Snickerdoodle Bread

Snickerdoodle Bread

Jim's favorite cookie is Snickerdoodles.  It's inevitable that I try every variation related to snickerdoodles for him, including bread!  This was fantastic!  A great breakfast treat or afternoon snack! 

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
1 pkg Hershey's cinnamon chips (optional)
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*.  Cream butter, sugar, salt, and cinnamon until fluffy.  Add eggs and mix well.  Add vanilla and sour cream and mix well.  Mix flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.  Add to wet ingredients and mix until all combined.  Add cinnamon chips if using.  Spoon batter into 4 mini loaf pans until about 2/3 full.  Mix 3 Tbl. sugar and 3 tsp. cinnamon and sprinkle over batter in each loaf.  Bake at 350* for 35-38 minutes.  Let cool before removing from pan. 


**Can be made in 2 large loaf pans, bake at 350* for 60-70 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
**You can make these as muffins (about 2 dozen total), bake at 350* for about 20 minutes. 
**Cinnamon chips are a seasonal item, you can find them at Hersheys.com. 
**For a healthier version, you can substitute plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream. 

By:  LilLuna

White Chocolate Oreo Brownie Cake

White Chocolate Oreo Brownie Cake

This dessert is addictive!  And it's so pretty!  It's a great combination of brownie, cookie crunch, and chocolate.

Ingredients:
6 oz. Hershey's Cookies & Cream Chocolate Candy Bar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*.  Melt candy bar, sugar and butter in a saucepan over medium low heat.  Whisk in eggs and vanilla.  Add flour, baking powder, and salt.  Stir until mixture is incorporated and smooth.  Pour into greased 9" springform pan.  Bake at 350* for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Immediately pour sweetened condensed milk over brownies.  Top with mini chocolate chips.  Let cool, serve with ice cream.

By: Fahrenheit 350*

Chicken and Bacon Mac & Cheese

Chicken and Bacon Mac & Cheese

This is one of our new favorites!  How could you go wrong with grilled chicken, bacon, and mac & cheese! 

Ingredients: 
6 slices smoky bacon
salt & pepper
1 lb. whole wheat short cut pasta (such as penne or elbow noodles)
Vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
4 tablespoons butter
3 rounded tablespoons flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded provolone
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 375*.  Arrange the bacon on a slotted broiler pan or on a rack placed over a baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 15-25 minutes.  Chop and reserved.  Switch on the broiler.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook just shy of al dente.  Drain and return to the pot.
While the pasta is cooking, heat a grill pan or cast-iron griddle over medium-high heat.  Drizzle the chicken with vegetable oil, season with salt, pepper, and paprika.  Grill the chicken for about 10 minutes, turning once, until nicely browned.  Transfer to a cutting board and cut into one inch pieces.
While the chicken cooks, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute.  Whisk in the cider, then the milk.  Bring to a boil and cook, whisking, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, 3-4 minutes.  Add the thyme and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Stir in the cheeses until melted.
Add the chicken, bacon, and sauce to the pasta and transfer to a casserole dish.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Broil until bubbling and browned, about 5 minutes.
Garnish with parsley as desired.


**This recipe has several things going at once and uses about 5 pots/pans but it is soooo worth it!!  Jim wants it every time we have bacon in the house. 

From Rachel Ray Magazine

Her Price is Much Higher than Jewels

What woman wouldn't want her husband to think her as more valuable than jewels, precious gems? Priceless! Rare! Beautiful! What does it take to become worth that much to your loved ones?
While I embark upon this journey to become more like the Proverbs 31 woman, I am doing a bit of "research." I am currently reading Beautiful in God's Eyes by Elizabeth George. She walks through each verse of Proverbs 31:10-31. Her book is convicting, challenging, empowering and encouraging. I am going to try to share my thoughts on each chapter as I go through her book. I am currently on the second chapter, which describes Her value. She points out ways that we as women can add sparkle and brighten up our own life, as well as the lives around us. She suggests that we can bring value to those around us by:
Growing in practical skills - managing a home. Her suggestions include homemaking, money management, and time management. This is an area where I am striving to be better. I am working on doing a better job taking care of our house (dishes, laundry, cleaning, etc.). I know Jim appreciates the meals that I cook and trying to make sure the pantry and fridge are well stocked. I do enjoy taking care of my home and those in it but there's always room for improvement. I am doing a much better job of making dinner most nights (for the past two weeks I've made dinner EVERY night). I'm trying to be budget and health conscious when we go to the grocery store and am making a very diligent effort to buy fewer processed foods (making a healthier version from scratch). I love to cook and am having fun exploring new recipes. Laundry is an area that I don't feel too much struggle in, we have a good system, and we always have clean clothes to wear. However, I generally fail abysmally at dishes and keeping the kitchen clean! Because I love to cook, something is always dirty! I try to catch up and some days I do great, but a lot of the time there is always a pile of dishes to do. Definitely an area where I can try harder.
Elizabeth also mentions money management as a way to add value. This is an area where I feel we're doing a decent job (Jim and I feel this is a team effort). Jim and I always do our budget together every month. We know how much we spend and loosely follow Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover plan. We have no debt other than our mortgage and are working on saving. Jim is definitely the saver in the family, and I am the spender. I have learned a lot about money being married to him, particularly to be more aware of how much we're spending. We are pretty content with our financial position, however, we're trying to figure out if we can make our budget work with me being a full-time stay-at-home mom (I currently work from home which can be exhausting and difficult with a very active 10 month old!). I read a lot of articles, blogs, books, etc. on how to manage money, retirement planning, budgeting, etc. I hope that I can add value by thinking of creative ways to tweak our budget or helping figure out investments/savings (Jim doesn't like to read so he trusts me to summarize what I've read).
Lastly, in this section, Elizabeth mentions time management. This is an area where I feel I could use help. Some days, I manage to workout, clean, take care of household chores, play with my baby girl, work, and cook dinner. Other days, I feel like I've wasted the entire time on the internet (I could argue that some of that time is productive as I find new recipes, learn about how to raise kids, and read financial articles but I think Jim would disagree). I lack discipline. Elizabeth George is also the author of a book titled Life Management for Busy Women. This book is on my list to re-read. Hopefully I'll get some good ideas on how to be more productive.
In this chapter on value, Elizabeth points out not only growing in practical skills but also growing in emotional stability. I feel I've written enough for now so I will have to revisit this topic some other time.

