Personal English Muffin Pizzas

This recipe is a classic from my family! What easier way to feed a family than with a bag of English muffins, a bowl of pizza sauce, and whatever ingredients they personally want? These are so simple and quick that you will find it difficult to ever want to make pizza crust again! Unfortunately the picture is not mine. I got it from this cute blog: http://iheartfood4thought.wordpress.com/.

PERSONAL ENGLISH MUFFIN PIZZAS

1 bag English Muffins
Any pizza toppings you and your family likes

SAUCE
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1/4 tsp. Ground sweet basil
1/4 tsp. Oregano
1 1/2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. Sugar
1/4 + 1/8 tsp. Garlic powder

Mix all sauce ingredients together and spread on top of English muffins. Top with any pizza ingredient you can fathom. Bake at 400 degrees for ten minutes or until cheese has melted. Enjoy!

Classic Repeat - Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta!

It is fun to try out new recipes, but sometimes I just want a quick, tried and true recipe to throw together for dinner. And this one happens to be one of my personal favorites. A couple of things about this dish: I said before to not use spaghetti noodles, but it turns out that you can! It is a fun new way to have the noodles instead of in the classic marinara sauce. Also, I am pretty sure it is important to NOT use sour cream substitutes (IMO). It made our pasta REALLY thick this time. And lastly, if you want to splash just a bit of lemon juice in there it adds a nice flavor! :-)

http://shaylaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/12/chicken-cordon-bleu-pasta.html

Perfect Pancakes

Sometimes I don't want to make anything elaborate or fancy. Sometimes it is just nice to go back to the basics. So when I need a quick breakfast for my family - these are excellent! They were a hit with everyone, including the baby who munched on her "baby pancake." Basic ingredients + very little time to prepare = the perfect recipe!

PERFECT PANCAKES
From: Crisco® Collection
Prep: 10 minutesCook: 25 minutes
Serves: 12

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups milk
5 tablespoons Crisco® vegetable oil

Directions:

Stir the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
Beat the egg, milk and 2 tablespoons oil in a small bowl with a fork or whisk. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until combined.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch skillet or a griddle over medium-high heat. Pour 1/4 cup batter into the skillet for each pancake. Cook for 1 minute or until bubbles form on the pancake surface and the edges are dry. Turn and cook until golden. Remove the pancakes from the skillet and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding additional oil as needed.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with maple syrup, fruit syrup or honey, sliced fruit or fresh berries.

Tip: You can keep the pancakes warm in a 200°F. oven in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Bacon, Egg and Toast Cups

WELCOME BACK TO ME!!!!! Hurray!!!! I am so excited to be back to cooking and eating! It turns out that I do not have celiac, just gastritis, and it is now under control and I can go back to eating like a normal person! So to celebrate - here is a new recipe! I love to make breakfast when Jake has the day off. We eat breakfast together and it is so much fun to talk and eat, and give bits to the little chirping bird that is our daughter. I am not an egg yolk fan so this recipe was not quite my cup of tea. Next time I will DEFINITELY break the yolks or do egg whites only. But the rest of the meal was quite tasty and we will make it again! I got this recipe from a blog called Annie's Eats.

BACON, EGG, AND TOAST CUPS

Ingredients:
6 slices of bacon
6 slices of bread
Shredded cheese
6 eggs
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Grease 6 wells of a muffin pan with butter. In a frying pan, cook bacon about 3-5 minutes, until partially cooked but not completely crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Cut out rounds of bread (I used a 3.5-inch round cookie cutter, but a drinking glass would be fine.) Press the bread rounds into the greased muffin wells. Curl a piece of bacon around the periphery of each piece of bread, positioning it between the bread and the muffin tin to help keep it in position. Sprinkle a small amount of shredded cheese in the center of each piece of bread. One at a time, crack an egg, removing about half of the white, and dropping the remaining white and yolk over each piece of bread, being careful not to break the yolks. Once all the bread pieces have been topped with eggs, bake until eggs are cooked through to your liking (about 6-10 minutes) and bacon is crispy. Run a knife around the edge of each muffin well and pop the egg cups out. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Starting Over

Dearest Friends who follow this blog:

I am sorry that I have not posted anything in a while. I have recently been diagnosed with Celiac disease and, therefore, can no longer tolerate wheat. Add in to that equation the fact that I have developed lactose intolerance (due to the Celiac) and am allergic to raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, intolerant to sugar, and oils.... yeah... basically I am having trouble finding things that I can eat.

