Sour Cream Parmesan Chicken

Here's the main course for tonight's dinner... so yummy!  I found this one on Pinterest too, but the link associated with the recipe was broken.  This is another recipe that I'd love to be able to give credit where credit is due... so if anyone finds it, PLEASE let me know.

Sour Cream Parmesan Chicken

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup parmesan
Italian bread crumbs
Chicken breasts

INSTRUCTIONS FROM PINTEREST

Simply mix 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Spread over chicken breast in a baking dish. Sprinkle Italian bread crumbs on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

MY INSTRUCTIONS

I seasoned the chicken on both sides first, using onion powder, garlic powder, Lawry's, salt and pepper.  I mixed up the sour cream and the parmesan mixture, and spread it evenly over three chicken breasts in a glass baking dish.  I sprinkled the Italian bread crumbs on top of that, and put it in the oven, uncovered, @ 350* for 45 minutes. 

Creamy Garlic Pasta

When I started this blog - I had no real direction where it would go.  I still don't.  I just like sharing things, I love writing, and well, this is the love child of those two hobbies.  So far, the majority of my posts have been cooking related.  For anyone who knows me, and has known me for the past 10+ years, cooking has never been one of my strong talents.  I've always struggled in the kitchen.  A lot of it, I'm finding out, is due to the lack of confidence and the lovely reminders of "not being able to do it" that I had in my ear. 

When Carie (Carie's Cooking Corner) introduced me to the Creamy Garlic Pasta recipe she found online, I just knew I had to try it.  (I don't have the link to this recipe - but if anyone finds it online, could you let me know?  I definitely want to give credit where credit is due.  This recipe is amazing!) 

I'm posting two recipes tonight (Creamy Garlic Pasta and Sour Cream Parmesan Chicken) without pictures.  I never think about posting the recipes and pictures to this blog until it's too late.

Creamy Garlic Pasta

INGREDIENTS

2 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 lb spaghetti or angel hair pasta
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

In a pot, bring the olive oil to medium-low heat.  Add the garlic and stir, allowing it to cook for 1 - 2 minutes.  Mix in the butter until melted.  Add the salt, pepper, and chicken stock.  Raise the heat to high and let it come to a boil.

Once it is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook for as long as the box's directions indicate.  Reduce the stove to medium heat and mix in the parmesan until completely melted.  Turn off the heat and stir in the cream and parsley.  Serve immediately.

***  I didn't change anything with this recipe either.  It makes a lot of pasta, but I'd much rather have left overs than try to adjust the recipe.  I ended up having to leave out the parsley because I forgot it at the store, but I would imagine that adding the parsley would make this dish that much more delicious.  I'll definitely be cooking this one again.  

Cranberry Jalapeno Dip

On Wednesday, November 21st, my mom called me to tell me about this cranberry jalapeno dip recipe that her friend Beverly told her about.  The recipe is one of those from Pinterest, but it sounded intriguing.  So off to the store I went to buy the ingredients...

Here's the recipe from Mel's Kitchen

Cranberry-Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip



INGREDIENTS:
12 ounces fresh cranberries
4-5 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 cup sugar (more or less to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 1 large lemon)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 (8 ounces each) packages cream cheese, light or regular, softened
Crackers, for serving

DIRECTIONS:
Pulse the cranberries in a food processor or blender until coarsely chopped (alternately, you can do this task by hand). Add the green onions, cilantro, jalapeno, sugar, cumin, lemon juice and salt and pulse until the ingredients are well combined and finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a covered bowl or tupperware and refrigerate for 4 hours (or up to overnight) so the flavors have time to develop and the cranberries lose a bit of their tartness.

When ready to serve, spread the cream cheese in an even layer on a serving plate or 9-inch pie dish. Top with the cranberry-jalapeno mixture, spreading evenly over the top of the cream cheese.
Refrigerate for up to an hour before serving. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

*** I followed this recipe exactly, and I wouldn't change a thing.  It was THAT good.  I didn't even bother to snap a picture of it.  (Honestly, I forgot...)  I ended up serving this with Triscuits and Wheat Thins.  I liked Triscuits with it the best, but Mom liked the Wheat Thins.

I will definitely be trying this one again!

Vacation

It's awesome to type that word.  :-)  I'm on vacation!  WOO HOO!  I haven't taken a long vacation since 2011 when the ex-husband and I went with his family to Colorado.  Ahhhh.  Vacation. 

So I'm not doing anything productive, or anything major.  So far, I've done as little as possible.  And quite frankly, it's AWESOME.  On Friday, I did some house cleaning, but quickly ended that.  Hah.  At least my bathroom is clean.  My task for Monday is to tackle the living room, dining room, kitchen since it's all one big room, and figure out a plan for where I'm going to put my Christmas tree.

Saturday, A and I made the drive to my parent's house, just to chill.  We didn't really do much.  A helped Frank unload some hay, my mom and I hung out, we went on a hike through their land, then dinner, then home.  It was a good day.  Low key, no drama, no bullshit, just fun.  It was nice. 

