Healthy Chicken Nuggets

 
Ingredients:

• 16 oz (2 large) skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into even bit sized pieces
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 6 tbsp whole wheat Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp panko
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• olive oil spray (I used my Misto)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray.
Put the olive oil in one bowl and the breadcrumbs, panko and parmesan cheese in another.
 
Season chicken with salt and pepper, then put in the bowl with the olive oil and mix well so the olive oil evenly coats all of the chicken.
 
Put a few chunks of chicken at a time into the breadcrumb mixture to coat, then on the baking sheet. Lightly spray the top with olive oil spray then bake 8 - 10 minutes. Turn over then cook another 4 - 5 minutes or until cooked though.

Pull-Apart Bread

 

Ingredients:

For the Mushrooms
12 oz sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
For the Bread
1 unsliced loaf sourdough bread
12 ounces Provolone cheese, thinly sliced
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup finely diced green onion
2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Directions:

For the Mushrooms
Heat a medium skillet on medium. Add the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the mushrooms. Cook 4-5 minutes until they start to sweat. Add the thyme and continue to cook another 2-3 minutes.
Set mushrooms aside and allow to cool.
For the Bread
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust. This can be a little tricky going the second way but the bread is very forgiving.
Place loaf on a foil-lined baking sheet.
Insert cheese slices between cuts. Pour the mushrooms between the cuts. Use your fingers to push the mushrooms down into the loaf.
Combine butter, onion, and poppy seeds. Drizzle over bread. Wrap in foil; place on a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Unwrap the bread and bake 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted.
 

Cookies & Cream Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter Bread

Peanut Butter Bread

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ cup butter
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup milk

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl beat together the butter and sugars.
4. Then mix the peanut butter, egg and vanilla into the butter/sugar. Mix well.
5. Slowly add the flour mix, and combine. The mixture will be dry, but don’t worry…
6. Pour in the milk slowly, and combine.
7. Pour the batter into a prepared loaf pan (see tips).
8. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Home-made Crazy Bread

In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix.

Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn’t stick to your hands.
Once you reach this stage, turn the mixer on high to knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! That seems to be the magical number. It should look something like this when it’s done!
The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean!
Lightly grease the bowl & the dough so it doesn’t dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. That’s it!

Now you can turn this dough into anything your little heart desires.

How about some Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks?

Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone inside. {If you don’t have a pizza stone, use an upside down cookie sheet)
Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.
Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch circle on parchment paper. {This makes it easier to transfer to the pizza stone.}
Spread the butter and garlic mixture over dough and top with Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, if desired. {That step is totally optional!}  
Bake 9-10 minutes or until bubbly and golden. Remove from oven and cool 1-2 minutes before cutting. Serve hot, with marinara.

Aurora-Borealis Drink

WHAT YOU NEED:
2 liters Gin or Vodka
9 Liters Tonic Water
3-4 Bottles Roses Mojito Passion, OR 3-4 Canisters of Pink-Lemonade Concentrate
Ice
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix all ingredients together shortly before the party begins.
Add ice as late as possible before drinking.



Here is one way to make your next party a smashing success. It’s called Aurora and is TCCs black light phosphorescent take on jungle-juice… it’s pink under regular light, but glows blue under black light.

I can see it now… Doctor, I’m peeing rainbows!

Watermellon Sorbet

 Watermelon Lime Sorbet

1 cup water
1/2 to 1 cup sugar (depending on personal preference and watermelon sweetness)
8 cups cubed fresh watermelon
1/3 cup lime juice
Place water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar is completely dissolved to create a syrup. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In a food processor or blender, mix together watermelon cubes, syrup and lime juice. Blend until smooth. Add to an ice cream machine and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Serve immediately as soft serve sorbet or freeze in an airtight container and remove a few minutes prior to serving to let soften for scooping.
Makes 8-10 servings.

Start by cutting your watermelon as a simple syrup simmers on the stove. If you’re going to serve your sorbet in the rind, cut a watermelon (smaller is better) in half and scoop the watermelon flesh out. Place the hollowed-out rinds in the freezer to get cold while you make your sorbet.
When your simple syrup is cool and watermelon chunked, blend them together in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add in lime juice to cut the sweetness. The first time we made watermelon sorbet we didn’t do this, and it was much too sweet for our taste. I went with a 1/3 cup lime juice.
Cool the liquid completely in the refrigerator for a few hours. When it’s good and cold, throw it in your ice cream machine and freeze. If you saved them, take your watermelon rind out of the freezer and fill it with your sorbet, perhaps throwing in a few mini chocolate chip “seeds” along the way.
This then goes into the freezer. It really doesn’t need that long, and if you let it sit for four to five hours, you’ll be ready to slice easily. Longer freezing just requires you to take it out a bit before you want to scoop or slice. No rind? Just store in an airtight container until ready to serve.
Tip: Dip your scoop or knife in warm water before scooping or slicing to make it easier.
There’s nothing like a slice of watermelon on a warm summer day, especially when your slice happens to be sorbet.
Truly, nothing.
A few tips if you want to make slices:

1. Use a small, personal size watermelon.
2. Freeze only long enough for the sorbet to set, or if you freeze longer, give it a good amount of time on the counter to soften up.
3. Dip your knife (I used a large chef’s knife) in warm water in between each cut, and try to cut 2″-3″-thick slices off the watermelon. Too thin and they don’t hold together as well.