So what now? Now we start over. I am on the search for things that I can eat and it is a very slow process. I will post as soon as I can, but until then... wish me luck!

Love, Shayla

Moo Shu Noodles

Okay, this isn't one of my normal recipes because it calls for some unusual ingredients that you wouldn't just have on hand - BUT!!!!! This is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO worth it! The unusual ingredients are cheap and easy to get at the store and this is my new favorite way to eat pork. Plus it comes together so quickly - like half hour quickly! I am a sucker for Chinese food, I really am, but even my ginger picky husband gobbled this one down! It is super super super delicious and has earned a place in our FAVORITE recipes! Thanks so much to My Kitchen Cafe for another great recipe!

MOO SHU NOODLES
From My Kitchen Cafe

12-ounces fettuccine (I used 16 and it was just fine)
3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
3 eggs, beaten
3 medium-sized boneless pork chops, thinly sliced (it is easier to slice thinly if pork chops are slightly frozen)
Ground black pepper
3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons ginger (about a 2-inch piece), peeled and grated (Or 1 tsp. Ground ginger)
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated (Or 1 tsp. minced garlic)
1/2 pound mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 small head Napa or Savoy cabbage, thinly sliced (Available at your local Wal-mart)
1/2 cup chicken broth

Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil. When the water comes up to a bubble, add some salt and drop in the fettuccine. Cook the pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain the cooked pasta and reserve.

Combine the hoisin and soy sauce together in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a 12-inch non-stick skillet, heat one tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add eggs and scramble. When done, scrape them onto a plate and reserve. In the same skillet heat two tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Season the pork with salt and pepper, add to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes (don't overcook or pork will be tough!). Remove the meat from the pan onto the same plate as the eggs and keep warm.

Add the scallions, ginger and garlic to the pan, and cook until aromatic and the scallions are tender, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms to the pan and stir-fry until golden brown, 4-5 minutes.

Add the cabbage to the pan and stir-fry until tender, about 3 minutes. When the cabbage is tender, add the reserved pork and scrambled eggs back to the pan along with the hoisin-soy mixture and the chicken broth. Stir-fry to fully heat through, about 1 minute, and then toss with the reserved cooked pasta. Cook to heat through and serve.

*NOTE: I added a small can of sliced water chestnuts to my Moo Shu Noodles and it added a very satisfying crunch!

Crockpot Lemon Chicken

My husband and best girlfriend Ashley loved this although it wasn't quite my "cup of tea." It was a hit though and was gobbled up very quickly. It was pretty easy so it is worth giving a try. Maybe next time I will use less garlic...

CROCKPOT LEMON CHICKEN

1 teaspoon oregano, dried
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 ounces each)
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1/4 cup boiling water
3 tablespoons lemon juice (I would use fresh if possible)
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups sour cream (12 oz.)
2 teaspoons fresh parsley, minced

Combine the oregano, seasoned salt and pepper rub over chicken. Place in a 3-qt slow cooker. In a small bowl, dissolve bouillon in boiling water. Stir in lemon juice and garlic. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees. (I don't know which universe you would cook this for 4 hours, but mine only took 2 hours before it was done!)

Remove chicken and keep warm. Stir in sour cream and parsley; cover and cook for 15 minutes or until heated through. Serve chicken with sauce and rice if desired. *I cut up the chicken and mixed it with rigatoni noodles.