Chocolate-Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Hey all!  I hope you each had a wonderful Christmas holiday with friends and family.  We're recuperating quite well from the travel, food, and bustle of activity.  We were blessed to spend Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with my husband's family enjoying each other's company, opening gifts and eating delicious food.  I have a few recipes from our Christmas breakfast to share with you in the coming weeks, but wanted to share a delicious cookie recipe with you today: Chocolate-Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies.  This recipe is adapted from Ocean Spray's online recipes.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup brown sugar, Splenda
4 large eggs
3 cups old-fashioned oats
3 cups flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon milk
1 5-ounce package dried cranberries
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Using a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and mix well.  In a separate bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Slowly add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition.  Finally, add milk and mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

Drop by  rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 8-11 minutes or until golden brown.  Then cool on wire rack.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

These cookies were a hit at work and at home!  My husband loved them and couldn't be more excited about leftovers from the office!

Coming soon!
Cranberry Clementine Muffins
Breakfast Casserole
Layer Biscuits

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Hope you have a wonderful day with your family and friends!

source

Chocolate Peppermint Meringues

Hi everyone!  Hope you're having a great weekend so far!  Just thought I'd stop by and share a quick recipe if you're in need of a last minute holiday treat.  I made these for my work Christmas party last week and they were delicious!  Without further ado: Chocolate Peppermint Meringues (adapted from Joyofbaking.com).

Ingredients:
6 egg whites
2 cups granulated sugar - I chose to use Splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/3 cup crushed candy canes
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Put egg whites into stand-up mixer and whisk until small bubbles form.  Add sugar and mix until stiff peaks form.  Add cocoa powder and vanilla and mix well.  Fold in crushed candy canes and mini chocolate chips.

Pour mixture into piping bag and pipe onto parchment paper lined cookie trays.  Place in preheated oven for 1 minutes and then turn oven off.  Leave in oven with door closed for 3 hours or until cookie is crisp.

Yum yum!

Peppermint Meringues

Hi everyone!  Hope you're all doing well!

I wanted to drop in and share the recipe for the Peppermint Meringues made for my sister-in-law's bridal shower.  They were delicious!  And so easy to make!  This recipe was adapted from Simplyrecipes.com and Whipperberry.com.  

Ingredients/Supplies:

6 egg whites

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Pinch of salt

Red food coloring gel

Parchment paper

Gallon size freezer bag

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Put egg whites and pinch of salt into stand-up mixer.  Start mixing the egg whites on low and gradually increase until foamy and soft peaks form.  Slowly add sugar and increase mixing speed.  Mix until stiff peaks are formed and then add peppermint extract and food coloring.  Mix on low until food coloring is well blended.

Place parchment paper over the top of your cookie sheet.  Spoon mixture into the freezer bag and cut one corner.  Pipe about 1 to 1 1/2 inch mounds onto the cookie sheet.  

Put meringues into oven and close the door.  After 1 minute, turn the heat off.  Leave the doors to the oven closed for at least 3 hours or overnight.  The meringues will cook and dry out with the residual heat of the oven.  A completed meringue will be hard and crunchy.

Store in an airtight container.  Makes approximately 40-50 meringues.

Enjoy!

DIY Hot Chocolate Bar {Recipe Included}

Hey-oh!  Can you believe Christmas is a week away!?  Seriously, this year has flown by.  Our shopping is complete.  Most of the presents are wrapped.  So the next few days will be filled with wrapping the rest of the gifts, cleaning the house, last minute grocery shopping and baking, and most importantly, spending time with our families.  This weekend we're headed to Illuminations at our local Botanical Garden.  They have thousands of lights scattered throughout the many gardens so it's always a beautiful time to visit.  We're also off to see "A White Christmas" at one of our local music theaters with my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins (20 total!).  I'm really looking forward to this weekend and making memories with the people we love.

