Saturday, August 25, 2012

Banana Bread French Toast

My husband's favorite breakfast food is French toast, so whenever I make homemade bread, we always plan on using the leftovers for breakfast.  My hubby told me that next month IHOP has a banana bread French toast coming to their menu, my mouth started drooling.  Yesterday I made banana bread, so today, it's French toast!

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/4 cup whole milk
1 tsp cinnamon
4 slices of banana bread
1 tbsp. butter

Directions
Mix together the first 3 ingredients.  Heat your skillet to med/high heat.  Melt your butter in the skillet.  Dip your banana bread slices into the egg mixture.  Cook about 2 minutes on each side.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Honey Fried Chicken

I love fried chicken!  But, I know that I can't have it as much as I would like.  This past weekend we tried to trim a few calories from the chicken by frying it without breading.  This is one of those dishes that my hubby stops eating, looks at me, and tells me how much he loves me!  I think that this may have become a quick favorite!

Ingredients
2 whole (bone-in) chicken breasts
2 tbsp honey
Vegetable oil
Chicken seasoning (recipe follows)

Directions
Heat your oil to 350 degrees.  Pat your chicken dry.  Do not season it at all.  Put your chicken breasts in the fryer and cook at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Remove from the oil.  Sprinkle the chicken seasoning over the top of the chicken and put back into the oil to fry for another 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.  Once your chicken is cooked, it will have a nice crust on the outside.  At this point, you will want to mix 2 tbsp of honey with 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and 1 tbsp of your chicken seasoning.  Spread over the outside of your chicken and serve.

Mrs. T's Chicken Seasoning
2 tbsp. smoked paprika
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. onion powder
2 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar

Enjoy!




Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Key Lime Cheesecake

Alright, I told you I was going to share some recipes using my Tastefully Simple products, so here is another.  I received a box of Key Lime Cheese Ball Mix in my business kit.  Right on the side of the box it had a recipe to make a no-bake cheesecake.  It was so simple to make and took me less than 5 minutes!

Ingredients
Key Lime Cheese Ball Mix (coming Aug. 27th)
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. whipped topping (you can use regular or non-dairy)
1 pre-made graham cracker pie crust

Directions
Mix the cream cheese (softened) and packet 1 of the cheese ball mix according to the directions on the box.  Then fold in the whipped topping.  Once mixed, gently fill the pie crust and chill for about 2 hours.  Use the graham cracker topping (packet 2) to top the cheesecake.  I garnished with a lime twist (just to show the flavor).  My hubby's family ate the whole thing!  My 2 year old son even loved it!  I can not wait to try more of these delicious products!



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Saturday, August 18, 2012

Chipotle Pomegranate Pork Chops

If you a a reader of my blog, a few posts ago, I mentioned that I have recently become a Tastefully Simple Independent Sales Consultant.  I recently recieved some samples and of course, I got right to cooking!  I officially have a favorite product.....the Pomegranate Chipotle Sauce!  (Yum)  The first thing I could think of when I saw it was pork chops. 

----> This is where I would normally place a picture, but it would upload for me!<----


Ingredients
4 pork chops
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 red onion
1 tbsp. butter
1/8 cup of Tastefully Simple's Chipotle Pomegranate Sauce

Directions
Slice you red onion and bell peppers.  Season your chops with salt and pepper.  In a pan, brown your pork chops (I used 1 tbsp of canola oil for this).  Place browned pork chops into a baking dish.  Place into a preheated oven (325 degrees) for about 10-15 minutes.  Next, put your butter into the same pan, then add your sliced veggies.  Saute until tender, then add your Pomegranate Chipotle Sauce.  Pour over your pork chops and serve.


To buy this product and more, visit me at http://www.tastefullysimple.com/web/ktabers
You can also find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/katessimplelife

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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Apple Sausage Bake

One of my favorite things about the weather starting to get cooler is apples and root vegetables.  My family goes apple picking every year, so any way we can use up apples makes me happy.  This recipe was given to me by my mother.  It's simple to make, delicious, healthy, and easy on the wallet!

