Sunday, January 16, 2011

My Itty Bitty Sweet N' Fluffy Iced Pumpkin Cookies

These are soooooo good, once you have one you might not be able to stop. Its a good thing that this recipe makes a TON of cookies. They're little bite sized cookies though. Kind of a pain to frost all of them but it's worth it :)

Yields about 60 cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bakings soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:
2 cups confectioners/powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Tip: Cut up butter into tablespoon slices if not already softened. This makes it soften quicker.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients.

Drop on cookie sheets with balls the size of a walnut. The cookies are tastier when they're tiny, and they grow when they bake, so the smaller dough balls you have, the better :)

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

To make the Icing, Combine confectioners sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Achieve drizzling consistency but not too liquified.

Once cookies are baked and cooled, you can either drizzle the icing on with a fork (make cool hearts and flowers), or just dip the top of them in the bowl (easier, but not as cool) either way it's a little messy so you'll want to set them on wax paper until the icing dries and before you put them on display. :)


Sunday, December 19, 2010

Grandma Sandy's Chicken Broccoli Casserole

This is great for bringing to a party, its delish. everyone loves it, way better than a bag of chips.
Also makes amazing leftovers :)

2 chicken breasts
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
1 cup chopped celery
3 cups minute rice (6 servings)
2 bundles of fresh broccoli cut into small florets
(or 2 packages of frozen chopped broccoli)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream celery soup
3/4 small block of velveeta cheese
1 bag fried onions (found in canned vegetable aisle)

Basic Necessities:
1 med skillet
2 small to medium saucepans with fitted lids
1 steamer basket
1 large mixing bowl
9x12 baking dish

Preheat oven to 350. Sauté the chicken breasts in olive oil in skillet. Cook a few minutes on each side, a little underdone. It can finish cooking later in the oven so it's not over cooked. Remove from pan and set aside to cool. Using same skillet, melt butter over medium high heat and saute celery and onions until translucent, about 5-6 minutes.

Cook minute rice according to package directions and set aside.

Meanwhile, steam broccoli for about 4-5 min and set aside.

Using same pan as broccoli (may need to rinse out and dry) heat both soups and cheese over medium heat until cheese is melted and smooth. Stir often...careful not to burn cheese on bottom of pan.

Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes.

Combine cheese sauce, chicken, onions & celery, and rice in a large mixing bowl. Fold in broccoli. Spread mixture in greased 9x12 baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foile, sprinkle dried onions over casserole, and bake for another 10 minutes, until onions are crunchy and slightly golden.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

CopyKat P.F. Changs Lettuce Wraps

For the Chicken:

  • 1 large egg white
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
  • 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced

For the Stir-Fry Sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
  • 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch

For the Stir-Fry:

  • 4 tablespoons peanut oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon minced peeled ginger
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
  • 4 scallions; 2 minced, 2 cut into 1-inch pieces
  • Kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms,stemmed and diced
  • 3/4 cup diced water chestnuts
  • Small lettuce leaves, for serving
  • Soy sauce, chili paste and/or hot mustard, for serving
Basic Necessities:
2 Small Bowls
Large Skillet

Prepare the chicken: Whisk the egg white, cornstarch and rice wine in a bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Make the stir-fry sauce: Whisk 1/3 cup water, the oyster, hoisin and soy sauces, the rice wine and sesame oil in a bowl, then whisk in the cornstarch until dissolved.

Make the stir-fry: Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons peanut oil to the skillet; when almost smoking, stir in the garlic, ginger, jalapeno and minced scallions, then add 1/2 teaspoon salt and the sugar and stir-fry 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms, water chestnuts and scallion pieces and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the stir-fry sauce and chicken and cook 1 minute.

Make a bed of noodles on a platter and top with the chicken mixture. Serve the noodles and stir-fry with lettuce leaves and soy sauce for dipping.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Best EVAR Banana Bread

Loved by all

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Basic Necessities:
Metal loaf pan (9x5x3)
Large bowl

Preheat oven to 325.
Spray pan on metal loaf pan.
Whisk bananas and eggs in large bowl.
Add all remaining ingredients and stir to blend well.
Transfer batter to pan.
Bake bread about 1 hr 20 min. or until top is golden brown and splits slightly.
Insert fork into center and make sure it comes out clean.
Cool in pan on rack.

:)

Monday, June 28, 2010

1st Place Snicker Doodles

This recipe won in my classes cookie contest, and everyone loves them. They taste best when you make them large! But they also turn out a bit flat like a pancake, I need to figure out how to make them fluffier but they taste so good, they are the talk of the party usually. If you want them fluffy and airy, make them small.

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs

Basic Necessities:
Large bowl
Medium bowl
Small bowl
Egg beater

Preheat oven to 375. Grab 2 sticks (1 cup) of butter out of the fridge and cut them into tablespoon sized pieces to let soften.

Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat together butter and sugar in another medium-large bowl.
Gradually add dry ingredients into the butter mixture.

In a small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons sugar + 2 teaspoons cinnamon.

For the first cookie, roll dough into a ball the size of a walnut for small cookies, or the size of a golf ball for large cookies. Roll into the cinnamon sugar mixture until thoroughly coated. Place on a baking pan. Place each cookie VERY far apart, more than you usually would. (unless you want square cookies) Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Chef Chloe's Easy Vegan Pad Thai

I want to try this recipe! Found on www.chefchloe.com (a vegan chef who won cupcake wars on food network!)

"You won't be dissappointed with this healthy vegan version of traditional Pad Thai. Using brown rice noodles instead of white rice noodles is a deliciously sneaky way to increase the nutritional value of this dish. These tangy, sweet and slippery noodles are seriously addicting!

8 ounces dried brown rice noodles
4 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons canola oil
3 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bunch broccoli, steamed and florets cut
½ cup fresh cilantro
¼ cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts

Basic Necessities:
Large pot
Medium bowl
Large skillet

Cook noodles according to package instructions. While that's cooking, Steam broccoli and cut into bite sized pieces. Slice scallions thinly and separate the white and green parts. Chop up your roasted salted peanuts and cilantro. Drain and rinse noodles with cold water.

Whisk together brown sugar, lime juice, and soy sauce in medium bowl
In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add scallions and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant.
Add broccoli, noodles, and soy sauce mixture to skillet, toss constantly until noodles and broccoli are coated with sauce.
Serve noodles with lime wedges and top with cilantro and peanuts.

Bow-tie Sausage Red Bell Pepper Mushroom Pasta

This is reallllly good! I love the sausage and the red bell pepper sauciness. I just need to think of a new name for it.

1 lb. box of bow-tie pasta.
1 lb. chicken sausage (any variety)(ie: you could get one pack of spicy and one pack of honey roasted) cut into semi-circles
1 large roasted red bell peper, diced
8-10 oz crimini or white button mushrooms, sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium yellow-onion, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup cream
1 cup white cooking wine or chicken broth
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
salt + pepper

Basic Necessities:
Large pot
Large skillet
Cutting board

Bring a large pot of water to a boil + cook pasta until al dente. While that's boiling and cooking,
Slice mushrooms and dice onions and bell peppers. Cut sausage into semi-circles. Strain noodles + set aside.

Add olive oil to a large pre-heated skillet and sauté onions + garlic until lightly browned. Add sausage and allow to brown. Add bell pepper and mushrooms + sauté until soft. Add white wine or chicken broth and allow it to cook down for 3-5 min. Add cream, parmesan cheese, and season with salt + pepper.

Add pasta and chopped basil + combine throughly. Serve immediately.