Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies

I don't think I know anyone that doesn't like the combination of peanut butter and chocolate! It's a classic that always makes me happy. Today I made these cookies for a church ministry tomorrow. Hopefully it will make people there happy also :)

1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup granulated sugar (plus more for dipping)
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
¾ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375˚F.

Stir together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar, butter and 1/4 cup of the peanut butter until light and smooth.  Add in the vanilla and egg, beating one at a time to combine.  Gradually stir in the flour mixture.  Set dough aside.

To make the filling, cream together the powdered sugar and remaining 3/4 cup of peanut butter until smooth.

To assemble the cookies, spoon a generous tablespoon of chocolate cookie dough and flatten into a circle with your hands.  Scoop a small amount of peanut butter filling mixture and place in the center of the chocolate dough.  Wrap the chocolate dough around the peanut butter filling, pinching ends together to seal.  Roll the cookie in between hands to smooth into a ball.  Roll into a bowl of sugar and place on the cookie sheet.

Use the bottom of a glass to slightly flatten the cookies.  Bake for 7 to 9 minutes.  Do not over bake.  Let cool on wire rack.

Lasagna Cups

My mom always taught me not to play with my food, but making this version of lasagna in a cup felt kind of like playing with my food. Sssshhhh don't tell my mom ;)
This wasn't necessarily as easy as making regular lasagna in a pan, but it also makes for great single servings to store in the freezer for work lunches. These would be great to make for a party, or for when a pot luck at work calls for more "single serve" style food.

*Makes 11 lasagna cups

Ingredients:
for the sauce-
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion
1/4 lb lean ground beef, cooked and drained
1/4 lb hot italian sausage, cooked and crumbled
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small zucchini, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-6 oz. can tomato paste
1-8 oz. can tomato sauce ( plus 1/2 can water)
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon sugar
salt & pepper to taste


for the cheese filling-
1-10 oz. tub Philadelphia Italian Herb & Cheese Cooking Cream
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese,
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, grated & divided
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 egg





1 box lasagna noodles ( I use whole wheat)


Parmesan cheese for the top along with the extra mozzarella

For the sauce- heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onions, pepper, zucchini and garlic for about 5 minutes. Stir in cooked ground beef and tomato paste and mix together. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook 30 minutes.

For the cheese filling- stir all ingredients together excluding half of the grated mozzarella cheese. Set aside.

For the pasta- Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta sheets 2 minutes less than package directions and drain.Rinse with cold water and place pasta on greased baking sheet until you are ready to put together the lasagna cups.

For assembly- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut out 11 large squares of parchment paper. Line 11 jumbo muffin tins with the squares. They won't stay down on their own, but don't fret, the pasta will help "weigh them down" so they will stay. Line the edges of the muffin tins with 1 lasagna noodle.  The lasagna noodle will overlap itself about 2 inches. Spoon about 1/2- 1 tablespoon of sauce into the bottom of each cup into the center of the noodle lined muffin tin holes.  Next cut the rest of the noodles into quarters and press one of these pieces of pasta into the bottom of each cup,  on top of the sauce. Top the noodle square you just placed at the bottom with a generous tablespoon of sauce. Then place a generous tablespoon of cheese filling on top of the sauce.  Repeat this pasta-sauce-cheese layering one more time being sure to press out any air bubbles. Top these lasagna cups off with a 3rd piece of pasta, more sauce and the remaining mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle parmesan cheese all over the top of the mozzarella. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

Another night of "no cooking" cooking? Yes please! Even though the temps have dropped into the 90's it's still too hot for me. I am yearning for the cold weather and the hearty food that goes along with it. Hurry up fall and winter. Well, not that we really get a fall or a winter much in Southern California, but I long for the days of summer to go far, far away!!

Sourdough Bread
Butter
Cream Cheese
Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded
Cheddar, Cheese, shredded
Crushed Tortilla Chips
Whole canned jalapenos (or green chilies)

Butter the outsides of two slices of bread. Layer the grilled cheese ingredients in any order or amount that you would like on the unbuttered side of the bread. Grill in a skillet or a panini press until golden.

Italian Kabobs

When it's 104 degrees outside, what do you do for dinner? You cook without cooking haha! I will never think it possible to dislike cooking, but I can tell you that when it's this hot, the thought of standing over a hot stove, makes my skin crawl. So tonight's dinner came from that skin crawling dislike of heating up even the stove top during this weather. You could substitute any meat's, cheeses or veges that you like, but I just decided to stick with the italian theme.
*My daughter drizzled Italian dressing over hers which made for a nice taste addition!