Here is the price break down:

Sausage (I used chicken): $1.98
Apples: $1.88
Sweet potato: $.98
Onion (bought a 3 lb bag on sale): $.97

Total: $5.81(For a family of 4, that's $1.45 per person)

Ingredients:
2 apples (I used Gala)
Sausage (about 1 pound)
Sweet potato
2 onions
3 tbsp. canola oil
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning

Directions
Wash and peel your sweet potatoes.  Preheat your oven to 325 degrees (F).  Chop all of your ingredients roughly about the same size.  In a bowl, mix the oil, seasoning, and vegetables.  Pour into a baking dish and bake for 45 minutes.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Happy Birthday Julia Child

Happy 100th birthday to one of my inspirations in life, Mrs. Julia Child! 
Photo taken from  http://www.urbantastemakers.com

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Homemade Dog Treats

I know, this isn't a snack you can actually eat, but we can't leave man's best friend out, can we?  It seems like it has become harder to find healthy snacks for dogs.  A lot of brands claim to be healthy, but when the first ingredient isn't a natural one, or you can't pronounce half of the ingredients, then you can bet it probably isn't too healthy.  A few things to remember before making your own treats, dogs tend to be lactose intolerant, so no dairy please (if you use cheese, small amounts are ok).  Also, don't use wheat products, I like to stick to using rice flour in my recipes.  The base recipe is gluten free and organic (just in case you were wondering).  I'm going to give you an open ended base recipe, which means I'll leave an open slot for creativity.  So, here we go!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of brown rice flour
1/2 cup of cornmeal
1/4 cup of rolled oats
1 egg
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 cup cold water
**Now here is the open ended part.  The above recipe is your base recipe, which means from here on out, add what you'd like!  Here are some things I like to add: cranberries, apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, bacon, sardines (which promotes a healthy coat....think about switching the vegetable oil for 1 tbsp of the oil from packed sardines), carrots, etc.**

Directions (I''ll use the apples here):
Blend flour, cornmeal, and oats in large mixing bowl, then add the apple (grated), egg, oil, brown sugar, and water until well blended. Flour your workspace and roll out dough to desired thickness (about 3/4 of an inch thick for me).  Use a cookie cutter of your choice (I used a star!) to cut out shapes.  Rework and roll out dough again to get more cookies.  Once all of the dough is use, place on a baking sheet (I sprinkle cornmeal on my baking sheet, I find it keeps the cookies from sticking).  Bake at 350 degrees (F) for 40 minutes.  Once baked, turn off the oven, and let your cookies sit in the oven for another35-45 minutes until crisp.  Once finished, these treats will last about 2-3 months in an airtight container (unless you use bacon or sardines, then 1-2 months).  



My dog Sage loves her homemade cookies so much!  Here she is waiting patiently for them to come out of the oven!!!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Easy Parmesan Pull Apart Bread

One day as I was blog hoping, I came across a post for some delicious pull apart bread.  Simple recipes for a delicious cheesy bread must not be ignored!  As with any recipe, I altered (slightly) it to fit my families needs.  This is one of those semi-homemade dishes that Sandra Lee would be proud of.  Not one person in my house turned their nose up at this pan of yummy goodness.

Ingredients
Biscuits (I used a can of the Pillsbury biscuits, the flaky kind...there were 8 biscuits in the can)
1 stick of butter
1 cup of Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp mozzarella cheese
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1 tsp. onion powder
3 gloves of garlic
Salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F).  Remove biscuits from can and cut into quarters.  Melt one stick of butter (putting aside 2 tbsp.).  Mince the garlic.  Mix3/4 of a cup of Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, parsley, onion powder, and half of the garlic.  Once mixed, toss the pieces of dough in and coat well.  Arrange the dough into an oiled pan, make sure to squeeze every last piece into it (I used a 9 inch cake pan).  Mix together the remainder of your butter and garlic, pour over the top.  Sprinkle half of the remaining Parmesan over the top.  Bake for 18 minutes at 350.  Once you remove it from the oven, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.  Your bread will pull apart easily and be super flaky.


For my family of four, we ate about half a pan (because we were super hungry!).  This recipe can easily feed up to 10 people and is perfect to enjoy during pizza night!  Maybe next time we'll add cheddar cheese and serve it with a marinara sauce.  Hope you enjoy!










Recipe originally posted on Melissa's Southern Style Kitchen.