I love to cook!

Usually if I am to distracted or not really in the mood to write, my next favorite thing to do is cook! I use my glass baking dishes for pretty much everything. For me they are easier to soak and clean than worrying about the "non-stick" wearing off. That and I can use either a sharp knife or hard spatula in it without the surface scratching. I'm including a few pictures here. One of a chicken bake which is pretty easy. You can either buy it as a kit or make it yourself. The bottom layer I use instant mashed potatoes. The second layer I have fully cooked chicken chopped into pieces mixed in with a white gravy. Than I put a garlic buttery biscuit on the top. It might not look fancy but it tastes great. If you want to dress it up try using parsley if you are handing out individual dishes or cover the top after baking with dried tomatoes or friend tomatoes and spread them out. Here is a quick recipe for friend tomatoes.

2 tbs dried basil
1/2 tbs dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp white pepper
5 tsp olive oil
2 Roma tomatoes cut in half
2 tbs olive oil

Mix all the ingredients except for the 2 tbs olive oil. The rest mix together and spread on the cut side of the tomato. Than put the 2tbs in the pan and heat. Place the cut side of the tomato down and cook in pan for about 5 minutes. Any longer and it will get mushy. You can always cut the tomato into smaller slices and spread the paste on both sides and book for 3 minutes because they are smaller pieces and spread out further on the dish. The picture I'm sharing does not have them in it. My kids are not vegetable eaters. I usually blend the veggies into sauce so they don't notice them.

This second one is a chocolate brownie. Instead of using frosting we put no sugar chocolate pudding on top and it tasted great! Most items I use are Pillsbury or Betty Crocker.