Mocha Chip Cookies

The All-American treat, with a surprising addition. Coffee. These cookies are actually very fluffy and fat. I don't know about you, but I am not into the crispy cookie. I much prefer the fat chewy cookie. And these definitely fit the bill.


Mocha Chip Cookies
Serves: 20

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Crisco, butter flavored if you have it
1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar, packed
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
4 Eggs
5 cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Baking Powder
2 tbsp Instant Coffee Granules
1/2 tsp Salt
12 oz package Milk Chocolate Chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and Crisco together. Add in the sugars and cream. Add the vanilla and mix.
Begin adding eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, coffee and salt. Whisk together.
Add dry mixture to the butter/sugar mix, 1 cup at a time. Do not over mix. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by spoonful onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake @ 350 degrees 12-14min, until golden brown.
* Feel free to add all your favorite mix-ins.

Cranberry Chipolte Beef

Whoa. This is just so good. I am loving the tang from the cranberries and the heat coming from the chipolte peppers. Make this. This week!


Cranberry Chipolte Beef
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 medium Onion, sliced
1 1/2 lbs Beef Chuck Roast
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 16 oz can Whole Cranberry sauce
2 tsp Chipolte peppers in Adobo sauce, finely chopped
2 cups cooked Brown Rice
Fresh Jalapeno peppers, halved (optional)

Directions:
Place onion in a slow cooker. Add beef to cooker. Season with salt, pepper and garlic.
Combine cranberry sauce and chipolte peppers. Pour over all.
Cover and cook over low heat for 6 to 8 hours, or on high heat for 3 to 4 hours.
Serve with cooked rice and garnish with jalapeno peppers.

Four Cheese Vegetarian Lasagna

My vegetarian visiting teaching companion had a baby last Saturday. So precious! And so, what do Mormons do when friends and fellow members have babies? We bring dinner. What is the easiest dinner to transport? Lasagna. It's my "go to" post baby dinner. The draw back? It can get pretty costly if you don't already have the ingredients. But since I was planning on making a lasagna this week for my family, I just doubled it and made one big one. Another bonus to a vegetarian lasagna is, just throw whatever veggies you have on hand in the mix and you are set.

* I must give credit to my mother for this recipe. It is her's. I tweaked it to my own tastes and to what I had on hand. Confession: I had to call her @ 7 am this morning for the recipe. Good Morning to you, too!*

Four Cheese Vegetarian Lasagna
Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:
1 cup Broccoli, chopped.  (fresh or frozen.)
1 whole Zucchini, chopped
1 1/2 cups Matchstick Carrots
1 cup Diced Onion
1/2 cup Red Pepper, chopped
1/4 cup Green Pepper, chopped
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tsp Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup Flour
3 cups Milk
1/2 Parmesan Cheese, shredded, divided
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper, to taste
1 10 oz bag Frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups Cottage Cheese, small curd
12 Lasagna noodles

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 13*9 glass baking dish.
In a large skillet, saute the veggies and garlic in the vegetable oil until crisp and tender, over medium heat. Remove and set aside.
In a heavy sauce pan, whisk together the milk and flour until smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir 2 min, or until thickened. Reduce heat, add the 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and salt and peppers. Cook 1 min. Remove from heat, and stir in the spinach. Reserve 1 cup of this mixture, and set aside.
In a bowl, combine the cottage, mozzarella and Swiss cheeses.
Spread 1/2 cup spinach mixture on the bottom of the greased pan.
Layer with 4 noodles.
On top of the noodles, add 1/2 of the cheese mixture.
Top with 1/2 the veggie mix.
Top with 3/4 cup Spinach mix.
Repeat.
Then, top off with noodles and reserved spinach mixture and cheese.
Bake @ 375 for 35 min, covered with foil. Remove foil, and bake another 15 min, or until bubbly.

Strawberry and Cream Bruschetta

This will KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF! I could not believe how AMAZING this was. It was beautiful. Really, it was. Smooth, creamy, deliciousness. Now, I made this for breakfast. But after eating it, I realized, though your really should abstain, that this could be eaten anytime of the day. I started to imagine baby/bridal shower brunches. Then I started to think dessert. Heck, lunch even crossed my mind. But I stopped there. Really, I did. I have this thing about serving the "appropriate foods" at the "respective times of the day." (Whatever that means.) Anyway, make this. It's too simple not to.