Wooden Skewers
Genoa Salami
Pepperoni slices
Marinated Artichoke hearts
Fresh Mozzarella cheese
Tomato chunks
Green olives

Thread your favorite meat's cheeses, olives etc onto the skewer!

Sausage, Rice and Vege Mix

Today our air conditioning went KAPOOT! It's over 100 degrees outside and it's now sweltering inside. Thank the Lord for ceiling fans. Now I just have to figure out how to install one in my kitchen, so it's not so hot while I'm cooking. I'm thinking pizza delivery just might work out fine this week! ;)
This was a very simple, no muss, no fuss kind of meal. I prepared it earlier in the day and then just quickly heated it up tonight when we were ready to eat.

 Then I made a nice Caprese salad to go on the side. It  was amazing considering that the tomatoes and the basil were picked fresh from my backyard garden today. Now I just need to learn how to make mozzarella. ;)

For the Sausage dinner:

• 8 ounces low-fat kielbasa, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
• 1/2 cup water
• Hot sauce, such as Tabasco, to taste

1. Cook kielbasa in a large nonstick skillet over high heat, turning from time to time, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add oil to the pan. Add onions, zucchini, bell pepper, jalapenos, garlic, cumin, oregano and salt; cook, stirring, until the onions are tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in rice, beans and water; cook, stirring, until heated through, about 4 minutes. Add the reserved kielbasa and season with hot sauce. Serve hot.

For Caprese Salad:

Slice fresh tomatoes and place a slice of fresh mozzarella on the top of each tomato slice. Top with fresh basil. Drizzle olive oil over it and season with salt and pepper.

Pretzel Bites

Who doesn't love pretzels when they are dunked in butter and rolled in flavors? I know I do.Thiis recipe isn't exactly "pretzels" but it's close enough when you are in a hurry and want to make a quick snack.

Here is a link to the recipe which I found on "Pinterest" which has become my new obsession!!

http://www.justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com/?p=932

Salted Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bark

Salt? Chocolate? Caramel? Pretzels? Put them all together and you have one simply amazing, great tasting candy bark. Of course I love anything that combines salty and sweet. Why not tantalize all your taste buds at once? ;)

Before it was broken into bark

After the bark was broken up and ready to take to work

 

 

 

2 cubes butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 bag mini pretzels
12 oz bag semi sweet chocolate chips
Sea Salt

* NOTE- I did this on a fairly large cookie sheet. I think next time I will use a smaller one so the bark will actually come out thicker.

Line a cookie sheet with foil. Spray with Pam. Lay out a single layer of pretzels on the foil. Set aside. On the stovetop, melt 2 cubes of butter. After it's melted, stir in 1 cup of brown sugar.  Continue to stir, breaking up the brown sugar clumps. Bring this mixture to a slow gentle, simmer. You do NOT want this to be at a rolling boil. Simmer this for approx. 3 minutes. It should be a golden brown color now.  Pour over the pretzels as evenly as you possibly can. You can spread it if you have to, but this is hard work, as the pretzels begin to move, and I wouldn't sweat it because it melts together in the oven. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and bake the mixture for 6 minutes. While this is baking, melt your chocolate chips either in the microwave (be careful it's easy to burn them) or in a double boiler. Pour the melted chips (by going up and down the bark) as evenly as you can (again, it's very hard to spread). Sprinkle sea salt all over the top.  Put the cookie sheet in the refrigerator (you might want to wait just a few min for it to cool down a bit) for approx. 1 hour until the bark is hardened and ready to break apart.

Zucchini Pizza Slices

Pizza on zucchini slices? Yes! The fact that I had to turn on my broiler temporarily, to melt the cheese, didn't deter me from making this delicious pizza side dish tonight, even though the 106 degree temperature today made it feel as if I was living on the face of the sun!! This is super easy to make and was actually great. I wasn't sure if I was going to love it, even though I love zucchini. I am not a huge pizza fan and had to make one for me without pepperoni, as I'm definitely NOT a fan.

 *Makes 4 slices
2 Zucchini, sliced lengthwise
1 jar Pizza sauce
Mozarella cheese, grated
Pepperoni, sliced

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise. Place face down in a dry skillet and roast for approximately 7 minutes. (Longer if the zucchini is super thick) After it's roasted, it should be semi soft. Place the slices, face up on a cookie sheet or broiler pan. Top with pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni. Place into the broiler on high for approximately 4-5 minutes.

