White Cheese Chicken Lasagna

Mmmm Ummm Good! Lasagna is a favorite in our house but I wanted to try something different with it. I am so glad I tried this recipe. It does take a crazy long time to make and you will probably dirty every pot and pan you own but the result is well worth it. I first marinated the chicken in Garlic paste , EVOO and salt and pepper for 2 hours. I then cooked in the George Foreman grill and followed the recipe below. I did make about 1/3 more cheese sauce and added broccoli to the mix. It was so delicious!

Ingredients

• 9 lasagna noodles
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and rinse with cold water.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the butter until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly. Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper. Remove from heat, and set aside.
3. Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, the ricotta, and the chicken. Arrange 1/3 of the noodles over the chicken, and layer with 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, and the remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange remaining noodles over cheese, and spread remaining sauce evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with parsley and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been wanting to make some white chocolate chip cookies for quite awhile now but haven't been able to find macadamia nuts. Instead I found this recipe and I had everything else on hand so I made these. OMG so good and not overly sweet. I also added some candied pecans (Trader Joes gotta luv that store)

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter, softened (or butter flavored crisco)
  
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups dried cranberries
• 2/3 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate
• 1/2 cup pecans optional
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Combine oats, flour, salt, and baking soda; stir into butter mixture one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven, or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

Southern Peach Cobbler

Yum. I made this the other day for the hubbie. It was gone in 60 secs. Very easy recipe and turned out delish. Serve with Vanilla Ice cream or cool whip. I got the recipe here at all recipes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup margarine, melted
• 1 (29 ounce) can sliced canned peaches, drained
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Pour milk into dry ingredients and then stir in melted margarine. Mix thoroughly.
3. Grease pan with butter to avoid sticking.Pour mixture into a 9x13 inch baking pan. Arrange peaches on top and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Mango Ginger Chutney

I wanted to try out something new for dinner so I decided to make some grilled Mahi Mahi. This was so good. Recipe also works well with chicken. Or the pre made Ginger mango chutney that you can buy from Trader Joes. I used the george forman grill since its way too cold to go outdoors for grilling.

Ingredients

2 pounds mahi mahi
1 large ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and pureed 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons oil 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mango Chutney
2 large ripe mangos, peeled, pitted, and chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tablespoon lime zest
1/4 teaspoon allspice

Preparation

Rinse Mahi mahi and pat dry. Pierce surface of fish with a fork and place in a resealable plastic bag with pureed mango, balsamic vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Seal bag and marinate in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Combine all chutney ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir well. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Uncover and simmer over low heat for a few minutes more to cook off excess liquid; let cool. (May be made up to 2 weeks ahead. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator.) When ready to serve, remove fish from marinade and grill over medium coals for about 5 to 7 minutes on each side minutes, or until cooked through. Serve with Mango Chutney and rice.

Edamame...eda what?

Edamame are baby soybeans still in the pod and are so good. I tried them for the first time last week at a place called XS in downtown Baltimore and became instantly hooked. Thanks to the lovely Aidah for putting me on to these. I feel like I have been missing out on these my whole life. They are really easy to make and a great healthy snack. Trader Joe's offers the salted and non-salted kind. They both are 10 grams protein and 5 grams of fiber ! I made these tonight with Mahi mahi and brown rice. I am trying to kick the new year off eating healthier dishes :-)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Edamame
Salt - dash of salt

Directions
Boil or steam Edamame of 5 mins.
Sprinkle with salt and serve. Voila! So good.

Buffalo Hot Wings Mmm Umm Good !

I wanted to make some good game night ready food. Me and the hubbie watch a lot of football so decided to make some hot wings and pizza. This recipe was super easy and they were so good. The recipe is supposed to be as close to hooters wings as possible. I cant vouch for that , I have never had Hooters wings but these wings are awesome. These were inhaled at my house, gone in 60 secs lol. Perfect with blue cheese dressing!

Ingredients

• oil for deep frying
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup hot sauce
• 1 dash ground black pepper
• 1 dash garlic powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 chicken wings

Directions

1. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). The oil should be just enough to cover wings entirely, an inch or so deep. Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and reserve for serving.
2. In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Place chicken wings in a large nonporous glass dish or bowl and sprinkle flour mixture over them until they are evenly coated. Cover dish or bowl and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes.
3. Fry coated wings in hot oil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until parts of wings begin to turn brown. Remove from heat, place wings in serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together. Serve.
   

Chocolate chip banana nut muffins

Omg these were so awesome! I had a few bananas going to waste and I hate wasting food. Wasting food is like some sort of crime ...if not it should be. So I decided to make some banana nut muffins. I used a recipe from all recipes then added a few key ingredients to make it delish! These turned out really really good. Perfect for brunch or dessert even. The chocolate chips are not part of the original recipe but give the muffins a nice chocolaty kick.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teas. cinnamon
• 1 teas. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. Almond extract
• 4 oz. cream cheese
  
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas (6-7 bananas)
  
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. *For extra yumminess place cream cheese squares in middle on each muffin then add more batter to cover.
   
4. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

<--- note the cream cheese center in the sliced muffin on the left :-) yum yum