Strawberry and Cream Bruschetta
Serves:4

Ingredients:
1/2 loaf French Bread, sliced
4 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1 tbsp Powdered Sugar
1 tbsp Honey
about 6 strawberries
Strawberry Jam

Directions:
Butter slices of bread, both sides. Grill bread on a large skillet over medium heat and set aside.
Beat cream cheese, honey and sugar until smooth.
 Spread on top of bread. Brush with jam. Top with strawberries.
Lastly, SWOON!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for a birthday celebration at work. (The lighting was kinda funny.) But don't be fooled, these are Dee-Lish! The frosting is the real treat! And I don't even like frosting. Bon Appetit!
Ingredients:
CUPCAKES:
1 cup Butter, softened
2 cups Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
4 Eggs
1 cup Milk
1 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cup Self Rising Flour
1 1/2 cup Crushed Oreos
 FROSTING:
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 Lb Powdered Sugar
5 tbsp Milk
1/2 cup Ground Oreos, very ground
24 whole Mini Oreos for decoration

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 24 muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.
In a large stand mixer whip butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla and eggs 1 at a time until combined. Scrape sides and mix again. Slowly stir in flours and milk, alternating back and forth until all ingredients are added to the bowl. Scrape sides and mix again briefly. Fold in chopped Oreo pieces by hand.
Scoop batter into prepared muffin tins so they are 2/3 full. Bake 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. (It’s really important to not over bake these so they stay moist. Watch them carefully!) Once baked, remove them from the oven and set aside to cool.
For the frosting, whip butter and vanilla together in a large bowl. Stir in powdered sugar and then the milk. Scrape sides and whip 1-2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Fold in ground Oreos. Frost cooled cupcakes and top with mini Oreo.

 See? I told you it was good :) This is Jen. Jen is fun. Jen is so pretty. We love Jen. :)

Buttery Breadsticks

OK! Seriously! No joke, these are the absolute BEST breadsticks you will ever ingest in your entire life. They are incredibly soft and chewy. Great flavor! Even better, they are a cinch to make. Betcha can't eat just one.

Buttery Breadsticks
Yields: 12 sticks

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. Yeast
1 1/2 cups Warm Water
2 tbsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
3 1/2 cups Flour
1/2 cup butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Dissolve yeast in warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer. Let stand until foamy. Add sugar, salt and flour; mix well. Knead until smooth and elastic.Let dough rise for 10 minutes.
Melt butter and pour half into a baking sheet, resting on a flat surface.
Roll out dough into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into strips using a pizza cutter, twisting if desired. Roll each piece in the butter, covering all sides and arrange on baking sheet.
Sprinkle with garlic salt, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. Let rise 15-20 min. Bake for 15-18 min.

Fried Chicken Tacos

Tacos with fried chicken? Fried chicken and tacos? NO! Fried Tacos with Chicken! I lifted this idea from PW. And Man, was it good!  What got me about these tacos is the fact that you stuff the tortilla BEFORE you fry them! Then top them off with all your favorite toppings. Pair these with My Take On Chili's Salsa, and enjoy!

Fried Chicken Tacos
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into bite sized pieces
1 4oz can of diced green chilies
Ground Cumin, to taste
Chili Powder, to taste
Ground Cayenne Pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
8 corn tortillas
Taco toppings: shredded cheese, chopped tomatoes,shredded lettuce, sour cream and hot sauce.

Directions:
Begin my heating a few tablespoons of canola oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken to the skillet. Spread the chicken out. Season and add the chilies.  Cook until chicken is done.
Meanwhile, heat a medium sized pot with a few inches of canola oil.
Take a tortilla and scoop the chicken mixture in. With tongs, gently hold the taco and dip into the oil. Gently hold the tortilla submerged in the oil until tortilla takes taco form. Let fry until golden brown on bottom and then flip.
Remove from oil using tongs. Tilt taco on it's side, shaking off all excess oil. Wrap in paper towel to soak up excess oil. Repeat with remaining tacos.
Gently open the taco and top with cheese. Allow to melt. Add sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes. Top with hot sauce or salsa. Serve immediately.