Blueberry Applesauce Loaf

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Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup apple sauce (natural, cinnamon or sweetened) 1/4 cup 100% Apple Juice 2 eggs 1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries Topping: 2 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon Tip: Using 1/4 cup apple sauce adds 55% DV vitamin C and 1 gram of fiber. Directions: In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar, apple sauce and apple juice. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla. Combine flour, salt and baking powder; add to creamed mixture just until combined. Gently fold in blueberries. Pour into a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over top. Bake at 350°F for 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. FOR BEST RESULTS: Mix the apple sauce with the other "wet" ingredients, such as milk, water and eggs. Don't mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until you are ready to put the pan into the oven. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together gently and as little as possible to avoid a tough batter. Notes: I followed this recipe exactly and it turned out delicious. My kids LOVED it! Good way to get your blueberries in for the day!

Easy Homemade Pancakes

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For months I have been wanting to find a good homemade pancake recipe. Finally I found a yummy one we used this morning. It's definitely a keeper in our home now. No more buying bought mixes. It's much cheaper and healthier to use fresh ingredients!

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour (try whole wheat flour)
• 3/4 cup milk ( or desired consistency)
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  

Directions:

Mix your dry ingredients together, then add in your wet ingredients. Mix until smooth and to desired consistency (add a bit more milk if batter is too thick), using beaters or blender. I used a 1/4 c. measuring for each pancake. Pour out onto semi-hot griddle or skillet; not too hot or the middle of your pancakes won’t cook through. When it’s bubbled up on one side, flip! Serve with your favorite syrup, fruit or sugar!

Half & Half Substitute

I ended up making the Chicken Florentine recipe and realized I had no half & half. I ended up finding out about this substitute, so I thought I'd share. So in the future, if you don't have half & half, feel free to use the substitute below:

1 tbsp. of butter
1 cup of milk

Melt the butter and then add milk to make one full cup. Mix well. Voila! Refrigerate leftovers. It's that easy!

I used this for the Florentine recipe tonight, and it turned out great! By the way, if you want to make a romantic Valentine's dinner for your honey... I sooooo recommend this Florentine chicken! My hub said to me tonight, "I feel like I'm eating at Macaroni Grill, it's that good!"

Chicken Florentine

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Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 (13.5 ounce) cans spinach, drained
• 4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 2/3 cup bacon bits
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
   
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute the spinach, garlic, and mushrooms and then place in bottom of dish.
3. Place the uncooked chicken on top of spinach mixture.
   
4. In a separate bowl combine lemon juice, soup, Italian season, half & half and Parmesan. Spread this sauce on top of the raw chicken and topped it off with real crumbled bacon. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.
   
5. Remove from oven and topped with 1 cup mozzarella and continued baking for 10 minutes at 350.
   

Notes:
This chicken is AMAZING! Seriously it reminded me of a chicken dish from Olive Garden. It is so moist, yet rich. Instead of using mozzarella, I used Havarti. I just laid small slices directly on the chicken breast. Also, I used fresh spinach versus can. I sauteed about half a bag of spinach. I also used freshly cooked bacon & crumbled it! I also sprinkled a few dry Italian bread crumbs for texture. I would definitely serve this with some angel hair pasta next time around. I promise you that you won't be disappointed with this dish!

Honey-Ginger Baked Salmon

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Ingredients:
1/3 c. orange juice
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/3 C. honey
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1 Tbsp ginger, minced
4 salmon fillets
1/4 c. green onions. sliced

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine orange juice, soy sauce, honey, garlic & ginger. Reserve 2/3 cup of marinade. Place remaining marinade in a shallow 11x7 baking dish. Add salmon fillets; turn twice to coat with marinade, place aluminum foil-lined baking pan and bake for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, return 2/3 cup reserved marinade to small saucepan and simmer over med-high heat for 5 minutes or until syrupy. Remove fillets from oven and serve over rice. Top with sauce and garnish with green onions. Serves 4.

Notes:
I just love fish recipes! #1 They are healthy #2 They don't take long to make #3 They are easy.
I actually got this recipe from a Success Rice package, and it turned out fabulous. My kids absolutely loved it. It left us not feeling full, but just rightt. I didn't have salmon on hand, so I substituted tilapia instead. It was just as good! I also didn't have any fresh ginger on hand, so I substituted 1/2 tbsp of ginger powder. Serve it over brown rice to make it an even healthier meal.

