Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

½ C shortening
1 C sugar
1 egg
½ C milk
1 tsp vanilla

1 ¾ C flour
½ tsp soda
½ tsp salt
½ C (or a little less) cocoa
½ C nuts (optional)

Mix together shortening, sugar, egg, milk and vanilla. Add the remaining dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Cut large marshmallows in half. During last 2 minutes place marshmallow halves on top of each cookie and finish baking. Frost.

Frosting:
2-3 TBS butter
2 C powdered sugar mixed with ¼ C cocoa
Mix together with 1 tsp vanilla and dash of salt .
Add milk until desired consistency is reached.

Butterscotch Pumpkin Cake

My neighbor brought this to us after my twins were born, and I'm pretty sure I ate half of the cake myself. I don't have a picture, but trust me, this cake is yummy!

1 bag butterscotch morsels, divided
2 c. flour
1 3/4 c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside. Stir together pumpkin, oil, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl with a wire whisk; set aside. Microwave 1 c. butterscotch morsels on high for one minute; stir until melted. (Continue to microwave in 15-second intervals if necessary.) Add melted morsels to pumpkin mixture and stir until smooth. Stir in flour mixture. Spoon into greased bundt pan; bake at 350* for 40 - 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes; remove cake from pan and cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with butterscotch sauce.

Butterscotch Sauce:

1/3 c. evaporated milk

Remaining butterscotch morsels

Heat evaporated milk over medium-high heat just to boiling; remove from heat. Add morsels; stir until smooth. Return to heat and bring mixture just to boiling, stirring constantly. Cool to room temperature; stir before serving.

Cookie Cake

I don't know what this is really called; "Cookie Cake" is what my daughter calls it. All I know is that these cookie bars are SO. GOOD. My husband and I almost came to blows over who got the last one! (Sorry I don't have a picture.)

1 pkg. (18 oz.) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough*
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg

Spread 1/2 of the cookie dough on the bottom of a greased 9" pan. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and egg until smooth; pour over cookie dough. Top with remaining cookie dough and bake at 350* for 35 - 40 minutes or until middle layer is set. Slice into bars; store leftovers in refrigerator.

*I actually used my own chocolate chip cookie recipe instead of the prepared cookie dough

Teriyaki Chicken

Got this off of my friend Kelsey's blog. Both Doug and my mom (she was out here visiting) LOVED it.

Teriyaki Chicken

2-3 lbs cut up chicken
1 can evaporated milk
Wash and dry chicken. Place in shallow container. Cover with evaporated milk for 1 hour. (I didn't have it in the whole hour). Drain and then coat with flour. Brown in oil and drain. Place in large shallow baking pan, marinate in teriyaki sauce for 45 minutes turning once. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve with rice and veggies.

Teriyaki Sauce
1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c water
1 c sugar
1 T pineapple juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 ts. ground ginger

DELISH DELISH DELISH!!

Malibu Melt Wraps

This is a recipe I tried from the thisweekfordinner blog.

It was so easy and yummy we had it two night in a row

Grilled or Breaded Chicken

(I'll either buy some Tyson chicken strips or just grill some chicken breasts)
Swiss
Avocado
Romaine
Tomato
Honey Mustard

This is a wrap that they have at Tacone restaurants... I'm planning on using hot/warm chicken, heating the tortilla/warp on the stove and melting the swiss cheese on the wrap. Toss the romaine lettuce in the honey mustard, put it all together like a burrito.

(Adrienne Note)
I like to make this honey mustard recipe:
(from allrecipes.com)

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
  In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, honey, and lemon juice. Store covered in the refrigerator.
  

Three-Cheese Stuffed Manicotti

This is a Healthy Choice recipe that I've had for a while, and it's not half bad. I think the only reason I don't make it more is because of the (small amount of) effort it takes to stuff the noodles. (sorry about the bad lighting -- I really need lessons from Steph or someone.)





