Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Where do I even begin with these cookies? They seriously are little bits of heaven and my ultimate favorite cookie that have ever crossed my lips. If you love coconut and even if you think you don't  you have to try these. Toasting coconut makes it crunchy and sweet and you won't even know you are eating coconut. Please drop what you are doing and go bake yourself a batch of these cookies. Your taste buds will thank me and your hips as well! Did I just say that? Ok your hips will hate me because it is hard to just eat one!!!! But go make some anyway because we all need a little sweets in our life every once in awhile!

Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter
3 cups brown sugar
4 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. coconut extract
4 eggs
4-5 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pkg. toffee bits
1 pkg. Chocolate chips
3 c. toasted coconut

In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until creamy and fluffy. Add the extracts and eggs and mix well. Mix in the flour, powder, soda, and salt and mix till well combined. Stir in the toffee bits, chocolate chips, and the coconut. Roll into 1-2 inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 11-13 minutes, slightly underdone is better. Let cool on pan for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to cooling racks and Enjoy!!!!

Taco Enchiladas

We love love love enchiladas here in our house. Since my husband grew up in Mexico I usually only like authentic red and green enchiladas which I have already posted on this blog. But when I came across these enchiladas over at Mel's kitchen Cafe I knew that I had to give them a try. They were so yummy and the cornmeal crepes tasted very similar to a tamale. Mel said (look I act like I actually know her!! I don't but I feel like I do from her blog)they reminded her of corn tortillas but I thought these tasted similar to eating a tamale because the crepe was tender and soft but whatever they taste like a tamale or a corn tortilla, this recipe is a winner. Your kids will gobble them up(mine did). If you want a new twist on an old classic give these babies a try. The crepes are easy and fast to make I promise. My little two year old helped me make and flip every single one of them!!


Taco Enchiladas with Cornmeal Crepes

Makes about 16 crepes:
1 1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup cornmeal
4 large eggs
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups milk

Meat Mixture:
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 lbs ground beef
2 T. garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp pepper
2 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
2 tsp Corriander
2(8 oz each)cans tomato sauce
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 (20 oz) can red or green enchilada sauce
1 (10 oz) can red or green enchilada sauce
Optional: sliced olives, sour cream, guacamole, salsa

For the Crepes: Combine all the crepe ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Spray a 10 inch skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat until the skillet is very hot. Give the crepe batter a quick stire . Measure 1/4 cup of batter and pour into hot skillet, tilting the pan to coat the bottom evenly. The skillet should be hot enough that you should hear a sizzle when the batter hits the pan but not so hot that it burns the crepes, Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minutes and then loosen the edges with a rubber spatula and flip. Cooking the other side for 30 seconds or so. Repeat with the remaining batter, giving the batter a quick stir in between each crepe. Stake the crepes on top of each other. The crepes can be made 2 days in advance. Cool the crepes completely before storing them in the fridge in a ziploc bag or plastic wrap.
For the taco meat: brown the ground beef in a skillet. Drain the grease when no longer pink. Add in the onion, garlic, and jalapeno and cook until veggies are tender. Add in all the spices and cook for a minutes then add the tomato sauce and simmer for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. LIghtly coat a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray. Lay all the crepes flat and fill them with 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the taco meat, sprinkle with cheese, roll up and place in the pan seam side down. Repeat with all the crepes. Pour 1 large can green enchilada sauce and 1 regular can red enchilada sauce over the top and sprinkle with cheese.(or you can use one large red and 1 regular green sauce) Bake for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Serve with optional toppings if desired and rice and beans!!!
Adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos

So a few weeks ago I saw this recipe over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe and decided I needed to try it out. I am not a huge sweet potato fan so I was a little nervous about how these would turn out but Mel assured us that even her non loving sweet potato husband was going back for seconds with this yummy combination. So I decided to get over my nervousness and just give these babies a try and boy were they yummy. They are more of a sweet and savory burrito than your traditional bean burrito but tasty non the less and oh so healthy for you!!! If you are sweet potato fan and even if you aren't give these babies a try and your kids will gobble them up too!! Well at least mine did!!and they like me do not like sweet potatoes that much. I mean look at all that colorful food!!! so so good and good for you. The more colors of the rainbow you eat the healthier you are and I mean as in veggies and fruit not candy/doughnuts!!!!!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos
4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed small
3 jalapenos, finely diced
2 red bell peppers, diced small
2 red onions, diced small
2 T. olive oil
2 tsp cumin
1 T. chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2(15 oz each)cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2- 1 cup chopped cilantro, depending on your taste(we like the full cup)
juice of 2 limes
Cheese of your choice-we use sharp cheddar
tortillas(wheat or white we always have homemade tortillas)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. IN a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes, jalapenos, red peppers, and red onions with the olive oil, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Dump the coated veggies onto a large rimmed baking sheet and roast for 20-30 minutes, tossing halfway through. Veggies should be tender but not mushy at the end of the cooking time. Mine took closer to 30 minutes but just use your own judgement. Let the veggie mixture cool a little bit then scrape veggies back in the large bowl and toss with the black beans, lime juice and cilantro. Taste the mixture and add additional salt and pepper if needed. Place desired amount of veggie bean mixture onto a tortilla, sprinkle with cheese, roll up and lay seamside down on a baking sheet. Repeat with all the mixture and tortillas. Bake at 375 for about 10-15 minutes or until heated through and golden brown or if you like the tortilla soft wrap each in tin foil and heat through. Serve with salsa and avocados!! Yumm!!!!!

