One Pan Tomato Basil Chicken

I came across this recipe on pinterest and despite my lack of fresh garden grown tomatoes, fell in LOVE with it when I made it last night for dinner. As an added bonus, it is a one pan meal and cooks up super quickly.

2 chicken breasts (I sliced mine horizontally so they were thinner to get more even cooking)
salt and pepper to taste
italian seasoning to taste
2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
2 tsp. minced fresh garlic
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
4 Tbsp. cold butter

freshly grated parmesan cheese (totally forgot to add this, but was delicious without it)
pasta

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and italian seasoning. Heat oil in a pan. Add chicken when oil is hot. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side. Add chopped tomatoes. Add fresh basil. Add cold butter. Add minced garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with grated parmesan cheese and serve over pasta.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Citrus season is fast approaching in the AZ and our neighbors have a lemon tree that hangs over the fence near our pool. The lemons are still green, but they have given us free reign to pick any lemons on our side, so in honor of that, I wanted to share our favorite way ever to use lemons. My kids request these cookies on a regular basis, and it is rare that they last longer than a few hours around this place! Since you roll them in powdered sugar the kids love to help too, which is really fun. I found this recipe on pinterest and you can check it out at the original source with gorgeous photos to boot.

Makes 2-3 dozen small cookies

½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking powder
⅛ tsp. baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Add salt, baking powder, baking soda and flour and mix until just combined. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Strawberry Bacon Salad

Living in Arizona, the summers are HOT...waaaay too hot to be cooking in the oven or on the stove and sometimes even too hot for the crock pot! So, we ate a lot of salads this summer and this is one of my family's favorites! I have also made this salad with other fresh fruit or combinations of fruits. Peaches, nectarines, blueberries and raspberries are all delicious in it.

SALAD:
1 head of lettuce (romaine, green or red leaf lettuce all work), chopped
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup toasted almonds, chopped
8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled (or if you hate the smell of bacon lingering in your house for days, you can be lazy and use 1/2 cup-ish of the bacon crumbles you can buy at costco.)


DRESSING:
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup white vinegar
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. poppyseeds
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together until combined (or mix in your food processor). I have found that we only use about half the dressing or less for per head of lettuce in the salad, so I make a couple of salads that use this dressing over the course of a week. :)

Corn and Tomato Salad

In honor of everyone I know in Utah harvesting fresh tomatoes from their gardens, and wishing I was one of them, this is one of my favorite ways to eat tomatoes! Hopefully I will be making a lot of this when we harvest our Arizona garden in November. ;) There are no measurements, just ingredients to toss together to taste.

Fresh tomatoes - diced
Corn - I typically use frozen corn, defrosted, but you can use fresh if you have it
Fresh Basil - chopped

Toss solid ingredients together and drizzle with:
a splash of cider vinegar
a splash of balsamic vinegar
sprinkle of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Stir everything together and serve. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Lemon Chicken

I found this recipe on pintrest and my family loved it so it is now a staple dinner in our home. This is another recipe that is easy to throw together because I usually have all the ingredients on hand.

1 stick of butter (or you can use as less as desired)
1-2 lbs. chicken breasts or tenders

1/3 cup lemon juice
1 cup chicken broth
1 packet of dry italian dressing mix

Place the stick of butter in the bottom of the crock pot and melt. Add chicken, lemon juice and chicken broth. Sprinkle packet of italian dressing mix over the chicken. Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Shred chicken and serve over rice or egg noodles. (I use my kitchen aid to shred chicken. Just put the cooked chicken into the bowl of your kitchen aid and use the beater attachment to mix on low for 30-60 seconds until chicken is shredded, then add back into the juices in the crock pot).

Gouda Fondue

We love to do fondue night as a family or with friends. It feels totally fancy, but is actually pretty quick and easy to throw together. This is our favorite fondue recipe because it is not too "fancy cheese"-y so the kids and our grocery budget can enjoy it too!

1 cup dry white wine*
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
12 oz. shredded gouda cheese (rind trimmed)
4 oz. shredded aged Gouda cheese (rind trimmed)
1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg**
1 pinch cayenne pepper**

Combine wine (or substitute) and lemon juice in the top of a double broiler. Toss grated cheeses and cornstarch together. When wine comes to a boil (if using milk and chicken broth do not actually boil, just bring to almost a boil), slowly add cheese and cornstarch mixture, whisking continuously until smooth. Season with nutmeg and cayenne, if using. Transfer to a fondue pot to keep warm while serving.

DIPPERS:
cubed french or sourdough bread
sliced red peppers
cheese tortellinis
bite sized potatoes
sliced pears
grapes
roasted broccoli (or any other roasted veggie would be good: zucchini, carrots, squash, cauliflower, etc)
cubed steak (fully cooked)



*You can substitute apple cider or chicken broth or 1/2c chicken broth and 1/2 cup milk for the wine
**I typically leave these out

Gyro Burritos

It has been a very long while since anything has been added on here, but I have a couple of new recipes to share! This one came from a friend of mine as a quick easy dinner idea and it is delish. I love that it is mostly ingredients that I always have on hand so it is a perfect meal to throw together in a pinch!

THE MEAT
1 tablespoon olive oil 
1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice 
2 teaspoons garlic powder  or finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon onion powder or diced onion
1 teaspoon cumin 
2 teaspoons oregano 
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
1 lb ground beef or 1 lb ground turkey

THE CUCUMBER SAUCE
8 ounces light sour cream (I actually used plain greek yogurt instead)
1 cup diced cucumber 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon dill weed 

10 large burritos 
1 large white onion, chopped 
Sliced (or chopped) tomato

Mix the cucumber sauce a few hours ahead of time if possible to let the flavors marinate, but if you don't have time or didn't plan ahead, mix it together while the meat is cooking.

Brown the hamburger or turkey, (add onion if using fresh) throw in the rest of the seasonings and saute for a few minutes.

Layer center of burrito with sauce, onions, tomato and meat. Roll up like a burrito and enjoy!