Speculoos Cookie Butter Cookies

My husband brought TJ's  Speculoos Cookie Butter to my attention after he had heard about it on the radio.  He said that it is becoming hard to get and that people are starting to sell it on eBay.  The hot commodity of summer 2013. Whaaaa?! That's all he had to tell me before I decided that I must have some. 

It took me exactly one week after my initial try to get my hands on two jars of the stuff.  I hadn't realized that it came in a crunchy and a smooth variety.  Crunchy is all I could get at the time and after I witnessed a TJ's employee getting grilled for saving me the two jars, I wasn't about to get picky.  I took my jars, placed them in my cart, gave a quick "thanks!" and then bolted down the next aisle.  At last, they were MINE!

My sister told me that Cookie Butter is much like biscoff spread, and after tasting it, I would have to agree.  Although Cookie Butter is a tad bit more sweet in my opinion, I think they are both wonderful!!  You can spread it on toast, bagels, biscuits, or eat it by the spoonful.  Whatever your heart so desires. I chose to incorporate it into cookie dough thus creating the Cookie Butter Cookies.  These cookies are extremely chewy and go fantastically with a tall glass of milk.  My husband had a brilliant idea of spreading cookie butter on top of the cookie butter cookies.  YUM!

INGREDIENTS:

1 C Speculoos Cookie Butter (smooth or crunchy)
1 C sugar (plus more for rolling)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 C  all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Using an electric mixer, cream together the cookie butter and sugar.  Add the vanilla and beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Next, mix in the dry ingredients until all ingredients are well incorporated.  Using a cookie scoop, roll the dough into balls and then roll them into sugar and place them approx. 2 inches apart on your cookie sheet.  If your not using a cookie scoop you can roll the dough into balls about the size of a ping pong ball.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.  Cool completely before storing into an air tight container.  ENJOY!

Tricia's 20min. Stovetop Chili

Its been a little while since my last post.  I went through another one of my cooking funks.  It's the kind of funk where I never know what to cook, nothing ever sounds good, and I go on a menu planning strike.  I think I am over it.  For now.

The boys have been bugging me for weeks to make them some chili and cornbread.  The weather is getting nicer here so I was hoping they'd forget about it and instead be satisfied with the lighter dishes that I like to cook during this time of the year.  Nope!  So last night, I gave in and cooked them what they wanted.  I love to take care of my spoiled brats!

This is a super quick recipe that will definitly satisfy your chili cravings.  It is one of my go-to recipes since I usually have all the ingredients on hand.  Start to finish, you can have this dinner on the table in 20 minutes! What's not to love? If prepared the way the recipe is written, the chili will have a kick to it.  My way of dealing with that when serving it to my boys is to stir in a healthy helping of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, it helps curve the spice. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 14.5 oz. can of petiete diced tomatoes
1 15oz. can of red kidney beans (drained)
1.5 TBSP ancho chili powder
1 TBSP cumin
1TBSP paprika
1 tsp. salt
1/2 C water

*Topping options*:

cheddar cheese
chopped onion (yellow or green!)
sour cream or plain Greek yogurt


DIRECTIONS:

Chop the onion and garlic.  Brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic and drain any excess fat.  Add remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.  Let simmer on low for 5-10 minutes.  Enjoy!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Spice Cookies

I'm so sorry that I've been MIA for the past few weeks.  This recent wonderful shift in our weather has kept me outdoors more than usual and my lack of menu planning has me running to the grocery store almost everyday during my lunch hour, that's the time when I normally spend blogging.  So how've you all been? Good, I hope!  My boys are getting so big, Dominic is currently on spring break and will be starting baseball later this month. Carson is surprising us everyday with the things he chooses to eat.  This weekend we had him chowing down on peppered beef jerky, it was peppered enough to even make my mouth wanting water!  We also discovered that he likes kale tossed with Caesar dressing and freshly squeezed lemon juice (a little creation that my sister showed me, try it it's delish!).  And if we put "chup" (ketchup) on it, he will eat just about anything!!!

