Garlic Chicken Parmesan

This was quick and delicious. I love that it is baked instead of fried, but still had a nice crispy exterior. We had this along with pasta, homemade marinara sauce, my favorite breadsticks and broccoli and it was a wonderful fall meal. Enjoy!


Garlic Chicken Parmesan

4 small chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder)
3 Tb. olive oil
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (this makes it nice and light and crispy. If you don't have any panko, you can substitute an additional 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs)
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1/4 tsp. dried basil
marinara sauce and additional Parmesan cheese for serving

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. (I like to use a short cooling rack set inside a baking pan this helps the chicken to get crunchy on all sides instead of soggy on the bottom part that touches the pan, but make sure you spray the rack so the chicken doesn't stick!)
2. Combine garlic and olive oil in pie pan or flat bowl. Combine panko, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and basil in a separate pie pan or flat bowl.
3. Trim chicken of any fat, and pound chicken with rolling pin or meat tenderizer to 1/2 inch thickness (this is so the meat will cook evenly).
4. Dip each chicken breast in oil, rubbing to coat well, then into the bread crumb/cheese mixture, pressing the bread crumbs into the chicken to ensure it is completely covered. Place on baking tray. If there is extra bread crumb/cheese mixture, sprinkle over the chicken, if desired.
5. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until juices run clear and chicken is no longer pink in center. Serve with warm marinara sauce and additional Parmesan cheese.

Classic Marinara Sauce

I'm still getting lots and lots of tomatoes from the garden. In an attempt to use some of them up, I decided to whip up some marinara sauce. This is a simple, classic marinara with lots of tomato and veggie flavor. I substituted fresh, peeled and seeded tomatoes (3-4 pounds) plus a small can of tomato paste, for the canned tomatoes, but I am sure it would be great with the canned tomatoes too. This was perfect served on top of some spaghetti and chicken Parmesan (recipe coming later this week). I'm thinking I'll use the rest for calzones later this week!

Classic Marinara Sauce
Adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

2 Tb. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 small onion, finely chopped (1/2 - 2/3 cup)
1 stalk celery, chopped (1/4 - 1/3 cup)
1 carrot, peeled and chopped (1/3 cup)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 cans (28 oz. each) crushed tomatoes
1/2 Tb. dried basil
1/2 Tb. dried oregano
1/2 Tb. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. marjoram
2 dried bay leaves
1 Tb. brown sugar
2 Tb. butter

Heat oil in large pot, Add garlic, onion, celery, and carrots and cook until onion is translucent and lightly browned and veggies are tender. Add salt and pepper and stir well. Add tomatoes, basil, oregano, parsley, marjoram, and bay leaves. Simmer, covered, on low heat for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened. remove bay leaves and stir in brown sugar and butter. Cool slightly, then blend in food processor until desired consistency is reached (I like mine fairly smooth). Make about 7 cups sauce.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

My husband normally doesn't like pork. At all. Every once in awhile I'll throw it into the rotation just for a little variety, but I never expect him to like it a whole lot. Saturday I was craving BBQ but didn't want to go all the way outside (an entire 20 feet from my kitchen, poor me) and grill. Instead I settled on these pulled pork sandwiches. I threw everything in the crock pot in the morning, and it was perfectly cooked 8 hours later. It took less than 5 minutes of work and the results were spectacular. Juicy, smoky, flavorful, falling-apart, melt-in-your mouth tender. My husband loved these and said he never knew pork could taste so great. The leftovers lasted less than 24 hours, which is nothing short of a miracle. This definitely has our stamp of approval, and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

1 boneless pork shoulder or pork loin (2-3 pounds, mine was about 2 pounds and it made 6-8 sandwiches)
3/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika or chipotle chili powder (optional, but I love a little kick)
2 cups water
1 Tb. hickory flavored Liquid Smoke (you can usually find this by the Worcestershire sauce and BBQ sauce)
1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce
buns, for serving

Rinse pork in cold water and pat dry. Combine pepper, garlic salt, and paprika or chili powder. Rub all over pork shoulder, making sure to cover well. Place pork in crock pot. Cover with water and liquid smoke. Cook on low for 7-10 hours, until pork is tender and falling apart. Remove pork, drain liquid. Shred the pork and return to the crock pot and add 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce. Stir to coat and cook on low for 20 minutes, until sauce is absorbed and heated through. Serve on buns with additional barbecue sauce if desired.

Brownie Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

Cheesecake: Good.
Cupcakes: Great.
Chocolate: Delicious.
Brownies: Divine.
Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake Cupcakes: Amazing!

These were fast, delicious, and look gourmet. You really can't go wrong!

 

Brownie Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes
Adapted from Pillsbury

1 box fudge brownie mix (19.5 oz)
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup water
4 eggs
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled to room temperature
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 container (6 oz.) vanilla yogurt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
hot fudge, whipped cream, and raspberries if desired

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Prepare brownie mix using 1/2 cup oil, 1/4 cup water, and 2 eggs. Divide evenly among cupcake liners. Bake for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed. Add yogurt and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add chocolate and beat until completely blended and no white streaks remain.
4. Divide cheesecake mixture evenly over the warm brownies. Return to oven and bake 15 - 20 minutes or until set. Cool completely, then refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Top with hot fudge, raspberries, and fresh whipped cream if desired.

