My New Favorite Meal

And, no, it's not cookies and bread. ;)

Yesterday would have been a great day for having company..... IF I would have known ahead of time that I would be so energetic and motivated. :)

I've been getting up earlier lately because of these awesome supplements I'm taking now, and when I'm awake, I'm wide awake. It's nice for a change. My house is fairly clean even though it's all torn apart, and I want to try new things for dinner rather than making the same old seven stand-ins in perpetuity.

It also helped, I think, that Josh took me out on a date on Thursday night. That always renews my outlook. :)

So, I made Pioneer Woman's Creamy Herbed Potatoes, my favorite easiest Baked Chicken ever, Amy's French Bread, and my Grandma Marge's secret recipe cookies for dessert. Boy did that meal get rave reviews! It was so good that there weren't even leftovers, and I was really counting on having some for lunch today. I'm surprised we didn't eat ourselves sick. :)

My Baked Chicken recipe is really close to one Christa posted not too long ago.

1 whole chicken, cut up
5 pats butter
Famous Dave's Rib Rub seasoning (salt and pepper to taste works well, too)
Pepper Jack cheese (either sliced or grated)
half a can of French fried onions

Place the chicken in a buttered baking dish skin side up. Place pats of butter under the skin (the skin is where all the flavor lurks), and lightly sprinkle with seasoning. Bake at 350 for at least one hour. This (and cooking the chicken on the bone) makes the chicken so tender. When it's done, remove the skin from the chicken and discard. Sprinkle cheese and French Fried onions on top. Return pan back to the oven for about five minutes or until cheese is nicely melted. Let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Amy's Easy French Bread

2 Tbsp. yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 2/3 to 3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt

Mix yeast, water, salt and half of flour. Let stand 5 minutes. Slowly add remaining flour; knead approximately 10 min or until smooth. Cover and let rise until double. Roll dough (on a cookie sheet) into 12"x4" rectangle and let rise until double. Make 3 diagonal slashes on top. Brush with water. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes.

And just because I'm in such a good mood from getting plenty of rest....and losing almost six inches around my waist from wrapping last night in spite of eating way too much for dinner... I'll share my Grandma's secret Chocolate Chip cookie recipe with you ~ you can thank me after you've tried them. :)

2 sticks of butter, softened
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3/4 cup of white sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs, at room temp.
2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. orange juice (not concentrate)
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
chopped nuts (optional)

Cream butter and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs, mixing well after adding the eggs. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt, then add to butter mixture. Mix in orange juice, chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by spoonfuls on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until cookies are golden.

I hope that's right. I do this recipe entirely from memory. My grandma died about ten years ago of bone marrow cancer, and one of my last memories of her was watching her bake these cookies, especially for me, when I dropped by her house unexpectedly one day. She was still relatively healthy at that time. I will always cherish that memory, and eating these cookies brings tears to my eyes. Every time.

Enjoy! :)