Breaded Pork Medallions & Cookbook GIVEAWAY!

*Edited: Congrats to Sarah, Radom.org chose #94 as the winner of Jane's Make Ahead Meals for Busy Mom's cookbook!
I was thrilled when I was recently contacted by Jane Doiron to review her cookbook, Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms. By the title alone, I knew I was going to LOVE this cookbook!

Jane's book is filled with tips and recipes that are based on the idea of preparing ingredients or the entire meal ahead of time and then being able to quickly pop it in the oven when you are ready to eat. The book contains 140 recipes that include appetizers, breakfast and brunch, main dishes, side dishes, soup, and desserts.

Right away I was impressed with the large, clear, easy to read font. The recipes are easy enough for any level of cook to handle and the instructions are well laid out and include directions for making ahead.

The book does not include mouthwatering photos with the recipes, but that didn't seem to matter, as I quickly found several recipes that I knew my family would enjoy.

Boy was I right!! The first recipe I tried was the Panko Breaded Pork Medallions and it was a HUGE hit!! Everyone gave it two thumbs up, and we actually made it again the following week! The only things I did different with the recipe was; I only used 1 pork tenderloin, I did not use Panko bread crumbs, I had Progresso and I did not make mine a day ahead.

Breaded Pork Medallions
(adapted from Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms)

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients:

1 Pork Tenderloin (1 pound)
Garlic & Herb Spreadable Cheese (I used 4 triangle of Laughing Cow)
1.5 cups Italian-style bread crumbs

• Spray a large sheet pan with nonstick spray; set aside.

• Rinse the pork under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.

• Cut 1-inch slice medallions; set aside on paper towel.

• Lay all of pork out on paper towel or cutting board, cover with plastic wrap and pound each piece with a kitchen mallet until all pieces are 1/4" thin.

• Using a butter knife, spread a very light coating of the spreadable cheese on each side of the medallions.
  

• Coat each slice in the bread crumbs.
  

• Place on sheet pan.

• If you wish to make these a day ahead, cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate. The following day, remove from refrigerator 20-30 mins. before cooking. (I did not do this part)

• Spray the tops of the pork with nonstick spray and bake in a 400° preheated oven for 30 mins.
  

(printable recipe)

ENJOY!!



I'm sharing this recipe at Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam Mouth Watering Mondays and Tuesdays at the Table, Tuesday Tastes, Foodie Friday recipe exchanges, and and Kimba's DIY Day

This is such a great cook book to have on hand, and I love
that it doesn't have a lot of unusual ingredients!

Available at Barnes & Nobel and Amazon

or you can

WIN IT!!

One lucky TidyMom reader will receive their own copy of Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms from Jane Doiron

REQUIRED ENTRY (Open to US residents only): Visit Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms and tell me something you would like to try!

***NOTE: Be SURE leave your email address in the body of your comment or make your email address visible in your profile. If I cannot contact you, you can't win!

Additional Entries (leave a separate comment for each)

2. Follow/Subscribe to TidyMom (let me know that you do)

3. Follow me on Twitter and Tweet (one time only) : I want to win a Make Ahead Meals Cookbook from @janedoiron and @TidyMom http://bit.ly/cwZBNG #giveaway #recipes

4. Fan/Like TidyMom on Facebook here. (or tell me if you already are)

5. Fan/Like Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms on Facebook
and post on her Wall telling her that TidyMom sent you!


Giveaway will end on May 24, 2010 at 5 pm CST. One winner with a valid entry will be selected at random using random.org. I will email the winner, they have 48 hours to claim the prize or I will choose someone else. Be sure to leave your email address, or have it available on your blogger profile.

Disclaimer: I was provided with my own Make Ahead Meals for Busy Mom's cookbook, I was in no other way compensated to publish this post. These are my real opinions.

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Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas

Last week I posted a YUMMY recipe for Honey-Lime Enchiladas that would be perfect for Cinco de Mayo, but if Enchiladas aren't your "thing" you may like these Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas.
They are quick and easy......and not as spicy as the enchiladas.....so kids may enjoy this meal a little more.

We make these ALL the time!

EDITED to say this recipe WON
Tuesday Taste Peoples Choice Award
over at Crazy Daisy!!




Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas

(printable recipe)

Serves 3-4 (*this can be easily adapted to however many servings you need, this is just what I usually fix)

Ingredients:
1.5-2 cups cooked chicken (I use 1.5 bags of Tyson grilled chicken)
Taco Seasoning packet
water
4 flour tortillas (8 inch)
2 T melted butter
1.5 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (or cheddar)
lettuce
Sour cream or Ranch dressing

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 475°
  
• In a skillet, heat chicken.
• Add taco seasoning, mix with water according to package
• Brush one side of each tortilla with melted butter; place buttered side down on a lightly greased baking sheet.
• Spoon 1/4 of chicken mixture over half of each tortilla
• Sprinkle each with 1/3 cup cheese
• Fold tortilla over chicken and cheese.
  
• Bake at 475 for 10 mins.
• Cut in half with a pizza cutter and enjoy!

We like to open ours and add lettuce and sour cream, or dunk in ranch dressing.

Do you make Mexican for dinner on Cinco de Mayo?

I have been nominated over at i am mommy for "Best Overall Blog"
I would love your forever if you could head over and put in a vote!
There are several categories.....I think you'll spot a few other fabulous bloggers you might like to vote for as well!! - Only one week to vote!

**The winner of each category will receive a $50 cash prize.......If I win I plan to spend a day using the $50 to perform Random Acts of Kindness. (inspired by this post)

Click here to vote at i am mommy

I'm sharing this recipe at Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam Mouth Watering Mondays and Tuesdays at the Table, Tuesday Tastes, Foodie Friday recipe exchanges.



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Honey-Lime Chicken Enchiladas

With Cinco de Mayo quickly approaching I thought it would be a good time to share a new recipe we tried recently that will definitely be added to our rotation of family favorites!!


I had never made, and I'm not sure I had ever eaten, Enchiladas but it certainly sounded like something we'd like, and this one got two thumbs up from everyone! Any time I find a recipe that is liked by the whole family......it's a keeper for me!!

It doesn't take a pretty picture, but it sure is delicious!!



Honey Lime Enchiladas
( adapted from Sister's Cafe)

(Printable Recipe here)

*This recipe does require some prep time -

about 45 mins if you're using cooked chicken

or about 1 hour 15 mins. if you need to cook your chicken

Ingredients:
2 pounds chicken, cooked and shredded

Sauce:

3 T. honey

1/4 c lime juice

1 Tb chipotle chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 (10 oz) cans green enchilada sauce (mild)

3-4 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

6 flour tortillas

I put a few thawed chicken breasts in a 350° oven for about 35-40min, then shred (you could do this a head of time, even the day before) - or you could use a cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocer.

Mix together sauce ingredients then add to chicken. Let it marinate with the meat for about 30 minutes.

Lightly spray a 9x13 pan with no-stick spray.

Pour enough enchilada sauce to cover the bottom of the pan (about 1/2 to 3/4 cup).

Fill flour tortillas with chicken and *shredded cheese and just a little enchilada sauce (*be sure to save about 1 cup of cheese to sprinkle on top of enchiladas).

Roll and place filled enchiladas in pan on top of sauce.

Mix the remaining enchilada sauce with the cream and leftover marinade, if you have any.

Pour sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until brown on top.

Then turn on broiler and place enchiladas nearer the top of oven. Let it broil until cheese is slightly brown and crispy. (I forgot to do this, but can't wait to do this the next time I make them)

Give it a try..........I bet your family will thank you as much as mine did!!

I'm sharing this recipe at Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam Mouth Watering Mondays and Tuesdays at the Table, Tuesday Tastes, Foodie Friday recipe exchanges, and Kimba's DIY Day and Friday Fun Finds

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Roasted Parmesan Asparagus

Do you know that I never ate Asparagus until I was in my 30's....and then I never even cooked them until last year?

They are now one of my most favorite vegetables.

I found out at Easter my mom doesn't like them, so she never fixed them when I was growing up.

They're so simple to fix like this and packed with flavor! We will often eat them two or three nights a week!

I found these directions online a year or so ago, I believe the recipe came from ~ Ina Garten the Barefoot Contessa.

Roasted Parmesan Asparagus
(printable recipe)

Just a few simple steps:
Preheat Oven to 400°

1. Cut off about an inch from the bottom on the stalks.
2. Lay asparagus in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
   
3. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper.
4. Place in oven to roast for approximately 10 min. - thinner asparagus may need less time. I just guess the thinner ones like above I only roast for about 7-8 mins. but when I get the big fat ones I roast them for the full 10 mins.
   
5. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and return to oven for one to two mins until the cheese melts and turns a little brown.

Do you like Asparagus? If so, do you have a favorite way to fix them?


I'm sharing this recipe at Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam Mouth Watering Mondays and Tuesdays at the Table, Foodie Friday recipe exchanges, and Kimba's DIY Day

Raspberry Filled Vanilla Cupcakes

So last week I showed you the cookies I made for Easter.

But Sunshine wanted cupcakes.

I wanted simple.

I was originally just going to make Vanilla cupcakes with Vanilla Butter Cream frosting.

But I thought that sounded a little boring......

what could I do to "kick it up a notch?"

When I thought.........RASPBERRY FILLING!!

These were really easy when I used the secret trick of making a box mix taste like homemade!

French Vanilla Cupcakes

(print recipe here)

1 box Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe French Vanilla (this is my FAVORITE vanilla cake mix)

3 Large Eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted (use butter not margarine....trust me on this!)

1 cup of water

Directions

Melt the butter in the microwave.

Add cake mix, eggs and water to the butter in large bowl.

Mix on low for 1 min. Then mix on high for 1 min.

You will be amazed that your batter is nice and thick and creamy - not thin and runny like it is when you follow the box instructions.

Fill cupcake papers - tip: use an icecream scooper! - One scoop is just the right amount per cupcake!

Pop them in the oven on 350 for 20 minutes.

Let cool.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the raspberry filling

Raspberry Filling

2 full cups frozen unsweetened raspberries, thaw with 1/4 cup sugar (or thaw sweetened raspberries with out adding sugar, unsweeted was what I had on hand)

1/3 cup sugar

1-1/4 cups water*

6 Tbsp flour (or 3 T. corn starch - I didn't have corn starch)

1 tsp lemon juice

In a medium sauce pan, combine water*, sugar, flour and lemon juice and mix well. If there is any juice in your raspberries, drain the juice and add to water = 1-1/4 liquid. (I didn't have much juice at all, but if you by sweetened raspberries, they may yield more sauce.)

Heat and stir until mixture boils and thickens.

Cool completely.

Stir in thawed raspberries.

Yields approximately 2 cups of filling.

(I made 1/2 of this recipe because I didn't want to fill all of my cupcakes.)

Filling your cupcakes

1. Bake cupcakes and cool completely
2. Cut out a small cone shaped section in the center of the cupcake
   
3. add raspberry filling to the hole
4. replace the tops (just do the best you can- they don't have to be perfect)
5. Now they are ready to frost.

Butter Cream Frosting

1 cup real butter (not margarine) *room temperature
1 cup vegetable shortening
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar
1/4 - 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
paste food coloring

Thoroughly cream butter and shortening . Beat in the vanilla. Add sugar, one cup at a time until blended. When the sugar is completely beaten in and the sides of the bowl are scraped down, add the whipping cream, beating at the highest speed until super fluffy, about one minute.

If you wish to add color to your frosting, like I did, use the gel paste food coloring. It's stronger and more vibrant. Add frosting to a pastry bag with your favorite tip and frost! I only filled 1/2 of my cupcakes, so I frosted the filled cupcakes in white frosting with sprinkles....the cupcakes with the pink and yellow frosting do not have filling.

(print full recipe here)

If you enjoy filled cupcakes, you may want to check out the Chocolate Strawberry Filled Cupcakes I made.

I Heart Faces is hosting

My Story in Photos: Dessert Edition

I'm sure there will be some AMAZING recipes and photos!!

I'm also linking this post to Sweet Shot Tuesdays!

I'm sharing this recipe at Bake at 350, Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam Mouth Watering Mondays and Tuesdays at the Table, Cupcake Tuesday, Foodie Friday Make Ahead Meals (Cakes) recipe exchanges, and Kimba's DIY Day, and Strut Your Stuff and Spring Fever Friday and Tip Me Tuesday,

This post sponsored by:

want to see your ad here? contact me



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Easter Morning Casseroles & Crunchy Coated Bacon!

Can you believe it's almost Easter? Time to follow Mr. Bunny's trail, hunt for eggs and devour our weight in chocolate eggs, jelly beans and peeps!

