Katy Mom

Wednesday Me For Works

Works For Me Wednesday is backwards this week! I get to receive help from you guys, so PLEASE help a girl out...

I need a good banana bread recipe. Bad.

Mine comes out tasting good enough, but flat as a board and boring. Please either drop the recipe in my comments, or give me the link to your blog if you have the recipe there. Please. My family will thank you!

Submit your own needs over at the Carnival at RocksInMyDryer!

food, WorksForMeWednesday

Chicken Dee-ahna

I am having that warm, fuzzy, I-cooked-a-yummy-satisfying-meal feeling tonight. I tried a new recipe from the Griffin Cookbook tonight, and it was so great! Not only tasty, but easy to boot! It is called Feta Chicken in the book, but I prefer the greek title ~ "Chicken Deanna". I miss The Bachelorette. Lots. Anyways...

Chicken Deanna

• 6 skinless, boneless, chicken breast halves

• 6 oz. tomato basil feta cheese (I used plain)

• Italian-style dry bread crumbs

• Melted butter

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. Place chicken breasts between 2 pieces of wax paper. Gently pound chicken with flat side of meat mallet until about 1/4-inch thick. Remove wax paper. Lightly coat each chicken breast with melted butter and sprinkle bread crumbs onto both sides of chicken. Place feta cheese crumbles in center of chicken breast, and roll up tightly. Place each chicken breast in the baking dish with the folded side down. Optional: add additional bread crumbs and drizzle small amount of melted butter on top. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

What a wonderful evening...Yummy dinner, The Stroupes stopped by with cookies, and now we are watching one of our favorite shows ~ Big Bang Theory. You have got to see it! Please pray for Alyssa Stroupe, cause she is having back surgery tomorrow-I'll keep you posted on her recovery..

food, Home

WFMW!

So, I have been trying to get my seven-year-old to "rest" while the two-year-old naps...not so easy! I needed to put together our July Crossings Kids childcare schedule, so I needed a teeny bit of peace and quiet. Enter Starfall.com! This is a great educational website, that I wish I had known about way before Bethany started school. Bethany learning to read was painful at times for all of us, and Starfall definitely provided a fun outlet, even though she was/is still learning as she goes. Starfall also helps her refine her computer skills. It is always fun to watch her learn "by accident"!

Make sure to visit RocksInMyDryer.net for more WFMW!

(I posted before I read this week's recipe directions...oops!)

Check out my post for Lazy Cajun Cake!

food, kids, WorksForMeWednesday

Friday Faves!

Friday Favorites

Here we go again-another great Friday ahead! We are having a blast over here, because the Welchs are here for a wonderful visit. So fun! When the Powells and the Welchs get together, they like to cook. Really, Mr. Welch does a lot of the cooking, and he is serving us in Iraq, so we are eating out more than usual. But, we still need some good recipes! So...

What is your favorite dessert recipe?

Click on comments, and share it ~ we will all benefit from this one!

Here is one of mine:

Coconut Granola Bars

• 3/4 C packed brown sugar

• 2/3 C peanut butter

• 1/2 C corn syrup

• 1/2 C butter or margarine, melted

• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 3 C old-fashioned oats

• 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1/2 C flaked coconut

• 1/2 C sunflower kernels

• 1/3 C wheat germ

• 2 tsp. sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, peanut butter, corn syrup, butter, and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine the remaining ingredients; add to peanut butter mixture and stir to coat. Press into a greased 9x13x2 inch baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Cut into bars. Enjoy!

food, Friday Favorites

Lazy Cajun Cake

My Bethany's school, Griffin Elementary, is soon to come out with a new school cookbook.  I cheated and previewed some of the entries and tried this one over the weekend.  It turned out really yummy! 

Lazy Cajun Cake ~ Rose Williams

1 box Chocolate Cake Mix                                    3-oz Cream Cheese
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk                      1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 8-oz Carton Cool Whip

Bake cake as directed on box.  When done, poke lots of holes in the cake with a wooden spoon handle.  Pour condensed milk in holes and on top of cake.  Put in refrigerator to cool.  Beat Cool Whip, cream cheese, and sugar until well blended.  Frost cake in the pan, and refrigerate.