Veggie Sandwich

It's not too often that you eat a sandwich and say "WOW". This is what seems to happen to me every time I eat one of these vegetarian sandwiches. The best part about it is that no skills are required. So if you don't like to cook and you want to eat healthy, this ones for you!!
Basically you just put your favorite veggies on your favorite bread and chow down!!
I used Miltons Multigrain bread
Lite Mayonnaise, spread extremely thin
Cucumber, sliced very thinly
Tomatoes, sliced
Red onion slices
Avocado
Fresh alfalfa sprouts
Seasoned salt and Pepper

Pork Ribs with Tomatillo Sauce

I love being able to walk across the street and have my friend teach me how to cook authentic Mexican food. This is one her recipes and it's ssssoooo good!  It's a little spicy, but that's how I like my food. You will need to have the butcher at the local grocery store, cut the ribs into shorter pieces for you. Then when you get it home, you can cut it in between the bones to make a lot of pieces.

2 lbs pork spare ribs, cut into small sections
1 1/2 cups oil (canola or vege)
salt to taste
5-7 dry chili arbol (small dried red chilies)
2 cloves garlic, whole
1 section of an onion, not cut (approx. 1/4 of a small- med onion)
2 lbs tomatillos, peeled and rinsed
3/4 cup water

Put ribs into a very large skillet or stock pot. Cover with water. Add  the oil and lots of salt. Boil uncovered on high for 1 1/2 - 2 hours on med-high. Stir occasionally. ( Don't add more water. )        Let water boil down and the meat should turn brown.
While the ribs are cooking, make your salsa by  roasting (in a dry skillet with no water or oil) the chili arbol, garlic and onion. Set aside. In the same skillet, (with no water or oil) roast the tomatillos on high for 2 minutes then cover them and turn to medium to roast the tomatillos for 15 more minutes. When they are finished roasting, pour the 3/4 cup water on top of them. Place the tomatillos with the water, and the chili arbol mixture into the blender. Blend until thoroughly mixed.
Remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Now take a ladle and remove as much of the oil from the top of the water, that the meat cooked in, as you can. Discard the oil. Put the meat back into the pan after the oil is removed. Add the blended salsa to the meat and stir. Taste for salt and add more if needed. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.

Vietnamese Summer Rolls with Mango and Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

I love, love, love Vietnamese food. If I didn't love to cook so much, I'd be stopping at the Vietnamese restaurant, down the street, all the time. Today while the hubby was out bike riding with some of the family, I decided to attempt making these. I think for my first time they turned out fairly well rolled. They tasted so fresh and light, and I will definitely be making them again. Maybe next time I can get them rolled a little tighter.

** If you follow the link below to the recipe....I added thinly sliced cucumber to my rolls.



http://www.veggiebelly.com/2010/08/vietnamese-summer-rolls-mango-sweet-chili-dipping-sauce.html

Chocolate Chip, Oreo, Brownie Bars

Yes, you read that title right! It's all of the above....baked into one glorious cookie bar. So simple, so rich, so yummy!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
1 Bag Oreo Cookies
1 Box of brownie mix

Preheat your oven to 350. Make your cookie dough however you normally make it. I use the original Nestle recipe for  this bar. Line a 9 X 13 pan with wax paper. Spray the wax paper with Pam. Spread the cookie dough onto the wax paper in the bottom of the pan. Next, place Oreos on the top of the dough, placing evenly on top. Now mix up your box of brownie mix according to the package directions. Pour the batter directly over the Oreos. Make sure you cover all of the Oreo's and chocolate chip cookie batter. Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes.

Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa

Once again I tried to bring the flavor of the tropics to our house tonight. This salsa worked very well on the fish as it had some sweet, some spice and gave the fish a lot of flavor.

1 Pineapple, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper,chopped
2 dry red chilies, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
Salt/Pepper to taste

Combine all salsa ingredients together and stir. Place on top of fish or chicken.

Chocolate Covered, Cake batter flavor with sprinkles, Rice Krispy Treats

This is what happens when I am bored on a Sunday afternoon. I had recently stumbled across an idea on the internet of making cake batter flavor rice krispy treats. I thought it sounded good...I mean who doesn't like cake batter flavored anything???? So I completed the rice krispy treats and then it hit me....cover them in chocolate and they will taste even better. Sugar rush? Yes! But oh so good!!

This is just part of the oh so yummy goodness that you need.....

This is after the rice krispy treats were baked and sitting on the counter. At this point I had not gotten into them.....

Cut into squares and waiting patiently to be "dipped"

This is after I had only dipped one or two. Here you can see how yummy they are looking....

AH...the final product....

3 tbsp butter
10 oz mini marshmallows
1/3 cup yellow cake mix
6 cups rice krispys
1.75 ounce container of sprinkles
Melting chocolate
White chocolate

Melt the butter and marshmallows together on the stove top in a large pan. Stir in little bits of the cake mix powder at a time and make sure you stir it in thoroughly. After all the cake mix is mixed in, stir in the rice krispys and half the bottle of sprinkles. Mix thoroughly. Leave on counter top for at least a half an hour. To insert the stick, I like to melt just a touch of chocolate and dip the end of the stick into the chocolate before inserting it into the krispy pop. This helps stabilize the stick and somewhat adheres it to the rice krispys. Place the stick into the pop and dip into melted chocolate. After the chocolate hardens on the outside, drizzle white chocolate over the top of it.

