Tomato Basil Toast

I usually get in a rut for lunch and make the same things for me and my kids - PBJ's, salad, mac & cheese, hot dogs, etc. But I've been trying to make my lunches a little more healthy. I made this for lunch the other day and loved it!! So, I thought I'd share it with you! Please forgive me, because I just kind of add and subtract things as I like! :) Feel free to do the same!

Ingredients:

Slices of bread, or a sliced baguette, or something bread related

Olive oil

Spinach leaves

Sliced tomato

Mozzarella

Basil (fresh or dried)

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Brush olive oil over bread and broil until lightly golden. Add layer of spinach leaves and tomato slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with mozzarella and dried basil. Broil until lightly brown. (If using fresh basil, wait to put it on until AFTER you broil it with the cheese.)

I'm looking forward to trying this with some other flavors as well. Peppers, feta cheese, onion, etc. The possibilities are endless and I'm getting hungry again! :)

Chicken Soup with Rice, Mint, and Lemon

It's been cold here, so what better way to celebrate cold weather than with good soup?! I love this recipe. I hope you'll enjoy it!


Now before you disregard this post completely, let me say that this turned out to be one of my favorite soups. I was pleasantly surprised by it's flavor. I'm not a mint person and neither is my husband. And anyone who knows him, knows he DOES NOT like fruit with his meats. But this was VERY good and amazingly filling. I will make it again.



Prep time - 20 min.
Cook time - 50 min.

Ingredients:
2 quarts canned reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 whole chicken breast
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
4 - 2 x 1/2 inch strips of lemon zest
3 sprigs fresh mint
2 sprigs parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme (or 1/4 tsp. dried thyme, crumpled)
1 clove garlic, minced
4 black peppercorns, crushed
1 cup cooked long-grain rice
1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Optional garnishes (but highly recommended for color and a gourmet touch):

lemon slices
mint sprigs

Directions:
1. In a 4-quart saucepan over high heat, bring stock, chicken breast, onion, zest, mint, parsley, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until chicken is tender (about 30 to 35 minutes.)

2. With a slotted spoon, transfer chicken breast to a cutting board to cool. Strain soup into a large bowl, discarding all solids.

3. Return soup to the pan, set over high heat, and boil, uncovered, until the soup has reduced slightly - about 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, shred the chicken. Add to soup along with rice, lemon juice, salt, and chopped mint. Heat about 2 minutes more, ladle into soup bowls, and garnish with lemon slices and mint if desired. (The lemon and mint garnish add color and are a nice touch.)

Makes 4 servings.


1 Serving: Calories 237; Total Fat 4 g; Saturated Fat 1 g; Protein 21 g; Sodium 641 mg; Cholesterol 60 mg

My Favorite Sugar Cookies

Some of you may know how much I love to cook. Every year I do a Valentine's Party for my girls and we decorate cookies. I always make them and hope to someday find a recipe that holds its shape well and looks good. So I did some experimenting and color coated them so I knew which recipe was which.

I love my old sugar cookie recipe, but they don't hold their shape well. I did a bunch of research, and built my own recipe. I made several batches (obviously). With some trial and error, I finally created one with the taste I love that still hold their shape. Just adding flour makes them dry and shortening isn't the same as butter. Too much heat melts the sugar too fast and flattens the cookie, so a high sugar recipe wouldn't work with high temps. (The above picture: The white is my regular recipe with extra flour. The pink is less granulated sugar, temp 400. They look great but I didn't like the flavor as well. The purple was more sugar, soda, cream of tartar and 400 temp. The blue is the recipe below with powdered sugar.)

I traded out the baking powder for some baking soda and cream of tartar. And a friend of mine told me that granulated sugar melts at a different temperature than powdered sugar. She told me it's the granulated sugar that flattens out the cookies, so I traded that straight across. So, see what you think.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 eggs

3 tsp. vanilla

3 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Chill for 1 hour. Roll 1/4 inch thick on floured surface. Cut out shapes. Bake at 350 for 10-12 min. Cool completely. Frost and decorate!

If you want a variation, you could substitute 1 tsp. almond flavoring for the vanilla. Or add keep vanilla and add 1/2 tsp. nutmeg and 1 tsp. cinnamon. (Great variation for the holidays.

Frosting:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tblsp. milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla

1 Tblsp. butter

Directions:

Mix until smooth and not too runny.

