Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

I really like biscuits.  The buttermilk kind. The light and fluffy melt in your mouth kind.  But sometimes I just feel like biscuits can be a bit of work. So as my soup was simmering this afternoon and making my house smell delicious, I went in search of an easy buttermilk drop biscuit and boy, oh boy did I find one! They are easy, super light and fluffy and so stinkin' good!  I found them on this website.

Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

(8 big ones)

2 cups flour
1 T baking powder
2 t sugar
1/2 t cream of tarter
1/4 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 cup butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1 1/4 c buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450.  Lightly butter one large or two small cast iron pans or cookie sheet. Whisk together the dry ingredients, breaking up any clumps.  Add the chilled butter and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the buttermilk and stir with a fork just until everything is blended and a soft, sticky, blobbish dough forms.

Drop blobs of dough into the prepared pan leaving one to two inches apart. Bake at 450 for about 20 minutes or until the the tops are browned and the biscuits are cooked through.  I brushed the tops with melted butter as soon as they came out of the oven.

Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

If I had to pick just one dessert to eat for the rest of my life I would pick cookies.  I crave them daily, I dream about them at night, and I can honestly say they complete me...ok, that is really dramatic and a little over done, but I do LOVE them!  I have seen this recipe floating around a lot lately and I kind of always brushed it off, I am not sure why, especially not that I have made them!  They are completely worthy of my love!  I don't really know where this recipe originally came from but I found it here... mine is slightly altered.

Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

(about 2 dozen)

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

3.4 oz package instant vanilla pudding

2 eggs

1 1/2 t vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

1 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

2 cups chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet and milk)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together butter and sugars until creamy.  Add the pudding, eggs and vanilla and mix again.  Add the baking soda and salt and mix one more time.  Add the flour (this is where I use my hand mixer).  I start with 2 cups and add the last 1/4 cup if it needs it. Lastly add the chocolate chips and mix.  Drop by the tablespoonful full and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.  Let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack.

Chicken Florentine Pasta

It is about time, right?!!! I have been SOOO off the grid lately.  Call it moving across the country, call it summer vacation, call it laziness, call it whatever you want but I think it is high time I get a new post on here. If for no other reason than to NOT have to look at the cinnamon sticks any more!

I have been so NOT in the mood to cook lately, so I am forcing myself to come back slow and easy.  And that is exactly what this recipe is, well the easy part anyway!  I found it over at Picky Palate. My whole family loved it and the leftovers were great too!  I may have changed the recipe slightly...

Chicken Florentine Pasta
(8 servings)

2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove of garlic minced
4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breasts
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
salt to taste
2 cups Philadelphia Cooking Creme (found in the cream cheese section at the grocery store)  I used reduced fat Italian flavored, yum!
1 pound pasta, I used bowtie pasta, cooked al dente
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 in pan with cooking spray.   Place the oil in a large pot and when it has heated up add onion and cook until soft.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Stir in the spinach leaves and stir until wilted.  Add the cooked and shredded chicken and pepper and cook until heated through.  Add the cooking creme and mix well. Lastly, add the cooked pasta until combined. Salt to taste,  I didn't add any.  Transfer this mixture to the baking dish and top with shredded cheese.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese is melted.  Serve with salad and breadsticks.