Big Brownie Cookies

Enough said, really! Need I say more? I think we should just get to the recipe for these because really they are simple and they are ridiculously good. Do yourself a favor and try these...got it?

Big Brownie Cookies

Source: Just Baking

1 (19.5 to 21.5-ounce size) box fudge brownie mix (I used Ghiradelli...yum!)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup oil
3 tablespoons water
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir until all dry ingredients are incorporated, but do not overmix. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto the greased baking sheet. Leave at least 2 inches between cookies as these will spread. (I cooled the dough in the refrigerator before dropping on cookie sheet)

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes (mine were perfect in 9 mins), until cookies appear set and do not look “wet” in the middle. Let cookies sit on baking sheet for 3 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

*If desired, you can stir in 1 cup of white chocolate, semisweet chocolate, or peanut butter chips; 1 cup of chopped almonds or pecans; or 1 cup of M&MS or Reese’s Pieces before scooping and dropping onto cookie sheet.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Crispy Chicken Salad

On Saturday, we spent the day at the beach. I wanted something easy to do for dinner and something relatively healthy. I chose a salad which I would serve chicken over. For the chicken, I settled on some chicken tenders I had seen on Lani's blog. These were perfect over salad. I used romaine, a cucumber, a tomato, shredded cheddar, hardboiled eggs and crispy turkey bacon to round out the salad...oh and light ranch dressing. I served some good ol Jiffy cornbread with it and it was delicious, filling dinner.

Honey-Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders

salt

pepper

boneless, skinless chicken tenders

1/4 cup honey

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

3/4 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 1/4 cups finely crushed cornflakes

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400. Sprinkle salt and pepper over chicken. Combine honey, mustard, paprika and garlic in a small bowl. Combine cornflakes and pecans in a shallow dish (I crushed up the cornflakes and pecans together in my mini food processor). Brush both sides of chicken with honey mixture; dredge in cornflake mixture. Place chicken on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Lightly coat the chicken with cooking spray. Cook at 400 for 15 minutes or until done.

Cooking for Company

This past weekend we had 2 visitors from Virginia...my mom and my aunt Barb. Of course, this was a perfect opportunity to showcase some new recipes. Long before the day of their arrival, I was planning the perfect weekend menu. There just weren't enough days to try everything I wanted to. So, this post and the next couple will be the food that made the cut. The night they arrived, I made a dish that I've made several times...Penne a la Betsy. I knew that was sure to impress and it did.

The first morning they were with us, I whipped up this before we headed to the beach for the day. I can't even find words to describe how perfect this recipe is...easy, soft, melt in your mouth, divine...oh my goodness. Promise me you will make these...soon! Pinky promise. Ok, here goes. Thanks to Amy over at Sing for your Supper for a recipe that will never leave my side as long as I live. Yes, it's my new best friend.

Lindsay's Sweetly Simple Coffee Cake

(I may just call them Sweet Rolls from now on)

2 10-oz tubes refrigerated biscuits
1/4 c margarine, melted
1/3 c brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c chopped nuts (I omitted for the guests)

Arrange biscuits very close together in a 9" round cake pan (I used my springform which worked great). Mix together margarine, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts; spread over biscuits. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

The late pork...

This recipe should have been posted last week sometime. Yea, you know how it is, time flies when you're having fun. Ha! Anyways, my favorite little caretaker, Lani, invited me over for dinner the week before last while Mike was working crazy hours and she knew I'd be all alone. Whoa is me! Anyways, she served this pork with some awesome crashed hot potatoes (yes, of course, the ones from Pioneer Woman) and veggies. It was delish! So, I decided to try to impress Mike with it. Seriously, easiest pork recipe ever and very impressive... good to serve for guests. You can see Lani's recipe here. I chose to make pork chops instead of her pick of pork loin...they were juicy, tender and so good! Go ahead, make these and impress someone in your life.

