White Chip Chocolate Cookies

I made these cookies one time for backwards day at school, since they're reversed from the traditional chocolate chip cookie with the dark cookie and light chips. Ever since then, my kids have called them "Inside-Out Cookies". Pretty much I only make them once in a while, since we can gobble a whole batch in one sitting. They're soft, chocolatey, and oh so yummy!
The ingredients:
1 cup butter
2/3 cup cocoa
3/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
2-1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter, white sugar, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture into butter mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by well-rounded tablespoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 6 minutes (you'll want them to look slightly under-done when you take them out).

Enjoy!

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Orange Chicken

This is one of the great recipes from the Lion House cookbook! I love the orange/onion combination and the prep time is so short it's perfect for fixing and forgetting.


The ingredients:
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 can (6-oz) orange juice concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs. corn starch
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. salt
4-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine flour, salt, and pepper in plastic bag. Add chicken pieces and shake to coat well. Place chicken pieces in baking pan. Spread onions generously over surface.

Combine orange juice, water, brown sugar, nutmeg, and cornstarch. Pour over chicken. Cover with foil and bake at 325° for 45-60 minutes or until chicken is tender and cooked through. Serve with rice.

Enjoy!

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Whole Wheat Herb Bread

The perfect accompaniment to a savory soup on a cold winter day.


The ingredients:
2 cups warm water (divided)
2 Tbs. yeast
2 cups whole wheat flour
2-1/2 cups white flour
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup powdered milk
1 Tbs. sweet basil flakes
1 Tbs. crushed rosemary
1 Tbs. ground marjoram
1 Tbs. crushed parsley leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
1 large egg

Combine 1/2 cup of the warm water and yeast in a small bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine wheat flour, 2 cups of the white flour, powdered milk, salt, basil, rosemary, marjoram, and parsley and mix well.

In another bowl mix together the remaining 1-1/2 cups warm water, oil, and honey. Combine with dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Add the egg.

Once the egg is fully mixed in, combine yeast mixture with flour mixture. Continue to add remaining 1/2 cup flour until mixture is stiff and difficult to stir. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, adding additional flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Once the dough is smooth, place in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise in a a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

After the bread has doubled, work it down and shape into three free-form loaves. Cover and let dough rise again until nearly doubled, about 1 hour. Bake a lightly greased cookie sheet for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Enjoy!

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Thai Beef Stir Fry

When I cooked this recipe up for my family, my little one asked me why the chicken was so dark. Hehe. Apparently I don't make beef enough for them. The kids loved this meal and Glen was completely gaga over it and was asking me to make it for him just a couple nights later. This is definitely going into the keeper file!

The ingredients: 2 Tbs. cornstarch
3/4 cup water
3 Tbs. peanut butter
4 Tbs. soy sauce (divided)
1-1/2 lbs. boneless beef top sirloin steak, thinly sliced
1-1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 EACH medium green, sweet red, and yellow pepper julienned
1 can (8-oz.) bamboo shoots, drained
1/2 cup julienned carrot
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Hot cooked rice

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Stir in peanut butter and 3 tablespoons soy sauce; set aside. In a large skillet or wok, stir-fry the beef, garlic, pepper (the spice), and remaining soy sauce in oil on medium heat until meat is no longer pink; remove beef from pan, leaving the juices behind.

Add the peppers, bamboo shoots, carrot and pepper flakes to the juices; stir-fry 2-3 minutes or until tender.
Stir cornstarch mixture; add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Return beef mixture to the pan. Serve with rice. Makes 6 servings.

Enjoy!

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Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pound Cake

Any of you fellow cooks out there who have been following our blog for long, know that we're a little nutty for peanut butter in our family. (haha--I just crack myself up sometimes). This cake is moist and peanutty on the inside with a hardened chocolate shell on the outside. In other words, it was crazy good and we gobbled up the whole thing in less than 24 hours.

The ingredients:(anything that starts with a cake mix is a friend of mine)

1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup milk
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (divided)
3 eggs
2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (divided)
1/3 cup chopped peanuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and lightly flour a 12-cup bundt pan; set aside.

In large bowl, with electric mixer at low speed, beat cake mix, milk, 1/2 cup peanut butter, and eggs until blended, about 1 minute. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes, scraping sides occasionally. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove cake from pan.
Meanwhile, microwave remaining 1 cup chocolate chips with 1/4 cup peanut butter on high for 1 minute or until chocolate is melted; stir until smooth. Drizzle or spread over cooled cake and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.

Enjoy!

