"Monster" Cookies

My kids love it when I make my basic chocolate chip cookie recipe but instead of just using chocolate chips add other "flavors" of chips like white chocolate and M&M's. When I do these kind of cookies they call them "Monster Cookies" because of all the goodies in them and the fact that I use my large Pampered Chef scoop rather than the small scoop.

Monster Cookies

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (4 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 cups M&Ms
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips, white chocolate, and M&Ms. Stir in nuts, if desired. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets(I use my large Pampered Chef scoop!).

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Grease two 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Notes: I have been known to split the dough in half and do half as a pan cookie/brownie and the other half as individual cookies.  When cooking the larger cookies it will take up to the 11 minutes to get the cookies to the golden brown state.

This post is linked to:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace!
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff!
• This Week's Cravings at Mom's Crazy Cooking

Cheesecake Cookie Cups

The other day after taking my pantry inventory, I found that I had several boxes of cream cheese and a can of sweetened condensed milk that were getting close to their use by dates. I also had some ready to bake cookie dough in my fridge that I needed to use but I didn't just want to make plain ol' cookies.

So I went digging around on some of my favorite baking sites and blogs and I ran across this recipe on Nestle's Very Best Baking website and decided that they would make a excellent treat for the family so I made them today along with a few alterations.

Cheesecake Cookie Cups


1 pkg. (16.5 oz.) Ready to bake chocolate chip cookie dough
2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, room temperature
1 can (14 oz.)sweetened condensed Milk, not evaporated
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling(optional)
or 1/2 bag chocolate chips, melted with 2 tbsp Crisco

Paper-line 24 muffin cups. Place one piece of cookie dough in each muffin cup.

BAKE at 325° for 12 to 15 minutes or until cookie has spread to edge of cup.

BEAT cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, eggs and vanilla extract in medium bowl until smooth. Pour about 3 tablespoons cream cheese mixture over each cookie in cup.

BAKE for additional 18 to 30 minutes or until set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Top each with level tablespoon of pie filling or drizzle melted chocolate chips.

Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Baking Notes: I didn't have any pie filling but I had a 1/2 bag of special dark chocolate chips in my fridge. I poured the chips into a microwaveable bowl and added 2 tbsp Crisco and put the bowl in the microwave for 3 minutes or until the chips are totally melted. Once the chips are melted, I transferred them to a plastic bag and clipped the corner of the bag and drizzled the chocolate on top of the cheesecake cookie cups while they were cooling on the counter.

I am sure that you could make up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough rather than using the ready to bake to dough and just put a 2-3 tbsp. dough in each muffin cup.

This recipe was easy to prepare although I did have to bake them longer than stated in the original recipe.  They will make an easy go to dessert for hubby to take to work or for those planned summertime potlucks!

Enjoy!

This post is linked to:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace!
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff!

Creamy Cheesy Potatoes

This recipe has several different names!  I have heard "hash brown casserole" or "special potatoes" or "cheesy hash browns" or "cheesy potato casserole".  I decided that I would call them "creamy cheesy potatoes".  I have tried "hash brown casserole" recipes before and the family was not too receptive to eating them. So I took the basic special potatoes recipe from Once A Month Mom and adapted it a bit thinking that my family might be more receptive to eating the potato dish. Despite my adapting the recipe more to the family's tastes, it was not well received by all. Personally, I enjoyed them and am looking forward to eating the leftover portion.

Creamy Cheesy Potatoes--adapted from Karen Fetters @onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:
8 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 pounds frozen hash browns
15 ounces (1 can) cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup bacon bits
1 tsp. onion powder
1/4-1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 -1/2 tsp black pepper
8 ounces (2-3 cups) cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place stick of margarine in a 9×13 baking dish and stick in the oven until the margarine is melted. Once melted, pour the potatoes into the dish and mix carefully together.  While waiting for the margarine to melt, mix together in a small bowl the soup, sour cream, bacon bits, spices and milk. Pour over potatoes. Top with Cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

If you want to freeze any of this dish here are the freezing directions:
Place hash browns in a 9×13 baking dish. Melt butter and pour over potatoes, mix. In a small bowl mix together soup, sour cream, and milk. Pour over potatoes. Top with Cheddar cheese. Simply cover with foil and freeze. You could easily make this into two 8×8 baking dishes as well. To serve: Thaw, remove foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. If frozen, bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 2 hours. Servings: 8

This post is linked to: 

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace!
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff!

Chocolate Mousse Torte

Shortly before Christmas, I was alerted by Meijer that they are getting ready to partner with Katie Brown in the spring with a new product line in stores. If you don't know Katie Brown, she is a “lifestyle maven”, current PBS host and Oxygen network alumnus. She has also authored several books focusing on lifestyle and entertaining, and is a syndicated lifestyle columnist as well. She has a motto that I just love and already work to instill in my house and that is "keeping things simple!"

