Corny Chicken Bake

Ingredients
2 boxes of cornbread stuffing mix
2 14.75oz of creamed corn
2 celery rib, chopped
4-6 chicken breasts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 tbsp of mustard (I used Gulden's Spicy Brown)

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 400*
In large bowl, combine stuffing, corn & celery
Spoon into greased 9x13 dish
Top with chicken breasts
Wisk together brown sugar, butter & mustard. Drizzle over chicken
Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes

Dressed Chicken Breasts With Angel Hair Pasta

Ingredients
1 cup ranch dressing
1/3 cup spicy brown dijon mustard
4 chicken breasts, either pounded thin or cheat & use the "scallopini" cut :)
1/2 cup butter or margarine (I usually end up using a little more)
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 box of angel hair pasta, cooked & drained

Directions
In small bow, whisk together salad dressing and mustard; set aside
In large skillet, saute chicken in butter until browned; transfer to dish & keep warm
Pour wine into skillet and cook over medium-high heat, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan (about 5 minutes)
Whisk dressing mixture into skillet with wine and blend well
Server chicken with sauce over pasta

****NOTES****
This is a HUGE hit in my house. Pre-kiddo's, this dish was reserved for special occasions, special gifts and wow-ing new friends and in-laws :)
We have given the boys the version with the wine, but if you want you can reserve some dressing/mustard sauce and put it over the chicken and pasta
There is always extra sauce left over and we have yet to find something it DOESN'T go well on :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients
1 stick butter
1 jar Peanut Butter (I use Skippy's Reduced Fat Creamy)
Confectioners Sugar
2 containers of Baker's Dipping Chocolate

Directions
In medium sauce pan, melt the butter
Add the peanut butter (yes, the entire jar!) until the two meld together into liquified peanut butter
Add confectioners sugar until consistency is solid enough to roll a "ball" in the palm of your hands(yes, your hands will get dirty and sticky and creamy...from peanut butter...how bad can it be!?!?)
Set aside these "balls" on a wax paper covered cookie sheet and then refrigerate for at least one night
Melt dipping chocolate according to package's directions
Dip balls into chocolate until covered and return to wax papered cookie sheet
Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight and have a happy chocolate rush for breakfast.

**NOTES**
I do not recommend using chocolate morsels/chips for melting or semi-sweet anything. Milk Chocolate all the way!!

This recipe will yield: 50-80 balls, depending what size "balls" you like (go ahead, insert 8th grade humor here)

When stirring the peanut butter and sugar, be sure to rest the wrist. Child labor is great to use at this point (or if you are alone, a KitchenAid mixer)

You can add liquor--kahlua or chambord-- to the mix (you wont even taste the alcohol). When people ask for the recipe it just makes it sound more grown up :)

This is not an exact measurement recipe. Somewhat vague, but once you get the right consistency, things will go from there. Lots of trial and error: In my years of tweaking this recipe, I have yet to meet a version I didn't like.

Homemade Butter

Have you ever wanted to make butter? Well, here's your chance. It's surprisingly easy and while not exactly quick, is far quicker than I originally feared. Without further ado, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Heavy Cream
Salt (optional)
Minced Garlic (optional)
Fresh Rosemary (optional)
Fresh Parsley (optional)
Fresh Chives (optional)
Or, whatever mix ins you'd like...or no mix ins at all.

Directions:

Find a small wide-mouthed container with a tight fitting top. We used an old Avent bottle with a non-nipple top. I've heard the glass stage 3 baby food jars would be a good size as well if you still have some sitting around.

Fill the container about half full of heavy cream.

Shake. Then shake some more. Then keep shaking. It takes a while. We just kept passing the bottle around and giving it a shake. Nothing happens for a little while. Then, it starts to turn into whipped cream. Then, after it's been whipped cream for a while and you keep shaking, it suddenly "breaks". The butter solidifies and the excess liquid (buttermilk) all comes out. It takes about 10 minutes or so total.

Pour off the buttermilk, and now you have butter! You can eat it straight, or mix in whatever you'd like. We tend to do lots of herbs from the garden, but you could also mix in some cinnamon and sugar and use it to make cinnamon toast, or just a little salt to make it slightly salted. I put the minced herbs in a little bowl, and then let the kids sprinkle them into the butter and stir it all up.

As you stir in the mix-ins, more excess liquid will come out...just pour it out.

Eat the butter! You can store it for a day or two in the fridge. We never make enough that this is really an issue, though.