Easy Sugar Cookies

This is probably one of the easiest recipes for sugar cookies that I have ever tried....typically, I am so impatient that I don't want to "wait" for the dough to chill for what seems like 12 hours.  This recipe takes away that step and they taste sooooo yummy.  Kudos to http://www.inkatrinaskitchen.com/2011/12/best-sugar-cookie-recipe-and-kitchenaid_28.html for sharing this recipe...and I will pass it along to you.  This recipe really does make 4 dozen average sized cookies.


Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
2 cups butter, softened
2 eggs
2 teas vanilla
1 teas almond extract (I didn't have this, and they turned out just fine...)
4 teas baking powder
6 cups flour

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350*.  First, in a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.  Add the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.  Mix until smooth.  In a separate bowl, mix baking powder and flour.  Slowly add the dry mixture to the large mixing bowl.  It might become difficult to blend so you might have to hand stir.

Remember, no chilling allowed here!  Roll out the dough to 1/4" thickness and cut out your shapes.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes.  All of mine took 8 minutes.

Transfer to a wire cooling rack.  When they're cool, frost away!  Enjoy!:-)

Delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake

This is now a must have at most holiday get-togethers.  And, I must confess I prefer it over the traditional pumpkin pie.  Here is a super simple recipe that anyone can follow.

This specific recipe will make two 8" cheesecakes...Or a 9" cheese cake and a few smaller ones.  

Ingredients:

Graham cracker crust (8" or 9", see above)

1 can of pumpkin puree (15oz)

2 packages of cream cheese, softened (8oz packages)

2/3 cup sugar

2 teas pumpkin pie spice

1 teas cinnamon

2 eggs

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350*.  Beat cream cheese in large mixing bowl until fluffy....it is smart to start with softened cream cheese, otherwise you will have chunky cheesecake...Add your sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon.  Blend well. Add eggs one at a time and blend together.  Add pumpkin puree and mix until silky smooth.  It will be a very light orange color...

Pour batter into your pie crust(s).  Sprinkle some cinnamon on top if you wish.  Bake for 35-40 minutes until the center is almost set.  Cool for 1 hour and then refrigerate for 3-4 hours before serving.  Serve with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

A *Nice* White Elephant Gift "When Life Gives You Lemons..."

I had a work Christmas party tonight...and it was a white elephant gift exchange.  I started thinking of ideas for this exchange right away but I began feeling bad if I gave someone maxi-pad slippers, or a ziploc of batteries with "no toy included"...So, I found this idea on Pinterest and jazzed it up a bit to make it a gift that someone could indeed use.  Don't get me wrong, some white elephant gifts CAN be useful, like the super vintage brown Pyrex casserole dishes my mom received one year when I was in college and gave to me because she thought they were hideous---I still use them, and love them.  They are Pyrex after all.  Anyways, here is how I jazzed up my white elephant gift of "When LIFE gives you LEMONS, make LEMONADE".

Materials/Shopping List:
Box of LIFE cereal, I chose cinnamon because that is my personal fav.
A couple lemons.
Some Lemonade mix
Bendy Straws
Two glasses of some sort...I chose a thick plastic.
A carafe/pitcher/etc. whatever is on sale ;-)
Ice cube tray
Mini liquor bottles (rum and vodka)
Mixing spoon (I totally forgot to get this, even though it is in my "recipe")

I typed up a "recipe" that was just a bunch of crap, there is a picture below of it with ridiculous instructions...Copy it if you wish :-) Here are the pictures of my personal creation, wrapped up pretty and topped with an awesome gnome ornament that was almost too good to give away... (Bought at Target for anyone wondering...).

Enjoy your Christmas/Holiday parties!

Crock Pot Pasta E Fagioli Soup..or Fagioli E Pasta.....

I attempted to make Pasta E Fagioli soup since I love the one Olive Garden makes.  Pasta E Fagioli essentially means "pasta and beans" <--thanks wikipedia.  This soup has a beef/tomato-y base, filled with beans, veggies, and meat.  I googled for a decent recipe and of course tweaked it a bit to fit my needs and tastes.  Here is what I came up with....Please note, my soup came out SUPER SUPER thick because I am a ding dong and didn't read the complete original recipe regarding amount of noodles...so instead of 8 oz I poured in the entire 13 oz box of noodles.  So, this can be soup or it can be a fabulous pasta dish, your choice :-P.  Here we go!

