Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Friday, December 16, 2011

cookies for dark chocolate lovers....

I love dark chocolate. I'm not a huge fan of milk chocolate and honestly have to be in the mood for it, but I LOVE dark chocolate and can't recall a time I've ever turned it down. I was going to make a dessert for dinner with some of our family tonight and I was just craving dark chocolate. After searching the internet for a recipe I had the ingredients for, here's what I came up with and they are DIVINE!!! Enjoy!!

Dark Chocolate Crinkle Cookies:
(adapted from this recipe on Allrecipes.com)

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 tsp instant coffee (optional...but recommended as it enhances chocolate!)
1 cup powdered sugar (in separate bowl for coating)

In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture and mix on low speed until smooth. Add dark chocolate chips and instant coffee and mix together. Cover dough, and chill for at least 2 hours.               
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly greased foil. Roll dough into one inch balls. (works well using two spoons...one to scoop, one to scrape off) Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.               
Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.               

Monday, December 12, 2011

what we're eating this week....

Tis the season to try new recipes :) Well, if your pregnant and bored with the usual food it is! So, that's the plan this week to try a bunch of new things (and apparently use my crockpot almost every day, not sure how that happened in my menu planning...hope the old pot is up to the task!)!! Here's what's on our menu....

Monday: Easy Crockpot Potato Soup
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry
Wednesday: Creamy Tortellini (the only not new recipe)
Thursday: Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
Friday:  Caramelized Baked Chicken Legs
Saturday/Sunday: Not sure what the weekend holds yet :)

And some treats I'm going to try....
Homemade doughnuts from canned biscuits
Microwave Peanut Brittle
Two Minute Mug Brownie

Monday, November 28, 2011

what we're eating this week...

Well after lots of Thanksgiving food all weekend, I think we need something NOT involving Thanksgiving leftovers for a few days! Although it was yummy, time to mix it up....

Monday: Sloppy Joe's (recipe below)
Tuesday: Veggie Chili in the Crockpot with Cornbread (recipe below)
Wednesday: Spicy Orange Chicken and rice
Thursday: Crescent Wrapped Lasagna
**...a couple changes I make to this recipe that work out well, I use the Crescent seamless dough sheets from Pillsbury (2 cans) which is the same as Crescent Rolls but without the seams so one less step for you! And I use fresh mozzarella instead of shredded...much creamier!
Friday: Buffalo Chicken Rolls
Saturday: Beef and Veggie Stew in the Crockpot  (see recipe below)
Sunday: Turkey and Noodles (see recipe below) with Heavenly Rolls

Recipes:
Crock Pot Sloppy Joe's (I took a recipe from a cookbook and made it my own and they are YUMMY!)
-1 lb ground beef or turkey
-1 sm Green Bell Pepper chopped
-1 Sm Vidalia Onion
-2-4 cloves garlic minced or through garlic press
-1 cup ketchup
-1 Tbsp + 1 tsp mustard
-1 Tbsp + 1 tsp vinegar
-1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
-1 Tbsp + 1 rounded tsp brown sugar
-1 tsp chili powder
-salt and pepper to taste
Brown meat with onions and garlic. Mix all other ingredients in Crock Pot. Add meat/onion mixture to Crock Pot (if it looks to thick add up to 1/4 cup water, too thin add up to 1/4 cup more ketchup) Cook on Low for 5-6 hrs or High for 3. Makes about 4 servings

Cornbread Cake (got this recipe from a friend a few years ago and have not made regular cornbread since)
-1 Jiffy Cornbread mix
-1 Jiffy Yellow Cake mix
-3 eggs
-1/3 cup milk
Mix all ingredients, will be slightly lumpy. Grease baking pan. Bake on 400 - 410 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes. It will brown before it's actually done so if it looks done be sure to check the middle with a toothpick and it will come out clean when done. It may sink a bit in the middle. Can only know done-ness by toothpick test, not color. Makes 8x8 pan of yummy-ness!!
***UPDATE: I decided to try this recipe making muffins because my favorite cornbread pan now has a crack in it. They turned out great and were a lot faster. I did the recipe the same and at 405 degrees it only took 15 minutes.

Beef and Veggie Stew in the Crockpot  (a random improv creation...I think I make it different each time but here's my best guess at a recipe...)
-Approx 2 lbs beef cut into bite size pieces (I use cube steak because I like the texture better)
-2 tbsp flour
- 2 cans beef broth
-1 can tomato soup
-2-3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
-1 28oz can diced tomatoes
-1 chopped onion
-3 chopped/minced cloves of garlic
-4-5 potatoes (peeled and cut into cubes or bite size pieces)
- bag of frozen mixed veggies
- salt and pepper to taste
In the crockpot, toss beef with flour until it is coated. Add onion, garlic, potatoes, beef broth, tomato soup, diced tomatoes, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs and high for 3-5 adding frozen veggies about half way through.


Turkey and Noodles (adapted from my sister Holly's recipe)Leftover turkey I froze at Thanksgiving
1 bag frozen Egg Noodles (must be the frozen kind, not dry egg noodles!)
2 cans chicken or veggie broth
Boil Egg Noodles as directed but use chicken broth instead of water. Half way through the boiling time, add shredded chicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. Eat over mashed potatoes and be prepared to be amazed :)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

in lieu of a menu...

Sydney and I are getting over a stomach bug so I can't really think about food too much. We're kind of living off Gatorade and crackers at the moment :) BUT, here is a recipe that I cannot wait to try so I thought I'd share it you!!

Coconut Rice with Mangoes and Pistachios
Ingredients
  • 1 1/3 cups chicken broth
  • 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups jasmine or basmati rice
  • 1 cup diced mango
  • 1/2 cup chopped roasted, salted pistachios
Preparation
  • Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in rice. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Toss gently with remaining ingredients.