Chicken Posole

Last week my husband came home from work saying how much he loved the Posole they sell there. I got to thinking "hhmm how does a girl who was never taught how to  make authentic mexican foods, begin to find out how to do this"? Well.....I have the sweetest neighbor who is such a great cook. I went to her house and though her English is still "broken" I did my best to write down the recipe as she told me. Tonight after it was finished, I took a bowl to her house for a seal of approval. Guess what??? I got it!! She told me she really liked it and I made her promise she would tell me the truth even if she thought it would hurt my feelings. My husband also gave me the stamp of approval. So tomorrow for lunch it's yummy leftovers for sure!!
*Her recipe calls for an entire chicken, but my husband doesn't like dark meat too much, so mine is cooked with only chicken breasts and I improvised with a couple bullion cubes to add some chicken flavor to the broth. 

1 Medium size can hominy
1 whole, peeled, bulb of garlic (yes the entire bulb...not just a clove)
1 whole onion
4 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
4 California dried chilis
2 clove garlic
lg pinch of marjoram
lg pinch of oregano
salt to taste

*For garnish, cut up cabbage, radishes, lime slices, onion and cilantro

Use a knife to poke holes into the onion and the garlic bulb. Boil the garlic. the onion and the hominy (with plenty of water to keep it covered) for one hour, with a lid on the pot.
In the meantime, while this is boiling, put the red chilies into boiling water for 5-8 minutes to soften them. Cut the stems off after they are soft and put the softened chilis into a blender along with the 2 cloves garlic, the marjoram and the oregano. Blend thoroughly. (you might need to add a little bit of water to the blender). After it's blended, push through a strainer into a bowl. After the hominy has cooked for one hour and is soft, add the chicken and the chili mixture into the pot with the hominy. Cook until the chicken is done. Salt if needed and serve with garnishes on the side.

Hidden Valley Ranch Chicken

Tonight I racked my brain as to what I could do different with chicken. I have never used Hidden Valley Ranch powder on my chicken, so I put my thinking cap on and tried to come up with a creative way to use it. I'm using up things I have present in my pantry, because once again we seem to be in a budget crunch. We both really liked this chicken. It was super moist on the inside and the outside coating gave it just enough of a texture to compliment the juicy meat of the chicken.

*Sorry the picture is so blurry, I think it actually steamed up my camera because it was so hot when this picture was taken ;)

4 chicken breasts
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (powder)1/2 cup corn flake crumbs
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
Salt / Pepper to taste

Mix  together the milk and egg in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the hidden valley, corn flake crumbs, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.
Dip each chicken breast into the egg mixture and then immediately into the crumb mixture. Place into a baking pan that you have sprayed with Pam. Bake at 375 for approx 25-45 minutes (depending on how thick your chicken breasts are) or until cooked through. 

Applewiches

Applewiches? I guess that might lead to a question like that! What else do you call an apple sliced and filled like a sandwich? There are many versions out there on the web, but I tried to put my own spin on this by adding some cinnamon and sugar! It was super delicious and I can't wait to have this again. It's really a light dessert and takes only a few minutes to make. No cooking needed for this one!!

1 apple, sliced into thick slices
Cinnamon/Sugar mixture
Peanut Butter
Dark Chocolate Chips

Slice the apple into fairly thick slices. Sprinkle all slices with whatever ratio of cinnamon and sugar that you like. Spread peanut butter onto one slice. Place chocolate chips on top of the peanut butter and place another apple slice on top. Enjoy!!

Almond Tilapia

Tonight we had another dinner at our house that we both really enjoyed. It's super hot outside and so I'm desperately trying not to use my oven, but only use my stove top, so that I'm not in competition with my air conditioner. This morning before work, I laid out tilapia with no idea how I was going to cook it for dinner. After contemplating for quite awhile, I decided on some kind of nut crusted fish. So when it was time to cook it, I decided instead of making an almond "crust" for the fish, that I would just cook it with an almond topping. It turned out really good!!

3 pieces tilapia, or any fish of your choice
1 Tbsp butter, melted

3 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup sliced almonds2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp lime juice1/4 tsp grated ginger root
Salt/Pepper to taste


1. Salt and Pepper your fish.

2. In a small-medium skillet, melt 1 Tbsp butter with 3 Tbsp lime juice. Add the almonds and toast until golden brown. Turn the fire off or turn it to extremely low and keep the almonds in the pan. (If you turn the fire off, make sure you heat up the almonds again just as your fish is finishing up cooking)

3. In a separate skillet, melt 2 Tbsp butter with 2 Tbsp lime juice and ginger. Cook the fish in the melted butter and lime juice until the fish is done. Top with almond mixture and serve!

