Sour Cream Baked Chicken

Whoops! Where did that past week go? I flew home for the weekend so my schedule was jam packed catching up with old friends. I wish I could do that every weekend. That way, I could keep up with everyone's ever-changing lives.

Two of my friends got engaged over the weekend (to two other people), so I wanted to say congrats to Jaymee and Misha! I'm so happy for you both!

This recipe was kind of made on a whim, so there are no exact measurements. Use enough ingredients to cover your chicken. The sour cream traps in all the moisture, leaving you with a plump and juicy meal to eat. I served it with rice, but it'd also go great with pasta. Super easy, super fast.

• chicken breasts
• italian seasoning
• pepper
• salt
• sour cream
• bread crumbs
• shredded parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Put your chicken breasts on top. Sprinkle the italian seasoning, pepper, and salt on top.
3. Slather each piece generously with sour cream.
4. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top of the sour cream.
5. Put parmesan cheese on top.
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

$100 Olive Garden Gift Card Giveaway & Review

I ventured out to Olive Garden to try their new $12.95 dinner special a couple of days ago. I say the word "venture" because the closest Olive Garden to me is 20 miles away.

When we got there we noticed people were overflowing outside of the main entrance, and the parking lot was completely full. The estimated wait time for us was an hour and a half. As incredibly crowded as it was, the hostess greeted us with a smile and let us know that we were welcome to sit in the bar area for a full-service menu since it was on a first come first served basis (meaning we wouldn't have to wait as long for a table if we didn't mind sitting at the bar). We gladly took a table in the bar area within a matter of seconds.

As I looked around, I saw families and people of all ages dining together. Friends were meeting up for drinks, kids were laughing while running around one another, and grandparents sat patiently waiting for a table. The bartender quickly approached us and was happy to serve us even though we weren't planning on ordering any alcoholic beverages. I ordered the 3 Course Italian Dinner for $12.95 with the garden fresh salad, Creamy Parmesan Portobello Mushroom Fettuccine, and Dark Chocolate Cake for dessert--not to mention the never-ending breadsticks that come with your meal.





They have quite an extensive menu, so check out Olivegarden.com to check it out and find a restaurant near you.



My salad was enough for two and my entree was delicious and filling; I even had enough leftover to eat for lunch the next day! The waitress packed my leftovers in a microwavable container and put extra breadsticks to-go in an oven-heating bag. How easy can they make my life?



For dessert, the bartender gave me both the chocolate cake and strawberry cream cake for to try, even though I ordered just one. Now THAT'S what I call great service! The smaller portion was perfect after a huge meal.





Overall, the dinner special has plenty of options to choose from-whether you want soup or a salad, vegetables or meat, and chocolate or vanilla. It can be accommodated to everyone's tastes. Want to see all the delicious options available with Olive Garden's 3 Course Italian Dinner? Just visit Olivegarden.com/specials.

Not only is your meal customizable, but it's affordable as well. At most other restaurants, the entree alone would cost you around $15. At Olive Garden, you get an appetizer, main meal, AND dessert for less!
Now, it's your turn to go out and try Olive Garden's $12.95 3 Course Italian Dinner special, it's going on through 3/18! I'm going to be giving a $100 Olive Garden gift card to one lucky reader, courtesy of Olive Garden and BlogHer. To be entered for a chance to win, just leave me a comment telling me if you prefer the entree or the dessert!

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
This sweepstakes runs from 2/21/12 - 3/18/12.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment (see question above in bold)
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.

Also, visit the Olive Garden page on BlogHer.com to check out the other blogger reviews and more chances to win!

Thin Mint Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

I was sent some chocolate from Chuao Chocolatier and gladly used them to make these cookies.







Why have I never used chocolate discs before? They're so much better than chocolate chips.







I was walking to dinner the other day and a little girl standing across the street from me yelled, "GIRL SCOUT COOKIESSS!" at the top of her lungs. Bless her heart. If she hadn't yelled so loud, I wouldn't be eating a Samoa right now. Girl scout cookie season really does creep up on you in the best possible way. Too bad it doesn't last forever.

As if having a girl scout cookie in my hand wasn't good enough, I had to bake them into another cookie. Soft chocolate-y dough on the outside with a crunchy minty center. Yup, just like the one time I made Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies. Cookies in cookies are pretty much the greatest concoction ever. Don't believe me? Try for yourself.

Recipe from Visions of Sugar Plum, which makes approximately 32 cookies.

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened 
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted (I used discs, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand)
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/3cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder 
• 2 cups all purpose flour 
• 32 thin chocolate mint cookies 

1. Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in melted chocolate, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined. 
2. Gradually mix in the cocoa powder and flour until just combined. Chill dough in refrigerator for at least an hour. 
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
4. Take about 2 teaspoons of the cookie dough and flatten in the palm of your hand. Place the mint cookie on top of the flattened dough. Flatten another piece of the dough and place it on top of the mint cookie. Fold and pinch together the sides so that the cookie is completely covered, making an even layer of cookie dough around the thin mint. Repeat process with remaining cookies. 
5. Place on cookie sheets, spacing about an inch apart. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until set, and slightly crisp. Cool 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. 

**NOTE: It doesn't have to be Girl Scout Season for you to make these cookies. Keebler makes a version that can be bought year round at your local grocery store called "Grasshoppers."

Still in need of more chocolate? Chuao Chocolatier also sent me these chocopods. They're the perfect bite sized dessert on the go.





These have caramelized honeycomb pieces in dark chocolate. They have a ton of different flavors, including firecracker (dark chocolate with chipotle, salt, and popping candy), coffee & anise, and leche. YUM!

