Fluffernutter Cookies

From Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Cookies:

1 stick butter, softened

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 3/4 cups flour

mini marshmallows

Chocolate Glaze:

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I ALWAYS use milk, but that's just me)

3 Tblsp. butter

1 Tblsp. light corn syrup

1/4 tsp. vanilla

Whisk together flour, salt and baking soda in a large bowl; set aside.  Beat butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy; about 2 minutes.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients and, if using an electric mixer, beat at low speed.  * I have a mixer (not a KitchenAid; boo!) but with the majority of my cookie recipes I just mix them by hand, and for this recipe it worked out fine.  Transfer cookie dough to the fridge and chill 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (only a must if you don't want to wash the cookie sheets, which I don't mind doing).  Roll a heaping tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and place on the cookie sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.  Gently press into the middle of each cookie with your thumb.  Bake for 7-9 minutes or until very lightly browned.  Remove cookies from oven and gently press into the middle of each cookie one more time.  Place 3-4 marshmallows on top of each.  Return to the oven and bake 2-3 minutes more, until marshmallows are soft, but not toasted.  Cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheets before moving to wire racks.  Cool completely.

For the chocolate glaze, place chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup into a heat safe bowl (I used a glass one).  Set the bowl over a saucepan on the stove containing just barely simmering water.  Heat mixture until chocolate is melted and whisk until smooth and add vanilla.  Drizzle a small amount of glaze over the top of each cookie.  Glaze will set slightly upon cooling.

I made these for a family that I took a meal in to last month and let me just say that I'm glad we still had some left over to try!  Everyone in my family loved these things, and if you're like me, you sometimes need to have new ideas about how to use up all those bags of marshmallows.  Whenever I make Rice Krispies treats I almost always end up throwing most of the leftover marshmallows away, because they go bad before we get a chance to eat any more of them, but now I'll know just what to do with them.  ;)

Swedish Pork Chops

4 pork chops
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups milk
4 potatoes, peeled & cut into small chunks
2 Tblsp. flour

Brown chops, seasoned with salt & pepper.  Add water and milk.  Add potatoes, salt again to taste & simmer.  Watch carefully so mixture doesn't boil over.  *Trust me, if you don't watch, it will boil over & make a horrible mess you'll have to clean up.  Boil until potatoes are soft; about 15-20 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over mixture immediately so it doesn't get lumpy.

As a little girl, I had dinner with my grandparents all the time.  This was the dinner that I remember my Grandma making the most often.  I always got excited when she served this, because it's such a yummy & hearty meal.  I make this all the time in our house now too, since I almost always have all of the ingredients on hand, and it's a nice, quick dinner.  Our kids LOVE this too & there are never any complaints when this is placed in front of them.  :)

Double Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 recipe for your favorite chocolate chip cookies

1 recipe for your favorite chocolate cookies

Roll one fairly large ball of each dough.  Separate each ball into two pieces, then place one half chocolate chip cookie dough on top of one half chocolate cookie dough.  Place on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

I got this idea from How Sweet It Is.  The recipe found there is for cookies using browned butter, but I thought I'd try just mixing up some of my own dough for cookies that I already know I love & seeing how they'd turn out.  My friends, these cookies are SINFUL, especially if you're a chocoholic like me!  I may only allow myself to make this once or twice a year since they're so naughty!  :)

Breadsticks

1 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)

1 Tblsp. sugar

1 Tblsp. active dry OR bread machine yeast

1/2 tsp. salt

3-4 1/2 cups flour

In a large bowl (of a mixer, if you have one), combine water, sugar and yeast.  Let stand 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.  Add salt and stir.  Add 1 1/2 cups flour and mix well.  Gradually add more flour (usually between 3-4 cups, depending on your elevation and humidity), until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.  Spray a glass or metal bowl with cooking spray and place dough (formed into a large ball) inside.  Cover and allow to rise 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.  *I've had to make this ahead of time long before I have to bake these breadsticks, so I just put the bowl in the fridge.  Remove from dough and place on a lightly-floured surface.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray OR line with parchment paper.  Roll into a rectangle and cut into 12 strips with a pizza cutter.  * Time-out here for just a minute.  Instead of placing on a floured surface, I just grease my glass cutting board really well, roll the dough out on this, & then cut it into strips.  For me it's a lot easier.  Now back to where I left off.  Roll out each piece of dough into a snake and then drape it over your forefinger and twist the dough.  Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining pieces of dough.  Try to space them evenly, but it's okay if they're too close.  Cover pan with a clean dish towel and allow dough to rise another 30 minutes.  When there's about 15 minutes to go, heat oven to 425 degrees.  When done rising, bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  Rub some butter on top of the breadsticks and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and/or garlic salt, if desired.