Ingredients:

1lb ground turkey (or beef, whatever...)

1/2 a large sweet onion, chopped

2 decent sized carrots, chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 large can of diced tomatoes (28 oz) undrained

32oz carton of beef broth or stock

1 can red kidney beans, drained

1 can cannelli/white kidney beans, drained

2 teaspoons oregano

4 teaspoons parsley

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

4-6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional, I was given some homemade chilli powder and it added extra smokiness to the soup)

1 jar of spaghetti sauce

8 ounces of pasta....or the whole box if you want more of a pasta dish rather than soup, whatever you like

Instructions:
1. Brown your turkey/beef in a skillet.
2. Throw everything EXCEPT noodles into the crockpot and stir well.

3. Set the crockpot on "low" and leave for 4-8 hours (doesn't matter a whole lot...mine was on for close to 10 hours).
4.  For the last 30 minutes, crank your crockpot up to HIGH and add your noodles, stir them in.  Stir the soup occasionally so the noodles are able to cook evenly.  In 30 minutes or so the noodles should be soft.

Top with Parmesan cheese, serve with a bread-stick, and enjoy!  Happy cooking! (P.S. above picture is due to me adding too many noodles, so remember: if you want a more soupy appearance and consistency, do not add the whole box of noodles, just half!)

Tastes Just Like Lasagna Soup

This soup tastes just like lasagna...except in soup form...and a lot healthier.  This soup takes approximately an hour from start to finish, I am sure there is a way to do it in the crock pot too.  This makes approximately 6-8 servings.....Here we go:

Ingredients:

2 teas oil (vegetable or olive)

1-2 lbs of ground sausage, turkey, or beef

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

32 oz chicken broth (one carton)

1 (15oz) can tomato sauce

1 jar of chunky spaghetti sauce of your choice

2 cans of diced tomatoes (or one can plus 2 cups fresh diced tomatoes)

1/2 teas salt

1/2 teas crushed red pepper

1 teas garlic powder

1 tbsp basil

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

5 lasagna noodles, broken up into pieces (any kind will work, I used oven ready...)

Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese to top

Instructions:

In a large saucepan/stock pot, add oil, ground meat, onion, garlic, and green pepper together and cook until meat is browned. 

Next, add the broth, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, salt, red pepper, basil, and Italian seasoning.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring often.

After that, bring it to a boil again and add your noodles.  Reduce heat slightly and cook until noodles are soft.  Reduce heat and let it simmer to thicken up.  Remove from heat when you feel it is ready.

It should look something like that....

Top with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella and enjoy!! Maybe even add a bread stick or garlic bread :-)

Dessert Crepes from my yard sale Crepe Maker

Here is a recipe for Dessert Crepes.....they are delicious!  Growing up, I never knew how amazing crepes were.  I happened to randomly buy a vintage (circa 1970s) Oster Creperie maker at a yard sale a few years ago and now I am hooked.  The Creperie maker came with a handy booklet with tons of really awesome (and some really weird) recipes.  Here is a basic dessert crepe recipe pulled from the booklet, though tweaked a bit because it is in vintage-language.  This recipe will make approximately 10-12 crepes.

First things first, make your crepe batter.  Ingredients:

1 1/2 milk

2 tblsp oil

3 eggs

1 1/2 flour

1/8 teas salt

1/2 tblsp vanilla (more if you like...)

Combine all ingredients until mixed together well.

Consistency will be like a really runny pancake batter...try to get out most of the clumps. Place in the fridge until you're ready for it, just stir before using.

Next, make the filling for the crepes, I used a cheese blintz recipe...Ingredients: 

2cups/1lb of ricotta cheese (can use full fat or reduced fat, tastes just the same)

3 oz of softened cream cheese

2 tblsp sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teas vanilla

Beat ingredients together.  It might be a little clumpy, that is ok.  

Place in the fridge until you're ready to use it.

When you're ready for this magic to happen, get your crepe machine hot and ready (OR you can make crepes in a regular frying pan, but I am not sure how that process works, maybe google it? :-)  )  

Pour the batter (NOT the filling) into a shallow pan, we used a ceramic pie dish.  Dip the crepe maker upside down into the dish, dip it 2-3 times but be sure not to overdo it.

 The Creperie is a wonderful thing...I see them at yard sales and thrift stores all the time.

