Day 14- MORE COOKIES

You betcha... I've been feeling soooo yucky the last few days, and a couple of hours ago I started feeling better, so up I jumped and off to the kitchen to try out a recipe for cookies one of my homeschool mama friends gave me.... and they're super simple and delicious!! (A special shout out to Katherine!!)

Chocolate Butterscotch cookies (have you figured out yet how much I like butterscotch??)

1 box of chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1 bag of chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix cake mix, eggs, and oil until the mix is moistened and everything is well blended. Then stir in the butterscotch chips (the WHOLE bag). Spoon onto a cookie sheet (not sure if it should be greased, I used nonstick cookie sheets and a tiny bit of cooking spray just in case). If the chips are falling off, just push them back into the dough. Cook for approximately 10 minutes, until the edges are firm and the center is still soft. Yields approximately 32 big cookies!!

TALK about YUM-TASTIC!! Check 'em out, you KNOW you wanna make them....

Finally caught up!! Day 10= Cookie recipe

Peppermint Chocolate Hugs
Ingredients

Cookies:

1 stick (unsalted) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1 tablespoon shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon milk

Peppermint Butter Cream:
2 1/2 tablespoons softened butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup ground peppermint pillow candies

Chocolate Drizzle:
1/2 cup semisweet pieces
1 tablespoon shortening

In a large mixing bowl, beat softened butter and sugar together. Melt chocolate pieces with shortening in a small microwavable bowl in microwave, or in a small saucepan over low heat; add to bowl mixture. Mix in vanilla and egg. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa. Gradually add to mixing bowl with milk, and mix until combined. Using a tablespoon, or small scoop, make balls from dough. Place balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, leaving an inch surrounding each. Press center of ball with thumb. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until done. Remove and cool on a cooling rack.

Peppermint Butter Cream: Place softened butter in a mixing bowl and gradually add confectioners sugar with milk, then beat until smooth. Add a little more milk, if necessary. Fold in ground peppermint candies. When cookies are cool, place a dollop of Peppermint Butter Cream in the center of each depression.

Chocolate Drizzle: In a small microwavable bowl in the microwave, or small saucepan over low heat, melt remaining chocolate pieces with a tablespoon of shortening. To finish cookies, use a fork and dip into the melted chocolate, then drizzle across top of each cookie; let chocolate harden.

Day 6- Gingerbread Biscotti

Auggh--- it's been such a day! But I promised to post today (and I didn't say what TIME I'd be posting) so here goes.

These are great to serve at holiday/Christmas parties, or to give in a cute little gift basket with a mug and special coffee or cocoa mix. MMMM!!

Gingerbread Biscotti (from All Recipes )

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
3/4 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.


2. In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar, eggs, and molasses. In another bowl, combine flours, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg; mix into egg mixture to form a stiff dough.

3. Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a roll the length of the cookie. Place rolls on cookie sheet, and pat down to flatten the dough to 1/2 inch thickness.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool.

5. When cool enough to touch, cut into 1/2 inch thick diagonal slices. Place sliced biscotti on cookie sheet, and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes on each side, or until toasted and crispy.
You can dip them in melted white chocolate or almond bark, or drizzle over the top for extra sweetness. Delicious!

Day 3- Buckeye Delights

My camera battery died, so until I can go to the store and get more later today, I'm posting a tasty recipe that just found it's way into my email inbox.... they sound so DE-licious!!

Straight from the Betty Crocker kitchen...

Buckeye Delights

Cookie Base

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg

Filling

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping

1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon peanut butter


1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 36 mini muffin cups with mini foil candy cups (about 1 1/4 inch). In large bowl, stir cookie base ingredients until dough forms. Press about 1 tablespoon dough into each foil cup. Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until puffy and set. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Remove from pan.

2. In small bowl, mix filling ingredients until well blended. Press about 1 teaspoon mixture on top of each cooled cookie.

3. In 1-quart saucepan, heat whipping cream just to boiling over low heat, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until cooled. Spread about 2 teaspoons chocolate mixture over each cookie cup.

4. Place remaining 2 tablespoons chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon peanut butter in resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag. Microwave on High 30 to 60 seconds or until softened; knead to mix. Cut off small tip from one corner of bag. Squeeze bag to drizzle chocolate mixture over each cookie cup. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until set. Store covered in refrigerator.


Hopefully I will have batteries this afternoon and can still post my 5 of 52 weeks photo...

