Yummy Warminess

Since I've started working, I've found myself often tempted to make a beeline to the Starbucks located upstairs from the store where I work during every break opportunity. Since I am NOT a coffee drinker, there is only ONE beverage I drink from Starbucks: Hot Chocolate. And it's the best hot chocolate ever. I always order it "extra hot" -- which seems a bit redundant since it's already a hot beverage, but I like it super-duper, burn-the-taste-buds-off-your-tongue hot. And they're happy to oblige. And it's good. VERY good. Maybe too good, considering the number of trips I've made over there to quench this craving.

I've tried to duplicate Starbucks hot chocolate at home. I bought a milk frother thingy. No dice. I bought a nuggin' espresso machine just to steam the milk. Notsomuch. I've struck out with every attempt to duplicate this deliciousness.

Until now.

Enter the Starbucks Hot Chocolate recipe I found online over the weekend. OhMyGoodness. I never thought it'd actually be possible to duplicate the exact yumminess of Starbucks hot chocolate! But this recipe sure enough does! It is SO good. And SO easy. And SO good.

Without further ado, let me share this recipe with you.

Starbucks Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• whipped cream (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the water, cocoa, and sugar in a 16-ounce microwave-safe pitcher, such as a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Zap the mixture on high for 30 seconds, or until hot. Stir well to create chocolate syrup.
2. Add the milk to the chocolate syrup and microwave the mixture for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, or until hot. Add the vanilla and pour the drink into a 16-ounce coffee mug. Serve with whipped cream on top.

Make one 16-ounce (grande size) serving.

Seriously, if you're a hot chocolate connoisseur, you owe it to yourself to make a mug-full of this amazing recipe immediately! You will NOT be disappointed!

Enjoy!! :)

Healthy Bites: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

These are BY FAR the BEST oatmeal raisin cookies on the planet! They are soft, moist, chewy and incredibly delicious! And the bet part is they are healthy! There's only 2 Tbsp. of butter in the entire recipe! I know, right?!

Seriously. These things are the best. They keep for days, assuming they last that long. My kids loved them. Hubs loved them. I loved them. But keep in mind they are only "healthy" if you avoid eating half a dozen in one sitting, which -- believe me -- isn't as easy as it sounds.

Enjoy!

Photo from www.davidlebovitz.com

Photo from www.davidlebovitz.com

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

About 36 cookies
Adapted from Nick Malgieri’s book, Perfect Light Desserts: Fabulous Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and More Made with Real Butter, Sugar, Flour, and Eggs (HarperCollins).
 
Ingredients:

1 cup flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups rolled oats (not instant)

1/2 cup dark raisins (or dried cranberries)
2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper, foil, or silicone mats

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the rack on the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar until smooth. Mix in the brown sugar, then the egg, applesauce, and vanilla.
4. Stir in the dry ingredients, then the oats and raisins.
5. Drop the batter by rounded teaspoons 2-inches apart on the baking sheets and use a fork to gently flatten the dough.
6. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they “look dull on the surface but are moist and soft,” according to Nick. Rotate baking sheets during baking for even heating.

(I made mine bigger, so whatever size you make them, just bake them until they look as directed by Nick.)

Storage: Once cool, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Good Stuff

If you're looking for a tasty way to welcome the cooler weather, I'd recommend these cookies. They're cake-like, not too sweet and topped with a nice brown sugar glaze.

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:

Cookies:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup pureed cooked pumpkin
1 medium egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

Icing:
1/2 cup brown sugar
¼ cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon of vanilla


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Prepare the cookies: Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add pumpkin and egg and beat well.

3. In a separate large bowl, sift together remaining dry ingredients. Add to pumpkin mixture, beating to blend.

4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and flatten into cookie shapes. Place on parchment-covered backing sheet and bake until light golden, 9 to 11 minutes. Remove and cool.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the icing: Combine brown sugar, milk, and butter in a small saucepan; bring to a boil and remove from heat. Whisk in sugar and vanilla until smooth.

