Famous Cookies

I know it. I am famous for my cookies. Well...at least in my family.  

I have been making chocolate chip cookies ever since my wonderful mother taught me how.  

I love them.  I cannot stay away from them (which is very hard when you are on a diet).

I make them A LOT!

I have my own recipe, and they are good.  But my favorite cookies to make are Neiman-Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Can I say YUM!!!  The dough is to die for, I have to stop myself from eating just the dough so I can actually make some cookies.  So I am going to share this wonderful recipe with you all.

Enjoy!

Neiman-Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 Cup Butter
2 Cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla
2 1/2 Cups Oatmeal, blended
Chocolate Chips
Hershey Bar, grated
Nuts (optional)

Measure the oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder.  Cream the butter and both sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and soda.  Add the chocolate chips, chocolate bar and nuts.  Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

-Kelli

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Two of the best things in the world: Peanut Butter and Chocolate and they make an awesome cookie!
They are very soft like a peanut butter cookie should be, and then chocolate chips too.
They are the best right out of the oven, so hot and gooey....mmm!  Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
3/4 Cup Shortening
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/4 Cup Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1 package Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Measure peanut butter, shortening and brown sugar. Add sugar, egg and vanilla; beat until thoroughly combined. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add to peanut butter mixture; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop cookies onto cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. Let stand 2 minutes and move to cooling rack.

Made By Me: Dishwasher Soap

I have been dying to do this...

Ever since my dear sister posted about making your own laundry soap (click here) we have been in a frenzy to do more of this make your own stuff.  So I have been searching online and I found some info about making your own dishwasher soap.  I was so super excited but had some dishwasher soap left...so I had to wait but I made this just the other day. 

If you have already made your own laundry soap, then you already have two of the main ingredients so you will probably need to spend maybe about $3.00 to make your own dishwasher soap.

At first I thought that it was coming out about even, but you will be saving money doing this.

Ingredients:

 1 Cup Borax

1 Cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1/2 Cup Kosher Salt

1/2 Cup Citric Acid (kind of hard to find...so you can use Sugar free Lemonade in its place)

I found these packets at Walmart and they were .12 each.  I needed about 15 packets to make 1/2 cup.

Ice Cube Trays?!?!  I'll tell you in a minute :)

Place everything in a can.  You can use a coffee can, I used a food storage can.  

Put the lid on and shake.

Do you love those handy little blocks that you just pop in the dishwasher.  This is where you will use the ice cube trays.  Pack your mixture into the ice cube trays and...little blocks.

NOTE: I found out shortly after putting these in the trays that they don't pack down when using the sugar free lemonade.  I guess that is something in the citric acid that makes them clump and pack.  So...sad news this won't work if you are using lemonade instead of citric acid. :(  

So instead...I placed my dishwasher soap in this cute jar and have my handy scoop ready.

My next favorite trick.  I have avoided buying Jet Dry at the store because it is so pricey.

Did you know that you can use White Vinegar or Lemon Juice instead?

Well...now you do and it is much easier on the wallet.

Made By Me: Dishwasher Soap

1 Cup Borax

1 Cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1/2 Cup Kosher Salt

1/2 Cup Citric Acid or Sugar Free Lemonade

Place ingredients in container, shake well and place in a jar.  Use on Tablespoon per dishwasher load.

You can also pack soap into ice cube trays to make blocks.

Steak Marinade

Super easy and tasty steak marinade! I was out of A1 (how did that happen?) and trying to figure out what to marinade our elk steaks in for dinner tonight. Played around and found this good mixture.

Steak Marinade
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tsp Yellow Mustard
1 Garlic clove

Mix ingredients and put your steaks either in a bag or in a covered container and cover with marinade. Shake and make sure your steaks are saturated. It is best if you keep them overnight in the fridge or for as long as possible. Grill them on a barbecue for the best flavor. You don't need steak sauce after they are cooked, really good and flavorful! :)

Steak Fajitas

We have a freezer full of elk and deer meat!  And when I say a freezer full, I am not kidding.

We have so many steaks, roasts, ground meat, jerky, etc...that I have to get creative.

You can make the same things with elk and deer meat that you make with regular beef, but sometimes it is hard to think about what to do.

We had some steaks in the fridge waiting to be made for dinner.  I decided to make Fajitas, but I didn't have any fajita seasoning packets and I didn't want to have to pack up the kid and run to the store just for fajita seasoning.  So I decided to make my own.

Here are the players...

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Cayenne Pepper

Cumin

Paprika

Chili Powder

Sugar

Salt (optional)

It smells wonderful and makes about two seasoning packets full.

I cut up my steak into strips, cut up the onions and peppers.

Place some olive oil in the pan and start browning your steak, add your vegetables and the fajita seasoning, some water and mix in your pan.  Let it simmer.

Place the fajita mixture in a tortilla with cheese and any other toppings you prefer for your fajitas.

Yummy!!!

Fajita Seasoning

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp Onion Powder

1/4 tsp Cayenne

1/4 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Paprika

2 tsp Chili Powder

1 tsp Sugar

1/4 tsp Salt (optional)

Steak Fajitas

Steaks, cut into strips

Green & Red Peppers, cut into strips

Onions, cut into strips

Fajita Seasoning

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/4 - 1/2 Cup Water

Flour Tortillas

Shredded Cheese

Shredded Lettuce

In a saucepan start heating your oil and place your steak strips in the pan and start browning.  Add your vegetables, water and the fajita seasoning; mix well.  Let is simmer until done.  Place your steak fajita mixture on a tortilla with cheese, lettuce and any other toppings you prefer.  Roll up and enjoy!

Crispy Chicken Bacon Ranch Burritos

Bless my dear husband's heart, he loves fried food. Therefore I was given this for Christmas;

Because everyone needs to add fried food to their diet, right? Right.

I have avoided using it for a whopping four weeks but could deny the beckoning no longer. (And I had decided it was high time I discovered the subtle art of fried chicken.)

I know the theories; flour, egg wash, flour, fry.

Easy enough.

According to numerous fry-experts, that is the key to good fried chicken;

flour, egg wash, flour, fry. So here's your recipe;

Seasoned Flour

1-2 cups all purpose flour (dependant on how much chicken you are doing)

1/2 tsp garlic salt (or to taste)

1/2 tsp dried cilantro

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp seasoning salt or McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning

Stir until well mixed

Egg Wash

1/2 cup milk per one egg

(I did about four lbs of chicken and used about 1 cup of milk and two eggs)

Stir this well with a whisk

Coating your chicken:

Be sure your chicken is in good-sized pieces; meaning not too thick and not too large but not so small (nugget-sized) that they will disappear in the breading. Give the pieces a good coating of the flour mixture then dredge in the egg wash. Tap the excess wash off and plop it back in the flour.

To fry:

Be sure your fryer is ready and the oil is to its desired temperature; my fryer said 375 degrees was the best for chicken. Fryers are vastly different and you should familiarize yourself with instructions, capacities, and warnings before using. (Boy, ain't I conscientious?)

It took about seven or eight minutes before I heard the tell-tale sound of done chicken. (This is pretty cool...the fryer seems to calm down and say 'madam, your chicken?') ((Not literally, you crazy people. But the sound of the oil changes and you can definitely hear it.))

Ahhh...yum. So this is what I did with my chicken; I gave it one of those fancy side-ways cuts like you see at restaurants, made a neat little pile of chicken off-center in a big tortilla, sprinkled a little shredded cheese, shredded lettuce and these delicious tri-color tortilla strips that you can find at Walmart for $1.22 a bag and topped it with my homemade bacon ranch dressing.

(Which is ridiculously difficult to make, I tell you. Using the directions on a packet of Hidden Valley dry ranch, make the ranch then dump in a bag of Great Value Real Bacon Pieces. Stir well. I added about 1/3 cup extra milk to keep it thin and to help tone down the intense bacon flavor.)

 Yes...it is really good. And no, that is not a disgusting pile of something nasty sitting next to the burrito. Those are Pintos n' Cheese...well, my rip off version of Taco Bell's recipe.

So easy.

Pintos n' Cheese

1 can Great Value fat free refried beans

1/4 to 1/2 bottle mild taco bell sauce (found at Walmart. You can't tell where I do all my shopping, can you?)

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix the beans and sauce, using as much or as little sauce as you want. (Me? I like lots.) You can either heat these over the stove or in the microwave. Then top the beans with cheese or stir it in. Yum!

-A.S.

Rocky Road Brownies

Yummy!!! These are the BEST brownies ever. I was only introduced to these a couple years ago and my family has enjoyed them ever since.  Made from scratch, no box mix and so gooey and moist.
 Try them...you will love them too.

First, mix all the ingredients together.  Yum...it is really good batter.

Pour your mixture into a cake pan 

(love my Pampered Chef Baking Stone, it works perfect for these brownies)

 

After they have baked in the oven and your toothpick comes out clean, pour the marshmallows over and put them back in the oven for just a couple minutes. DON'T LET THEM GET BROWN!

 

All puffed up! :)

Cover with frosting and they are so perfect!

ROCKY ROAD BROWNIES

Brownies:

1/2 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Margarine

2 Cups Sugar

1/2 Cup Cocoa

4 Eggs

2 tsp Vanilla

1 2/3 Cups Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1 bag Mini Marshmallows

Melt the butter and margarine.  Add sugar and cocoa.  Mix in the eggs one at a time and then add the vanilla.  Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together in a seperate bowl and add to the egg mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Immediately cover the brownies with marshmallows and put back in the oven until they are all puffed up.  DO NOT LET THEM GET BROWN!

Frosting:

2 Tbsp Butter

2 Tbsp Water

2 Tbsp Corn Syrup

1 oz Unsweetened Chocolate

1 oz Chocolate Chips

1/2 tsp Vanilla

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

Bring butter, water and corn syrup to a boil.  When bubbling remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted.  Add the vanilla and powdered sugar.  You can add additional powdered sugar if the frosting is too runny.  Spread over the cooled marshmallow brownies.

NO chocolate chips...

anywhere in my house!  What am I supposed to make as a treat for the next couple of days.

Hmmm...thinking...going through the cookbook...thinking!

Aha!  I found Tom Thumb Cookies.  I don't know where the name came from but these are AMAZING cookies (my husband ate half the pan in one sitting) and VERY yummy!

 First make your crust and press it out into pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 7 minutes.

Next...mix together the rest of the ingredients and spread over your crust.  Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cut into ooey gooey bars and ENJOY!

Tom Thumb Cookies

Crust:

1 Cup Shortening

1 tsp Salt

1 Cup Brown Sugar

2 Cups Flour

Topping:

2 tsp Vanilla

4 Eggs, beaten

2 Cups Brown Sugar

1 tsp Baking Powder

3 Cups Coconut

Cream the first three ingredients together and blend in the flour.  Press into a cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 degrees for 7 minutes.  Mix together the ingredients for the topping while the crust is baking and then spread over top of the crust.  Bake at 325 degrees for another 20 minutes.

Made By Me

We had some awesome feedback when we had a post a while back about making your own laundry soap.

This has started the wheels turning in our heads and we are totally excited to include in this blog a DIY section.

It is labeled Made By Me and it is just a click away (see above).

We have been brainstorming on some things that we can DIY - and I am super excited to post them.

Some of our ideas that are in process:

Made By Me - Dishwasher Soap

Made By Me - Swiffer Pads

We have to test them out and make them ourselves first (of course) but if you have any ideas or things that you want us to try, please comment and we will see what we can do.

Homemade Lasagna

My son recently told me about his love for Lasagna.  I had no idea that it was his favorite food, and so we were at the grocery store I was looking in the freezer section at the pre-made lasagnas and about had a stroke when I saw the prices.  I decided to look around and see how much it would cost to MAKE my own lasagna.

So I bought the stuff needed to make lasagna and sighed with relief at the price.  Less than half the cost of a frozen lasagna.  So I went home and experimented and made a lasagna for dinner.  I went off the recipe on the back of the lasagna noodles, but also detoured and came up with this recipe (I did use jar marinara sauce this time but I recommend trying the homemade recipe below - yummy).  

I must say that it was really good and my husband and son want me to make it again...and again!  I have a feeling that it will be a weekly meal at our house now.

HomemadeLasagna

1 pkg Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles

(*Oven Ready Lasagna noodles do not need to be boiled before placing in the oven)

1 jar Marinara Sauce (or homemade – see recipe below)

1 lb Ground Beef, cooked and drained

1 Cup Water

3 Cups Cottage Cheese

½ Cup Parmesan Cheese

Lots of Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

2 Eggs, slightly beaten

1 tsp Dried Basil

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

-In a bowl, combine the cottage cheese, parmasan cheese, eggs and the basil.  Mix well.

-In another bowl, combine the marinara sauce, water andthe ground beef.  Mix well.

-In a 9x13 pan layer your lasagna noodles in the bottomof the pan, overlapping them as you go.

-Spread half of the cheese mixture evenly over thenoodles. 

-Next, spread the mozzarella cheese on top of the cheesemixture.

-Then spread the meat mixture over the mozzarellacheese. 

-Repeat this process (Lasagna noodles, cheese mixture,mozzarella cheese and then the meat mixture)

-Now sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and more parmasan cheese over the top. 

-Wrap tightly with a double layer of foil.  Bake for 60 minutes.

Homemade Marinara Sauce

1 can Stewed Tomatoes

2 cans Tomato Sauce

Spaghetti Seasoning packet

Chili Powder to taste

Onion Powder to taste

Garlic Powder to taste

Oregeno to taste

Basil to taste

Parsley to taste

Sugar to taste

In a saucepan add the stewed tomatoes and crush them witha potato masher.  Add the tomato sauceand all the seasonings.  Let simmer for20-30 minutes.