Sake mushrooms

I know what you are probably thinking...Sake and Mushrooms??? I wasn't sure how these would turn out either. I had mushrooms, and because of our budget crunch these days, I am trying to make sure I use up everything that I buy at the grocery store instead of letting things go to waste. So I got out my mushrooms and thought about it for awhile. How could I make a different sauteed mushroom other than just butter? I would have used white wine, but we don't have any so I attempted the saute with sake. After adding the sake and butter I got even more creative. I really, really like these and I do believe that this will be the new way for me to saute any mushrooms in the future in our household. That is....until another creativity bug strikes ;)

2 tsp butter
1/8 cup sake
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp ginger1 lb mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, sliced

In a medium- large skillet, melt butter. Add in the sake, garlic, ginger and mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms are still somewhat firm, but tender. You do not want mushy mushrooms. Add the green onions and saute just a minute more. I like my green onions to have just a bit of a crunch still. You can saute them until they are completely soft if you like.

Orange Glazed Carrots

What a beautiful So Cal evening! It's a full moon outside. The palm trees in the yard are gently swaying with a light breeze. The shadows of the mountains just before sunset were gorgeous! The crickets are chirping outside and the whirring of the fan is a constant hum in the family room. The hubby is already drifting off to sleep after a long day working overtime. Content? Yes....very much! I was reminded tonight as I was thinking about all these things, that the very God who created all this beauty is the very same God who loves me enough to offer me eternal life! AMAZING!!! ☺
I also was thinking tonight how lucky I am to live in a country where I can go to the store and buy pretty much anything I need, to cook and create food for my family. Tonight I decided to try a new idea and see if it turned out ok. It sure did and I will definitely be making these carrots again soon. I love when I create something in my head and it turns out better than I thought it would!

 2 cups of shredded carrots
2 1/2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp Chinese five spice
Salt to taste
Zest of 1 whole orange
2 Tbsp orange juice

Cook carrots until tender. Set aside. In a skillet, melt butter and then all the rest of the ingredients and also the carrots. Cook over medium heat until carrots are glazed.

Orange Chicken

I am just amazed at how much I love cooking Asian food. There is such a great blend of spices and sauces in their foods. Tonight I made Orange Chicken and we loved it! I served it over Jasmine rice and with mustard greens on the side. I know mustard greens definitely do NOT normally go with orange chicken, but I had a bag of them in the refrigerator and I needed to use them up before they went bad. So out of  necessity of not being wasteful, I served them tonight on the side.

2 lbs chicken, cut into bite size pieces

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp salt

Pepper to taste

1/2 cup cornstarch plus 1 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup flour

Oil for frying chicken

1 Tbsp grated ginger root

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup green onion, chopped

1 Tbsp sake or rice wine

1/4 cup water

1 tsp sesame oil

Orange Sauce Ing:
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp water
5 Tbsp sugar
5 Tbsp white vinegar
Zest of one orange

Place chicken pieces in large bowl. Stir in egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon oil and mix well.
In a separate small bowl, stir cornstarch and flour together. Stir into the chicken/egg mixture. Stir to coat all chicken pieces. 
Make your orange sauce by stirring all orange sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. 
Heat oil in a skillet. Add chicken and cook in small batches, frying for 3-4 minutes for each batch, until golden crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Clean the skillet and add 1 Tbsp oil. Heat for just a few seconds. Add the ginger and garlic and cook about 15 seconds. Add crushed red pepper flakes and green onions and cook for another 15 seconds. Add sake (or rice wine) and stir once through. Add orange sauce to skillet and bring to a boil. Add cooked chicken and stir until well mixed. In a small bowl mix remaining 1 Tbsp cornstarch with enough water to make it smooth and liquidy. Add this cornstarch mixture to the skillet. Stir until the sauce is thickened. Serve over jasmine rice. 
** YOU MAY WANT TO MAKE DOUBLE THE ORANGE SAUCE SO YOU HAVE ENOUGH LEFT TO MOISTEN THE RICE ON YOUR PLATE!!!!

Pineapple Shrimp Boat

Last night I made this for dinner and John and I really enjoyed it. I was going to put it up on the blog, but my camera decided to be difficult and I couldn't get the picture uploaded until today. This had a nice, refreshing and light flavor and was fairly easy to make.

