Peppermint Snickerdoodles

Ingredients
* 2 cups sugar, divided
* 2 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1/2 cup finely crushed candy canes or peppermint candies
* 1 cup butter, softened
* 2 eggs
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 2 3/4 cups AP flour
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 2 tsp cream of tartar
* 1 tsp baking soda

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, the cinnamon and the crushed peppermint candy.  Combine well and set aside.
3. In a large bowl cream the butter and remaining sugar for 4 minutes.  Scrape down the sides, and cream one more minute.  Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 1 minute after each addition.  Then add in the vanilla.  Scrape down the sides.
4. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, cream or tartar and baking soda.  Add to the butter sugar mixture and mix until fully incorporated.
5. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the sugar mixture.  Place on the baking sheet.
6. Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are set and they begin to turn very lightly brown.  Cool for 3 - 4 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool.

Notes
Very festive for the holidays!  Not overwhelmingly minty, just a hint.  Delicious!

December 13, 2013

Yahoo!  My semester is complete!  Had my last classes this week and all my projects and papers are turned in; what a great feeling!  The kids just have school through next week and then we are all on break.  We are all looking forward to the time off, and I am hoping our kitchen will be messy during the vacation as we try out lots of new recipes.

This week, we only tried 2 new recipes, and one was enthusiastically voted a keeper!  The one that didn't earn keeper status but was good.  It was chicken noodle soup and very tasty but not vastly different from any other version I've made in the past.  One trick that I did learn from the recipe and I will incorporate into my chicken noodle soup was to add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste to the soup (either with the veggies if sauteing them separately before adding them to the soup, or directly to the soup).  The tomato paste added a layer of richness to the soup that was great.

As for the recipe that is a keeper, it was one of those recipes that came together with pantry ingredients at 5:10 one evening.  I had chicken in the fridge, cereal and panko, and seasonings.  When it came out of the oven and everyone tried it, we couldn't believe how tasty it was!  Some of the most delicious dinners are the easiest ones that come together without too much fuss.  We had the chicken with vegetable rice medley (we had everything on hand except the red pepper)  and carrots.  Quick, easy and delicious dinner.  Awesome!  Unfortunately I don't have a photo - but it is worth trying even without a picture!

Hopefully the coming week will have some keeper recipes for me share.  I have a cookie exchange to go to, so fingers crossed that I'll have a new cookie recipe for you!

Happy Cooking!

New Recipe
Crispix Chicken

Crispix Chicken

Ingredients
* 1 1/3 cups cereal (we used Crispix)
* 1 1/3 cups panko
* 2 tsp kosher salt
* 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
* 1 tsp paprika
* 1/2 tsp black pepper
* 1/2 cup mayonnaise
* 1 tsp Dijon mustard
* 1 to 1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips or

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.  Set a rack on a baking sheet and prepare with cooking spray.
2. In a food processor, process the cereal, panko, salt, cayenne pepper, paprika and black pepper.  Transfer the crumbs to a shallow bowl.
3. Mix the mustard and mayonnaise in a second shallow bowl.
4. Dip the chicken in the mayo/mustard mixture, and then dredge into the crumbs.  Place the chicken on the rack and cook until cooked through, approximately 20-22 minutes.  Serve!

Notes
My family loved this!  Super moist and very flavorful!  I served it with our vegetable rice medley and some carrots.  This was ridiculously easy and will definitely become a regular on our meal plan because everyone thought it was fabulous.  Easy and delicious - the perfect pairing.  We had Crispix on hand, but this would probably work with cornflakes, special K, or whatever cereal you have on hand.  Maybe with a "flakier" cereal you might add only 2/3 cup of it for the recipe. Try it this week!

December 6, 2013

While it now seems like ancient history,  I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving.  We traveled for the holiday and had a wonderful time.  This week was busy with catching up on everything since we were gone for almost the whole week, but we were able to make a few new recipes.  And two of them earned keeper status!!!

The two keeper recipes were chopped steaks with mushroom gravy, and smashed red potatoes with scallions.  I served them both the same night and was so pleased that they were both a hit.  There is something so wonderfully satisfying when we sit down as a family and everyone not only tries new things but loves what they taste.  I think that is what keeps me going with this endeavor.  Sometimes when I meal plan for the week I want to stick with the usual suspects  - salmon, tacos, pasta.  But then I think of the times when smiles come across the kids faces and Owen or Liam yells "keeper".   Then I hunt through the piles of recipes I have and decide on a few new things to try.  And each week I am happy I did.  I hope you've tried a few things along the way with us as well!  It'll put a smile on your face, too!