I was fortunate to have the day off today.  I spent a few hours baking Chocolate Cranberry Cookies and Chocolate Meringues (recipes coming soon!) for our work celebrations tomorrow.  I also had the opportunity to enjoy lunch with my husband.  We aren't able to meet up often over the lunch hour due to our schedules, so our lunch dates are always enjoyable.

This past weekend I hosted a bridal shower for my sister-in-law.  The Hot Chocolate Bar was a success and I'm excited to share the details with you!

Hot Chocolate Recipe:
3 cups Swiss Miss Powder Mix - I purchased a bulk can at our local grocery store
3 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
6 quarts Water
Crock pot
Meat thermometer

Directions:
Mix the three ingredients together.  Turn your crock pot on high to heat the hot chocolate.  We used our meat thermometer to keep the temperature of the the hot chocolate around 130 degrees.  Serve and enjoy!

For the toppings, we opted to offer Reddi-Whip, ground cinnamon, crushed candy canes, full size candy canes, mini chocolate chips, marshmallows and white chocolate chips.  We put each item in its own serving dish and let people pick and choose what and how much they wanted.  The bar was a hit!

Enjoying the hot chocolate bar back home!  Yum!

 Next time: Peppermint Meringues!

Easy Tie Ribbon Wreath

One more Halloween project and I promise I'll be done until next year!  The great thing about this wreath is you can make it for any season or holiday.  Check it out!

Supplies:
Ribbon - I can't remember how many rolls I used.  Maybe 10?  I way overbought and had to return a ton.  Helpful, I know.
Straw Wreath
Ornament - optional

Directions:
So simple!  Tie strips of ribbon around the wreath until the wreath form is completely covered.  Mix and match the ribbon throughout the process.  If you chose to use an ornament, slip the ornament string over one of the ribbons as you tie it on.  For uniformity, I cut the end of each ribbon at an angle.

Yummy Mummies

Hey-oh!  So I mentioned in a previous post that I would share a super easy Yummy Mummy recipe.  I know it's late, but next year, right?!

Source: http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/crescent-mummy-dogs/d52a57d7-ab8a-4a1c-8dae-f9f90d03b912

Ingredients:
8-10 Hot Dogs
1 Can Dough Sheet
Mustard
Cooking Spray

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut dough into strips.  Wrap dough around hot dogs like bandages leaving a half inch open area at one end for a face.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Lightly spray with cookie spray.  Bake 13-17 minutes or until dough is golden brown.  Using the mustard and a fork, draw eyes onto your mummies.  Serve and enjoy!

Ingredients:
8-10 Hot Dogs
1 Can Dough Sheet
Mustard
Cooking Spray

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut dough into strips.  Wrap dough around hot dogs like bandages leaving a half inch open area at one end for a face.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Lightly spray with cookie spray.  Bake 13-17 minutes or until dough is golden brown.  Using the mustard and a fork, draw eyes onto your mummies.  Serve and enjoy!

Crafting Update

Hello!  I promised an update on my recent projects and here it is!  I'm sad to say I haven't completed nearly as many projects as I'd like, but I'm trying!  Below are some quilts I've been working on for quite some time.  I'm so thankful for my wonderful mom who has completed all the quilting for me.  She's so talented!

Yellow Love 

Pretty Pinwheels 

Baby and Barnyard

No name, yet.  And not yet quilted.  Soon!

Coming soon: Super Easy Ribbon Wreath!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Good morning, everyone!  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving full of love, laughter, family and many blessings.  

Precious pumpkins made by my mama.

Candy Corn Cookies

Two days before Halloween, my coworkers decided we should have a fun Halloween celebration full of candy, snacks, and other sweets.  Unfortunately, I was pressed for time between a salon appointment and working late that I felt like my last resort was going to be to purchase something un-festive.  Don't get me wrong; there's absolutely nothing wrong with store-bought items, but I enjoy baking and creating things at home.  In comes Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix and an adaptation of this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 pouches Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
2/3 cup margarine, melted
2 eggs
Red and Yellow food gel

Directions:
Following the directions on the package, prepare the sugar cookie dough.  Once complete, divide the dough into three sections.  Add yellow food gel to one section and mix well.  Add yellow and red food gel to the second section and mix well.

