Beef and Rice Teriyaki

Ingredients

2 lb flank steak (about 2 large steaks)
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2 tablespoons honey
10.5 oz can beef broth
1 teaspoon ginger root, grated
3 Cups of rice or box of Uncle Ben's Rice
2 cups of brocoli florets or snap peas


Directions:

1. Slice steaks diagonally across the grain into 1/2 x 1-inch strips and place in a shallow pan or large bowl.
2. Mix all ingredients except rice and veggies and pour over meat. Let marinate 1 to 2 hours, turning 3 or 4 times.
3. Grill or bake meat at 350 for 45 minutes (I did it via oven and it came out really good)
4. While cooking the meat, make the rice occording to directions (Dan doesnt like plain white rice so I made Uncle Ben's )
5. Boil vegetable of your choice until tender (I used snap peas this time, will try brocoli next time)
6. Add the vegetables to the rice and place on a plate
7. Lay strips of meat across the rice and vegtables and serve

Herb and Cheese Bread

I made this receipe using my Kitchenaid Mixer. Once I tried a regular white bread from scratch, it was fun to add different ingredients. This bread recipe is really yummy!

Ingredients
yield 2 loafs

2 pkg active dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water

4 1/2 cups flour cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp fresh chopped basil or 1 tsp dry basil
2 tsps fresh chopped oregano or 1/2 tsp dry oregano
2 tsp fresh chopped thyme or 1/2 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp fresh minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion soup mix
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

3/4 cup cold water


Directions
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water.

Place flour, basil, oregano, thyme, garlic, salt, in bowl. Attach spiral dough hook and mix 30 seconds on speed 2. Stop & scrape bowl.

Continue on speed 2 and slowly add yest mixture & cold water, mixing for 30 seconds. If dough is still sticky, add an additional 1/2 cup flour. Knead on speed 2 for 3 minutes.

Place dough in greased bowl, cover and let rise in warm place for 1.5 to 2 hours (or until doubled in size).

Punch down dough to remove all air bubbles. Shape dough into long loaf and place onto greased baking sheet or loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1 to 1.5 hours.

Bake at 375 F for 30-40 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients

• FILLING:
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

• TOPPING:
• 1 cup whip cream
  
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 TBSP cocoa

I used a pre-made crust for this cheesecake and it was good.

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in vanilla; mix well. Melt chocolate chips and stir them in. Pour into prepared crust. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until center is almost set.
2. Remove from the oven; increase temperature to 425 degrees F. Combine the whipped cream, brown sugar,cocoa and vanilla until smooth. Spread over warm cheesecake; sprinkle with Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Broccoli Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

6 pieces of Italian Bread, cubed
4 eggs
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp Thyme
1 dash of salt
1 dash pepper
1 package frozen broccoli florets, thawed
1 12 oz jar roasted red peppers
1 cup shredded Italian Cheese
6 oz of deli ham, cubed

1. Spray a 8x10 baking dish (or equivalent, I used my oval baking dish) with Pam
2. Layer 3 pieces of Italian bread on the bottom of the baking dish
3. On top of the bread, layer the brocolli, roasted red peppers, ham and cheese
4. Add the last 3 slices of bread to the top
5. In a bowl, mix the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and thyme
6. Pour mixture over entire dish
7. Cover with foil and put in the fridge for atleast 2 hours or overnight
8. Bake at 400 degrees for an hour. Take of foil and bake another 5 minutes, until bread browns


Serves 6 people

Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:

• 6 baking potatoes
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 1 can of chicken broth
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup bacon bits, divided
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 10 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Directions

1. Cook potatoes until they are soft either in the oven or microwave, whichever you choose (I did mine in the oven)
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, whisk in milk, cream of chicken soup and broth.
   
3. Cut up 4 of the potatoes and put in blender. Add the milk mixture and blend lightly. Mixture should still have some potato lumps.
4. Pour mixture back into saucepan and add salt, pepper, 1/3 cup bacon bits, 2 tablespoons green onions and most of the cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated.
   
5. Chop of the remaining two potatoes and add to the mixture to give some more texture.
   
6. Serve topped with remaining bacon, onions, sour cream and cheese.

Makes 6 bowls

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Ingredients:

1. 4 chicken breasts, unthawed
2. 1/2 cups of green pepper, red pepper and onion, chopped
3. 1 cup of mozarella cheese
4. 1 cup spinach, chopped
5. Italian Bread Crumbs
6. 1 egg
7. Oil


Directions:
1. Butterfly cut the chicken breasts and then pound them out with kitchen hammer so they are flat and thinner
2. Layer the peppers, onion, cheese and spinach on each of the chicken breasts (for a time saver, I used Hanover's frozen pepper and onion mixture and just thawed it and dried it out)
3. Close up the chicken breasts
4. Dip each breast on both sides in a beaten egg and then dredge through the bread crumbs
6. Cook on each side until the bread crumbs are brown
7. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes


I actually made this dish twice and the second time, I added some pepperoni inside the chicken and it was so good!


Confession: I deleted the picture from my camera but here is one from the website I got the receipe

Spaghetti Sauce and then Chicken and Zucchini Pasta

I made homeade spaghetti sauce and then used it in the recipe included in this post.

Sauce recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
  
• 2 teaspoons crushed garlic
• 1 (28 ounce) can tomatoe sauce
• 1 small can tomatoe paste
  
• 4 teaspoons dried basil
• 4 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1-2 cups water, depends on desired thickness

Directions for Sauce:

In a large saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion, green pepper and garlic. When onions are clear, stir in tomatoe sauce, tomatoe paste basil, oregano, chicken broth and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2-3 hours. Add water, as needed, for desired thickness.

Once I made the sauce, I then used a chicken breast, a small zucchini, a half cup of grated parmesan and 2 tbsp of italian seasoning to make the rest. I simply browned the chicken breast and zucchini in a non-stick pan with some oil. Once browned, I sprinkled the cheese and italian season over them and let them cook for 20 minutes. Finally, I cooked up some noodles, poured sauce over the noodles and then added the chicken and zucchini mixture. It was really good!