Johnny Carino's Chicken Scallopini

Everytime we go to Johnny Carino's I order this. It is sooo mouth wateringly delicious. I am drooling just thinking about it. :0) I found a copycat recipe for it. So now I can make it any time!

Ingredients:
Lemon butter:
1/2 lb butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons white wine
1/2 teaspoon garlic , minced
chicken
4 tablespoons butter , melted
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup roma tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup cooked bacon , chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
10 ounces spaghetti
8 ounces heavy whipping cream

Directions:
Combine Lemon Butter ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat at a medium speed until a smooth consistency in the batter is formed. Once combined, keep refrigerated until needed.
Put Spaghetti on to boil & prepare as you usually would.
While it is cooking halve each chicken breast (you will have 4 pieces).
In a warm saute pan, combine melted butter & chicken breast pieces. Saute until chicken is browned & just about done. Add tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon, and spice mixture. Simmer until tomatoes begin to dissolve & chicken is done. Add heavy cream and allow to boil to the middle of pan. Remove from heat, add one cup lemon butter, and fold together to make sauce.
Serve over spaghetti.

Ashlee side note: The lemon flavor is hardly noticeable, so don't think it's like lemon chicken. It's kind of like grilled herbed chicken with a creamy herb sauce. And the bacon, mushrooms, and tomatoes give it a nice kick. I'm getting hungry just talking about this!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

I tried these at 'Death by Chocolate' the last month and they were SOOO good. They even offered everyone the recipe. Like I was going to pass that up! They were my pick for winners. And even though I don't like nuts, these cookies were so scrumptious, I didn't even notice them. :0) The recipe is from Bridgeview Retirement Center here in Twin Falls.

Ingredients:
1 c. softened butter
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 c. unsifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 pkg. white chocolate chunks
1 jar roughly chopped macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter, sugars and vanilla together until smooth. Beat egg and then add to sugar mixture. Mix this together and gradually add flour and soda. Stir in chocolate chunks and nuts.
Use a small #40 scoop to drop dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes.

Ashlee side note: I usually prefer to bake my cookies at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. They seem to turn out softer that way. I'm a soft cookie gal. :0)

I got this recipe from my sister in law Jodie. I remember eating these Cookie "cakes" at bday parties when I was growing up. They were ALL the rage. So, when I saw her post about one a while back I asked her for the recipe. Here you go!

Cookie Pizza

½ C packed brown sugar
¼ C granulated sugar
½ C butter, softened
1 t. vanilla
1 egg
1 ¼ C flour
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 package miniature chocolate chips (regular work too)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, butter vanilla and egg. Stir in dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread dough onto ungreased 12 inch pizza pan or cookie sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Just before serving, decorate with whip cream. (Frosting is good too.)
Ashlee side note: I always remember my "cakes' being piped with chocolate frosting.

Meatloaf, Meatloaf, Yucky Yucky Meatloaf

My hubby doesn't like meatloaf. He used to sing those words growing up when his mom would make it. Now, in my house, meatloaf was AWESOME! We loved it! This first recipe is the one my mom passed down to us. The one we grew up on. I altered it to accomodate hubby's tastes and so you can read on it at the bottom. This is a "by request" from Sister Honey Bunch.

1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef (I think we just used a package of it, which is usually just a pound)
3/4 cup oatmeal
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 egg
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Mix bround beef with oats and chopped onion. Work in salt, pepper, egg, Worchestershire sauce and tomato sauce until texture is consistent throughout. Pat into a loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Topping:
1/3 cup catsup
1 Tbsp. mustard
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
Stir together until smooth. Spread over raw meatloaf before baking.

Ashlee side note: Because hubby said he didn't like meatloaf, I changed the recipe up a little bit to accomodate him. {the things we do out of love}

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg
1 package onion soup mix
salt
pepper
Worcestershire sauce

I know, I know...there are no measurements there for the flavoring. And you can't do a taste test with raw meat. But as long as you don't WAY overdo it, you can't really screw this up. It's meatloaf for heaven's sake!
So, put beef, egg, onion soup mix, some salt, some pepper, and a few good shakes of Worchestershire sauce in a bowl {get at least 1/2 tsp in there but no more than 1 1/2 tsp} and get your hands in there and squish it all up together until you get a smooth texture. I'm sorry if that grosses you out, but honestly, it's the best way to get it all mixed properly. Use gloves if you need to, and I would STRONGLY suggest the removal of rings before squishing. :0)
Anyway, here's my other BIG difference. I bake my meatloaf in muffin tins. So, you get little mini meatloaves instead of one big log of beef. I don't know if it just tricks the hubby into thinking it's something different and fancy, but he eats them. And so do the kiddos. Just fill up each tin and bake up at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or so. You'll probably want to check one to make sure they are cooked through.
I don't schmear the top of mine either. But you can if you prefer. We do the smearing of catsup when it's on our plates. Cold catsup, warm meatloaf. MMMMmmmmmmm!