Next, line a loaf pan with waxed paper, making sure the paper extends over the edges of the pan.  Spread the non-dyed dough into the bottom of the pan.  Gently press the orange dough on top, followed by the yellow dough.  Place the loaf pan into the refrigerator for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until firm.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Remove the dough from the pan and cut into quarter inch slices.  Next cut each slice into 5 wedges.  On an ungreased cookie sheet, place cookies approximately 1 inch apart.  Bake 7 to 9 minutes until edges are very light golden brown.  Cool and store in an air tight container.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

So after making the Banana Breakfast Cake a few weeks ago, I decided to try to this recipe again with just a few alterations. 

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup quick oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt



1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 whole bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup honey

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, banana, egg, and vanilla until smooth.  Gradually mix in flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and honey.  Once mixed, fold in chocolate chips.  Pour into 9x9 greased baking dish and bake for 30-35 or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Slow Cooker Ranch Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Happy weekend, everyone!  I know I've been slacking with the blog recently.  I'm sorry!  Don't really have a good reason other than we haven't been cooking or crafting!  For the last couple of weeks, both T and I have been in the quick foods like egg, cereal, spaghetti or other super easy meals and haven't spent a lot of time trying new recipes.  But fear not!  We tried a delicious slow cooker meal this week that I'm excited to share with you today!  Without further ado: Slow Cooker Ranch Pork Chops with Parmesan Mashed Potatoes found via RealMomKitchen.com.

Ingredients: Pork Chops
5-6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
1 package dry ranch seasoning
10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup + 3/4 can of water

Ingredients: Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
For the potatoes, I did a terrible job of keeping track of the quantity for each ingredient.  But here are my best estimates:
10 red potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon half and half
2 tablespoons skim milk
1 tablespoon dried chives
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place thawed pork chops into slow cooker.  Pour ranch seasoning directly onto pork chops.  Mix cream of chicken soup and water together and pour over pork chops.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low heat for 5-6 hours.

Boil a large pot of water on your stove top.  Once boiling, add potatoes and boil until potatoes are tender.  Transfer potatoes to mixing bowl.  Mix on low until potatoes are mashed.  Add butter, parmesan, half and half, milk, chives, salt and pepper.  Add additional seasoning to taste.

Serve pork chops and gravy over mashed potatoes.

Lemonberry Cake

So I'm quickly becoming a fan of dishes with a small number of ingredients.  Not just for the convenience, but because they also taste great!  Six Sisters' Stuff had a Diet Lemon Raspberry Cake recipe with just four ingredients and I knew I had to try it!  I'm not a super fan of raspberry, so I opted to change up the fruit a bit.  Here are the results:

Ingredients:
1 box lemon cake mix
2 egg whites
1 1/4 cup Sprite Zero
1 cup each fresh blueberries and blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, mix cake mix, egg whites, and Sprite.  Fold in fruit.  Pour into greased cake pan and bake for 30 minutes.  Top with light cool whip.  Fruit garnishment optional.

 

 

I was worried the lemon cake may be overpowering, but was delighted to find that its not at all!  The flavor is subtle and the fruit is a great added touch!  



Banana Breakfast Cake

Happy Sunday!  How's everyone's weekend so far?  We've been enjoying a pretty relaxing weekend so far!  One of my best friends came over Friday night for grilled burgers and veggies and game night.  We love board games of all kinds and enjoy having friends and family over to discover new games.  We opened up our new Deadwood game and spent the evening discovering the rules and developing strategies for a successful game.

Yesterday Troy and I went with my parents to lay flowers at my grandma's headstone and check out a quilt shop that recently hit our radar.  My mom and I love visiting quilt shops to check out the different fabrics, patterns and finished crafts on display.  And last night Troy and I stayed in for a movie night.

