The Easiest Tomato-Basil Chicken

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can Tomato Soup
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 cups hot cooked medium tube-shaped pasta, or whatever you have.
• Heat oil in skillet. Add chicken and cook until browned. Add soup, milk, cheese, basil and garlic. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 5 min. or until done. Serve with pasta.

The Best Ever Lemon Bars--I mean Ever

Crust

2 cups (8.5 ounces) flour

2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled butter, cubed

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl by hand, mix together the flour, powdered sugar and butter until they come together to form a dough.

2. Press the dough into a greased 9-inch-by-13-inch baking dish. Bake the crust until golden-brown, about 20 minutes. Remove and cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees to bake the bars.

Filling and final assembly

8 eggs

3 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups lemon juice (from 12 to 13 lemons)

1/2 cup (2.1 ounces) flour

Prepared crust

Powdered sugar for dusting

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and flour. Pour the filling into the prepared crust.

2. Place the dish in the center of the oven and bake at 300 degrees until the custard is set, about 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature, then dust with a light coating of powdered sugar before serving.

Aunt Julie's Chicken, Broccoli Casserole

Spray a 9x13 with cooking spray. The first layer is cooked chicken cut up, then steamed broccoli, onion flakes, shredded cheese then the soup mixture. Sprinkle cooked stuffing on the top and bake for 30 min. at 350.

Soup mixture:

2 cans cream of chicken soup

3/4 c. sour cream (I use plain yogurt to reduce fat)

1 T. lemon juice

Lemon Meringue Pie

1 1/2 c. sugar

3 T. flour

3 T. cornstarch

3 eggs

2 T. butter

2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel

1/3 c. lemon juice

Baked Pastry Shell

Meringue (recipe is at the end)

For filling, in a medium saucepan combine sugar, flour, cornstarch, and a dash of salt. Gradually stir in 1 1/2 cups water. Cook and stir over medium-high heat till thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.

Separate egg yolks from whites; set whites aside for meringue. Beat egg yolks slightly. Gradually stir one cup of the hot filling into yolks; return all to saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and lemon peel. Gradually stir in lemon juice, gently mixing well. Pour hot filling into baked pastry shell. Evenly spread meringue over hot filling; seal to edge. Bake in a 350 oven for 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill to sore.

Meringue:

3 egg whites

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

6 T. sugar

Bring egg whites to room temperature. In a mixing bowl combine egg whites, vanilla and cream of tartar.Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed about one minute or till soft peaks form (tips curl). Gradually add sugar, one tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed about 4 minutes more or till mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks and sugar dissolves. Immediately spread meringue over pie, carefully sealing to edge of pastry to prevent shrinkage. Bake as directed in pie recipe.

Banana Crumb Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, oil and vanilla. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Best Play Dough

1 cup flour

1 T. oil

1 cup water

1/2 c. salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

food coloring

Mix all the ingredients together in a pot. Cook over medium heat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pot and forms a ball. Stir constantly (this will be a work out). Remove from the heat and knead about 10 times until the dough is smooth. Store it in a plastic bag (stays soft for a long time.) This makes a soft, smooth dough that keeps its shape when molded. It will dry out, but not enough to make things like jewelry.

Stacy's French Bread

2 1/2 cups warm water
2 TBS yeast
2 TBS sugar
2 TBS oil
1 TBS salt
6 Cups of flour

Stir first five ingredients and add 3 cups flour until smooth. Add remaining flour. Stir only to moisten flour. Cover and set in warm place for 10 minutes. Punch down mixture. Let dough rise and punch down every 10 minutes for 1 hour.

Divide the dough into two balls. Roll out each ball to a 9x13 rectangle. Roll the rectangle on the long side, pinching the seam together and tucking in the ends. Cut six slits diagonally across the top and brush with egg whites. Let rise for 30 minutes covered. Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. We made this tonight and cut the bread length-wise to make pizza out of it. Yummy! My kids ate it, and that is saying a lot.