Growing up, we often went out for Easter brunch, but we haven't done that in years. I have recently found some great breakfast casseroles that can be made ahead of time, so you can have most of the messy part out of the way on Easter morning.

We had these on Christmas morning at our house it they were all a big hit!

Praline French Toast
from King Arthur Flour
I've added my notes in purple

(Printable recipe)

Glaze

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey, maple syrup or corn syrup (I used Mrs. Butterworth Syrup)
  

Bread

• French or Italian bread sliced 1/2" thick, enough to cover the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan (I used a loaf of rustic french bread)
  

Custard

• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream, half and half, milk, or fat-free half and half (I used heavy whipping cream)
  
• 5 large eggs, or 1 1/4 cups egg substitute
• 1/2 teaspoon flavor: pralines & cream, eggnog, vanilla-butternut, Amaretto, or your choice; OR 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I just used my Mexican Vanilla)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Glaze

• 4 ounces butter
• 7 1/2 ounces brown sugar
• 1 3/8 ounces maple syrup or corn syrup, or 1 1/2 ounces honey

Bread

• French or Italian bread sliced 1/2" thick, enough to cover the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan

Custard

• 12 ounces whipping cream, half and half, milk, or fat-free half and half
• 5 large eggs, or 10 ounces egg substitute
• 1/2 teaspoon flavor: pralines & cream, eggnog, vanilla-butternut, Amaretto, or your choice; OR 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping

• 3 3/4 ounces brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1) Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan or shallow 2-quart casserole.

2) To make the glaze: Melt the butter in a saucepan, and stir in the brown sugar and syrup. Bring the mixture to a simmer, cooking until the sugar melts.Pour the glaze into the prepared pan, spreading it to the corners.

3) Lay the slices of bread in the pan, atop the glaze.

4) To make the custard, whisk together the cream, half and half, or milk, eggs or egg substitute, the flavor, and the salt. Pour it over the bread in the pan, pressing the bread down into the custard.

5) Cover the pan, and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 24 hours.

6) When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F.

7) Make the topping by stirring together the brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Sprinkle it evenly over the bread.

8) Bake the French toast for 40 to 45 minutes, until it's bubbly and the top is very lightly browned.

9) Remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Serve individual slices of bread, turning it over on the plate so the syrupy bottom is on top.

Yield: 9 to 12 servings.

Weekend Brunch Casserole
from a member on Fishing For Deals
(printable recipe)

I'm not sure if you can make this ahead of time - but if you brown the sausage the day before, it would take no time to throw it all together.

1 pound Bob Evans Original Recipe Sausage Roll
2-½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I used a mix of cheeses, mozzarella, cheddar, colby)
1 (8 oz) can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

• Preheat Oven to 425
• Crumble and cook sausage in skillet over medium heat until browned. Drain.
• Line bottom of greased 9"x13" baking dish with crescent roll dough, firmly pressing perforations to seal.
  
• Sprinkle with sausage and cheese.
  
• Whisk, eggs, milk, salt and pepper in bowl until blended and pour over sausage.
• Bake 15 mins. or until set.
  
• Let stand 5 mins. before cutting and serving
  
• Refrigerate leftovers
  

Don't forget the bacon.......everything is better with bacon right?

Well, if you like bacon, you will LOVE bacon cooked this way! It's easy too!!

Crunchy Coated Bacon
(printable recipe)

• Line a large cookie sheet with edge with parchment paper or tin foil
  
• preheat oven to 350°
  
• coat thick sliced bacon in flour
• lay on cookie sheet (do not overlap)
  
• bake for 30 mins.
  

*Be very careful removing the pan from the oven.

The bacon holds it shape, with very little curling and is SOOO good with the crispy crunchy coating the flour gives it!! - You'll never want to fry bacon again!

I hope you get to celebrate with friends & family and enjoy the day on Sunday!


I'm sharing these recipes at Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam Mouth Watering Mondays and Tuesdays at the Table, Ultimate Recipe Swap Foodie Friday recipe exchanges, and Kimba's DIY Day, and Strut Your Stuff , Bake at 350

French Vanilla Butter Rum Mardi Gras Cupcakes

It is officially Mardi Gras Carnival Season , and Fat Tuesday - Mardi Gras - is just around the corner. February 16th, to be exact. So I was excited when my friend Debbie asked if I would like to make some Mardi Gras cupcakes!

