Chicken and pasta in peanut sauce

INGREDIENTS
8 oz. thin spaghetti
1 bunch broccolini, cut in 2-inch lengths
1 medium red sweet pepper, cut in bite-size strips
1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Salt and ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup bottled peanut sauce
Crushed red pepper (optional, for serving)

DIRECTIONS
1.In Dutch oven cook pasta according to package directions, adding broccolini and sweet pepper during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain. Return to Dutch oven and set aside.
2.Meanwhile, halve chicken breasts horizontally. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In extra large skillet cook chicken in hot oil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes each side, or until no longer pink (170 degrees F).
3.Transfer to a cutting board. Slice chicken; add to pasta and vegetables.
4.Heat through. Add peanut sauce. Pass crushed red pepper.

Notes: I just cooked the spaghetti in a regular sauce pan, and that worked fine. This last time I made this, I used a rotiserrie chicken instead of chicken breast, which I just put in with the peanut sauce. It's delicious both ways.

Overnight French Toast

Yield: 8 main-dish servings (I halved it)
6 large eggs
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper
¼ cup snipped chives, plus additional for garnish
1 loaf (9 ounces) French bread (preferably day-old), cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
6 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded (I couldn't find this cheese, so I used Swiss instead; it was delicious!)

1.Grease shallow 1 ½-quart ceramic baking dish. In medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk, Dijon, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper until well blended. Stir in chives.
2.Arrange half of bread in bottom of prepared baking dish, overlapping slices to fit. Pour half of egg mixture over bread and sprinkle with two-thirds of Gruyère. Cover with remaining bread, overlapping slices. Pour remaining egg mixture over bread; gently press down to help bread absorb egg mixture. Sprinkle with remaining one-third of Gruyère. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3.Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until puffed and golden and tip of knife inserted in center comes out clean, covering top during last 15 minutes if browning too quickly. Let stand 10 minutes to set custard before serving. Sprinkle with snipped chives.

Bread

O.k. some people have been asking for my bread recipe. Well I am too lazy to re-write it. So here is the link. It is so good! Yummy. I make it all the time. Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

SO SO SO Good!!! I make these and my kids and hubby eat them fast. It actually makes quite a few of them and they freeze really well!

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 (16oz.) can pumpkin
1 1/2 cups oil
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 package chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil until smooth. Add in dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin pans 3/4 full. Bake 16-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Makes 24-30 muffins.

Apple Berry Salsa

I'm sorry I don't have a beautiful picture to go along with this recipe, but maybe you can just picture it in your head :) It's a fun one that tastes really good!

2 granny apples, peeled
1 cup strawberries
1 kiwi
1 small orange--just the juice
1 Tb brown sugar
2 Tb apple jelly
flour tortillas
cinnamon sugar

Chop fruit and mix together. Serve with flour tortillas: sprinkle drops of water on flour tortillas and then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over them. Cut into triangle shapes (like tortilla chips). Bake in the oven at 475 degrees for 5-7 minutes or until brown. Dip in salsa!

I'm excited to try the lentil soup recipe! I'm looking for lots of good soup recipes because they're good for you and I love soup. I'm also looking for recipes using more roast beef or pork instead of hamburger. If anyone has anything along those lines, I'd love to try them :)