Stuffed Chicken Breasts

This is a simple and satisfying dinner. Add a salad or vegetable and you have a complete meal.

2 cups cooked brown rice
1 pound chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon pepper divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup finely shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon basil
In a zipper bag, pound chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness. I cut them in half, so each serving is about 4 ounces. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon pepper and the salt. Combine cooked rice, onion, tomatoes, cheese, basil and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spoon rice mixture on top of chicken breasts; fold over and secure sides with wooden toothpicks.

Spray a large frying pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add stuffed chicken breasts and cook over medium high heat one minute on each side or just until golden brown. Transfer chicken to shallow baking pan. I use my cast iron skillet, and then I don’t have to transfer the chicken to another pan. I just put the skillet in the oven and bake it in the same pan. I always have leftover rice mixture, so I just put it in the pan next to the chicken and serve the chicken over the rice that I baked next to the chicken. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
This is great by itself, but I really like to put Lemon Apricot Sauce on the top, so here’s the recipe for that.

Lemon-Apricot Sauce
1/3 cup sugar free apricot preserves
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
In a small microwavable bowl, stir together all of the Lemon-Apricot Sauce ingredients. Microwave on High 1 minute; stir.
Pour sauce over chicken.

Lemon Wisp

While I was at the hospital visiting with my brother, some of us went to the cafeteria for dinner. They had a dessert called lemon something, I can't remember. It looked so delicious. I knew it wouldn't taste as good as it looked. They never do. But I decided to try it anyway. I was right. It didn't taste as good as it looked! So I decided to make my own. That way I could have something that tastes as good as it looks. So here's the recipe I came up with.

Ingredients:
White cake mix and ingredients called for on box
1 lemon
Lemon curd or 1 can lemon pie filling
Wispy Lemon Frosting (Recipe follows)
Directions:
Make the white cake mix as directed on the box with the following changes:
Zest the lemon and add to the dry cake mix. Juice the lemon and pour into a measuring cup; then add water to make the amount of liquid called for on the package. Mix and bake as directed. I made two nine inch layers. If you have 4 pans, you can make 4 thin 8 or 9 inch layers and bake them for less time. I only have 2 pans, so I made 2 layers and split them into four. If you make 2 layers, slice them in half horizontally so you will have 4 layers. You could do it with only 2 layers, but it won’t be quite as good.

Cool the cakes completely, about 2 hours.
Place one layer on a plate. Spread about 1/2 cup lemon curd on top. You don’t want it to drip down the side or it will get in the way when you frost the cake.
Place the second layer on top of the cake on the plate. Spread with 1/2 cup lemon curd. Then put the third layer on top of the cake on the plate and spread with the rest of the lemon curd.

Add the fourth and final layer on top of the plate. Spread Wispy Lemon Frosting on the sides and top. I swirled it a little with my knife instead of smoothing it out.

I also made some sugared lemon curls for a garnish. Using a vegetable peeler slice off about 5 or 6 slices from your lemon before zesting and juicing. Roll the peel into curls and secure with a toothpick. Place into a small bowl. Cover with sugar and refrigerate for several hours. Remove toothpicks and shake off as much sugar as possible before using on cake.
Wispy Lemon Frosting
7 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) Marshmallow Crème
3/4 cup butter, softened
Zest from one lemon
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
A few drops yellow food coloring
In a large bowl, beat the marshmallow crème and butter until well mixed. Add the lemon zest and the lemon juice. Mix. Beat in the powdered sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Stir in the food coloring.

Hey! Look at this! I'm starting to look like a "real" food blogger.

Hamburger Soup

I love this soup! It's delicious and very filling. I've been making it for so many years, I can't remember how I came up with the recipe. I've given it to other people who also like it a lot. I make it in my pressure cooker. Very fast that way. It's kind of my "go to" recipe since I always have the ingredients and it's quick and easy.

