Apricot Chicken

I got this recipie from a friend in college and then found it in one of those ancient Emery County cookbooks. So, I guess it's an oldy but a goody. I mostly like it because it is so easy and it is easy to have the ingredients in the pantry on hand for those nights when you're not sure what to have for dinner. It puts together quickly and cooks fast.

4-6 chicken breasts
1 cup apricot jam
1 cup Catalina dressing
1 envelope onion soup mix

Mix all ingredients and pour over chicken in a casserole pan. Cook 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

I always serve this with Lemon Rice Pillaf; an old favorite from my mom. Here's the recipie for that too:

3 1/2 cups water
2 cups Long Grain Rice
4 heaping tsp. Chicken Boullion Granules (or 5 or 6 cubes)
3 TBSP. Lemon Juice
2 TBSP margarine

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil for 10 min. Cover and turn stove off. Let rice fully cook.

Raspberry Cream Trifle

This is one of my very favorite recipies of all time!! I always get requests for this recipie everytime I make for an occasion. It's easy and SOOOOO delicious. The girls fight to lick the bowl- it's a physical fight too.

1 Angel Food Cake bar (the rectangle kind, not round)
1 can sweetened condensed milk, chilled
1 cup cold water
1 tsp almond extract
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped
1 package frozen raspberries, thawed and drained
~1/4 cup raspberry jam (you can really use however much you want

Cut the angel food cake bar into small cubes
Combine the milk, water, and extract together and mix well. Add the pudding, mix and set in fridge until soft set. Fold in whipped whipping cream. Layer cake cubes, cream, little more than half of the raspberries, and jam. Layer cake, cream and rest of raspberries.

This is best fresh. It doesn't keep well for very long because the cake cubes can get pretty soggy. We like to eat the leftovers for breakfast- just so it doesn't go bad (he he he).

Hope you like it as much as we do

Chicken Rollups

This recipie is one of my family favorites. In fact, it is Kayla's favorite food. She asked for this for her birthday dinner- she asks for me to make this every year on her birthday. It is so versital too. It's nearly impossible to mess up (that is unless you burn it

2 chicken breasts cooked and cut up into small pieces or shredded
4 oz cream cheese (you can even use lite cream cheese or it is really good with chive & onion cream cheese
*if you use plain cream cheese it is good to add a little flavor to the filling by adding salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to your liking
1 pkg Refrigerator cresent rolls ( I always use the reduced fat ones)
Unroll them into rectangles(2 cresent rolls hooked together). Pinch the seam together and cut in half to make a square. Put about a tablespoon of filling into the center and fold up sides and pinch. Place on a cookie sheet

Cook at 375 for ~10-15 min. (check on them regularly- they'll be light brown when finished)

You can serve them with gravy over the top. The kids usually don't like the gravy, but Brady & I do. The gravy is just a can of Cream of Chicken soup undiluted warmed up.

The original recipie called for dipping the uncooked rollups in melted butter and then dipping them in Italian Bread crumbs. I stopped doing that because it was so messy and time consuming and they tasted great without it. Besides, the girls like to pick them up with their hands and eat them since they don't like the gravy on them and the bread crumbs would make a mess. You can do that if you like.

Another great variation to this recipie is to use leftover Thanksgiving turkey for the chicken and use leftover turkey gravy over the top. It's a great way to use up that enormous amount of turkey leftover (however, there's not usually much gravy left at our house).

What's 4 Breakfast?..... Blueberry Nutmeg Muffins

1 stick butter or margarine

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 bag frozen blueberries or one pint fresh (really, you can use as many or as little blueberries as you please)

Topping:
1 TBSP Sugar

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time until well blended. Stir in milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder and add to the creamed mixture just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.

Fill paper lined muffin cups 2/3 full. Combine sugar and nutmeg and sprinkle on top of each muffin. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.

Parmesan Garlic Chicken

4-6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup Gated Parmesan Cheese
1 envelope Italian Salad Dressing Mix
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

Combined all ingredients (except chicken) and blend. Dip both sides of chicken breasts in. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

*A variation of this recipie is to pour a bottle of your favorite spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish, lay the dipped chicken over the sauce and cover with Mozzerella cheese. Serve with noodles for an easy Chicken Parmesan recipie.

I love this recipie because it is so easy and you can have the ingredients in the pantry all the time for a quick I don't know "what's for dinner" night. You can serve it alone with other sides or as the Chicken Parmesan recipie. Hope you like it.