Recent recipes

As hard as it is for me to stand in the kitchen these days, the family has to eat and I love making new, yummy recipes... so it's worth the effort. Here are a few of my recent endeavors:

This taco chicken is amazing. I defrosted the chicken, patted it dry and then coated it in the dry rub. Then I placed it on the grill (grilling is my new favorite thing) and chopped it up to go in tacos. I also went the extra mile by frying corn tortillas to make hard tacos (per Parker's request). They were so delish. I also used the chicken on a quesadilla the next day. Muy bien!

Whenever I make pizza crust at home, I have a hard time stretching it to be a recognizable circle shape. My dough always seems to springy, and it won't hold it's shape. This dough was magic to work with and the pizza tasted legit. I used a holey pizza pan, which I think makes a better pizza than a baking sheet, but what do I know.

I love Outback brown bread... it's so delish and primary reason I go to the restaurant. When I saw a copycat, I knew I had to attempt it. Now for the life of me, I can't find that darn recipe! Anyway, google it. Mine used molasses. Fresh out of the oven, it was so good. It made three large loaves, and I froze the other two. I recently pulled out one of the frozen loaves and while it was good, it wasn't nearly as good as the fresh loaf. Still, it was easy to make and really delicious! I love my standing mixer for making all my breads.

This is my favorite grilled chicken marinade (I usually marinate for a few hours in a plastic bag, after cutting chicken breasts into thin tender-sized pieces). 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup veg oil, 1/2 cup soy sauce, and 1/2 cup vinegar. Grill and enjoy.

We have made this chicken caesar salad recipe in both salad and wrap form. I like that it doesn't use anchovies... no offense to the real deal, I'm just not into working with that ingredient. The dressing tastes really good and uses pretty typical ingredients. Again, I grilled some chicken with salt, pepper, and some lemon pepper. Quick dinner.

These chocolate chip cookies are amazing. Apparently they are what you are given at Doubletree Hotels. Apparently I don't stay in hotels enough! The ground nuts make a big difference in this recipe.

In other news, I am obsessed with Luigi's Italian Ice (lemon flavor)... I could literally exist solely on those cups of goodness (I don't... but I could). They are so good and especially now that it's getting hotter, they are perfection.