You can win your own Mardi Gras Celbration from Community Coffee and Lagniappe Marketing by clicking here (ends 2-12-10 at noon EST)

The King Cake might be the traditional sweet on Mardi Gras, but these fun cupcakes are decorated with traditional Mardi Gras colors: purple represents justice, green represents faith and gold represents power.

French Vanilla Butter Rum Cupcakes
(printable recipe)

1 French Vanilla cake mix
1 1.75oz (4 serving) instant French vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
4 eggs
1tsp vanilla
1/2 C cold milk
1/2 C melted butter (not margarine)
1/2 C rum (I used Capt. Morgan which is a spiced rum)

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine all ingredients and beat for 2 minutes. Pour into lined cupcake pans and bake for 22-24 mins. Cool slightly on a rack.
*these would also be good with a toasted pecan in each cupcake (my family wont eat nuts, so I didn't put them in mine)

Butter Rum Glaze

1 stick butter
1/4 C water
1 C sugar
1/2 C rum

Melt butter in a saucepan and stir in the water and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and slowly stir in the rum.

Let the glaze cool down a little.
Dip the tops of the cooled cupcakes in the glaze.

Butter Cream Frosting

1 cup real butter (not margarine) *room temperature
1 cup vegetable shortening
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar
1/4 - 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
paste food coloring

Thoroughly cream butter and shortening . Beat in the vanilla. Add sugar, one cup at a time until blended. When the sugar is completely beaten in and the sides of the bowl are scraped down, add the whipping cream, beating at the highest speed until super fluffy, about one minute.

If you wish to add color to your frosting, like I did for these Mardi Gras colors, use the gel paste food coloring. It's stronger and more vibrant.

Pipe frosting on top of glazed cupcake then drizzle a little more glaze over the butter cream frosting and top with chunky sugar sprinkles.

**I have to be honest, piping 3 colors was NOT an easy task, only about 1/2 of my cupcakes came out looking good, the others were either missing a color, or the colors started to mix and looked gray or brown......if anyone has any tips on piping 3 colors I'd love to hear them!!
How did I do it?- I divided my frosting into 3 bowls and colored each. I then spooned a big scoop of each color into the bag, trying the best I could to get them side by side. I then squeezed the frosting into another bowl until all three color started to come out---then I piped onto the cupcakes, using my 1M tip.

These were FAN-TAS-TIC!
Seriously... GO...make these... now!!

♥My kitchen smelled SOOOO wonderful even the next day!♥

I'm sharing this recipe at Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam Mouth Watering Mondays and Tuesdays at the Table, Cupcake Tuesday, and Foodie Friday recipe exchanges, and Kimba's DIY Day.

These cupcakes were featured over at Party Cupcake Ideas! Head over and check out Melody's blog, it's chock full of ideas for weddings, showers and parties!

Chocolate {Valentine} Cutout Cookies

I first saw these cookies on Flickr. Glorious Treats made them.......and they look AMAZING!!

Sunshine and I made them over the weekend.......ours don't look as perfect and as glorious as the ones we saw on Flickr........but not bad for our first attempt!

It took a little bit of foot work to track down the recipe, but I found it! Posted here on a cake message board.

Chocolate {Valentine} Cutout Cookies

(printable recipe)

1 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 Tbsp extra-strong coffee or chocolate liqueur *(I used Vanilla with instant coffee mixed in)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Cream together the butter and sugars for 2 minutes.
Scrape the bowl and cream the mixture for an additional minute. Beat in the egg
and coffee or liqueur. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture 1 cup at a time to the butter mixture. Mix well.

Divide dough and chill. Bake 6 to 8 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. This dough can be frozen.

*I got (18) 3" hearts and (9) 4.5" hearts out of one batch.

Ice with Royal Icing. Color with Americolor Super Red and Americolor Deep Pink.

Bridget of Bake at 350 has some GREAT posts on
Royal Icing - just click here to read them!

I'm sharing this recipe at Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam Mouth Watering Mondays and Tuesdays at the Table, Foodie Friday recipe exchanges alos Kimba's DIY Day and Kristin's Works for Me Wednesday. Be sure to visit them for more great recipes and ideas!

I'm linking this post to Hoosier Homemade's Valentine Party!!
Be sure to go over and check out ALL of the Valentine Ideas.....
there are giveaways too!!

