Sweet Mustard Chicken Bake

I got this recipe from one of the women on "thenest". It's super easy and really good! I will definitely make this one again.

Ingredients:

• boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 6)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup butter melted
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

• preheat oven to 375

• stir honey, mustard, and butter together and pour over seasoned chicken.

• cover and bake for 45 minutes or until chicken is done
  

Maple Dijon Pork Chops

Yum-O! I got this recipe from my friend Graces blog. I loved it. Jake thought it had too much of a "syrup" flavor. If I had real maple syrup instead of this crappy kind, I think it would have been better.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon butter
• 4 (4-ounce) boneless pork loin chops, trimmed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (I used some sugar free crappy syrup...)
  
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage (I used dried sage)
  
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (I used dried thyme)
  
• 2 teaspoons heavy cream (I used light cream)

Directions:

• Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
  
• Sprinkle pork chops evenly with salt and pepper; add pork to pan.
  
• Cook 4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.
  
• Remove from pan; keep warm.
• Add broth and next 4 ingredients (through thyme) to pan.
  
• Bring to a boil, and cook for 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.
  
• Stir in cream, and reduce heat to medium.
  
• Return pork to pan; simmer 3 minutes or until pork is done, turning once.

**I made this with brown rice. I also doubled the measurements for the gravy so we would have some for the rice.

Mac and Cheese Lorraine

This came from the new Rachael Ray cookbook "Just in Time". I really liked it! Of course I changed some things up and will make note.

Ingredients:

• salt
• 1 lb gemelli pasta (or whatever pasta you want)
• 1/2 lb bacon, chopped
• 1 TBL EVOO
• 2 onions, quartered and thinly sliced (I only used 1 onion and chopped it into tiny pieces)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 TBL butter
• 2 TBL all purpose flour
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 1 c. whole milk (I used skim milk)
• black pepper
• 2 cups shredded Gruyere (I used 1 c. Gruyere and 1 c. cheddar)
• nutmeg, to taste (i skipped the nutmeg)
• 1 rounded TBL dijon mustard

Directions

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water, add pasta and cook al dente. Drain
• Cook the bacon in the EVOO in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. When crisp remove to a paper-towel-lined plate. Drain out all but 2-3 TBL of the fat. Add the onions and cook about 10 minutes, or until they begin to caramelize. Add the wine and cook for another minute.
• While the onions cook, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour (when i did this it just kind of lumped together...) Cook for 1 minute, then whisk in the stock and milk and bring to a bubble. Cook for a few minutes to thicken, then season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cheese, then add the nutmeg, mustard, and salt and pepper.
• Toss the pasta with the onions, then stir in the cheese sauce. Top each serving with some of the crispy bacon.
  

Dijon-Tarragon Chicken

I needed help coming up with what to make for dinner tonight, so I asked my "email clan". Grace sent me this recipe and said she was making it tonight...so I sent it to Jake and he approved. I have never used tarragon before so I wasn't sure what to expect. (ok, I used it once, but it wasn't fresh and I didn't use a lot). Upon opening the package of fresh tarragon, I wasn't sure that I was really going to like this. It had kind of a funky smell. I continued on with it anyway. This dish is really good, however, I don't think I'm a huge fan of tarragon, so maybe I will use dill next time. I am listing the recipe how I did it. I tripled the stuff in the "gravy" because Jake and I like extra to put on our rice or potatoes....or whatever we're having with dinner. So, here ya go!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon butter
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cup light cream
• 3 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• flour (to coat chicken)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt the butter and heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Mix together flour, salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour mixture, and place in the skillet. Brown on both sides. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and continue cooking 15 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear. Set aside and keep warm.
2. Put minced garlic in the pan and sautee a bit. Stir cream into the pan, scraping up brown bits. Mix in mustard and tarragon. Cook and stir 5 minutes, or until thickened. Return chicken to skillet to coat with sauce. Drizzle chicken with remaining sauce to serve.

Tonight I made fresh string beans and brown rice to go with the chicken. The extra sauce went great on the rice.