Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Last week I wanted to make a peanut butter cookie but I didn't want to really make your normal plain peanut butter cookie and I couldn't find one I liked on the internet to use so I decide to just throw some ingredients together and make my own and can I tell you these were awesome!! I was so happy that a concoction I made up all on my own turned out so well. If you love Peanut butter and chocolate you must give these babies a try they are awesome especially with a little bit of vanilla ice cream or a glass of cold milk!!

 

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies(makes about 7-8 dozen)

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

3 cups peanut butter

4 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 T. vanilla

1- 1 1/2 cup baking cocoa(depending on how chocolaty you want it)

3 cups blended oats

1 cup blended peanuts

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 pkg. chocolate chips or chunks

1 pkg. Reese's Pieces.

 

In the bowl of your stand mixer cream the butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the baking cocoa, blended oats, blended peanuts, flour, soda, and powder and mix till well combined. Stir in the chocolate chip and Reese's Pieces. Roll into 1-2 inch balls and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Smash then down a little bit with your hand and then bake them at 325 for 10 minutes and no longer!!! They may look undercooked but they won't be. Take them out and let rest on pan for 1-2 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

 

Note: I blend my oats and peanuts in a food processor until they are finely chopped not as smooth as flour but close. Use quick or old fashioned oats, I prefer old fashioned but whatever you have on hand will work!!

Note: Makes a lot of cookies. I always make a lot of cookies and then roll the dough and freeze them in a Ziploc bag to pull out when we want to have a hot cookie or I will cook them let them cool and then freeze them so they don't all go stale before we can eat them all and then I have them on hand without all the work!!

French Fried Onion Chicken

I had bought a huge bag of French fried onions(from Sam's Club because way cheaper than at Walmart) a few months back for a salad that I had made and had a ton that I still needed to use. So I looked on the back of the onion package and they had a recipe that had chicken breast coated in the crumbled up onions and baked. I thought it sounded good but decided to do my own twist on the recipe and bump up the flavor a bit because I thought it looked a little bland. Anyway, the outcome of the recipe was amazing!! So flavorful, juicy, and tender and went so well with a baked potato and fresh corn on the cob!!! this is super simple to make and comes together quickly you can even coat the chicken breasts earlier in the day and let them hang out in the fridge till you are ready to cook it.(that is what I did)

 

French Fried Onion Chicken

4 cups crushed French fried onions

4 T. flour(I used whole wheat but use whatever)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese garlic bread seasoning(recipe follows)

3 T. Ranch dressing mix or 1 packet

3 eggs

4 large chicken breasts cut in thin pieces or pounded out thin

 

Mix the crushed onions, flour, parm cheese garlic bread seasoning, and ranch dressing mix. in a shallow bowl or pan. Set aside. Crack the eggs in another shallow pan and beat with a fork. Take your chicken pieces and dip them in the beaten eggs, then in the onion mixture pressing the onion coating on each side of chicken till well coated. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on the outside. Take out and serve.

 

Parmesan Garlic Bread Seasoning
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 tsp kosher salt
2 T. garlic powder~not salt
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp basil
2 tsp parsley
Mix all together and store in a spice jar or ziploc bag in the fridge. Use to sprinkle on breadsticks or french bread as well.

 

Note: I usually double or triple the garlic bread seasoning recipe and keep it on had for when we want garlic bread. I store mine in a old parmesan cheese container so I can just sprinkle on the bread. But store it in whatever you have.

 

Banana Bread

How many of you ever have bananas that go bad before you can eat them all? It seems that this happens quite frequently in our household especially in the summer when it is hot and humid. I have a really great cream cheese banana bread recipe on here but I wanted to have a just a regular go to banana bread recipe. So I went on the hunt for one and found this great recipe at Mel's Kitchen café. This really was wonderful and my new favorite recipe for banana bread. I am one of those that loves nuts in my banana bread but my hubby doesn't so I always make it without for him but if you love nuts go ahead and add them.

 

Banana Bread adapted from Mel's Kitchen Café

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 to1 1/2  cup bananas(3-4 ripe bananas)

2 eggs

4 T. buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp  Rum flavored extract

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp baking soda

 

Cream the butter and sugars together in a large bowl. Add the mashed bananas, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and rum extract ad mix until well combined. In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Don't mix too much because over mixing makes a tough bread. Pour into 2 greased 8x4 inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 50 -55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

Note: you can use 1 cup mashed banana or 1 1/2 cup I like to use 1 1/2 cup for a stronger banana flavor but it works either way.

 

Note: if you have over ripe bananas and have no time to make banana bread. Don't throw those bananas away. Throw them in your freezer and store them there until you have time to make bread. Just let them thaw, mash them and use them. These make the best banana bread!!

 

Note: I tripled this recipe and it made 4 (9x5) loaf pans of bread. you can us smaller loaf pans or you can even make muffins with this batter as well

Crockpot Cheese Tortellini Soup

 I have one more soup recipe for you all before it gets way too hot to make soup.This soup is very similar to my other tortellini soup that I have on here but a little bit different. It is very tasty. It is one of my hubby's favorite next to the Toscana soup I posted a month or so ago. I have made this soup twice and I made it a little bit different the second time because I was short on time and didn't have any homemade spaghetti sauce on hand and it didn't turn out quite as good as the first time. I recommend that you use homemade marinara or spaghetti sauce in this recipe. You will thank me later. Just plan on making it when you have some leftover spaghetti sauce in the fridge that needs to be used. That is what I did the first time and it really  added to the flavor of the soup. Either way this soup is yummy and true comfort food!!!

 

 

Crockpot Cheese Tortellini Soup

1lb sausage or 1/2 ground beef 1/2 sausage

1 onion,chopped

7 carrots, chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

2 T. minced garlic

1 bell pepper, chopped (any color)

3 cups marinara or spaghetti sauce

1 (32 oz) box plus 1 can beef broth

1 (28oz)can crushed tomatoes w/basil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 T. parsley

1 tsp basil

1 pkg. Good Seasons Italian dressing mix or roasted red pepper basil dip mix

8 oz cream cheese softened and cubed

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

19 oz cheese tortellini ,cooked

Brown the sausage/ beef till no longer pink. Add the onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper and garlic. cook 6-7 minutes or until veggies beginning to get tender. dump the sausage veggie mixture into a large crock pot and add all the ingredients except the spinach and tortellini. Cook on low for 6 hours or on high 3 hours. 20 minutes before you serve it add the tortellini and the spinach till heated through. Serve with warm rolls or breadsticks!!!

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!!!