Souper Saturday

Today I'm posting a soup I haven't tried yet, but I think it sounds yum-diddly-scrumptious!! (I know I heard that word somewhere...) It's a timely post too, since you can use your leftover Thansgiving turkey to make it :)  The credit for this one goes to allrecipes.com (as posted by Valorie Walker)

After- Thanksgiving Turkey Soup

Ingredients

1 leftover turkey carcass ( carcass is such a yucky word, I'd just say leftover bird , and meat if you wanna)
3 medium onions, chopped
2 large carrots, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 cup butter, cubed
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half cream
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
3/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Place turkey carcass in a soup kettle or Dutch oven and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour. Remove carcass; cool. Set aside 3 qt. broth. Remove turkey from bones and cut into bite-size pieces; set aside.

In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, saute the onions, carrots and celery in butter until tender. Reduce heat; stir in flour until blended. Gradually add 1 qt. of reserved broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Add cream, rice, salt, bouillon, pepper, remaining broth and reserved turkey. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until rice is tender.

**** Here's what I might change when I make mine. The rice sounds great, but if you want to "southern it up" some more, throw some dumplings in there instead. If you like the strips kind, I can't help you. But I LOVE me some biscuity fluffy dumplings... mmm-mmm. So here's how I make my dumplings.

1 heaping tablespoon of Crisco
2 to 3 cups of self rising flour, sifted
2 cups of milk or buttermilk

Mix the crisco and flour, using a fork or pastry blender. Add milk/buttermilk a little at a time mixing until you get a moist dough. Place spoon size dollops into the boiling soup, DO NOT STIR. Make sure you do not place dumplings in on top of each other. You can use a wooden or plastic spoon to gently push the dumplings out of the way to make sure the next dumpling hits liquid :) If it appears that your dumplings aren't cooking thoroughly, you can gently roll them over in the soup to make sure all sides are cooked evenly. After all of the dumplings are in the soup, close the lid and remove the soup from heat. It's important not to let the dumplings cook too long, or they disappear and your soup turns to a thick stew. Let it stand for 20-25 minutes, and ENJOY!!!

(and if you are afraid of making your own dumplings, use Bisquick and follow the directions on the box, or you can just cut uncooked canned biscuits into fourths and add to the soup)

Souper Saturday

Since I'm not going to be home until late this afternoon, I figured a slow cooker recipe was a good idea for today. This one is yummy!!

This is my own version of a recipe I found on a website, but I've modified it a bit from the original just because I didn't like some of the ingredients. Feel free to mess around a bit, it's EASY PEASY and hard to flub, just add what you like and turn on the good ol' crock pot.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalepeno, finely chopped and seeded
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of oregano 
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese 
7 corn tortillas
vegetable oil
 
 
 
Directions


Place chicken, tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with chili powder, salt, oregano and pepper. Stir in corn, cheese and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup. 
 
(Another option is to add in black beans or another type of bean you like for a bit more of a Mexican style flair, also, feel free to sub whatever pepper you like for the jalapeno)
 

Souper Saturday

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Since it's Halloween, here's a recipe I'm gonna try for a goulash, it sounds like something my kids will definitely eat!!

Cheesy Goulash

1 10 oz package of egg noodles, cooked, rinsed and drained
1 lb ground beef
3 tbsp of vegetable oil
5 medium potatoes, cubed
1 medium onion, minced
1 (10 oz) can of tomato sauce
16 oz processed cheese (like Velveeta) cubed

1. Bring large pot of slightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook 8-10 minutes, or until al dente, then drain and set aside.
2. Brown ground beef in a medium skillet over medium high heat, stirring to crumble, drain and set aside. Heat oil in a seperate skillet over medium high heat. Cook potatoes for 2 minutes. then add onion. Continue cooking until potatoes are well browned, then carefully drain excess oil.
3. Combine potatoes with ground beef mixture, and stir in tomato sauce and cubed cheese. When cheese is melted, stir in noodles and cook 15 minutes more. Serve immediately.

** When I make this, I'm either going to use pre-seasoned tomato sauce (basil. oregano, garlic), or I'm gonna throw in a little more seasoning of some kind.... just a thought.

Souper Saturday

Okay I realize I am the latest blogger on blogspot today, everybody posts in the morning, but I was TIRED this morning. I spent yesterday evening in the emergency room. Funny how I had to go to one since I blogged about one the other day... thankfully, I didn't go to the one mentioned in that blog. I started having mild chest pains yesterday afternoon, just kinda felt like I needed to burp. The pains started getting worse and more intense, so I took some Gas-X and started doing the arm windmills my mom always told me to do when I was little. No relief, so I tried lying down with my butt up in the air like doctors tell you to do post surgery when you are terribly bloated. No relief. I laid on my left side, left leg straight, right leg bent, trying to get relief, and it only kept getting worse. Then I started getting super duper hot, and sweaty, then in about 10 minutes, chilled and clammy. I was at my mom's house, so she was ready to call an ambulance, but I refused. I called my DH Boss who left work to haul me to the ER. After about four hours, lots of bloodwork and a full chest CTA, the doctor determined I have pleurisy. Not really sure how I have that since I don't have TB or pneumonia, but whatever. At first I was sticking to the trapped air idea, until the pain started to come back today,  around the time the anti-inflammatories they loaded me up with were probably leaving my system. So as if the head stuff wasn't enough, I got some inflammation junk. YAHOO!!

