Gooey Delicious Turtle Cookies

I did some baking over the weekend.  It always seems like cool weather triggers the baking lobe in my brain, and since it was considerably cooler on Friday than it has been in a while, I felt like being in the kitchen.  I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies, and then went to work on creating a recipe for turtle cookies--one of my husband's favorites.  He absolutely loved this recipe, so I thought I'd share it here.  There is something great about knowing that your husband likes your cooking and baking.  Am I right??

Ingredients

1 stick butter, room temperature
1 heaping tsp baking soda
1 1/2 C flour
3/4 C lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 C white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract (make your own!)
~1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
~1/2 C chopped pecans
~1/2 C chopped caramels, approximately 10 unwrapped pieces (not the baking caramel pieces)

Directions
Beat the butter and sugars on high until well mixed.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.  In a small bowl, combine flour and baking soda, and gradually add to the wet ingredients, mixing until incorporated.  Add the chocolate chips, pecans, and caramels, and stir until well mixed.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.  You (and your hubby) won't regret it!

Incredible Delicious Breakfast Casserole!

I found a recipe on Pinterest that sounded really good, and thought it would be a great recipe to try on a day that I don't work, due to the fact that it's a bit time-consuming.  The original recipe was from Martha Stewart, and I am just not a fan of hers, but she has a lot of good ideas.  I liked this recipe because it has no gluten in it and still sounded delicious!  I made some minor adaptations to the recipe, and it turned out great.  So, for your tastebud pleasure, I give you my adapted recipe!

Ingredients:

• 6 large eggs
• 1 1/2 C heavy whipping cream (don't buy this until you're ready to make the casserole!)
• 2-3 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes (or you can use about two cups of frozen hash browns)
• Approx. 1/2 lb. smoked ham, cubed
• Half of a 10 oz. package of fresh baby spinach, chopped, washed and squeezed dry in paper towels 
• 1/2 C shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, plus some for the top
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• Butter, for the pan
• Parchment paper

This recipe serves 6-8 people.

What You Do:
Generously butter a 9" round cake pan (make sure your cake pan is at least 3" deep).  Cut out parchment paper to fit in the bottom, and place it inside of the buttered pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and whipping cream (by the way, I bought my whipping cream last week when I went grocery shopping.  When I opened my cartons, the cream had congealed and gone bad already, so that's why I said not to get the cream until you're ready to make the casserole, or you'll have to go to the store mid-recipe to buy new cream, like me).  Add your salt and pepper.  Add your potatoes, ham, spinach and cheese and mix well, making sure the ingredients are evenly distributed.  Pour into your buttered pan and sprinkle a little extra cheese on top.

 

 

Cover the pan and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.  Remove the foil and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until the top browns and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

Allow the casserole to cool for 15 minutes.  Grab a large plate and place it on top of the pan, and invert the pan to remove the casserole from the cake pan.  If the parchment sticks to the casserole, peel it off now.  Take another plate and place it on top of the inverted casserole, and flip again.  Voila!  It's right-side up, and ready to slice and serve.  Tastes great with a glass of chocolate milk, and better as leftovers again in the morning with a glass of orange juice.  So yummy!

French Toast Casserole & Owl Corner Returns!

Over Christmas, my mom and I decided to try a recipe that I had heard about from a co-worker for French toast casserole.  We thought it would be a great dish to serve on Christmas morning, but after looking at the recipe, we realized that we would have to tweak it a bit to fit our needs (the original recipe called for two "large" pans, and there were only four of us, so what were we going to do with the leftover one and a half pans??), and the resulting recipe is what you see below.  It's good, I think you'll like it!


