What's This? Tomatoes? You know I hate tomatoes!

A little bit of updating:

My husband hates tomatoes. He will literally gag when I ask him to eat just a bite of one. However, I LOVE tomatoes. So I was really surprised when he loved this dish. So to make fun of my husband I have instituted a tomato gag rating for any tomato dish I make that he tries. The rating is as follows:

1=picking 2 to 4 small pieces of tomato out of the dish and pushing them aside

5=coughing/mild gagging throughout the meal, and several rude comments about the amount of tomatoes in the dish

10=flat out retching

Tomato gag rating : 1

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg (6oz) Stove Top stuffing (I used the whole wheat kind)

1/2 c water

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 +1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

1 tsp. dried basil leaves

1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 4oo degrees F. Mix tomatoes, stuffing mix, water and garlic just until stuffing mix is moistened.

Layer chicken, basil, cheese and stuffing in 13x9 inch or 3 quart baking dish.

Bake 30 min or until chicken is cooked through.

I am so glad to be back to cooking. We have been very busy lately with work and then going out of town for the Labor Day holiday. We went to my parents house in TN for a small family reunion and had a wonderful time. We even got to spend a little time in Chattanooga and had a wonderful dinner after walking around the art district and over the bridge. We went to The Back Inn where I had a fierce Key Lime martini. Here we are posing with these cute sculptures in front of the art museum right by the river.

But now that we are back it is time to go back to cooking. Husband has been asking for cookies for awhile so I decided to give in and make some. I had been eyeing this recipe for awhile now ...so it was time to get Betty out (my Kitchen Aid mixer) and get to baking!!! I don't know if this dessert is all over, or if it is more of a regional dish in the Midwest. I had never heard of the cake until we came to St.Louis. But it is a spin off of the ever popular Gooey Butter Cake.

Gooey Butter Cookies

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese (i used fat free)

1/2c butter, softened

1 pkg (1 layer size) yellow cake mix

1 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. In a large mixing bowl cream together cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add cake mix, egg, and vanilla. Stir together. Cover and chill for 20 to 30 minutes.

Roll 1 tablespoon of the dough into a ball or use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion dough. Roll balls in powered sugar to coat. Place on greased cookie sheets

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheet, cool on wire rack.

The dough is sticky, and a little difficult to work with, but overall VERY good. Husband's comments: "This is my new favorite cookie! It has replaced Snicker doodles"!