Too cute!!!

Bruschetta Chicken

We had this for dinner and it was pretty good!

Bruschetta Chicken

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Place flour and eggs in separate shallow bowls. Dip chicken in flour, then in eggs; place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Combine the Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and butter; sprinkle over chicken.
Loosely cover baking dish with foil. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 170°.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Spoon over the chicken. Return to the oven for 3-5 minutes or until tomato mixture is heated through. Yield: 4 servings.

Delicious Sugar Cookies

I've been making these cookies for a few years, and Nate and I think they're delicious. They are not your typical sugar cookies. They are "drop cookies," so you don't roll the dough out or anything. If you're looking for super soft and light sugar cookies, you have to try these.

Soft Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

FROSTING:
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 to 4 tablespoons hot water
Food coloring, optional

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and almond extract. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; gradually add to creamed mixture.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

For frosting, in a large bowl, combine the butter, confectioners' sugar, almond extract and enough water to achieve desired consistency. Tint with food coloring if desired. Frost the cookies. Yield: about 6 dozen.

Extreme Room Makeover

Ok, it's really not extreme, but I finally did some stuff to our room. I painted the wall behind our bed, got new blinds and drapes, a new mirror, lamp, etc. It looks more warm and comfy now.

BEFORE (August 2008)

AFTER (today)

I got this at Target and I love it!

Sunday

For the record...

"Our Best Bites" does not have the best Sugar Cookie recipe. I really wasn't a fan of the taste or texture. But I will forgive them for wasting a couple hours of my day. The glace icing was kind of fun to do, but it didn't taste very good either. Bummer.

Baked Chicken Nuggets

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com and it's a good one! I actually made it low-fat by using egg whites (instead of butter) for the coating.

BAKED CHICKEN NUGGETS:

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 cup butter, melted (or egg whites)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Cut chicken breasts into 1 1/2 inch size pieces. In a medium bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, cheese, salt, thyme and basil. Mix well. Put melted butter/margarine in a bowl or dish for dipping.

Dip chicken pieces into the melted butter/margarine first, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Place well coated chicken pieces on a lightly greased cookie sheet in a single layer, and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. (Flip them over after 10 min) They are good with honey mustard.

UPDATE: I just ate some more of these after they had been in the fridge for a couple hours and they are even more delicious because the flavors really set in. Yum!

Saturday

She said, "Mom, I'm mean!"

Smiley Kate

Seeing Kate smile is the best thing ever. She is such a good baby. She loves to just look around and observe everything lately.

Eat this

I tried my first crockpot recipe last week. Yeah, I'm a little behind with the latest technology. Anyway, it was very delicious and so easy!! You should really try it.

Creamy Italian Chicken

4 chicken breasts or 10 tenders
1 envelope Italian Salad Dressing Mix
1 block cream cheese (8 oz)
1 can cream of chicken soup

Put chicken in the crockpot and then add the rest. Mix lightly. Cook on low for 3 -4 hours. Serve with rice. YUM!!!

Sorry, I didn't take any pictures.

Some recent pics

"Our Best Bites"

Are you familiar with this website? Oh man, get familiar! It was started by 2 LDS girls (one is from Seattle), and they definitely know how to cook. I was just looking over their recipes and they all look ridiculously good. I made their Cinnamon Bun popcorn in December and it was delish. I would love to try all their recipes, but... oh yeah, I'm trying to lose weight. DANG IT!! Man, I wish I could eat whatever I wanted. I would eat...

This...

And this...

And this...

And this!

These are all found on their website.

Recipes

We went to a BBQ yesterday and I made Tres Leches Cake for dessert. It was REALLY good. Here is the recipe, if you're interested. I was a little afraid to make it, but it was pretty easy. And did I say really good? I put strawberries and raspberries on it, which made it even better.

Tonight I made Tilapia Parmesan for dinner. It was really good, for those of you who like fish. It was also very quick and easy. Nate really loved it. We bought the Tilapia filets at Costco. Here is the recipe.