**************************************
You won't want to miss Teresa's Pink Party!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

If you're family is like mine.... we LOVE banana's
- yet they always seem to get too ripe before we can eat them all.

I'm starting to believe my family has a strategy
- "if we don't eat the banana's - Mom will make banana bread!"
and they LOVE my banana bread!



You can tell a favorite recipe by how often it is used, and this recipe is one I return to again and again, and is the one recipe I'm asked for more than anything I've made!

The cinnamon and chocolate chips are the surprise flavors in this quick bread!

Banana Bread
(printable recipe)

1 1/4 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3-4 mashed bananas
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 - 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
walnuts if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cream together sugar and butter, add eggs one at a time. Mix in milk, bananas and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients.

(The important thing is you do not want to over mix the batter. You don't want it smooth. Over mixing the batter will give you tough, rubbery bread.)

Pour into greased loaf pan.

Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 60 mins for regular loaf pan, or 30 mins for mini loaves.

ENJOY!


*Tip- you can freeze your ripe bananas if you're not ready to bake when they turn ripe, or if you don't have enough - I usually have a freezer full of bananas. Just remove the skins, and put the bananas in a zip-lock bag and place in the freezer - thaw when ready to make bread! They will keep for about six months in the freezer.

I'm sharing this recipe at Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam Mouth Watering Mondays and Tuesdays at the Table recipe exchanges and Kimba's DIY Day. Be sure to visit them for more great recipes and ideas!

** Have you noticed?? I'm now making all of my recipes printer friendly! I'm going thru and trying to make a printable recipe for my archives.....so give me a little time on that. But each time I post a new recipe, there will be a printable version you can click on!

Make sure you check out what Amy at Living Locurto is doing!!

She has featured 5 of my recipes in this week's Weekly Menu Plan AND has put it all into a fantastic FREE printable PDF file with pictures, recipes, and even a shopping list all made out for you!!

Click here for this weeks Weekly Menu Plan!

I'll be working with Amy on more weekly menu plans.........so be sure to follow her, you wont want to miss a week!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ONE MORE ANNOUNCEMENT.....

My Camera Strap Cover tutorial is the

"Craft of the Day"

on Craftig today!!!

Take a look, it's FABULOUS site full of crafting ideas!

Slow Cooker BBQ Beef {Country Bob's Giveaway}

My family likes to BBQ year round! When it's too cold or wet to actually BBQ outside on the grill, then I like to use BBQ sauce in my slow cooker.

I was just thrilled when Country Bob's contacted me about trying their All Purpose Sauce.


According to the Country Bob’s website, the original recipe for the All Purpose sauce goes back to 1968. In addition, “it is the perfect complement to practically any meal set on your table”. The company is committed to offering their customers the best tasting and highest quality products.

There are many recipes on the Country Bob’s website but I knew just the recipe that I wanted to use with this sauce..........

Now, I know how impressed your going to be with the name of this recipe
.....but what can I say, I'm just that creative with titles
..........hold on
......are you ready for it?

Slow Cooker BBQ Beef
told you you'd be blown away by that title!

What you will need:
2 pound Chuck roast***
(there's only 3 of us, so I don't need a very big roast)
1 Cup Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce
1/2 cup Italian Dressing
2 Tbsp C&H Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

• In a small bowl mix Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce, dressing sugar and Worcestershire sauce.
• Place the roast in slow cooker.
• Pour sauce mix over roast.
• Cook on low for 8 hours.
• Remove roast and place on platter or cutting board
• Shred roast with knife and fork, then return to sauce
• Serve on hoagie rolls or your favorite buns.

**You can also make this using chicken breasts.

We ate this so fast I was unable to get pictures of the shredded beef on our buns. We LOVED it!! We will definitely be using Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce again in this recipe and others! Next time I'm going to try it with Country Bob's BBQ sauce! ......I will have to pick some up in our local grocery store, because Sunshine has managed to polish of the second bottle Country Bob's sent me. She likes to use it to dip almost every meat I make and on sandwiches. If you can't find it at your local grocer, Country Bob's sells all of their products online as well .

Win It!
Two lucky TidyMom readers will each get 2 bottles of the All Purpose Sauce,
courtesy of Country Bob’s.

To enter, please visit Country Bob's and comment below what dish from their awesome recipe collection you would use Country Bob’s on.

