Bacon Wrapped Chicken

6 boneless chicken breast halves
1 8 oz whipped onion and chive cream cheese
Butter
6 bacon strips

-Flatten chicken breast to 1/2 in thickness
-Spread 3 Tb cream cheese over each breast
-Dot with butter and a little salt
-Roll up and wrap with bacon
-Place seam side down in greased baking dish
-Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes. To brown, broil 6 inches from heat for 3 minutes until the bacon is crisp.

Skillet pork chops

This is my favorite pork chop recipe right now.

4 pork chops (8 oz each) well trimmed
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tb butter
2 medium onions, cut into 6 wedges
3 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch chunks

-Season both sides of pork chop with cinnamon, salt, and pepper.
-In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Brown pork chops for 4-5 minutes per side.
-Add onions and carrots to skillet. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 25-30 minutes or until veggies and tender and pork chops are cooked through.

Source: www.diabeticconnect.com

Gingerbread houses

Last weekend I took the kids to Walmart to make gingerbread houses. Daniel was on call and we needed something to do. Kraft and herseys donate everything do it was free! The kids had fun. Kira enjoyed decorating but hardly any of Carson's food made it on the house because anything I handed him went straight in his mouth.

Baked Green Beans

1/2 lb green beans trimmed and snapped in half

1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Toss the green beans in the olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread the green beans evenly on the cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

From: http://tried-and-truecookingwithheidi.blogspot.com/search/label/Side%20Dish

Delish!

Orange Julius

There has been a lot of sickness in our house for the past couple weeks. So we have been enjoying this cold refreshing drink occasionally.

6 oz frozen Orange juice concentrate

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 - 1 cup water (depending on desired consistency)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Ice cubes

Put everything in a blender for 1-2 minutes.

Linzer Cookies

I wanted to make something festive for Valentine's Day and thought these cookies would be fun.

This was my first time making them and they are pretty easy, it just takes some time to cut them out.

Linzer Cookies

3/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature (3 sticks)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup good raspberry preserves

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Roll the dough out (about 1/4-inch thick) and cut hearts with a plain or fluted cutter. With 1/2 of the rounds, cut a hole from the middle of each round with a heart cutter. Bake the cookies until the edges begin to brown, about 12 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature. Thinly spread raspberry preserves on the flat side of each solid cookie. Dust the top of the cut-out cookies with confectioners' sugar and press the flat sides together, with the raspberry preserves in the middle and the confectioners' sugar on the top.

Recipe from: http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/2008/02/linzer-cookies.html

Apple Dumplings

• 2 whole Granny Smith Apples
• 2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls
• 2 sticks Butter
• 1-½ cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• Cinnamon, To Taste
• 1 can (12 Oz.) Mountain Dew Soda

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan.

Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until golden brown on top. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

It looks and tastes like you spent a lot longer on it than you really did!

Recipe from http://thepioneerwoman.com.