Cabbage Rolls

12 cabbage leaves [cover cabbage leaves with boiling water and let stand about 10 minutes or until leaves are limp, remove, drain, peal]

1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
½ cub uncooked instant rice [or 1 cup cooked regular rice]
½ cup tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp garlic salt
1 medium onion, chopped [about ½ cup]
1 can [4 oz] mushroom stems & pieces undrained [if you like]
[I sometimes throw in cracker crumbs or oatmeal to give better consistency]
Mix above, about 1/3 cup in ball & place at stem end of leaf, roll & tuck in leaf.
Place cabbage rolls seam sides down in baking dish or crock pot.

½ bottle small tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp lemon juice
1 tb cornstarch
1 tb water
Mix sauce and pour over cabbage rolls, cover, bake 45 minutes or until meat mixture is done.
OR YOU CAN PUT THIS IN YOUR CROCKPOT and let it simmer on low all day, with a
delicious meal when you get home…my favorite way of doing it.

Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup crushed graham crackers
1 cup butter
3+ cups confectioners sugar
melting chocolate

Method:
Mix together the graham crackers, butter and peanut butter. Slowly add in the sugar until the mixture is no longer sticky to the touch. Shape into desired size balls.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or microwave. Dip peanut butter balls into warm melted chocolate. Decorate as desired.

Crispy Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Our new family favorite!

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup crushed cornflakes cereal or rice krispies
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cups flaked coconut
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture. Add the oatmeal, cereal and coconut and mix until combined.
Drop dough by teaspoonfuls, or use cookie scoop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (I prefer to use). Flatten dough (I just use the palm of my hand). Cookies should be about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cookies should be light brown at the edges and on the bottom. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

While cookies are baking, melt high quality dark chocolate. When cookies are cooled, dip half of cookie in melted chocolate. Let harden. Great to bring to a party when you want a "fancy" cookie.

Brownie Cookies

Brownie Cookies
(Original recipe and picture by Lindsey Johnson)

14 Tbsp. butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1-2 tsp. vanilla extract

Whisk together:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place butter and unsweetened chocolate in a large, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for several minutes on 50% power until melted. Whisk to combine. Add the brown sugar and the cocoa powder. Whisk well until smooth. Let the mixture cool slightly. Add egg and egg yolk, whisking well again. Add the vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients a little at a time and whisk well between additions. (You may need to switch to a wooden spoon towards the end. Add the chocolate chips

Use a small ice cream scoop (1 Tbsp. size) or two spoons to drop tablespoon size balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake cookies for about 8-9 minutes. (Check a little before just to make sure...) The cookies will look dry on top, but will be soft in the middle.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet and then remove to a cooling rack to let the chocolate chips set before storing.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Lemon Crusted Chicken

This is our favorite chicken recipe. Ashley even loves it!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Dipping mixture:
2 egg whites
2 tsp cornstarch
Juice from 1/2 lemon

Crusting mixture:
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
zest from 1 lemon

3 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice chicken into 1/2 lengthwise. Blend eggs, cornstarch and lemon juice. Set aside. Combine crumb mixture. Dip chicken in egg mixture, then in crumb mixture (both sides). Saute chicken in oil in a large skillet over med-high heat until golden and crisp. Carefully turn chicken and transfer skillet to oven. Roast chicken until done (about 8 more minutes). I have also carefully transferred the chicken from the skillet to an oven-safe pan, and it works pretty well. Just be careful to not remove the crust.

Butternut Squash Pasta

I took this recipe from "First Meals", a book Lisa recommended to try to entice Ashley to eat solids. I adapted it a little so that Ben and I would eat it, too. We were pleasantly surprised at how good it was:

3 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
pasta, whatever kind you like
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh sage (I used the ground sage spice)
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Put the squash in a steamer and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Blend to a puree with 4-5 tbsp watter from the bottom of the steamer. Cook the pasta, according to the directions on the box. Melt the butter in a pan, add the sage and cook gently for 1 minute. Mix the sage, butter and Parmesan cheese with the squash and pasta. Also, we recommend adding a little salt to taste.

Margerita Pizza

Okay, here's my fast version. Trader Joe's pizza crust. If I'm in the mood, I'll do homemade crust, but when am I ever in the mood? TJs works for me. Toppings for Margerita: Olive oil, salt and pepper, fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, fresh chopped basil. I also like to add some parmesan cheese around the edge of the crust.