Today... the grocery store, AT&T, and maybe some baking or candy making.  The good news with being home all week is that I really don't have a good excuse NOT to cook.  

So who knows what this week will bring for me, other than relaxation, sleeping in, hanging with Chloe and A, and just enjoying not being at work. 

I hope you all have a fantastic and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Much love,
C

Pumpkin Cheesecake

It’s almost funny to me that I’m posting recipes on my new blog.  I’ve never been much for cooking and certainly never tried new recipes that someone didn’t teach me how to make first.  But, I figure now is as good of time as any – and it’s always helpful when I have someone there to eat it with me aka A.  Plus, he likes my cooking… sucker!  

I get wild ideas sometimes.  Most people start small… not me.  I wanted to bake a pumpkin cheesecake, so I did.  I found this recipe on Pinterest (surprise, surprise!) and decided to go for it.  I ordered a springform pan, bought all of my ingredients, and sat out to tackle this challenge.  (It may not be a challenge for anyone else, but for me, CHALLENGE!)

Here’s the recipe…

Adapted from Beautiful Flight

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

3 tbsp margarine or butter

2 tbsp sugar

Mix the ingredients together and put in the bottom of a spring-foam pan.  Tightly wrap the bottom of the pan in aluminum foil to prevent water from leaking into the spring-foam pan and bake in a water bath for 10 minutes.  Cool completely on wire rack. 

Filling

2 – 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened

1 ¼ cups sugar

16 oz. solid pack, canned pumpkin

¾ cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp allspice

¼ tsp salt

4 large eggs

Beat the cream cheese.  Add the remainder of the ingredients except the eggs.  After the ingredients are mixed together, add one egg at a time.  Do not over beat.  Pour mixture into cooled crust.  Place the spring-foam pan inside another pan.  Add boiling water to the pan until it comes up one inch of the sides of the spring-foam pan.  Baker for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the center barely jiggles.

Topping

1 cup sour cream

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

After the cheesecake is removed from the water bath, spread the topping on the top of the cheesecake.  Bake for another 5 minutes.  Place completed cheesecake on wire rack.  Loosen the sides of the cheesecake.  Refrigerate at least six hours or overnight.

So now that you have the recipe – let’s talk about what happened to me.  Hah.  I always have to have a story.  So I crush up my graham crackers, add the sugar, and butter and put the crush in the bottom of my spring-foam pan.  Awesome, right?!  I even cover the pan with aluminum foil like I’m supposed to.  Apparently, my foil had a leak, because not more than 30 seconds after I sat the crust in the water bath, the pan was full of water.  So I called Carie, who gave me some quick instructions on how NOT to do it the second time. 

Here’s what I did differently…

I added 1 more tbsp of butter to the crust.  I don’t know why.  I just did.  I probably shouldn’t have, but it turned out okay either way. 

Instead of using allspice and cinnamon – I just put 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice into the mixture.  It was one less spice I had to buy.  I’m cheap.

I did the topping on this cheesecake, but I don’t think it really adds anything to it.  Next time, I’ll leave it off. 

All in all – my first cheesecake experience was a good one, and holy crap, this cheesecake is good!  A and I have already eaten ½ of it.  In one day.  Because we’re just that AWESOME.  J

Starting Over...

Starting a new blog is never fun.  You have to reach out to all the readers you once had, and hope that they'll make the switch to the new blog.  I mean - it sounds easy and all, and it's really only about updating their reader account, but still.  I had a blog, once upon a time.  I deleted it. 

I'm starting a new life, a new journey, and I didn't want my soon to be ex husband and his family following me on the blog, and seeing what I'm up to.  They don't deserve to know.  :-)  It's kind of nice, actually. 

This blog doesn't have a specific focus... other than me.  It's not going to be full of awesome recipes, or new craft projects, or hell, even be updated regularly.  But I enjoy writing, and I enjoy having a place to put thoughts to "paper" so here I am. 

I'm back.

In July, I made a decision to take this blog private.  I didn't allow anyone to read my posts... not even close friends and family.  I decided to use it as a sounding board for my own thoughts and feelings.  In July, my soon to be ex husband told me he wanted a divorce.  The next two months would be a whirl wind of feelings, emotions, decisions, moving, commuting, etc.  I didn't want to share my anxiety, anger, relief, and eventually joy, with anyone.

But I'm back.  I'm better.  Each day, things become a little easier.  And I have not been this happy version of myself in a really long time.  I'm glad she's back again.  I vow to never again let her disappear. 

So to all the marriages, engagements, baby announcements, births of new babies, birthdays of friends, etc. that I've missed - I'm sorry.   I hope you'll forgive me. 

As I move forward in my life, make decisions that affect who I am and where I'm going - I hope you'll all be along for the journey.  It's going to be one heck of a ride!  :-)

~ Christina