Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies!

This coming Sunday happens to be my last Sunday at my job before I switch to a normal Monday-Friday shift, so I decided to bake something a little special for my Sunday crew. I followed a classic Nestle recipe, and they turned out great.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (one 12-oz package) Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
• In separate bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat well after each addition.
• Gradually beat in the flour mixture. When fully combined, stor in chocolate chips and chopped nuts.
• Drop by rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake for 11 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
• Let cool on sheets for 3 minutes, then move to wire racks.
  

Campbell's Lemon pepper broccoli chicken

This was thrown together one night thanks to a recipe on a can of Campbell's cream of broccoli soup. It was easy to follow and pretty tasty.

Ingredients:

• 1 lemon
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 can Campbell's cream of broccoli soup
• 1/4 cup milk
• pepper to taste

Directions:

• Cut six thin slices of lemon. Squeeze remaining lemon to create 2 teaspoons of juice.
• Heat vegetable oil in skillet. add chicken and cook until browned.
• Mix soup and milk in a bowl until combined. Add to skillet. Add lemon juice, and top chicken breasts with lemon slices.
• Sprinkle pepper over chicken to taste. Cover and heat to a boil. Cover and cook on low heat for 5-7 minutes.

I served this over a plain white rice, and it suited it. It was light and citrusy, and with a side of corn, was a perfect quick meal.

Earl Grey Tea Coookies

An old coworker of mine used to make these all the time, and before she left, I made sure to get her recipe. They're unlike any cookie I've had - like a sugar cookie with "tea" and lemon flavors. Very yummy - but baker beware - use decaf tea if you plan to eat them at night! My husband and I couldn't figure out why we couldn't fall asleep at night after the first time I made these. It didn't take us long to realize it was the tea in the cookies - haha.

The original recipe from realsimple.com says to use a food processor to pulse together ingredients, but since I don't have a large enough food processor, I just used a large mixing bowl and my hand mixer, and they came out great!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 tablespoons Earl Grey tea leaves (contents of 6 tea bags)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  
• Mix the flour, granulated sugar, confectioners sugar, tea bag contents, salt together in a large mixing bowl.
• Add in vanilla, 1 teaspoon of water, and the butter.
• Mix until a dough is formed.
• Divide the dough in half and place each half on a sheet of wax paper. Roll each half into a 12-inch log, about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
• Slice log into discs, about 1/3-inch thick. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet 2 inches apart.
• Bake 11-12 minutes or just until the edges are golden brown.
• Let cool on pan for 3 minutes, transfer to wire racks.
  

Dijon terriaki chicken and garlic mashed red potatoes

I found this chicken recipe online and thought it sounded interesting (and easy). It came out SO good - I loved it and so did my husband. The combo of ingredients sounds weird, and I was hesitant to try it because I'm not a big dijon fan, but the combination of all the different flavors ended up being great. The red mashed potatoes were pretty standard, but a great side to accompany this chicken. Yum!

Ingredients for chicken:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 4 ounces dijon mustars
• 1/4 cup terriaki suace
• 1/4 cup bacon bits
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Pour 2 tbsp terriaki sauce into a 9x13 baking dish to coat bottom,
• Laye chicken in baking dish, slather with mustard. Pour remaining terriaki eveny over chicken. Top with bacon bots, then parmesan.
• Bake 30 minutes.

Ingredients for garlic mashed red potatoes (serves two):

• 8 red potatoes, cubed
• 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  
• salt, pepper (to taste)

Directions:

• Place cubed potatoes in a large pot, pour enough water over to cover.
• Add 1 tsp crushed garlic to water.
  
• Bring to a boil, cook at a boil for an additional 10-15 minutes until potatoes are easily pierced.
• Drain potatoes, return to pot.
• Add butter, mash with a course masher (or mixer if you prefer them creamier).
• When butter is melted, add milk and continue to mash until they are at your desired consistency.
• Add garlic powder and salt & pepper to taste.