Lemon Crinkle Cookies

• ½ cups Butter, Softened
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 whole Egg
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
• ⅛ teaspoons Baking Soda
• ½ cups Powdered Sugar 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease light colored baking sheets with non stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients (except powdered sugar) slowly 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 bottom of cookies begin to barely brown and cookies have a matte finish (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.

Vegetable Casserole

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Medium Yellow Onion
1 Tsp Minced Garlic
1 Medium Zucchini
1 Medium Yellow Squash
1 Medium Potato
1 Medium Tomato
1 Tsp Thyme
1 Cup Shredded Cheese
Salt & Pepper

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Saute both in a skillet with olive oil until softened (about five minutes).

STEP 2: While the onion and garlic are cooking, thinly slice the rest of the vegetables.

STEP 3: Spray the inside of an 8x8 square baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread the softened onion and garlic in the bottom of the dish. Place the thinly sliced vegetables in the baking dish vertically, in an alternating pattern. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and thyme.

STEP 4: Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with cheese and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

Melt In Your Mouth Chicken Breast

• 4 boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 ½ teaspoons seasoning salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Mix mayonnaise, cheese and seasonings.
2. Spread mixture over chicken breast and place in baking dish.
3. Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF (175ºC).

2. Line a cookie sheet or two with parchment.

3. Cream butter and sugars until creamy, then add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

4. Add Peanut butter and continue to beat until combined.

5. Add flour, baking powder and salt and stir to combine.

6. Add chips and stir again.

7. Drop small spoonfuls of dough onto parchment (you should get a dozen per sheet).

8. Bake 12 minutes or until just golden.

9. Remove from oven and allow to rest on the sheet 1 minute before removing with a spatula.

Honey Balsamic Chicken

So I found this recipe online somewhere (honestly, I dunno where it was, I had printed it out a while ago) and just made it for the second time tonight (okay, okay, I burnt the sauce the first time). I was worried it would be too sweet, but it really just has a perfect touch of sweetness.

1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (four, 4 oz pieces)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp honey

Combine first 4 ingredients; sprinkle over both sides of chicken.

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook 7-8 minutes on each side or until chicken is no longer pink.

Reduce heat to medium low, transfer chicken to serving platter; keep warm.

Add vinegar and honey to the pan. Simmer for 1-2 minutes until glaze thickens; stir constantly. (Glaze will bubble up as it's stirred)

Pour glaze over chicken and serve.

Number of Servings: 4

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

My mother-in-law, Liz, comes out a couple times a year and turns our kitchen into *heaven*. I totally get spoiled with all the fantastic and healthy things she does. When she leaves, I go into withdrawals trying to copy what she's made and usually fail at it. Slow roasted tomatoes are one of those things I could never get quite right. You'd think it was simple.. but you're reading a blog of a girl who has mastered the art of burning water.

This is the recipe that I make - it's really yummy and almost Liz-quality!

Small Roma tomatoes
Whole unpeeled cloves of garlic
Thyme
Rosemary
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees.

Halve the tomatoes lengthwise and place them and the garlic cloves on a parchment-covered baking sheet.

Lightly baste the tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle a small amount of herbs on them.

Depending on how small/large the tomatoes are, bake them for 3-4 hours, keeping an eye on them toward the last hour. You want to make sure they're shriveled on the outside but still a little moist on the inside.

You can freeze them for winter, but they don't last that long in my house. I love them as snacks by themselves or with a little fresh mozzerella, basil and pimentos as a modified Caprese salad.

Seared Chicken & Garlic Sauce

We love garlic in our house, there is no such thing as too much. Okay, maybe there is such a thing, but not with this recipe! The hubby actually goes back for thirds on this one.

1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into four 4-ounce pieces
1 teaspoon olive oil
12 garlic cloves, cleaned and halved
1 cup chicken broth

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Combine the first five ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the herb mixture into both sides of the chicken pieces.
3. Heat oil in a large ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook two minutes on each side. Add the garlic and 3/4 cup of the broth. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until chicken is done and the garlic cloves are soft.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the chicken to a platter; keep warm. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of chicken broth to the pan and mash the garlic with a fork. Cook garlic mixture over medium heat for two minutes or until heated through; stir. Serve the garlic sauce over the chicken.