Hannah's Italian Chicken Skillet

It was 61° in Austin today, so it feels like summer to me... but the rest of you can make this tomorrow to bring that feeling into your homes ;) ha!
I made this for dinner tonight, and it got a thumbs up from both Ritchie & I. Pretty easy to make, SUPER yummy, and the fresh produce totally made me think of summer :) Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 boneless chicken breasts
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, peeled & diced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled & thinly sliced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup roasted red pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

Confession time: I totally didn't have fresh basil. I just sprinkled some basil from my spice rack into the skillet, and it still tasted great. But I guess if you have the fresh stuff... go for it ;)

Directions

Season chicken breasts with salt & pepper on both sides.

Heat up the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add the chicken. Cook for 4-5 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Put chicken on a separate plate.

Add the onions to the remaining oil in the skillet, and sauté for about 3 minutes until mostly cooked. Then add the tomatoes and garlic, and sauté again for another 3-4 minutes. Add the roasted red peppers and basil, and sauté for one more minute :)

Add the chicken back to the pan, stir together, and then serve warm.

We added some grated parmesan and served it with pasta, but let me know if you try any other sides! Also, I pretty much cook for Ritchie & I, and then give Leah some from my plate. But this recipe could easily be doubled for those of you with more mouths to feed :) Love you all!

this little cutie was my helper tonight :)

Katie's Salsa Chicken

This is a play off of "Hawaiian Haystacks", Enjoy!!

6 frozen chicken tenders
1 can cream of chicken
1 can (more or less) of salsa (use same can from cream of chicken)
A dollop of sour cream
1/2 cup (or so) of grated cheese - mix in half way through process

Place in crock pot on low for 6-8 hrs or high 4-6 hrs.  Once it's done, mix together and shred the chicken with a fork and knife.  Refrigerate leftovers.

Serve over rice with the following toppings (or any other toppings you would normally use in Hawaiian Haystacks, or you can even eat this without toppings and it will still be yummy!):

• Grated cheese
• Chowmein noodles (or instead, mashed tortilla chips for added texture)
• Chopped tomatoes
• Chopped bell peppers
• Sour Cream
• Chopped celery 

I have a rice cooker and about 20 minutes before dinner time, I get the rice going.  

This recipe is good to last Chris and I another 2 meals (3 meals total).  You can adjust the amounts of each ingredient based on how much chicken you want in the sauce or how cheesy/salsa-y/creamy you want it to be (I am always experimenting, so mine is always changing and it is always amazing!).

On the nights we have this as leftovers, I make a new batch of rice that day and add on toppings!  

***You can also use the crock pot 'mix' from this recipe as a yummy chip dip!***

Katie's Soft Sugar Cookies

I made these at the house with Crozier, Jason, Tara and Chris this last Christmas Eve!  It was so fun and pretty simple.

Recipe

1 cup butter (soft)

2 eggs

5 TBSP milk

1 TBSP vanilla

1 1/4 cup sugar

4 cups flour (or a little more)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt 

Mix all ingredients, roll out the dough with flour, get the cookie cutters out and place the "cut" cookies on a cookie sheet (no need to grease it).  Bake @ 350 for 8 minutes or until the center of the cookie is "set" or does not shine.  (Don't overcook if you want them to be soft!).  Doubling the recipe makes about 75 cookies.  

Frosting

8 oz. package cream cheese (soft)

9 TBSP butter (soft)

4 1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

Add food coloring if wanted :) 

Katie's Breakfast Crepes

Chris and I LOVE making crepes.. I feel like they are just pancakes on steroids haha.  This recipe is from an Aunt of mine who served her mission in France, the capital of Crepes ;)  If you like a sweet bite for breakfast once in a while, this will not disappoint!

Recipe:

1 cup flour
1/8 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla (but I actually put in twice as much because I love vanilla)
1/3 cup oil

Mix well in a blender (or with a hand mixer, or by hand.. we've done it all).  Cook over a hot, buttered griddle/pan with about 1/3 cup per crepe (big enough so there is room to roll with fillings).

This recipe is perfect for feeding two adults with big appetites (Chris and me ha!), so those with kiddos may want to double it.

Filling Ideas:

Peanut Butter & Honey
Fruit: Bananas, Strawberries, Raspberries, Blueberries
Brown Sugar & Butter (tastes like a maple bar to me!)
Powdered Sugar
Any type of Jam (my favorite is homemade raspberry jam)
Nutella
Whipped Cream to top it off!