Enough of my blabbering, on to the cookies! I actually made these about three weeks ago.  I was very much in a baking mood and was yoyo-ing with the idea of making oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip cookies, or spice cookies.  Decisions, decisions.  Then BAM, I thought "duh, I'll just do all three!!" And that is how this recipe I present to you today was born.  :)

These cookies are ridiculously quick and easy to throw together and they have the perfect amount of chewiness.  The recipe makes about a dozen and a half cookies. 

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 C all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda 
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves 
1 tsp. all spice
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 C butter; softened
1/2 C sugar 
1/2 C brown sugar
1 egg 
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 C oatmeal
1/4 C mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and the sugars.  Next, beat in the egg.  Now add the spices and mix well. Stir in the oatmeal and the chocolate chips.  Drop by the tsp. full onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Allow to cool on a wire rack.  Store in an airtight container.  ENJOY!

 

Chicken Teriyaki

 

 

Crock pot meals are not my favorite.  I love that they are so quick and easy to throw together, but I feel that flavor and texture are sometimes compromised when preparing a meal in a crock pot.  A friend recently suggested to me a recipe for Chicken Teriyaki made in a crock pot.  It sounded yummy and simple, but after a recent crock pot failure of mine, I just couldn't stand the thought of another!  So I slightly altered the ingredients and came up with my own version of the recipe using the good ol' trusty stove instead of my crock pot.  The boys loved it a lot and it took less than thirty minutes to throw together.  I served it with steamed jasmine rice and a side of steamed broccoli for a perfect weeknight dinner!

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

1 lb. thin sliced chicken breasts, cubed

1 TBSP toasted sesame oil

1 1/2 tsp. chicken bullion granules

1 C boiling water

3 cloves of garlic minced

1/3 C brown sugar, packed

1/2 C soy sauce (I use low sodium)

2 TBSP cornstarch

2 tsp. sesame seeds, toasted

3 green onions, chopped

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

In a wok, heat the sesame oil over medium high heat.  Add the cubed chicken breasts and brown on all sides, but not cooking through.  Meanwhile, dissolve the chicken bullion granules in the boiling water and then add to the wok along with the garlic.  Boil the chicken until it is cooked through (5-7 minutes).  In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the soy sauce and add it to the wok along with the brown sugar.  Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for three minutes or until the sauce has thickened.  Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions.  Serve with steamed white rice.  ENJOY!

 

 

Silver Cleaner

  Waaaay on the bottom of my "to-do" list is an entry that says "buy silver cleaner".  Sadly, it has been on my list for months and consequently for months, I have had several pieces of terribly tarnished jewelry that I have been unable to wear. (well I suppose technically I could, but...you know..ewww!) 

So last weekend I pulled out my favorite necklace that I haven't worn in probably over a year.  My husband bought it for me years ago at the Chocolate festival.  Isn't it lovely? hehehe.

(ick!)

 

The designer hand cut the hummingbird image form a coin, leaving only the image and the rim of the coin in place.  Neat, huh?! Hummingbirds are my fav!

 

 

 

 

In a moment of desperation I googled "how to clean silver"! (Google is amazing!) Here is what I came up with:

 

 

Things you'll need:

 

1 small glass bowl (such as a 1 qt. pyrex)

aluminum foil

2tsp. salt

2tsp. baking soda

2 C boiling water

tarnished silver jewelry (preferably free of stones or gems. Beware that if your pieces are only silver lined that the effervescent action can loosen any chips in the silver lining causing even more damage to your piece)

soft cloth

 

 

Steps to take:

 

1) Completely line the bottom and edges of the glass bowl with aluminum foil.  

2) Sprinkle in the salt and baking soda

3) Pour in the boiling water

4) place your silver pieces inside. (make sure they are touching the foil, and if you are doing more than one piece, make sure they are touching each other)

5) wait 5 minutes.

