Chicken Broccoli Bake

I had a great coupon for Philadelphia Cooking Creme recently and picked up one of each flavor.  I love how they post recipes on the containers.  That is exactly where this recipe came from.  To find it online, go here.  This is not your typical broccoli bake, the garlic creme adds a kick.  I loved it.  I served it with white rice.  Enjoy!

1-1/2 lb.

boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 pkg.

(14 oz.)frozen broccoli florets, thawed, drained

1-1/2 cups

KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1 tub

(10 oz.)PHILADELPHIA Savory Garlic Cooking Creme

1/2 cup

milk

24

RITZ Crackers, crushed (about 1 cup)

1 Tbsp.

butter, melted

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400ºF.
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in 13x9-inch baking dish; cover.
3. Bake 25 min. Meanwhile, mix cracker crumbs and butter.
4. Stir chicken mixture; top with crumbs. Bake, uncovered, 10 min. or until topping is golden brown.

DIY Crayon Holder

I've been inspired by all of the crayon creations I've seen on Pinterest lately.  With the start of school in a few weeks, I wanted to make a few of them for my classroom.  First up is this crafty crayon pencil/ marker/ whatever you want it to hold holder.  Since I don't have all my school stuff at home, I can't tell you exactly what it will be used for.  But, I'm thinking washable markers or highlighters.  It's a pretty good sized box.  This little gem took me just an hour to make.  

Materials: 

Acrylic Paint

Wooden Box

Mod Podge

Ribbon

3  (24) Packs of Crayons 

Hot Glue 

Step 1: Start out with a plain wooden box.  I bought mine at Jo Ann's.  

Paint your box your desired color.  I painted one coat on the outside and inside.  I painted a second coat on the top of the box since it would not be covered in crayons.  

Step 2: Paint a coat of Mod Podge over the paint.  I painted the entire box.  

Step 3: Hot glue the crayons to the box.  I started at the corner and makes my way around. I ended up using just over two boxes of crayons.  

Step 4: Hot glue a coordinating ribbon around the top of the box and you're finished!  Fill with whatever you'd like.  

Linkng Up

  

Triple Berry Brownie

Thank you Betty Crocker for this amazing and festive dessert! I made it for my 4th of July party.  I loved that I could make it ahead of time.  The chocolate and fruit combination was delicious. The topping was very rich.  To save some calories, I think it would be just as good with just a whipped topping (Cool Whip).  Enjoy!

25 Min

TOTAL TIME

2 Hr 5 Min

SERVINGS

16

INGREDIENTS

1	box Betty Crocker® fudge brownie mix
	Water, vegetable oil and eggs as called for on brownie mix box
1	package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2	cup powdered sugar
1	teaspoon vanilla
1	cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
11/3	cups halved fresh strawberries
1	cup fresh blueberries
1/2	cup fresh raspberries 1Heat oven to 350° F (325° F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease or spray bottom only of 12-inch pizza pan. Make brownies as directed. Spread in pan. 2Bake 20 to 26 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out clean. Cool completely. 3In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on high speed until smooth and creamy. Fold in whipped topping; spread on brownie. Arrange berries over cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate 1 hour. Store covered in refrigerator.

Baked Penne with Summer Veggies

 I love cooking with squash and zucchini over the summer.  I found this recipe in  Cooking Light.  I had most of the ingredients and changed the things I was missing.  This recipe was created as a vegetarian recipe but I decided to add some meat for a hearty dinner.  I noted all of the changes I made in red below.  We loved the end result.  Enjoy! 

Adapted from Cooking Light 

Ingredients

• 6 ounces uncooked penne (about 1/2 a box)
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups chopped yellow squash
• 2 cups chopped zucchini
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups chopped tomato
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• Cooking spray
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 tsp. garlic salt 

Preparation

• 1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.
• 2. Preheat oven to 400°.
• 3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan. Add squash, zucchini, and onion; sauté 5 minutes. Add tomato and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in pasta, 1/2 cup mozzarella, herbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper. 
• 4. Brown ground turkey (season with salt and pepper).  Add to pasta mixture.  
• 5. Combine ricotta, remaining salt, and egg. Stir into pasta mixture. Spoon into an 9x12 rectangular  glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until bubbly and browned.
• 6.  Sprinkle with garlic salt and let cool for a few minutes.  Serve and Enjoy!