Anyway, Meijer sent me a Katie Brown kit containing one of her recipes, a 10" Anchor Hocking serving cake plate, the non-perishables, a nice big canvas bag and a $10 Meijer gift card to get the rest of the ingredients to do up one of Katie Brown's recipes and I must say that it could not have come at a better time!  I was really struggling to figure out a dessert to have after Christmas dinner that was something simple but yet elegant.  I really didn't want to fix what I call an everyday dessert like chocolate cake or chocolate chip cookies. I wanted something more but didn't take me all day to put together.

The Chocolate Mousse Torte of Katie's in the kit was the answer!! It was easy to assemble, and even though I missed putting the melted chocolate into pudding mixture it didn't ruin the taste or presentation of the dessert.   I liked the fact that several of the needed ingredients are items that I keep in my pantry so I could have made up the dessert without making a special trip to the store.

Chocolate Mousse Torte

37 Nilla Wafers, divided
4 Squares Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
2 Pkg. Jell-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
2 Cups + 2 tbsp. Cold Milk, divided
1 Tub(8oz) Cool Whip Whipping Topping, thawed, divided
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup(6 oz pkg) Raspberries, fresh

1. Stand 16 wafers around inside edge of a 9-inch round pan lined with plastic wrap. Melt 3 chocolate squares as directed on package.

2. Beat pudding mixes and 2 cups milk in medium blow with whisk, 2 minutes. Add melted chocolate; mix well. Stir in 1 cup Cool Whip; pour into prepared pan.

3. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and remaining milk with mixer until well blended. Stir in 1 cup of remaining Cool Whip; spread over pudding. Top with remaining wafers.

4. Refrigerate 3 hours.

5. Invert torte onto plate. Remove pan and plastic wrap. Shave remaining Chocolate Square into curls. Top torte with remaining Cool Whip, berries, and chocolate curls.

Notes: I used a pie pan since I didn't have a springform pan or round pan with straight sides. I think it would be better because I had a hard time keeping the wafers on the side of the pan. However, putting some of the pudding mixture in the bottom of the pan and spreading it to the edges helped to "stand up" the wafers on the side of the pan. I forgot the melted chocolate squares in the pudding mixture, I think it would have been more "airy"/mousse texture and less sloppy and pudding like in consistency.  However, the end result of the torte still tasted yummy.  Instead of refrigerating the dessert for 3 hours, I stuck in the freezer for 1 1/2 hours before inverting the torte on the serving plate. Once inverted on the serving plate, I placed the torte in the fridge until serving time. Most of my family doesn't like raspberries so I probably will omit them the next time I make this torte (esp. if they are $3.49 for 6oz) and just use the chocolate curls for the garnish.

Review: I give this torte a 10 out of 10. It was a simple dessert although it takes a bit of planning ahead to allow for "chilling" of the torte. I had all but 2 ingredients(raspberries, and chocolate squares) in my pantry at the time of making up the dessert. I definitely will be making this torte again for my family.

The other dessert I served with my Christmas dinner this year(that is shown on the picture above) was Tammy's Pumpkin Sheet Cake!(watch for another post on the cake!)




This post is linked to: 

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace!
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
• Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff!
• Fearless Friday at Home Ec 101!

Buttermilk Pancake Mix

Last Friday, I took my parents grocery shopping to help and show them how to save money on their grocery bill. They seem to have forgotten how to savings shop now that most of us are grown and out of the house.  Now that my parents are retired and on a fixed income, it is important to me to help them work with what they have and find ways for them to eat healthy on their income rather than relying on restaurants for their meals.

One item that my Mom was wanting to get from the store was some kind of already made boxed pancake mix. So we went over to aisle to find a box and found that none of them were on sale and I do not cut coupons for those types of things as I make mine from scratch so I didn't have a coupon to share with them either. I also found with doing some quick mental math that I could put together a pancake mix from scratch for cheaper than a box mix!(Just for the record, a 28 oz box of regular Bisquick when not on sale is almost three dollars!!!)

I told my Mom that I would take the time to get out my buttermilk pancake recipe and do up the dry ingredients so that she could have some pancake mix!  She already had eggs, and buttermilk in her fridge so this would help her use those items up as well.

Today, I finally took some time to do up some pancake mix for her.  First I took my recipe and divided it back down to a single batch of pancakes. Then I measured out all the dry ingredients and canola oil and then blended that together with my pastry blender. After I had mix blended well, I measured it to see how much total the dry ingredients were so I knew how much mix was needed for the amount of egg and buttermilk that was called for in the recipe.

Here is the final results that I am going to give to my Mom:

Buttermilk Pancake Mix

1 ¼ cups flour

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

2 tbsp. veggie oil

Mix together with a pastry blender. Store in a sealed container for up to 6 weeks. You can put the mix into the freezer for longer storage.