8 Manicotti shells (cook, rinse and let stand in warm water)
1 3/4 c. pasta sauce
1 (10 oz) pkg chopped spinach -- defrosted and well-drained
1 c low-fat ricotta
2 egg whites, slightly beaten
1 T shredded parmesan
1/4 t garlic powder
1/2 c shredded mozarella

Put 3/4 c. sauce in 12x8 baking dish. Combine spinach, first 2 cheeses, egg, garlic and stuff 1/4 c mixture into each shell. Pour rest of sauce over the top and bake, covered on 400 for 15-20 min. Sprinkle with mozarella and bake uncovered 'til melted.

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are my new favorite cookies -- I know they are nothing special, but I've been on a subconcious search for a good recipe for probably years now. Whenever I need a good oatmeal cookie I try random recipes from my books and they always turn out not the way I'd hoped. Well these fulfilled my every hope -- and even though I AM a firm believer in raisins in my oatmeal cookies -- I'm loving the chocolate lately. Can't claim it though -- I got it off of Allrecipes. There were suggesteions for modifications and I followed them and they turned out great!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (i used almost 1/2 c. more)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (i used a whole teaspoon)
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup chopped walnuts (not for me!)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Cream Puffs

This is a pie filling that I love to fill my cream puffs with

Cream Puffs

½ C butter or margarine
1 C flour
4 eggs

In pan combine butter, 1 C water and 1/8 tsp salt. Boil. Add flour at once stirring vigorously. Cook and stir till mixture forms a ball that doesn’t separate. Remove from heat and cool 10 minutes. Add eggs one at a time beating with spoon after each addition till smooth. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons 3 inches apart on greased baking sheet. (for parties I like to make mini ones) Bake at 400 for 30-35 minutes or till golden. Cool on wire rack. Split puffs, remove any soft dough and fill. Place tops over filling.

PB Filling:

4 oz cream cheese
1 C powdered sugar
½ C peanut butter
1 (8 oz) carton Cool Whip, thawed

Whip cheese till fluffy and soft. Beat in sugar and peanut butter. Fold in Cool Whip.

After filling cream puffs melt (I microwave) semi-sweet choc chips and a bit of shortening in a ziploc bag. Drizzle over top.

Twice Baked Potatoes

My cousin Emily inspired me to create some twice-baked potatoes -- and she never even knew it! My daughter scarfed them up and wanted more.
Bake the potatoes until tender. Cut in half when they are cool enough to handle. Scoop out the insides and whip with:
Milk
Butter
Sour Cream (I used some leftover ranch/sour cream dip)
Salt and Pepper
Green Onions
Bacon Bits
Top with cheese. (I used mozarella but it would've been prettier with cheddar)
Bake another 15 min to warm and brown.

BLT Pizza

Ryan made this for lunch today. We didn't have the usual pizza toppings but we always love tomatoes so he just used whatever else we could find. It's just my normal pizza crust recipe that I posted before, but this was a really yummy variation. At first we thought this might have been overcooked -- but it really was so good this crispy. Guess it's a matter of taste.

Use my pizza crust recipe.

Your favorite spaghetti sauce.
Real bacon bits
Mozerella cheese
Sliced fresh tomatoes
Green onions
(not shown) top with shredded lettuce (and ranch if desired)

Cheeseburger Buns

OK...I'm attempting to get this going again. I miss all the new recipes to try!

This is a recipe I found in Taste of Home

2 pkgs (1/4 oz each) active dry yeast
½ C warm water
¾ C warm milk
¼ sugar
¼ shortening
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3½ to 4 C flour
1½ lbs ground beef
¼ C chopped onion
salt and pepper
garlic powder
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
8 slices American cheese, quartered

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, sugar, shortening, egg, salt and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. In a skillet, cook beef, onion, salt, pepper and garlic till done; drain. Stir in tomato sauce. Remove from heat; set aside. Punch dough down; divide into 16 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, gently roll out and stretch each piece into a 5-inch circle. Top each circle with two pieces of cheese and about 3 TBS beef mixture. Bring dough over filling to center; pinch edges to seal. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 20 minutes. Bake at 400 for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 16 sandwiches.