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Potato Quiche

I worry about a lot of things in my life, but there's one thing I never worry about....me becoming an anorexic. No way. I love food way too much. Plus skipping meals for me is torturous...not just on me, but on anyone who crosses my path when I'm hungry. When our church moved to a later schedule on Sunday mornings (to go right through the lunch hour) I quickly realized that unless we had a plan of action that there was going to be embarrassing trouble on our pew at church. So we did what any food-loving family would do, we created a new family tradition....Sunday morning brunch!

This potato quiche has quickly become one of our Sunday morning favorites...easy to make, filling, and delicious!

















The ingredients:















CRUST:
2 cups shredded potatoes (just buy them pre-packaged, it's not worth the trouble doing them from scratch)

FILLING:
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. seasoning salt
1 cup cubed ham
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Spray a 10" pie pan with no-stick spray. Press the potatoes flat into pan and up the sides. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until edges are brown.

Beat together eggs, milk, and seasoning salt. Then stir in the remaining ingredients. Pour into potato crust. Bake at 375° for 35-40 minutes.















Enjoy!

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Fresh Tomato and Spinach Pasta

I tried this meal after finding it on a friend's blog and we loved how fresh and tasty it was, even without any meat. It's perfect for those nights when you just need something fast and light!


















The ingredients:















8 oz. dry noodles (ziti or rotini)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. olive oil
3 cups coarsely chopped, seeded tomatoes (~6 medium)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
4 cups spinach, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted (I used slivered almonds instead)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Gorgonzola cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and keep warm.

Meanwhile in a large skillet cook onion and garlic in hot olive oil over medium heat until onion is tender. Add tomato, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Cook and stir over medium-high heat about 2 minutes or until tomato is warm and releases some of its juices. Stir in spinach; heat just until greens wilt.

To serve, top pasta with tomato mixture; sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and cheese. Serves 4-6.

Enjoy!

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Homemade Oreo Cookies

My personal opinion is that these homemade Oreo cookies are leaps and bounds above the wimpy little ones from the store. These are soft and gooey and oh so yummy! Cami always tries to make them gargantuan sized, which I always give her a hard time about, but in all reality I'm secretly glad when she does so I can eat more without being embarrassed. After all I can say that I only ate three cookies...never mind they were as big as slices of bread...it was only three!
















The ingredients:
















COOKIE:
2 chocolate cake mixes (dry)
1 cup butter
4 eggs

FILLING:
1 pkg. (8-oz.) cream cheese
1-3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbs. butter

Combine cake mixes, butter, and eggs and roll into small evenly sized balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes. When cool spread with filling and then sandwich them together like an Oreo! The superior Oreo.















( single stuffed Oreo)

Enjoy!

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Peanut Butter Pancakes

We love all things peanut butter in our house, so when my friend shared this recipe for peanut butter pancakes,  I just knew I had to make them. So I did....the very next day. They lived up to our expectations and my girls love having another fun pancake to throw into their breakfast cooking repertoire.  Serve with  buttermilk caramel syrup or if you really like peanut butter try it with the peanut butter syrup recipe here, or if making your own syrup isn't your thing, then they're  also tasty by themselves or with old-fashioned maple syrup!  

 Click here for printable recipe.

The ingredients:


1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour (I used white whole wheat flour for all of it)

2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tbs. sugar
2 Tbs. oil
1 egg
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. milk (plus more if needed)



Directions:  Mix wet and dry ingredients separately, then add wet to dry. Mix till just moistened. Cook by 1/4 cupfuls on griddle. Makes about 12 pancakes.

Enjoy!

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Tomato Basil Soup

I had never been a big fan of tomato soup until I branched out from the Campbell's variety and tried the delicious, creamy versions at restaurants like La Madeleine and Panera Bread. I was completely hooked, and now I'm so glad to have learned that it is SO easy to recreate at home! The version pictured here is made without cream, since I cook for one who doesn't get along well with dairy, but the soup is delicious without the cream and would probably be to die for with it!

Click here for printable recipe. 

Posted by Karey. 

What you'll need:


2 cans (28-ounces each) crushed tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 Tbs. basil
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic (or if you're not lazy like me, fresh garlic, to taste)
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup butter

(Note from Lara:  I used 5-6 cloves of pressed fresh garlic.  I cut the butter in half and left in the full amount of cream....delicious!  We served it with breadsticks.  Yum!) 

Mix together tomatoes, chicken broth, basil, sugar, and garlic. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer over low heat until you have to serve it. I've simmered for 10 minutes and it was delicious, and I've simmered for 1 1/2 hours and it was divine. In other words, the longer the better, but you can make it fast and it works just fine.

When you're ready to serve, remove the soup from the heat and stir in the cream (not pictured) and the butter. Stir until the butter has melted.

Then try, just try, not to eat the whole pot! Mmmmmmmmmmm... now THAT'S good!

If you really want to wow your family or your guests, serve with this easy french bread!

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