Overnight Yeasted Waffles

You think those look good? Wait til you see how I served them...





See the little specks of cinnamon?



You guys... I did it. I gave in and bought a waffle maker. With the limited space in my kitchen and the abundance of appliances I already have, I couldn't hold out any longer. You see, one of the hotels we stay at during our layovers gives us a free hot breakfast-- waffles included. After eating their waffles twice a week, I got a little greedy and decided that I needed to have fresh waffles at home.

Half an hour of research and two day prime shipping later, this beauty arrived at my door:

I love it because it can stand upright, saving counter space and making it easy to put away. What's even better is that I don't even have to grease the surface prior to pouring in the batter. The waffles just pop out on their own, no residue left behind. I got it from Amazon and you can find it here: Proctor-Silex 26500Y Durable Belgian Waffle Baker. No, this isn't an ad.. this is just a girl expressing her love for an appliance that makes her life so darn easy.

My first recipe that I chose to try out was this one from Erin's Food Files. I have a Costco sized pack of yeast and I figured it was about time to open it up and get over my fear of those little creatures. Man, does yeast make the batter smell. The results were great, but the smell of the yeast was a bit overpowering for me. Oh well, that just means I get to experiment more with different waffle recipes!

P.S. This recipe is awesome for guests because you make it the night before and store it in the fridge until you're ready to use the next morning. I got 5 waffles from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 tablespoons sugar 
• 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 2 eggs 
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil 
• 1 3/4 cups milk 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 

Directions:

1. Mix together the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Beat in the milk, eggs, oil, and vanilla until thoroughly combined. 
2. Cover the batter loosely with plastic wrap and chill overnight or up to 24 hours. 
3. Make sure you give the batter a quick stir before using the next morning. 
4. Pour about 3/4 cup batter onto waffle iron and close lid quickly; do not open until done. When done, use a fork to help life the waffle out cleanly. Repeat until the batter is finished.

Sangria

First of all, let me just say that I am not a drinker. As a matter of fact, I've only finished one drink in my lifetime and felt extremely sick afterward (actually, it was probably because I had bad fish right before). Since then, I only take sips every now and then of my DB's drink. Liquor is just not my thing. It tastes bad, doesn't make me feel good, and it's just a ton of empty calories. I say, save the calories for a red velvet cupcake!

The three drinks that I will make an exception for are Japanese beer, champagne sherbet ice cream floats, and my DB's grandma's sangria. When I first moved up to Berkeley, I had a craving for sangria so I decided to give it a go.

Although this one was good, it wasn't my DB's grandma's. I added more fruit and backed down on the liquor, but the recipe is mainly from AllRecipes.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup brandy 
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup frozen lemonade concentrate
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 (750 milliliter) bottle dry red wine 
• 1/4 cup triple sec 
• 1 lemon, sliced into rounds 
• 1 orange, sliced into rounds 
• 1 lime, sliced into rounds
• 1 apple, diced
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 cups carbonated water

Directions

1. In a large pitcher or bowl, mix together the brandy, lemon juice, lemonade concentrate, orange juice, red wine, triple sec, and sugar. Float slices of lemon, orange and lime in the mixture. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor. For a fizzy sangria, add club soda just before serving.

Red Velvet Rice Crispy Treats

Hi friends! Here's something red for the Valentine's day coming up. It's something really easy for those tight on time. It's also something that won't break the piggy bank, but it's a nice and thoughtful gift for the ones you care about.

The red velvet flavor wasn't very strong with 1/2 cup of mix, so I added a bit more to take it up a notch. You could also add heart sprinkles on the top when you're done to make it even more lovey-dovey, but I'm good with just the redness of the rice crispies.

Happy Valentine's Day!

• 1 (10.5 oz) bag of mini marshmallows
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup red velvet cake mix
• 6 cups rice crispies cereal
• sprinkles for topping (optional for that extra pizazz!-- which I didn't add because these babies were just for me)

1. Melt butter and mini marshmallows over low heat. When the marshmallows are completely melted, mix in the vanilla and red velvet cake mix.
2. Remove from heat and carefully stir in the rice crispies until evenly coated.
3. Pour the batter into a lined or greased 13"x9" pan and press down.
4. Wait until cooled and cut to serve.

Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup

Man, I can't believe it's already February. I feel like these months are going faster and faster as we move on. Shoot... that means Valentine's Day is coming up soon. Anyone have any ideas for what to do for my DB? Don't worry-- he's too busy reading law school books to read my blog, so he'll never know! :) We're not really big on Valentine's Day, so no need for extravagance.

Here's another crockpot recipe to add to your list. It's filled with protein to keep your stomach happy and extremely easy to make. I mean, aren't all crockpot recipes extremely easy to make? Next time, I'd add a squeeze of lime into my bowl to top it off. From Crockpot 365.

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken (I used frozen breast tenderloins)
• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 jar prepared salsa (16 oz)
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 cup sour cream (to stir in at the end)
• shredded cheddar cheese, avocado slices, cilantro (all optional)

Directions

1. Add the black beans to the crockpot. Put the chicken on top, then add the broth and salsa. Pour in the corn and mushrooms, and add the cumin. Stir, but don't disturb the beans-- let them stay at the bottom of the pot.
2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
3. If you'd like to thicken the broth, you can use your immersible blender (I love that thing) to blend a bit of the beans and chicken. If you don't have one, scoop out 2 cups of the soup and carefully blend in your traditional blender. Stir the mixture back into the crockpot.
4. Stir in the 1/2 cup of sour cream before serving, and garnish with shredded cheese, avocado slices. and cilantro, if using.