Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies

I was checking out one of my favorite blogs http://www.annies-eats.com/ and saw these delicious looking cookies. I love marshmallow so I had to try them. The combination of the cookies, marshmallow, and chocolate goes wonderful together. The only thing that I will change next time is making the cookies thinner and put more marshmallow on them. The marshmallow was surprisingly easy to make even without a candy thermometer.

http://annies-eats.com/2009/12/21/chocolate-covered-marshmallow-cookies/

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1 tsp. olive oil

2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped

2 tsp. cumin

3 Tbsp. garlic powder

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 cup water

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 pkg. shredded cheese (I used cheddar and monteray mixed)

8 tortillas

Cooking spray

Directions: Combine everything except chicken, cheese, and tortillas in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, turn to low and then put chicken into the sauce. Cover with lid and let cook for 15-20 minutes until no longer pink. Place the chicken on a plate to cool. Strain the sauce to separate out the peppers. Add a 1/2 cup of the sauce and ½ cup of cheese. Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. Place tortillas on a plate with one paper towel between each one. Cook in microwave for 30-60 seconds. Spray a baking dish with cooking oil. Place 2 spoonfuls of the chicken onto the center of the tortilla. Roll the tortilla up and place seam down into the baking dish. Spoon remaining sauce onto the tops of the tortillas and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 5 more minutes. Remove dish and let stand a couple of minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Bun Pancakes

Usually when I get home from work, I check out a list full of blogs that I have saved. Yesterday on Pioneer Woman she had these pancakes. I made them and they were delicious. I poured a mixture of powdered sugar, milk, and butter over the top. Delicious! Here's the recipe:http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/2010/02/a-tasty-recipe-cinnamon-bun-pancakes/. My picture is obviously not as good as the one on the site but they were still sooooo good.

Pizza!!!

I am not a big fan of pizza but since it's my husband's favorite, I have to make it sometimes :) I found that the Pillsbury pizza crust works the best for me. I unroll the pizza dough, spread pizza sauce, sprinkle cheese and toppings, and bake. It cooks really quick too.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Valentine's Day. My husband and I are spending the day inside just hanging out with each other. I woke up and made him biscuits and gravy (his favorite). For dinner, I made mini meatloaves and twice baked potatoes. It has been a great day!

Biscuits and Gravy

If you have never made biscuits and gravy before, here is a very simple recipe.

You will need:
biscuits
2 Tbsp. flour
1 lb. sausage
3 cups milk

In a medium sized skillet, cook your sausage until it is completely done. Do not drain. Stir in your flour. Slowly add in your milk a little at a time. Continue to stir in the milk. Your gravy will start to thicken. I always let it sit for about 5 or 10 minutes off of the heat to thicken a little bit more before serving. Add salt and pepper if desired.

Mini Meatloaves and Twiced Baked Potatoes (Cheating version)

For the mini meatloaves, you can make your favorite meatloaf recipe. Coat a muffin pan with cooking spray. Place your meatloaf in the muffin cups and bake at 350 degrees until no longer pink inside (about 20 minutes).

Twice Baked Potatoes (Cheating version)

I use the Hungry Jack dried flakes. I make the mashed potatoes like it says on the box. Then I add about 2 spoonfuls of sour cream and a handful of shredded cheddar cheese. Stir until well mixed. Put the mashed potatoes in a oven safe dish and sprinkle more cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted.

Chicken Teriyaki and Fried Rice

My husband and I love a local Japanese restaurant. The fried rice is amazing there. My husband kept bothering me to try to make the fried rice. I threw some stuff together and it surprisingly came out close to our local restaurant. Here is what I came up with...

1 package chicken breasts
3 cups white rice
2 eggs
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
salt
pepper
1 to 2 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbsp. butter
teriyaki sauce

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Melt butter in a skillet. Cook the chicken over medium heat until no longer pink inside. Stir in teriyaki sauce right at the end. I just kept adding a little at a time until I liked the taste.
Cook the rice. I used Minute rice. While that was steaming, I went ahead and scrambled two eggs. To save from a million dishes (I hate doing the dishes), I put the cooked eggs into a small dish. I used the same pan I cooked the eggs in to cook the rice. Add a small amount of cooking oil to the skillet. Over medium heat, add rice. Stir rice constantly so that none of it burns or hardens. Add seasonings (ginger, garlic powder, salt, pepper). You can also add green onion if you wish. Keep stirring. Add small amounts of teriyaki sauce until you get desired taste. Serve immediately with chicken.

Cajun Pasta

I LOVE LOVE LOVE... hold on. Let me make sure you know that I LOOOVE Cayenne Pepper. I have been throwing it in just about everything I make lately. I have been cooking a lot of pasta lately so I had to find a way to add my cayenne pepper. This cajun pasta turned out fantastic. Here is the recipe I came up with...

1 box of penne pasta

3 Tbsp. butter

1 1/4 Tbsp. flour

1 1/2 cups half and half

1/4 to 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. Tony Chacheres seasoning

Melt butter over medium heat. Add your 1 1/4 Tbsp. flour and stir constantly. Add 1 1/2 cups half and half a little bit at a time. Continue to stir for 5 minutes. Set aside to thicken. Cook your pasta. While cooking your pasta, you can add the parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and Tony Chacheres seasoning to the sauce. Once pasta is cooked, drain, and add sauce to pasta. Stir to coat. Serve immediately.