To make pancakes:

1 ½ cups pancake mix

1 egg

1 ¼ cups buttermilk

Mix together. Cook on griddle until golden brown.

Add-in options:

½ cup frozen blueberries

½-3/4 cup chocolate chips

This post is linked to:

• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
  
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
• Tuesdays at the Table over at All the Small Stuff!

Whole Wheat Yeast Bun Mix

With fall and winter months coming, I have been going through my cookbooks finding the recipes of goodies!  I am wanting to have a good list of items to make to stock my freezer and to have on hand to pull for those holiday parties and get-togethers.


One of my favorite cookbooks is the Homemade is Better Cookbook from Tupperware Home Parties.  When I was growing up, this was one of the cookbooks that my Mom used on a consistent basis. My Grandma had a copy of the same cookbook and since she didn't need it anymore she blessed me with it!  I love the different mixes that are in this cookbook that I can put together and store for 6 weeks or more!

One of the mixes that I am going to start making on a regular basis again is the Whole Wheat Yeast Bun Mix. In the cookbook there is SIX recipes that are printed to use the mix with, however, with a little creativity I am sure that I will be able to use the mix for even more!

Whole Wheat Yeast Bun Mix

8 cups all purpose flour
6 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1 cup shortening that doesn't require refrigeration

In a bowl, stir together flours, dry milk powder, brown sugar and salt. Cut in shortening till mixture resembles course meal. Transfer to bags or sealed containers.  Store up to 6 weeks at room temperature. For longer storage, place in the freezer. To measure, spoon lightly into a measuring cup; level with spatula. Makes 17 cups mix.
Notes: Most of the recipes, call for 2 cups of the mix so I divide the mix into 2 cups and put in quart size ziploc bags and then stick in the freezer ready to pull for use.

Here is three of the recipes using the mix:

Whole Wheat Potato Pancakes

2 large potatoes
1/2 cup whole wheat yeast bun mix
1/2 tsp. salt
2 beaten eggs
2 tbsp. cooking oil

Grate potatoes into a bowl. Sprinkle Bun Mix and salt over potatoes. Gently stir potato shreds until evenly coated. Stir in eggs. Measure 1/3 cup mixture for each pancake. In a large skillet, cook pancakes in hot oil over medium heat about 3 minutes per side or till pancakes are golden brown. Makes 6 pancakes.

Whole Wheat Jam Twists

1 package active dry yeast (2 tsp)
1/3 cup warm water(110°-115°)
1 slightly beaten egg
2 cups whole wheat yeast bun mix
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 tbsp. strawberry or red raspberry preserves
1 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in egg. Add bun mix and beat well. Turn out onto well floured surface. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Use rolling pin to roll to a 14x10 inch rectangle. Carefully spread the peanut butter lengthwise over half the rectangle. Carefully spread jam or preserves  over the peanut butter, cutting up large pieces of fruit, if necessary. Fold dough lengthwise making a 14x5 rectangle; seal edges. Cut dough crosswise into 14-5x1 inch strips. Loosely twist each strip and arrange about 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet. Brush strips with the butter or margarine. Cover and let rise in a warm place till double(30-40 minutes). Bake in 375° oven for 12-15 minutes or till golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Store in a sealed container or ziploc bag.  Makes 14 twists.
Notes: My mom loved using her homemade jams with this recipe. My favorite combination was peanut butter with homemade blueberry jam! Yummy!

Whole Wheat Butterhorns(Crescent Rolls)

2 packages active dry yeast(4 tsp)
1 3/4 cups warm water (110°-115°)
6 cups whole wheat yeast bun mix
6 Tbsp. butter softened
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts(optional)
melted butter

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add bun mix. Mix well. Turn out on a lightly floured surface, kneading to make moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic.(6-8 minutes total). Shape into a ball. Return to a greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover. let rise in warm place till double(about 1 1/2 hours). Punch down; turn out onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 3 equal portions. shape into a ball. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, use rolling pin to roll one ball into a 12 inch circle; spread with 2 tbsp. of the softened butter and sprinkle with 1/3 of the nuts. Cut circle into 12 wedges. To shape rolls, begin at wide end of wedge and roll toward point. Place, point down 2-3 inches apart on greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover rolls; let rise in warm place till nearly double(20-30 minutes) Brush with melted butter. Bake in 400° oven for 10-12 minutes or till done. Remove from baking sheet; cool. Brush again with melted butter, if desired. Makes 36 rolls.
Notes: I skip the nuts on these rolls and make plain warm crescent rolls! Also instead of nuts, I have sprinkled shredded cheddar cheese before rolling up the dough into rolls.


This mix makes good dough for making pizza crust, cinnamon rolls, and sandwich braid bread and much more!  I love the versatility of this mix!

