Bourbon-Marinated Pork Tenderloin

So my parents were in town this weekend and James and I decided to grill out some pork chops for the occasion :) I marinated them in the Bourbon mixture overnight and then James threw them on the grill for a while and they were DELICIOUS! Everyone loved them... If you need a good pork marinade let me know... I'll share :)

Eggs Ole

This is the first real breakfast recipe I've gotten from the book. (I have made the Top of the Morning Danish, but I don't really consider that a breakfast meal.) Eggs Ole is a mexican twist on regular scrambled eggs. I cut the recipe in half because there was no way Brad and I needed to eat 10 eggs...I cut it down to 5 eggs, and we barely ate half of it! :) The flavor is very good...I think it comes from the cottage cheese and the green chiles. The recipe says to serve with salsa. It was good, and it mixed well with the mexican flavor. It was kind of hard for me to eat salsa early in the morning though. So after eating half of the eggs with salsa, I switched over to ketchup (my usual condiment on scrambled eggs), and I liked it much better! Even though I really liked this recipe, I don't know how many times I'll make it. I think I like my plain scrambled eggs too much to switch over to Eggs Ole for good.

Golden Chicken Rolls

This dish is good, but I don't think I'll be making it again. It takes a little to much effort to make, and I don't think I have to the patience. You have to split chicken breasts, stuff with ham and cheese, and you're supposed to use toothpicks to close up the chicken...that part didn't work so well with me, so I didn't end up using the toothpicks. You roll the chicken in a bread crumb/parmesan cheese mixture and then bake. Because I didn't use toothpicks, the cheese melted out everywhere all over the pan. (I don't think there was any left IN the chicken). The last step called for a few ingredients to be mixed together to form a sauce to drizzle on top of the chicken after it cooked, but I was tired and hungry by that point, so we just ate the chicken as it was. Don't get me wrong, it did have good flavor, and I'm sure the sauce would have made it even better. I just think there are easier ways to make good chicken.

Yellow Squash Casserole

I made this recipe a few nights ago, and I think it may be my new favorite way to make squash. It is extremely easy, and it doesn't require many ingredients. If you like squash, you need to try this recipe...I'm sure you'll love it too.

Yellow Squash Casserole
5 or 6 small squash
1 onion, chopped (I only used about 1/4 of an onion and it was plenty.)
8 oz. softened cream cheese
3 tbsp. sugar
salt to taste
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
2 stacks butter crackers, crushed (I used Ritz crackers.)

Cook the squash and onion in water until tender, drain. Add the cream cheese, sugar, and salt, and mix well. Spoon into a butter 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Combine the crackers and melted butter in a bowl. Sprinkle over the squash. Bake at 325 for 45 minutes.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

I have made these potatoes at least a dozen times, and I have to say that they are definitely my favorite mashed potatoes. They are simple to make...the only thing is you have to make them the day before you want to eat them, and they make a ton....I usually cut the recipe in half when it's just Brad and I. If you're looking for a healthy mashed potato recipe, then this recipe probably isn't for you, but I promise you, the extra calories and fat are worth it! :)

Creamy Mashed Potatoes
8-10 potatoes peeled, cooked, and drained
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
1/4 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. salt
3-4 tbsp. butter
paprika to taste

Add 1/2 cup butter and the milk to the potatoes and mash until smooth. Beat in the sour cream, cream cheese, garlic salt, and 1 tsp. salt until smooth. Spoon into a greased 9x13 in. baking dish. Chill, covered in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Remove from refrigerator and let stand at room temp. for 2-3 hours. Top with 3-4 tbsp. butter, and sprinkle with paprika. I also add just a sprinkle of shredded cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.


*Sorry...no picture for this one. I made it at the beginning of the week, and we were so hungry we dove right in. :)

Pasta Shells Florentine

I made this dish tonight, and I REALLY like it. I will definitely add it to my "make again" recipes. It was so easy to make. Just cook about 20 jumbo pasta shells. Mix frozen spinach (that has been cooked and drained), cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, and a small amount of nutmeg together. Stuff the jumbo shells with the mixture, and line them in a baking dish. Pour a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce on top and bake. DELICIOUS!! I figured it can't be too bad for you because you're really not eating much pasta, and I used fat free cottage cheese and low-fat mozzarella cheese. It is also very filling! I'm sure the leftovers will be even better tomorrow! :) Brad said he liked it, but he wasn't so sure about it because of the spinach. You really can't taste the spinach AT ALL, but he just didn't like the look of it. I think I'm going to have to start blind-folding him so he won't be able to see what he's eating.

Chicken Romano

Last night I made a super easy chicken dish, Chicken Romano. It was as simple as crushing up Ritz crackers, melting butter, adding a little garlic powder, salt, and grated Romano cheese and rubbing it on the chicken! It was just baked in the oven for about 45 min. and that was it :) James really liked it, he said it tasted just like a homemade fried chicken, with a hint of cheese. I agreed... It did taste like fried chicken, only it had to be better for you than that!! This is such a simple recipe I'll add it to my post:

Chicken Romano

36 butter crackers, crushed

1/2 cup (2 oz.) grated Romano cheese

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 (3 lb.) chickens, cut up, or 12-14 chicken pieces (This is a lot of chicken, so change measurements according to how much chicken you want to make)

Salt to taste

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine, melted

Mix cracker crumbs, cheese, and garlic powder in a shallow dish. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and dip into margarine. Coat with the crumb mixture. Arrange the chicken in a single layer 9x15 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Serves 6-8

This was soo easy I think Stacey could do it... haha