I'm glad we've kept the weekend pretty low-key and stress-free as we can.  I'm headed into work today for the afternoon and evening.  I have a love-hate relationship with weekend workdays.  They're great for getting a ton of things done since there are only one or two other people in the office, but terrible for being able to spend days off with family and friends.  Thankfully I'm off tomorrow in celebration of Memorial Day where we'll head to lay flowers at my aunt's grave and out for lunch with extended family.

Before I head to get ready for work, I thought I'd share a recipe I recently came across on the Chiquita Banana website: Banana Breakfast Cookie.  I read through the recipe a few times and tailored it towards our taste.  I had originally intended to make the cookies, but after seeing the batter, I opted to make a cake instead.  So without further ado, here is Banana Breakfast Cake.

 

 

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup quick oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt



1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 whole bananas, mashed
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup craisins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, butter, banana, egg, and vanilla until smooth.  Gradually mix in flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and carrots.  Once mixed, fold in chocolate chips and craisins.  Pour into 9x9 greased baking dish and bake for 30-35 or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

I'm not usually one for adding carrots to my cakes as the texture is sometimes objectionable.  I must say, I was not at all bothered by the texture of the carrots in this dish.  With that being said, I'm thinking I may try this again sans carrots and chocolate chips, and instead with craisins and some other dried fruit.  I'll keep you posted!

In closing, please take a moment to remember the reason for this holiday weekend.  Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

photo source

Taco Salad Casserole

Hi, everyone!  I recently ran across this awesome Beef and Bean Taco Casserole recipe and thought we should give something similar a try.  Troy and I both love Mexican food and taco salad is pretty tasty so we opted to end the weekend with something delish.  Hope you like it!

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 can refried beans
1 half onion, chopped
2 cups white rice
1 package taco seasoning
2 1/2 cups tortilla chips, broken into smaller pieces
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
shredded lettuce and additional shredded cheddar to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown ground beef and drain of grease.  Mix in refriend beans, onionm, rice and taco seasoning.  Reduce to medium heat until mixture is warm. 

Line the bottom of a casserole dish with the broken chips.  Top with the beef and bean mixture.  Sprinkle with bell peppers and 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve over additional tortilla chips (optional) and top with lettuce and additional cheese.

Slow Cooker Smothered Pork Chops

Good morning, everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend!  With the exception of our lunch date Saturday and our grocery shopping trip, Troy and I spent the weekend at home relaxing and catching up on a variety of shows on our DVR.  It was nice to finally have some time together without a ton of things to do!

Saturday night we opted for a slow cooker meal of Smothered Pork Chops.  This was by far one of the easiest things to make.  But easy doesn't mean not tasty!

Ingredients:
5-6 Boneless Pork Chops, thawed
1 Can Cream of Mushroom
1 Cup Water
White Rice

Directions:
Lay pork chops into bottom of slow cooker.  Mix cream of mushroom with water and pour over pork chops.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours until meat is tender.  Prepare rice according to package directions and serve with pork chops. 

Scalloped Corn

Happy Saturday!  I hope everyone had a great week!  What's everyone got planned this weekend?  We're settling in for a relaxing weekend of catching up on items on our DVR.  And maybe trying a few new recipes to share with you later!

For now, enjoy a Scalloped Corn recipe I found through All Recipes.  Yum!

Ingredients:
1 15-oz can creamed corn
1 15-oz whole kernel corn, drained
1 8-oz container sour cream
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon splenda
1 package corn muffin mix

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together corn, sour cream, eggs, butter, and sugar.  Add muffin mix.  Pour into a grease cake pan.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Homemade Creamed Corn

Hi, everyone! Hope all is well! We've had a busy week picking up tuxes, having our dog groomed, cleaning the house, packing, visiting the salon, etc. This will be my last post for a couple of weeks as we're just days from the wedding and our honeymoon! I'm super excited!

 

As promised, here's the recipe for Homemade Creamed Corn.

