Category: main dish

breakfast · dessert · main dish

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

RefreshHer4 Comments
One fun thing about the weekend is having a little more time for breakfast.  One of my favorite breakfast foods is French Toast.  On Saturday I made a Banana Stuffed French Toast.  I love the warm bananas that are tucked inside the egg-dipped bread! This is so simple, yet so yummy!  Here’s how I make it:
Slice a 2″ or 2 1/2 ” thick piece of French bread, then slice it in half, but not all the way through.  This is the opening for the banana slices.  Stuff as many slices of banana in there as will fit.

In a deep dish, mix egg and milk and whisk together.  To the milk/egg mixture, add cinnamon and vanilla to taste.  Dip bread slices into milk, then place in a hot skillet with a tablespoon or two of Crisco.  Brown on each side until toasted.

Dust with powdered sugar.  Serve with warm syrup.

For our Sunday dinner I made Imperial Chicken.  I got the ingredients prepped the night before, then assembled it and placed in the oven on the timer.  This is super fast and soooo good.

Imperial Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts
2 cups Pepperidge farm Italian bread crumbs
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp each of salt,pepper and garlic powder
1 stick butter, melted
2 T lemon juice

Place chicken breasts in salt water and refrigerate overnight. In one bowl, mix lemon juice and melted butter that has cooled.  In another bowl mix bread crumbs, cheese, salt, pepper and garlic.  Drain chicken.  Dip chicken in butter mixture and in bread crumb mixture, and roll – jelly roll style and bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour.  (You could bake these without rolling them up; they will take less time that way!)

Chicken breasts should be split before dipping and rolling.



Ready for the oven

I served the chicken with twice baked mashed potatoes, frozen veggies, popovers, and fresh fruit.



Love these popovers! I made them before church and warmed them in the oven when we got home so they’d be crispy.

We had guests over after church last night and I served Taco soup, tortilla chips and crackers, and my favorite brownie – Hershey’s Deep dish Brownie.  These are moist and chocolaty.  When I get hungry for something chocolate, these always come to mind. 

Hershey’s Deep Dish Brownie

3/4 C butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
3/4 C flour
1/2 C Hershey’s cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Blend melted butter or margarine, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl.  Add eggs; beat well with spoon.  Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to egg mixture until well blended.  Spread in greased 8″ square pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan.  Cool ; cut into squares. 

What kind of things were cooking in your kitchen this past week or weekend? 

P.S.  Tonight’s Ladies’ Bible study at BCBC will be a blessing; I hope you’re planning on attending!  The lesson covers worry.  Wow!  It’s so helpful and practical (and convicting!).  The second half of our meeting is “Dinner? Is it possible?”  We will hear from the dietitian from Franklin Woods Hospital how very possible dinner can be!  I’ll be looking for you there!

breakfast · main dish

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

RefreshHer3 Comments
This weekend I tried a new recipe for breakfast.  Since I was having company (yay!), I wanted to have a breakfast that was ready quickly, but was also warm and hardy.  I had heard about Baked Oatmeal, and was intrigued with the thought of a dish of oatmeal filled with fruit and nuts that was not only healthy and quick, but also delicious! 

This dish whipped together in no time flat the night before. Then in the morning, I simply popped it into the oven to bake while I got dressed. Ta-da! Hot breakfast on the table for my guests, along with fresh Cinnamon-raisin toast made with my sour dough starter.

We were blessed to have my sister and her husband with us this weekend.  I loved having them here so much.  We celebrated New Years together on Saturday as folks in their 50’s would do (which means we did not  stay up ’til midnight!).  We enjoyed a lovely dinner in Asheville, and then went to Grove Park Inn to enjoy the gingerbread houses, as well as the beauty of the inn.

Sunday dinner was also intended to be simple – and it was. 
I repeated a recipe I’ve shared before (gasp!) .

Baked Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli with lemon and butter
Pear/Blue Cheese Salad w/Cranberry Vinaigrette
Assorted Cookies and Ice Cream

The Pork chops are a great Sunday dinner because they’re cooked in under 15 minutes.  To speed the Sunday dinner preparation, on Saturday I:
  • Made the honey-mustard glaze for the pork chops
  • Prepped all the salad ingredients
  • Made the salad dressing
  • Set the table

Company meals and/or Sunday dinner can be a blessing, rather than a stressful event with simple recipes like these and a little preparation ahead of time. 