I think I would have softened the cream cheese ahead of time, and I had to add colored sprinkles on top for fun!  Enjoy!

Pizza Cobbler

You gotta love Rachael Ray! I got this one out of the April 07 Rachael Ray Magazine. It was great-we took out the mushrooms and olives, and used turkey pepperoni-but never fear-we added ground beef!

Four Servings

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Cook Time: 25 Minutes

   
• 1 Tblsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
   
• 1 Cup Chopped Onion
   
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
   
• One 8- to 10-ounce package sliced mushrooms
   
• 1 1/2 Cups tomato sauce
   
• 1/2 Cup sliced black olives
   
• 2/3 Cup sliced pepperoni
   
• 1 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese
   
• One 7.5-ounce can refrigerated biscuits, separated and cut into quarters

                               

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large skillet, combine the oil, onion and garlic and cook on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce and olives and bring to a simmer. 2. Spread the sauce mixture in a greased 2-quart baking dish. Arrange the pepperoni in a single layer on top and sprinkle with the cheese. Top with the biscuit pieces. Bake until the cheese is bubbly and the biscuits are browned, about 15 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Enchilada Mess

Mexican Beef Casserole (We call it Enchilada Mess)

Prep Time: 8 Minutes

Cooking Time: 30-35 Minutes

Makes 6 Servings

• 1 Jar Green Chile Stew Mix
• 17 Corn Tortillas
• 1 lb Cooked, crumbled ground beef
• 4 Cups Colby Jack cheese
• 1 Can Black Beans, drained

Cut the tortillas into 1 inch pieces.

Place the crumbles, tortillas, stew mix, black beans, and 2 cups cheese in a bowl and mix.

Place the mixture in a 9x13 inch pan.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the mixture and cover with foil.

Bake at 350˚F for 30-35 minutes.

I go this recipe from the “Cooking Connection” booth at HEB. You can find the stew mix near the booth. It was crazy easy and so yummy-even Bethany loved it!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 4 flour low carb tortillas (Mission brand makes them)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken (skinless, white meat)
• 1/2 cup black beans (optional)
• 1/2 cup sweet corn
• 1 cup medium or hot salsa
• 1 cup plain low fat yogurt
• 1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 1/2 cup reduced fat shredded Jack cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat an 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Warm tortillas according to instructions on package.

Combine shredded chicken with black beans and sweet corn.

Mix salsa, yogurt and sour cream and spoon half the salsa mixture into the chicken, beans and corn. Blend well.

Divide chicken mixture among the tortillas. Carefully roll tortillas and place them seam down in the baking dish. Spoon remaining salsa mixture over the tortillas. Sprinkle cheese on top. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Serves 4. (YOU CAN DOUBLE FOR MORE)

Per Serving: Calories 368, Calories from Fat 78, Total Fat 8.6g (sat 5g), Cholesterol 75mg, Sodium 883mg, Carbohydrate 39.7g, Fiber 3.7g, Protein 32.8g

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt and I had these last night and they were so good! Bethany’s sweet Kindergarten teacher from Creech, Mrs. Weiser sent me the recipe. I made a few changes-some were even on purpose.☺ I used the Fat Free HEB fresh tortillas, and the HEB chicken breast fajitas. I left out the corn, but I think I will add it next time, and we used colby jack cheese. I also made the mistake of pouring the rest of the chicken mixture over the top at the end instead of the sour cream mixture. Matt said that he was glad though. I think I might take the foil off at the end of baking next time. Enjoy!

Banana Bread Request

Every time I make Banana Bread it comes out about 1 inch tall. Short and dense. It tastes pretty good, but I would love it to come out like a normal loaf of bread. I need a new recipe. I have some terribly over-ripe bananas on the counter right now, and Matt would love it if I would make him some bread. Does anyone have a good recipe I could try?