1 lb hamburger
¼ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder, divided
¼ tsp lemon pepper
½ tsp seasoned salt
2 medium potatoes, diced
4 medium carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 quart tomato juice
¼ tsp sweet basil
½ tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
Put hamburger in dutch oven. Sprinkle with onion powder, ¼ tsp garlic powder, lemon pepper, and seasoned salt. Stir and fry until browned.
Add potatoes, carrots, and celery. Cover with water and cook until vegetables are tender.
Drain the water off. Add the tomato juice, sweet basil, oregano, the rest of the garlic powder, and the salt and pepper. Heat through.
Serve. You can garnish with shredded cheese, sliced green onions, or fresh Basil leaves.

(You could cook it in the crockpot all day in the water. Then drain the water, add the tomato juice and heat through after the vegetables get cooked.) 1 point for a 1 cup serving.

Lemon Apricot Chicken

This is so delicious! The glaze is just the right touch. I love using egg whites and heart smart Bisquick to add flavor and crunch without all the fat and calories.

Makes: 3 servings
Chicken
2 tablespoons fat-free egg product or 1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup Bisquick Heart Smart® mix
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
3 small chicken breasts (4 ounces each)
Cooking spray
Lemon slices, if desired
Lemon-Apricot Sauce
1/3 cup sugar free apricot preserves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1. Heat oven to 425°F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.
In shallow dish, beat egg product and water slightly. In another shallow dish, stir together Bisquick® mix, lemon peel and garlic powder.
Flatten chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper to 1/2-inch thickness.
2. Dip chicken into egg mixture, then coat with Bisquick mixture. Place in pan. Spray chicken with cooking spray.
3. Bake uncovered 20 minutes. Turn; bake 10 minutes longer or until chicken is no longer pink in center.
4. In small microwavable bowl, stir together all Lemon-Apricot Sauce ingredients. Microwave on High 1 minute; stir.
Cut chicken crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Pour sauce over chicken. Garnish with lemon slices.
Weight Watchers 5 points per serving.

Dinner Rolls

These rolls are light and delicious. I make them in my mixer, so they are super easy. Expect 24 LARGE rolls. You could divide the dough into six balls and make smaller rolls. Cooking time will be shorter if you do.

2 Tablespoons yeast
1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon warm water
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup warm milk
5 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
Butter to brush rolls with

Directions: Mix together the yeast and warm water in your mixer. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine the eggs, oil and sugar. Warm the milk in the microwave (but don't get it hot...just warm) and add it to the yeast mixture in the mixer. Also, add in the egg mixture. Mix. Add the flour (mixed with the salt), one cup at a time. Mix well. Continue to knead for 5 minutes. (If you don't use a mixer, you'll have to knead for about 10 to 15 minutes.) Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until about double in size, about an hour.
After its risen, separate the dough in to 3 even balls. Roll out each ball to about the size of a dinner plate, on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 8 pizza wedge slices. Brush with melted butter. With each wedge, starting at the large bottom, roll them up. Place on a greased (sprayed) sheet pan. Place 3 rolls across and 8 down (24 per sheet). Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rise again until doubled in size.

Heat oven to 400 degrees and bake for about 11 minutes, or until tops are a golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter.

Notes: I almost never cook with milk. I actually add 1 cup of warm water, then add powdered dry milk with the flour in place of the milk.

Caramel Surprise Cookies

These cookies are great. Such a nice bit of caramel in the center. DELICIOUS!

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
40 to 50 Rolo candies, unwrapped (one standard bag or 6 individual rolls)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. Cream sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Mix until well combined. Add a little more flour if the dough is too sticky. Pinch off walnut-sized balls of dough and wrap a piece of dough around each Rolo.
Place on cookie sheets. Bake 7-9 minutes, until the cookie is set but the top is still soft to the touch. Don’t overcook or the caramel will get hard. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for about five minutes before transferring them to the wire racks. Be sure to cool a bit on the cookie sheets or the caramel oozes out. Not so good.
I didn't have quite enough Rolos, so I wrapped a few around some chocolate mint candies and they were also yummy.