Easy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I make these cookies when I crave chocolate and I want something fast. Also when I want a little healthier option I'll make these--the pumpkin you know....

Ingredients:

1 chocolate cake box mix

1 15oz can pumpkin puree
chocolate chip

Directions:

Mix the cake mix, pumpkin puree, and chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 12 min.

Boiled Cookies

These are my very favorite cookie of all time. My Grandma Stevens is the one who introduced these delicious cookies to me when I was a very little girl. My favorite birthday gift was the year my grandma made me my very own batch of these cookies along with some fabric for my mom to use to make me a dress.

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup cocoa
2/3 cup peanut butter
3 cups quick cooking rolled oats
2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Place piece of wax paper or foil on tray or cookie sheet. Combine sugar, butter, milk and cocoa in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture come to a rolling boil (or 232F). Remove from heat; cool 1 minute. Add peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Stir to mix well. Quickly drop mixture by heaping teaspoons onto wax paper or foil. Cool completely.

Hummus

Kayli and her vegetarian ways have introduced us to hummus. It is actually really good. My niece, Lia, just posted this recipe onto her blog. I'm thinking I may do a blog to recipe book with this blog so I want the recipe for hummus included. Plus I've added another ingredient (cumin) to her recipe that I think just makes the hummus perfect.

Ingredients:
2 cups canned garbanzo beans, drained
1/3 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, halved
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1/2-1 tsp ground cumin

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with paprika.

**An option to give the hummus some kick--add 1/2 cup cilantro and a jalapeno or two--so good.

Creamy Italian Chicken

This is another case where I'm sorry I don't have better photography skills. This is so yummy! One of my favorite dishes by far and it is so easy to make! I will say this cooked a little longer than it needed to, so that may be part of the problem. But it was still delicious, I don't think you can mess this up. I found this recipe on Marci Freeman's blog. She has one of my favorite food blogs and so I've adopted a lot of recipes from her.

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breasts cut in strips
1/4 cup butter (melted)
8 oz container of cream cheese with chives (can substitute plain cream cheese)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 (.7oz) pkg. Italian dressing (dry mix)
1/2 cup water
rice
Add ins: onions, mushrooms, carrots

Directions:
Place chicken breasts in crock pot. Combine butter, cream cheese, mushroom soup, italian dressing mix, and water. Stir in any add-ins you want into the sause. Mix and pour over chicken. Cook in crock pot for 6-8 hours. Serve with rice.

Crescent Rolls

Ingredients:

2 T yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 stick butter, softened

2 eggs

4-5 cups flour

Directions:

Mix first 3 ingredients and let sit 15 minutes until bubbly. Then add the salt, butter, eggs, and flour. Mix in enough flour so it isn't sticky. Let rise until doubled in size. Roll out into circle and spread melted butter on top. Cut like a pizza into triangles and roll the big end towards the small end until rolled up. Let rise again and bake 375 12-15 minutes.

Refrigerated bran muffins

This recipe makes a lot of muffins. Halving the recipe would probably be perfect. I'm guess that would make about 24 muffins, not sure. This recipe is nice because you keep the batter in the fridge so if you feel like a muffin at anytime during the six weeks this batter stays good for you can quickly make yourself a muffin.

Ingredients:
5 cups All-Bran cereal
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 cup shortening
1 qt buttermilk
5 cups flour
5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Directions:


Pour 1 cup hot water over 1 cup All-Bran. Set aside. Cream eggs, sugar, molasses, shortening. Add buttermilk, flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in 4 cups dry All-Bran. Mix lightly. Never stir again! Store in refrigerator. Stores for up to 6 weeks. Line muffin pans with paper liners or grease. Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes.

Chicken Salad Croissants

This recipe is for a crowd so you might need to scale back. I always go lighter on the mayonnaise so it's a little less fattening.

Ingredients:
5 13 oz cans of chicken
2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 tsp garlic
1/8 tsp marjoram
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup grapes cut in half
1/2 cup chinese noodles (chow mein noodles)

Directions:
Mix together and serve in a croissant.

Oatmeal chocolate chip lactation cookies

These cookies are really good whether you are lactating or not, I swear! I like the name though cause it automatically puts my family off from eating them : ) Or so they say, they all seem to eat quite a bit anyway. I like that they have flax and brewer's yeast in them to make them a little bit healthier than the average cookie. Plus I use half wheat flour to boost their nutritional value--even though they can't be considered healthy (look at all that butter and sugar!) I don't feel as guilty eating these. The blurb that was with the recipe says : "This recipe helps to keep your milk supply up or increase your milk supply. Use more brewers yeast and oatmeal if you are wanting to increase your milk supply."