New Recipes
Smashed Red Potatoes with Scallion
Chopped Steaks with Mushroom Gravy

Chopped Steaks

Ingredients

For the patties
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1/4 minced onion
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
* 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 1/2 lbs ground sirloin
* 1/2 cup crushed saltine crackers (9 crackers)
* 1 tsp kosher salt
* 1 tsp black pepper

For the gravy
* 2 tbsp unsalted butter
* 8 oz button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
* 1/2 cup diced onion
* 2 tbsp AP flour
* 2 cups beef broth
* chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Combine the patty ingredients, mixing with your hands.  Shape the meat into 6-8 patties of equal size.
3. Sear the patties in a large saute pan over medium high heat until browned on one side.  Flip the patties and then transfer the pan to the oven.  Cook the patties until 160 F, approximately 15-20 minutes. Transfer the patties to a plate and loosely tent with foil.
4. Carefully (since the saute pan is hot!) melt the butter.  Add the mushrooms and saute over medium high heat until brown and most of the moisture has been released and evaporated, approximately 8-10 minutes.  Stir in the onion and flour; cook for 2 minutes.
5. Stir in the broth and cook until the gravy thickens slightly, about 3-5 minutes.
6. Serve the gravy with the steaks, and garnish with the fresh parsley.

Notes
Ryan thought this was a much improved version of Salisbury steak, and the kids thought it was a fancy hamburger that we were eating with knives and forks.  It got 4 keeper votes from our dinner table, and the gravy alone was fabulous!!!  We put it on our smashed potatoes in addition to the patties.

Smashed Red Potatoes with Scallions

Ingredients
*24 oz red - skinned potatoes, cubed
* 1/2 cup sliced scallions
* 1/4 cup half & half
* 2 tbsp unsalted butter
* 2 tsp Dijon mustard
* salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Cook the potatoes in a pot of salted boiling water until form tender, 10-12 minutes.  Drain.
2. Return the potatoes to the pot and cook over medium heat and stir until all the excess moisture has evaporated, approximately 1 minute.
3. Remove the potatoes from the heat, then add in the scallions, half & half, butter and mustard.  Smash the potatoes with a potato masher to the desired consistency.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  Serve and enjoy.

Notes
While it doesn't call for it, I peeled the potatoes.  My kids were more apt to eat it all without picking around the skins.  But either way, skins on or off, this was delicious!  I am sure you could make this recipe with whatever milk you have on hand, but we had half & half on hand for some other recipes we were making this week.  This was great with the gravy from chopped steaks.

November 22, 2013

Last week I told you I was going to see a movie; it was FANTASTIC!!!!!  I saw About Time with some of my gal pals and it was fabulous.  The writing was cute and witty, the main characters were adorable and believable.  All in all...it was great.  I own hardly any movies, and I may have to add this to my collection in the future.  Clearly no requirement to see this on the big screen, but borrow it from the library (or me once I own it) when it comes out.

Can you believe this...Thanksgiving is less than a week away!  Wow!  We tried a new dinner recipe this week, but it didn't earn keeper status, but I do have a DIY pumpkin pie spice recipe that might come in handy during this holiday season!  It is convenient to have pumpkin pie spice on hand, but who wants to pay $4 or so for a specialty spice that you can likely put together from what is already in your spice cabinet?  I made this, used it in a pumpkin pie and in pumpkin squares and it worked well.

I've put a few links to some of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes below.  And if you want to help me out, let me know what are some of your favorite post-Thanksgiving recipes!

Happy cooking - especially if you are making and hosting the Thanksgiving feast!

New Recipes
DIY pumpkin pie spice

Tried and True Recipes
Turkey brine
Traditional stuffing
Popovers
Easy crescent rolls
Classic Pumpkin Pie

Ideas for Thanksgiving Leftovers
Buffalo Chicken lasagna (use turkey!)
Chicken Pot Pie (use turkey!)
Cranberry turkey salad
Enchiladas