Ingredients:
½ loaf of Texas toast, torn into pieces
4 eggs
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 stick butter (unsalted is preferred)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup pecans (optional, we didn’t use)

Directions: Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray (don't skip this step--we learned that the hard way).  Spread the bread pieces evenly in the pan, then mix together in a separate bowl the eggs, half and half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  You could add more spices, or additional spices, if you would like here.  Pour this mixture over the bread, and toss the bread to coat the pieces.  Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow to sit in your refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, melt the butter, then mix in the brown sugar.  Pour this evenly over the bread mixture, and then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown on top.  You can also sprinkle more spices over the casserole before baking it for a little extra deliciousness.  Enjoy with butter and syrup, or my favorite way to eat French toast: peanut butter and syrup.  Soooo tasty!


Owl Corner 

Photo from Wikipedia

Today, we will learn about the Spectacled Owl.  The name pretty well describes its distinguishing characteristic: contrasting feathers around the eyes give this guy a distinguished, scholarly appearance.  One interesting fact about their appearance--the photo on the left shows an adult owl, but the juvenile owls are a photo negative as far as color goes: white head and black "spectacles".  It can take several years for a young owl to change appearance into adulthood.  The size of these owls is medium-large, measuring about 17"-18" fully grown.  These birds are considered anti-social, and prefer their alone time.  Their habitat ranges from parts of southern Mexico south into the northern half of South America, and also Costa Rica.  They are found in tropical rainforests and anywhere with trees, including savannahs and dry forests.  The females will lay a clutch of up to five eggs, but it is typical for only one of the chicks to survive into adulthood.  Those who do survive will prey on mice and small rodents, possum and skunk, as well as insects, spiders, caterpillars, and bats and birds, among other critters. 

I've done several owls for the Owl Corner, and now I'm considering branching out to other animals, namely different breeds of cats and dogs.  What do you think?

Apple "Donut" Muffins...Totally Worth the Effort!

I have a confession.  I...am...a... ... ... Pinterest addict.  There, I've said it, and now I feel better.  In fact, I feel another confession coming on: I...am...also...a huuuuuge...fan of apple cinnamon.  And fall.  And apple cider donuts.  And hot apple cider.  Oh my gosh, I think I've opened up the floodgates!  Save it for the support group, Andrea.  Ahem.  So, because of my Pinterest addiction, I found an intriguing recipe called "Baked Apple Cider Donut Holes" from a website called Feastie (check out the page here).  It was a kind of gloomy, rainy day here in my neck of suburbia, and I had planned on making a pot pie for dinner, but was compelled after my day at work to make these little baked muffins for dessert.  It just seemed fitting.  So while the pie was baking, I whipped up a batch.  The recipe follows at the bottom.

First, I mixed flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl:

Next, I mixed together an egg, brown sugar, apple butter (my mother-in-law's recipe for homemade apple butter with a secret ingredient), vanilla extract, honey, apple cider, plain yogurt, and canola oil.  I know, it looks disgusting:

Once all of the ingredients are whisked together and blended well, pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and whisk to just moisten everything:

Action shot!

Then, drop by teaspoonful into well-greased mini muffin tin, being careful to only fill about halfway or two-thirds full:

Then bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Serve with a delicious dinner:

Allow the muffins to cool a bit.  After they've cooled, roll the sides and top in a sugar/cinnamon mixture:

And then devour:

We go all out by breaking out the fancy paper plates.

I actually ended up with a full 24-mini muffin tin and ten regular-sized muffins.  These were a hit with both me and the hubs.  I was actually thinking as I ate the muffins that this recipe would make a delicious cake!

Our rainy evening

A beautiful sunrise last week.  The only thing I did to this photo was add the copyright at the bottom.

Recipe for Baked Apple Cider Donut Holes, from Pinterest and Feastie.com:
2 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2(ish) teaspoons cinnamon (I used heaping teaspoons, and added an extra half teaspoon)
1 large egg
2/3 c lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 C apple butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 C honey
1/3 C apple cider
1/3 C plain yogurt
2 tbsp canola oil
cooking spray
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (this is optional)
1/4 C sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray (I use Baker's Joy or Pillsbury Baking Spray-they have flour in them).  In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside.  In a medium bowl, mix together the egg, brown sugar, apple butter, vanilla, honey, apple cider, yogurt and canola oil.  Whisk until well mixed.  Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, and whisk until just moistened.  Be careful to not over-mix.  Drop by teaspoon into the mini muffin tray, filling each about halfway to two-thirds full.  Bake for about 10 minutes.  Allow to cool.