6. When cookies are slightly cooled, generously glaze the icing over the tops and allow to cool completely before serving.

Pick Me Up

If you're ever having one of "those" days (or weeks or months... whatever the case may be), do yourself a favor and make these Apple Fritters. And for best results, make half a batch. You'll feel less guilty after you've eaten them all.

I sprinkled some with powdered sugar and some with a cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Sugar Cookies

I've been looking for the perfect sugar cookie recipe, and seem to keep striking out. So I decided to take a recipe and modify it to turn it into what I've been looking for (hopefully). And as it turns out, these are the epitome of the sugar cookie you would pay good money for at your favorite bakery. Yum!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 3 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. 
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour (I refrigerated the dough overnight).
3. Place a few tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart. Flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar, or flatten with a potato masher as I did. Sprinkle with additional sugar.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are set. Do not let them brown! If you use a baking stone, the cookies will finish baking after removing the stone from the oven. Cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Salsa Time!

I'm hosting a Pampered Chef party tomorrow night (I'm in DESPERATE need of a new $8.50 skinny scraper!) and am really excited about it. I love to host things. I love to cook, bake and make stuff. This isn't new to those of you who know me well or have been reading the blog for a while. So I have a nice list of yummy appetizers and finger foods to serve tomorrow night, along with the recipes the Consultant will be demonstrating. Yum.

One of the items on my list is restaurant-style salsa. I love me some salsa. And chips. And more salsa. And more chips. So of course I went to my trusty Internet recipe source: The Pioneer Woman. Lo and behold, she had a restaurant-style salsa recipe that I was totally stoked to try.

So I knocked it out this morning while the kids were eating breakfast. Then I tried it.

In the words of LO, "Oh, wow."

It was delish. And I can only imagine how much better it will taste after sitting in the fridge for a few hours, all the flavors and ingredients coming together in sheer bliss.

My only issue with the salsa spectacular this morning? Of course, the mess:

My food processor and I aren't on speaking terms. I don't know what the deal is (user error), but I'm always having problems with stuff falling out the center. And when I went to dump the salsa into a bowl, half of it spilled out the middle before I could get it to the bowl! I'm pretty sure this is my fault, since I removed the blade while the container was still on the food processor, so when I lifted the container (with nothing in the center), there was a lovely, gaping hole for it all to fall out of. Argh! Maybe I should read the manual...

But again, I can't reiterate enough how worth it this was:

I'm not ashamed to admit I had salsa for breakfast this morning... :)

Whole-Wheat Tortillas

I couldn't help but share this recipe, folks. I whipped these up the other night to make chicken tacos and they were DI.VINE. It was insane how good these were. And the effort it took to make them? So minimal it's not even worth mentioning. I've always been one to prefer soft tacos over hard, but I've never considered myself a tortilla snob. I'll just take what I can get -- whether it's what the restaurant serves or what the store stocks on their shelves. And really, the only time I'd use tortillas would be for tacos. I've never tried them as wraps or anything crazy like that.

But let me tell you, these tortillas are SO MUCH BETTER than ANYTHING you can find in the store, and I'd say they are even better than what is served in your typical restaurant. When I made them the other night, I cut the recipe in half to make only 6 tortillas (knowing LO wouldn't touch one and hubs isn't the biggest fan). Plus I wasn't sure if I would have success with the recipe or admit defeat to yet another failure of homemade cooking (it's not as easy as you think!). After I tasted the first one I made, I immediately wished I had made the full recipe for 12 tortillas. They were THAT good.

The best part? And if you know us well, you'll know this is a HUGE accomplishment... I was able to get LO to eat one! She wasn't a big fan of the chicken and cheese "roll-up" I made for her that night, but when I put her trusty peanut butter and jelly into a "roll-up" and served it for lunch the next day, she scarfed it down with only slight pleading on my part! I was amazed! LO just doesn't eat (or like) anything new! Yay!

I also ate some for leftovers the next day, and hubs sounded somewhat disappointed when I told him that yes, the tortillas were all gone. :( These are definitely a keeper, and I will be making these often for our family. Give the recipe a try -- you won't regret it!