This doesn't take a long time.  Get a flat spatula or tool of some sort to get the crepe off the pan and flip over to brown the other side.  Immediately toss it onto a plate.  If you have two people, it is easiest to fill with the cheese filling right away, but you can do this later as well.  When you're ready to fill the crepes, place 3 spoonfuls of filling in each crepe, folding it like a weird burrito.  See pictures if that is confusing.

Add any fruit topping you like and top with whipped cream.  MMM MMM good!! Enjoy :-)

Homemade Cinnamon Apple Chips

Easy recipe for anyone wanting to make apple chips!  Really does not take a lot of effort, although it does take up most of the day to cook them.  Here's what ya need:

Apples...I used 6ish apples and filled 3 cookie trays.  Slice the apples super thin, I used my apple peeler/slicer contraption but didn't use the peeler part.  Spray your cookie sheets with cooking spray so they don't stick to the pan (I learned my lesson the first time....).  Place apples on the pan, do not have to be far apart.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Bake for 4ish hours at 200* (you can do 175* if your oven goes that low).  Check every once in a while.  You can even prop your oven door open if you want to let moisture out.  I am no expert on apple chip making, but they are addicting :-)

Mouthwatering Crock Pot Taco Soup

Here is a super easy crock pot taco soup recipe that you can throw together one evening, turn on the crock pot in the morning, and come home to a hearty dinner after work.  This does not take a lot time to prepare, probably 10 minutes or so.  Here are the ingredients:

1-2 lbs of ground beef, browned and drained 

(can also use ground turkey...amount of meat is your choice- how meaty do you want it?)

1 can of red kidney beans

1 can of Ranch beans

(it has a black label, with red lettering- be careful to read and make sure you get the original ones, unless you want super spicy red pepper beans like I bought on accident once...)

2 cans of corn (or 1 bag frozen corn)

1 can of Rotel (again, read label and buy accordingly- original, medium, or hot)

2 cans of stewed tomatoes

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 packet of ranch dressing dry mix

sour cream, shredded cheese, and chips for the toppings.

Brown your meat and drain it completely.  Basically, throw everything into the crock pot and stir well.  Do NOT drain any of the canned items. 

Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours...or longer if your work day is longer than 8 hours.  It won't ruin it if it cooks for 10ish hours, I promise.  Top with sour cream, shredded cheese, and tortilla chips.  Enjoy! 

Roasted Butternut Squash, Chicken, and Quinoa Stew

I typically am not one to rave about a food item that is "healthy", but this is the exception.  This soup is healthy, hearty, and great for cold rainy or snowy days.  A combination of squash, tomatoes, olives, black beans, and quinoa (pronounced keen-wa...I think...makes me sound like a ninja)  provides for a healthy dinnertime option the whole family will enjoy.  Takes 4-6 hours in crock pot, or can be made on the stove top.

Ingredients:

32 oz chicken broth

2-3 chicken breasts, boiled/shredded

1 diced onion

1 can diced tomatoes, not drained

1 can black beans, drained

3/4 cups black olives, sliced in half or quartered, drained

1/2 teas salt

4 cloves garlic, minced.

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp parsley

2/3 cup uncooked Quinoa (found by rice aisle..)

1 butternut squash (1-2 lbs)

Instructions: 

First things first, you need to steam your squash until it is tender enough to cube.  So what I did, and I am no expert on this matter since I did end up screwing it up, was I cut it in half (be careful, squash has been known to take some fingers...) and lay it face up on a cookie sheet, see picture.  Scoop out the guts and discard...or eat, if that is your kind of thing.  Place in the oven at 350* for about 10-45 minutes (or until you get impatient and take it out...but seriously, make sure it is tender enough to cut up...).  Other methods include sticking the whole thing in the oven for some time so it is easier.  OR you could just buy the frozen cubed butternut squash that some grocery stores sell and save some frustrations. :-D

In the meantime, you can combine the remaining ingredients into your stockpot or crock pot.  Plop all of the ingredients into the crockpot in no particular order EXCEPT EXCEPT the quinoa.  That will be added last.  So, that means the broth, the chicken, diced onion, salt, garlic, oregano, tomatoes, olives, beans, and parsley.

When the squash process is done, you need to CUBE one half of the squash and MASH the other half....Scoop out one half, place it in a shallow dish and use a potato masher, doesn't have to be perfect.  See pictures. 

When you have added the squash to the soup, you need to then add that fancy quinoa.  

Mix it well, the quinoa won't look like much but don't you fret....its time will come!