Sunday night after church we had Cincinnati Chili.  This is my favorite recipe because of the addition of some different kinds of flavors added, including cinnamon and a little cocoa!  With the temperatures falling, it was a great meal to have cooking in the crock pot while we were at the evening service.  Here’s my recipe:

Cincinnati Chili

2 pounds ground beef (I use ground turkey)
1 medium onion
1 Tbl vinegar
2 Tbl chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce (I add another small can as well)
1 cup water
 2 cans of mild chili beans

Sweet Spices
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa

Brown meat and onions in a  pan.  Drain fat.  Add the vinegar, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and pepper.  Stir and cook 5 minutes.  Add the tomato sauce, chili beans and water.  If you want, add the sweet spices.  Cover and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 1 hour.  Stir occasionally.  Serve with cheddar cheese and/or sour cream.

I loved having guests this weekend!  What a great way to bring in the New Year!

What was cooking in your kitchen this weekend? 

From my parsonage kitchen,

main dish

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

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We weren’t in the parsonage this weekend, but I had the blessing of having Sunday dinner in my sister, Sharee’s home yesterday!  My husband and I got to go to Kentucky where we attended church with my parents, then had dinner with  Sharee afterwards (while her poor hubby was at work missing out!).  The meal was so good, and served in a lovely way, but the best thing was sitting around the table in the comfy chairs talking and laughing for a nice long while.  Family times – they’re rare…and precious!

Sharee found a new lasagna recipe a couple of years ago that is now her favorite.  It came from Southern Living (their recipes are always keepers!).  It was delicious. 

One thing I like about being in someone else’s kitchen is learning about new/different products. She served a tossed salad and offered a Balsamic Vinaigrette by Ken’s that I am going to have to look for; it was a nice change from the creamy dressings I usually have on hand. 

Her menu:

Tossed Salad
Rolls
Peppermint Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce
Lovely and so good!!!
Sharee told me that one time-saving method in this lasagna recipe is the way they tell you to cook the noodles; you pour boiling water over the noodles that are in a 9×13 pan and let them set for 15 minutes.  How easy is that?!  She also likes the recipe better using small curd cottage cheese instead of the ricotta cheese that it calls for.  This was really good lasagna.  If you need a little boost to your old standard recipe, this would be a great replacement!
Thanks, Sharee, for a great recipe and a wonderful, relaxing afternoon!
What was cooking in your kitchen this week?
With love,

main dish

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

RefreshHer2 Comments

The best thing cooking at the parsonage yesterday was sweet fellowship and warm memories!  We had the blessing of having dear friends visit us; The Blevins, from our ministry in Indiana!  Being with them and reminiscing made me even more excited about heaven!  Think of all the, “Remember when God did…?” that we will share with one another!  There will be no time constraint, either!  Wow!  We had a great time with our friends talking about blessings of salvations, growth and what God is doing now. it made me realize once again the fruit that comes from sharing the Gospel. It was wonderful!  How blessed we are that they made coming to see us a part of their vacation!  Please come back, Blevins’!

We got to have them in our home for dinner – another blessing!  Here was my menu:

Baked Almond Chicken
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
Corn Pudding
Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Quick Yeast Rolls
This normally succulent chicken dish was a bit overcooked because I didn’t take into consideration that we were having communion at church, so the service lasted longer.  It was a great service; the only thing that wasn’t blessed by it was my chicken!  I don’t think I’ll make this on Sunday again, but normally this is a really elegant chicken dish!
Baked Almond Chicken
1/2 C all purpose flour
1/3 C plus 1 T butter or margarine, melted, divided
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1-1/2 cups whipping cream
1/3 C dry bread crumbs
3/4 C sliced almonds, toasted
Place flour in a shallow bowl.  Combine 1/3 C butter and seasonings in another bowl.  Coat chicken with flour, then dip in butter mixture.  Arrange in a greased shallow 3 qt baking dish.  Pour cream around chicken.  Bake, uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes.
Combine bread crumbs and remaining butter; sprinkle over chicken.  Top with almonds.  Bake, uncovered, for 5-9 minutes.  The recipe recommends serving this over pasta, which would be really good!



This is a bit blurry, but I had to zoom in so you could see one hot out of the oven.  This is when these yeast rolls are best…oh, and with butter! 

 Quick Yeast Rolls
1 Cup boiling water
1 tsp salt
6 T shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1 pkg yeast dissolved in 2 T lukewarm water
3 1/2 C flour
1 egg

Combine boiling water, shortening, salt and sugar in a bowl.  Cool to lukewarm.  Add egg, yeast mixture and half of the flour.  Beat well and then add rest of the flour.  Roll out and shape in rolls.  Place in greased pan or muffins tins.  Let rise 1 hour and bake at 400 degrees 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

After the dough has risen, I cut each roll out with a cookie cutter so they are the same size, then…

I cut each circle into thirds and roll each piece into a ball, and place them into the muffin tin to make clover leaf rolls.

