The Home Version of Cheesecake Factory's Chicken Marsala

HERE is the original recipe I found on Allrecipes.com  they called it Chicken, Asparagus, and Mushroom Skillet Below is how I made it.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley 1/2 teaspoon dried basil 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano 1 1/2 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 1/2 teaspoons Apple Juice  1/2 Red Wine Vinegar 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded thinly 1/2 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into thirds 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:

1.	Melt butter in skillet over low-medium heat. Add oil, parsley, basil, oregano, garlic, salt, lemon juice, apple juice and red wine vinegar to skillet.
2.	Turn heat to medium- high heat. Add the chicken  asparagus; cook until chicken is mostly cooked and the asparagus is bright green and just starting to become tender, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and cook an additional 3 minutes to let the mushrooms release their juice.Add Mozzarella cheese to the top of the chicken pieces and place lid over skillet until melted.  Serve hot.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2011 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 8/4/2011

Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms

HERE  is where I found this recipe. I followed it completely EXCEPT I omitted the Capers....we aren't fans.

1 pound mushrooms such as cremini or white, halved lengthwise if large
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle. Toss mushrooms with capers, garlic, oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper in a 1 1/2- to 2-qt shallow baking dish. Top with butter and roast, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and golden and bubbly garlic sauce forms below, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and parsley. Serve immediately, with crusty bread on the side for swiping up the juices.

The Most Amazing Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins

The following is a single recipe for them. I ALWAYS double it though. I've tripled it before but it was so much batter. I had a hard time mixing it.

PREHEAT OVEN to 350

 I've tried generic bran cereals and Fiber One and they just aren't as good in this recipe.

2 cups Kellogg's All Bran ORIGINAL. (NOT Flakes)
1 cup Kellogg's Bran Buds
1 cup boiling water
Mix boiling water with both cereals. Let soak for 5 minutes or so.

Mean while, mix the following ingredients together in a mixing bowl:
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup oil
2 cups buttermilk

Add the soaked cereals to the mixing bowl and mix well.
Add chocolate chips to batter. I've never measured. Jed likes his with more chocolate than me. I like it when each muffin has 3 or 4 chips.

Spray your muffin pans with Pam (or whatever non stick spray you use) and fill the cups about 2/3 full.
Bake for 20 minutes.

Here is my HUGE secret to making them taste the best:
When they come right out of the oven and are cooled, I don't really love them. They aren't nearly as moist.

Here is what I've found. When they are still a little warm place the in Ziplock bags. (make sure they are freezer bags). Give them an hour or more in the baggie. The warmth softens the outer part of the muffins.
Also these freeze AMAZINGLY well. When we are finished with one baggie, I pull out another and leave on the counter. You can also warm them in the microwave at 50%.
ENJOY

Crepes Filling

FILLING:

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 8 oz. container Cool Whip
2 packages of Sugar Free White Chocolate

The powder at the bottom of my Thrive Freeze Dried Strawberries can. It give it a slight strawberry taste and a pretty light pink color

A couple dashes of Vanilla extract and Almond extract

A couple tablespoons of powdered sugar to help with the tartness from the strawberries

3 c. milk
Rehydrated  Thrive Strawberries and sprinkled it lightly with powdered sugar

Cream cream cheese and strawberry powder until smooth. Mix pudding as directed using 3 cups milk. Mix together cream cheese, pudding, and the extracts. Fold in Cool Whip.

Sand & Sisal: Grilled Focaccia

Sand & Sisal: Grilled Focaccia: "Summertime is grill time! The Grill Master is my designated title, and I wear it proudly! Whether it be steak, chicken, seafood, ham, or v..."

Olive Garden Salad Dressing 
  I just copied and pasted the recipe, but above is the original post. Yay for www.copykat.com!

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

Yield: approximately 1 cup.
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoon corn syrup
2 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon Romano cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt, or one clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 tablespoon lemon juice
sugar (optional)

Olive Garden Salad Mix

Place all ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little too tart for your own personal taste, add a little extra sugar. You can enjoy your Olive Garden salad dressing for about 10 days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Another great use for the Olive Garden salad dressing is as a marinade for vegetables or even meats that you might like to grill. So you can see the Olive Garden salad dressing can be used in more than one way.
Making Olive Garden Salad Dressing at home is easy to do. You can make other recipes that taste just like they do in a restaurant.
How about Applebees Oriental Salad Dressing? This is a terrific way to bring the taste of a restaurant a home with this recipe.
You can find more Olive Garden Recipes at CopyKat.com, the web’s most popular destination for copycat restaurant recipes.

Chicken Spaghetti with Spinach

 This recipe is from the website HERE
I added quite a bit of things Anything I added I put them in parentheses.
 

Ingredients
1 lb. spaghetti noodles
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with roasted garlic (I used Fireroasted and added Tastefully Simple's Garlic Garlic) (I also used two cans)

          (A couple white mushrooms sliced)

2 10 oz. boxes frozen spinach (I used one box)
2  cups cooked and shredded chicken ( I sauteed it in a skillet with salt, pepper, Garlic powder, minced garlic, and onion powder)

          

Optional: Shredded or grated Parmesan cheese for topping
Directions

• In a large Dutch oven or saucepan, boil the spaghetti noodles as directed. Drain and let sit in colander while you prepare the sauce.  
• Meanwhile, cook the spinach in the microwave as directed.  Drain off the liquid, but don’t squeeze it dry.
• Return the warm Dutch oven or saucepan to the burner and add the diced tomatoes with their juices, the spinach and remaining liquid, (the mushrooms) and the cooked and shredded chicken.  Stir until well combined (and thoroughly heated) .  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Reintroduce the spaghetti noodles and toss well.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving.

