Recipe: Skillet Cookie

Today I felt like baking something quick, easy, and chocolate!  I decided to go with a skillet cookie! I had all of the ingredients in the house and it takes very minimal baking skills and effort!  So I tweaked my friend Brittany's skillet cookie recipe just a hair and here are the details and results!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chocolate chunks

Step by Step:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Whisk together flour, soda, and salt in small bowl to set aside. 

3. With mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla, mix.  Add flour mixture and beat until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

4. Put in 10 inch oven-proof skillet, pressing to flatten.  Bake until the edges brown and top is golden, about 25 minutes.  

5. Transfer to wire rack for 15-20 minutes to cool.  

6. Yummy served warm but also good cooled down.

Pictures:

All Up In My Grill!

We've purchased a new gadget and I'm excited to say that it's a keeper!!  I've been wanting to find a way to grill meats (mainly chicken) without having to use an outdoor grill.  Our George Forman grill (while we enjoy it for making turkey burgers & grilled sandwiches) just hasn't been cutting it with grilling chicken without taking away the juicy nature of the chicken.  So, the hunt began and started with a this panini press that I purchased from Bed Bath & Beyond.  The result: semi-liked it, same problem as with the GF grill--the chicken was somewhat burnt on the outside because the chicken had to be grilled longer to fully cook the inside.  So, this was not a keeper!

Second attempt, this grill.  And my friends, she is a keeper!!

For my first trial run I marinated several chicken breasts in a jerk marinade and several others in Kraft's Sweet & Spicy Chipotle BBQ sauce (this BBQ sauce is DELICIOUS!! like, for real!).  I marinated the chicken overnight and the next day I took the grill out for her first test drive!!

p.s. I am so enjoying these mixing bowls I recently found on excellent sale at Macy's for $15!! Bought me and my friend Sonja a box!!  They are great for marinating, storing left overs, preparing food, traveling with food (sturdy lid), you name it! [I have used them for all of the above in the past week alone!]

Anywho, back to the grill--who has yet to be named.  So, to make her work you fill a tray that sits under the rack with water (that makes the steam to give it that smokey taste like you get on the grill!), and then you just plug her in and set the temperature.  Next, spray her down with a little PAM olive oil spray and wait while she preheats.

 can you see the pan of water underneath?

sprayed down with this PAM

Here's how the test run went down....

 BBQ on left, Jerk on right

see the smoke?!

 

close up of BBQ

close up of Jerk

So, around here, the ultimate test is whether I, or my picky eater, Troy, gives the food 2 thumbs up!  Troy LOVED the BBQ chicken and talked about it for a week.  The grill did not toughen the outside of the chicken and it was still nice and juicy when we ate it (even when we had leftovers!!). 

So, she's a keeper and I actually made chicken tonight--marinated in Italian dressing--I usually bake the chicken when I marinate it in Italian dressing-remember this post from last September?  But Troy said, let's give the grill another spin!! So I did.  A few pics from tonight...

Well, there ya have it!  A new gadget to welcome into our kitchen family! Our kitchen is pretty much filled to the brim now.  The cabinets are full, the counter tops are almost full, and the tops of our cabinets are full....so idk what we're going to do when our next kitchen gadget arrives (we don't have one in mind right now.  But I am really hoping to add a stand mixer to the family in December!!) 

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the grill!! 

Yay for all things hot & steamy, (*wink*)

SG

Recipe: Creme Brulee French Toast

My friend Brittany made this incredible meal for me a few weeks ago and I had to give it a whirl!!  Thankfully I had an honest audience this weekend--my niece and nephew! And yup, they loved it!! The recipe is from a cookbook printed by the Hill House Bed and Breakfast in Asheville, NC!

Ingredients:

1 stick butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tbsp. light corn syrup

6 or more (1-inch thick) slices French bread (fresh from bakery; not in bread aisle)

5 eggs

1.5 cups half-and-half cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Note: this dish needs to chill overnight.

Step by Step:

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. 

2. Mix in brown sugar and corn syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved. 

3. Pour into a 13x9-inch baking dish. 

4. Arrange bread slices in the baking dish in a single layer. 

5. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half & vanilla extract. 

6. Pour over the bread. 

7. Cover and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.

8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

9. Remove the dish from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature. 

10. Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until puffed and lightly browned. 

11. Remove from oven & flip so that caramelized side is on top. 

Pictures: 

 some are prettier than others...

Definitely going to try this recipe again soon!,

SG

Easy Bake Oven: Blueberry Quick Bread with Orange Glaze

Nah, I didn't pull a throw back to one of my favorite childhood toys, but last week I made a yummy blueberry quick bread that was quite easy since it came from the box.  The adventure part, however, was the glaze I made--my very first glaze!! And it was SO easy, I'm sure MANY glazed yummies are in my future!