Anyway, on to today's recipe. I haven't tried this one yet, but I will be tomorrow, so try it with me :) It's too late to start today, but tomorrow will work out fine...

Mexican Chicken Stew

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut bite size
1 1/2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp EVOO
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled, cut bite size
1 yellow pepper, cut bite size
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups water
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
2 1/2 Tbsp salt-free chili powder blend
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cup frozen corn
1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1. Sprinkle chicken with flour; toss to coat. Heat 1 1/2 tsp of EVOO in nonstick Dutch oven. Add chicken; saute 5 minutes until cooked through. Remove.

2. Heat remaining 1/2 tsp oil. Add sweet potatoes, pepper, and onion; cover and cook 7 minutes, stirring often, until lightly colored.

3. Add water, tomatoes, chili powder, garlic, and oregano. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 minutes until vegetables are almost tender.

4. Add corn and beans; simmer 2 minutes until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat; mix chicken back in, then stir in cilantro.

Souper Saturday

I've decided to try a new weekly topic, for Saturdays. Since cold weather is coming, what better idea could I come up with except for Souper Saturday? Each week I'm going to post either a new recipe that I love, or one that I'm going to be trying as well....

This week, I'm doing one that I've recently tried, and LOVE!! It was first published in Woman's World magazine, not sure which issue, but it's delicious and VERY filling....give it a try, let me know what you think!!


Extreme Diet Soup (I just call it extreme soup, forget the diet part)

2 tbsp EVOO
2 lrg white onions, very thinly sliced
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 lrg carrot, shredded
2 lrg garlic cloves, minced
1 large jalapeno pepper (I actually like it better with 2), chopped (include seeds)
2 tsp of fresh thyme or oregano (or 1 tsp of dried)
8 cups of fat free natural chicken broth
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
6 packed cups of baby spinach leaves
1 lrg tomato, finely diced
salt & pepper to taste


Heat EVOO over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add onions, stir occasionally, cook for 10 minutes. Add chicken, stirring occasionally, for 5 more minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the onions are browning. Add carrot, garlic, jalapeno, thyme/oregano. Cook another 2 minutes. Stir in broth and increase heat to high. Bring to a boil. Add beans, spinach & tomato. Return to a boil, then turn off heat. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Can also add parmesan cheese and lemon juice if desired.

Getting things done...

Today I woke up at my newly appointed wake up time after going to bed at my newly appointed bedtime last night. I moved my quiet time with God from night to morning (except maybe I'll still do night in addition) since the girls weren't up yet. Then I tackled my kitchen. YAY!! I really feel like I accomplished a lot today. I cleaned off the island in my kitchen, and my hutch, cleaned all the surfaces (which is a typical thing anyway), and piled all of the clutter into one container to sort thru. The FlyLady would be so proud of me :).

Then, I started cooking after the girls got up. First, I made my first ever cornbread in an iron skillet (just like my mama), but I'm kind of afraid to eat it because I think the cornmeal may have been old... no matter, I actually did it!! I must say, I am NOT a cook or baker, it's just not a natural thing for me, but most of what I make is good, so that's something. I had to take a little detour in my kitchen day to go to the doctor (for antibiotics, yucky sinuses), then on to the GROCERY STORE (I finally made it!!). When I got home, Miss Priss went down for a nap, Lady M started on her (delayed) school lesson, and I got busy making 2 HUGE pots of vegetable beef soup, and brownies from SCRATCH for Lady M's valentines party tomorrow!! I need to praise God now so that I don't get too big headed and proud :) I can do nothing good on my own, so He must have been really taking over my hands. The soup is nothing new, I've made it several times before, but the brownies were a first. In fact, they turned out so well, I have another batch in the oven right now as I type this.

Yes, I ran my dishwasher 4 times today... for real.

But I am so glad that my typically random self was able to get so many things done. I even washed all my kitchen rugs without forgetting to actually put the rugs in the running washing machine, AND I didn't forget I had things cooking and burn them... except maybe I didn't stir the soup enough and it was a little burned, but not so much it was ruined.

I am praying God will make tomorrow as FRUITFUL in my home as today has been. It's been great!!