Click here for the recipe from The Food Illusion -- one of my newest favorite blogs!

((The photo above is from The Food Illusion.))

Homemade Strawberry Cupcakes

Tuesday afternoon, I decided LO and I were going to make some cupcakes to celebrate another successful day of preschool. So no, it doesn't take much for me to find a reason to celebrate with cake... ;) But rather than go buy a boxed cake mix (the horror!), I turned to my friend -- the trusty Internet -- and found a recipe for a strawberry cake made from scratch. No cake mixes, no colored/flavored gelatin -- just fresh strawberries, some butter, oil, sugar, flour etc. LO and I made them together and it was fun!

The cupcakes are topped with a cream cheese frosting, which definitely isn't my favorite, but I had all the ingredients on hand so we went for it.


In my opinion, the cupcakes turned out a bit more "dense" than I'm used to. I prefer something lighter, and these seemed quite heavy. But it was extra nice making them from scratch and being able to recognize (and pronounce!) all the ingredients we used.

Did LO like the cupcakes? Judge for yourselves... ;)

So Yummy! So Yummy!!

I would be a horrible excuse for a blogger if I didn't share this lovely little gem I discovered tonight with all of you. First of all, you have to be a lover of oatmeal raisin cookies--or at least oatmeal cookies--to truly appreciate this post. If you're not a fan of said cookies, you can move on to your other blogs now. :)

I love oatmeal raisin cookies. I'm always searching for the best (read: soft, thick, chewy) oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. I think my search is over.

Aren't they beautiful? They taste even better than they look! So I started with this cookie recipe from allspice.com. I didn't do anything different except omitting the ground cloves (since I didn't have any) and chilling the dough for about 10 minutes before baking each sheet of cookies. I think chilling the dough really helped keep these bad boys thick and chewy! So here's the cookie recipe:

Beth's Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container. Make sure you get some, because they don't last long!

As if they aren't already delicious enough, I knew there was ONE way to make them even better: Paula Deen's Brown Butter Icing. I tried her cookie recipe once before and it didn't really do it for me. But the icing? DI-VINE!!!

Brown Butter Icing

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 to 4 tablespoons water

In a small saucepan heat the butter over medium heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in 3 cups sifted powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in enough water (3 to 4 tablespoons) to make an icing of drizzling consistency. Drizzle on warm cookies.

Yield: enough to ice 5 dozen cookies

Do yourself (and loved ones) a favor and mix up these sweet pieces of heaven right away! Words can't express the yumminess!

17 Days and Counting...

So the lack of blog updates obviously means there isn't much going on these days. It's crazy how slowly the last few weeks have passed. I guess it's also crazy to think that Chase will be here in just 17 short days. There truly is a LOT to be done between now and then, but we really can't start tackling the To Do lists until next week. I'm at the point now where I'm telling hubs thinks like, "You know, we only have one more Friday to relax here at home before our world turns upside-down." I've also been thinking about how much we'll wish we could just lounge on the couch, watching TV after LO goes to bed, knowing our family is all together under one roof, safe and healthy. A month from now, we'll be balancing living in a temporary home, spending time with our precious son at MUSC, trying to spend time with LO, trying to stay sane as a family, hoping and praying that God will touch our son and bring healing to his tiny little heart. Our lives truly will never be the same.

On another note... I'm planning a surprise date night for hubs and I tonight. He doesn't know anything other than the fact that we have plans. I'm really excited about where we're going and what we'll be doing, but I can't share that here (not that hubs reads the blog or anything -- just still don't want to somehow spoil the surprise). I'll share details later. But I figure this will be a good opportunity to have "one last date night" before things get crazy, while also celebrating hubs' birthday together. He's got a BIG birthday coming up on Tuesday, although apparently he had forgotten all about it until I brought it up last night. I'm telling you, he's been so overly slammed at work the past few months and is completely mentally drained. Plus there's so much looming just around the corner that he really doesn't have any breathing room with everything on his plate. I'm really hopeful he'll be able to relax for a bit tonight and forget all about everything, if only just for a few hours.

