More cookies!

Made some cookies for a sister at church last night. We just had to snag one for tasting purposes. They were good. Of course they were chocolate so I knew they wouldn't be bad!!!!

Mint Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies
1 box devils food cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 C veg oil
1 tsp vanilla extract (you could use 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 mint for an added punch-I didn't have the mint so I used all vanilla)
Andes Mint Baking chips

Mix ingredients. Place by tablespoon fulls (more or less depending how big of a cookie you want) on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Mine baked perfectly at 9.

Cool and enjoy. They went perfect with a glass of milk. Yum!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!

Lasagne in the Crockpot and Yummy Cookies

For Sunday dinner we had a craving for lasagna. So I gathered up the stuff to make it and once we got home from church I threw it in the crock pot. Lucky for us we get out of church early enough that I didn't have to worry about it before hand. Here you go, the best way to make lasagna.

Crock Pot Lasagna
1 box regular lasagna noodles
1 jar of favorite spaghetti sauce
4 C shredded mozz cheese
2 C corn
1 bag fresh spinach
1 container ricotta cheese
1 pound ground beef
1C dehydrated onions

Brown ground beef with the onions. Drain. Add sauce. Spray inside of crock pot with cooking spray. Once warmed through ladle a small amount on bottom of crock pot. Place noodles and layer ingredients. Continue with layers until crock is full. Layer them in whatever way you like. Once finished with the layers rinse out the sauce jar and pour that water/sauce mixture over the top. Top with the rest of the cheese.

Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours. Mine cooked for 6 and came out PERFECT!!!!! I was really worried that the noodles in the middle might not be done, but this whole this was perfect. I was in serious amounts of heaven with this and had 2 helpings because of it. The down side to cooking it in the crock instead of the oven is that the cheese doesn't brown on top, but we were ok with that. It was divine!!!



Afterwards, we got the cookie bug. So I whipped up these gems.

Cinnamon Chip Cake Mix Cookies
1 box yellow cake mix with pudding
2 eggs
1/2 C veg oil
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 C cinnamon chips

Mix ingredients and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Mine cooked for 9 minutes and were perfect. These are not going to be crispy, they are very chewey and really hit you with the cinnamon after the first bite. The husband thinks I need to start selling cookies....I guess that means he liked them! They really are scrumptious and were a BIG hit with everyone! Now if I just had some ice cream.......

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!!!

BBQ Chicken in the CrockPot

I've been using my crock pot a lot more lately. I'm falling in love all over again.
This time I decided to throw some veggies, chicken and bbq sauce and in the crock and let it cook all day while we cleaned out the garage and ran errands. I love the ease of this, I really do!!!

So here's what I did.

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 bottle favorite bbq sauce
1 bag frozen corn
generous handful of baby carrots
2 med zucchini's, chopped
1 C dehydrated onions (from food storage YAY!)

It's ok if your chicken is still frozen. Mine was and it turned out great.

Dump all ingredients into your crock and cook on low for about 6 hours. The chicken will be super tender and the veggies will be yummy. Serve with brown rice or mashed potatoes. We did brown rice and added cheddar corn muffins (from the box mix-top with a handful of cheddar cheese before tossing into the oven).

Just for kids

My kiddos got some great cookbooks for Christmas and my oldest was looking through one of them the other day. He found this recipe that he wanted to try. So I figured why not. It's good that he wants to cook and try new things and he was able to do most of it himself. So we are happy with that too!

Hot Dog Pizzas
5 hot dogs, cooked
1/2 whole wheat bagel per person (or a whole bagel if you are a grown-up)
ketchup
shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven broiler to low. Toast bagels.
Slice hot dogs into bite size pieces
Once bagels are toasted, put ketchup on them. Place as much cheese as you like on top of the ketchup and top with hot dog slices.

The is the oldest. He really got into making these!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place bagels back in oven for about 5-8 minutes or until the cheese is melted.


These really were good. They look kind of weird and in the beginning they sounded really weird, but honestly, these were good. Perfect for an after school snack.

HAPPY EATING!!!!

