.  I like the fact that it had all the pizza flavor with without the usual "pizza."  It is hard to describe, but the important thing is that we all LOVED it.

Here is what you need:
1 Bag Egg Noodles, cooked
1 large can/bottle Spaghetti Sauce (maybe slightly more
3 Cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 lb sausage or hamburger
1 package pepperoni

1) Preheat oven to 350 and grease/spray 2 qt casserole or 9x13 pan.
2) Layer 1: Just enough sauce to cover the bottom.  Layer 2: 1/2 of cooked noodles.  Layer 3: 1/2 of ground meat.  Layer 4: 1/2 of remaining sauce.  Layer 5: 1/2 of cheese.  Layer 6: Rest of ground meat. Layer 7: Rest of sauce.  Layer 8: Rest of cheese.  Layer 9: Top with pepperoni.
3) Cover and bake for 30.  Remove the cover and back for 15 additional minutes.
4) Let sit for 10 minutes and serve and enjoy!

Lemon Cookies

I LOVE lemon.  I am always looking for new lemon recipes.  This one is a very fast, simple, and basic lemon cookie recipe.  They taste SO yummy, too.

Here is what you need:

1/2 Cup Butter, softened

1 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp lemon zest

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 Cup flour

1/2 Cup powdered sugar

1) Preheat oven to 350 and spray/grease cookie sheets.

2) Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add the egg, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Whip it together.  Add the dry ingredients except the powdered sugar.  Mix until moist.

3) Put the powdered sugar on a plate or platter.  Form the dough into balls (I used a tablespoon cookie drop) and roll each dough in the powdered sugar.  Place on a cookie sheet.

4) Bake for 9-11 minutes until the bottoms are just starting to brown.

Like I said, I used the tablespoon cookie dropper and ended up with 20 cookies.  I would definitely double the recipe if I use that scoop again.  I also did not actually measure the lemon zest or juice.  I LOVE lemon, so when I make them again and choose not to measure, I will be adding more zest and juice.  I do not know if what the recipe calls for is sufficient.

RJ's Thomas the Train Blanket

I finally made a blanket that will stay in our house. I found this super cute Thomas the Train fabric back in March or April. There wasn't enough of it to do an entire blanket with it so I put it back on the shelf. Rj saw it and pulled it off the shelf and would not set it down. Well, I finally decided that there was enough that I could use it as a "base" so I bought it. I finally didn't have any orders so I was able to sew a twin size blanket for rj.

I LOVE the way it turned out. Rj loves it too...the trick now is to make it "disappear" without him missing it until his birthday. :)

Lemon Zucchini Bread

Anyone you has every grown zucchini knows that it grows like a weed and that there is more than enough to go around an entire neighborhood.  Hands down, my favorite thing with zucchini is either zucchini bread or zucchini carrot muffins.  So, I am always on the watch for new recipes to try with my zucchini. 
This recipe is so GOOOOOOD....it combines a lemon bread and zucchini bread into Lemon Zucchini Bread.  It may not be a combination that one would think "normal" but it was so yummy, and I am happy to have another zucchini usage.

Here is what you need:
2 Cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Oil
2/3 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon (I personally am going to use 2 next time, BUT I LOVE lemon)
1 Cup grated zucchini

1) Blend together eggs, oil, sugar, buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest.  Then add zucchini and mix well.
2) Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Mix until blended but do not over mix.
3) Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then on wire rack.
4) Make glaze and drizzle over top (optional).

Lemon Glaze
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
Juice of 1 Lemon

Greek Pasta Salad

I came across this very simple yet very yummy salad recipe.  It is a combination of a pasta salad and a green tossed salad.  It was so yummy!!!!

Here is what you need to make this awesomeness:

1 box Caesar Pasta Salad (or you can just use regular pasta if you already have your own favorite Caesar recipe)

1/4 Cup Water

3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

4 Cups Romaine lettuce (um, yeah, I don't really measure that)

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 small cucumber, diced

1/2-1 green pepper, diced

4 oz Feta Cheese

sm can of sliced olives

Croutons

-Cook the pasta and rinse with cool water to cool it down.  Mix the Caesar seasoning from the pasta salad with the water and vegetable oil.

-If you are NOT going to serve immediately, only mix in pasta, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and olives.  Then chill until 15 minutes before serving at which time add the lettuce, Feta, and croutons.  Toss to evenly distribute.  If you ARE going to serve immediately, add the remaining ingredients and pasta and toss to evenly distribute.

Side note: I personally have not added chicken to this, but I personally think that grilled chicken seasoned with herbs would be absolutely DELISH sliced up added in this, and then you could have a complete meal :)