Super Veggie Fried Rice

•  4 cups cooked white rice, refrigerated
•  oil
• salt to taste
• 1 packet of Fried Rice seasoning
• 4 eggs, beaten with one tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 3/4 cup frozen peas, cooked (I steamed them)
• 3/4 cup carrots diced small
• 5-6 stalks asparagus, steamed
•  4 green onions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste

1. Transfer cooked rice to skillet or wok stirring to brown. 
2. Add seasoning and soy sauce and stir well.
3. In a separate skillet, scramble egg mixture.
4. To the rice add eggs, all veggies, and remaining soy sauce.

Fancy Mixed Greens Salad with Roasted Asparagus and Apple

Mixed Greens with Roasted Asparagus and Apple
24 thin asparagus stalks, ends trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
10 ounce packages mixed baby greens
2 Red Delicious apples, quartered, cored, diced (I used Fruit Fresh to keep it from browning)
Feta cheese
Walnuts
Craisins
Real Bacon Bits
Ken's Steakhouse Lite Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette 




Preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange asparagus in single layer on large baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast 10-12 minutes, turning once.Until fork tender. Let cool 5 minutes.

Toss all together.

This was SOOO good!
I want to make Grilled chicken, this salad, and the crock pot potatoes that I just posted.... YUMMO!

Peanut Butter Pie! Amazing Allrecipes recipe!

Smooth and Creamy Peanut Butter Pie

Rated: Submitted By: MickeyRenee Photo By: MySweetCreations Prep Time: 15 Minutes Ready In: 3 Hours 15 Minutes Servings: 8

"It's creamy because of the cream cheese and creamy peanut butter. It's smooth because of the confectioners' sugar and whipped topping. All this creamy and smooth rests in a chocolate cookie crumb crust."

Ingredients:

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed 1 (9 inch) prepared chocolate cookie crumb crust

Directions:

1.	In a large bowl, mix together peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar. Then stir whipped topping into peanut butter mixture. Whisk until smooth and no lumps remain.
2.	Pour filling into pie crust and refrigerate for about 3 hours until pie is firm.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2011 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 4/3/2011

This is straight from the A year of Slow Cooking blog. I did add a few things and will add them at the bottom with a *. Here Is The Link to the Blog!

This is straight from the A year of Slow Cooking blog. I did add a few things and will add them at the bottom with a *. Here Is The Link to the Blog!

 

CrockPot Mashed Potatoes with Cream Cheese and Sour Cream Recipe

Day 320.

psst. Make these potatoes. You won't be sorry.

This is one of those recipes where I wonder if the crockpot is really necessary, or is it just being used to keep the potatoes warm. You have to use the stove to boil the potatoes, and then you smash them with the cream cheese and the sour cream.

I suppose you could argue that the crockpot isn't necessary, but I used it. Because it makes me happy, and that's what I do.

These potatoes are too good to not share, and I'll let you be the judge about whether or not the crockpot is a necessary tool.

The Ingredients.

--5 pounds of red potatoes
--1 block of cream cheese, room temperature (8 oz. I used light)
--1 cup sour cream (I used light)
--1 chicken bouillon cube
--1/2 cup of water, reserved from boiling the potatoes
--1 tsp garlic powder
--1 T dried parsley

The Directions.

Wash and peel the potatoes, leaving the skin on some if desired. Cut in quarters to quicken boiling time. Put the pieces into a large pot and cover completely with water.

Bring the potatoes to a boil on the stove top. Boil rapidly for 10-20 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender.

Scoop out 1/2 cup of the water from the pot. Add the bouillon cube to the water. Drain the potatoes, and return to pot.

Open the cream cheese and put into the pot with the hot potatoes. Add sour cream. Pour in the water with the bouillon cube, also. Add the parsley and garlic powder.

Mash with a potato masher. If you don't have a masher, the way that I seem to not, you can use a wire wisk. It'll work just fine.

After smashing well, scoop the potatoes out of the pot and place into a 4 to 6 quart crockpot. Cook on high for 2 hours, or on low for 4. Can be kept on warm indefinitely. After two hours on high, my potatoes got a bit crusty on the top and edges.

They were divine.

The Verdict.

So very good. My kids seemed to have thought that these were spicy (makes no sense whatsoever) and weren't thrilled with the bits of skin I left on. I like a bit of skin, and so does Adam, but apparently the kids find it highly offensive.

*I used Russet potatoes because that's what I had on hand

*I added a some shredded cheddar and real bacon bits when I added the cream cheese.

*I also sprinkled some Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic, Onion Onion, and Seasoned Salt in the potatoes too. 

THESE WERE AMAZING!!!!!

Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients

• 1 lb asparagus spears (thick spears are best for roasting)
• 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Kosher Salt
• Freshly grated black pepper
• Lemon juice

Method

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Rinse clean the asparagus. Break the tough ends off of the asparagus and discard.

2 Lay the asparagus spears out in a single layer in a baking dish or a foil-covered roasting pan. Drizzle olive oil over the spears, roll the asparagus back and forth until they are all covered with a thin layer of olive oil. (Alternatively you can put the asparagus and oil in a plastic bag, and rub the bag so that the oil gets evenly distributed.) Sprinkle with minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Rub over the asparagus so that they are evenly distributed.
3 Place pan in oven and cook for approximately 8-10 minutes, depending on how thick your asparagus spears are, until lightly browned and tender when pierced with a fork. Drizzle with a little fresh lemon juice before serving.

Serves 4.

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