(Cooks note. The first time I made this I felt like it needed a little more zing. So I added some brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and some vinegar (about 1 TBS each) to make it a little more bbq-y. or I think just adding some bbq sauce would work too. I also prefer the taste of cheddar cut off the block to the cheese slices. Just a couple of variations to think about. )

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

This recipe is quick, easy, and delish! My husband has been out of town and my 18 month old and I have eaten this the past the past three nights. My son LOVES it. I steamed some zucchini and mixed it in tonight. It was great!

Published on Rachael Ray Show (http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/)

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

Let the kids help with dinner tonight!

Ingredients
1 pound pasta cavatappi or orecchiette (I used corkscrew)
Salt
2 pints grape tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, grated
A few drizzles of extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Freshly ground black pepper
20 leaves fresh basil, roughly chopped or torn (I used dried)
1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Preparation

Preheat oven 425°F.

Place a large pot filled with water over high heat and bring up to a boil to cook the pasta. Once boiling, add some salt and the pasta, and cook until al dente according to package directions. Reserve about a 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid before draining the pasta.

While the water is coming up to a boil to cook the pasta, place the tomatoes on a cookie and grate the garlic over them. Drizzle with some EVOO and season with some salt and pepper. Transfer cookie sheet to the oven and roast tomatoes for 8-10 minutes or until the tomatoes start to burst. Remove from the oven, discard the garlic cloves (I left the garlic in) and transfer roasted tomatoes to a large serving bowl. Add the reserved pasta water and, with a potato masher or a fork, lightly smash the tomatoes. This is a great job for a K.H. (kid helper)!

Add basil, drained pasta and Parmigiano cheese and toss to coat.

Toss to combine, taste and re-season with some salt and pepper then serve.

Yields 4 servings

Veggie Pizza

OK so I know most of you are probably familiar with this

recipe but it was so pretty I had to take a picture.

2 pkgs refrigerated crescent rolls

Spread and flatten on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 until golden brown.

Filling:
2 pkg cream cheese
1 C mayonnaise
1 pkg dry ranch dressing

Mix together till smooth and the spread over cooked and cooled crust. Sprinkle with a little seasoning salt. (opt) Top with any vegetable you like. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green onions, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, cheese. Very easy to make in advance. Keep refrigerated.

Soft Pretzels

Ryan and I wanted to bake something together for a little date-night at home and this was a fun process. You can be really creative with toppings too -- think of all they put on bagels -- anything's game.

stir together:
3 c. flour
1 T. sugar
2 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
2 t. yeast
add:
2 T. soft butter
1 c. warm milk

knead until smooth (will be a weird dough at first), cover in greased bowl until doubled.
boil large pan of water -- add 1-2 t. baking soda to the water for pretzel chewiness if you want
shape the pretzels (if you're not sure how there are online picture intructions)
can let rise, but not required
slip into boiling water- just until they float
bake on greased pan at 400 for 10-15 min.

(before baking you can brush with an egg-wash for a golden-brown crisp and then put on course salt or cinnamon and sugar mixture. we skipped the egg wash and brushed melted butter on hot pretzels and sprinkled with cin/sugar. we also made a yummy cheese dip (below).)

nacho cheese sauce (from adrienne's kitchen)
8 oz. Velveeta
3 oz. cream cheese
1-2 T. milk
melt in microwave - stirring frequently
makes 1 1/2 cups
(we only made a tiny bit -- a little goes a long way)

Sesame Ginger Chicken Kabobs

4 tablespoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

1 teaspoon ground ginger

chopped green onion, to taste (i usually used 1-2)

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

Mix soy sauce, honey, sesame seeds, green onion and ginger in a ziploc bag. Add chicken. Marinate for 3-6 hours. Soak sticks in water to prevent burning. Place chicken chunks on sticks and place on grill. Cook till chicken is done.
We like to grill pineapple on separate sticks because it cooks more even and goes well with the chicken.