This post is linked to:

• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
  
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!

Peach Crisp

A couple of weeks ago, I had purchased 10 large peaches while they were on sale and things have been so busy around my house that I haven't had time to think much less eat all the fresh peaches before they started going bad. So today I set out to take care of them so that they were used up and not trashed.

One of the things that I made with them was Peach Crisp! Ohhhh sooo yummy and ohhhhhh soooo easy! I made it last year when I had fresh peaches and NOW after sampling it I realized why I was going to adjust the recipe! Fresh peaches produce LOTS and LOTS of juice, which if not contained with flour or cornstarch or something will result in a soupy mess. But I forgot to adjust the recipe so I have LOTS of peach juice in my peach crisp. It doesn't take too much away from the yummy taste if you use a slotted spoon to dish some up in a bowl. Highly recommend using a bowl over a plate!

So you are probably wondering how I made this delectible dessert! I used my apple crisp recipe for inspiration and basically substituted peaches for the apples. Oh and instead of just cinnamon I added some pumpkin pie spice to add just a different flavor than just plain old cinnamon.

Peach Crisp

4-5 cups fresh sliced peaches

pumpkin pie spice

cinnamon

7 Tbsp. cold butter or margarine

3/4 cup flour(use 1/4 cup whole wheat 2/4 cups white flour)

1 cup sugar

Slice peaches into a deep casserole type dish. Sprinkle the top of the peaches with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. In a separate bowl mix flour, sugar, and cold butter til a crumbly like a streusel type topping; put on top of peaches and spices.

Notes:

I don't measure the peaches...I just pick a pan no bigger than a 9 x 13 and fill it 1/2 to 3/4 full but I still measure out the struesel topping for it. The pan that I normally use for it is The Pampered Chef deep dish baker stone which measures 11-inches diameter and holds up to 8 cups....I just filled the baker to the top with peaches and then added the struesel topping and it isn't suppose to boil over in the oven but it did! Also you can use apples, cherries, blueberries, blackberries or raspberries with this struesel topping to make a very delicious dish.

What do you think??

How would you thicken up the peaches to make this dessert? Do you think if I had added even a 1/4-1/2 cup flour to the peaches I would not have ended up with a "peach soup" under my crisp topping?

This post is linked at:

• Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale!
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
  
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
• Fearless Friday at Home Ec 101!

Sauteed Zucchini and Summer Squash

I love this simple, colorful, and flavorful side dish of zucchini and summer(crookneck) squash.

Zucchini season would not be complete without having this side dish along with a burger off the grill or a piece of marinaded grilled chicken. And the best part but rather unhealthy side of this dish is that it tastes soooo much better cooked in bacon grease(I keep a jar of grease in my fridge during the summer months just for using in cooking!).

My mom steps it up a notch in color and adds shredded or julienned carrots to the dish.

The directions for this dish are easy...

1. Cut up into quarters some zucchini and summer squash. You want chunks over slices because the squash will cook down.
2. Cut up some onion. The amount of onion that you use is based on the amount of squash you cut up. If you only cut up one summer squash and 1 zucchini, only do 1/4 of an onion. OR if you are like me and don't have fresh onion on hand, use 2 TSBP. of dried minced onions for the 2 squash. If you use dried minced onion, put it in a cup or bowl and hydrate it first with a 1-2 TBSP water....now you have "fresh onion" to put in your squash.
3. Melt 1 TBSP bacon grease or use 1 TBSP butter or olive oil in a skillet.
4. Put squash & onions in the skillet once the grease or butter/olive oil is melted.
5. Cook/fry/sauteed the squash and onions until tender. The picture above shows the squash about 1/2 way done. I like to cook it until it has some browning on the squash.

This dish is best served hot.

The last time I made this, I ended up with leftovers and decided to heat them up in the microwave the next day for lunch. Yuck! It does NOT make a very tasty leftover if heated back up in the microwave. Next time I have leftovers, I am going to take my mom's suggestion and heat them back up in the skillet where the squash might get a bit more browning.

This post is linked at:

• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
  
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!

Simple, Filling, and Frugal Meal

One day last week I made my chicken rice casserole and then on another day I made some plain rice as a side. I did not use all the package of chicken when making the casserole so I cooked it to have as chicken sandwiches for lunch on another day. So Sunday night rolls around and I have just a small portion leftover of the casserole, some of the plain rice leftover and some of the cooked chicken breasts leftover! Despite the fact that it was 80° outside I decided to fix a light dinner of chicken rice soup using up those leftovers in the fridge. To make the meal a little more substantial, I fixed mini grilled cheese sandwiches using two of the mini loaves of bread that I had put in the freezer during my baking day last week.