Blueberry Quick Bread:

boxed blue berry muffin mix

fresh blueberries (some box mixes come with canned blueberries)

eggs (box will tell you how many)

milk (box will tell you how much)
virgin olive oil (box will tell you how much)

Tools:

bread pan 

Orange Glaze:

2 tablespoons orange juice

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Step by Step:

1. Make blueberry bread according to box directions.

2. Bake.

3. Allow bread to cool 30 minutes.

4. Remove bread from bread pan. Cool additional hour.

5. Glaze. whisk orange juice and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl.

6. Pour glaze over bread.

Pictures: 

YUM,

SG

Snack Pack For Little Jack!

If you're anything like me, you need a good snack to make it through the work day!  10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. are my peak snack hours.  Anywho, my typical snacks include cheez-its, crackers, snickers, kit kats, and reese's peanut butter cups.  Yeah, I know, the anti-healthy!  So, I've made it my bizness to turn over a new leaf--healthy, yet yummy, work snacks.  I started today and thought I'd share my top 3 finds.

I'll report back on how they taste next week!  What are your favorite healthy (BUT YUMMY) work snacks? Do share! None of the nasty stuff, no matter how healthy it is! So, share healthy yummies please!

Turning over a new snack leaf,

SG

p.s. in case you didn't catch the "Meet the Fockers" reference in the title, I highly suggest renting the movie this weekend! **smile**

Recipe: Chicken Parmesan

Can you believe that it's time for the LAST month of the year already!?!  WOW!!  Well, here goes November's recipe.  Check out December's yummy dessert recipe--skillet cookie!!  I actually plan on making October's recipe tonight--bean soup! YUM!

Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

Angel Hair Pasta

1 cup plain bread crumbs

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 large eggs, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup olive oil (more if needed)
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, lightly pounded
4-6 cups Marinara Sauce (I lean toward MORE than less)
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

Level of Difficulty: 2.5 (scale of 1-5)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine the bread crumbs, grated cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and parsley in a shallow bowl (bowl large enough for chicken to be rolled in later).

3. Place the beaten eggs in a separate bowl.

4. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

5. Dip each chicken breast in the eggs and then in the bread-crumb mixture, shaking off any excess.

6. Add the chicken breasts to the pan and cook, in batches if necessary, until golden, about 2 minutes to each side. When cooked, remove from the pan and place on papper towels to drain.

7. Cover the bottom of a 9- X 13-inch baking dish with 1 cup of marinara sauce (or more if needed to fully cover bottom of pan).

8. Add the chicken cutlets and sprinkle with half the grated cheese. Cover the cutlets with 1 cup of marinara sauce, sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese and shredded mozzarella.

9. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

10. Boil pasta while chicken is in oven.

11. Serve the chicken over the angel hair pasta & ENJOY!! SO delicious!!

Yum,
SG

Recipe: Bean Soup

Time keeps flying and the recipes keep coming!  Here's October's recipe of the month!  Now on to November...chicken parmesan!!

Bean Soup

Ingredients
2 cans mild rotel
1 can black beans
1 can navy beans
1 can pinto beans
1 package ranch dressing
1 package taco seasoning
1 pound ground turkey
1 small onion chopped up
(some use 1 can of corn as well)

Level of Difficulty: 1

1. In a large pot warm the beans & rotel.

2. While beans & rotel are warming in pot, cook ground turkey and drain. (clean any grease from skillet)

3. Place cooked ground turkey back in skillet and add package of taco seasoning, 1 cup of water, and chopped up onion to the ground turkey and simmer for approximately 10 minutes.

4. Add turkey and ranch package to large pot with beans/rotel and mix well. Simmer all ingredients in pot on medium heat for approximately 30-45 minutes.

5. Enjoy!! Bean Soup goes great with corn bread or tortilla chips. I also add shredded cheese on mine as well!

Yum,
SG

Snickerdoodle Went to Town Riding on A Pony!...

Guess whose getting into baking homemade cupcakes for fun?!  I'll give you one guess.... ::insert drum roll::

ME!!

I'm starting a new hobby and I'm hoping that (1) this hobby is cheaper than shopping [my current #1 hobby] and (2) the fruits of my labor are yummy!!  For my first attempt at "from scratch" baking I decided to keep it simple with Martha Stewart's Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

That's Martha's picture (above).  Here's my final product:

I started off with purchasing a number of items that I did not have:

This is a cool cupcake/cake holder that allows you to carry 24 cupcakes or a really tall cake!  It collapses also for easy storage and/or if you just want to carry 12 cupcakes!  Here's the inside:

I also bought these pastry tips but had to return them because they were too small.  I found some larger tips but plan on ordering some even larger ones from a cookware website! 

After purchasing all of my food & baking items, it was time to get to work!

 

 

Homemade buttercream icing! (Thanks Brittany for the recipe!)

 

 

 

I definitely plan to buy more pastry tips.  I think I like the star icing design better than the big circle.  I'm pretty pleased with the results from my first attempt, but looking forward to perfecting my technique and making the cupcakes fluffier/bouncier.  :-)

Since the recipe resulted in over two dozen cupcakes, Troy and I took twelve to church as treats to the first twelve adults in Sunday School this morning!  They were a hit!!  Anywho, stay tuned for more adventures of cupcake baking with SG!

Snickerdoodling,

SG