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.

Lemon-Poppy Seed Bread

So, this isn't a recipe so much as a product suggestion. The other day, when at Walmart, I stumbled across a Betty Crocker Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffin/Quick Bread mix. I decided some lemon-poppy seed bread sounded good, so I bought it. The quick bread recipe is on the back (on the bottom, under the muffin recipe); in addition to the mix, it called for eggs, flour, vegetable oil, and maybe a thing or two more. But, you can find the ingredients listed on the back if you buy it yourself. Anyways, since our oven gets overly hot, I cooked it a little bit too long, so it was too done around some of the edges, but it still turned out pretty good. It even gives you a "recipe" for some lemon butter you can put on it!

Apple Cinnamon Pecan Bread Pudding

The following recipe is one sent to me by my dear friend, Jonna. I have not made it myself yet...but I am sure it is delicious! Below is the e-mail/recipe Jonna sent me. Enjoy!:

"This is one that I sort of made up. I was attempting to make a very unhealthy recipe healthy and also use what I had on hand. But the healthy part didn't happen ;) It and it is called,

Apple Cinnamon Pecan Bread Pudding

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup plain flour
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp.salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. apple pie spice (you can use 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg if you want)
2/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup Crisco
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup of apple pie filling
1/3 cup water
1 cup of chopped pecans

Directions
Grease and flour a regular loaf pan. Mix whole wheat flour, plain flour, powder, soda, salt, and apple pie spice. In a separate bowl, cream Crisco, sugar, honey and vanilla. Add eggs. Add apple pie filling to sugar mixture, do not beat with a mixer after this point. The chunks of apples are good to have. Stir in dry ingredients alternately with water in four additions. Fold in nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, break open the top to expose uncooked part of bread. Cook an additional 10 minutes until done, but still moist. We just dip it out of the pan with a spoon."


Sure sounds yummy to me...I'll have to make it soon!