Slow Cooker Chicken

Ah, the ease of a dinner cooked in a crockpot. Turn it on before work and dinner is done when you get home! Love it! The chicken just falls off the bone and the sauce is savory.

Slow Cooker Chicken

Ingredients:
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup all purpose spice rub (see below)
8 drumsticks
3 potatoes, quartered
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup carrots
1 cup green beans
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken broth

All purpose Spice Rub
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:
Mix all ingredients for spice rub together in a small bowl. Mix with the flour. Turn chicken in flour mixture until thoroughly coated, pat off excess flour and reserve flour mixture. Boil potatoes in several quarts of lightly salted water for 5 minutes, drain and place in bottom of slow cooker. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken on all sides, about 4 minutes per side; transfer to plate and set aside. Add a little more oil to skillet, add veggies and saute until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add reserved seasoned flour and stir until vegetable are coated. Add wine and bring to a boil. Add chicken broth and simmer until slightly thickened; pour into slow cooker. Arrange chicken over vegetables. Cover cooker and cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. Remove to a serving platter.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my favorite treats!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour (plus some for high altitude)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla (I add more)
2 large eggs
1 bag chocolate chips or mixture of chocolate chips and chocolate chunks

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together. Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop onto greased cookie sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes. Cool 2 minutes on pan, remove to wire racks to cook completely.

Zucchini Bread

This makes a great breakfast or snack! I love to keep it around (I always try to freeze a loaf!).

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3 eggs, well beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups grated zucchini

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*. Mix together eggs, vanilla, and oil. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Then add the grated zucchini. Pour batter into greased loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour.

Baked Ziti

Jim's favorite food (other than chicken nuggets) is Italian: spaghetti, lasagna, chicken parmesan, chicken fettucini alfredo, etc. So we had to try a baked ziti recipe (we used egg noodles instead). It was great! We will definitely be adding this to our main dinner rotations.

Baked Ziti

Ingredients:
1 bag of Egg Noodles
1 extra large can of tomato sauce (can buy pre-made spaghetti sauce, I usually just use a can of tomato sauce and add Italian seasonings)
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, Italian cheese, provolone, parmesan or combination of all
1 1/2 lbs hamburger meat

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*. Brown the meat & drain. Also, cook the noodles and drain. Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 casserole dish. Layer half the noodles and then half the meat, half of the sauce and half of the cheese. Then layer the rest of the noodles, the meat, the sauce, and the cheese. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes. Let cool for 10-15 minutes so that it can settle.

Chicken Parmesan

One of our favorite dishes! Easy to make and delicious!

Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:
2 Boneless, Skinless, Chicken breasts
1/2 cups flour
1 egg
1/2 cup panko
2 Tablespoons Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cups parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
Spaghetti sauce
Italian Cheese

Directions:
Pound chicken breasts to 1/4" thick. Combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Dip chicken breasts in flour, egg, then bread crumbs. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium low heat. Cook chicken breasts on medium low heat for 4 minutes on each side or until cooked thru. Spoon sauce on chicken, sprinkle with Italian cheese.
Serve with spaghetti and/or salad.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Red Velvet is my favorite kind of cake! These cupcakes are delicious! My aunt used to make these for me every year for my birthday. Now, I try to continue the tradition and make them for myself :)

Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
1 oz. bottle red food coloring.
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons cocoa

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vinegar, and food coloring and beat well. Measure out buttermilk and add vanilla. Sift flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa. Add alternately dry mixture with buttermilk mixture to the butter/sugar mixture. Always begin and end with DRY ingredients when adding alternately with wet ingredients. Pour into greased and floured pans. Bake 8" round cake pans for 30-35 minutes. Bake cupcakes for 18-20 minutes.

Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened
1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
4-6 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Cream butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Sift and add powdered sugar until it reaches desired consistency. Spread on cooled cake/cupcakes.

