Chicken Parmesan

Adapted from Rachel Merkley.

4-6 chicken breasts, flattened to 1/2" thickness
1-1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (I use whole wheat)
1-1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese (finely grated crumb kind)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 eggs
1/2-3/4 cup flour
Marinara sauce
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Canola oil

Place flour in a shallow dish.  Beat eggs in another shallow dish with a couple tablespoons of water.  Combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, marjoram, basil, salt, and pepper in another bowl.

Add enough oil to a large, deep pan to be about 1/4-1/2" deep.  Heat over medium to medium-high.

Dip flattened chicken breasts in flour, then eggs (allow to drip excess), and then coat in bread crumb mixture.  Carefully place coated chicken in hot oil just long enough to brown the outside (a minute or two).  Chicken will not be cooked through!

Place chicken in a large oven-safe casserole dish coated with cooking spray.  Top generously with marinara sauce and a good amount of fresh mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 375F for about 25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Note:
-These leftovers are great in chicken parmesan sandwiches!

Oreo Cookies

From Lindsey Eliason.

1 box Devils Food cake mix
2 eggs
3/4 cup shortening
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup margarine
2 tsp. vanilla
2-4 cups powdered sugar

Mix together cake mix, eggs, and shortening.  Drop in tablespoonfuls on greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 8 min @ 350F.  Let cool.

Mix together cream cheese, margarine, vanilla, and 2 cups powdered sugar.  Add more powdered sugar until the filling reaches the desired consistency (thick but not too thick).  Sandwich between two cookies.

Notes:
- I haven't made this in a while, so I don't remember how long it takes or what the yield is.
- I use a cookie scoop for, well, almost everything.  It makes a really nicely shaped cookie.  If you don't have one (and don't want to make the purchase), I suppose you could gently roll the dough into little balls so they're good, circular discs.

Cherry Tarts (Sue Bendixen)

From Sue Bendixen.

Prep: 10 min. + chilling. / Cook: 12 min.
Yield: 3 dozen tarts

I got this recipe from the mother of one of my best friends.  She was wonderful enough to make a billion of these for our wedding reception.  Almond extract is an elegant addition to the chewy-crunchy shells and the light, cheesecake-like filling.

Shells:
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
3/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 small egg white
3/4 cup + 2 Tbs. flour

Blend together almond extract, butter, sugar, and egg white.  Add flour.

Chill dough at least 1 hour.  Press dough into and up sides greased small tart molds or mini muffin pans.

Bake for about 12 minutes at 350 F.  Cool 1-2 minutes in tart pan, then turn upside-down over a towel and knock the shells out.

Filling:
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
1 cup cream, whipped
1 can cherry pie filling

Blend together cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla or almond extract.  Fold in whipped cream.

Fill tart shells with cream cheese filling.  Top each with 1 cherry plus a little cherry sauce.

Nutrition Facts (using regular cream cheese & heavy whipping cream):

1 tart = 136 calories, 10 g fat (3.5 g saturated fat), 31 mg cholesterol, 51 mg sodium, 11.5 g carbohydrate, 0 g fiber, 8.5 g sugar, 1 g protein

Notes:
- If you buy large eggs, don't use all of the egg white.  (Don't toss the unused egg yolk--use it to make Alton Brown's "The Chewy" chocolate chip cookies.  You can freeze it for later if you want.)
- I divide my dough into three equal portions on wax paper, pressing and shaping them into rectangles so that I can easily cut them after their chilled.
- The dough softens very quickly once it's out of the fridge (especially if your hands are warm or it's a warm day).  I tend to put my tart an in the freezer for a few minutes before pressing the dough into it.  I also tend to only make one pan of shells a day because it's next to impossible to get the dough to hold its shape when you press it into a hot tart pan.
- Tart shells may be frozen for future use.
- Try using other fruit pie fillings or fresh fruit.
- I typically double the whole recipe and have a small amount of filling left over.
- Filled tarts don't hold up well for more than a day (they get soggy), so only make as many as you think will be eaten by the end of the day.

Death by Chocolate (Trifle)

From Sis. Luke.

1 9x13" pan of brownies, cooled and chopped or crumbled
1 large container of whipped topping
1 large Symphony bar with almonds and toffee, chopped finely
1 large + 1 small box chocolate pudding, prepared according to directions


Trifle:
Mix 3 small packages of chocolate pudding as directed. Let set in refrigerator.

Once the brownies are completely cool, layer in the following order:
1 layer brownies
1 layer chocolate pudding
1 layer whipped topping
1 layer finely cut Hershey’s Symphony or Hershey’s milk chocolate bar (5 oz.)

Repeat layers to fill trifle dish.