Toscana Soup

My husband adores the Toscana Soup at Olive Garden. A few years ago my aunt gave me this recipe she got at her ward Relief Society party and said it was amazing. Well it is just that. It tastes just like Olive Garden,(if not better)and is way cheaper to make at home. We have been making this for years and I just realized I have never posted this on the blog. SO for those of you who love Toscana Soup go give this soup a try it is super simple, easy, and fast to make. Serve with your favorite green salad, and bread or breadsticks.

Toscana Soup
1 lb sausage(italiam or I use a roll of Jimmy Dean's hot sausage)
7-8 large baking potatoes,(sliced in to slices)
1 onion, diced
1 Tbs. minced garlic
10 cups water
4 Tbs. chicken boullion
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cups cream(or you can use 1 cup cream one cup milk it is creamier with the cream ofcourse I have done it both ways and is good either way but don't use all milk or it won't be as good)
2 cups chopped fresh spinach or Kale (I prefer the spinach and don't use frozen(nasty in my opinion)

In a large pot, brown the sausage. Drain the grease. Add in the onion and garlic and cook till onion is tender. Add the water, boullion, pepper, red pepper flakes, and potatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer until the potatoes are tender. About 15-20 minutes. Then add the cream and the chopped spinach and heat through or until spinach wilts. Serve with favorite bread or breadsticks!!!

Crunchy Quinoa Granola

I am always on the hunt for new granola recipes. I eat granola or oatmeal every morning for breakfast so I like to change it up sometimes. I came across this one over at Two Peas and Their Pod. This was very tasty and I will be adding it to my growing list of Granola recipes. My favorite granola is still my Macaroon granola but I have never met a granola I didn't like!!!

 

Crunchy Quinoa Granola

3 c. quinoa

10 c. old fashioned oats

2 c. chopped almonds

2 c. coconut

1 1/2 cup wheat gream

1 1/2 cup flax seeds (ground or whole)

1/2-1 cup brown sugar(just depends on how sweet you want it)

1/2-1 cup honey(depends on how sweet again)

3 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

3/4 cup coconut oil,melted

2 tsp vanilla

1 T. maple extract

1 1/2 T. cinnamon

1 cup raisins

1 cup dates or craisins (i did dates)

 

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Rinse the quinoa under cold water and drain well. In a large bowl combine quinoa, oats, almonds, coconut, wheat germ and flax seeds. In another bowl whisk together the sugar, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, maple extract, and cinnamon. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir till combined well. Pour the granola evenly onto 3 large rimmed baking sheets. and bake for 40 minutes stirring a few times throughout the cooking process. Allow to cool on cookies sheets and then mix the raisins, craisins, and/or dates in. Store in and airtight container for up to one month.

NOte: you may also use some natural applesauce in place of half the oil and you may cut down the sugar and/or honey or you can even use agave nectar for the sweetener if you like. just tailor it to what you like. I like a mixture of brown sugar and honey so that is what i do and I usually add some applesauce but didn't have any on hand. Be creative!!!

Black and White Cheesecake Bars

The other night I needed to take a treat to our church activity and decided to try something new. I always get sick of bringing the same old treats everytime. As I was searching the food blog world I came across this recipe at Mel's Kitchen Cafe and knew I had to try them out. I mean Cheesecake and Chocolate and plus everything I have made from Mel's blog is fantastic!!! Anyway,these bars were amazing!! They are similar to cheesecake brownies(I have a favorite recipe for those) but still quite different. So if you want a new twist on the Cheesecake brownie go give these babies a try!!! You will not be disappointed I promise!!!