Berry Smoothie

As long as they are homemade & not loaded with sugar, SMOOTHIES can be a nutritional way to make sure you reach your quota of fruits, veggies, and dairy. Recently I read in the Women's Health, Eat This Not That! Special, that by incorporating smoothies into your diet can help you loose an annual weight loss of 10 lbs! This study was quit interesting:

"Researchers at the University of Tennessee discovered that people who added three servings of yogurt a day to their diets lost 61 percent more body fat--not to mention 81 percent more belly fat!--than the study participants who didn't consume yogurt. The reason for this, the researchers think, is that the calcium in the yogurt not only helps your body burn fat but also helps limit the amount of new fat your body can make" (Women's Health, pg 100).

Ingredients

1 ripe, medium banana, peeled 

3/4 cup pineapple juice 

1 carton (6 oz.) blueberry or mixed berries yogurt 

1 cup frozen/fresh blueberries, partially thawed

Directions

1. Combine banana, pineapple juice, yogurt and frozen fruit in blender or food processor container. Cover; blend until smooth.

Note: I didn't have a berry yogurt on hand, so I used some vanilla yogurt as a substitute. Yummy! Also my berries were not frozen. I used fresh blueberries and just added a few ice cubes to make the smoothie cold!

Crockpot Southwest Chicken Tacos

I got a new crock pot for Christmas! I've had this small one that my husband won at a company party, but it never was big enough and it's shaped/designed like a football....literally. Luckily for me, my husband likes to spoil me. I now officially have a HUGE Kitchen Aid crock pot, and I'm loving it! Thus you may see some more crock pot recipes from me! I ventured over to see if Kuki's Kookbook had any fun crock pot recipes. Sure enough she had some! Yay!

I ended up trying out this yummy, easy southwest chicken taco recipe. I added the "southwest" to the title because #1 I have another chicken taco recipe I'm gonna share in the future, so I need to tell the difference between the two somehow #2 the corns & beans just yelled southwest to me! So I've designated this recipe "southwest" just because I can!

Crockpot "Southwest" Chicken Tacos

• 2 to 3 chicken breasts
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 can corn
• 1 can black beans, drained

Place all ingredients in the crockpot for 3 to 4 hours on high. just before serving, shred chicken and mix in 1 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup shredded cheese. it will be runny. you can serve in tortillas, taco shells, or you can fry up scones to make navajo tacos. top with- cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, salsa, avocados, or anything else that you like.

Hints: I didn't even add in the sour cream & cheese to the mixture. I ended up just having the two on the side for those who wanted to add it to their taco. It was runny, but the flavor was delicious! We served them on warmed flour tortillas. They were SO good! My family really enjoyed it! FYI- If you don't have a crockpot, all you need to do is slice up some chicken and cook them in a skillet till done. Once chicken is done, add the remainder ingredients, cover, and let simmer on low for at least 20 minutes to soak in the flavor. I'm sure they will turn out just as good!

Lemon Roasted Chicken Recipe

I stumbled across another recipe for whole chicken the other day. It sound way more appealing to me cause of the stuffing and the whole lemons. The last Lemon Roasted Chicken recipe was good, but didn't stand out. Now this LEMON STUFFED CHICKEN recipe DID stand out! It was scrumptious. You can totally taste the lemon much more. It is now my FAVORITE whole chicken recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken
• 2 cups stuffing mix
• 2 lemons
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Stuff the bird with the prepared stuffing and rub the skin with the olive oil. Cut 1 lemon in half; cover the opening of the bird with a lemon half and stuffing (save the other half for garnish). Pour the juice of the second lemon over the bird. Season the bird with the salt, paprika, rosemary and sage.
3. Cover with tin foil and bake in preheated oven for 1 to 2 hours. Remove the cover half way through baking to brown. Baste often.

Tips:

I followed the recipe to a tee. For the garnish, I thinly sliced lemon and place it around potatos and celery that I had around the chicken. I didn't even have to baste at all and the chicken turned out way moist. I also prefer this recipe over the other because this one does not have cream of chicken, making this recipe a lot more healthier! Definitely a keeper! The family LOVED it!