I've made these 3 times at my house now and we all LOVE them!  They're great with soups & spaghetti dinners especially.  Tyler told me that I should keep this recipe for sure.  Thank you Our Best Bites!  :)

Ranch House Pork Chops with Parmesan Potatoes

6 pork chops, 1/2-inch thick

1 packet dry ranch seasoning mix

1 can (10 oz.) cream of chicken soup

4 lbs. peeled & cubed potatoes *

5 Tblsp. butter

1 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese *

6 cloves roasted garlic *

1-1 1/2 cups warm milk *

salt & pepper to taste

Place pork chops in a crock pot sprayed with Pam or lined with a crock pot liner (LOVE these things!).  Sprinkle ranch seasoning mix over pork chops and pour soup over all.  Cover and cook on high heat for 3-4 hours OR low heat for 5-6 hours.  Place potatoes in a large pot of cold water.  Place onto stove top over high heat and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, cook for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Drain and transfer to a bowl.  Mash potatoes and add butter, Parmesan, milk, salt & pepper.  Season to taste, if needed.  Scoop potatoes onto plates and top with pork chops and soup gravy from the crock pot.  Yummy!

* When I saw that this recipe called for 4 lbs. of potatoes I knew that would be WAY too much for my family, so I'd suggest just using however many potatoes you think your family will eat.  I also divided amounts of Parmesan and garlic in half.  I hate it when my mashed potatoes are too runny, so I only added a splash of milk & for me that was enough.  I've been addicted to Pinterest for weeks now, and I came across this recipe, courtesy of Real Mom Kitchen (I just tried finding the link for this cooking blog & Google Chrome is giving me issues right now; sorry!).  I highly recommend this dinner.  Not only can you just add everything in & then have dinner ready whenever you want it, but the potatoes are fantastic! 

Quick & Easy White Chicken Chili

1 jar salsa (my favorite brand is La Victoria)

1 (16 oz.) container sour cream

4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

1 can great northern white beans *

2-3 cups cooked chicken OR 1 large can chicken, well-drained

1 tsp. cumin or cumin to taste (I used 1 1/2 tsp.)

garlic powder to taste (I used 1 tsp.)

pepper to taste (I used 1/4 tsp.)

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot & heat on low until warmed through.  Alternately, heat on the stovetop on medium until hot, stirring occasionally.  If too thick, thin with chicken broth or water.  Serve with tortilla chips.  * The original recipe didn't say to drain the beans, but I drained and rinsed mine the first time I made this & the chili was a lot thinner, so next time I'll probably try it without draining.

First off, again I apologize for the horrible picture.  I'm desperate for a new camera, but unfortunately that'll have to wait a while.  I found this on What Megan's Making.  Thanks to Google Reader & some helpful hints from Annie's Eats, I know have access to even more recipe blogs w/ yummy new recipes to try (this can be both a good and a bad thing).  My kids turned up their noses at this when I first put it in front of them, but they eventually ate it & didn't complain.  The tortilla chips were an especially nice touch, because they both LOVED dipping their chips into the chili.  YUM!

Smothered Burritos

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 (4.5 oz.) can diced green chilies, drained (my kids hate these things so I left them out)

1 (16 oz.) can refried beans

half a can condensed tomato soup

1 (10 oz.) can enchilada sauce

burrito-sized tortillas, warmed

shredded cheddar cheese

Garnishes:

shredded lettuce

diced tomatoes

shredded cheddar cheese

chopped green onions

sliced black olives

cilantro

avocado

sour cream

Brown ground beef in a skillet and drain.  Stir in chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.  Stir in green chilies and turn off heat, but keep warm.  Warm the refried beans over low heat & keep these warm also.  In a saucepan, combine enchilada sauce & tomato soup.  Mix well and cook over medium heat until heated through.  Place a warmed tortilla on a plate and spread some of the refried beans in the center.  Sprinkle with cheese, then spoon some of the ground beef mixture into the center.  Tuck in the ends of the tortilla and carefully fold into a burrito.  Spoon some of the enchilada sauce over the burrito and top with additional cheese and desired garnishes.  Repeat w/ remaining tortillas.  Serves 4-6.

Thanks to Google Reader, I can now follow even more cooking blogs than I ever have before; I'm like a kid in a candy store w/ these things.  :)  I found this recipe on a blog called Sing For Your Supper.  I'd never heard of it before, but I'm seriously hooked.  I want to try almost all of the recipes posted here.  This is the first one & it was a HUGE hit with my family.  Tyler orders smothered burritos almost every time we eat at a Mexican restaurant, so I was pretty happy to find a yummy homemade version of his favorite Mexican dish!