What I did, was place this in the crock pot at 7:45 am on LOW...I got home at 3:45 and checked it, it was super super thick, which was fine with me, however some people don't like that.  So, my recommendation would be to either, A: add the quinoa half way through (say, on your noon lunch break), or B: Start the crock pot at lunch time to be ready by dinner time, or C: Just cook it up on the stove top, there really isn't a reason that this needs to go in the crockpot, but it probably helped my squash become softer.

Enjoy!!

The "In A Pinch" Casserole

The best "in a pinch" casserole you will ever taste....This is my little creation I whipped up when I was craving some real comfort food.  I was thinking of making a casserole of some sort, but I didn't want to go to the store, and the only one I had ever really made before was the wonderful tater tot casserole...but that required ground beef and tater tots- which I had neither.  Then I thought, 'hey, I have a can of tuna...tuna casserole??' and realized the only tuna casserole I knew of required egg noodles...which I did not have.  Rice...Rice was the answer.  So, I cooked the rice and while that magic was happening I got creative....Here is what I ended up putting in this very very delicious casserole:

Rice

Zucchini

Onion

Tomatoes

Green Beans

 (or substitute for any veggies of your choice...)

Tuna

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Cheddar Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:

1. Brown rice:  cook enough for 3-4 servings.

2. While that is cooking either in the microwave or stove top, I lightly sauteed zucchini that was quartered with diced onions.  Probably 1-2 cups of zucchini and 1/4 of a large sweet onion.  Sprinkle on some garlic salt if you wish.

3. In a large casserole dish of some sort, combine: rice, zucchini and onion, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can of tuna, 1 can of green beans, and 1 cup of tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes cut in half...).  Stir well.

4.  Add cheddar cheese (either shredded or chunks...I used chunks.) and sprinkle Parmesan cheese lightly over all of it.

5.  Bake for 20ish minutes until cheese is melted at 350*.

I thought about adding chips to the top, but that was not in my cupboard sadly.

Enjoy!

Chai Pumpkin Spice Kisses cookies

Chai Pumpkin Spice Kisses Cookies

I originally found this recipe on Pinterest of course, but adapted it to the ingredients I had available (example: my tiny town did not have Chai concentrate readily available...).  Here is the recipe that I used:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup chai concentrate (such as the liquid Oregon's Chai...I just used 2 tbls of a vanilla chai tea powdered drink mix that I had made a while back (recipe: http://katskitchen.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/vanilla-chai-tea/ )  mixed with enough water to make 1/4 cup....)

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups flower

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 bag of Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses (or 24ish)  Found at most grocery stores during fall.

Chai spice mix to sprinkle on top:

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions:

Cream together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Add chai concentrate, egg, and vanilla until blended.  Add flour, baking soda, and salt until mixed.  Refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325*

Roll 1 inch round balls from the dough, you'll have about 24. Place the dough balls on cookie sheets and sprinkle the chai spice mix lightly over the top...I kind of went overboard but either way works :-)

Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. Unwrap the kisses while you're waiting.

Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately place pumpkin kisses in the center of each cookie. Cool completely before eating...if you can wait.

Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Kiss Filled Cookie

Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Kiss Filled Cookie

Yes you read it right!!  Sounds complicated?  Well, it is not.  I would never ever call myself a master cookie chef, so anyone can make these and make them turn out perfectly.  I originally got the recipe here: http://www.inspiredbycharm.com/2013/09/1991.html and changed it slightly, mostly cutting the recipe in half just in case I didn't like them.  This recipe makes approximately 24 cookies.

Preheat oven to 350*

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened.

6 tablespoons brown sugar

1/8 cup sugar

1/2 a package of instant chocolate pudding (if you measure it out, it equals approximately 3 tablespoons)

1 egg

1 teas vanilla

1/2 teas baking soda

1 1/8 cups flour

1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 bag of pumpkin spice Hershey Kisses unwrapped (in this case, I used 24 kisses)

Instructions: 

In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.

In a larger mixing bowl, mix butter and sugars together until smooth.  Add the pudding mix.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.

Add the flour mixture in and mix.  It will be fairly thick.

Roll the dough into 1" balls. 

 Flatten each ball, put a kiss in the middle and form the dough around the kiss and re-roll in the palm of your hand until it is a ball again.  

Place on un-greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes.  It took mine 11 minutes to bake.  

Cool for about 5 seconds before eating :-)  Enjoy!