 

Ingredients:

2 packages frozen corn

1 package cream cheese, low fat

1 stick unsalted butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Directions:

Turn slow cooker onto high and pour in corn.  In a microwave safe bowl, soften the cream cheese and butter.  Add this mixture to the corn and mix.  Season with salt and pepper.  Once cream cheese and butter are melted, you're ready to serve delicious homemade creamed corn!  Yum!

 

 



Sauteed Bananas

Hello, hello!  So glad the weekend is finally here!  Troy and I spent the evening cleaning the house since tonight was our last free night before we head to San Francisco.  So excited!

After cleaning, I was craving something sweet.  Solution?  Sauteed Bananas.  Yum!

Ingredients:
Bananas, sliced
Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture
Reddi-Whip
Chocolate Chips
Olive Oil

Directions:
Lightly spritz olive oil into heated sautee pan.  Place sliced bananas in pan and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Sautee for 2-3 minutes.  Transfer to bowl and top with chocolate chips and Reddi-Whip.  Simple, yet delicious!

Coming soon: Slow Cooker Cream-Style Corn

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Chocolate Chip Doughnut Muffins

This weekend, I ran across an amazing doughnut recipe at Janie's Kitchen and knew I had to make them!  Here's the recipe with a few minor changes.

Ingredients:
3 cup flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup milk
1 cup buttermilk - click here for buttermilk substitute
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup splenda
2 eggs
food coloring, optional
1 cup chocolate chips

For the glaze:
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup splenda
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In one bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and baking soda.  In a separate bowl, mix milk and buttermilk.  If using food coloring, add to milk mixture.

In an electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.  Add eggs and beat.  On low speed, mix in small parts of flour mixture and milk mixture until all combined.  Add chocolate chips.

Grease a muffin tin.  Fill each cup to the brim with dough.  Bake 18-20 minutes.

While baking, melt 1/2 stick butter for glaze.  Add splenda and cinnamon.  Once muffins are done baking, brush cinnamon-sugar mixture on top of each generously.  Serve warm.

A couple of things:
I added the food coloring to mimic the original recipe.  Janie's Kitchen made beautiful pink Valentine's Doughnut Muffins.  Unfortunately, the 5 drops of red I put in were not near enough to alter the color of the muffins. 

Secondly, I baked our muffins for 18 minutes.  The larger muffins were still slightly doughy on the inside.  In most cases, I would say bake for an additional 2-3 minutes, but Troy likes the slighty doughy texture so the cook time was perfect for us.

I'm looking forward to trying this recipes in the future with other ingredients such as bananas, blueberries, cherries, etc.  They were super tasty!

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Banana "Ice Cream"

As I'm sure you've figured out, I love sweets!  But eating ice cream every.single.night is definitely not a healthy option.  How about this: frozen banana?  Ooooh yum!

Ingredients:
Bananas - that's it!

Directions:
Slice bananas into 1/2 inch to inch slices.  Freeze overnight.  Once frozen, put banana into a food processor to puree.  Serve in your favorite ice cream bowl.  For an extra special treat, top with Reddi-whip.  The texture reminds me a little of Dippin' Dots.  Love it!

Buttermilk Substitute

I don't know about you, but I NEVER have Buttermilk on hand.  But guess what?  There's no need to buy it.  Here's a great substitute!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
milk, just under a cup

Directions:
Measure 1 tablespoon lemon juice into a liquid measuring cup.  Pour milk in to cup to make 1 full cup liquid.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Easy, easy!

Tortilla Roll-ups

This has been a long week.  Besides being busy with work, we've been tackling last minute wedding preparations and finishing up errands as we come to a weekend I'll be out of town.  We also had the opportunity to make tortilla roll-ups for a going away party at my office.  There are two different tortilla roll-up recipes below.