You can get extra entries for doing any or all of the following – please leave a separate comment for each:

• follow/ subscribe to TidyMom.net (if you already do just leave a comment letting me know)
  
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I'm sharing this recipe at Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Balancing Beauty and Bedlam Mouth Watering Mondays and Tuesdays at the Table ,Crockpot Wednesdays , recipe exchanges and Kimba's DIY Day. Be sure to visit them for more great recipes and ideas!

Garlic Chicken Puffs & Christmas Party!

We had a GREAT time at a family Christmas party on Sunday.

I have to share my aunts home with you all!

She decorates for Christmas in Turquoise and Red,

and their finished basement is St. Louis Cardinals themed.

Don't you just love all the little touches, the ornament balls on top the votive candle holders? The Santa hats lined up on a shelf, the baseballs mixed with ornaments! That white tree changes colors, well the lights change colors, she also has these adorable red feather wreaths that I didn't get a good picture of to show you, but they are adorable with a turquoise bow and turquoise ornament hanging in the middle!

We snacked, we drank, we played a White Elephant Ornament Exchange, this year all 17 people played!

and we laughed.....

Everyone brought an appetizer.

I brought something I had at my nieces house a few months ago, so I called her for the recipe.

Garlic Chicken Puffs!

These are a rich creamy garlic chicken mixture inside a croissant and baked to form yummy puffs. A big crowd pleaser and great for gatherings!

They are a little messy to make, and I think I filled mine a little too much, so some of the chicken mixture oozed out, but still tasted DELICIOUS!

Garlic Chicken Puffs

Printable recipe

yields 32 puffs (I made a double batch)

4 ounces cream cheese

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup cooked shredded chicken*

2 cans refrigerator crescent rolls

Mix cream cheese, garlic and chicken until well blended.

Unroll crescent rolls and cut each triangle into 2 triangles (when you unroll the crescent rolls, 2 triangles are attached making a big square, I just cut from there following the perforation for one cut and made another cut from the other corners = giving you 4 little triangles)

Place 1 tsp of chicken mixture on the center of each triangle and fold the corners in over the creamy mixture.

Place on cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 12-14 mins.

I used 2 cookie sheets at a time, and had to bake 3 batches to get all of mine baked (so allow for that time if you're making a lot)

Also, mine were ready in about 11 mins, so watch for how your oven cooks.

*For cooked chicken, I buy those big bags of frozen chicken tenderloins, I just threw 6 of them on a cookie sheet and baked for about 25 mins.

I'm sharing this recipe at Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday, Dining With Debbie , Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tuesdays at the Table , Blissfully Domestic recipe exchanges and Kimba's DIY Day.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

Is it a cookie? or is it a Brownie?

Warning...........

I take no responsibility to what this post may do to your waistline!

Truly the best description of these bars is, they are absolutely phenomenal! Imagine this: rich, decadent brownies topped with chocolate chip cookie dough! Topped again with Chocolate ganache! you just can’t get much better than these bars! Part Brownie, part cookie! It’s everything you know and love, baked up into one amazing dessert.

Make these and all of your family and friends will love you forever. ~ I made them for Hollywood's 22nd birthday!! They were a huge hit!

The best part, besides how amazingly yummy they are.....they are AMAZINGLY EASY!

All you need is your favorite brownie mix and a pouch of Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix.

Here's what I used - we LOVE the Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownies (I mixed up 2 boxes because they make a small batch of brownies) and One pouch of Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Follow the directions on the box for making the brownies and pour into a greased 9 X13 pan.

Next, mix the cookie dough as directed on the pouch and drop by rounded tablespoons into the brownie batter. I pressed the dough down lightly into the brownie batter.

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. When they’re done, take them out and let them cool completely.

The Betty Crocker website suggests you frost with a can of Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Chocolate Frosting, but I made Chocolate ganache!

Chocolate Ganache
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
6 Tbsp butter

• In a small saucepan, heat cream and butter until just before the boiling stage.
• Pour over the chocolate morsels.
• Stir until smooth.

Pour ganache on top and spread it out evenly. You will want to let the ganache set up before cutting.

Once the ganache has set, then cut the brownies and enjoy.

print this recipe here

They sure look YUMMY!

They taste even better!

Source: Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

*Tip from the Betty Crocker Kitchens*
This is one of those little secrets we know you’ll love! Cutting brownies or any bar with a chewy and dense texture is much easier when you use a plastic knife.

Check out other recipes this week at these great sites!!