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Chocolate Molten Cake

So, I made these last night because I had a major chocolate craving, and they turned out pretty well; John even said it was now one of his favorite desserts and gave it a 9.5 out of 10. In addition, they are easy to make, and the portions aren't huge so you don't have to feel super guilty for eating it. So, with no further ado:

Molten Chocolate Cake
(Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 4 pieces (squares) Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate
• ½ cups Butter
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 whole Eggs
• 2 whole Egg Yolks
• 6 Tablespoons Flour
• 2 cups Real Whipping Cream
  
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Spray 4 custard cups** with cooking spray and place on cookie sheet (**you can find these in the baking section of the store, with all the pyrex baking stuff)
   
3. Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted; whisk until chocolate is also melted
4. Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour.
5. Divide between cups.
6. Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute.
7. While cakes bake, combine sugar and heavy cream and whip until stiff (i.e., make some homemade whipped cream!)
8. Invert cakes on dishes and top with whipped cream.

So, I am trying to make recipes from my Cooking Light cookbook more often, but tonight I decided to indulge some and make some recipes from "The Pioneer Woman," (see link to her blog on the left). I made Ranch Style Chicken, Twice Baked Potatoes, and Buttered Rosemary Rolls. Boy, was it delicious! Note: as listed, these recipes serve more than one person; I modified them when I made them to serve the two of us, but just copied her recipes as they were for easy viewing. Also, you may just prefer to click the above links, and she gives a step by step guide (with pictures for each step) on how to make the dishes.

Ranch Style Chicken

Ingredients

• ½ cups Dijon Mustard
• ½ cups Honey
• ½ whole (juice Of) Lemon
• ½ teaspoons Paprika
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• Crushed Red Pepper (optional To Taste)
• 6 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 pound Thick Cut Bacon
• Bacon Grease
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese, to taste
• Canola Oil

Directions

1. In a large bowl mix together Dijon with honey, juice of lemon, paprika, and salt and whisk until smooth. Sprinkle in some crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne if you like; set aside.
2. Next, rinse the chicken breasts, place between two sheets of waxed paper and pound to around ½ to ¾ inch thick with a mallet. Next, add the chicken to the bowl with the marinade, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 hours.
3. While the chicken marinates, fry up some bacon. When finished cooking, reserve ¼ cup of the bacon grease and clean out the skillet.
4. When the chicken is done marinating, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the chicken from the fridge and pour off excess marinade.
   
5. Heat half of the reserved bacon grease with an equal quantity of Canola Oil in the clean skillet over medium-high heat. When the grease is nice and hot add two or three pieces of chicken to it. Cook until brownish/blackish, about 1 to 1 ½ minutes per side. Remove chicken to a large baking sheet. (If cooking many pieces of chicken, repeat skillet process and remove finished chicken to baking sheet).
   
6. Place chicken in preheated oven and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven.
7. Lay a few pieces of bacon over each chicken breast. Sprinkle cheese over the top of the chicken as generously as you like.
   
8. Return pan to oven for an additional five minutes until cheese is melted and bacon is sizzling. Serve immediately.

Twice Baked Potatoes









Ingredients

• Baking potatoes (HALF OF however many you want...you will be cutting them in half, doubling the number of potatoes; so if you want to make 4 total in the end, buy 2)
• Butter*
• Bacon bits*
• Sour cream*
• Milk*
• Cheese*
• Desired Seasonings*

*You can click on the link above for specific measurements, but basically, these are ingredients you can eyeball.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Wash potatoes; brush with olive oil (to crisp the shell); put on dish (don't cover in foil)
3. Bake potatoes 1 hour and 15 minutes
4. Once done, take potatoes out of oven, and reduce heat to 350.
   