Hamburger Casserole

This simple dish is one of Jim's favorites. It's the ultimate in comfort food. Pair with some steamed veggies and dinner is done!
Hamburger Casserole

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

2 cans cream of chicken soup 1 1/2 cups water (we use 1 cup water, 1/2 cup milk to make it a bit creamier)

1 cup rice

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Brown the hamburger meat, season with salt and pepper. Put soup in casserole dish and add water. Add rice and hamburger meat. We like to sprinkle with a handful of colby jack cheese too! Bake at 375* for 1 hour.

Donut Muffins

Jim grew up eating these for breakfast so I was quite pleased to stumble across the recipe several years ago. They are amazing! Cinnamon-sugar goodness!

Donut Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup butter, melted

Topping:

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup melted butter Directions: Preheat oven to 350*. In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Make a well at the center of dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat egg slightly, add milk and butter. Add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Grease muffin cups. Fill 2/3 full with batter. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Meanwhile, combine sugar and cinnamon. Brush tops of muffins with melted butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Andes Mint Cupcakes

Jim is obsessed with chocolate and mint desserts! This was his Valentine's treat. They were really good. I like how fudgy the cupcake was!

Andes Mint Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Chocolate Mint Filling:
1/2 cup chocolate chips
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon peppermint extract (or creme de menthe)
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Mint Buttercream:
1 cup (2 sticks, 16 tablespoons) butter, softened to room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
32 ounces powdered sugar (about 7 cups)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons peppermint extract (or creme de menthe)
Green food coloring

30 Andes mints for garnish

Directions:

For the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin cups with paper baking cups. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; using an electric stand mixer, beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water. The batter will be on the thinner side. Fill the muffin cups 1/2 full and bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. This recipe makes about 30 cupcakes. So you may need to bake the cupcakes in installments if you only have 1 or 2 muffin tins. Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack, after removing them from the muffin tin.

For the mint filling, while the cupcakes are baking, place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a small microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute at 50% power. Stir. Repeat the process until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract and powdered sugar, whisking until smooth. Let the mixture cool to room temperature (but don’t let it get too stiff) and pour it into a squeeze bottle or a ziploc bag.

When the cupcakes are cool, insert the tip of the squeeze bottle into the center of the cupcake and press gently to fill the middle of the cupcake with the mint ganache.

For the frosting, in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add the heavy cream and peppermint and vanilla extracts. Beat until light and fluffy. Add green food coloring until the color you like is achieved.

Frost the cooled, filled cupcakes with frosting (using a large star tip) or simply spread the frosting in a large dollop with a butter knife or flat spatula. Garnish with an unwrapped Andes mint and a drizzle of leftover ganache (make sure the ganache is completely cool or it will melt the frosting when you drizzle it on top of the cupcake). Refrigerate until serving.

By: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Healthy Chicken Nuggets

We LOVE chicken nuggets. Just about anywhere we go out to eat, Jim orders chicken nuggets if possible. However, they are expensive at the grocery store and I was sure I could find a better way to make them. I have tried three nugget recipes over the past three weeks and this one is the winner! I like that they are baked and not fried. The crust was still crunchy. The Italian bread crumbs add some flavor. And they make a great finger food for kids too!

Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients:

16 oz (2 large) skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into even bit sized pieces
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp olive oil
6 tbsp whole wheat Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
2 tbsp panko
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
olive oil spray

Directions: Preheat oven to 425°. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray. Put the olive oil in one bowl and the breadcrumbs, panko and parmesan cheese in another.
Season chicken with salt and pepper, then put in the bowl with the olive oil and mix well so the olive oil evenly coats all of the chicken. Put a few chunks of chicken at a time into the breadcrumb mixture to coat, then on the baking sheet. Lightly spray the top with olive oil spray then bake 8 - 10 minutes. Turnover then cook another 4 - 5 minutes or until cooked though.

By: Chef In Training

Stovetop Mac & Cheese

I have been on a quest for the past few years to learn to make good homemade mac & cheese. Jim does not like the baked versions (texture thing with creamy cheese and crunchy top) so I've been trying stovetop recipes. I think we've gone through 5-6 recipes and every time, it's "that was okay". He really likes Noodles & Company mac & cheese so I tried searching for that recipe too. It was pretty good but I don't love the mac & cheese recipes that require making a roux. I feel like I can taste the flour and they are not as creamy. So, I found this recipe on Pinterest for a stovetop mac & cheese that doesn't require a roux. And I think we finally found a keeper! It was really good, nice and creamy!

Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

1 large egg
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk, divided
½ teaspoon salt, plus additional for pasta water
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
8 ounces (2 cups) elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2-3 cups mixed cheeses (I used colby jack and about 1/2 cup parmesan)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, 1 cup of the evaporated milk, salt, and pepper; set aside. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Salt the water and add the pasta and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Drain the pasta and return to the pot over low heat. Add the butter and stir until completely melted.
Add the egg mixture and three-quarters of the cheese mixture to the pasta and toss until thoroughly combined and the cheese starts to melt. Gradually add the remaining evaporated milk and remaining cheese mixture, stirring constantly, until the mixture is hot and creamy, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

By: Brown Eyed Baker