Lemon Bars!

Ingredients
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter, melted

4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5/8 cup lemon juice

Garnish: 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 2 cups flour and confectioners' sugar. Blend in the melted butter. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Combine the sugar, baking powder and 1/4 cup of flour so there will be no flour lumps. Stir the sugar mixture into the eggs. Finally, stir in the lemon juice. Pour over the prepared crust and return to the oven.
4. Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until bars are set. Sift confectioners' sugar over bars as a garnish.
5. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Easiest Strawberry Lemonade

Ingredients

• 1 cup strawberries, rinsed and sliced/chopped
• Powder lemonade mix
• 1/2 cup sugar*

Directions

1. Prepare as much lemonade as desired, according to package directions.
2. Add strawberries and sugar; stir
3. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve

The lemonade is delicious, and it's fun to get little chunks of strawberry in your drink! Enjoy!

*Sugar isn't entirely necessary, but I like to use it for a little more sweetness.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup butter (or margarine)
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups chocolate chips



Directions
Mix together butter (or margarine) and both sugars until creamy.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, then add to cookie mixture and mix well.
Stir in chocolate chips.Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 min. Cool slightly in pan before removing to cooling racks.


A Few Notes:

Make sure the butter is soft but not melted in any way. (I would leave it to soften to room temperature instead of sticking it in the microwave.) Whole wheat flour can be substituted; I would only do half and half, though. You can easily decrease the chocolate chips, since 3 cups is a little much. I love these cookies, and I think I would eat all 36 cookies in the batch! :) Enjoy!

Makes 36 cookies

142 cal
6.3g fat
19.5 carbs
1.7g protein
(per cookie)

A huge thanks goes to my friend Aubrey for giving me this recipe. :)

Pan-Fried Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 7 pieces Or 8 Pieces Breakfast Chops (very Thin Bone-in Pork Chops) [Thicker work fine, too]
• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
• 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper To Taste (Can omit, but might be bland)
• ½ cups Canola Oil (Vegetable oil is fine)
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• Extra Salt And Pepper, To Taste

Directions

1. Rinse pork chops. Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops.
2. Combine all dry ingredients. Dredge each side of the pork chops in the flour mixture, then set aside on a plate.
3. Heat oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add butter. When butter is melted and butter/oil mixture is hot, cook 3 pork chops at a time, 2 to 3 minutes on the first side; 1 to 2 minutes on the other side. (Make sure no pink juices remain.) Remove to a plate and repeat with remaining porch chops.

You can adapt the ingredients to the number of chops that you have. On the second recipe, if your chops are a bit thicker, cooking time may be longer than what is indicated. Just make sure that the pan doesn't get too hot. If the pan starts to smoke a lot, then the heat needs to be turned down a bit--not too low though, or it will take them forever to finish.

from pioneerwomancooks.com

Sesame Chicken

Ingredients

Chicken

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 dash sesame oil
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicke breast meat - cubed (you can use more than this--I used about 1 1/2 lb.)
  

Sauce

• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce (regular soy sauce will do)
  
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon chile paste (or if you don't like it as spicy, a few dashes of red pepper flakes will work)
  
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water

For Frying 

• 1 quart olive oil for frying (you don't really need a quart... I say about 2 cups, if you want to pan-fry, which I find easier. It's also less of a waste.
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Sift flour, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder into a bowl. Pour in low-sodium soy sauce, sherry, 2 tablespoons water, vegetable oil, and a dash of sesame oil; stir until smooth. Stir in chicken until coated with the batter, then cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile, bring chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, chile paste, and garlic to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Dissolve 1/4 cup cornstarch into 1/2 cup of water, and stir into boiling sauce. Simmer until the sauce thickens and turns clear, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and keep sauce warm.
3. Heat olive oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to a temperature of 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Drop in the battered chicken pieces, a few at a time, and fry until they turn golden brown and float to the top of the oil, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. To serve, place fried chicken pieces onto a serving platter, and pour the hot sauce overtop. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds to garnish.

Serve with Jasmine rice, and enjoy! We loved this recipe when I made it. It was splendid.

Adapted from this recipe at allrecipes.com. The original recipe called for sherry, which I didn't have, and I don't think that I'll be going to a liquor store...ever! :)

Super Amazing Fantastic Banana Bread

Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 11/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas (about 4-5)

If you like nuts/are not allergic to them, you may add 1/2 cup of walnuts to the dry mixture before combining. Dredging the nuts in the mixture will help them to not sink to the bottom of the pan.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan (or mini-loaf pans).
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas, vanilla, and vinegar until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan (until about 2/3 full)
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes (for 9x5; check at 45 for smaller loaf pans), until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Icing (Okay, so I know that this will sound really weird, but just trust me)

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp melted butter
• water
• powdered sugar

Directions

• Combine butter with enough powdered sugar and water to make a thin-ish icing. Spread over warm banana bread.

Remember, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me! :)

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 
• 2 tablespoons butter 
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup 
• 1 onion, finely diced (if you don't have an onion, a packet of onion soup mix works great) 
• 2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces 

Directions

1. Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover. 
2. Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center, about 30 minutes (imagine that).