I hope this is what you were looking for Honey Bunch!

Pappy's Fajitas Seasonings

I don't know if this is really a "recipe" but I'm posting it anyway. Because of Jaysen's LOVE for all foods Mexican I try to find new recipes to try out that will perk up his tastebuds. After eating over at a friends' house in December where they served a nacho/taco bar using shredded beef instead of ground beef, he wanted me to do the same. Except I was put to the test to find a different seasoning for the meat. The seasoning they used wasn't bad, it just didn't have the "kick" he was looking for apparently. :0)

This is what I found.

I found it on the spice aisle at WinCo. Nowhere fancy. What I really liked about it was this....No MSG, No Preservatives. Just spices. Good stuff.

Anyway...to make our "fancy" shredded beef tacos you'll need the following:

1. Pappy's Fajitas Seasoning
2. A beef roast...small enough to fit inside whatever size of crock pot you've got.
3. If you don't have a crock pot, you'll need one of those too.

Here's how to do it:

Plug in the crock pot. :0) Put a small amount of water in the bottom of crock pot. {Just to make sure nothing burns. The roast will create liquid of it's own while cooking, so it doesn't need to be tons.} Place roast in crock pot. Sprinkle generously with Pappy's Fajitas Seasoning making sure to cover both sides. Turn crock pot to low and cook for about 8 hours or so. {If you don't have that much time, turn it to high and cook till done} About 4 hours into it, I flip over the roast. That way one side doesn't get more moist than the other sitting in all the now juicy water. Then, about 6 hours into it, I put more seasoning on the meat...both sides. Mmmmmm....your house should smell really good at this point.

Once the meat is done, remove from crock pot and let cool for about 5 minutes to let the juices settle. Then, using two forks, shred meat into VERY small chunks.

You now have yummy Shredded Taco Meat. Jaysen enjoys this so much I now have to cook it monthly. I'm not kidding either. I don't mind. It's yummy.

I used this seasoning for my regular ground turkey tacos last night and it was really good too. Just add 1/3 cup of water to the meat before adding the seasoning. It's my new favorite.

Ooey Gooey Turtle Bars

I made these for Girls Night last night and they were soooo yummy. Plan ahead for these though as you want them to have plenty of time to cool and set up.

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® Create 'n Bake® refrigerated sugar cookies
1 bag (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
3 cups Fisher® Chef's Naturals® Chopped Pecans
1/2 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter
1/2 cup packed Domino® or C&H® Light Brown Sugar
1 jar (12.25 oz) SMUCKER'S® Caramel Ice Cream Topping
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (16 squares)

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Press cookie dough evenly in bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch pan.
2. Sprinkle 1 cup of the chocolate chips and 1 1/2 cups of the pecans over dough; lightly press into dough. Set aside.
3. In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Stir in brown sugar, caramel topping and graham cracker crumbs. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Pour over crust in pan; spread evenly. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 1/2 cups pecans.
4. Bake 25 to 32 minutes or until edges are deep golden brown and pecans are lightly toasted. Cool on cooling rack 30 minutes; loosen sides from pan, but do not cut. Cool completely, about 3 hours longer. (For firmer bars, let stand an additional 2 hours.) For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.

Ashlee side note: As I have said before...I hate nuts. So, I omitted the layer of pecans in the middle and just used a whole bag of chocolate chips instead of just one cup. Then poured the caramel mixture on top of those and then sprinkled roasted peanuts on top {just a couple of handfuls} and mini chocolate chips on top of those {just a couple of handfuls}. They turned out super gooey and super yummy!

Velvety Vegetable Cheese Soup

This was so simple to make and so yummy! Even Landon raved! It's a great way to get your kids to eat their veggies.

1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen broccoli, cauliflower and carrot blend
2 cans (14 oz. each) fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
3/4 lb. (12 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut up
Salt and pepper to taste

PLACE vegetables and broth in large saucepan; cover. Bring to boil on medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer 10 min. or until vegetables are tender.
MASH vegetables with potato masher to desired consistency.
STIR in VELVEETA; cook 5 min. or until VELVEETA is melted and soup is heated through, stirring frequently.

Ashlee side note: You could just use broccoli or just cauliflower for the soup if you prefer, but it was really good with all three veggies smushed up in there. I did leave a few small chunks because that's the way I like it, but you can make it as smooth as you like.