Notes:
- Best if assembled the night before.
- I like to use Matt's Award-Winning Brownies.  Sis. Luke uses this brownie recipe in her trifle:


Brownies:
2 ½ sticks butter
¾ cup cocoa powder
3 cups sugar
1 tsp. salt
6 eggs
2 cups flour
2 cups walnuts, chopped

Melt butter over medium heat. Mix in cocoa powder and remove from heat. Add sugar, salt, eggs, and walnuts (in that order). Pour into greased 9x13” baking dish. Bake at 300°F for approximately 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Friendship Bread and Starter

Do not refrigerate!

Starter:

1 1/4-oz. pkg. active dry yeast

¼ cup warm water

2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

2 cups white sugar, divided

2 cups milk

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let stand 10 minutes. In a 2 quart glass, plastic, or ceramic container, combine 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or flour will lump when milk is added. Slowly stir in 1 cup milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Cover loosely and let stand until bubbly.

Consider this day 1 of the 10 day cycle. Leave loosely covered at room temperature.

Follow rest of directions listed above for days 2-10.

Day 1: Do nothing.
Day 2-5: Mush the closed bag 2 times a day.
Day 6: Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk.
Day 7-9: Mush the bag & release the air 2 times a day.
Day 10: Make the bread following the directions below.

Squeeze contents of bag into a large mixing bowl. Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Mix well. Measure three 1-cup starters into three large zip-lock bags (one gallon size). Mark with the date and day number and give to three friends with a copy of the instructions.

To make your two loaves of bread:
Preheat the oven to 325°F and spray loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray.

Add the following into leftover starter in the bowl:
1 cup oil
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs

In another bowl, mix:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 large box of instant vanilla pudding

Combine wet and dry ingredients.

In a small bowl, combine ½ cup sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Put 1/8 cup of mixture in the bottom of each loaf pan. Pour batter into pans and top each with half of the remaining sugar mix.

Bake at 325°F for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans on a cooling rack for 30 minutes and then turn out and enjoy!

Grasshopper Pie

From Lindsey Eliason.

½ cup margarine, melted
2 packages chocolate wafers
1 pint marshmallow whip
¾ cup milk
2 packages Dream Whip
green food coloring (another color may be substituted)
½ teaspoon peppermint flavoring, more or less depending on your taste

Crush chocolate wafers in Ziploc bags into small crumbs. Mix margarine and chocolate wafers into a crumbly mixture using clean hands. Press about 3/4 of mixture into 9x13 greased glass dish or pan.

Melt marshmallow whip in microwave (watch it so it doesn’t burn). Mix milk and marshmallow whip. Put in freezer to cool – do not freeze at this point!

Whip Dream Whip according to directions on box. Add into marshmallow/milk mixture.

Add food coloring and peppermint flavoring. Pour on top of crust.

Sprinkle remaining half of wafer mixture on top. Freeze.

Shelby's Lasagna

Prep./Cook: 1 hour 20 min

1 lb. ground beef
12 oz. cottage cheese
1 (12 oz.) bag grated mozzarella
1 jar Newman’s marinara/pasta sauce
1 box wide lasagna noodles
1 cup water

Brown hamburger. Drain grease and add jar of marinara. Add water to the bottle and swish it around to get the rest of the sauce. Add to marinara and hamburger. Bring to a boil.

In ungreased 9x13 pan, layer meat, noodles, cottage cheese, and mozzarella. Repeat two more times. Finish with a layer of meat sauce on top.

Cover pan with tin foil and cook for 1 hour at 350 or 375˚F.

Jell-O Cake / Cupcakes

From Sis. Judd.

1 cake mix (plus required ingredients)
1 small box Jell-O mix
1 small box pudding mix
1 envelope Dream Whip
¾ cup hot water
½ cup cold water
1 ½ cups cold milk

Make cake according to directions on box. Let cool for 20 minutes.

About 10 minutes before cake is done cooling, mix lime Jell-o with ¾ cup hot water. Once mix has dissolved, add ½ cup cold water. Let cool until cake has finished cooling.

Using a large fork, chopsticks, or something of the like. Pour Jell-O over cake.

Whip together Dream Whip, pudding mix, and cold milk for 5-8 minutes, or until fluffy. Frost cake.

Refrigerate for a couple hours.

Notes:
- You can also make these as cupcakes, but it's a little harder.

Some possible combinations:
- Chocolate cake, raspberry Jell-O, cheesecake pudding
- White cake, strawberry Jell-O, chocolate pudding
- Orange cake, cherry Jell-O, vanilla or white chocolate pudding
- Lemon cake, lime Jell-O, lemon vanilla
- White cake, cherry Jell-O, vanilla pudding (pictured)
- Anything else that sounds good.