Wednesday, May 20, 2009

granola


Made some delicious homemade granola last night. Peep the recipe here!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are so many versions of this recipe floating around. Hard to say which is best. I like this one and have used it for years. I usually half it if it's just for the fam, it makes a lot.

Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 ½ cup sugar
2 cup brown sugar
1 lb. real butter (no substitutions)
4 beaten eggs
6 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla
2 bags of gourmet chocolate chips (milk chocolate 6 oz.)

Cream butter and sugars. Add egg. Sift in dry ingredients. And vanilla and chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for about 8 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies will look underdone, kind of doughy.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

GARLIC CHICKEN FARFALLE


I made this for Lacy and Dave when I went down a few weeks ago. I hadn't ever made it before but I have to say I found it to be really delicious. I found it one day whilst blog surfing, I wish I could remember where so I could give them credit. One note on the bacon. If you cook it on a cookie cooling rack it drains off most of the grease.

16 oz. Farfalle pasta
1 c. heavy whipping cream
3-4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed OR garlic salt (I do a spoonful of crushed garlic)
1 Tbsp. pepper*
1/2 c. butter
1 lb. bacon, crumpled**
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
1 (12 oz) Lawry’s mesquite marinade with lime juice

*Seems like a lot of pepper, but it has a wonderful flavor when everything mixes together. If you're apprehensive, do less pepper. You can always add more.

**We like to cook our bacon in the oven (400 degrees, convection). Way less messy. And it's crispy every time. Time varies, so you just have to watch it. I think it's usually around 30 minutes. Allow to cool and then crumple (I totally wear disposable gloves for this part - surprise, surprise).

[ directions ]

Crock pot chicken and bottle of marinade on low for 6 hours. Pull marinated chicken out of the juices, allow to cool a little bit, and shred (I pull it apart). Set this aside. About a half-hour before serving, boil the pasta. In a small saucepan, melt butter, add garlic, whipping cream, pepper, parmesan cheese, and crumpled bacon. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. In a large bowl, pour over cooked, drained pasta, add chicken and stir through. Sprinkle a little bit more shredded parmesan cheese on top.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Mother's day Munchies

For Mother’s day Megs and Kenz took over making dinner. They made CafĂ© Rio Salad (previously posted and raved about here).
Earlier in the day we also munched on some Banana Nut muffins, baked in pink polka dot liners no less.

Banana Nut Muffins

3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla


1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup of flour

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (toasted or raw)

Preheat the oven to 350°. Mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.
Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated. Fold in the chopped nuts.
Pour mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack. Makes 12.


I also made these little Mother's day 'tokens' for my visiting teaching ladies and my girls. It's white fudge in a house cookie cutter. Very easy and kind of cute.

Raspberry White Fudge Cookie Cutter Gifts
(Adapted from Pillsbury)

1 package (12 oz) white chocolate chips (about 2 cups)
1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
½ tsp raspberry or cherry extract
Food coloring (if desired, pink is good)
Nuts, if desired

Line a large cookie sheet with foil. Spray foil then cookie cutters;
Place on foil-lined cookie sheet. Melt vanilla chips in a saucepan
Over low heat; stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and
Stir in frosting and extract.

Fill each cookie cutter with mixture. Refrigerate about 1 hour
or until firm. Decorate as desired.

Wrap each filled cookie cutter with cellophane or plastic wrap;
Tie with ribbon and store in the refrigerator.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Fettuccine Alfredo Sauce (like Olive Garden's)

We had this at our RS Enrichment in March. Very good & easy. Delighted to find the recipe printed in our RS newsletter today.

Sauce Ingredients:

½ cup butter
1 pint heavy Whipping cream
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 dash cayenne pepper
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
¼ cup cream cheese, cut up
1 pound Fettuccine, prepared as directed

In a saucepan (medium heat) melt butter, add cream, garlic powder, and salt & pepper and dash of cayenne. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes stirring constantly, until thick. (Because this sauce takes a long time and doesn’t thicken easily without it, go ahead and add the cream cheese in about 5-10 minutes into making it.) Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese. Stir until melted and serve over cooked fettuccine.* Good with cut up fresh basil, chicken or bacon, too.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Fried Ice Cream

3 cups of corn flakes (slightly crushed) with hands
1-1/2 cups coconut
1-1/2 cups Heath Toffee Bits (blue on bag)
1 cube butter
vanilla ice cream
homemade caramel sauce(see recipe)
whipped topping

On a large cooke pan mix corn flakes, coconut, and Heath Toffee Bits. Sprinkle with desired amount of pumpkin spice and mix well. Melt butter. Pour over mixture. Mix until moistened.
Spread evenly. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until coconut is golden brown. Stir mixture half way thru so both sides are golden brown. Let mixture cool a little. Roll ice cream balls that you have done ahead and placed on pan in fridge top with caramel sauce and whipped topping. Enjoy!

Homemade Caramel Sauce*

1 cube butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Melt buttin in a sauce pan. Add remaining ingredients and stir constantly over medium heat until mixture boils for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat. Sauce will thicken as it cools.