In a small bowl, mix the 1/4 C sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon together.  Remove the muffins, and brush the tops lightly with the melted butter, then dip the top and coat the sides of the muffins with the cinnamon sugar.  The butter is optional, really--the cinnamon sugar will stick to the muffins on its own.

These are not hard to make--don't let the long list of ingredients scare you.  Chances are, you have most of the ingredients in your pantry and fridge already.  They really are easy, and super-delicious!  Well worth the effort...your family will thank you for the treat!

Crock Pot Applesauce, Easy Carnation Fudge Recipe and Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

I was a busy bee on Friday.  I had been looking forward to Friday all week long, just because I had the day off.  I knew I wanted to start on my organization and de-cluttering of the house, I was expecting a package in the mail, and I felt like doing some dessert making.  How was I going to get all of that into one day??  Well, I can tell you that Friday definitely felt like I had been hard at work for 12 hours straight by the time I finally sat down to relax that night.  My feet and legs ached from standing for quite literally all day.  But that's okay, because I felt like I had gotten some things accomplished, which always makes me happy.  You can read about my start on organizing our linen closet here.  But right now, I'm going to share the recipes that I made for weekend sweets.  Here we go!

I began the cooking festivities with fresh apples and a Crock Pot.  I created a simple recipe for making applesauce in the Crock Pot, which I'll share here (there isn't really a recipe, so I'll just tell you what I did):
First, peel, core, and cube 3 lbs. of apples (you can use multiple kinds, just whatever is in your fridge).

Put all of the apples into the pot and add 1 C water.  Cook on high for an hour.

Add 1/4 C cinnamon (or whatever tastes good to you--I just happen to be a cinnamon fiend) and 1/4 C white sugar and reduce the heat to low.

Stir the pot occasionally, to prevent burning or sticking.  Cook on low for at least 6 hours, or until the sauce achieves your desired consistency.  Once it gets to the thickness you like, add more sugar and/or spices to your taste.  If you like chunky applesauce, then you're done!  Scoop the applesauce into a fridge-friendly bowl to cool and eventually refrigerate.  If you like smooth applesauce, use a stick blender or puree the mix in a food processor until smooth.  Then transfer to a fridge-friendly bowl, allow to cool for a few hours, and refrigerate.  Keep in the fridge, and it'll last a week or two (if you don't eat it all first!).

Then, I moved on to the chocolate stage of the day.  I started with making a candy that I usually only make around Christmas, but hubby was jonesin' for some chocolate, which is rare, but being the good little wife I am, I had to accommodate his craving.  I whipped up a batch of Carnation Chocolate Fudge (they call it fudge, but I don't think it would technically qualify as a fudge--it's more like a soft chocolate candy).  You begin with 2 TBSP butter (do not use margarine!), 1 1/2 C white sugar, 2/3 C evaporated milk, and 1/4 tsp salt:

Turn the heat on medium to bring the mixture to a simmer.  Stir the contents occasionally to make sure that everything is combined.  As soon as the mixture comes to a simmer, set the timer for five minutes.  This is very important.  Any longer, and you end up with a dry, crumbly chocolate.

When the five minutes is up, turn off the burner and remove from the heat.  Add 1 tsp. of vanilla, and mix well.  Then add 1 1/2 C of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 2 C mini marshmallows, and stir until everything is combined and smooth:

Now, line an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with foil:

And pour the chocolate mixture into the pan.  Tap the pan against the counter to settle the chocolate and pop air bubbles that might be inside.  Allow the pan to cool at room temperature until the mixture stops steaming, then place plastic wrap over the top of the chocolate to keep fridge odors from penetrating the candy.  Refrigerate for at least two hours, or overnight (overnight is best).  When you go to cut the fudge, use a long sharp knife, and wipe the blade with a wet towel between each cut to get clean cuts.  Super easy and really tasty recipe!

