Fruit Dip

Easy & Delicious Fruit Dip Recipe:

1 (8 oz) container WHIPPED cream cheese (must be whipped)
1 (7 oz) container Marshmallow Creme

Put both ingredients in a bowl. Now whip it (whip it good) . . . and keep whipping . . . and keep whipping (I usually use a whisk and just beat the heck out of it. Not only is it a delicious dish, but it is quite the workout too!). It will be smooth and fluffy when it's ready.
Serve with strawberries, bananas, pineapple . . . basically any kind of fruit.

*For something different, try a splash of vanilla or almond extract

[Original recipe can be found here]

Bleu Cheese Sauce

Recipe inspired by Rachel Ray magazine, June 2012 issue.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. mayo
2 tbsp. sour cream
1 tbsp. 1/2 & 1/2 or heavy cream
Juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup crumbled bleu cheese (add more for stronger flavor)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until cheeses are melted. Set aside and allow to cool slightly; sauce will thicken as it cools.

Serve over steak and enjoy!

Herb Crusted Pork Chops

I'm dieting.

I hate dieting... mostly because I love food. But also partly because I hate being told what to do {or what not to do}. But I want to lose this baby weight and if I'm going to put in the effort to work out then I'm also going to do my best to not eat an entire pizza at each meal. I've been hunting for recipes that are light, healthy, and still have flavor so I can trick my brain into thinking that I'm still making delicious meals worthy of the excitement and effort that I usually reserve for Alfredo sauce and deep fried anything... and this pork chop recipe was a mighty tasty way to kick off my diet. I found the original recipe here and tweaked it just a little to make it my own {read: I added cheese}. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork chops, fat trimmed

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs

1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Rub mustard evenly over pork chops.  Combine panko, thyme, parsley, cheese, salt, and pepper in a large bowl; dredge pork chops in panko mixture.

Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.  Add oil to pan and swirl to coat.  Add pork chops, saute for 2 minutes or until golden brown.  Turn pork over and place skillet in oven for about 8 minutes or until pork reaches 145 degrees in the center. 

Super Easy Pork Chops

Being on bed rest is a pain... being nine months pregnant is a pain. So, when I was thinking up dinner and perusing Pinterest for pork chop ideas I was looking for something easy, fast, and that didn't require dirtying a bunch of dishes or digging out a bunch of ingredients. I didn't find what I was looking for. So, I did something that I rarely do, I made my own recipe. I found a chicken recipe that used mayo a while back and it was super moist and tender and over Easter weekend my mother-in-law made my favorite garlic chip dip (which uses mayo and sour cream along with garlic seasoning). My pregnant brain smooshed the two together and tonight's dinner is the result. It was really easy to make and tasted great. AND I even took my very own picture of it, something I am notoriously terrible at. It was a victorious night all around for this little chef...

Ingredients:

2 pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick)
1/4 cup mayo
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup cornflakes, smashed (Panko would work well too, I just happened to have cornflakes on hand)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix together the mayo, garlic and cheese.

Place crushed cornflakes in a gallon storage bag.

Dredge pork in mayo mixture to coat. Place pork chop in bag and coat with cornflakes.

Place chops in a greased baking dish and bake for 25 minutes. 

[See, I told you it was simple!]

Hashbrown Casserole

You may not know this about my husband... but the man can cook. He doesn't really LIKE to, but when push comes to shove he does alright by me in the kitchen. He has been dying for a hash brown casserole for years but I've never made one [I know, bad wife]. It's always seemed like so much food to make for just the two of us [heaven forbid I cut the recipe in half]. As Easter approached this year and I was still stuck on bed rest and nine months pregnant, the cooking was left up to him. I had pinned about ten versions of this recipe on Pinterest and he found one in the paper that sounded good so they all kind of got smooshed together into one pan of deliciousness. Ten points for the husband today... and not only did he make this casserole, he made me angel food cake as well. I married a good man.

Ingredients:

1 (32 oz.) shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
16 oz. sour cream
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup melted butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups corn flakes, crushed
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix sour cream, soup, and salt and pepper together. Add in cheese and hash browns and mix well. Spoon into 9x13 baking dish.

Melt butter and add to corn flakes; mix. Spread cornflakes over top of hash brown mixture.

Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes.

Cheesy Bread

It seems like at every restuarant I visit there is one dish that I just HAVE to have while I'm there. At Black Angus (which we almost never go to...) it's the cheesy bread. It's garlicky, cheesy, crunchy, gooey, and heavenly. It's the one thing on their menu that I get really, really excited about. I've always known it wasn't just cheese and garlic, there was more to it than that and now, thanks to Pinterest and Simply Recipes, I have found a copycat recipe that will satisfy my craving for garlic, cheesy deliciousness. I didn't change a thing from the orginal recipe (which can be found here) I just made much smaller portions because I wasn't aiming to make 40 slices... however, after trying this, next time I might just make all 40!!

 Ingredients:

8 oz shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 lb shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 to 1 cup chopped green onion (to taste)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp sour cream (optional)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup, 4 ounces), softened to the point of being slightly melted
1 to 2 loaves of French or Italian bread, depending on the size of the loaves

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together the cheeses and the green onion. Stir in the mayonnaise and sour cream. In a separate small bowl blend the butter and garlic until smooth. Add the butter mixture to the cheese mixture.

Preheat broiler. Slice loaf of bread in half horizontally, lay crust side down. Spread cheese mixture over the bread. Place under the broiler until nicely browned, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove from broiler and let sit for 5 minutes until cool enough to handle. Slice the bread with a bread knife. Serve.

Makes 30 to 40 slices.

My Honey Mustard Sauce

This is one of my go-to recipes that I use when baking my favorite Honey Mustard Chicken or as a dipping sauce for chicken strips or jo-jo's. I've modified this sauce from the original recipe because I've learned to love mustard A LOT more since the original recipe was developed. Now I use three different mustards that I always have on hand and it makes this sauce totally amazing. It certainly doesn't hurt that this is super simple and super, super fast to throw together!

Ingredients:

4 parts mayo
2 parts yellow mustard
1 part Dijon mustard
1 part stone ground mustard
1-2 parts honey (depending on your tastes)
splash apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.

Use as a dipping sauce or slather over a chicken breast and bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.