This was my attempt to be very sneaky and get Sweet Pea to consume her loathed veggies. It worked... sort of. She had a full square right out of the oven. Cheap and some of my gal pals really enjoyed them as well, so they were a success all the way around. These are great for brunches, showers, or afternoon snacks.

Ingredients:
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1 10oz package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup flour
1 tea salt
1 tea baking powder
1/2 tea garlic powder
1 onion, diced and sautéed, or 1/2 tea onion powder (to make it easier)
2 Tbs butter, melted
1 8oz package shredded sharp cheddar, or about two cups

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F

Reserve about 1/2 cup sharp cheddar then mix all the remaining ingredients together. Seems simple, I know.

Dump mixture into a greased baking dish (8x8 would be a good size) and top with the remaining half cup of cheddar

Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden on top. Enjoy!

What a sunny meal. I use a similar recipe to the one in my "Joy of Cooking" cookbook so Cheap called this "The Joy of Eating". Besides the fact that I love this classic dish, I made it because capers are so cheap in the UK. My US grocer carries capers for $6 per crazy-tiny-bottle...eek! That's more than the cost of the chicken! When I make this in the States and can't find a good deal on capers, I finely chop some green olives and pocket the extra cash. I know it's not a direct switch, but it works. I'm not exactly sure what Piccata means, but I hope it's along the lines of awesome flavor in the mouth.

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper
For sauce:
1 cup chicken stock
2 Tbs butter
2-3 Tbs lemon juice (depending how lemony you like it)
2 Tbs capers (or diced green olives if capers are too $$$)

Directions:
Take thawed chicken breasts and cut the chicken crosswise and butterfly them open(I'm horrible at this because our provided knives are dull- I have Cheap do it. Sometimes I use a mallet to tenderize as well)

Salt and pepper the chicken

Put flour on a plate and cover the chicken in the flour so all the raw bits are covered

In a skillet large enough for all your chicken, pour 1-2 Tbs olive oil so that the bottom of the pan is lightly coated. Place flour-covered chicken into the skillet and cook on med-high on one side until flour is looking gold and crusty. Then flip.

When chicken is pretty much cooked through, add chicken stock, lemon juice, capers, and butter to the pan. Let sauce simmer until it reduces by almost half- about 3 min.

Plate the Piccata up and pour the extra sauce over. Mmmmmm!


I served it with Incredibly Easy Roast Potatoes and steamed green beans.