Soups for the soul

And now...back to the food. I have 2 yummy soup recipes! And the great part....they are both made in the crockpot! The are my tweaked versions of the crock pot ladies recipes. She's awesome! Did you catch her on GMA this morning? I have yet to try her buffalo chicken lasagne recipe, it looked delish. But back to these soups.....

Seafood Chowder
1 lb of white fish I used ocean perch (use whatever your family likes)

3 cups of chicken broth

5 potatoes, cubed

1 cup frozen corn

1/2 white onion, chopped

handful baby carrots (I used a very hearty handful), chopped

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

black pepper to taste

1 pound frozen 70/90 shrimp (to add later)

1 cup heavy whipping cream (to add later)

Cut up the fish into large bite size portions, it's okay if it's still frozen.

Dump everything except the cream and the shrimp into your crock pot

Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until the potatoes are tender. If your veggies are too big for your taste, use an immersion blender to smooth it out. Since i don't have one I used a potoato masher and it left chunks which I LOVED!!!

30 minutes before serving, stir in your cup of cream and the frozen shrimp. Turn your crockpot to high for the last 30 minutes.

We served this with a crusty bread and a side salad. My husband thought it was great and the kids were mixed on it. They aren't big soup people. My 2 year old ate it all up and asked for more. So there you go.... I hope you like it!



and now for the super yummy-oh don't get me wrong...that chowder was wonderful, but I hold a special place in my heart for this one. There used to be a fancy restaurant in the town I grew up in. My first experience with this soup was there. I was on a date with my boyfriend and I ordered it. Fell in love instantly. So good. So when I saw this recipe I was beside myself. I tweaked it a tad and let me tell you, the end result is soooooooo good!!!

French Onion Soup
4 cans of beef broth

4 T butter

3 large onions

1 T granulated sugar

1/4 cup chicken broth

salt to taste

3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 C dehydrated onions
french bread in slices, or whatever crusty bread you like. I used a whole wheat baguette

Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Heat your crockpot to high and plop your butter in to start melting

Slice the yellow onions into rings and -break up the onion slices with your fingers, and rub them around in the melted butter (at this point if you are going to let it cook longer don't forget to turn your temperature down to low).

Add the beef broth, sugar, chicken broth, dehydrated onions and garlic cloves

Cook on high for 6-8 hours or low for 10-12. It takes a while for the onions to get translucent and pliable, I cooked mine for 8 hours and it was perfect!!!

Just before serving:

Preheat your oven to a low broil

place the bread on a cookie sheet and top with cheese (however much you like, I like it extra cheesy)

Broil until the cheese turns a light brown.
Ladle soup into bowls and float each bread and cheese piece on top. Add extra cheese around the soup as desired.
Not as big of a hit with the kiddos, but I really loved it. The husband thought it was ok too. So maybe not one I'll do all the time, but I just had to give it a try. It took me right back to that restaurant when I had it the first time. And that's just what a good meal is supposed to do, take you somewhere. I hope it can do the same for you!!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Thank you thank you thank you to all who left comments! I loved all your cereal add-on ideas! We now have some winners!! A BIG thanks to MYBLOGSPARK for providing the goodie baskets!! I hope you guys enjoy them!

Winners, send me your mailing address to rebekahskitchen@live.com. Thanks again to all that played!!!!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

7
5
4

Timestamp: 2009-02-19 14:37:56 UTC


MaybeMama said...

I love to add bananas and almond slices.

Betsy said...

Bananas and strawberries.

LeslieVeg said...

I put Low Fat Vanilla Almond Breeze on my Cold Cereal.. I'm a simple kinda Girl!
Now on my oatmeal... I put pumpkin, and some pumpkin pie spice!!! YUM to Both!

Stay tuned for some yummy soup recipes!!!

Baked Hawaiian Calzone

My favorite pizza is the Hawaiian pizza. I love the contrast of the pineapple with the ham and sauce. When I was little I never thought it sounded good, those things all together just didn't sound right, but once I tried it I fell in love with it. So here is a calzone that should be tempting to you if you like that kind of pizza. Super easy to do also!! And you could susbstitue just about anything on the inside. Make it your own!