New Years

Happy 2010! We hosted a New Years Eve party at our house. Here are some of the things that I made.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Skewers

Place small pieces of chicken on skewers. Dip in butter. Then dip in a mixture of bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and garlic powder.

Vegetable Tray- Sorry for the blurry pictureChocolate Mousse

I found the recipe for this chocolate mousse at www.bettycrocker.com. It is so easy and turned out delicious.

4 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup whipping (heavy) cream
1 package (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)
1 1/2 cups whipping (heavy) cream

1. Beat egg yolks in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed about 3 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in sugar.
2. Heat 1 cup whipping cream in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat until hot. Gradually stir at least half of the hot whipping cream into egg yolk mixture; stir back into hot cream in saucepan. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens (do not boil). Stir in chocolate chips until melted. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, just until chilled.
3. Beat 1 1/2 cups whipping cream in chilled medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed until stiff. Fold chocolate mixture into whipped cream. Pipe or spoon mixture into serving bowls. Immediately refrigerate any remaining dessert after serving.

Smore Parfaits

This is just a fun, easy dessert to make. I dipped wine glasses in chocolate syrup and then dipped them in colored sugar or graham cracker crumbs. Then rotate filling the glasses with chocolate pudding and marshmallow cream. I use a zip lock bag for the pudding and cut the tip off. This makes it easier to get it in the glass without making a mess. I topped with graham cracker crumbs.

Banana Wontons

One of my favorite desserts... Banana Wontons! My sister worked at a restaurant that served these. One day we were at home and thought we would try to make them. They turned out really good. They are time consuming and they are best served right away. If you can't serve them right away, I recommend baking them in the oven to reheat them. They won't be as crispy as straight out of the fryer, but they will be better than the microwave.

You will need:

1 package of wonton wrappers (these are usually found in the tofu section of your grocery store)
5 bananas
Cinnamon and sugar mixed together

Fryer or skillet with oil

Mush up your bananas in a bowl. Lay out one wonton wrapper and put a half spoonful of mushed up banana in the center of it. Wet the edges of the wrapper with water and fold over. Seal around the edges. You will end up with a rectangle. Repeat until you get desired amount. This recipe should do one package of wontons (48-50 total). Fry wontons in oil until golden brown. I usually remove them and put them on a wire rack to dry. I place a plate underneath the rack to catch the oil. Then I sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture. Serve warm with ice cream and either caramel or chocolate syrup. Enjoy!!!

Cakes

I took one of the Wilton Cake Decorating classes so sometimes I experiment making cakes. Here are some of them that i've done.

Sausage Wonton Cups

These are great party appetizers and are fairly simple to make.

1 package of wonton wrappers (found in the tofu section of your local grocery store usually)
2 packages of medium spicy sausage
1 1lb. block of velveeta cheese
1 can of rotel tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Press wonton wrappers into mini cupcake pan. Cook in oven until edges are light brown. Repeat until desired quantity is cooked. While those are being cooked, cook sausage throughly in skillet. Add velveeta cheese. Stir until melted completely. Add rotel tomatoes. Stuff each wonton wrapper with a little spoonful of the sausage, cheese, and tomato mixture. These are best served warm.

Pumpkin Bars

I know these are out of season right now but in the fall they are wonderful. I fix these for Thanksgiving and they are always a hit. I got the recipe off of the Paula Deen website but made some changes to the icing. I just bought “Whipped” Cream Cheese icing in a can by Pillsbury I think. You can make into bars or pour the batter into muffin tins and make cupcakes. I've also made them without icing for a pumpkin muffin.

Ingredients:
Bars:

4 eggs

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

15-ounce can pumpkin

2 cups sifted all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing:

8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy.
Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.
Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth.
Spread the batter into a greased 13×10 inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes.
Let cool completely before frosting.
Cut into bars.
To make the icing:Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again.
Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.
Yield: 48 small bars or 24 larger barsPrep time: 10-15 minutesCook time: 30 minutesEase of preparation: easy
Recipe Courtesy Patty Ronning as adapted by Paula Deen http://www.pauladeen.com/

Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham

I love this ham. It's really simple to make and it tastes great. I have made it for holidays and parties. I've also put pieces of it on a dinner roll with a piece of swiss cheese. You can put them in a warm (if it gets too hot they will burn) crock pot for the cheese to melt.

Bourbon Honey Glazed Ham by Sandra Lee (Semi Homemade) http://www.semihomemade.com/

Ingredients
2/3 cup bourbon or whiskey (I use Maker’s Mark)
1 cup clover honey
1/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup 100 percent fruit orange marmalade
1 (5-pound) whole bone-in smoked ham, fully cooked, unsliced

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium saucepan, heat bourbon, honey, molasses, and marmalade over low heat for 15 minutes or until reduced by half, stirring occasionally. (When measuring honey and molasses, spray measuring cup with nonstick cooking spray to keep measurements accurate.) Set aside.
With a sharp knife, cut a diamond pattern on the fatty part of the ham. Spread half of the bourbon glaze over the ham and roast for 30 minutes, uncovered. Baste occasionally with remaining glaze and continue to roast for another 15 minutes. Let ham stand for 20 minutes before slicing.

Welcome!

All of my friends and family know me for my love of cooking and entertaining. A lot of people have asked for my recipes so this is the best way I know how to share them. I am not a photographer so please forgive me for the low quality pictures. I love pictures though so I will post them whenever possible. Recipes are created by me unless otherwise noted.