Here is the recipe for the soup if I were going to make it from scratch! Using the leftovers that I had on hand, I just had to add 2 cans of chicken broth, 1 can of water, 1 can cream of chicken soup(because of using the plain rice), more cooked carrots, and spices to taste.

Chicken Rice Soup

6 cups chicken broth
4-5 carrots, cooked and diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1/2 can milk(I use the cream of chicken soup can for my measuring cup!)
3-4 cups of water
5-6 cups of cooked rice
2 tsp. pepper
3 tsp. garlic powder
3 Tbsp. minced onion
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 tsp. poultry seasoning

Put all the ingredients together in a stockpot and simmer for an hour for the flavors to blend. OR you can put it altogether in the crockpot on low for 3-4 hours.



Taking the bread out of the freezer, I thawed in the microwave just enough to slice it into thin slices. I was able to get 7 sandwiches out of each loaf of bread. I used 1/2 of a slice of Kraft American cheese slices on each sandwich. I much prefer mild cheddar cheese slices for my grilled cheese sandwiches but I did not have any on hand!

I used this recipe and just used the dough cycle...

Honey Oatmeal Bread (breadmachine)

11 1/2 ounces(1 1/4 cup + 3tbsp.) water (80°F)
3 tablespoons honey
3 1/4 cups bread flour
1 cup oats, (quick or old fashioned)
2 tablespoons dry milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast(can be used in the breadmachine)
OR
2 teaspoons bread machine/fast rise yeast

Place in bread machine in order starting with water and ending with yeast.Basic Bread Setting, unless using fast rise yeast then you can do Basic Rapid Bread Setting. Makes 2lb loaf

***If you want rolls instead of a loaf of bread, place the bread machine on dough setting. After the cycle is done, take the dough out of the machine and make into 12-24 balls(depending on what size rolls you would like) place into a greased pan. Or for mini loaves divide evenly into 4 balls and roll out into a log and place in a greased loaf pan. Let rise til double in size(45 minutes-1 hour). Bake in oven at 350° for 15-20 minutes or til golden brown.

Using leftovers out of the fridge, what I had on hand in the pantry, and what I had stored away in the freezer, I was able to make a simple, filling, frugal dinner meal for us in about a half hour.

This post is linked at:

• $5 Dinner Challenge at $5 Dinners!
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
  
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace
• Fearless Fridays at Home Ec 101!
• Frugal Friday at Life as Mom!

Oatmeal Cookie Mix

One thing that I have found to help me with my baking is doing up different goodie mixes to have on hand for those times that I need to fill a sweet tooth or I need something to take to a "pitch in" meal.

One of the mixes I like to do and have on hand because it is so versatile is Oatmeal Cookie Mix from the More With Less Cookbook. If you haven't had a chance to look through this cookbook, I would definitely recommend you do so! There are several good recipes in it!

Oatmeal Cookie Mix

Combine:

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3 cups flour

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

Cut in:

2 cups shortening

Add:

6 cups rolled oats

Mix well. Store in cool place.

To make cookies:

Combine in bowl:

2 eggs, beaten

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon, optional

4 cups oatmeal cookie mix(see recipe above)

Mix well. Drop teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet, flatten with fork, if desired, and bake at 350° for about 12 minutes.

Baking Notes: I will change the cinnamon to pumpkin pie spice for a different flavor. I also have added 1-2 cups of craisins, or raisins or chocolate chips to the cookie dough for added variety.

This post is linked at:

• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
  
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
  
• I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic!

Chocolate Chip Bread

Looking for something other than chocolate chip cookies??? This quick bread can be a great substitute!! It is very easy to make into loaves or muffins!



Chocolate Chip Bread

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups (9 oz.) chocolate chips(I prefer milk chocolate)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts(optional)

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.

COMBINE flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine eggs, milk and vegetable oil in medium bowl. Add to flour mixture; mix just until moistened. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into prepared loaf pans.

BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool on wire racks.

NOTES: If you are looking for even more chocolate flavor, drizzle or spread the cooled loaves with chocolate! Microwave 1/2 cup chocolate chips in heavy-duty plastic bag on HIGH (100%) power for 45 seconds; knead bag to mix. Microwave for an additional 10- to 20-second intervals, kneading until smooth. Cut a small hole in corner of bag; squeeze to drizzle over bread. If you don't want to use a plastic bag just melt chocolate chips in a bowl and use a knife to spread some melted chocolate on top. Personally, I love to spread the chocolate on top so that when I cut the loaves each slice has an extra kick of chocolate. However, if you are looking for elegant loaves, drizzling is the best option.

This post is linked at:

Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!

I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic!

A New Twist to a Tried & True Recipe

Last week, I had the privelege of providing a meal for a young couple in my church that just had a new baby girl!  While I was there I even got to hold her...just a week old! Oh what sweetness!