Cream Cheese, Ham and Pickle Roll-ups
Ingredients:
plain cream cheese, softened
sliced ham - I buy the store brand ham thats one serving per packet for around 60 cents
tortillas
dill pickles, whole

Directions:
Spread cream cheese onto flat tortilla.  Lay two pieces of ham across the middle of the tortilla.  Lay two pickles towards one edge of tortilla and roll.  Once rolled up, slice! 

I don't normally have enough of these ingredients on hand.  So I hit the store before I start.  I go for 1 packet of cream cheese, 2 of the sliced hamd (I believe there are 10 slices per packet), 1 package of torillas and 1 large jar of pickles.  I make as many roll-ups as I can until I run out of something - usually pickles.

Cream cheese, Spinach, Ham and Bacon Roll-ups
Ingredients:
plain cream cheese, softened
bacon pieces
fresh spinach
sliced ham, 4-5 slices
Italian seasoning

Directions:
Using a food chopper (love my Ninja chop!), chop spinach, bacon pieces, and ham together into a puree.  Add Italian seasoning and a block of cream cheese and mix well.  Spread onto a flat tortilla.  Roll the tortilla and slice.

 

Cream Cheese, Ham and Pickle on the left

 Cream Cheese, Spinach, Ham and Bacon Bits on the right

Cilantro-Lime Rice

One o my favorite places for a quick and tasty meal is Chipotle.  I. Love. It.  Not only is it delicious, I can order by phone, the app on my phone, or online which makes it that much more convenient!  One of my favorite parts of my chicken burrito bowls is the cilantro-lime rice.  I could eat it all by itself!  I decided a while back that I could totally make my own for a simple side to a Mexican dish, chicken, or anything else your heart desires.

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked Basmati Rice
Salt
1 tablespoon Lime Juice
1/2 cup Cilantro, chopped

Directions:
Prepare the rice per the package instructions.  Once cooked, add lime juice and cilantro to the rice and fluff.  Add salt to taste.

That's it!  Super easy!  Enjoy!

Italian Chicken and Vegetables

Recently, as I've been browsing Pinterest, I've come across several pins of a one pan dinner of chicken, green beans and potatoes (I'm linking to the one from Hearty-home.com).  One pan for dinner?  I'm in!

Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts, thawed
Green Beans
Cubed Potatoes
1 Stick Butter
Italian Seasoning

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put green beans along one side of baking dish and potatoes on opposite side.  Put chicken breasts down the middle.  Evenly lay butter across chicken and veggies.  Sprinkly Italian seasoning on top.  Bake for 1 hour. 

So easy!  And delicious!

Baked Burritos

Hey, everyone!  Hope you're all having a great week! 

My friend Kristen and I frequently exchange recipe ideas to keep our dinner menus more exciting.  Today, she shared her oven taco recipe with me.  I decided to take the basic ingredients and make baked burritos instead.  Troy tells me it was a winner!

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 can refried beans
8 ounce tomato sauce
1 package taco seasoning
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8-10 tortillas

Directions:
Brown ground beef.  Drain off any fat, then add refried beans, tomato sauce and taco seasoning.  Spoon mixture onto tortilla and sprinkle with cheese.  Roll burrito and place in lightly greased baking pan.  Repeat with remaining burrito mixture and tortillas.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until heated through.

Stay tuned for a great Cilantro-Lime Rice recipe for your side!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi, everyone!  Hope you had a great weekend!  We've kept things pretty low-key this weekend. We visited my grandparents, did some grocery shopping saw Jurassic Park in Imax 3D and made cookies with our brand new Kitchenaid Mixer.  That's right - our Kitchenaid Mixer.  I seriously have some of the best co-workers.  Ever.  They surprised with me a wonderful bridal shower last week and this wonderful gift.  I.  Love.  It. 

So as a way to thank them for their wondefulness and genoristy, I decided to make delicious Double Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I searched the Hershey's Kitchens website and found Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Chip Cookies.  No changes this time round, just ditched the nuts.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks margarine, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 package chocolate chips (11.5 oz)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl on medium speed of mixer until creamy.  Add eggs and beat well.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating well.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets (I used a melon baller to scoop the cookies). 

