Zuppa Toscana Soup (like Olive Garden's)

2 ¾ cups chicken broth
¼ cup heavy cream
1 med russet potato
2 cups chopped kale
½ lb Italian sausage (spicy to taste)
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (if you like spicy)

Combine broth and cream together over med. Heat. Cube unpeeled potato and add, add kale. Saute sausage and break into small pieces and add to the soup. Add spices and simmer for an hour!

If you have a big family, double the recipe!( or triple...) We like to dip breadsticks in it....

Crock Pot Chicken Cordon Blue

I made this for Sunday dinner and it was wonderful! We had mashed potatoes and green beans on the side!

6 chicken breasts - pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
6 thick slices swiss cheese
6 slices deli shaved ham
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. Italian flavored bread crumbs

Place slice of cheese and ham on each chicken breast. Roll up and secure with toothpick, place in bottom of crock pot. Mix soup and milk. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Cook on low for 6-7 hours.

Orange Dream Cookies

This recipe is to die for! Thanks to my friend Laurel for sharing her recipe! It's a fun twist on chocolate chip cookies! We ate the whole batch in like 2 days!!!

1 c. butter softened
2/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. grated orange rind
2 t. orange extract
2 1/4 c. flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 c. white chocolate chips

Cream butter, sugars, eggs, extract and orange rind together. Combine flour, soda, and salt and then slowly add into mixing bowl with other ingredients. Mix in the chocolate chips at the end with a wooden spoon. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I love "oriental" food of all kinds...Chinese, Japanese, etc, etc. This is the best lettuce wrap that I have ever made - hope you enjoy it too! Almost gone.....They don't last very long!

1-2 heads Lettuce (iceberg works the best - but I have used romaine and it tasted really good too, just not as easy to wrap up!)
6 T. oil
5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 cans water chestnuts - drained and chopped fine
8 oz mushrooms - chopped fine
6 T. chopped onion
2 t. minced garlic (I used 2 medium-ized cloves)
Shredded carrots

Saute onion and garlic in oil until translucent. Add chicken and cook until chicken is almost cooked through, breaking up the chicken into smaller pieces with a spatula as it cooks. Add water chestnuts and mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes. Then add the following sauce and cook for a couple of minutes:

4 T. soy sauce
4 T. brown sugar
1 t. rice wine vinegar

Separate the iceberg into big leaves and spoon chicken mixture inside and roll up like a burrito and enjoy! We like to dip ours in the following sauce:

Sweet and Sour dipping sauce:

1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. rice wine vinegar
2 T. ketchup (heinz is best!)
1 T. lemon juice
1/8 t. sesame oil
1 T. hot chinese style mustard (if this is hard to find, I use dijon mustard and it tastes fabulous!)
2 t. minced garlic
1 t. red chile paste (in the asian section of the grocery store)

*The recipe doesn't call for it, but I like to season my chicken with salt and pepper and garlic salt for some extra flavor. I also double the sauce recipe. This is very good with fried rice!