Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

So easy you won't believe it!!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

3 8oz cream cheese
1 1/3 C sugar
Cream until smooth, add:

4 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 pkg mini choc chips
Mix until smooth.

Bake in 2 graham cracker crusts @325 for 50 minutes.


You can add chocolate curls to the top if you want =)

Stuffed Chicken Scallopine

If you don't have fontina I would recommend substituting parmesan =)

Ingredients
6 (4 1/2 to 5 1/2-ounce) chicken cutlets, pounded thin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 sage leaves
3 ounces grated fontina cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, halved
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Special Equipment: toothpicks

Directions
Place the chicken cutlets on a clean work surface, narrow end facing you. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place one sage leaf crosswise on each of the pieces of chicken. Sprinkle each of the pieces of chicken with 1/2 ounce (about 2 tablespoons) of fontina cheese. Roll up the chicken and seal with one or two toothpicks.

Warm the olive oil and halved garlic clove in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until the garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken. Brown the chicken on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pan and remove and discard the garlic. Add the wine and simmer for 2 minutes while scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.

Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes and red pepper flakes in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the tomato mixture to the reduced wine in the pan. Simmer for 5 minutes to let the flavors marry.

Return the chicken to the pan. Simmer the chicken in the tomato sauce for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken over and simmer until cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan. Season the tomato sauce with salt and pepper. Spoon the tomato sauce onto serving plates or a serving platter. Slice the chicken into 1-inch rounds. Remove the toothpicks. Place the chicken over the sauce and serve immediately.

*Giada*

Classic Meatloaf

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 egg, lightly beaten
8 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Topping:
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix all meatloaf ingredients well and place in a baking dish. Shape into a loaf.

Topping:
Mix ingredients for topping and spread on loaf. Bake for 1 hour.

AMAZING! And super moist, not even a little dry

*Paula Deen*

Crab Cakes

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
1 pound crabmeat, picked free of shells
1/3 cup crushed crackers (recommended: Ritz)
3 green onions (green and white parts), finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
Dash cayenne pepper
Flour, for dusting
1/2 cup peanut oil
Favorite dipping sauce, for serving

Directions
In a large bowl, mix together all
ingredients, except for the flour and peanut oil. Shape into patties and dust with flour.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, carefully place crab cakes, in batches, in pan
and fry until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip crab cakes and fry on other side until golden
brown, about 4 minutes. Serve warm with preferred sauce.

Paula Deen's Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients
•2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
•1 cup mayonnaise
•1 cup grated sharp cheddar
•1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
•2 eggs, lightly beaten
•2 cups crushed crackers
•2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, combine broccoli, mayonnaise, cheese, soup and eggs. Mix well with a metal spoon. Place the mixture in the prepared baking dish. Top with the crushed crackers and pour the melted butter evenly over the crackers. Bake for 35 minutes or until set and browned.

Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Chicken

What you need:

3 or 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1/4 cup Sun Dried Tomato dressing from Kraft

1 tomato chopped

1 tbsp dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh

What you do:

Put the chicken in a ziploc bag with about 2 tbsp. of the dressing as a marinade. Shake it up, turn it over, get it covered - then stick it in the fridge

While this is marinating for about 10 minutes, you can chop up your tomato and basil if necessary and get a pan out to grill the chicken.

Place the chicken on the grill or pan and let it cook, covered, for about 5 or 6 minutes.

While this is grilling, combine your tomato, dressing, and basil.

Turn your chicken over and pour your mixture over the top. Continue to cook, covered, for about 8 minutes or until your chicken is done.

Right before you serve, you can grate some mozzarella or parmesan cheese over the top for extra flavor.

Enjoy!

Rigatoni with Squash and Prawns

This is from the kitchen of Giada DeLaurentis. I LOOVE her Italian foods. She does awesome work and is usually pretty reasonable with her time and ingredients list.

Anyway, this is a great one for fall with the squash and garlic! mmmm..

Ingredients

* 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons
* 1 pound butternut squash, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 teaspoon salt, plus 1 teaspoon
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/2 teaspoon
* 1 cup vegetable stock
* 1 pound rigatoni
* 1 pound prawns, peeled and deveined
* 3/4 to 1 cup whole milk
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

Warm 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butternut squash, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Saute until the squash is golden and tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the squash is very soft, another 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the squash mixture to a blender or food processor and puree.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

Meanwhile, warm the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the prawns with the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Add the prawns to the pan and cook until just pink, about 3 minutes.

In a large pot over low heat combine the cooked pasta, pureed squash mixture, and 3/4 cup milk. Stir to combine. Add the remaining 1/4 cup milk if the sauce needs to be moistened. Add the cooked prawns, basil, and cheese. Stir until warm and serve.

Fruit Pizza

This Recipe is from What's Cooking America... so good!!