5. After baking, potatoes will be hot. Holding each with a towel (to prevent your hands from burning), cut each potato in half.
6. Scoop the contents out of each shell into a bowl.
7. Mix the potatoes with other ingredients, and mash together.
8. Fill shells back up; Top with more cheese
   
9. Bake in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.
   

Buttered Rosemary Rolls

Ingredients

• Frozen, Unbaked Dinner Rolls
• Melted Butter, Regular, Salted
• Fresh Rosemary, Coarsely Chopped
• Coarse Sea Salt

Directions

1. Spray a small iron skillet with cooking spray (or coat with olive oil). Place frozen rolls in the skillet, leaving plenty of room for rising. Cover and allow to rise for several hours.
2. After rising, brush rolls with melted butter.
3. Sprinkle on chopped rosemary. Brush with additional butter. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
4. Bake according to roll package directions, until rolls are a deep golden brown on top.
5. Serve skillet on the table.

Slow Cook Lasagna

So, today I made another recipe from the Cooking Light cookbook-- slow cooker lasagna. It wasn't the best we ever had, but it was better than Stouffer's (which isn't bad to begin with):

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground round
  
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 2 tsp (bottled) minced garlic
  
• 1 (26 to 28-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
  
• 1/3 cup water
• 8 lasagna noodles, uncooked
• 1 (4 1/2-ounce) jar mushrooms
• 1 (15-ounce) carton part skim ricotta cheese
• 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

Directions

1. Cook beef, garlic, and Italian seasoning in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until beef crumbles; drain.
2. Combine spaghetti sauce and water in a small bowl.
3. Place 4 uncooked noodles in bottom of a lightly greased crockpot. Layer with half each of beef mixture, spaghetti sauce mixture, and mushrooms.
4. Spread ricotta cheese over mushrooms. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Layer with remaining noodles, meat, sauce mixture, mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese.
   
5. Cover and cook on HIGH setting 1 hour; reduce heat and cook on LOW setting 5 hours.***

***I definitely didn't need 5 hours; I'd say that after the first hour on high, 2-3 hours on low would probably do it.

Nutrition

• Servings: 8 (serving size: 1 cup)

• Cal: 361; Fat: 12.2 g; Protein: 28.6 g; Carb: 31.1 g; Fiber: 3.2 g; Chol 61 mg; Sodium: 595 mg
  

Italian Lemon Creme Cake

So, my dear friend Abbey's mom, Becky, posted a recipe for Italian Lemon Creme Cake on her own website, and it was amazing! Definitely one of the best cakes I've ever had or made. And John and some sweet friends liked it too, so it's definitely a keeper. But rather than copy and paste like I normally do, I'll just refer you to the post as shared by the master herself:

http://decolady-randommusings.blogspot.com/2010/05/italian-lemon-creme-cake.html

Thank you, Becky, for sharing such a delicious recipe!

Meat & Potatoes

Year one of pharmacy school is done and summer is here!!! And I recently bought a new cookbook (Cooking Light Superfast Suppers: Speedy Solutions for Dinner Dilemmas)...so, with these two things combined, I should hopefully be posting a bit more than I have this semester. School has just kept me soooo busy!
But anyways, tonight's dinner was pretty yummy!! It was "Balsamic pan-seared steaks" along with "Pan fried potatoes with dill" (well actually, I had no dill...so it was really pan-fried potatoes, haha), both from the new cookbook. I also served some salad and rolls (FYI: Kroger frozen dinner rolls are delicious!) But anyways, here are the recipes:

Balsamic Pan Seared Steaks

Ingredients

• 4 (4 oz) lean boneless beef tenderloin steaks (about 1 inch thick)
• 1 tsp garlic pepper seasoning
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup beef broth
  

Directions

1. Sprinkle both sides of each steak with garlic-pepper seasoning and salt.
2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat
3. Add steaks, cooking 3 minutes on each side, or until done. Remove steaks from pan
4. Combine vinegar and broth in pan, and bring to a boil
5. Reduce heat to medium high, and cook 5 minutes or until sauce is reduced to 1/4 cup, stirring occasionally
6. Spoon sauce over steaks