Amazing Iced Coffee

I found this picture on Pinterest.  It immediately caught my attention and I decided I needed to make it.  I clicked on the link and went to the recipe.  After reading the directions, I decided it looked too complicated to make.  You see, the reason my blog is titled SIMPLY made with love is because I don't like complicated recipes that take lots of time.  But...a friend of mine posted the same recipe on Facebook.  She said it wasn't too hard and worth it.  So I went to the store and bought the ingredients.  I followed all directions.  It was HONESTLY a lot easier than I thought it would be.  I used fat free condensed milk and low fat evaporated milk.  I used the same water container to put the coffee concentrate.  Worked like a charm! I liked it better with mocha added and can't wait to add different flavored syrups! Enjoy!


Iced Coffee Concentrate.  

Ingredients-

• 1 gallon water (I buy a gallon of drinking water)
• 1 lb bag of your favorite rich coffee (course ground if ya can get it)
• Coffee filters or several layers of cheesecloth
• a fine mesh strainer.
• a large bowl
• pitcher (big enough to hold a gallon)

Directions-

1. Pour gallon of water into your large bowl.
2. Dump the entire bag of coffee into the water/bowl.
3. Stir to make sure all grounds are saturated with water.
4. Walk away, for 12 hours or overnight.
5. line a mesh strainer with a coffee filter or several layers of cheese-cloth, set the strainer on top of your pitcher.
6. Pour (or ladle) your coffee mixture into the strainer. (this part takes awhile...  I often had to walk away while it filtered into the pitcher)   If using coffee filters, you might have to replace them 
7. several times during the filtering process.
8. Once all the coffee concentrate has been filtered, stick it in the fridge (it will last for a month!)

Sweet Cream

Ingredients-

• 1, 12oz can of evaporated milk
• 1, 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

Directions-

1. mix both cans together, refrigerate.

Fill a glass with ice.  Fill it a little over half way with the coffee.  Fill the remainder with the cream mixture.  Mix and ENJOY!

Sue & Gloria's Baked Beans

If Paula Deen says a recipe is worth making, you bet I'm going to make it! Right, Y'all?  I was looking for 4th of July recipes and didn't want to make the basic baked beans.  I found this one and decided to make it after reading all of the reviews.  Even though this takes over an hour, the prep is easy.  I was a little nervous about how it would come out, thinking it would be too sweet.  I didn't change the recipe one bit and am glad I didn't.  Just as most of the reviews said, these were some darn good baked beans.  

Total Time:

1 hr 25 min

Prep

25 min

Cook

1 hr 0 min

Ingredients

• 4 (16-ounce) cans baked beans
• 1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 cup BBQ sauce
• 2 tablespoon yellow or brown mustard
• 5 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
• 1 (6-ounce) can french-fried onions, crushed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In large bowl, mix together beans, pineapple, molasses, BBQ sauce, mustard, 1/4 of the bacon, and 1/4 of the onions. Add some salt and pepper, to taste. Pour beans in 9 by 13-inch casserole dish and sprinkle remaining crushed onions and bacon on top. Cook in oven for 1 hour or until beans brown and bubble. Serve warm.

Tilapia with Peach and Pepper Salsa

This cooking light recipe has been in my recipe binder for months now.  I had fresh tilapia this past week and figured this would be a perfect summer recipe.  The salsa was simple to make.  I didn't use arugula and opted for a jalapeno pepper instead of a habanero. 

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups coarsely chopped peeled yellow peaches (about 1 pound)
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 1 medium)
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh arugula
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 4 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 habanero pepper, seeded and minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Preparation

1. To prepare salsa, combine first 9 ingredients; toss gently. Let stand 30 minutes before serving.

**For the fish**

I dipped the fish in one egg and coated it with instant mashed potato mix from Betty Crocker. I cooked it at 375 for 15 minutes.  I served it with the salsa on top.   

Zucchini Chips

This is another recipe I found over on Pinterest.  I made zucchini sticks last year and they were a big hit. I figured these would be just as good! And...they were.  I used regular seasoned breadcrumbs and the only thing I'll do differently next time is use Panko crubms.  Enjoy!

Oven-Fried Parmesan Zucchini Chips

(adapted from Cooking Light)

1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, fresh grated

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup milk

2 small zucchini cut in 1/4-inch-thick slices

Cooking spray or vegetable/olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 425° F. Grease a large oven-proof wire rack set on a baking sheet.

2. Whisk together bread crumbs, Parmesan, salt, onion powder and pepper in a medium bowl. Place milk in a separate shallow bowl. Dip zucchini slices in milk then in breadcrumb mixture patting the crumbs on. Place slices on wire rack. Repeat until all are coated.

3. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately with basil dipping sauce if desired.