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 32 minutes

Ingredients:
* 1 (18-ounce) package refrigerated cookie dough
* 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or other flavoring (almond, orange, or lemon)
* Fresh blueberries, banana slices, mandarin orange sections, seedless grapes, strawberry halves, kiwifruit (or any other fruit you want really....
* 1/2 cup orange, peach, or apricot preserves (to make glaze - optional)
* 1 Tablespoon water

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line an ungreased 14-inch pizza pan with cookie dough cut in 1/8-inch slices, overlapping slightly. Bake 12 minutes or until light brown; remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract or other flavoring; spread over cookie crust. Arrange fruit over cream cheese layer in any design you want (use your imagination).

In a small saucepan over very low heat, make a glaze by heating preserves and water. Brush glaze over fruit, making sure to cover the fruit that will turn dark. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Note: This does not keep well, so plan on using it up. You may also use your own sugar cookie recipe in place of the refrigerated dough.

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Gyoza

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground sausage browned
1/2 a cabbage head finely chopped
1 yellow onion finely chopped
garlic to taste
1/4 cup soy sauce (more to taste)
1 package Amazuya (or any other brand) Gyoza or pot-sticker wraps
Oil to fry.

Directions:
Brown Sausage in a frying pan or wok with about a teaspoon of minced garlic. add onions until cooked. Add cabbage and allow to cook before adding soy sauce and more garlic to your taste. stir all together and remove from heat. Put a small spoonful in the middle of one Gyoza wrapper. Dip your finger in water and run your finger around the edge of the gyoza. Now fold the two sides together and pinch with fingers or press with the edge of a fork until sealed tight. Place gyozas into a pan with hot oil and fry until barely browned on both sides. Remove and place on paper towel to absorb oil. Layer as necessary depending on how many gyoza you have made. Enjoy!
**I like transferring the meat and onion and garlic to a large pot before adding cabbage to let it cook down so its easier to stir around.

Easy Breezy Beautiful Boston Cream Pie

Yum!! (Courtesy of Jello Recipes)

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 cup cold milk
1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
1 round yellow cake layer (8 or 9 inch) prepared as directed.
1 square BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate
1 Tbsp. butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. cold milk

BEAT pudding mix and 1 cup milk with whisk 2 min. Stir in COOL WHIP. Let stand 5 min. Meanwhile, cut cake horizontally into 2 layers with serrated knife.
STACK cake layers on serving plate, spreading pudding mixture between layers.
MICROWAVE chocolate and butter on HIGH 1 min.; stir until chocolate is melted. Add sugar and 2 Tbsp. milk; mix well. Spread over cake. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Mediterranean Chicken Packets

I'm making this for dinner tonight =) Its from Martha Stewart Everyday Food. Fantastic Recipe Magazine!!!

Ingredients (Serves 4.)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
4 artichoke hearts (from a 14-ounce can), quartered
12 Kalamata olives, halved and pitted
4 teaspoons capers
1/2 cup crumbled feta (2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place four 12-inch squares of parchment paper or heavy-duty foil on a work surface. Place a chicken breast on one half of each square, leaving a 2-inch border; season with salt and pepper.
Dividing evenly, top chicken with tomatoes, artichokes, olives, capers, and feta. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and oil. Fold parchment over ingredients, and crimp edges to seal.
Place packets on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until chicken is opaque throughout, 20 to 22 minutes.

Easy Crockpot Chicken

Super Easy and just an all around "comfort food" type meal.

Ingredients:
4 Chicken Breasts
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Can Chicken Gumbo Soup

Directions:
Mix the soups and pour over chicken in crockpot. Cook for 3 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low.



... I told you it was easy =)

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

Mix
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup milk in large bowl until well blended

Add
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks
2 tsp. CALUMET Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
Stir just until moistened. Grease 5x9 loaf pan; fill with batter.

BAKE at 300 degrees for 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature. Cut into 18 slices to serve.

Beef Stroganoff

30 Minutes or less, perfect.

Ingredients:
1 lb. beef sirloin steak, cut into strips
1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
1 Tbsp. oil
1 can (8 oz.) mushroom pieces and stems, undrained
2 beef bouillon cubes
4 cups (8 oz.) medium egg noodles, uncooked
1 container (8 oz.) Sour Cream

Directions:
BROWN steak with onion in hot oil in large skillet.
STIR in 1-1/2 cups water, mushrooms and liquid, the bouillon cubes and noodles. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover. Simmer 10 to 12 min. or until noodles are tender.
STIR in sour cream; cook an additional 2 min., stirring occasionally.

Low Sodium, Low Fat Chicken

Low Fat. Low Sodium. Just the way I like it!

Heat about 2 tbls Olive oil in a frying pan. Place 2 chicken breasts in the pan about one minute each side. Sprinkle with your favorite Mrs. Dash seasonings (I used original blend) and cook another 2 minutes each side. Continue to cook covered as much as possible (of course flip the chicken over every now and again) Low Sodium and Seriously good. Who knew???