June 10- Strawberry, Avocado, Kale Salad

From Pinterest. 

6 cups baby kale
2 cups sliced strawberries

1 ripe avocado, sliced

for the dressing-
4 slices bacon
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
salt & pepper, to taste

Place kale, strawberries and avocado into a large bowl and set aside.

For the dressing, cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan and drain bacon on paper towels. Crumble into small pieces and whisk together with remaining ingredients. Drizzle over salad and serve.

June 9- Hot buttery soft pretzels

16 Pretzels

For the dough:
5 cups flour
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp sugar
4 1/2 tsp yeast
2 c warm water

For the Topping:
1 c warm water
2 TB baking soda
vegetable oil for greasing the sheet pan
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
3 TB butter, melted

1. Combine all the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix with the paddle attachment until somewhat combined (or just mix by hand with a wooden spoon). Change to the dough hook and knead on medium low for 5 minutes. The dough should feel soft and smooth, not sticky to the touch.
2. Lightly dust the dough with flour, then place in a ziploc bag and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, and lightly grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil. You could also do parchment paper if you can find one that's rated high enough (most parchment papers I've seen only go up to 420 degrees F).
4. Remove the dough from the bag and place onto a lightly oiled countertop. Divide the dough into 8 pieces (just cut it with a knife).
5. Whisk to combine the warm water and baking soda and cook in the microwave for 1 minute. FYI it's not going to dissolve completely, and that's okay.
6. Roll each of the eight pieces into a long rope, and shape each one into a pretzel.
7. Dip each pretzel into the soda wash and place onto the greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, then let them rest for 10 minutes.
8. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes until the pretzels are golden brown. Brush the pretzels with the melted butter while they are hot out of the oven, so the bread can soak up all the buttery goodness. Mmm.

June 8- Honey Roasted Potatoes

1 lb red potatoes, quartered
2 TB diced onion
2 TB butter, melted
1 TB honey
1 tsp dry mustard
1 pinch salt
1 pinch ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly coat an 11x7 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place potatoes in a single layer in prepared dish, and top with onion. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, honey, mustard, salt and pepper, drizzle over potatoes and onion.Bake for 35 minutes or until tender, stirring halfway through the cooking time. 

Note: I double the sauce

June 7: Chocolate Dream Cookies

Thank you Kaytlin for this great recipe.  This is a delicious chocolate cookie. 

2 cups flour
3/4 c cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, or 
1/2 c butter and 1/2 c shortening, softened
2/3 c packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add eggs one at a time.Mix. Add dry ingredients. Mix. Add options. Drop on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 11 minutes. 

Options to add to dough:

marshmallows
chopped pecans, almonds, walnuts
m&m's
chocolate chips
chopped peanut butter cups
white chocolate
chopped oreo cookies

June 6: Hungry Man Steak Sandwich

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cooking shows "Pioneer Woman". We tried this tonight and it got  thumbs up. It is so simple and fast and delicious. 

1 large onion
About 2 cubes butter
2 lbs cube steak
Seasoned Salt
1/2 c Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco Sauce, to taste
4 whole French/deli rolls
Opt- Mozz cheese, tomato, lettuce

Slice onions and cook in 1/4 stick butter until soft and light brown. Remove and set aside. Slice cube steak against the grain. Season with seasoned salt. Heat 2 TB butter over high heat in the same skillet until melted and beginning to brown. Add meat in single layer. Cook one side until brown, then flip and cook other side until brown. About 1 minute on each side. Add 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and 2 TB butter. Add cooked onions.  Stir to combine. Butter halved French rolls and brown in skillet. To assemble: lay bottom half of French roll on plate. Place meat mixture, followed by a spoonful of juice from the pan. Top with other half of roll, cut in half. Add Mozz cheese, tomato and lettuce if desired. 

June 6: Egg Salad

I just made myself an egg salad sandwich today for lunch and realized that I have not posted this recipe. I make it quite often. It is so simple and delicious. My kids seem to like it too. 

Eggs, boiled, chopped
(see my instructions to boil the perfect egg)
miracle whip and/or mayo
Salt and Spice
(see my recipe for this, you can no longer find it in the store)

Mix the three ingredients together to your taste.
Serve on your favorite bread.
Garnish with lettuce, opt.

June 5: Tuscan Chicken Sandwich

I ate this sandwich at Einstein's the other day and loved it so I came home and made it for me and Ian's dinner tonight. It is so delish!

Plain bagel, regular or thin
chicken breast
1 slice muenster cheese
1 slice tomato
Balsamic vinegar
olive oil
dried basil

Pour a little olive oil in a bowl. Sprinkle the oil with dried basil. Let it sit for a minute or two. Pound chicken breast so that it is uniform in size. Spread basil olive oil over chicken breast. Grill chicken breast until done. Salt and pepper the chicken breast as you cook it. (You can also George Foreman the chicken breasts.) Slice chicken in strips. 

Brush the insides of a sliced bagel with a small amount of olive oil. Broil bagel halves until light brown. Sprinkle the top half of bagel with balsamic vinegar.

Assemble sandwich:
Bagel bottom
sliced chicken
slice of Muenster cheese 
(now place it under broiler to melt cheese)
tomato
Top of bagel

Slice the bagel in half and enjoy!