Perfect White Frosting

Corey doesn't like frosting. And by "doesn't like" I mean "scrapes it off of everything that I put it on." So when I say that Corey loves this frosting, that means it's really, really good. It's light and creamy, and not too sweet, almost like whipped cream. It is the perfect accompaniment to white, chocolate or lemon cake (and probably many others) and I must admit that I have been known to eat the leftovers straight out of the bowl with a spoon.

This is probably the strangest frosting recipe that I've ever tried (flour in frosting? What?) but the results are phenomenal. I'll say right now that the frosting can be very fickle, so don't try varying from the recipe at all. The only luck I've had in changing the recipe is changing the flavoring (substituting almond extract for half of the vanilla, or stirring in crushed oreos once the frosting is complete). If you want a chocolate frosting that is similar, see the recipe here. Enjoy!

Perfect White Frosting
recipe by ourbestbites.com

Enough to frost 12 - 24 cupcakes, depending on how much frosting you like. I like a lot of frosting (especially when it's nice and fluffy like this) so I usually get about 16 - 18 cupcakes frosted with this recipe. 

3 T Flour
1/2 C milk, preferably whole milk
1/2 C real butter (NO SUBSTITUTES!) 
1/2 C granulated sugar (NOT powdered sugar)
1 t vanilla extract

Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Cook, stirring continually, until mixture is thickened (you should be able to see the bottom of the pan when stirring. It is better to make it too thick than too thin, so if you're doubting that it's done, keep cooking for a couple more minutes. I think I cook mine for about 5-7 minutes). Stir in vanilla. If there are any lumps, push the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove the lumps. Cool completely to room temperature (I put mine in the fridge and cool until it is completely cold). This part is critical, if it doesn't cool completely it will melt the butter and you'll be stuck with a goopy blob of runny frosting.

It an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Turn to medium-low speed and slowly add the completely chilled flour/milk mixture. Beat on high until mixture is light and fluffy and well combined, about 7 minutes. (When you first start beating it, the mixture will not look like it's going to combine. Just keep beating for the full 7+ minutes and the result should be a nice, fluffy frosting).

This frosting is best if served immediately. It separates if it stands more than a day (and if it is refrigerated) so plan accordingly.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

These muffins are absolutely amazing. Want to know how amazing? Last night, I skipped dessert and had another one of these instead. Yeah. If that's not a shining review, I don't know what is (especially since dessert was this delicious cake, it's one of my favorites).

Now normally I'm not too big on banana bread, and mashing up the bananas literally makes me gag (I have weird issues with over-ripe bananas). But I will mash bananas any day for these delicious muffins. As an added bonus, they are healthier than normal (with whole wheat, honey, and light sour cream). I made half of these with cinnamon chips (like chocolate chips, but cinnamon flavored, Hershey's makes a good one) and half with a streusel topping...and both were great, but to be totally honest I think I liked the ones with the cinnamon chips better (which is great because that cuts even more fat and calories). I had all sorts of intentions of freezing part of these to pull out for quick breakfasts later in the week, but I doubt they'll last until the end of the day.

  
Whole Wheat Banana MuffinsRecipe adapted from Cooking Light via Our Best Bites


Muffins:
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 t. cinnamon
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c. mashed very ripe banana (I used 5 small bananas)
1/3 c. low-fat sour cream or plain yogurt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Streusel Topping (optional):
1/2 c. pecans, chopped
6 Tb. packed brown sugar
3 Tb. whole wheat flour
2 Tb. cold butter

OR 1 cup cinnamon chips (instead of streusel)


Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin pan with 18-20 paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugar, honey, and butter. Add each egg in one at a time, mixing until fluffy and well blended. Add the mashed banana, sour cream, and vanilla. Slowly add in remaining muffin ingredients, mixing until just combined.

Divide the batter evenly (so the cups are about 2/3 full) among 18-20 muffin tins. Combine the streusel ingredients and sprinkle them on top of the batter, or sprinkle with cinnamon chips if desired. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Triple Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Did you know that zucchini could look like this?

I know, right? Pretty freaking amazing. In case you can't tell from all of the zucchini recipes I've been posting, we have had a killer crop of zucchini from our garden this year. Corey remembered his mom making a delicious chocolate zucchini cake, so we got a recipe from her. I made several adaptations to it, and ended up serving it with whipped cream and fresh raspberries (because I'm convinced that everything is better with whipped cream and raspberries). It was delicious, and you would never guess it had zucchini in it. The result is simply a super-moist and chocolatey bundt cake.

Triple Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Cake:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Topping:
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 Tb. whipping cream
Fresh whipped cream and raspberries, if desired

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar. Add applesauce. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and zucchini. Add flour, cocoa, powder, soda, salt, and milk and beat until smooth. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips.
3. Pour into baking pan and bake for 45 - 55 minutes or until top is dry and toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes, then remove from pan to cool.
4. Meanwhile, heat 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 3 Tb. whipping cream in microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until completely melted and drizzle over cake. Serve warm with whipped cream and raspberries if desired.