Granita al Limone (Italian lemon Ice)

My daughter's class did a banquet of foods around the world. So, we found this and made it! It's from Italy! Lots of fun and real easy! She did all of it. Although, she didn't want lemon, so we made apricot. I'll put my recipe at the end.

Ingredients:
•Water -- 3 cups
•Sugar -- 1 1/2 cups
•Fresh lemon juice -- 1 cup

Directions:

1.Bring 1 cup of the water and the sugar to a boil in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue boiling for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let to cool.
2.Stir in the remaining water and lemon juice. Pour the mixture into a glass baking dish and set in the freezer for on or tow hours until it starts to get slushy.
3.Stir well with a fork, breaking up any large chunks of ice or ice crystals. Repeat this process every 20 minutes or so until the granita is frozen solid.
4.Place scoops in small glasses or dessert bowls and serve.

Variations:

Let your imagination run free. There are so many options. Here are a few of the more common variations:

•Granita alla Arancia (Orange Granita): 1/4 cup water; 1/2 cup sugar; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 3 cups of orange juice. Boil the water and sugar only long enough to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the orange lemon juice. Freeze as for lemon granita. Add a couple tablespoons of orange-flavored liqueur for a luxurious twist.
•Granita al Caffè (Coffee Granita): Use 4 cups of strong black coffee or espresso and 1 cup sugar. Boil 1 cup of the coffee with the sugar only long enough to dissolve the sugar, then stir in the remaining coffee. Freeze as for lemon granita. Top with whipped cream. Add a couple tablespoons of coffee-flavored liqueur for an extra special touch.
•Granita di Fragole (Strawberry Granita): 1 cup of water; 3/4 cup sugar; 1 pound strawberries, hulled and pureed; 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Boil the water and sugar as for the lemon granita. Stir in the strawberry puree and lemon juice. Freeze as for lemon granita.

Here's my apricot recipe. It's smooth like a sorbet but needs served immediately after you take it out of the freezer. If you want it more icy, I think you'd just have to add more water.

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

3 cups apricot nectar

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 - 1 tsp. almond flavoring

Heat water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add apricot nectar, lemon juice, almond flavor, and freeze like above.

Donut Recipe

We have always lived close to family and never had any of our own Christmas Traditions. This year, we live far away and were spending Christmas at home, so I decided we should create some new traditions! On Christmas Eve, we made donuts!

Now, you need to know, I don't like donuts, as a general rule. They are greasy and don't taste great, so why add all those calories to your diet for no real reason? Then my friend made her family recipe and I have to say, I BEGGED for this recipe!

I made these for my family and they were fantastic! And they looked great too! I posted the pictures on Facebook and was asked to post the recipe. So here it is. I hope you enjoy them!

Note: As I had never made donuts before, I did some research. If you'd like, The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog has a great step-by-step guide of how-to-make donuts you may find helpful. I did. Her recipe is different, but it will give you a general idea of what to do and what to expect!

Also, my friend told me that you should glaze all the donuts, even if you plan to dip them in chocolate or something. The glaze will help lock in the moisture and help them stay fresh longer!

An Aside: I didn't have a biscuit cutter or donut cutter so I used a drinking glass and a medicine cup. :)

1 T yeast
1/4 C hot water
1 t salt
3/4 C luke warm water
1/4 C sugar
1 egg
1/4 C soft shortening
3 1/2 to 3 3/4 C flour

Soften yeast in hot water and a little of the sugar. Add the rest of the ingredients including half of the flour and mix. Knead in the rest of the flour. (Dough should be soft but not overly sticky.) Place in a greased bowl and let rise until double. Punch down and let rise until double again. Roll out dough 1/3" thick and cut out donuts. Let rise for 40 minutes on a floured surface (in a draft free place.) Heat oil to 375 degrees. Gently place 4 to 5 donuts in oil at a time for about 40 seconds. Flip over and fry on other side. Remove from oil and place on paper towels to drain excess oil. Immediately immerse in glaze and cool. Makes 18

Glaze
1lb powdered sugar
1/2 C hot water
1/2 C butter

Heat over medium high heat and stir until melted and combined. If it's too runny and hot, cool slightly before dipping donuts. This recipe will allow you to dip 18 donuts.

Enjoy! They are DELICIOUS!