Lemon Bars

These lemon bars are so easy to make and oh so yummy!!!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 lemons, juiced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/12 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.

Sweet Potato Muffins

I made these for breakfast this morning and they turned out really yummy!! I think I'll add some cinnamon next time and maybe some oats for a better streusel topping. I did the brown sugar and butter and it wasn't very streusel-ish.

2 cups whole wheat flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup all purpose)
2 t. baking powder
1 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. sea salt
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
1 egg
1 cup mashed sweet potato
1/2 cup milk
3 T. melted butter

Topping:

3 T. brown sugar
1 T. butter, softened
2 T. chopped nuts (optional)

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a bowl. Add honey, raisins, eggs, sweet potato, milk and butter. Stir until just mixed. Scoop into 15 paper lined muffin cups.

In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients. Sprinkle evenly over each muffin. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Garlic Chicken Pasta

This is another recipe from Heavenly Homemakers. We tried this last night and really liked it. It's super easy to make and very yummy. I added 4 cloves of garlic though.

Garlic Chicken Pasta

2 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces (great way to use up leftover chicken)
1 clove garlic or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or more if you like lots of garlic)
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta
3 cups whole milk
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 t. sea salt
grated parmesan cheese

In a skillet, saute chicken and garlic in olive oil. Turn to low heat to keep warm. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a big pot with the milk, butter and salt. Stir almost constantly, especially as the pasta is becoming tender and the milk is beginning to boil. Cook and stir over medium heat until pasta is tender and the starch from the pasta has thickened the milk, creating a creamy sauce. Stir in the chicken and serve immediately, sprinkling parmesan cheese on each serving.

Three Cheese Garlic Chicken Pasta:

Follow recipe as above, except before adding chicken to cooked pasta…remove from heat and add 1/2 cup shredded white cheddar and 3 oz. cream cheese. Stir until cheese has melted…add chicken and serve with parmesan cheese.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's a look at what's on the menu for this week....

Monday- Three cheese garlic chicken pasta, salad, french bread and honey dew melon
Tuesday- Salad and french bread
Wednesday- chili and cornbread
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- Homemade pizza
Saturday- Sandwiches and salad

Homemade Graham Crackers

I got this recipe from Heavenly Homemaker's and we absolutely LOVE it! These graham crackers are soooo much better than store bought graham crackers! And so easy to make!!

I used all purpose flour today instead of the whole wheat flour. I really like the texture better than with the whole wheat. But, either works.

2 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup rapadura or sucanat (I always use organic sugar)
1 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
¼ t. cinnamon
4 T. honey
¼ c. water
1 t. vanilla
1 stick butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt stick of butter. Set aside

3. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

4. Add the liquids: honey, water, vanilla and melted butter.

5. Stir well until a nice ball of dough is formed.

6. Cut two pieces of Parchment paper the size of the cookie sheet.

7. Lay one piece of parchment paper on the cookie sheet.

8. Place the ball of dough on the parchment paper.

9. Lay the other piece of parchment paper on top of the ball of dough. Squish dough down a little with your fist.

10. Use the rolling pin to roll the dough between the pieces of parchment paper. Roll until the dough covers the whole cookie sheet.

11. Remove the top piece of parchment paper. Cut rolled dough into 2 inch squares, or cut shapes with cookie cutters, being sure to separate the shapes from the surrounding dough a little.

12. Bake in oven for 18 minutes.

13. Turn oven off, but leave crackers in the oven to get crisp.

14. Remove from oven after 30 minutes to one hour. Break graham crackers apart.
Store in a air tight container.

This weeks menu

Here's a looks at what's on the menu for this week.... it's a few days late, but this week has been crazy!!!

Monday-Portobello mushroom burgers, asparagus, and salad
Tuesday-BBQ chicken sandwiches, sweet potato fries, and fruit salad
Wednesday-homemade pizzas
Thursday- French bread sandwiches, melon, chips
Friday- breakfast- french toast, sausage and fresh fruit
Saturday- quesadillas, fresh cut up veggies

Portobello-Prosciutto Burgers

I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman's website. We made these Monday night and they were SOOOOOO good!!! We skipped soaking the mushrooms in the red wine and the prosciutto. I will definitely be making these again! They were delish!

Ingredients

• ½ cups Mayonnaise
• 16 whole Basil Leaves
  
• 8 whole Large Portobello Mushrooms
• 1 cup Red Wine (optional)
• Olive Oil For Brushing
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 4 slices Provolone Cheese
• 4 slices Prosciutto
• 4 whole Kaiser Rolls, Split
• Extra Basil Leaves

Rinse mushrooms thoroughly. Soak in red wine for 20 to 30 minutes

Combine mayonnaise and basil in a food processor or blender (I used my magic bullet). Pulse until basil is totally mixed in with the mayonnaise. Set aside.

Grill mushrooms in a grill pan or on a charcoal grill, brushing lightly with olive oil and sprinkling with salt and pepper. Melt provolone cheese over the four largest mushrooms. Remove mushrooms from grill and stack the other four mushrooms on top of the cheese-topped mushrooms. (The mushrooms we had were pretty big so we just used one per bun)

Drizzle griddle with olive oil. Toast kaiser rolls over medium-low heat until very crispy and toasted.

Spread basil mayonnaise generously on both the top and bottom halves of the kaiser roll. Place the mushroom on the bottom half, then place the prosciutto slice on top. Finally, top with basil leaves and the other half of the roll.

*I think these would be really good topped with lettuce and tomato.