Hawaiian Chicken

Super easy!

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 - 16 oz. bottle BBQ sauce
1 - 20 oz. can crushed pineapple

Mix BBQ sauce and crushed pineapple together. Place chicken in crock pot and pour sauce over top. Cook on high for 3 hours (4 hours if chicken is frozen). When done, serve with rice; or shred chicken and put some sauce with it and serve as sandwiches (or you can still serve it over rice). YUM (and it couldn't be simpler).

Hummus

Yes, I have returned to the blogging world again. Here is the recipe for hummus that Mary and Suzy and I were talking about when we were all in St. George in March, how's that for lag time. :)


1 can (15 oz.) garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved for later
1 clove garlic
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cumin
Salt to taste

In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients. Cover and puree until smooth. Blend on low speed, gradually adding reserved bean liquid, until desired consistency is achieved. Hummus can be served immediately, or covered and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.
You can also add spinach, artichokes, feta cheese, basil, etc, (but I haven’t tried that yet).

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

mmm.... this salad was very good... the recipe calls for only lettuce and red onions as a salad part, but i also threw grape tomatoes (halved) and half of the red pepper...yum.

For the Chicken:

1 lb. chicken breasts
1 teaspoon each garlic powder (or two cloves minced), salt, and pepper
juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil

Place chicken in ziptop baggie. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Pour lemon juice and olive oil into bag, turn chicken to coat and marinate for 1-12 hours. Grill or broil chicken, about 6 minutes per side. 

For Croutons:
1/2 loaf French bread, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1 teaspoon garlic powder, or 2 cloves minced
4 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a foil lined cookie sheet, toss bread with garlic and olive oil. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Bake bread until toasted, turning once, about 15 minutes. 

For Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
pinch of cayenne, if desired
 
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a blender and process until smooth. 

For Salad:
Romaine lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces
red onion, thinly sliced

To serve:
Place romaine and red onion on plates. Top with croutons and chicken breast. Drizzle with dressing and black pepper. 

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

This isn't a picture of the ones I made but they looked exactly like this. I have been reading on some blogs lately about these cookies and thought I would give them a whirl. They turned out pretty tasty. There are all sorts of varieties of them - pumpkin, chocolate, plain cake. These are chocolate ones. They taste kind of like a big, homemade oreo.

1 cup shortening 2 cups white sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup sour milk 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 cup hot water 4 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups shortening 4 cups confectioners' sugar 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup milk 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract 2 egg whites, beaten

	Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
	In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup of shortening and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time then stir in the vanilla and sour milk. Combine the flour, cocoa and salt, stir into the creamed mixture. Stir together the baking soda and hot water then mix them into the batter last. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.
	Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm but not overbaked. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
	To make the filling: In a medium bowl, cream together the 1 1/2 cups shortening with the confectioners' sugar and 1/4 cup of flour until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the milk and vanilla until well mixed, then fold in the egg whites. Sandwich at least 1 tablespoon of filling between the flat sides of two cookies.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Mom - Happy Mother's Day. Thank you for all you do for us. You have always been such an amazing mom. So in honor of Mother's day - write a memory of Mary in the comments.