Bake 8-10 minutes or until set.  Cool slightly, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.  Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

 

(Love the Wilton stackable cookie sheets!)

 

Easy Fruit Salad

Lately, I've been craving some summer time.  I love the sunshine, warm summer nights, and fresh fruit.  We're not quite into fresh fruit season, but I made a simple fruit salad to suffice until the time comes.

Ingredients:
1 bag frozen blueberries
1 bag frozen strawberries
1 bag frozen mango
1 can pineapple chunks, drained

Directions:
Mix frozen fruits in a bowl and let thaw overnight in refrigerator.  Add pineapple chunks and serve.  So delicious! 

So I'm not sure why this photo is turned.  I've uploaded it a few times with the same results. Boo. :(

Burlap Ribbon Wreath

Looking for a simply door or wall decoration?  Try something like this:

Supplies:
Straw wreath form, with plastic left on
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Burlap ribbon
Wooden letter
Flower embellishments (found in the scrapbook area)
Ribbon

Directions:
First, glue the end of the burlap ribbon to the back of your wreath form.  Once dry, wrap the burlap ribbon around the wreath form until the wreath is covered.  I needed exactly one roll of the burlap ribbon.  Hot glue the end of the burlap ribbon to the back of the wreath form. 

Lay out your letter and embellishments until you find your favorite layout.  Once you've found the layout of your choice, hot glue the embellishments in place. 

On the back of the wreath, stick your scissors through the burlap making a small hole.  Thread small piece of ribbon and form hanging loop.  Hot glue loop to burlap for extra support.

Once completed, hang in your desired location.  I'm pleased with the results of this wreath.  I've not worked with burlap ribbon before and was slighly nervous as to how it would work with hot glue or how the black would look wrapping the wreath.  But I must say, it looks good!

Garlic Shrimp Pasta

Good evening, everyone!  I hope everyone has had a great week!

We've had a busy evening tonight.  After a quick trip to the grocery store for a few essentials, I headed home and had the pleasure of cooking dinner with Troy.  We made a fairly simple, yet very tasty pasta dish and then spent some time with random household chores.  We're now watching my alma mater Wichita State University play in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen!  Go Shox!!

Photo Source

 

Now onto the recipe!

 

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

4 cup green onion



1 cup broccoli florets

1 cup sliced carrots

1 tablespoon oregano

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon basil

pasta of your choice (4 servings)

salt and pepper to taste

Worcestershire sauce

1 pound precooked shrimp, deveined with no tails

parmesan cheese

 

Directions:

Heat olive oil in saucepan.  Add carrots and garlic.  Once carrots soft, added onion, broccoli, oregano, thyme, basil and Worcestershire sauce.  Sautee mixture for 5-10 minutes before adding shrimp.  Once all vegetables and shrimp are heated through, add salt and pepper to taste. 

 

In the meantime, prepare pasta according to the package directions.  Drain pasta.

 

Serve vegetable and shrimp mixture over pasta.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese for additional flavor.

 

Tomatoes would make a great addition.  For us, however, not a good option.  We both hate tomatoes!  With or without the red fruit, we had a great balance of veggies, shrimp and pasta.  Enjoy!

Oatmeal Banana Cookies

We woke up to several inches of snow and cold this morning.  Who wants to get out in that?!  Not me!  I want to stay where its nice and warm and where I can cuddle up with this precious little guy.

 

To start off our day in, I made Oatmeal Banana Cookies inspired by The Burlap Bag's Two Ingredient Cookies.  I added a few extras ingredients and they turned out a winner!

 

Ingredients:

2 large bananas, mashed

1 cup quick oats

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup chocolate chips

cinnamon-sugar mixture

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix mashed bananas, oats, vanilla and chocolate chips together until all ingredients are wet.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or grease a cookie sheet) and scoop mixture into individual cookies on sheet.  Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.

 

We made 12 cookies with our mixture.