Nutrition
Calories: 213; Fat: 9.8 g; Protein: 24.5 g; Carb: 5.1 g; Fiber: 0 g; Chol: 71 mg; Sodium: 367 mg


Pan-fried potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 (20 oz) packaged cooked new potato wedges (such as Simply Potatoes; available in refrigerated section; in my Kroger, they were above the eggs)
• 1 tbs grated parmesan
• 1 tbs finely chopped fresh dill (or 1/2 tsp dried dill)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  

Directions

1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat
2. Add wedges and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown
3. Remove from heat, and sprinkle with cheese and remaining ingredients; toss gently

Nutrition
(Serving size: 3/4 cup)
Cal: 168; Fat: 3.9 g; Protein: 3.9 g; Carb: 29.5 g; Fiber: 3.3 g; Chol: 1 mg; Sodium: 453 mg


This meal turned out very tasty, and wasn't superbad for you. Will definitely make again!

Glaze of Sunshine Apricot Chicken

This recipe is from Hungry Girl's new cookbook. Both John & I liked it, and it was easy to make:

Ingredients

1/2 tablespoon light whipped butter or light buttery spread

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup sugar-free apricot preserves, room temperature

1/2 tablespoon dry onion soup mix

Two 6-ounce raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast cutlets

Optional: salt and black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place butter in a small microwave-safe bowl, and microwave until just melted. Set aside.
3. Combine vinegar and cornstarch in a bowl, and stir until cornstarch dissolves.
4. Add preserves, melted butter, and soup mix. Mix well and set aside.
5. Place chicken in a large sealable plastic bag and, removing as much air as possible, seal the bag. Carefully pound chicken through the bag with a meat mallet or a heavy can, until it is uniformly about 1/2-inch thick.
6. Transfer chicken to the bowl with the preserves mixture, and flip until thoroughly coated.
7. Lay a large piece of heavy-duty foil on a baking sheet and spray with nonstick spray. Lay chicken flat in the center of the foil, and top with any remaining preserves mixture.
8. Fold together and seal the top and bottom edges of the foil, and then the side edges, to create a well-sealed packet.
9. Place baking sheet in the oven and cook for 25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
10. Allow packet to cool for a few minutes, and then cut to release steam before opening it entirely.
11. (Careful -- steam will be hot.)
12. Plate chicken and top with any sauce remaining in the foil. If you like, season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Nutrition

(1 cutlet with sauce) : 233 calories, 3.5g fat, 274mg sodium, 13g carbs, 0g fiber, <0.5g>

Crash Hot Potatoes

This is a recipe I got from The Pioneer Woman . Kroger was out of fresh Rosemary, so I used Thyme instead. They were yummy, and it was nice to have an alternative to a normal baked potato.

Ingredients

• 12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• Black Pepper To Taste
• Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.
3. On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.
4. With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.
5. Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)
6. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Sausage Loaf

That's right, a sausage loaf. This is another recipe from the cookbook John's grandma gave me:

Ingredients

• 1 long loaf french bread
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 lb pork sausage, browned and drained
• 8 oz sliced/shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Split loaf lengthwise, so there is a top and bottom.
3. Hollow out loaf, and put bread pieces in a bowl
4. Beat eggs & milk together; set aside
5. Brown and drain sausage
6. Mix bread with egg/milk mix and sausage
7. Spoon mix evenly into bottom of bread loaf, and bake 15 minutes
8. Remove from oven and top w/cheese
9. Place top of bread over cheese, and bake 5 more minutes
10. Remove and slice (big or little, whatever you wish. This was technically an appetizer recipe, so it said it could make 15-20 slices).
    

Looking ahead...

So, next week I have about 5 new recipes I will be trying...I may not get them all posted next week, but I will do my best! They include recipes from thew new Hungry Girl cookbook, the Pioneer Woman (see link on left), and the cookbook John's grandma gave me mentioned in previous posts. Should be yummy!