Oven-Fried Pork Chops

4 pork loin chops, cut 3/4 inch thick
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 beaten egg
2 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup herb-stuffed stuffing mix or cornbread stuffing mix (or combination of both)

Trim fat from meat. Pour butter into a 13x9 baking dish. Combine egg, milk and pepper. Dip chops in egg mixture. Coat with stuffing mix and place in baking dish. Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 min. Turn chops and bake about 10 min or until no pink remains and juice runs clear when you pierce the center with a steak knife.

Christmas Party Salad

Boston Lettuce - 4 or 5 heads
Cherry Tomatoes - 2 large containers
Shaved Parmesan Cheese - 1 cup
Cooked bacon, crumbled - 1 bag of precooked and precrumbled (NOT bacon bits)
Good Sense Salad Pizazz, Cherry Cranberry Pecano, two 5-Ounce Bags
1 bottle of Brianna's Homestyle "The New American" Salad Dressing

Toss the above ingredients with the salad dressing, just before serving. I made a large amount for the Christmas party, but you can modify for a smaller group. This was a concoction I threw together, so I don't have a true recipe. ENJOY!

French Breakfast Puffs

1 cup sugar, divided
1 egg
1/2 cup Crisco
1 and 1/2 cup flour
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp ground cinnamon
melted butter (approximately 1 and 1/4 sticks)

With mixer, cream 1/2 cup sugar, the egg, and Crisco. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, alternating with milk, beating well after each addition. Fill 12 greased muffin pans 2/3 full with batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 min. When removed from oven, dip puffs while hot in melted butter and roll in mixture of cinnamon and remaining sugar. Freezes well. Serve hot or cold. Makes 12.

Note from Carolyn: if you don't have Crisco, use butter ... they'll be just as good. Also, sometimes I use a mini muffin pan, for smaller ones. Hope you enjoy!

Banana Bread

The YUMMIEST Banana Bread!

Ingredients:
1 (18 oz.) package butter recipe cake mix
4 bananas, mashed
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1/2 c. chopped nuts
1 tsp. vanilla extract


Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, blend all ingredients together well and divide into two loaf pans coated with nonstick cooking spray.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Makes 2 (9 x 5-inch) loaves to enjoy!

Recipe from www.kitchenkimberley.com. Malia Irby made this for the Christmas Brunch last Sunday.

Cheese Bread

1 loaf french bread, sliced
1/4 cup mayonnaise (NOT miracle whip)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp chives

Slightly brown one side of the bread slices in the broiler. Turn over slices and spread cheese mixture on un-browned side. Broil until edges are light brown.

Pairs nicely with Thai Chicken Pasta main dish. Shared with me by Shelly Graves.

Thai Chicken Pasta

2 lbs chicken breasts, cooked and cut up
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup chopped green onion
3 Tbsp oil

Stir-fry the above ingredients in skillet

Sauce:
1 8oz bottle Paul Newman's Italian salad dressing
2 Tbsp chunky peanut butter
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Mix sauce together and add to stir-fry, cooking until bubbly.

Serve over angel hair pasta, top with fresh, chopped cilantro if desired.

This addictive recipe was shared with me by Shelly Graves, and I am forever grateful to her for this culinary delight!

Crescent Lasagna

Crescent Lasagna

Meat Filling:
½ pound sausage
½ pound ground round
3/4 cup chopped onion
½ clove garlic minced
1 T. parsley flakes
½ tsp. leaf basil
½ tsp. leaf oregano
½ tsp. salt
dash of pepper
1 can tomato paste

Cheese Filling:
1 cup creamed cottage cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Crust:
2 cans Refrigerated Crescent rolls
2 slices (7x4) Mozzarella cheese
1 T. Milk
1 T. Sesame seeds


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Meat filling - In a large skillet, brown meat; drain. Add onion, garlic, parsley, seasonings and tomato paste. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. (Meat mixture may be made ahead and refrigerated).
Cheese filling - Combine all the ingredients.
Crust - Unroll crescent dough and separate into 8 rectangles. On ungreased cookie sheet, place dough rectangles together overlapping edges (about 15x13 in rectangle). Press edges and perforations to seal. Spread half of meat
filling lengthwise down center half of dough to within 1 inch of each 13 inches. Top meat filling with cheese filling;
spoon remaining meat filling over top, forming 3 layers. Place cheese slices over meat filling. Fold 13 inch ends of
dough rectangle over filling, being careful to overlap edges only 1/4 inches. Pinch overlapped edges to seal.

Brush with milk; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake 20 - 25 minutes until deep golden brown.

Tip: Lasagna may be prepared ahead, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for 2 to 3 hours before baking.
Increase baking time to 25 - 30 minutes.


My friend Elizabeth Adams shared this recipe with me.