Baked Hawaiian Calzone
1 bag pre-made pizza dough (I used the whole wheat version from Trader Joe's)-it's enough to make one pizza
1 can pineapple chunks
1 package Canadian bacon for pizza (small circles)
favorite spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce
2 C mozzarella cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll out dough to a good size rectangle. Place topping on, start with bacon, then pineapple, then about 1 C worth of sauce and top with cheese. Roll up making sure that the ends are sealed up and place seam side down. Cut slits in top to vent or it might explode all over the pan. :O)

Bake for 30 minutes or until dough is nice and brown. You can do an egg wash to ensure it gets brown, but I chose not to do that since it was whole wheat dough.

Slice and serve with extra spaghetti/marinara sauce.

This was perfect! The kids all dove right into it and it was just enough ooey gooey goodness that made everyone's night!I probably could have eaten the whole thing.
Enjoy!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!

Another Giveaway!!!

Hello all! I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day with your sweetie, family, etc. Our family had a great day spending it together!!

I have another great giveaway!!! The folks at Cheerios have launched a new type. I love Cheerios, it's one of my favorite cereals. I love putting fruit in it and I could just gobble it up. Well like I said they have a new flavor: Banana Nut. Tastes just like banana nut bread. Yum!!!!

So I have 3 baskets to giveaway that will include a VIP coupon for Banana Nut Cheerios® cereal, banana tree with fruit basket, bread loaf pan and a set of two cereal bowls. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have!!

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment letting us know what you like to put in your cereal. My favorite it fresh fruit, specifically strawberries and blueberries!

Good luck and this contest will end

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, MIDNIGHT MST.

WINNERS

Thanks to all who entered the Yoplait giveaway!!! We have some winners!!!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

3
2
8

Timestamp: 2009-02-13 14:11:00 UTC

Melody said...

I love to go out on a date with my husband. That time away from the kids really helps me relax!

quitecontrary1977 said...

Before I had a family, I'd exercise, meditate, do yoga. Now I think I relieve stress by yelling !

Clair said...

I love to relieve stress by getting a facial. Of course it has to be a frugal one so i go to the local beauty school and get it done there! Thanks for the chance!

Thanks again!!! Email me at rebekahskitchen(at)live(dot)com with your mailing address and we'll get these out to you pronto!!!

If you still want another chance to win...PICKYPALATE.COM is offering the same giveaway. Head over there for another chance to win!!!

Stay tuned for another snazzy giveaway!!!!

So I have to apologize now for being a slacker the past few days. No real reason, just been lazy about posting. I have been cooking however, I just haven't been apt to posting them. So I beg for your forgiveness. Here's a few things I've done over the course of a few days!

Apple Pie Pancakes

Pancake mix
1 can apple pie filling

Mix pancake mix according to directions. Add half can of pie filling. Mix and cook to desired taste. Top with syrup and the rest of the filling as desired.

These are super easy and my kids ate these up.


Sunday we had our missionaries over for dinner. Since you never know what other folks like to eat, a casserole was the way to go. This particular casserole was full of flavor and very filling.

Sausage-Corn Casserole
1 1/2 pounds ground sausage
1 bag frozen peppers and onions
1 1/2 C milk
3tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cans creamed style corn
1 bag egg noodles, cooked and drained
1/4 C sharp cheddar cheese
tortilla chips crunched, for topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cook sausage, peppers and onions until sausage is cooked through and veggies are tender.

In a large sauce pan, melt butter with flour, salt and pepper. Gradually add the milk. Bring to a boil: cook and stir for about 2 minutes until thickened. Stir in corn. Add noodles and corn mixture to sausage mixture. Fold in the cheese.

Transfer to a greased 13X9in baking pan.

Top with crushed tortilla chips. Bake for 3-40 minutes uncovered. I baked this for 40 minutes and it was perfect!


And then of course there is nothing better than dessert, especially when that desert is chocolate and peanut butter in ANYTHING!!! Here are some brownies that will delight you!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies
2 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
1/2 C butter
2 eggs
1C sugar
1/2 C all purpose flour

FILLING:
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/2 C peanut butter (creamy or crunchy, whatever you like best)
1/4 C butter, softened
2-3 tbsp half and half cream or milk

GLAZE: (I did not use the glaze-ran out of time)
1 square (1 ounce) semisweet baking chocolate
1 tbsp butter


In a small saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat. set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add flour and melted chocolate. Stir well.

Pour into a greased 9 in baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool.

For filling, beat sugar, peanut butter and butter in a mixing bowl. Stir in cream until mixture achieves a spreading consistency. Spread over cooled brownies;cover and refrigerate until firm.

For glaze, melt chocolate and butter in saucepan, stirring until smooth. drizzle over the filling. Chill before cutting. Store in refrigerator.


These were so good that I can't even describe it. The gooey mix of peanut butter and the richness of the chocolate were so mouthwatering yummy. Too bad they are all gone or i'd be eating one right now!!!

HAPPY EATING!!!!

Taco Rice Skillet

Sorry no picture with this one. I just didn't have the energy to get the camera out. But this one is easy and I'm sure you'll be able to picture the final product.

Taco Rice Skillet

1 pound mild ground sausage
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 pkg mild taco seasoning (get the hot if you like it super spicy)
2 bags boil in the bag brown rice
1C shredded cheddar cheese
2C shredded lettuce
2 tomatoes, chopped

In a pot, boil water and cook rice according to package directions.
In a skillet, brown sausage and add beans and seasoning packet.

Once rice is cooked add rice to meat mixture and then top with cheese. Let the cheese melt.

Top with lettuce and tomatoes.

You could also top this with sour cream, guacamole, ranch salad dressing, salsa. Just use your imagination. The meat mixture is also really good by itself.

This was a hit with the whole family although some were less than thrilled with the black beans.

HAPPY EATING!!!!

crafty

Now I realize this isn't food, but I wanted to share these with you! As we all know-Valentine's Day is fast approaching. Here are a few ideas for cards that you can make. It just takes some heart/love chipboard pieces and various hues of valentine paper (or really whatever you have will work). I also had some valentine sayings rub-ons that I used. These are blank inside so you can write whatever you want to on the inside. This came in a kit but I don't see why you wouldn't be able to make them with things you have on hand. Have fun!

GIVEAWAY

I am so excited about this latest giveaway!!!
Yoplait has brought about this new flavor of yogurt. Not only is it good for you, but it's super yummy too!!! And now you have your chance to win a Yo-Plus gift bag that includes a coupon for a free 4-pack of Yo-Plus yogurt, Yoplait cooler tote bag, water bottle and a nutrition journal – great for keeping track of your health goals and eating habits. The bag in of itself is awesome. It's a cooler tote with enough room in it for lots of yogurt and other good things. The water bottle is good size, holding 34 oz of water. Perfect for the office or when you are exercising. I have 3 to give away!

All you have to do it leave a comment answering the following question:
what's your favorite way to relieve stress?

This is open until Thursday 10pm MST.

Please only enter once and GOOD LUCK!!!! Spread the word!!

Dinner and a desert that even the kiddos can help with!

Happy Friday all! I hope your week has been a good one. Our little monkey is now feeling 100% better and running and playing all over the place. Thank you for all your thoughts and concern! We have felt it!
Now onto the food! (My favorite part of the day!)
I have mentioned before that i have this really neat little cookbook called 101 THINGS TO DO WITH RAMEN NOODLES. It's really interesting and I have found some yummy things to make. This one was no exception. I did tweak it a little bit (because that's what I do -hehe) but otherwise I followed the recipe!

Chicken Milano
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp live oil
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp oregano
1/2 C shredded mozz cheese
1/2 C chicken stock
3 packages ramen noodles

In a frying pan, brown chicken and garlic in oil until done. Add tomato paste, sauce and seasonings. Simmer on low for about 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over top and let melt.

Cook noodles in water according to package directions and drain. Add 2 of the seasoning packets. Serve chicken mixture over warm noodles. Season with salt and pepper.


And now for an easy and simple dessert.
We got this cookbook for Christmas called Cool Kids Cook My 4 year old was looking through it found these "cookies" and asked if we could make them. I couldn't turn that sweet face down. Besides, they were easy enough that he could help make them. And he did, so did his older brother. Fun!!!