1 pineapple
3/4 brown rice
1/2 tsp oil
3/4 lb shrimp,deveined and peeled
3/4 cup fresh pineapple,chopped
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1-2 jalapenos, chopped
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
Cilantro, for garnish

Cook brown rice and set aside. Hollow out pineapple halves and save the pineapple for cutting up for the recipe. (If you need to, you can cut a small slice out of the bottom flesh of the pineapple, without going all the way through to the inside, so it will lay flat.)
Heat the oil in a skillet. Cook the shrimp for just a minute or two until it's almost cooked through, but not completely. Set the shrimp aside. Into the same pan, add the green onions, garlic, bell pepper, onion and jalapenos. Saute for just a couple minutes, then add the shrimp, brown rice and the pineapple. Stir and add soy sauce and fish sauce. Stir again. Cook for 30 seconds to a minute more until shrimp is done. Serve in pineapple half and garnish with cilantro.

Pasta Salad

I'm sure everyone knows how to fix a basic and simple pasta salad but I thought I would blog it anyway. I woke up this morning at 2:45 AM and our cable TV doesn't work. Since the repairman won't be here till this evening, what else is there to do but cook and blog? ;)
Tonight we go feed the homeless. It's such a great experience for us every time we go. We started getting involved in the ministry about 3 years ago and I know that every time I go,  I come away from that place, far more blessed than the people we are serving. I love how God does that!!
Since we won't be home in time for me to cook dinner, I had to think ahead and plan a dinner that would be quick for when we get home. I made a polsa kielbasa and a pasta salad. Yummy!!

1 box tri color rotini pasta
1 cucumber

1/2 red bell pepper
1/4 green bell pepper
1/4 yellow or orange bell pepper
1/4 cup broccoli, or less
1/4 cup celery
1 can black olives
1 bottle Bernsteins Cheese Fantastico Dressing ( I use the light version)
Salt/Pepper to taste

Boil pasta according to pkg directions. When it's done cooking, run the pasta under cold water to cool it down quickly. Place the cooled pasta in a large bowl.
Cut all the vegetables as small or large as you would like them. ( I like mine a little chunkier cut) Place the vegetables into the pasta bowl. Add the olives, salt and pepper to the salad. Pour as much or as little of the dressing over the salad as you like. (I usually save quite a bit because after you chill the pasta in the refrigerator it dries out quite a bit). Stir thoroughly and place in the refrigerator. Take out after awhile and add more dressing if necessary and stir again.

Fudgy Salty Peanut Butter Brownies

There is a show I just love to watch on TV called Dessert First with Ann Thornton. It's a great show and she makes so many wonderful desserts. This is a recipe from her show and it's really good. There is a deep chocolate flavor brownie with a peanut butter layer, chopped peanuts and a chocolate ganache layer on top. Decadent? Yes.....I ate one and that's all I could handle, but boy are they good!

Here is a link to the recipe site!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-thornton/fudgy-salty-peanut-butter-brownies-recipe/index.html

Flamebroiler Chicken Bowl

John and I love to eat at Flamebroiler. They have great food that tastes good and is healthy. Tonight I tried to "mimic" a recipe of what we eat there and I have to say I was NOT disappointed. It was about as close as I think I can get to the real thing! It didn't take too long to prepare and since we both loved it, I will definitely be making this again.

2 chicken breasts
Terryaki Sauce
1 carrot, sliced VERY thinly
1/2 cup cabbage
1/2 cup broccoli
2-3 green onions, chopped
1 cup brown rice
salt to taste
1 1/2 cups water
Louisiana Hot Sauce ( I buy Crystal brand at the local grocery store)

Begin cooking your brown rice:
In a medium saucepan put 1 1/2 cups water. When it comes to a boil, add your brown rice. Stir. Turn the fire onto low, cover the rice and let it cook for 45 minutes. Salt it to taste.

While the rice is cooking begin your chicken and vegetables:
Cook chicken breasts in a skillet with salt, pepper to taste and as much or as little teriyaki sauce as you like. When it's done cooking, chop into bite size pieces or strips.
Chop your green onions and set them aside.
Steam your carrot, cabbage, and broccoli until still crisp, but tender. Sprinkle a little teriyaki sauce on them when they are done.
When the rice is done, spoon however much rice you want into a bowl. Top with the vegetables and chicken and drizzle more teriyaki on the top if desired. Also you can add Lousiana Hot sauce to give it some kick that tastes a lot like the "magic sauce" at Flamebroiler. Top with chopped green onions.

Snickerdoodles

Yes it's the middle of summer and I actually turned on my oven today to bake cookies. When it's someone's birthday and they request a special baked cookie, how can you turn that down? I have never made Snickerdoodles and I actually don't ever remember tasting them before today. So I had to go searching on the Internet for a quality Snickerdoodle recipe. I decided to try the Food Network since I have had luck with most of the recipes I find on their site. I stumbled onto this recipe and it actually turned out really good.