On a totally random note regarding my earlier Cookie Day post... I still absolutely LOVE the peanut butter cookie recipe. It's seriously completely fool-proof, and they stay soft for days (assuming they stick around for days and aren't eaten moments after coming out of the oven). I did try the Snickerdoodles recipe but they came out A-W-F-U-L. You know, like when the dough spreads out on the pan and results in one huge, flat, underbaked cookie? Ya, it was bad. I need to try to find a new Snickerdoodles recipe to try out. And unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to try the Oatmeal Raisin recipe, but I hope to give it a whirl over the weekend. :)

Easy and Delicious

I can't help but share this awesome recipe. It is THE EASIEST crock-pot chicken recipe I know of, and it is sooooooooooooooo good! I hope my friend CM doesn't mind me sharing this recipe with you, but I just KNOW you'll love this as much as I do!

Creamy Crock-Pot Chicken

Ingredients:
2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8-16 oz. sour cream

Directions:

1. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry.

2. Place onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup and sour cream in a lightly greased slow cooker.

3. Mix ingredients well, adding a dash or two of salt and pepper. Add chicken to slow cooker, covering it with the soup mixture.

4. Cook for approximately 4 hours on High or 6 hours on Low.

5. Serve over mashed potatoes (or rice) and enjoy!


[NOTE: Sorry for the horrible cell phone pic AND for the fact that I forgot to take a picture of dinner plated and looking all pretty. Yes, this picture is of the leftovers! I also served with applesauce (not pictured). :)]

Bon appétit!

Take That, Panera!!

You all remember the great bread bowl debacle of 2008, right? The one where two different Paneras were out of bread bowls on two different consecutive days? Well, let's just say those experiences have left a bad taste in my mouth (no pun intended). It's very frustrating to plan a meal and set an expectation around a delicious bread bowl only to find there are none. At this point, I'm not quite ready to tackle making homemade sourdough bread bowls from the comfort of my kitchen (I'm not very well versed in working with live active yeast). But I did decide to give our favorite Panera soup--Broccoli Cheddar--a shot from home. I actually made it about 2 weeks ago and It. Was. Awesome. I made it again for hubs and I tonight and thought I'd share this delicious gem with my blog reader(s). It's really a very simple recipe and doesn't require much skill in the kitchen at all! But it comes out so delicious that people will think you picked it up from your local Panera on your way home from work!

Enjoy!

Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup

1¼ hours | 30 min prep
SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon melted butter
  
• 1/2 medium chopped onion
  
• 1/4 cup melted butter
  
• 1/4 cup flour
  
• 2 cups half-and-half cream (I've used either whole milk or 1% milk instead--just as yummy!)
  
• 2 cups chicken stock
  
• 1/2 lb fresh broccoli
  
• 1 cup carrot, julienned
  
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (I just use a dash or two)
  
• 8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
  
• salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Sauté onion in butter. Set aside.


2. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and add the half & half.


3. Add the chicken stock. Simmer for 20 minutes.


4. Add the broccoli, carrots and onions. Cook over low heat 20-25 minutes.


5. Add salt and pepper. Purée half of soup in a blender. Return to heat and add cheese. Stir in nutmeg. Continue to cook until cheese is nicely melted. Serve hot!

Mmmmmmm!!!

Sugar Cookies--Round 2!

As some of you may know, I've been looking for a new sugar cookie recipe to use for Christmas cookies this holiday season. I attempted the Martha Stewart recipe, but it just didn't work as well as I'd hoped. So now I'm on to round 2!

I came across this recipe--aptly titled The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies--and these came out MUCH better! I didn't bother to take a bunch of pictures 'cause I figure most of you probably don't care for the step-by-step details. But I will say this dough was MUCH easier to work with, and although the cookies spread a bit while baking, it wasn't nearly as bad as the Martha Stewart recipe.