Pineapple Meatballs

First, I must give credit for these delectable meatballs to my dear friend in Utah - Rochelle. Thanks for such a great recipe.

3/4 c. fine dry bread crumbs
2 T. milk
2 large eggs, fork beaten
3/4 c. finely chopped onion
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. ground ginger
1 1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef

Stir first eight ingredients together well in bowl. Add ground beef. Mix well. Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place in crock pot.

Sauce:

Canned crushed pineapple, with juice (14 oz.)
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. white vinegar
3 T. soy sauce
1 T. cornstarch
1 T. water
Put first four sauce ingredients into saucepan on medium. Stir. Bring to a boil. Stir cornstarch and water together in a small cup. Stir into boiling mixture until slightly thickened. Pour over meatballs. Cover. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Serve over rice. Makes about 36 meatballs.

DELICOUS!

Blackened Chicken Alfredo

This is one of our favorites, and it's so simple! (I used chicken tenders and spaghetti noodles this time becuase that's what we had. I probably should have sliced the tenders first, as they look highly unappetizing.) Anyway, I serve this with broccoli, which is good mixed in with everything, too.

2 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
Mushrooms, sliced
1 pkg. (8oz.) cream cheese
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1 c. milk
12 oz. fettuccini noodles
4 chicken breasts
Chili powder
Garlic salt
Coarsely ground pepper
Season-All seasoning

Preheat grill. Blacken chicken with spices; grill until cooked through. Meanwhile, saute onion, garlic, and mushrooms in a little olive oil until soft. Combine cream cheese, parmesan cheese, and milk in a saucepan; add vegetables and cook until thickened and bubbly (add milk or flour to reach desired consistency). Slice chicken crosswise and serve over sauce and noodles.

Tomato Feta Salad

I turn into a Food Network junkie during the summer when there is nothing else on TV. This looked so good when I saw it made that I had to try it. I made over the weekend when my parents were visiting. We all enjoyed it! I cut the recipe in half since it makes so much.

Tomato Feta Salad
Copyright 2006, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved
Show:
Barefoot Contessa
Episode:
Job Well Done

4 pints grape tomatoes, red or mixed colors

1 1/2 cups small-diced red onion (2 onions)

1/4 cup good white wine vinegar

6 tablespoons good olive oil

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

1 1/2 pounds feta cheese

Cut the tomatoes in half and place them in a large bowl. Add the onion, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, and parsley and toss well. Dice the feta in 1/2 to 3/4-inch cubes, crumbling it as little as possible. Gently fold it into the salad and serve at room temperature.

Serves 12

Home-made buns

so I know a burger isn't a novel idea, but we wanted to BBQ some burgers and didn't have any buns so I just used my favorite breadstick recipe and 25 min. later we had hot fresh buns! I liked the breadstick recipe because it made them kind of chewy instead of so light and airy like the store-bought ones.

Marla's Breadsticks

1 T. yeast

4 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 c. warm water

1 T. honey or sugar

1 T. malted milk (can leave out)

Soften yeast in warm water, then add flour, sugar, salt and milk. Mix and knead for about 5 min. Shape into breadsticks (or buns) (i think these would also make good bread bowls) Bake at 425 (i baked at 410 for the buns) for about 20 min or until golden brown.

Chicken Stuffing Bake

I just realize this picture doesn't look too appetizing and we all know it's all in the presentation -- but at least it gives you an idea. Today we wanted something yummy for lunch and didn't have many fresh ingredients or anything thawed on hand, so we decided to make something completely from the pantry. This is what we came up with:

1 (9.5 oz) can chicken breast

1 can green beans

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 box Stovetop stuffing (made)

layer this in a 9 in pie pan in that order, then bake at 350 for 20-25 min (till the stuffing is dry but not tooooo crispy) it's a taste of thanksgiving that's super easy!!!