One of the items that I brought was my tried & true no bake cheesecake recipe.  However, knowing that it was just the couple I didn't want to make a full recipe and take it and then it possibly get wasted from them not being able to eat all of it.

I decided to make a double batch of the cheesecake and make some mini cheesecakes. So I decided to pulled from my pantry a box of mini foil/paper liners and a bag of Nilla wafers.  I know you think I am crazy because I didn't want to make full recipe for fear of it going to waste so I make a double recipe instead?!?  Anyway, having never used Nilla wafers with my cheesecake recipe, I wasn't sure as to how it would turn out but I figured they would be less messy than making up homemade graham cracker crust to press into each mini cup. 

The fun part of this whole process was that the Nilla wafers were exactly the size I needed to cover the bottom of each of the mini cup liners, which I separated the paper and the foil liners so I had twice as many to work with.  I did learn that the cheesecake holds it form and doesn't soak through on the foil liners so next time I do this I will just use the foil liners and save the paper ones for baking muffins or brownies.


Once I had the cheesecake mixture made up I used my large scoop to put the mixture on the Nilla wafers.  As you can see from the picture, one scoop was plenty to fill each liner.  The other thing I did was put those liners on a cookie sheet rather than in my mini muffin pans because it was easier and less trouble than trying to pull out full cups out of the pans.  

Since I was running short on time the day I was making these little mini cheesecakes, I decided to speed up the process of "firming" the cheesecake up by sticking the cookie sheets with the mini cakes in the freezer for about an hour. In doing the "firming" in the freezer it kept the Nilla wafers from going mushy.  I ended up with a crisp crust.  A word of warning....if you stick them in the fridge afterwards you will find that the Nilla wafers will soften and you will have soft crust.  So it is your choice as to which type of crust you would like to have with your cheesecake. 

I left them plain and did not add any garnish to them. I placed eight of them on a paper plate and then into a ziploc bag(something disposable so I did not have to worry about getting a container back from them) to take with the meal for this couple.  

I will be making these again because they were quick and easy to put together. They are small enough for little hands to handle yet big enough for adults to get a couple bites of a sweet, delectable dessert.  Also having them as mini cheesecakes rather than one big one allows for several different garnishes to be put on them.  This dessert would be great to make up plain for gatherings and serve several garnishes on the side for guests to choose their favorite. 

Here is the recipe:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
8 oz. package cream cheese
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can of pie filling (cherry, blueberry...)
1 graham cracker crumb pie crust or Nilla Wafers

Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk. Stir in lemon juice. Pour into pie crust. Refrigerate until firm and then add pie filling on top if desired. Can use fresh fruit(strawberries, blueberries are best) for garnish as well.

This post is linked at: 

• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
• Kitchen tip Tuesday, over at Tammy's Recipes!
  
• I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic!
  
• Fearless Fridays at Home Ec 101!
• Friday Feasts at Mom Trends!

Pantry Meal--Beef Gravy and Noodles

Toward the end of last week, we had roast, carrots and potatoes for dinner. At the end of the meal when I was putting the food away I realized that the roast leftover was not going to be enough to make another big meal for the seven of us so I was a little stuck on what to do with it. Taking the time to reheat roast as is causes it to dry out and making veggie beef stew wasn't an option either because it isn't a favorite with the family.  I didn't want to shred it for tacos either.  

So I started thinking about what to do with it, and then remembered that I had on my freezer spring cleaning list another small roast(1.83lbs) that I had picked up on a meat markdown rack that I hadn't found a use for either.  The light bulb went on and another pantry/leftover makeover meal was created!  Here is what I created...

I cooked up the little roast in a skillet on the stove with a little water. Once it was done cooking, I diced up the roast and removed the fat.   I then diced up the leftover roast and added it to the roast I just cooked in my skillet on the stove.  

I added enough water to cover the meat in the skillet.  I then added minced onions, worchestershire sauce, garlic powder, black pepper, beef bouillon cubes and seasoned salt.  I brought the meat mixture to a boil and then added in flour/cornstarch/milk mixture to thicken to a gravy consistency.  Brought the mixture back to a boil and then let simmer with a lid on the skillet while I cooked the noodles and the green beans to compliment the meat. 

I served the meat over egg noodles and served the green beans on the side. It was a delicious meal!  My hubby even commented that he loved the flavorful meat gravy! He asked me what I did differently...the only thing I did differently from other times that I have done this dish is I made the gravy from scratch using bouillon and water rather than using a can of beef broth!

Here is the recipe:

1 1/2- 2lbs beef roast, cooked & diced

4 cups water*

3-4 tsp. dry minced onions*

2-3 tsp. worchestershire sauce*(used for coloring purposes rather than flavoring)

1 tsp. garlic powder*

1 tsp. seasoned salt*

4 beef bouillon cubes

Combine altogether. Bring to a boil.