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp flax seed meal
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour (I like 1/2 all purpose, 1/2 wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups oats
1 cup choc chips (I increase this)
2-4 Tbsp brewer's yeast

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the flaxseed meal and water and let sit for 3-5 minutes. Beat butter, sugar and brown sugar well. Add eggs and mix well. Add flaxseed mix and vanilla, beat well. Sift together flour, brewer's yeast, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter mix. Stir in oats and chips. Scoop onto baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes.

Chicken Bundles

This is one of Bethany's favorite meals. It is yummy and of course very easy to make. I apologize that my photography skills are not very good and so the pictures of my food aren't that appetizing : ) Everything on my blog tastes better than it looks in the pictures, I promise!

Ingredients:
1 8oz pkg. cream cheese
2 cups cooked and shredded chicken (or 2 cans)
1/2 c chopped celery
1/4 c chopped green onions
2 pkg crescent rolls (8 rolls/pkg)

chicken soup gravy:
1 can cream of chicken soup
milk

Directions:
Mix cream cheese, chicken celery, and green onions together. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto crescent roll dough. Fold over edges and place onto cookie sheet. Bake at the degree and time on the crescent roll package (375 for 20 min) Serve with warm chicken soup gravy.
Chicken soup gravy: Heat soup with about 1/2 cup milk for make it a smooth gravy like consistency.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
32 oz chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender. Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

Mexican Corn

Ingredients:
1 8oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 16oz package frozen corn
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 fresh jalapeno peppers diced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the cream cheese and butter, and mix with the milk until smooth and bubbly. In a medium casserole dish, mix the frozen corn, red bell pepper, and jalapeno peppers. Pour in the cream cheese mixture, and toss to coat. Bake 35-45 minutes in preheated oven, until bubbly and light brown.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

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Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 T olive oil

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 10.5oz can chicken broth

1 1/4 cup water

1 can (or 1 cup frozen) corn kernals

1 can white hominy

1 4oz can chopped green chile peppers

1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite sized pieces

Optional toppings: tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, green onions, sour cream.

Directions:

In medium stockpot heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth and water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Stir in corn, hominy, chilies, beans, cilantro and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle soup into individual serving bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, monterey jack cheese and chopped green onions.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken

 Serve with rice.  Leftovers are great to use for either tortilla soup, chicken enchiladas, or tacos.

Ingredients:
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts
8 oz apricot jam
12 oz salsa
1 pkg taco seasoning

Directions:
Combine last three ingredients. Mix with chicken in 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 45 min. Serve with rice.

Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups

These were so cute and sooo easy and good too. I found the recipe on Annie's Eats . I made one change by including the entire egg white instead of only part of an egg white and I used a jumbo muffin pan. The kids all really liked them too. Shane was a little grossed out by the yolk so I think when I try these again I'll mix the egg up before putting it in the muffin cup for a more scrambled effect.

Ingredients:
6 slices of bacon
6 slices of bread
shredded cheese
6 eggs
salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease 6 wells of a muffin pan. In a frying pan, cook bacon about 3-5 minutes, until partially cooked but not completely crispy. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Cut out rounds of bread. Press the bread rounds into the greased muffin wells. Curl a piece of bacon around the periphery of each piece of bread, positioning it between the bread and the muffin tin to help keep it in position. Spring a small amount of shredded cheese in the center of each piece of bread. Crack an egg over each piece of bread, being careful not to break the egg yolk. Once all bread pieces have been topped with eggs, bake until eggs are cooked through to your liking (abt 6-10 min) and bacon is crispy. Run a knife around the edge of each muffin well and pop the egg cups out. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Vegetarian Chili

My 15 yr old daughter is a vegetarian. I'm pretty sure she does this to spite her parents but occasionally I'll cater to her diet. Vegetarian chili would not be my first choice but this was pretty good and it was super easy to make. I really like crock pot meals because dinner time is so busy around our house either driving kids to and from places or doing homework etc. So I know I'll go back to this recipe. Plus this is just the type of thing I like to eat on a cold winter day. I found this on my favorite website for recipes allrecipes.com According to that each serving only has 218 calories, 1.6 grams of fat, 10.7g protein, and 11.7 g of fiber--so it's healthy too, can't beat that!

Ingredients:
1 15 oz can black beans
1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can refried beans
1 16 oz can chili beans
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can whole kernal corn, drained
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 4 oz can chilies, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 c water
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 pkg hidden valley ranch dry mix
opt. 1 lb lean ground beef

Directions:
In a slow cooker, combine black bean soup, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, baked beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, bell pepper and celery. Season with garlic, chili powder, parsley, oregano and basil. Cook for at least two hours on high.