6) Remove silver pieces, rinse with water, and buff with a soft towel.

 

After!

 

Major difference, right?!  This discovery really made my day.  So glad I can cross that off of my to-do list now! :)

 



Oatmeal Cake

This has got to be thee best dessert that I've made since I made these.  I think its safe to say that I read new recipes on a daily basis, and sometimes I come across one that MUST BE MADE IMMEDIATELY! That occurred when I read this recipe.  By the sounds of it and from the picture that came with the recipe it seemed that it would be much like German Chocolate cake (which I am a big fan of).  And it actually is a lot like German Chocolate cake, but with an extremely moist, oatmealy spice cake.  It is so, so good! Now, this cake makes a 9X13, so be prepared to share!!  :)

INGREDIENTS:

CAKE:
1 1/4  C boiling water
1 C old fashioned oatmeal, raw
1/2  C butter, softened
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar, packed firmly
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg  TOPPING:  1/2 C butter 2 C coconut 1 C walnuts, chopped 1 1/2 C brown sugar, packed firmly 9 TBSP evaporated Milk DIRECTIONS: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Pour the boiling water over the oatmeal and allow to sit for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and eggs. Next, add the vanilla and the oatmeal mixture. Then add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and the nutmeg. Mix well.  Place in greased 9x13 inch pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  For the topping: In a medium saucepan over medium heat,   melt the butter and add the coconut, walnuts, brown sugar, and evaporated milk. Mix well. Frost cake as soon as you take it out of the oven, and broil until the top is brown. (Watch it carefully so it doesn't burn!!)  Allow to cool completely before serving.  ENJOY!!

Thai Lettuce Wraps

I have a few recipes lined up for the blog, but after I made these Thai Lettuce Wraps Wednesday night, I allowed the recipe to have priority and let it cut in line to be debuted on the blog first.  They were that good!! We had a very colorful dinner that night, it was also the night that I made the Roasted Purple Potatoes.

During my search for lettuce wrap recipes, I stumbled across one that seemed pretty straight forward, but it called for the use of Kikkoman Stir Fry Sauce, which I have never used.  When I found the bottle on the grocery store shelf my first thought was I don't need all that sauce, maybe only a quarter of the bottle.  It seemed like such a waste of money to buy the whole bottle when I just needed a smidgen of it.  So what did I do?  I read the ingredients on the back of the bottle. Hey, I already have all that in my cupboards! (Minus the junky crap), I thought. So I snapped a picture of the ingredients on the bottle and headed to the check out, sans the stir fry sauce.

(proof)

 

And using the provided picture, I created my very own stir fry sauce.  Which was pretty darn tasty if I must say!  Another proud kitchen moment for me! 

 

I have a feeling that I'll be making this recipe often when the weather warms up.  Its quick and easy and with all that lettuce and carrots, I felt like I was eating something super healthy.  (Actually, I felt more like a rabbit!)

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

Stir Fry Sauce:

 

1/3 C low sodium soy sauce

1.5 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. rice wine vinegar

1 tsp. corn starch

1 tsp. toasted sesame oil

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1 TBSP sherry

 

1 lb. ground pork

1/2 C chopped onion

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp. toasted sesame oil

1/4 C cilantro, coarsely chopped

1 carrot

green leaf or iceberg lettuce leaves

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

In a small bowl, whisk together all the stir fry sauce ingredients.  Transfer to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Turn heat down and allow to simmer for three minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside.   In a wok or large skillet, stir fry the ground pork with the onion and garlic until the pork is no longer pink.  Drain.  Place the meat back into the pan and stir in the stir fry sauce making sure to coat the meat thoroughly.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sesame oil and cilantro.  Peel the outer skin off of the carrot, after its peeled, use the peeler to peel long strips of the carrot to top the meat mixture with.  Serve in lettuce leaves.  ENJOY!

 

***An after thought...I should have added red pepper flakes! Next time, for sure!***