My Sweetest Things

It was another “What’s for dinner?” night. Bah. I had one of those days where I just wanted to be lazy but yet dinner duty called and I had chicken breasts ready but not sure what to do with them. Fried Chicken sounded good but I was not feeling like dealing with the extra work and mess so I  reached for the bag of French’s Fried Onions. I do admit to  pulling out the shake and bake for pork chops so I thought I could do the same with the French Fried Onions. On the back of the bag is a super quick recipe that’s crunchy and delish. Oh, and you can snack on those crispy onions while you are waiting on the chicken to bake. It takes less than 30 minutes for this recipe, unless you decide to photograph the whole process which can then lead to slight time delay!

Ingredients – Quick – I can’t stand the look of raw chicken!

Chicken Breasts

French’s Fried Onions

Egg

That’s it. REAL Simple!

Pour  some fried onions into a baggie and smash them up! This particular tool I got way back sometime in the

1990’s at a Crab Shack outside of Corpus Christi, Texas. Ah. Good Times!

Take that egg and scramble it up, pour it into a dish. Throw those breadcrumbs on a plate.

You can also shake the chicken in the baggie if you have that nifty gallon size which I did not use so plate it is!

Dip the chicken in the egg….then the breadcrumbs and place in baking dish.

Bake chicken uncovered in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or

you can…..

Take your camera out of Aperture Priority Mode because you decide you

 want to shoot Manually and have this happen!

OR this!

BAD IDEA!

Well, this dinner was a good idea. Very flavorful and crunchy and yummy!

Even better when your husband kicks in and whips up a Caprese Salad! Sliced Beef Steak Tomato, Mozzarella Cheese,

Basil from our garden, splash of Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Salt and Pepper. Another fast super easy dish!

Dinner is served!

This is Mia, who could care less what we eat for dinner and is giving me the evil eye. Perhaps that hat

has something to do with it?

It’s all good.

~Donna

On one of our Sam’s shopping trips I picked up three cans of pumpkin for a great price. It’s that time of year for all things pumpkin so I was planning my fall baking. While I was browsing one of my favorite blogs My Baking Addiction I came across this recipe which Jamie found at allrecipes. Gotta love the internet! I must say this recipe is so easy, moist, and delicious! It has a wonderful texture with the flavors of pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg all dancing around and the aroma in the air is delightful! The chocolate chips melt nicely and really satisfy any chocolate craving without overpowering the pumpkin. Try this! You will love it! I took this to the office and it was a hit. I will definitely be making this again!

Ingredients

3 cups white sugar

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cups water

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees – I used a bundt cake pan but you can grease and flour three 9 x5 inch loaf

pans instead. In a large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until smooth.

So, while we are adding the vanilla, take a look at my latest kitchen tool!

Aren’t these the cutest? I found them at Merciers Orchard Gift Shop. It was love at first site! This was one

of those “have to have it” items. Totally want, not need, but they are now mine!

Back to the bread….Blend flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Try to take  a photo with one

hand and use the wrong settings and you too will have this sweet blur!

Fold in chocolate chips..see those yummy spices?

Pour this yummy goodness into pan of your choice and bake for one hour or until inserted knife comes out clean.

Oh my goodness..

All cooled down and sitting pretty! I debated on adding a drizzle glaze to it but decided to keep it simple.

It is so delish on its own!

Perfection!

As I mentioned before, I took this to the office to share and I took this photo at work before the last piece was gone!

Thanks again to Jaime at My Baking Addiction for sharing this recipe.

Check out her awesome blog for more of her delicious recipes!

It’s all good.

~Donna