Black and White Cheesecake Bars
2 cups plus 2 T. flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3 tsp vanilla
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper(with a 2 inch overhang) and coat with cooking spray. Set aside. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. In another bowl cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add 2 eggs and 2 tsp vanilla and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture. Increase the speed to medium and beat until well mixed. Reserve 1 cup of dough and refrigerate it. Press the remaining dough into bottom of prepared dish and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bake until base is set and edges are puffed, about 20 minutes.Don't overbake!!!. Let cool 15 minutes in dish on a wire rack. Mix the cream cheese, remaining egg, powdered sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla in a bowl until smooth. Spread over the cooked base. Crumble the reserved 1 cup down over the top. Bake until filling is set, about 25- 30 minutes. Let cool in dish on wire rack, then lift out using the overhang of the parchment. Cut into squares. Keep them covered and stored in the Refrigerator.

P.S. I am in the process of placing all my recipes in the pull down recipe index you see but it is taking me awhile since I have almost 300 recipes on here. When I am finished it should be easier to find one of my recipes plus there is a search engine at the top so if you are look for a paticular thing you can type it in and it will bring up the recipes that go with it that I have on my blog!! I wish my blog was easier to navigate and prettier like all the other food sites out there but alas I am not totally computer savy and I kind of refuse to pay someone to design a cooler looking blog. SO thank you to all of my faithful followers. I truely love sharing all my good recipe finds with you even if it is in mediocre style with sub par pictures!!!

Pizza Casserole

I am sure many of you have seen this casserole all over the internet. I first came across it on Pinterest and just new I had to try it out!! I mean who doesn't love any form of pizza. I needed to take a meal in to some friends and was trying to decide what to take and decided this would be the perfect thing and so I made a pan for us as well and boy was it tasty!! If you need a meal to take to a friend or just in general love pizza this pasta is for you and your kids will gobble it up. Serve it with french bread and a salad and you have a top notch meal!! And once again I know my photography skills are subpar but don't let them deter you from making this!!
Pizza Casserole
1 lb pork sausage(i used half ground beef half sausage)
1 large onion, chopped
2 T. minced garlic
1 tsp dried oregano or italian seasoning
50-60 oz of spaghetti or pizza sauce(I use my homemade spaghetti sauce)
1/2 to 1 lb ham, cooked and cubed(I used lunch meat ham)
1/2 to 1lb pepperoni
24 oz shredded mozzarella cheese(i used half moz and half sharp cheddar)
6 T. parmesan cheese
1 lb pasta of your choice( i used bowtie)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Cook sausage/hamburger with onion, garlic, and oregano utnil browned, drain the grease off. In a greased 9x13 pan.Pour a enough sauce in the bottom of the pan to coat the bottom. Then layer the ingredients like so: pasta, sausage and onion mixture, 1 cup of cheese and 2 T of parmesan cheese, ham. Then sauce, pasta, sausage, 1 cup cheese, parmesan cheese, ham. Repeat layers if necessary. ending with the last cup of cheese on top and the pepperoni's layered on the top completely covering the whole dish like the picture down below. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly and pepperonis are crispy. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving. If you like peppers or olives on your pizza you may add those to this as well. Make it how you like your pizza!!!

Spaghetti Sauce
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, green red orange or yellow or a mixture, chopped
2 T. minced garlic
1- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1-28 oz can diced tomatoes
2 T. tomato paste
2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic salt
1 T. dried parsley
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, pepper, and garlic and cook until veggies are tender. Add in everything else. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve over favorite pasta or use for favorite pasta dishes.

Pumpkin Pie Steel Cut Oats

So as I have mentioned before I love to eat homemade granola for breakfast. I was kind of getting a little tired of it the other day and needed something a little different for breakfast so I decided to make these steel cut oats. They were amazing so yummy and so packed with goodness.It keeps you full longer because it is hearty and full of protien, fiber, calcium and B vitamins.  1 cup of steel cut oats had 8 grams of insoluble fiber!!!  Anyway, I found this recipe on Pinterest.If you love oatmeal give this baby a try. Now if you don't like pumpkin mix in some other kind of fruit. Just do what you like. I love how versitile this recipe can be. YOu should be able to find Steel Cut oats at any grocery store but in most places they are pretty expensive unless you have a health food store you can buy them in bulk at. If you live here where I live you can buy them at the amish store for about $0.67/lb so so so cheap!!! I love that you can make this the night before and reheat it for a quick no fuss breakfast.
 