To see the recipe, click here.

The final dessert I made was all for me, although hubby has eaten some too.  This is the peanut-butter-and-chocolate-is-my-favoritest-ever-combo dessert.  Introducing: crunchy chocolate peanut butter bars.  I actually came across this recipe on Pinterest, and it intrigued me.  And after I made it the first time, I vowed to never forget it, and make it every chance that I got.  PMS is a great reason to make it.  But first, a little prep work.  Line an 8"x 8" pan with foil, then butter the foil and set this aside (I only had a brownie pan available, but that worked just fine).

Then, the recipe calls for an addition of crushed graham crackers, and I always enjoy this part.  Take five whole graham crackers and place them in a resealable baggie.  Begin the graham cracker carnage: I used the flat side of a meat mallet for crushing my crackers.  This is a good time to release any tension and frustration that you might be feeling at the moment: "Why" smash "doesn't" smash "anyone" smash "ever" smash "read" smash "my" smash "blog" smash, or something like that.

Now, let's commence with the making of the goodness.  You begin with a stick of butter.  Sounds good already, right?

Once melted, remove the butter from the heat.  Then add 1 3/4 C powdered sugar and stir until the mixture is smooth.

Now, add in the peanut butter and the crushed graham crackers and stir that until well combined.

Spread the peanut butter mixture into the buttered pan and set this aside for a moment.  Now, in the same pot that you made the peanut butter mix, melt another 1/4 C of butter.  Once melted, add 1/2 C of chocolate chips (I used semi sweet) and stir until almost melted.

Remove from heat to prevent burning, and stir to melt the rest of the way.  Spread this chocolate over the peanut butter and refrigerate for at least a half an hour before cutting (I prefer longer, though).  Store these in the fridge in an airtight container or wrapped in foil.  To see the original post and the website where I found this incredible recipe, click here: The Brown Eyed Baker.

Owl Corner

Photo from National Geographic

Today I'll tell you about the Spotted Owl.   This neat guy is usually found in forests along the West Coast and areas of the southwest United States, including stretching into Mexico.  They have been at the center of the discord between loggers and tree huggers in the Pacific Northwest.  They range in size from around 16" tall to 19" tall, with an impressive wingspan of between 40"-50".  Females are usually slightly larger than males.  The females will lay a clutch of between 2 and 4 eggs in nests found 60'-100' up in trees.  The baby owls are born pure white, and develop their brownish color and spots as they grow.  These owls live in old-growth forests--forests that are at least 200 years old.  Rarely are they found in newer forest areas.  They tend to prey on small mammals and rodents, such as flying squirrels, rabbits and wood rats.  They have also been found to have a long lifespan, up to 17 years.  These owls are considered threatened because of the loss of habitat.

Information from Owling.com and The Owl Pages.

My husband and I started a new Bible Study this weekend.  It is about finding joy in the Lord, and we had an interesting discussion about the differences between happiness and joy.  It seems to us that happiness is more of a temporary feeling or emotion, whereas joy is a deep contentment that does not go away or fade over time.  The study used Matthew 5:3-12 as a great basis for finding true joy in all that the Lord does:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit [humble], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.  Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."  In order to find true peace in the Lord, we must become the person that He wants us to be, by slowly changing us through our life experiences.  We must trust in all that the Lord does in our lives, even when we perceive it to be a bad thing.  No parent wants their children to be sad or to suffer, so why do we think that God wants that for us?  No, He doesn't want that!  He just has to use those times to mold us into the person that He wants us to be!  In that we can and should find a deep joy and contentment in all that the Lord does.  It just won't always be easy.