So give this one a try if you're looking for a yummy sugar cookie recipe! I'm certain you won't be disappointed!

THE BEST ROLLED SUGAR COOKIES

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Feel free to frost these bad boys with your favorite icing and decorate with whatever candies you have on hand!

Sugar Cookies, Martha Style!

Blame it on my Evergreen and Cinnamon Yankee candles, but this blogger has caught the holiday spirit like you would not believe! There's something about my home smelling of Christmas trees and cinnamon that makes me want to rip out the holiday decorations from the attic, hang some lights outside and get some yummy sugar cookies baking in the oven! But then immediately I'm struck with the revelation that I have yet to find the perfect sugar cookie recipe to use for my Christmas cookies! So I turned to our trusty friend--the Internet--and found a recipe for Martha Stewart's sugar cookies. I figured what better time to give this recipe a try than as a lazy afternoon bake-fest with my daughter!

I've posted the recipe below, including pictures of my baking experience. I will admit that this dough wasn't super-easy to work with. The cookies ended up spreading a lot during baking, which left me with big ol' blobs instead of cute little leaves and turkeys.

Martha's Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons brandy, or milk (what the huh?? brandy?? really?! I went w/ the milk instead)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Royal Icing for Sugar Cookies, optional

DIRECTIONS

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.



2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar.



3. Add dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated.



4. With mixer running, add egg, brandy (or milk for us non-boozehounds), and vanilla; mix until incorporated.



5. Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.



6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.


7. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. At least, that's what Martha's recipe says. I choose to roll my sugar cookie dough on a surface dusted with confectioners sugar. It tends to make the cookies less hard/dry.
   



8. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. I have to admit here that I didn't have any parchment paper, and I wasn't sure waxed paper was the same... So I used a regular cookie sheet but didn't think to lightly grease it first. The lesson here is to use some Pam if you don't have any parchment paper!
   



9. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool. (Note the excessive amount of spreading during baking. Not sure how to avoid this.)
   



10. Decorate with Royal Icing, optional. To make this simple icing recipe, just mix 1 pound of confectioners sugar with 2 Tbsp. meringue powder (or 2 egg whites), then add about 1/2 cup of water.
    

Makes 2 dozen

Bottom line? These cookies were pretty tasty. Eating the dough was my favorite part! But ultimately working with the dough was not so easy. And the fact that the cookies puffed up so much during baking, quite frustrating! I think I'll continue to look for the perfect sugar cookie recipe. LO and I have a lot more baking to do during the holidays!

Chocolate Chip Goodness

Hellloooooo out there!!!!

I'm SO sorry it's been over a week since I've posted out here! I just don't know what my problem is! Of course I haven't been busy or anything... (wink, wink)

Ya, I've been a bit busy lately, but I'M BACK!! I know all three of my blog readers are jumping with excitement at the very thought of reading all about my fun and obstreperous life! :)

So I figured what way to get back into blogging could be any better than posting one of my newest, favoritest recipes!? Chocolate Chip Pie! Several of you know I've been baking these pies like a crazy-person lately--so many in fact that they are concerned I need a "pie intervention!" It just so happens my husband is completely hooked on them. And a few friends think they are simply amazing! And I can definitely eat them, too!

I originally got a recipe from a friend of mine whose family makes these pies for just about every holiday (which, I believe might be a new tradition in my house as well!). Although that recipe was good, I found one that was a bit better because it came out a bit more "firm" and ultimately didn't use quite as much butter. That ought to make it healthier, too, right? Right?? ;)

Anywho, I made yet another pie last night to celebrate my mom selling her house, and I took a few pics of the process so you all could see how yummy and EASY this pie is! So without further ado...

NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Chocolate Chip Pie

Estimated Times:
Preparation - 15 min | Cooking - 55 min | Cooling Time - 15 min cooling | Yields - 8

Ingredients:

• 1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup (6 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional -- I leave them out!)
  

