Baked Parmesan Chicken

Chicken Breasts

1 stick of butter

¾ cup bread crumbs

¾ cup parmesan cheese

½ tsp. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix bread crumbs, cheese and garlic powder together. Melt butter in separate dish. Dip chicken breast in melted butter, then coat in breadcrumb mixture.  Place chicken in greased baking dish (I use a foil-covered cookie sheet for easy clean-up).  Pour remainder butter over chicken and sprinkle additional bread crumbs on top.  Bake for 1 hour.

Citrus Marinade

We grilled out chicken for Father's Day and used this Citrus Marinade. It is awesome!! I have always used it with chicken, but I can't imagine why it wouldn't work for pork too.

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Citrus Marinade

2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp. grainy mustard
1/4 cup vinegar
1 or 2 limes
1 lemon
6 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper

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This is good for about 6 chicken breasts. I marinade for about 4-6 hours. If it goes longer than that, I start to worry about the acid from the vinegar and lime/lemon juice starting to "cook" the chicken. I heard that once on the food network and now I have some strange "phobia" about letting meat sit in acidic substances too long....strange I know.

We use this a TON during the summer when grilling. It is so yummy!!! Enjoy!

Mamaw's Carrot Cake

Jim's Mamaw has the best carrot cake recipe. She makes it for Christmas each year. I wasn't sure I could make it as good as her...and I was right it isn't as good as hers....but it's pretty darn close :o)

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Carrot Cake
1 1/2 c. Crisco Oil (she uses oil, so I use oil... I am not sure what it would be like with the solid crisco)
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs
2 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups grated carrots (I use the food processor for this. It makes the texture more fine, which is how I prefer it!)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix oil and sugar with hand mixer until blended. Add the eggs and mix some more. Sift dry ingredients together and add them to the oil/sugar/egg mixture. Fold in carrots. Grease pan, pour in batter and bake for 35-45 minutes.

Icing (also known as the best part!)
2 cups powdered sugar
8oz. cream cheese (softened)
1 stick of butter (softened)
1 tbsp. lemon juice (I leave this out because I usually don't have lemons laying around)
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix cream cheese and butter until creamy and combined. Add powered sugar in small batches until incorporated. Add the vanilla and lemon juice and whip until fluffy!

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Mamaw bakes the cake in a 9x13, flips it out of the pan (think pineapple upside down cake) and then icings it. The few times I have made this, my cake always sticks in some places and my cake is no longer a perfect little rectangle. I am not sure what her trick is, since I grease my pan thoroughly...maybe you all will have better luck! (If you figure out a trick, please let me know!)

We had this for father's day, and it was a huge hit!

Pimento Cheese

I used to be one that wouldn't touch pimento cheese with a 10-foot pole. I am not sure what changed. Maybe the recipe I use now is better than when I was younger or maybe my taste buds have changed, but I can't get enough of this stuff. I take it to school for lunch on days when another turkey sandwich might make me sick, and I love it during the summer with crackers.

Pimento Cheese

This is really more of a method than a recipe, which is strange because I usually like to follow recipes... I guess this is my exception! You can mix and add what you like to make it your own and it can easily be doubled! As far as measuring goes, I just keep adding ingredients until I get it to the taste and consistency I like!

1 block of cheddar cheese (I usually use medium or sharp cheddar, but you can use whatever you prefer)
1 cup or so of Mayo
a couple table spoons (or globs) of sour cream
1 jar of pimentos drained (they come in different sized jars, pick the size you want depending on your love for them!)
a sprinkling of garlic powder
quite a bit of pepper (I like to see the black specks...)
some splashes of hot sauce (if that's your thing)

I sometime add green olives chopped up or green onions!

Serve with crackers, make a sandwich, use as a dip, eat it with a spoon, whatever you'd like! :o)

Okay, here is the crucial part...you have to grate your own cheese. Notice I didn't say a "bag" of cheese... I said a "block". I set mine on my kitchen counter when I know I am going to make it so the block can soften. I may or may not forget about it sitting out before I make it, but that is beside the point! :o) Then, use a hand grater and grate the cheese once it's soft. This will help the spread/dip be creamier!

Super Easy, Super Yummy Rice

I make this rice as both a side dish and a main course. You put all the ingredients together and in the oven it goes... so easy! My kind of recipe!

1 cup rice (not the quick cooking kind)
1 can of french onion soup
1 can broth (chicken or beef... I usually have boxed broth on hand, so I just fill up the french onion soup can with the broth to measure)
1 small can mushrooms (if that's your thing!)
1 stick of butter (I usually don't use the whole stick...maybe a half or so)

This is where you can stop if you are using it as a side dish. Stir all the ingredients together and put them in a 9x13 dish for an hour at 350.

If you want to make it as a main dish/casserole just add shredded chicken (however much you want... I usually shred the white meat of a rotisserie chicken to use) and a can of water chestnuts. I guess you could add whatever vegetables you like... I am just a creature of habit that follows a recipe strictly! ha! This still goes into the oven for an hour at 350.

I have tried this with brown rice (thinking it would be healthier) and the rice DID NOT cook?!? I am not sure if I had a bad batch of rice, or if brown rice just takes a lot longer or what.... so I usually use enriched medium grain rice. It seems to work well.

This is really good with the cranberry chicken recipe that Alyssa posted. One of our favorite meals!