Cocoa-Peppermint Drops

Very simple, like the Lemon Drops, but with chocolate instead! These cookies are another favorite of mine!!! Easy-peasy...and so yummy!

Cocoa-Peppermint Drops

Ingredients:

Cookies
-1 Box of Chocolate Cake Mix
-1/3 Cup Oil
-1 Egg
-4 Tablespoons Water

Glaze
-1 Cup Powdered Sugar
-1 Teaspoon Peppermint Extract
-2 Tablespoons Milk-Crushed Candy Cane

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350* Mix ingredients by hand, dough should be “soft”. Use a teaspoon to drop dough on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Place cookies on wire-rack to cool. Brush on glaze while cookies are still warm, and sprinkle crushed candy cane on top. (You could use festive red or green sugar sprinkles too!) Makes 2 dozen cookies.

Lemon Drops

This recipe is so easy, and the cookies are soooooooo yummy! They are my favorite holiday cookie...fast and easy to whip up and take to a party at a moments notice. I like the lemon flavor because with all of the different chocolate goodies at parties, it's nice to have something a little tart!

Lemon Drops


Ingredients:

Cookies:
-1 Box of Lemon Cake Mix
-1/3 Cup Oil
-4 Tablespoons Water
-1 Egg

Glaze:
-1 Cup Powdered Sugar
-2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350* Mix ingredients by hand, dough should be “soft”. Use a teaspoon to drop dough on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Place cookies on wire-rack to cool. Brush on glaze while cookies are still warm. Makes 2 dozen cookies.

Apple Crisp ...a yummy fall favorite!

Here's another recipe without a picture because I keep forgetting to take one!!! The next time I make it I will take one, and post it. But...you don't really need a picture for this...it's the taste that matters! This is one of my fall favorites. It takes a little bit of time to peel the apples...but it is SO yummy! It's perfect for a fall or winter dessert. Ok, I'll admit that I even eat it for breakfast when I have leftovers.


Apple Crisp


Ingredients:

- 9 Cups of Sliced Apples (1 medium apple is about one cup sliced)
- 1 & 1/2 Cups White Sugar
- 2 Cups Flour
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 & 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 & 1/4 Cup Butter
- 1 & 1/2 Cup Oatmeal (the old fashioned oats)


Directions:

Peel and slice/dice apples. (This takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r if you are peeling by hand and don't have an apple core/peeler thingy...but it's worth it in the end!)

Mix Apples, White Sugar, and 3 tablespoons of Flour in a large bowl. Set apple mixture aside. In a separate bowl, mix softened Butter and crumble into Brown Sugar and Flour. (I usually use a pastry cutter for this...it mixes it better that a spoon.) Gradually add the Oatmeal.

Layer the apples/flour mixture/apples/flour mixture in a large baking dish. Sprinkle remaining flour mixture on top. Bake at 325* for 1 hour. (uncovered)

Southwestern Style Ground Turkey & Potatoes O'Brien

So, I'm not really sure what this dish is called. It's something I learned when I used to have a job teaching life skills to developmentally disabled adults. (One of my favorite jobs!) It was from a 4 ingredient cookbook (I don't remember which one, sorry!) but I've added a little more to it. This is such an easy dish, and very yummy! It's one of my favorite cold-weather comfort foods.

Ingredients:
1 Onion
1 Pound Ground Turkey
1 Bag of Potatoes O'Brien (You can find it in the frozen foods section)
1 Medium Size Jar of Chunky Salsa (Not the watery kind...that will make the dish too "sloppy" and juicy)
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Sour Cream


Brown the turkey meat and onion in a large skillet. When turkey meat is cooked thoroughly, add the potatoes O'Brien to the skillet. Make sure the heat is on medium. Pour the jar of salsa over the turkey meat and potatoes. Stir often (you don't want anything to burn!), the potatoes should be heated and cooked thoroughly within about 10 minutes. Remove from heat once cooked, dish out portions. Spoon sour cream on top, and sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Serves 6

*Pictures to come...the next time I make it!

Peanut Butter Frosting

I made chocolate cupcakes with this peanut butter frosting recipe...and OH MY GOODNESS! I am sad to say that my diet suffered (big time) because I ate so many of the cupcakes! I don't really remember where I got this recipe from, it's one that I've had for awhile in my recipe box...I did google "peanut butter frosting" and it seems that this is a pretty general "base" recipe. In any case, it is GOOD!




Peanut Butter Frosting
Will frost about 36 cupcakes


1/2 Cup Softened Butter
1 Cup Peanut Butter
3 Tablespoons Milk
2 Cups Powder Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla


If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer, use it...the frosting will be much more "fluffier".

Cream together the Butter and Peanut Butter until mixed thoroughly. Add in the Milk, Vanilla and Powder Sugar. Mix on Medium once all of the ingredients are incorporated. (ie: don't turn the Kitchen Aid on high speed until the powder sugar is no longer powder...you will have a huge mess if you do!) Put frosting in a pastry bag and pipe onto cupcakes.

Crockpot Italian Chicken

In the summer, especially when it hits 100+ which it was today, I try to use the crockpot to make dinner so I don't need to turn on the oven. I grabbed this little seasoning packet by McCormick while grocery shopping yesterday. I had most of the ingredients on hand at home, but had I bought them it probably would have been about $5.00. I was very pleased with how this meal turned out. Bonus: the house smelled yummy all day while it was cooking, and I didn't do much except throw everything in the crockpot! I served mine over whole wheat pasta. (Tip: you can buy whole wheat pasta at Trader Joe's for about $1.25)






Slow Cookers Italian Herb Chicken

Makes 8 servings.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH


INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken parts, skin removed (I used about 10-12 "chicken tenders")
1 package (8 ounces) mushrooms, halved or sliced
1 package McCormick® Slow Cookers Italian Herb Chicken Seasoning
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste


DIRECTIONS
1. Place chicken and mushrooms in slow cooker.
2. Mix Seasoning, tomatoes and tomato paste until blended. Pour over chicken and mushrooms. Cover. I added one cup of water to the mixture. It was really thick, and I didn't want the chicken to burn in the crock pot. I'm glad I didn't, because it turned out perfect!
3. Cook 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH. I cooked mine on high for 7 hours, and then let it thicken up for an hour since I added water. Remove chicken and vegetables to serving platter. Stir sauce before serving. Serve over hot cooked pasta, if desired.



NUTRITION INFORMATION
per serving
Calories: 271
Fat: 11 g
Carbohydrates: 16 g
Cholesterol: 77 mg
Sodium: 648 mg
Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 27 g

Banana Bread

I had some over-ripe bananas sitting on my counter, so I decided to make some banana bread. I wanted to use my mom's recipe but couldn't find it, so I googled and came up with this recipe from Simply Recipes ...it turned out REALLY good! Almost as good as my mom's!

Banana Bread

Ingredients
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed (I used about 5 medium sized bananas)
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla (I add 1 tsp of vanilla to every recipe, so I used 2 instead of 1)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

I set my timer at 45 minutes for bake time. I didn't want it to over bake, and I'm glad I took it out at 45 minutes...it turned out beautiful! It was very moist. I also removed from the pan 5 minutes after taking it out of the oven, and then cooled it on a wire rack...I didn't want the outside to get crispy in a hot pan. Enjoy!