Directions:

1. PREHEAT oven to 325° F.


2. PREPARE pie shell. If using a frozen pie shell, use deep-dish style, thawed completely. Bake on baking sheet; increase baking time slightly. If using refrigerated pie dough, let it thaw for 15 minutes then unroll into pie pan.
   
   


3. BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy.
   
   
   
4. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts.
   
   


5. Spoon into pie shell.
   
   
   
6. BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean.
   
   


7. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm! Feel free to serve a la mode!
   
   
   

This is a super-yummy, very rich and chocolatey pie. I serve with a chilled glass of milk and It. Is. Heaven.

Enjoy!

Recipe Time!

Hey, all! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I've been a bit busy and have been enjoying the new lifestyle I've adapted! Since reading this book, I haven't been able to eat any meat, chicken or pork. And it's actually a good thing! It's been a lot easier than I expected! I'll write more about that later, but I've been sitting on this recipe since last week and I wanted to share it with you! It's a delicious recipe from my good friend H. I made it last week (before I read THE book), so it does have chicken in it. BUT, you can also make it with some fresh veggies instead, just steam them so they're slightly undercooked and use them in place of the chicken! Yum! I hope you guys enjoy this one!

H's Crescent Chicken

Ingredients:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and chopped
1 can Pillsbury Big and Flaky Crescent Rolls

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can of milk


Directions:

1. Separate the crescent rolls and line them around a small casserole dish with the base being on the bottom and just the "tails" hanging over the side.
   
   
   
2. Divide the chicken pieces evenly on the bases of the crescent rolls.
3. Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded cheddar over chicken (add more or less depending on how cheesy you want it).
   
4. Pull the "tails" of the crescents over the chicken and cheese and tuck them under the base.
   
   
5. Pour the soup over the crescents and then sprinkle cheese on top.
   
   
6. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned and soup mixture is bubbling.
   
   
7. Serve with your favorite side dish and enjoy!
   

Bon appétit!

Recipe Time!

Lately I've been scouring the Internet for new recipes. I'm tired of the same old chicken! I especially love recipes for my slow cooker. Just dump a bunch of stuff in and forget about it, then have a delicious dinner ready and waiting 5 hours later! I love easy!

One of my favorite recipes growing up was Cranberry Chicken. My mom would make this for us--usually for Sunday lunch after church--and I really loved it! She baked it in the oven over rice, so when it was done, you'd have chicken and rice with a super-tasty cranberry dressing. Yum!

I asked my mom for the recipe. She remembered most of it. Basically everything but the rice part. Sweet! So my next step was to modify it for the crock-pot. Should be super-simple, right? Well, I will admit that the chicken came out delish, but the rice just never managed to cook so the whole thing turned out soupy with crunchy rice. But have no fear! We ended up ditching the rice for my fabulous mashed potatoes (i.e. backup plan).

Since this recipe really is quite good, I thought I might share it with you guys in case any of you are looking for a new and different way to cook the same ol' chicken. Believe it or not, you really don't have to like cranberry sauce to enjoy this recipe. Trust me. Hubs is not a cranberry sauce man but he really likes this dish!

So without further adieu, here is the recipe... with pictures even!

Slow Cooker Cranberry Chicken

Ingredients:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 cup French dressing

Directions:

1. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry.

2. Place cranberry sauce, dressing and onion soup mix in a lightly greased slow cooker.

3. Mix ingredients well, adding a dash or two of salt and pepper. Add chicken to slow cooker, covering it with the soup mixture.

4. Cook for approximately 4 hours on High or 6 hours on Low.

5. Serve over rice and enjoy! Unless you attempted to include rice and some water in the slow cooker like I originally did, in which case the rice would've come out crunchy and inedible. In this case, whip up some mashed potatoes, top 'em with the cranberry sauce mixture and serve with a veggie of your choice!

NOTE: This recipe makes enough to feed our family of 3 (keeping in mind LO only ate a bunch of corn). When I cook dinner, hubs and I always split a single chicken breast and it's plenty for us. You can use this same recipe but with 2 chicken breasts and it'll come out just fine!

Bon appétit!