A crunchy crispy oven fried chicken that starts with a buttermilk, lemon and mustard marinade and is finished with a cornflake, Parmesan herb crusting.

Crispy Oven Fried Buttermilk Chicken

Crispy fried chicken really can be had in the oven y'all, and this recipe was inspired by an oven baked chicken recipe I saw in the May 2009 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. I love using bone-in chicken breasts because the bone really does help to produce a very flavorful piece of chicken, much more than those boneless, skinless chicken breasts. There is no surprise that bone-in is very popular in Weight Watchers recipes.

A steak marinade made with soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, Kitchen Bouquet, liquid smoke, onion, garlic and ginger, perfect for sirloin as pictured above.

Cajun Steak Marinade

I'm generally a pretty simple gal when it comes to steaks.

For the most part, I prefer ribeye above all others and simply sprinkle them with a little Dale's or even just plain ole Worcestershire sauce, or my newest discovery, Country Bob's, bring them to room temperature and then throw them on the outside grill, or even on the George Foreman inside if I'm in a rush.

Sometimes though, other cuts seem to need a little bit of flavor infusion, and this is one of my favorite steak marinades to use.

 

Tri-color rotini pasta is paired with red onion, celery, green and red bell pepper, black olives, chopped tomato and dressed with an Italian dressing.

Tri-Color Italian Rotini Pasta Salad

Here's another pasta salad for the recipe box. The first one I posted was a Creamy Pasta Salad version, and my attempt at duplicating a local restaurant's menu item. This one is made using Italian dressing and no mayonnaise.

It's a little more than just pouring leftover coffee over ice cubes and pouring in milk, but you can make your own cold brewed, iced coffee right at home and it's super easy!

Overnight Cold Pressed Iced Coffee

I used to be a coffee addict. I mean seriously. I literally drank the stuff all day long when I worked in the legal office, and in fact, often only coffee all day long - meaning I often worked through lunch and didn't eat all day. {Bad Mary.} I'm sure that has everything to do with my sluggish metabolism now, so gals ... don't do that!

Eat. Eat breakfast. Eat lunch.

 And you won't be like a ravin' maniac starvin' Marvin' when you get home and evening rolls around.

Ground chicken, dressed up with a mirepoix of veggies and served in a light sauce on pasta.

Chicken Bolognese with Linguine

As soon as I saw this recipe in the February issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, I knew it would be perfect for those chicken tenders in my freezer.

But, since the seasonings in the original recipe consisted basically of salt and pepper, I also knew that I needed to bump them up! I mean this is skinless chicken breast people - not the most flavorful part of the bird, ya know?

Oh, and before I get preached to about the recipe, no... this is not a traditional bolognese sauce. I beg forgiveness of Bologna, Italy, but hey, I didn't name it either!

A nicely seasoned ground beef mix perfect for beef burritos with beans.

Beef and Bean Burritos

I really love a good homemade burrito on occasion and this is a great blend of seasonings.

 

Sweet and spicy meatloaf glaze made with ketchup or chili sauce, spicy mustard, Cajun seasoning and brown sugar, pictured above on my Slow Cooker Meatloaf.

Sweet and Spicy Meatloaf Glaze

This is a great all purpose sweet and spicy glaze that I dearly love on meatloaf, because I don't know about you, but far as I'm concerned a meatloaf just ain't a meatloaf without a glaze slathered on it!

My ole cranky Cajun "thinks" he prefers meatloaf with gravy - and this coming from man who smothers other foods with ketchup! Eh... what does he know?

Give me my sweet and spicy red glaze y'all!

Here's how I make it.

A yummy breakfast casserole that can be put together at the last minute - hash browns, cheese, sausage or ham, onion, bacon, milk, eggs, salt and pepper - what more could you want to start the day?!

Speedy Sausage and Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

I love breakfast casseroles but I hate having to think about building them the night before ... I never think about that the night before!! And besides that, I usually wake up deciding I want a breakfast casserole - I don't usually want it the night before!

While occasionally I will construct a night before dish, this breakfast recipe is my go-to for the most part. It's got everything a good breakfast casserole should have - potatoes, cheese, sausage, bacon and eggs. And you can make it right away!

 

Layers of cream cheese filling, bananas and pudding in a vanilla wafer crust

Layered Banana Cream Pie Dessert

This Layered Banana Cream Pie Dessert starts with a quick baked vanilla wafer and pecan crust {though walnuts would be amazing here too} that is pressed into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Sliced bananas go over that, and then are topped with a bit of plain vanilla pudding, which sort of then seeps into the cracks and crevices between the bananas.

Fried Egg BLT BELT Sandwich

Take your classic BLT sandwich, add a fried egg and you've got some kinda good goin' on there! Great for breakfast, lunch or dinner anytime.

Fried Egg BLT Sandwich

I woke up at the crack of dawn due to a stopped-up allergy head and a husband who was havin' a snore fest {again} - 4:30 a.m. is just too early for a human being I'm tellin' ya!!

Anyway, for breakfast I made me one of those sandwiches up there and knew that, even though it isn't really a recipe per se, well, it was so dang good I just had to share!

Known by some as a BELT sandwich, because it's a BLT with a fried egg, but whatever you call it, it's certainly a favorite of mine. Great with or without cheese.