Lemon Crinkle Cookies

This is not an original recipe. I found this on Pinterest, which came from LDSLiving.com. These cookies were so tasty! They were fresh like summer, but chewy like Christmas! You must try these! Now!


Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar 


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes. 

Lemon Garlic Chicken Pasta

Oh, and did I mention it's creamy? I'm on a creamy kick. Not to mention I was craving anything with lemon and garlic today, so I came up with this little number. It actually only took me under 30 minutes to make and when I figured the cost of making it, was really cheap! It's probably not the healthiest recipe (I justify it by using whole wheat pasta), but it sure was tasty!

• 2 Tbs butter
• 1 chicken breast, pounded to 1/4 inch and cut in half
• salt and pepper to sprinkle and
• flour to dredge (about 4 Tbs?)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup water
• zest and juice from one small lemon
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 Tbs sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 servings angel hair pasta (I used whole wheat thin spaghetti, but think this would taste divine)

In a skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. After you've pounded down the chicken breasts to 1/4 inch and cut it in half (2), sprinkle salt and pepper over chicken and dredge with flour. Add to skillet cooking 3 minutes on each side. When cooked, remove chicken from skillet (leave skillet on) and keep warm. Add minced garlic to skillet and stir for about 30 seconds. Add water (to lift the chicken flavor from skillet) and stir. Add lemon zest and juice, then cream. Add salt to taste and let simmer, stirring constantly, until your desired thickness. Pour sauce over cooked pasta and top with chicken. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over pasta (optional). Serves 2. 

Creamy Tomato and Sausage Pasta

I had some leftover Italian sausage from when I made some stuffed peppers the other night. I whipped together some ingredients from my fridge and pantry, and it turned out pretty awesome.


I'm also going to start tagging meals that I make for just two servings. I've been cooking for two for over 5 years, and still do since my baby still eats very little or something already pre-made (I did blend this up and he loved it).

• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 3 Tbs thinly chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 lb ground Italian pork sausage 
• 1 small zucchini, chopped into chunks
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 Tbs sugar (to lessen acidity)
• 1/2 Tbs dried basil
• salt to taste
• 2 servings whole wheat penne pasta, cooked (or linguine would be good)
• shredded parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat olive oil in a deep skillet on medium-high to high heat. Add minced garlic and diced onions and stir until softened. Add sausage and cook until brown. Add zucchini and cook until tender. Add remaining ingredients (besides pasta) and let simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over pasta and sprinkle cheese over the top. Serves 2.