Honey Cinnamon Apple Pancakes

1 apple will make about 12 pancakes, core it and slice it VERY thin

As always I don't measure, but put about 2 Tablespoons of butter, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and about 3 Tablespons of honey in a skillet and melt it over a medium low heat

When melted add your thinly sliced apple rings and simmer until just soft

While they were cooking I put some bacon in the oven to broil and made my pancaked batter

When your apples get tender, spray your grittel with pam and place your apples on top and cover with batter

This is what they will look like and don't worry they are easy to turn

Or if  you'd like you can place batter, apple and more batter to "hide" the apple ring

.

Sarcasm Note:  "This is not tasty, & you won't want to try it,"  take the left over apple stuff, i.e. butter, cinnamon and sugar in your pan and add syrup to it.  Heat it up and it will add a little flavor to your syrup for the pancakes.   

HAPPY FALL!!!

Honey Butter Pork Tenderloin

Not many ingredients but here is what you need. 6 tablespoons butter, 8 tablespoons honey.  Black pepper and Cajun seasoning to taste and whatever size pork tenderloin you want.  (I chose two) You will also need a pan that is oven safe for your tenderloin

Use the Cajun seasoning and the black pepper to coat the tenderloin, (don't be shy) NO oil, but on a medium heat brown the tenderloin on all sides. While it  browns in a separate pan....

Melt your butter and honey on a medium heat, and then pour it over your tenderloins when they are brown.

After browning and pouring honey butter over them, put them in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes, then remove, slice it on the diagonal and place on a separate dish to rest.  

 

 

Some of my thicker pieces were a little pink but that is okay because you are going to cook it on the stove a bit.  While it is resting add 1/4 cup of water to your butter and honey mixture.  With a fork stir it pulling up the pork bits from the bottom.

Bring it to a soft boil, at a med heat until it is about half cooked down.

After it has cooked down add your pork and cover...YOU HAVE TO BE PATIENT with this part.  Keep your heat at a medium low heat and let it ride!  Because it has butter in it, it will not stick!  Seriously, this takes about 20-30 minutes.  But it is so worth the wait!

That is NOT burn, it is crusted honey.  Heaven if you will.   I served it with candied carrots and a salad.  It was yummylicious, Overall the pork took about and hour to fix but I wasn't continuously working on it.

 

 

 Sarcasm Note- Your Jewish friends are gonna love this one!

No Sarcasm Chocolate Cake-it deserves reverence...

2 cups of flour, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon is the beginning of heaven...So add all of this together in a bowl and set aside. Later it will be combined with heavenly goodness.

Now in a saucepan over a medium heat at first add 1 cup of butter, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 cup cola cola, and 1/2 cup buttermilk.  (pictured below) Whisk continuously and raise temp to a boil and then removed immediately!

It won't look too good until after the boil and then magic happens.  After bringing to a boil, add to your dry mixture and add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 2 eggs to the mixture.

Here is a tip, to keep your eggs from rollling off the counter:  give them a little tap on the counter and it will hold them in place without the eggs coming out!  Otherwise you will have  a HUGE mess on the floor!

Bake your cake in a 9x13 GREASED pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  I did 25, just make certain a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  While in the oven you will make your glaze.

Combine 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder and 1/2 cup coke in a sauce pan and again; bring almost to a boil and turn burner off.

Then slowly add 4 cups powdered sugar.  (hey I never said it was healthy or fat free) Just heavenly...   When you take the cake out of the oven pour the chocolate glaze over it and add pecans if you so choose.

Half of my family loves pecans and the other not so much.  So as you can see I only laid pecans on half of my cake and then poured my glaze over it.  Before I set the bowl down there were children behind me with glasses of milk.  SO BEWARE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken Broccoli Bake

This recipe is so easy and so good, even your kids will eat the broccoli in it!  

I won't give you measurements, because I want you to decide how much you need/want

in each serving. 

No recipe can ever be bad if it starts with bacon.  This one does!  I counted on 2 pieces per chicken breast, but you can use more if you so desire. 

Next you need to get shredded cheese and ranch dressing.  (again, I did about 1/2 cup on each breast except for my daughter who wanted more!) 

I used one large bunch of fresh broccoli and 1 chicken breast per person.  As you can see these breasts were HUGE so I cut them in half; placing the 'toppings' in the middle instead.

So, salt and pepper your chicken, cut into if you so desire and top with broccoli, bacon, cheese and how ever much Ranch dressing you want.  About a tablespoon is what I used.  Then I placed the other half of the chicken on top of the mixture and wrapped it up in foil.  Each person had their own foil packet.

This is what it looked like before putting it in the oven at 400 Degrees for 30-40 minutes...

This is what is looked like after I removed it from the foil and slid it on the plate.  It was such a great meal.  Easy and here comes the sarcasm....next time I won't use bacon.  HA (I'll use more)

 In the words of my son, "bacon is fairy dust for food".

Buffalo Chicken Blue Cheese Tacos

Here Goes! This is so easy it is ridiculous....1 chicken breast will make 3-4 tacos so you decide how many you make

This is the MAGIC bullet.  Tuong Ot Sriracha---------it's Chinese for DANG THIS IS HOTT!

So, while your chicken is grilling, cut up anything you want on your tacos.  I used tomatoes, shredded lettuce, green onions, jalapenos, and an avocado.  Oh, and don't forget the CRUMBLED BLUE CHEESE! Grill your chicken breasts and coat it with the buffalo sauce.  When you turn it, coat it again! 

THIS. IS. IMPORTANT.  When you take it off the grill and cube it, squeeze 1/2 a lime on it.  THEN...if you want it hotter, put it in a pan and add more sauce heating it slowly.  I didn't because we are pansies in this house!  I served all of this on a corn tortilla, but let's not kid, those things fall apart so you decide if you want a corn or flour tortilla.

This sauce is ridiculously good, and (sarcasm note*)  so easy to clean up!

Bring out the big guns for your cutting board!

 As you well know if you follow my blog, I never get a picture of the 'plated' dish!  I live with savages.  But they are my savages and they love this dish.  Throw a few chips and hot sauce out and you've got an easy meal!

Zucchini Cakes

This is super easy so here it goes!  Grate up one large zucchini and really pat out the water in it or it will not stick together to form your cakes.  After it is good and dry add one cup of freshly, grated Parmesan cheese.

Then add 1 cup of bread crumbs,

Each of these, to your particular taste:  salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder

Add two beaten eggs, then mix it together and make 'cakes' out of the mixture.  I made a ball a little smaller than the size of my palm and placed it in a hot pan with  two Tablespoons of olive oil and mashed it flat.  Cook on each side until brown and then turn to low and let simmer in the pan so that the cheese melts and the zucchini softens.

 

These little puppies were fabulous!  I served them with baked chicken, corn on the cob, and fresh tomatoes from my garden.  It was such a tasty dish and I think it is because it is so simple and the flavors are not overwhelmed.  

Note of Sarcasm:  It's so awesome to have no left overs when you cook something so tasty!

Spicy Chicken and Shrimp Penne

Put your water on to boil and cook your penne as directed!

As you may have noticed if you follow my blog at all, I cook by taste and not much by measurements.  So I will do my best to add those here as it is necessary for this dish.  Take 1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes or 8 sun dried tomatoes, 3-4 chopped green onions, 3 cloves of chopped garlic, and place in a sauce pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Add 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground pepper, and 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of red pepper depending on how spicy you want it.

Once you have sauted the veggies, add a 12 oz can of evaporated milk and the above secret ingredient, Santa Fe Blend Philadelphia cooking cream.  Blend constantly until the cream is melted over a medium low heat.

 

It should look like this!  YUMMY.  Next, you want to add 2 cups of Mexican Style shredded cheese and not until it is melted do you add your meat.

I cheated, (sarcasm note:  and I feel so guilty about it) I added a bag of precooked chicken breasts and diced it up after the cheese was melted and BEFORE the sauce began to thicken.

I also bought precooked shrimp for my seafood loving boys and they added it accordingly to the final dish.

When the sauce begins to thicken, turn it off and get ready to serve over your penne pasta and a beautiful salad.

It NEVER fails, every time I plate a meal and want to take a picture for blog, some BOY takes it and begins to eat.  So you will have to just take my word for it, this is a beautiful and colorful dish!