So here is a link to the recipe I used!!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/snickerdoodles-recipe/index.html

Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Garlic Butter

Some people claim anything tastes better with bacon, but I don't happen to be one of those people. I don't hate the taste, I'm just not a fan. But....tonight's dinner tasted really great with bacon wrapped around the chicken. The garlic butter and parmesan gave the outside of the chicken a little bit of a crisp and the flavors all meshed together beautifully. This recipe doesn't require any fancy ingredients, and it should be very simple for anyone to make!

4 chicken breasts
8 slices of bacon
4 1/2 teaspoons fresh grated parmesan
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 cube softened butter
Salt/Pepper to taste


In a food processor or blender, combine the cheese, garlic, butter and some salt and pepper until smooth.
Wrap 2 pieces of bacon around each chicken breast so it's almost completely covered in bacon.
 Sprinkle salt and pepper. 
Using your hands or a pastry brush, brush the butter mixture from the food processor onto each bacon wrapped chicken breast. Place in the refrigerator for about a half hour to chill the butter.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-40 minutes depending on the size of the chicken breasts.
*Make sure you cook this on the top of a broiler pan or something that the butter and juice can drop into it while the chicken is cooking!

Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese

Since it's been so hot this week, I have been making easy, no muss, no fuss, dinners. I usually make home made macaroni and cheese in the oven. Truthfully I like my oven recipe just a little bit better than the crock pot version, but hey when it's 100 degrees outside, the crock pot version will suffice.

This recipe makes quite a bit....you could cut it in half for a small family or a single person.

16 oz package elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 can evaporated milk

2 cups lowfat milk

Salt/Pepper to taste

32 oz velveeta cheese, cubed

6 Tbsp melted butter

 

Cook the pasta, drain and place back into the pan. Toss the cooked pasta with the olive oil to coat thoroughly. Put the pasta into a *GREASED* crock pot along with all the other ingredients. Stir well.  Cover and cook on low for about 3 hours.

Oreo and Fudge Ice Cream Cake

Last night we had company over and unfortunately it was the last time we will get to hang out with them for a long time. Our dear friends are moving to Oregon and we will miss them so very much!! It was a very hot day so I decided to make vegetarian sandwiches for a light dinner. I guess I wasn't thinking light when it came to dessert haha! All of us really enjoyed it and I would recommend this for a summer dessert.

Here is a link to the recipe online.
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/oreo-fudge-ice-cream-106562.aspx
** I think next time I make this, I will buy a bigger cool whip as I felt it needed more topping to cover it better.
**Also I think I would try different additions to the center:
chopped heath bars or
salted peanuts or
peanut butter.
chopped peppermint patties
Oh my goodness, the possibilities are endless!!!

Butterflly Cupcakes

I can't believe my beautiful grand daughter turned one year old this week. Wow how time flies!! The older I get, the faster it flies. Tomorrow is her birthday party and I was given the pleasure of making birthday cupcakes for the kids at the party. I think the kids will have fun with them. :)

Grilled Salmon with Mango Sauce

Tonight is warm and the air outside is stagnant. Usually there is a light breeze blowing this time of night, but tonight is very still here in Southern California. I needed a dinner that would be light and refreshing to offset the dry, hot air outside. Tonight's menu definitely filled that bill. I love salmon and I really enjoyed how the sweet and spicy mango sauce went so well with the dry rub that I used on the salmon. All the flavors combined to make one of my new favorites!

For the Rub:
2 salmon steaks
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp coriander
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp paprika
salt/pepper to taste

Mix all the rub ingredients together and rub into the outside of both salmon steaks.

For the Mango Sauce: 

1 mangoes, pureed in food processor
1/8 cup lime or lemon juice
1/2 Jalapeno pepper, seeded
1-2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

In a blender or food processor, puree the mangoes and lemon or lime juice. Add the jalapeno and cilantro and pulse until mixed through.

Grill the salmon steaks for 5-6 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon steaks.
Top with Mango Chili Sauce.

Scallops with Mango Papaya Salsa and Coconut Rice

So let me start by saying I'm not a "scallop" fan. It's not a taste thing, it's a texture thing with me. Although I loved this combination of flavors, next time I will make the same mango/papaya salsa and put it on salmon or tilapia. The fruit salsa made this such a refreshing meal on a warm evening. I like my salsa extra spicy, but you could make yours with less spice if that's how you like it.