Have you made a Texas Sheet Cake?  It’s one of my favorite chocolate cakes!  However, I found a recipe for it in my Cooking Light Cookbook that tastes exactly like the standard recipe, with less fat and calories!  Please try this if you love chocolate cake! 



I’ve found this cake keeps best in the fridge.  As soon as you pour the icing on the warm cake, pop it into the fridge uncovered until the icing hardens, then cover it with Syran Wrap.

 I also like this cake because it feeds a crowd.  I made dinner for friends on Saturday, so this cake made plenty for us and plenty to share!

What have you been cooking in your kitchen?  Did you have guests for dinner recently?  If it’s been a while, start praying about whom the Lord would have you invite over.  You’ll be reminded that it is truly a blessing to serve others.

From my parsonage kitchen,

dessert · main dish

What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

RefreshHer4 Comments

I love digging in my recipe box! I come across recipes, some clipped from magazines and newspapers over a span of thirty years, some handwritten, that I begged asked great cooks for. My box is as full as ol’ Santa’s belly after a Christmas Eve of cookies.  It’s almost like a little scrapbook of places we’ve lived and friends and family that are far away.  If I ever need inspiration for my weekly menu my box is the best place to start. 


I found this great recipe in my recipe files last week.  It came from a dear friend I met at family camp at The Wilds many years ago.  This is the perfect main dish for Sunday because you cover it then bake it for 2 hours with no stirring or fussing needed.  That’s why it’s called No Peek Chicken!  It’s super fast to put together too, which is great for a busy Sunday morning!


No Peek Chicken


4-6 Chicken breasts, cut in quarters (you can also use a cut-up fryer)
1 small box of wild grain brown rice (original)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of broccoli soup
1 can water


Place chicken pieces in bottom of a glass baking dish.  Mix rice, soup and water.  Pour over breasts, then sprinkle with the spice packet from the box of rice.  Cover with foil.  Bake at 350 degrees for 2 hours.  No peeking!


Alli was home for Thanksgiving and got into a “baking mood” over the weekend.  She had found a wicked brownie recipe online that she wanted to try.  These are  chocolate and peanut butter heaven!  Oh my!  Here’s the recipe:


Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies – adapted from The Food Network




Brownie Layer:


1/2 cup unsalted butter


2 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate


1 teaspoon vanilla extract


1 cup sugar


2 large eggs


1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour


1/2 teaspoon baking powder


1/2 teaspoon salt


3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chunks




Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Layer:


1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened


1/2 cup packed light brown sugar


2 tablespoons milk


1/2 cup creamy peanut butter


1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour


1/2 teaspoon salt


Ganache Layer:


3/4 cup dark chocolate chips


1/4 cup heavy whipping cream


1/4 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts, optional


Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8 by 8-inch pan with cooking spray.


Brownies: microwave the butter and unsweetened chocolate in a microwavable bowl at high power until the butter is melted, about 2 minutes. Stir until combined, then mix in the vanilla extract. Meanwhile, beat the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and add in the chocolate mixture. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt and chocolate chunks. Spread the brownie mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until the brownies are set and a toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies comes out clean, about 22 to 28 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes.


Peanut butter cookie dough: Add the butter and brown sugar to a large bowl and mix until creamy. Mix in the milk and the peanut butter, then stir in the flour and salt. Spread the peanut butter cookie dough evenly over the cooled brownies.


Ganache: In a small microwavable bowl, microwave the dark chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream, uncovered, on high for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds. Continue stirring until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Spread the ganache over the peanut butter layer and sprinkle with the chopped peanuts. Refrigerate until the dough and ganache are set, about 1 hour. Cut into 16 squares and arrange on a serving platter to serve.


Now, if that’s too fattening, here’s a low-fat recipe Alli tried.  I doubt you could find a simpler brownie recipe!  These only have two ingredients!  They’re moist and chocolaty!


Devilish Pumpkin Brownies (you won’t taste the pumpkin!)





1 Box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin (not pie mix)


Mix these two ingredients and place into greased or paper-lined tins.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15 min.  Check center with toothpick.


That’s some of what’s been cooking in my parsonage.  I’ll bet something tasty has been cooking in yours too!  Have you tried a new recipe, or revisited an old one that you hadn’t made in a while?  I’d love to hear about it!


From my parsonage kitchen,