Garlic Chicken in Lemon Butter Sauce

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup seasoned flour (1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper)
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons parsley flakes or 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 eggs
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 stick butter

Place the seasoned flour in a large gallon-size ziploc bag. Set aside. In a shallow pie plate, beat the eggs until mixed and add the Parmesan cheese. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

In a large skillet, melt one tablespoon butter and one tablespoon olive oil over medium heat.

Put the four chicken breasts in the bag with the seasoned flour, close the bag, and shake to coat. Take the chicken out of the bag and dip into the egg/Parmesan mixture. Place the chicken in the skillet with the hot oil/butter. Repeat with the other chicken breasts. Let the chicken cook on the first side for 1-2 minutes until a nice, golden crust has formed. Flip the chicken and let it continue to cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side until it is golden brown.

Remove the chicken to a 9X13-inch pan. Set aside while you make the sauce.

In the same skillet that you browned the chicken, melt the remaining stick of butter (7 tablespoons). Add the minced garlic, lemon juice, and parsley. Simmer the sauce for 1-2 minutes, stirring and scraping up any browned bits that were on the bottom of the skillet.

Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken breasts and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Serve over pasta.

Recipe adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Baby Back Ribs

• 4 pounds Pork Ribs
• ¾ cups Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Pepper
• 1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
• 2 cups Sweet Baby Ray BBQ Original Sauce
  

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Mix together the sugar and spices to make the rub. Apply rub to ribs on all sides. Lay ribs on two layers of foil shiny side of the foil facing out and meaty side of the rib face down. Lay two layers of foil on top of ribs and roll and crimp edges tightly, edges facing up to seal them. Place the foil-wrapped ribs on a baking sheet and bake for 2 – 2 1/2 hours or until meat is starting to shrink away from the ends of the bone.

Remove from oven and pull ribs out of the foil packages. Heat broiler. Cut ribs into serving sized portions of 2 or 3 ribs each. Arrange the ribs on a broiler pan, bony side up. Brush on sauce. Broil under broiler for 1 or 2 minutes until sauce is cooked on and bubbly. Turn ribs over, brush on the sauce and broil that side for 1 or 2 minutes until sauce is cooked on and bubbly.

Chocolate Raspberry Sauce

Makes about six 8-ounce jars:

1/2 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder
1 pkg. regular powdered fruit pectin
4 1/2 cups crushed red raspberries
4 tbsp. lemon juice
6 3/4 cups granulated sugar

Combine cocoa and pectin. Stir and set aside. In a large saucepan, place crushed raspberries and lemon juice. Whisk in pectin mixture until dissolved. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently.

Add sugar all at once and bring to a full boil. Boil hard for one minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam. Fill prepared jars. Process for 20 minutes if you are canning it.

This is really yummy eaten warm over ice cream.

Taco Soup

1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup onion (or sprinkle onion salt)
1-2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
1 can kernel corn
1 can tomato sauce
1 pkg. taco seasoning

Brown ground beef with onion. Add rest of ingredients and heat through. Best if it simmers for a little while. Top with grated cheese, corn chips, and sour cream.

Honey Butter

1.5 sticks of butter
1/2-3/4 cup honey

Mix honey into softened butter. Store in refrigerator. Serve with rolls or cornbread.

Tomato & Avocado Finger Sandwiches

We had a book club luncheon at my house recently, and Shelley made the yummiest sandwiches. My favorite were these...

Sandwich bread
Pesto
Avocado
Tomato
Mayo

Spread pesto on one side of bread, and toast on a griddle (pesto side down) until lightly toasted. Cut off crusts. To make sandwiches, lightly apply mayo to the inside of the bread and add thinly sliced tomatoes and avocado.

I have been craving these ever since!

Fruit Yogurt Parfait

• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 cups plain yogurt (or vanilla and skip extract)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, peaches, cherries, grapes, melon, etc.)
• 3/4 cup granola

Mix honey, yogurt, and vanilla. In cups or glasses, layer assorted fruit with yogurt and granola.