Cinnamon French Toast (Kneaders) and Buttery Syrup!

This year I made a big Christmas Day breakfast for my family and it was SO good!!  Cinnamon French Toast with homemade buttery syrup, eggs, bacon, and orange juice.  I thought I'd post the recipe for the french toast and syrup.

Cinnamon French Toast (Kneaders)

Kneaders loaf of cinnamon bread (is comes drizzled with frosting on top)

3 eggs

3/4 cup milk

Beat eggs and milk together, dip both sides of sliced cinnamon  bread in the mixtures and then fry in a pan.  Pretty basic french toast, you just use the DELICIOUS Kneaders cinnamon bread instead.

Buttery Syrup

1 cube butter (no substitutions)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan.  Add sugar and dissolve.  Add buttermilk and vanilla, stir.  Add baking soda, it will foam up and double in size so make sure it doesn't boil over.

My family loved this!  We'll do it every year.

YOGURT - BROILED CHICKEN

3 stars and not my best picture.
It's good chicken, but not a ton of flavor.  I've never actually broiled chicken before so I was a little afraid. My son said it tasted like it kind of had a lemonish flavor, and I agree.  I might make it again.  Just something I tried because I had all the ingredients on hand and didn't want to go to the store.

YOGURT - BROILED CHICKEN

1/2 c. plain low-fat yogurt 1 green onion, chopped 1 tsp. dried oregano leaves, crushed 1 tbsp. olive or salad oil 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper 4 lg. skinless, boneless chicken breast-halves Oregano or parsley sprigs for garnish Directions: 1. In large bowl, with spoon, mix low-fat yogurt, green onion, dried oregano leaves, olive or salad oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Add chicken. 2. Place chicken breasts on rack in broiling pan. Place pan in broiler at closest position to source of heat; broil breasts 4 minutes. Turn breasts; brush with any yogurt mixture remaining in bowl and broil 5-6 minutes longer until chicken breasts are fork-tender and lightly browned. 3. To serve, arrange chicken breasts on warm large platter. Garnish with oregano or parsley sprigs. Makes 4 servings. I left out the green onion and I only had red wine vinegar, so I strayed a bit from the recipe.  Turned out just fine. Here's the link: http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1825,139178-234205,00.html

Easy Lemon Pasta with Chicken

I think we'll go 3 1/2 stars on this one.
The good thing is that it's pretty healthy.  Well, I used whole wheat pasta so that made it a little more healthy.  And, I have to say that I don't think anyone noticed that it was whole wheat!  Maybe I need to start using it more often.  The only sauce is freshly squeezed lemon juice,  I think I might put a little more of the red pepper flakes in next time.  I was afraid there wasn't going to be enough flavor, but there is a lot of flavor.  If you don't like lemon, you won't like this.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried penne
• 2 chicken cutlets, cut into fingers
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan 

Directions

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, until al dente. Drain well.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a large grill pan over medium high and add chicken. Grill until golden and completely cooked. Remove to a plate and slice.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to a saute pan with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and saute until fragrant. Add the cooked pasta and turn heat off. Mix all together.

Remove pasta to a large bowl. Add chicken to the warm pasta and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle in chopped parsley. Add the juice of 2 lemons and mix. Before serving top with Parmesan 

Here's a link to where I found this one:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/down-home-with-the-neelys/easy-lemon-pasta-with-chicken-recipe/index.html

Cafe Rio Burritos

Yum!  Probably about 5 stars on this one.
My family doesn't do salad so we did the chicken burritos.  I didn't have all the fancy things that Cafe Rio puts on them, and I'm wishing I had done a better black bean recipe (meaning more than straight from the can), but it was really good.  We did tortillas, chicken, cilantro lime rice, black beans, and shredded cheddar cheese.

Cafe Rio Chicken

1 (8 ounce) bottle kraft zesty Italian dressing (the small bottle at our store was a 16 oz)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

Juice from 1 lime

Directions:

1. Mix dressing, chili powder, cumin, and garlic in a bowl.
2. Place chicken in crock pot and pour dressing mixture over the chicken, turning chicken to coat all sides.
3. Cook in crock pot for 5 hours on low.
4. Shred meat and add lime juice
5. Cook 1 additional hour.

Link: http://www.food.com/recipe/cafe-rio-chicken-222868#ixzz1g0kSgwUj

The shredded chicken, ready to go.
Actually, some one already had some to go when this was taken.

CILANTRO-LIME RICE

1 c. uncooked rice (long-grain, white rice)
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 cups water
2 tsp chicken bouillon
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice (I used the whole lime, but I like lime)
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

Directions:

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken bouillon and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

Link: http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2008/09/cafe-rio-cilantro-lime-rice-and-black.html

Yummy lime flavor!  If you want rice on the side as well as in the burrito, I'd suggest doubling the recipe.  There really wasn't a lot left over.  Although, I think my 13 yr old made a rice burrito after his chicken and rice burrito.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes

See the picture on "Lemon Chicken"
These were really good!  Crisp and tasty.  I'll definitely make them again.  Some recipes say to cook for 30-45 mins, but I think the hour was needed to get the crispness.  Don't forget to stir them with the spatula every 20 mins while roasting so they don't stick and all sides are even.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds small red or white-skinned potatoes (or a mixture)
• 1/8 cup good olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoons minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the potatoes in half or quarters and place in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary; toss until the potatoes are well coated. Dump the potatoes on a baking sheet and spread out into 1 layer; roast in the oven for at least 1 hour, or until browned and crisp. Flip twice with a spatula during cooking to ensure even browning.

Remove the potatoes from the oven, season to taste, and serve.

Link to the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/rosemary-roasted-potatoes-recipe/index.html

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins

4-5 servings (for us)

Lemon Chicken

This picture goes with the Lemon Chicken AND the Rosemary Garlic Roasted Potatoes.
There was homemade bread too, but I didn't have it on the plate.
We give both of these dishes 4 stars!  Actually my 13 yr old gives the chicken a 5.
My husband liked the flavor of the chicken but said it was a little too dry - um, that could have had something to do with the fact that I'm terrified of under-cooked chicken and I tend to cook it a little (or a lot) longer than the recipe says.

The chicken had a lot more flavor than I expected, well I used a lot more lemon juice than the recipe called for so that could have contributed.  The potatoes were nice and crispy  I did stir them with a spatula every 20 min during the hour cooking time.  That helped to keep them from sticking to the pan and helped them become crispy on all sides.

Lemon Chicken
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. lemon zest
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 large lemon = 1/3 cup, I used 2 lemons)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves, finely minced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2-4 lbs. of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or drumsticks (I used boneless, skinless breasts)
2-3 tbsp. melted butter
Thinly sliced lemons, for garnished

Directions:
Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper in a large zipper-lock plastic bag. Seal the bag and shake well to blend. Place the chicken pieces in the bag with the marinade, pressing out excess air and sealing once more. Refrigerate and let marinate for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and transfer to a baking dish, skin-side up, reserving the leftover marinade. Brush the top of each piece of chicken with melted butter.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, until the skins are crispy and well-browned. Halfway through baking, pour the remaining marinade over the chicken pieces in the baking dish. Once fully baked, cover loosely with foil and let rest 10 minutes before serving. Transfer to a serving platter, garnish with lemon slices and serve.

Printed from Annie's Eats

Link to Annie's Eats:

http://annies-eats.net/2010/04/15/lemon-chicken/