Jam And Cream Stars
1 sheet ready-rolled puffed pastry
1/3 C jam/jelly any flavor (we used strawberry)
1 C cool whip
powdered sugar to dust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out puffed pastry and cut out star shapes (you really could use any cookie cutter you have. We thought the stars were fun-but next time I may use a bigger cutter. These were kind of small). Place cut out shapes on cookie sheet, prick the pastry stars with a fork and bake for 8-10 minutes until puffy and golden brown. Let cool.

Once cooled, slice the shapes in half horizontally and spread the bottom halves with jam and cream. Replace the top half and dust with the sugar.
I was thinking after they were made that these would be really good with brunch or a baby shower....you know fun little munchies for parties. Or like us, you just need something quick and sweet. The puff pastry makes them light and airy and they really did hit the sweet tooth spot.
Enjoy!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!

Lots of Good Things

First off let me apologize for not blogging in a while. My daughter has RSV and we've been taking care of her as a top priority. She's so sad looking while taking her medicine, but she's just such a trooper. She is better now but still on her meds 4X a day as well as antibiotics for an ear infection.
But I have been cooking and taking pictures and i'm here now to share with you what I've done over the past week.

just makes you want to cry-this was taken on
day 1 after we got back from the doctor's office.

So we've been anxious for the super bowl and it was a great game! We rooted for the Steelers and were very excited when they won. My husband just about had heart failure on several occasions!
So without futher interruptions.....the food. I love trying new things and for the big game I wanted to find something to make for dinner that would be authentic to Pittsburgh. So I did some research and found this sandwich. It's funny looking, but it turned out really good!!!!!

Pittsburgh Sandwich
deli style roast beef
hamburger buns
provolone cheese
carrot slaw (recipe to follow)
french fries, hot and crispy

Here's where is gets funny! Layer all ingredients onto bun , eat and enjoy.
Yeah I know, french fries on a sandwich....????? But it was really good. The husband had 3 sandwiches so I guess it worked. He added mustard to his bread and I added a bit of mayo. But you don't' have too. But I have to say, as odd as it sounds, it was really good. And once I found the recipe I remembered that I had seen it featured on a Food Network show. The story behind it that there was a worker who came into his favorite sandwich shop on his lunch break and didn't have a whole lot of time. So he asked the guy behind the counter to just put everything on the bun and he'd eat it that way. So that's how the sandwich was born. Interesting.

Carrot Slaw
1/4 head of cabbage
3 medium carrots, washed and peeled
1/4 medium red onion
garlic powder
oregano
parsley
salt and pepper
1/4 C mayo
3-5 tbsp red pepper italian dressing

*all the measurments are approximate-use however much you like of each ingredient*

In a food processor, grate the carrots, cabbage and onion. Put in bowl and mix in mayo and dressing and add spices to taste.

This was basically, throw it together and see how it tastes slaw, and I think it turned out really well. There's enough left over from the sandwiches for hot dogs later in the week. And I love slaw on my hot dogs. Yummy!!!!!

Next on the list of Superbowl Sunday food was a munchie. It's just not football without the munchies. So I made these and we also had chips and salsa. Easy finger food!!!

Fried Cheese Sticks
12 of your favorite string cheese (I used the cheddar and mozz ones)
italian style bread crumbs
2 eggs, mixed with a little water
veg oil for frying

Cut each of the cheese sticks in half. Coat in the egg mixture and then into the bread crumb mixture. Repeat. Place stick on wax paper lined cookie sheet. At this point place in the freezer for 2 -4 hours until you need them. This helps the bread crumb mixture stay on the cheese stick.
Once ready to cook, heat oil in pan and fry sticks until golden brown.
Serve with favorite marinara sauce (I whipped up my own using 1tbsp tomato paste, 1 roma tomato chopped, garlic powder, oregano, parsely, salt and pepper-cooked on stove top for about 10 minutes until thick). These were really ooey and gooey and so good. I think I made too many for our little family, but we sure enjoyed eating them.
I really liked the cheddar cheese ones. A little different take on the traditional fried cheese stick. Just make sure you plan ahead since these need to go into the freezer.

And lastly I made cupcakes to celebrate. Gotta have something sweet after all that salty. So I whipped these babies up. Just a regular boxed mix with chopped crunch candy thrown in for good measure. The design on top is the steelers logo on top of the grass on the field. Nothing fancy, just good eats as Alton Brown would say!

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!!