Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

2 cups crushed pretzels
3/4 cup melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar, plus 3/4 cup sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1 (8-ounce) container whipped topping
2 (3-ounce) packages strawberry gelatin dessert mix
2 cups boiling water
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen strawberries (slightly thawed and sliced into bite sizes)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. For the crust, mix the pretzels, butter, and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Press this mixture into a 9 by 13-inch pan and bake for 7 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and 3/4 cup of sugar. Fold in the whipped topping, and spread over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until well chilled.
4. In a small bowl, dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, and allow to cool slightly. Add the strawberries and pour over the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate until serving time.

What an excellent dessert! And it was so pretty too! I have NO idea where I got this recipe from, but it was delicious!

Italian Crusted Chicken

1/2 Cup Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs
1/4 Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/8 Tsp Salt
4 Chicken Breasts (boneless and skinless)
1/4 cup Italian Dressing

Directions:
1. Preheat Oven to 375
2. Combine Breadcrumbs, Parmesan Cheese, and Salt
3. Dip chicken in Italian dressing and then cover with the breadcrumb concoction
4. When the chicken is fully covered place in a lightly sprayed pan/dish and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink. Enjoy!

This chicken was really great! I actually marinated mine in the Italian dressing all day in the fridge and it tasted WONDERFUL! Very easy, but tasty! I got the recipe from a Cookbook Jungle.

Potato Bundles

6 whole Russet potatoes (cut into small bite size pieces)
1/2 whole Yellow Onion, diced
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
Salt to taste
Paprika to taste
Black Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons minced parsley

Directions:
1. Pile potatoes and onions on a square of foil.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to each foil. Splash on cream to each pile.
3. Then sprinkle on salt, paprika, and black pepper to taste.
4. Sprinkle minced parsley over the top.
5. Wrap bundles tightly and bake 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until extremely tender.
6. Serve bundles right on the dinner plate.

These were G...O...O...D...!!! It was little work, BUT definitely worth it! It's a great dish for when you are entertaining!! You do have to make sure that you cook the potatoes until they are VERY tender......hard potatoes are never good. I had to cook mine for about an hour to get them really tender! The number of bundles depends on the size of your potatoes, mine made about 7. I did learn the second time I cooked them, the more potatoes you add to each bundle the longer they had to be cooked to turn out nice and tender. I really like the idea of the individual foils, but next time I am going to try baking them in one big piece of foil with all the ingredients lumped into one big pile. I will let you know how that turns out! Enjoy!

This recipe came from:
The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Beef Brisket

I- 3-5 lb brisket
1 box lipton onion soup mix,
1 box lipton beefy mushroom soup,
11/2 to 2 cups of red cooking wine, or regular red wine.


Line 9x13 pan with aluminum foil with enough to enclose brisket. Pour 1/2 wine and 1 pouch each soup on aluminum foil in pan. Put brisket on top of this fat side up. Pour the rest of the wine on top of brisket and the other two packages of soup mix on top. Enclose in aluminum foil so liquid does not cook out. Bake on *350 for 3 hours. The gravy is great. Keep cut meat in gravy so it does not dry out.

***I have to admit, I am not a meat person....I don't like eating a lot of it and I am always scared to cook it....I have a huge fear of undercooking it, or overcooking it......BUT this was SUPER easy and really yummy!!! The brisket meat was a little tougher than I had imagined, so I'm not sure if I should have cooked it a little less OR if that is just how brisket is.....None the less....it was fantastic! I plan on using the soup/wine flavoring on a roast very soon! That part was extremely good!! I got the recipe from one of my Bible Study leaders at church! Enjoy!

Pork Wellington

• 1 whole egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1-ounce dried apples (I used packaged Washington apples from the dried fruit section of the store)
• 1 whole pork tenderloin, approximately 1 pound
• 4 1/2 ounces thinly slice prosciutto ham
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed completely (I used the Pepperidge Farm brand from the freezer section near the pie crusts)
• 1 tablespoon honey dijon mustard

Preheat oven and heat to 400 degrees F.

Whisk the egg and water in a small bowl and set aside. Place the apple rings into the bowl of a mini food processor and process for 30 to 45 seconds or until they are the size of a medium dice. Set aside.

Slice the tenderloin down the middle lengthwise, creating 2 separate pieces. Lay the tenderloin pieces next to each other head to tail, so when laid back together they are the same size at the ends.

Lay out a 12 by 16-inch piece of parchment paper on the counter and arrange the pieces of prosciutto in the center, overlapping them enough to create solid layer that is as long as the tenderloin. Top with a second piece of parchment, and using a rolling pin, roll over the prosciutto to help adhere the pieces to each other. Remove the parchment paper and sprinkle the prosciutto with the salt, pepper, and thyme. Set the tenderloin down the middle of the prosciutto. Spread the dried apples in between the 2 pieces of tenderloin and push back together so the apples are held between them. Using the parchment paper to assist, wrap the prosciutto around the tenderloin to completely enclose in a package.

Sprinkle the counter with flour and roll out the pastry to 12 by 14 inches. Spread the mustard thinly in the center of pastry and lay the prosciutto wrapped tenderloin in the center of the pastry on the mustard. Fold the puff pastry up and over the top of the tenderloin, then roll to completely enclose, brushing the edges of the pastry with the egg wash in order to seal. Turn the tenderloin over so the side of the tenderloin with the double thickness of pastry is underneath. Pinch the ends of the pastry to seal.

Brush the entire pastry with the egg wash. Place the tenderloin on a parchment lined half sheet pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the pork reaches an internal temperature of at least 140 degrees F.

Remove the tenderloin from the oven, transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

**This was a fabulous dinner! I have to admit there are quite a few steps to follow, but DEFINITELY worth the time! So good! This recipe came from Food Network!!

Cinnamon Sugar Butter Cookies (AKA The Snickerdoodle)

3 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. **Do not increase temperature any higher**

2. Combine the 3 tablespoons white sugar and the cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. *This is what you will roll dough in**

3. Blend brown sugar and white sugar in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed. Add butter and blend until grainy. Add eggs and vanilla extract, mixing until light and fluffy.

4. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl. Add to sugar mixture, mixing at low speed just long enough to combine. Do NOT overmix!

5. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.....DO NOT OMIT THIS STEP!!

5. Roll dough into 1inch balls, then roll each ball into cinnamon-sugar to coat. **The dough will be very buttery**

6. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes.

These cookies are AMAZING.....MELT IN YOUR MOUTH good! I randomly chose this recipe from AllRecipes.com out of about 200 different ones and I think I made a GREAT choice if I do say so myself!!!! By far one of the best cookies I have had in a long time!

Bran Muffins

3 ¼ cups plain bran flakes (I use Wal-Mart great value brand)
1 ½ cups of Splenda
2 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups low fat buttermilk

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately. Then combine all ingredients together and refrigerate for about 3 hrs. This allows the bran flakes to soften. **I let mine sit overnight and they turned out just fine!

Bake 400* for 15-18 minutes and enjoy.

For an even healthier muffin, you can substitute ¾ cups ground flax seed. Only use 1 3/4 cups flour and 3/4 cups ground flax seed.

I know.....your probably thinking.....BRAN???....Gag!!! My thoughts exactly too.....AT FIRST......then I made these little treasures and I was PLEASANTLY surprised at how GREAT THEY WERE!!! Seriously one of the best bran muffins I have ever eaten!! I recommend serving with butter and strawberry jelly:) Enjoy!!!

**This recipe came from a friend of mine at church, Amanda Harris, who is a FABULOUS cook!! She also caters!! So if you are ever in need of a caterer, I HIGHLY recommend her!!!