 Salsa Ingredients:
1 Papaya, seeded and diced
1 Mango seeded and diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeno chili, diced
2 green onions, chopped
2 tsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp of your favorite hot sauce

Scallops:
15 Scallops
1 Tbsp butter
Salt Pepper

Combine all salsa ingredients and stir together until mixed. Set aside. In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Salt and pepper your scallops and put them into the melted butter. Cook approximately 5-6 minutes and serve with salsa on the top.

For the coconut rice:

2 cups jasmine rice
1 cup water
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
Cook everything together in your rice cooker. (you can add  butter to the rice when it's done cooking)
If you don't have a rice cooker.....place the water, milk, salt and sugar into a pan. Add rice, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 min or until rice is tender. Turn off the heat and allow rice to sit for just a few minutes. Stir in butter if you wish.

Grilled French Ham and Cheese

My creative cooking juices were just not flowing today. That's very unusual, but it does happen. I have to admit that I don't like ham at all. I took a couple bites of this sandwich and passed it happily along to John. That's not to say it didn't taste good though. If you like ham, I'm sure you would like this sandwich. It's really easy to make and hardly takes any time at all.

French Bread
Ham Slices
Gruyere Cheese Slices
Butter
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp water
Salt
Pepper

Butter 2 slices of french bread on one side. On the non buttered side of one slice, place ham and slices of cheese. You can use as much or as little as you like. Place the other buttered piece of bread (buttered size out) on the top of the sandwich. In a medium bowl, mix two eggs with water, salt and pepper. Dip the sandwich into the egg mixture and press in a panini press or cook in a skillet for 5 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking process.

Watermelon Tea Pot

I decided to try another watermelon carving. I like my turtle a lot better than this one, but I think it still turned out ok. I didn't have enough fruit to showcase the fruit salad that is inside the watermelon, but trust me, there is some yummy fruit inside here.

Chili Rellano Casserole

"Muy caliente" is the way I like my food. This is definitely hot, but can be made to your own liking, by backing off some of the peppers that are added. This is super easy to make and is a good beginner recipe.

2 (8 oz) cans diced green chilis
1 (4 oz) can diced jalapenos
2-3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 lg onion, diced
8 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
salt/pepper/cayenne pepper, (just use these spices as much as you would like them or as little)

Heat oven to 350.
Spray a 13 X 9 inch pan with Pam. Pour both cans of green chilis and the jalapenos into the pan. Spread out with a spatula. Place the diced onion on top and cover with the shredded cheese.
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, evaporated milk, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly. Pour over the other ingredients in the pan. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

Chicken and Pasta Bake

After a day of church, lunch out with my daughter and son in law and an afternoon visiting with the in laws, it was definitely a night to make a fairly easy dinner. This is super easy to make and it hardly takes any time at all.

2 cups pasta, any kind you like
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups, cubed raw chicken
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
28 oz can of either crushed or diced tomatoes ( I would use diced, but all I had was crushed tonight)
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
1 Tbsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese, grated
2 Tbsp butter
*In the picture I added a few leaves of fresh hot and spicy oregano, to the top, out of my garden. 

Heat oven to 450.
Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside in large bowl. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes. Add the onion and garlic to the chicken. Stir and cook for 4-5 more minutes. (Chicken might not be done at this point, depending on how big it is cubed, but that's ok because it's going to finish cooking in the oven) Stir the chicken mixture into the pasta. Pour the tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper and the mozzarella cheese onto the chicken/pasta mixture.  Stir and place the entire mixture into an 11X13 inch baking pan (make sure you spray it with Pam). In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Stir together and sprinkle over the pasta mixture in the baking dish. Use the 2 Tbsp of butter to "dot" onto the top of the meal. (do this by cutting very small pieces of the butter and placing them randomly all across the top). Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Peanut Butter and Banana Panini

This post should probably have been titled the "Elvis Panini" since he loved peanut butter and banana sandwiches. I'm not too familiar with many Elvis songs, but I do know that as busy as I plan to be today, I had to make time to blog this panini, because  IT'S NOW OR NEVER. I didn't create this panini in my BLUE SUEDE SHOES, nor was I in the KENTUCKY RAIN. The question is: ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT? If the answer is yes (or no) try this recipe for some good comfort food. Just please DON'T BE CRUEL if you don't like it. :)
Ok enough of the Elvis songs! This panini really was great. The peanut butter cuts the sweet of the honey and the cinnamon bread just adds a unique combination to the flavors. Next time I might even try putting in a few chocolate chips to add the flavor profile.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Peanut Butter
Honey
1 Banana, cut into slices
Butter

Spread peanut butter onto one slice of cinnamon bread. Spread honey onto the other side. Place sliced bananas on top of the peanut butter and sandwich the breads together. Spread butter on the outsides of the bread slices and grill or put into a panini press.