Molten Chocolate Cakes Take 2

Not new...but in my opinion IMPROVED! I am such a fan of fruit with chocolate, so when I made the molten chocolate cakes the first time, I immediately knew I would like them even more if I drizzled some berry sauce on them. Last night, I remember I had some strawberries in the freezer. Carl says he prefers it without the sauce, but he still thought it was great.

So first make these and then make a lovely strawberry sauce.

My strawberry sauce was easy:

1 cup frozen, sugar added strawberries
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp water

Heat strawberries in a sauce pan until defrosted and slight runny. Pour into a small food processor with added sugar and water. Blend until the consistency you desire.

Obviously you could do this with fresh strawberries- just add more sugar and a little more water.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

I bought a big bag of potatoes and wanted to use some up last night with our Laughing Cow Chicken. I just searched all recipes for roasted potatoes and found this. So easy, so tasty, it will probably take me awhile to ever try a different roasted potato recipe. These were really good.

Since I was making the LCC too, I only had the oven at 475 for the amount of time it took me to assemble the chicken (about 10 minutes). Then I kicked it down to 400 to accommodate the chicken. It actually worked out perfectly, because the potatoes took an extra 10 minutes at the lower temp, and everything was done at the same time. I also left the peels on- if you are offended by them, feel free to peel!

INGREDIENTS
* 1/8 cup olive oil
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
* 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
* 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine oil, garlic, basil, marjoram, dill weed, thyme, oregano, parsley, red pepper flakes, and salt. Stir in potatoes until evenly coated. Place potatoes in a single layer on a roasting pan or baking sheet.
3. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, turning occasionally to brown on all sides.

I did it! Laughing Cow Chicken

Again, a recipe I am now kicking myself for not doing sooner! I technically found this on Monica's blog but she found it on Lindsay's blog. I didn't realize how delicious and easy it would be! I know...I should trust their testimonials! Carl loved this too. This will definitely be in our regular rotation. I served it with roasted potatoes (which will be in the next post) and a side caesar salad. It was the best dinner I've made in awhile.

Laughing Cow Chicken
Serves two

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally 3/4 of the way through (so you can stuff the inside)
2 wedges Laughing Cow light cheese, one per breast (I used garlic & herb instead)
Italian seasoning to taste
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs (I used 1/2 regular and 1/2 Italian seasoned)
Handful grated parmesan cheese
Cooking spray

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Open each chicken breast up and spread one wedge of Laughing Cow inside the middle. Sprinkle Italian seasoning inside to taste. (I actually mixed my cheese and Italian seasoning in a bowl before spreading it on the chicken to give a nice even flavor) Fold chicken back over to original shape.
3. Mix together bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a shallow dish. Spray each chicken breast with cooking spray and then dip in bread crumb mixture to coat. Place on baking sheet.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Chicken Caesar Salad

I probably talked about this salad 3 different times on Saturday. It was just so light and refreshing and really really delicious. Super simple too! You can opt to make your own dressing and croutons, but I found that Newman's Own and the bagged croutons were just great!

And I am absolutely loving the nicer weather. I was able to take the picture outside and wow, what a difference it makes!!

*I cut this in half and used this recipe

4 boneless chicken breasts
Melted butter or oil for basting (I swapped salt & pepper to flavor instead)
8 c. bite-size pieces of Romaine lettuce
1 1/3 c. croutons
Parmesan cheese (I grated fresh Parmesan)
Caesar salad dressing

Grill chicken, turning and basting frequently with oil or butter. Cut meat diagonally into strips. Set aside. (*I flattened our chicken and it cooked perfectly with 4 minutes on each side with the grill on medium)

In a large bowl toss Romaine with croutons and dressing. Put on 4 plates, crisscross chicken strips, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Potatoes Au Gratin

We had two of our favorite people over this weekend and decided to make a lovely dinner together. While the boys went to the driving range, the girls started dinner. These au gratin potatoes are a little different than what your mom used to make! YUM! (here is the recipe on all recipes)
Ingredients

* 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened (we omitted)
* 1 1/2 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
* 1/2 cup grated Gruyere
* 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/8 teaspoon paprika

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 1 1/2 quart baking dish with about 1 tablespoon of the softened butter. (Didn't do this)

*We first boiled the potato slices for 10 minutes to shorten the baking time

Arrange a layer of potatoes in the baking dish, and sprinkle some of the cheeses over them. Continue layering potatoes and cheeses until you've used them all, ending with a layer of potatoes.

In a small bowl, whisk the cream with the salt and pepper; pour this over the potatoes. Dot the remaining butter over the top and sprinkle with the paprika. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until the potatoes are tender and golden brown on top. (*Ours only took about 35 minutes since we started with the boiled potatoes) Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Red Skin Potato Salad

I love potato salad, and so I bought some red skin potatoes after seeing Lindsay post this recipe. Apparently I didn't cook my potatoes long enough :/ but other wise it was very tasty! Oh and sorry for the super crappy picture. I was too hungry to work on a better one.

Ingredients

* 2 pounds clean, scrubbed new red potatoes
* 6 eggs
* 1 pound bacon
* 1 onion, finely chopped
* 1 stalk celery, finely chopped (omitted)
* 2 cups mayonnaise
* salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain and set in the refrigerator to cool.
2. Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool, peel and chop.
3. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. (or just use crumbled bacon like I did!)
4. Chop the cooled potatoes, leaving skin on. Add to a large bowl, along with the eggs, bacon, onion and celery. Add mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste. Chill for an hour before serving.

Happy Birthday To MEEEEEE!

Yay! I'm officially a quarter of a century today. To celebrate first, Carl made me a wonderful breakfast on Saturday morning.


Then, last night we had Carl's family over last night for pizza and cake. YUM cake! White with real strawberry filling! I'm so lucky to have such wonderful in-laws!




I'm off to continue celebrating!