In a separate cup, mix together 3 heaping spoonfuls of flour, 2 heaping spoonfuls of cornstarch. Add in enough milk to make a thick pourable paste.  Once mixture doesn't have any lumps pour into the meat slowly(Might not use all the of the flour/cornstarch paste!!). Stir meat while pouring the flour/cornstarch paste in to the skillet. Use just enough of the paste to thicken the meat.  

Serve over egg noodles that are cooked al dente.

*the amounts are approximate!

This post is linked at:

• $5 Dinner Challenge at $5 Dinners!
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
  
• Kitchen tip Tuesday, over at Tammy's Recipes! 
  
• I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic!
  

Out of the Pantry Brownies

One of the box mixes that I just can not seem to get rid of in my house is brownie mixes! However, during my spring cleaning event,  I have decided to work at getting rid of them! I decided to make up some brownies but did not want them to be just "plain ol' brownies".   So I used a couple of my odd n' end items to spruce them!

I took one of the five boxes of brownies that I had in my pantry along with the dozen mini Heath bars and a dab of carmel ice cream topping out of my fridge to make up the brownies. 
First, I unwrapped all the mini Heath bars and put them back into the small Ziploc bag.  Then I took my rolling pin and let out some frustration on the Heath bars to crush them! 

After I crushed the bars, I made up my brownie mix as instructed on the box.  If you don't want to use all the oil that the box calls for you can do 1/2 applesauce and 1/2 oil.  I didn't have any applesauce so I just used the oil actually I didn't quite have the 2/3 cups like the box says but didn't add any extra water or anything and the brownies came out fine. 

Once the brownie mix is stirred well and ready to pour in the pan...Pour about 1/2 of the brownie batter in your slightly greased baking pan.  Then take your crushed Heath bars(or you can use any kind of candy, like leftover Easter candy!) and spread over the top of the batter.  Then drizzle carmel ice cream topping over the Heath bars. Then pour the other 1/2 of the brownie batter over the top of the Heath bars and carmel topping. 
Now your brownies are ready to cook!!  Cook according to the box instructions---350° for 28-30 minutes. 
Once they are cooled...cut and enjoy!  One thing I noticed in doing the brownies this way when I cut into them is that ALL the Heath bars and the carmel soaked into the brownie batter as it cooked!!  I was hoping that the Heath bars would do like what mini chocolate chips do being stirred into the batter. My thinking is that I did not use enough of the Heath bars or that I crushed them too finely or something???  

Despite having all the Heath bars and carmel topping "melt" into the batter, the brownies tasted wonderful!!  They came out nice and thick and rich!!  They made great brownie sundaes for the family!!

This post is linked at: 

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
  
• Kitchen tip Tuesday, over at Tammy's Recipes! 
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
  
• I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic!

Oven Fried Chicken Tenders

In my efforts to get rid of boxed/convenience mixes in my house along with reducing some of the fat in our diet, I decided to take a recipe that my friend, Lisa, had given me a while ago and give it a try with using fresh chicken tenders and making some homemade breaded chicken tenders.

Ingredients are: "spiced flour", egg wash, and fresh chicken tenders. Basically items that you would have in the pantry.

In the flour, I put in some onion powder, garlic powder, a few dashes of black pepper and paprika, and a tad of poultry seasoning. Now how is that for measuring?!?! You can put together any spices that you would prefer for flavoring and what you have in your pantry. I put approximate measurements with the full instructions down below.

Once I dipped all the chicken tenders into the egg wash and the spiced flour, I put a couple of pads of margarine(you can use butter too) on all the tenders.

Then I put them in the oven at 400° for an hour and then came out golden brown and a little bit crispy.

My family loved them!! The leftovers were easy to reheat in the oven at 400° for about 10 minutes.

OVEN FRIED CHICKEN

24 chicken tenders (I usually use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but bone-in will work too!)
2 c. flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt*
1 tsp. pepper*
1/2 tsp. paprika*
1 tsp. poultry seasoning*

2 tsp. garlic powder*

3 tsp. onion powder*

margarine slices

Egg Wash

3 eggs

2 tsp. water

Combine flour and spices together in one bowl. Combine the egg and water in another bowl. Dip chicken pieces in the egg wash first and then in the spiced flour mixture. Place pads of margarine on top of each piece of chicken. (This is the secret to it tasting so delicious.) Bake 400 for 1 hour. I don't worry about spraying or oiling the pan as the pads of margarine work in keeping the chicken from sticking to the pan.

*the spice amounts are approximate!

This post is linked at:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
  
• Kitchen tip Tuesday, over at Tammy's Recipes!
• Tasty Tuesday at Forever, Wherever
  
• I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic!

Salsa Chicken

Last week, I made a new dish for a dinner called "Salsa Chicken".  I have heard and read about it before but hadn't really found a recipe for it. 

