Lemon Bread

My dad LOVES lemon things, and this is by far his favorite!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
3 Tbsp. lemon extract
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1-1/2 Tbsp. grated lemon rind (optional)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup milk

LEMON POUR (combine and reserve for later):
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour loaf pan.

Mix butter, sugar, and lemon extract in a good sized bowl. Beat eggs into this mixture. In another bowl, mix flour with baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture gradually, alternating with milk. Beat just until blended. If desired, blend in rind and nuts. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bread is done when toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean (about 50 minutes or so). After cooling for ten minutes, remove from pan, put loaf on top of foil, and drizzle with reserved Lemon Pour mixture. Store in foil for 24 hours before slicing.

Orange Julius

It's been seven months since my last post?? Really?? Well, in celebration of me getting back in the swing of blogging, here is a recipe for the beloved Orange Julius drink! Back in the day, my favorite part about going to the mall was to get an Orange Julius and a warm, salty pretzel.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate

1/2 tsp vanilla

6 ice cubes

Instructions:

Put all ingredients in blender and blend for thirty seconds, or until you don't hear the ice clanging around in the blender anymore.

Yield:

About 1-2/3 cups. This would make a big glass (see above picture). If you make two servings out of it, each serving would be about the size of a small-ish coffee cup.

**For those of you following Weight Watchers, like yours truly SHOULD be doing, the entire recipe is 12 points.**

Brown Sugar Substitute

For one cup light brown sugar:
Mix one cup white sugar and 1-1/2 Tbsp. molasses.

For one cup dark brown sugar:
Mix one cup white sugar and 1/4 cup molasses.

Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

I love this recipe. Love, love, love. Sadly, my nephew isn't feelin' the love, so we don't have it nearly as often as I would like. I think that most people who like Rotel Dip would like this recipe. Maybe even certain people who are trying to get rid of a bunch of turkey leftovers. Just a thought.

Ingredients:
8 oz. spaghetti
1 lb. velveeta (cubed)
1 can rotel (use mild if you're not wanting much of a kick to it)
2 cooked chicken breasts (cubed or shredded)

Instructions:
Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Meanwhile, in saucepan coated with cooking spray, combine Velveeta and Rotel; cook and stir until cheese is melted. Add chicken; heat through.

Drain spaghetti; mix all together.

Chicken Flautas

Here's a recipe that was accidentally retired from our house, because for some reason I had never made a recipe card for it. I discovered it on my computer last week and made them tonight. So glad that we have rediscovered this!! :)

Ingredients:
12 6-inch flour tortillas (the recipe says 12, but we were able to make 15)
2 c. finely shredded Monterey Jack cheese (8 oz)
1-1/2 cup shredded cooked chicken
1-1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2/3 cup salsa
8 tsp. vegetable oil

Instructions:
Heat tortillas as directed on package. (I used the microwave method: four tortillas between two damp paper towels, microwaved for thirty seconds.) Meanwhile, in bowl, mix cheese, chicken, and cumin.Place about 1/4 c. chicken mixture on each warm tortilla. Top each with 1 Tbsp. salsa. Roll up tightly; secure each with toothpick. Brush filled tortillas with oil.

In 10-inch skillet, cook filled tortillas over medium heat 4 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally, until filling is hot and tortillas are toasted. Remove toothpicks before eating.

Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs

I fixed these kabobs for the first time two weekends ago for a cookout at my son's house. They were a hit with us... even with those of us, myself included, who normally wouldn't touch a pepper or a zucchini with a ten-foot pole! 

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
3/4 c. Lawry's Teriyaki Marinade with Pineapple Juice, divided
2 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 or 2 (I used two) red or green bell pepper(s), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 8-oz. can pineapple slices, drained and cut into 1-inch pieces


Instructions:
Place chicken and vegetables* in large resealable plastic bag or glass dish. Add 1/2 cup of the marinade; turn to coat well. Reserve remaining marinade for brushing.

Refrigerate 30 minutes (or longer for extra flavor). Remove chicken and vegetables* from marinade. Discard any remaining marinade. Alternately thread chicken, vegetables, and pineapple onto eight skewers.

Grill kabobs over medium heat 10-15 minutes (I think it took longer than this), or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender, turning occasionally and brushing with reserved marinade.

*The recipe said to marinade the chicken and the vegetables, but didn't mention the pineapple, so I didn't. But I'm not so sure that it would have hurt anything!

Note: If using wooden skewers, soak in water for at least 30 minutes to prevent burning. I read a tip somewhere that you can also soak them in a liquid that goes with what you're cooking, so I added some pineapple juice to the water that I soaked them in. 

Testing

This is a test.

I'm curious to see if a post made on my phone will look right.

So here it is!!