You are in for a treat today! Chicken and Dumplings is such a family favorite around here! Its a real treat and something we often make for special birthday meals. This recipe hails all the back to the 80's. So grab a turtle neck and curl your bangs, and lets get to it! 

Ingredients: 

1 Roast Chicken
1 pkg cream cheese (room temperature) 
2 pkgs pillsbury crescent roll dough
1 cup butter (room temperature) 
1 cup pepperidge farm herbed season bread crumb stuffing
1 cup crushed walnuts 

The night before prep:The stock is the part that makes a good dumpling a delicious one.  Rinse you chicken under cool running water.  Put in a large stock pot and cover with water.  Add salt, peppercorns, onion, carrots, celery, bay leaf, thyme, sage and whatever else you have. Bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is cooked.  One way I tell if it is cooked, is if I can pull the leg off the chicken.  Remove your chicken from the liquid and refrigerate both separately over night. 

The next day all the fat will have risen to the top of your liquid, skim that off. You will use this liquid to create a gravy. Drain the stock of all veggies.To make the gravy, take a couple of cups of stock and add 2 chicken bullion cubes.  Mix about 2 tbs. of cornstarch with a bit of water add to stock, stirring well, and bring to a boil.  You can make it as thick or as thin depending on the amount of cornstarch

Remove the chicken from the carcass (debone it) and shred. Mix the chicken with the 1 cube of butter and cream cheese. 

Take the crescent roll dough out and pat out each triangle to make it a little larger. Place spoonful of the chicken mixture in the middle of the dough and fold the sides over so the mixture is completely covered by the dough. 

Melt your other cube of butter in a bowl. Pat your chicken rolls flat then dip in the butter. Then dip in the breadcrumbs and walnuts and place them all on a cookie sheet. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve over rice and top with the gravy you have made from your chicken drippings. 

This is seriously such a wonderful family favorite of ours. Its something you'll be certain to love as well. 

If there is one thing you don't see a lot on the lavender apple farm, its peanut butter. Peggy is just not a huge fan. But when it came to dedicating a week to the simplest recipes we can think of, our week would not be complete without a no bake cookie recipe. I know when I have a cookie craving, it can often come late and night. I don't really feel like turning on the oven and waiting around while I get my butter to room temperature, chill my dough, and bake several batches of cookies. No Bake Cookies are the perfect solution for that. These are a great "one pot" treat and are ready in minutes. This particular recipe has a great depth of flavor from the dark chocolate pieces, and a nice salty bite from the peanut butter. It's also got a great chewy texture from the oats. You will love it. 

Make sure you set out a large sheet of wax paper because you will want that ready once your ingredients are combined. 

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons dutch processed cocoa powder
1 cup white sugar
3 pieces dark chocolate melting wafers (or you can use any dark chocolate you have on hand)
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla 
1/4 tsp salt
4-5 cups of oats depending on your chocolate to oat preference 

Melt your stick of butter. I LOVE the taste of brown butter in this recipe, so if you feel ambitious, you can let your butter heat up until brown pieces begin to form and it turns a deep golden color. If you are in a hurry, you can just melt it quickly. Then add your milk slowly so you don't scald it. Mix in your cocoa powder and sugar. Bring all of this goodness to a boil for about 1 minute, make sure you stir it the entire time so nothing burns. Reduce the heat to low. Then add in your dark chocolate pieces, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt. Stir until everything is combined. Remove from the heat and add your oats. I would start with 4 cups and keep adding until it looks like everything is coated well and there is no extra chocolate on the bottom of the pan. Then drizzle your wax paper with clumps of the oat mixture. Wait until they cool and you (and the cookies) are all set!

We have so many new readers on here each week, that I thought it was high time for us to re-feature one of Peggy's most popular blog posts of all time. She is the lavender magician, so of course all of her recipes will feature the Lavender Apple's wonder lavender products. This one features our fresh lavender buds. Have you ever tried cooking with them? Not only do they add a unique flavor, but they are so beautiful as well! You can get your own here if you are interested in testing them out in your own kitchen. 

Ok, now back to the recipe. This is a great biscotti recipe, not too hard and not too soft.....just right.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 teaspoons anise (or orange) extract
1 teaspoon dried lavender buds
2 + 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Start off by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

Grind the lavender in a grinder or a mortar. Melt the butter in a medium bowl, add eggs, sugar, extracts and lavender, mix well using a large fork. Then add flour and baking powder, mix, add almonds, mix well. Place the clumpy dough on a buttered cookie sheet, in a form of a flat oblong (I use one of those cooking mats).


Bake 20 minutes or until the edges turn golden. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the cookie sheet, slice with a serrated knife into 3/4 inch thick slices. Place the cut side down on the same cookie sheet (no need to butter the cookie sheet again) and bake for 15 minutes longer. Turn over and bake another 5 minutes. Remove from oven, cool and store in an airtight jar. Serve with your favorite beverage.

As a mother, when its suddenly dinner time, and you've spent your day chasing a toddler, making dinner can sneak up on you. Easy, simple, go to healthy recipes are a must. This meal makes it to our dinner table regularly. It's simple, satisfying, and good for you. Butter, lemon, and dill go better together than peanut butter and jelly in my opinion. You really can't mess this up. 

Ingredients: 
2 fresh salmon filets
1 lemon
2 springs of dill 
1 tablespoon butter
Salt & Pepper 

What you will do is thaw your fish if it's frozen according to the package instructions. Take your raw fish and place it on some tin foil. You want enough foil around the fish that you can tent it while it cooks. Salt and Pepper your fish. Then take your butter and slice it into thin little squares. Slice your lemon, place the lemon on top of the fish, place your butter on top of the lemon, place your dill on top of that. Tent your fish and then cook it in your oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. So simple! 

The fish will be fall apart tender, with a lovely sweet butterly flavor. It won't taste fishy at all, just wonderful savory omega 3 goodness. My husband says he can just feel his brain getting smarter when we eat this. Hopefully you can too. 

Enjoy!