Basic Steel Cut Oats Recipe(makes enough for 2 people for about 4 days)
3 1/3 cups steel cut oats
9 cups water
pinch of salt

Add the water, oats and salt to a large saucepan and bring to a boil.Turn heat down and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Ladle oats and water into glass jars, cover, and let sit on the counter for 8 hours, then store in the fridge. My oats had a little bit of water but not as much as the recipe said they would. I let mine sit on the counter for about 3 hours and then stuck them in the fridge and it worked out great so it just depends. In the morning reheat desired amount with a little bit of milk and desired sweetner/fruit.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal(for 1 serving)
Place about a 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups oats(from the above recipe)into your bowl
add 1/3-1/2 cup of milk
a little maple syrup or brown sugar
2 heaping spoonfuls of pumpkin puree
a little cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
chopped pecans or almonds

Heat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes and enjoy!!! THis is not a set recipe just use how much you like of everything. I don't measure exactly. Like I said if you don't like pumpkin than use blueberries or strawberries or bananas. Or saute chopped apples with a little bit of cinnamon and sugar until tender and then add to oats for apple pie oatmeal!!

Oh and you can add a Tablespoon of ground flax seed to each bowl as well!!

Garlic Ginger Shrimp or Chicken

The other day I found a bag of shrimp in my freezer that needed to be used and My kids and hubbby wanted fried rice and eggs rolls so I went on the hunt for a good shrimp dish to go along with our Chinese theme. I found this recipe on pinterest. They used chicken but I decided to swap in the shrimp. It turned out so good. It was awesome and even my husband ate it and he dislikes shrimp or fish most of the time. I happen to love all seafood but rarely cook with it because of him. Anyway this recipe was perfectly sweet and spicey and paired well with rice and the eggs rolls we ate. Go give this recipe a try despite my horrible picture of it. I had to take the picture the second day because I didn't have enough natural light the night before. You can use chicken or shrimp.
Crispy Giner Shrimp
1 lb bag of small uncooked shrimp or 2-3 chicken breast,chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
6 T. cornstarch
1 T. canola oil
1/2 tsp dried red chili flakes
2 T. garlic, minced
1-2 inch piece of ginger grated, we prefer less ginger but us the larger amount if you like a strong ginger flavor
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions for garnish if desired

Marinate the chopped chicken or shrimp with a 1/4 cup soy sauce. rice vinegar and salt for at least 30 minutes. Next stir in the egg and the cornstarch and mix well. Heat a deep fryer or enough oil in a wok to cover the chicken or shrimp pieces. When hot add the shrimp/chicken and deep fry 5-6 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Meanwhile heat the 1 T. of oil in a skillet. add the garlic, ginger, and red chili flakes and cook until fragrant and tender, stir often so you don't burn the garlic. in a small bowl combine the remaining soy sauce and brown sugar;set aside. Add the cooked chicken or shrimp to the pan with the garlic/ginger mixture and mix to coat all pieces. Add a little bit of your soy sauce/br.sugar mixture and stir to coat all pieces. Don't add too much or the chicken/shrimp will not remain crispy. You can add the soy sauce/ brown sugar to you rice if you like more sauce. Serve over rice and with toasted sesame seeds and green onions.

Apple Pie Jam

For Christmas this year I wanted to give something to friends that was different from the normal goodie plate. I feel like we all get so many goodies and sometimes just don't know what to do with them all sometimes so when I found this recipe over on Coleen's Recipes and knew this is what I wanted to make. Can I tell you this is some of the best jam I have ever tasted and it was so easy to make!! All my family and friends raved about it!! If you are in a jam rut go give this jam a try you will not be disappointed plus the good thing you can always find good apples all year round instead having to wait for the summer like most other fruits!!!
Apple Pie Jam (makes about 11 pints)

18 cups granny smith apples(peeled)about 8lbs apples
1 1/2 cup apple juice or cider
2 tsp butter
9 cups white sugar
6 cups brown sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
3 small boxes(1 1/4 oz each)Sure-Jell powdered pectin

Dice the apples, then put them in the food processor for just a very few pulses. You want the pieces small but not pulverized. Put the apples, apple juice, and butter in a 10 qt pot with tall sides over medium low heat until apples are soft but not mushy. Stir in the powderes pectin and bring to a full rolling boil(on that does not stop when you stir it);stir constantly. When it comes to a full rolling boil, add the sugars,cinnamon,and nutmeg. Stir well and bring back to a full rolling boil and keep at a full rolling boil while stirring for exatly one minute.
 Remove from the heat. as with a lot of jams that have chunks of fruit, if you aren't careful the fruit will float in the jar and it won't be evenly distrubuted throughout the jam. To avoid this:After you take the jam off the heat sit it on a towel or pot holder. Let the jam sit in the hot pot for five minutes before you put in hot jars.Stir the hot jam every 60 seconds or so with a clean spoon. After the five minutes Pour into hot clean jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. wipe the rims of the jars with a clean wet cloth and put the lids and rings on each and hand tighten. Process in a hot water bath:half pints for 10 minutes and pints for 15 minutes.

If you don't want 11 pints of jam the recipe is cut down easily. cut in half easy or even in thirds!!!