I did some research and found that there are several different ways to make Salsa Chicken.   You can do it in the crockpot or on the oven or on the stovetop!  You can use tomatoes with chilies or you can use a jar of salsa.  You can add extra spices or you can let the spices or the tomatoes be enough. You can make it creamy or you can just leave it uncreamy.

With all the different variations it is easy to make the dish to suit your palette.  The majority of my family does not like chunks of veggies, especially tomato, in their saucy food.  So I decided to follow a friend's advice when putting this dish together.  I also decided that I was going to do a crockpot version of the recipe.

First, I cleaned my chicken pieces(I used a combination of boneless/skinless chicken tenders and breasts) and put them in my crockpot. (Sorry I remembered to start taking pics about the time I was ready to pour in the sauce!)
Then I combined one jar of Chi-Chi's Mild Salsa, one can of cream of chicken soup, and two tbsps. of taco seasoning into my blender!  Then I pureed all of it! (This was my friend's advice!--I can still have the spices and flavors of the salsa without the chunks!) OH! If you and your family like the chunks then you can skip the pureeing process. Just combine all salsa, soup, and seasoning in a bowl and dump over the chicken!
Then I poured the sauce over the chicken and cooked in the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours. (The picture above was taken about midway through the cooking process.)
I served the chicken on to plates and topped with shredded cheddar cheese. For my sides, I served rice and corn.   

With pureeing the sauce, it was thin and actually made a great gravy!  My plate I actually put the chicken in a bed of rice and then topped it with cheese.  It tasted very similar to having a chicken burrito without the tortilla shell!

The leftovers of the chicken were saved for a lunch and I made it into a leftover makover, I cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and heated through and made chicken tacos/burritos for the family! 

Now for the exact recipe: 

Salsa Chicken

4 fresh chicken breasts

10 fresh chicken tenders

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 jar salsa

2 tbsp. taco seasoning

Clean chicken. Blend soup, salsa, and taco seasoning well. Pour over chicken. Cook in crockpot on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. 

This post is linked at: 

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
  
• Kitchen tip Tuesday, over at Tammy's Recipes! 
• Tasty Tuesday at Forever, Wherever
  
• I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic!

Chex Muddy Buddies

Last week on my very productive day, I made up some Muddy Buddies Mix for taking to the marriage retreat that hubby and I went to over the weekend.  

I used this recipe as my guide and I doubled it because I was making it for a large group and I wanted to use the whole box of Corn Chex. Did you know that there is just under 16 cups of Chex in the whole box!?!

I measured out the box of Corn Chex so that I knew how much I needed of the other ingredients. I didn't have any regular chocolate chips but I did have a 10 oz. bag of peanut butter/milk chocolate swirl chips so I used those instead. 

In my pan on the stove, I melted the bag of swirl chips, 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 1 stick of margarine until they were blended and smooth.  I poured the chocolate/peanut butter mixture over the cereal that was waiting in my big mixing bowl. 

I gently stirred(so I did not crush the cereal) the warm mixture throughout the cereal until the mixture was evenly coated on the cereal. 


Once the cereal was evenly coated with the chocolate/peanut butter mixture, I poured it carefully into the waiting grocery paper bag that I had put 3 cups of powdered sugar in the bottom.   Then I rolled the bag shut and shook the bag so that the powdered sugar would coat the cereal well.  After about a minute I opened the bag to see how well the powdered sugar had coated the cereal. I saw that the powdered sugar was soaked into the cereal.  So I added about another 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to the bag and shook it for another minute.   Here is the end result....

Tasty Muddy Buddies Mix!!!

You are probably wondering why I choose to use a grocery brown paper bag/sack to coat the cereal with the powdered sugar?!?  Well it is a trick that I learned from my mother!  Putting the cereal in the bag allows you to put all the cereal while it is warm into the powdered sugar to coat the cereal. It also makes the process go a bit quicker and you don't end up wasting a ziploc bag or two with the coating process. It also allows for less mess!  

I made this mix in less than 10 minutes!

So here is the recipe:

18 cups Corn Chex

10 oz bag swirl chips(used peanut butter/milk chocolate)

1 stick margarine or butter

1 cup creamy peanut butter

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided

Melt chips, margarine, and peanut butter until smooth. Add to the cereal.  Stir and evenly coat the cereal with the mixture.  Put 3 cups powdered sugar into a brown paper bag. Pour cereal into a brown paper bag with the powdered sugar. Roll top of bag down, shake the bag until the cereal is coated with the powdered sugar. Pour in the other 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, if necessary and shake the bag. 

This post is linked at: 

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace!
  
• Kitchen tip Tuesday, over at The Finer Things in Life(Amy is guest hosting this week!)! 
• Tasty Tuesday at Forever, Wherever
  
• I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic!