Ma's Peppermint Cocoa Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

These cookies are an original concoction put together by my mother and I this holiday season. I was never a big fan of peppermint and chocolate together until Cass brought over these brownies (a variation of Swistle's Brownies) and I died. Dead from yummy goodness. I kind of forgot about my love of this combination until Starbucks started with their Peppermint Mocha Twists. I died again. So I began my hunt for anything in this combination and craved it like I was pregnant again. Ice cream, candy, anything.

So while we were doing our yearly tradition of cookie baking, we came up with this recipe and Oh. My. Dog. It's kind of like a chewy thin mint.

So if you have these ingredients or are planning a trip to the store, pick up the stuff and make them for Christmas. Bring them to a friends' house. You WILL NOT be sorry.

What you need:



1 sticks of butter
3/4 c. white sugar
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 tsp. peppermint extract
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa poweder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 1/4 c. flour
1 pkg (12 oz) white chocolate chips.

What you do:

-Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl. Set aside.
-In a mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy
-Add in extracts and eggs.
-Gradually add in dry mixture.
-Spoon onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until done.

Some things of note:
-Personally, I always take out my cookies a minute or two before they are "done" and let them sit on the cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes before putting them on a cooling rack. This lets them finish cooking out of the oven so you get that gooey middle.
-Make sure you don't use more than the 1 tsp of peppermint. It is STRONG and any more than that and it overpowers the flavor. If you want more mint, try using crushed candy cane pieces sprinkled on top.
-You can most definitely substitute the white chips for regular chocolate chips or even the swirled ones. You can use none at all. Get creative!

Enjoy!

AndreAnna's Almond Cream Cheese Cakesters

This was my very first recipe that I came up with solely on my own. I didn't copy or improvise. I decided what I wanted and made it. And it worked, so yay! They are cakier than cookies but cookier than cake. Hope that made sense. These are a great light holiday desert, perfect with coffee/tea.

What you need:
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 tube (7 0z) of almond paste
1 c. white sugar
1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c. sliced almonds

What you do:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
-In a separate bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid for this) beat butter, almond paste, and sugar until well-blended.
-Add in 2 eggs and beat.
-Add in cream cheese and beat together until light and fluffy
-Add in bowl of dry ingredients and beat until blended.
-Put batter in fridge for at least an hour to firm up. Otherwise, rolling into balls s very difficult.
-Once chilled, roll batter into small balls and smush one end into a plate of almond slivers. Please almond-side up on cookie sheet.




-Bake for 15-18 minutes or until starting to brown on the egdes.
-Enjoy!

Dinner + Lunches

I've been cooking up a storm while wearing Lexi in a Moby so photography has had to go....but the cooking is still happening. My plan is make an easy dinner and use it to make a different lunch sometime in the future.

Dinner in the Crockpot: Roast
1 Cheap Cut of Beef Roast
1 Beer
1 Packet French Onion Dip Mix

Put all that stuff in the Crockpot on Low. Ignore for 6-8 hours. Two hours before serving I added:
2 chopped Sweet Potatoes
20 Baby Carrots (I didn't count you silly gooses)
1 Large Onion chopped
1 Package of Baby Bella pre-sliced Mushrooms

Serve. Yummy. Freeze the leftover meat and broth in a big Pyrex.

Lunch two weeks later: Beef n Barley Soup
Thaw the Meat and Broth
6 Cups Low Sodium Beef or Chicken Stock (I used half and half because that's what I had)
1/2 Cup Barley

Simmer for 40 minutes.
Add in Sliced Carrots, Celery, Onion and your thawed Meat and Broth.

Serve. Yummy. With Grilled Cheese. Delish!

Adventure in the Crock

The Crock Pot that is. So today I did this:

1 Jar of Red Sauce
15 Chicken Tenders Raw
2 Cans of White Beans
1 Package Frozen Spinach
1 Onion
1 Can of Diced Tomatos

I put it on low. I put it on top of Brown Rice but I dream of putting it on top of some cheese filled pasta that magically doesn't add calories to my diet and thus make my pants not fit. I don't live in Disney where calories do no exist so I put it on Brown Rice. It's DELICIOUS. Now what do I call it?

Pumpkin Apple Bread

This recipe comes from Kristin, who made it from a Weight Watchers recipe. It sounds so great and yummy for a fall day!

What you need:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup + 1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 large egg
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and grated
1/2 cup cooked pureed pumpkin or canned pumpkin puree
1 tsp confectioners sugar

What you do:
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients.

In a small bowl, beat egg; add buttermilk, apple and pumpkin.

Add egg mixture to flour mixture and mix just until blended. Do not overblend.

Spoon into prepared pan and bake about 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes in pan; turn out onto a rack and cool thoroughly. Dust with confectioners sugar and serve.

Makes ten servings. Per serving: 156 calories, 4g Protein, 2g Fat, 30 g Carbohydrate, 262 mg Sodium, 23 mg Cholesterol, 2 g Dietary Fiber

Fig Cranberry Muffins

This morning, I twittered that I had a bunch of figs from the farmer's market that I just could no longer eat. I'm the only one in the house that will eat them fresh and raw. My 31-year old husband won't eat them because he thinks they look like zombie guts and my toddler is currently on a plum kick and anything else is crap.

I went on a hunt for a recipe I could make with them. Normally, I'd love to stuff those little sons of bitches with goat cheese, some fresh herbs, and bake them. But again, I'd be the only one to eat them and there was quite a bit of figs left.

So I came across a few different recipes for fig bread, fig loaf, etc., and many of them required things I don't have in the house: vegetable shortening (um, ew, how 'bout "no" Scott?), buttermilk, the blood of a goat. I was forced to concoct my own using a few different ones for ideas.

And they were well worth the mini-stroke I had when my toddler put her little plastic mermaid in the Kitchen-Aid while it was on.



What you need:
6 tbsp butter, softened
2/3 c. white sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. milk
1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp. allspice (or nutmeg)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. figs, chopped very finely or pureed
1/2 c. dried cranberry (I used 1/4 c. cranberry and 1/4 c. currants if you have those)

What you do:
-Mix the butter and both sugars until fluffy
-Add in the egg, vanilla, and spices
-In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt
-Gradually add in the dry mixture to the wet, alternating with the milk.
-Fold in the figs and cranberries
-Spoon into 12 muffin cups
-Sprinkle a little brown sugar on top if you like the crumbly texture on top of muffins
-Bake at 350 for 20-30 mins or until passes the toothpick test and slightly browned

These muffins come out slightly crispy on the outside and so soft and moist inside. Perfect for the fall!

Leftover Ham Casserole

This post has been brought to you by Multi-Tasking Mommy.

Even when I buy half of a boneless ham, it seems we are left with leftover ham for days and we end up getting sick of it!

I have finally come across a great recipe to solve this problem. I can make it and freeze half of it for another time.

This is yet another casserole that has been added to my freezer for when after the baby is born. Let's hope the baby isn't super sensitive to onions!

Recipe from: Enjoy: More Recipes from the Best of Bridge, page 141.

Ham Casserole

1 cup cubed cooked potatoes
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I use cheddar, but recipe calls for swiss)
2 cups cubed cooked ham (or more)
1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs (I omit these)
2 Tbsp butter

Cook onions in butter in skillet, blend in flour, salt and pepper. Add milk slowly. Cook until thick. Add cheese and melt. Add ham and potatoes--mis and pour into casserole dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and dot with 2 Tbsp of butter. Cook at 400 for 30 minutes until bubbly.