Apricot Glazed Pork

pork loin roast or pork tenderloin (I used 4 pork chops)

1/2 cup apricot preserves

1 package onion soup mix

2 tbsp. honey mustard

Preheat oven to 375 (oops, just realized I baked on 350 - no biggie). Mix preserves, soup mix and honey mustard in a small bowl. Line a baking dish with foil, leaving enough overhang to fold over the pork and make a packet. Place pork in dish and cover with preserve mixture. Seal foil around meat, and bake until pork is cooked through (the pork chops were perfect at around 50 mins) . Slice and serve with juices.

Apple Butter Bars

Ok, this entry comes to you all because I had a jar of apple butter in the fridge, leftover from another recipe awhile back. So, I went to All Recipes and put in 'apple butter'. These bars came up and I decided to try them out. Well, they are delicious but I don't find them to be anything like a bar. In fact, it's really just a thin spice cake. Delicious nonetheless. Did I do something wrong...did I not bake them long enough to become bars? I have no idea, but this turned out moist and very good. I would use this as a go-to spice cake and it was so easy to make...it came together very quickly. I could eat it with or without the icing actually but it is crumbly like cake. Any thoughts?

Apple Butter Bars

Source: All Recipes

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 3/4 c a.p. flour and 3/4 c wheat flour)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup apple butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice (I used cinnamon)
1 cup raisins (I omitted)
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan.

Beat butter or margarine until creamy. Add half of the flour, the brown sugar, white sugar, egg, apple butter, baking soda and the apple pie spice. Beat together until well blended. Beat in remaining flour and stir in raisins. Spread in prepared baking pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or till toothpick in center comes out clean (mine were done after 17 mins). Cool in pan on wire rack. Drizzle with icing. Cut into bars.

To Make Icing: Mix 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and 1 - 2 tablespoons milk. Mix to drizzling consistency.

Orange Mandarin Chicken

I knew I wanted to make 2 new meals this weekend because Mike has been working insane hours lately and because of that the company orders in lunch and dinner everyday. I knew he would be sick of eating out so I decided on 2 meals. I had found this recipe on Cooking Light's website and it looked easy enough. Better yet, I already had all of the ingredients on hand. I served this over brown rice. This turned out great! The key is to pour a lot of the sauce over the chicken and rice (noodles, etc...whatever you serve with it). The sauce is where all of the flavor is! I didn't have jalapeno peppers so I just sprinkled in some crushed red pepper. We loved how the sweetness of the mandarin oranges mixed with the 'kick' of the red pepper. This was a really good, light meal.

Orange Mandarin Chicken

Source: Cooking Light

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
4 (4-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I used 3 chicken breasts)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges in light syrup, undrained (I used an 8 oz can)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper (sprinkled red pepper instead)
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic (I used 2 fresh garlic cloves)
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Preparation:
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned.

While chicken cooks, drain oranges in a colander over a bowl, reserving 2 tablespoons liquid. Add oranges, 2 tablespoons liquid, onions, jalapeño, and garlic to pan. Reduce heat; simmer 2 minutes.

Combine broth, soy sauce, and cornstarch; add to pan. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute or until slightly thickened.

Do you know the Muffin Lady?

Mike has been working insanely long hours at work for the past few weeks. There were a couple muffin recipes I was dying to try. Put the two together and everything works out perfectly. I went for 2 types so I would have plenty to send with him and a few to keep at the house. These turned out awesome and were the perfect breakfast treat. Both were delicious and I will definitely make them again.

Of course, there are those who came before me. No, I don't come up with my own recipes... don't be silly. So if you'd like to check out where they each came from, check out these blogs: What's Cooking in the Orange Kitchen and Kelly Cooks...and Other Amazing Feats.

I followed the recipes exactly with minor changes (see parenthesis).


Sugar & Spice Muffins
Source: What's Cooking in the Orange Kitchen

* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 c a.p. flour and 3/4 c wheat flour)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* 3/4 cup milk
For Topping:
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 cup butter, melted (only about 4 tbsp is needed - 1/2 cup is way too much)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups or use liners.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat together oil, 3/4 cup sugar, egg and milk. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture, just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. (I found that they only needed about 18 mins, I baked for 20 and they were a bit dry)

While muffins are baking, mix together 3/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. In a separate small bowl, melt butter.

While muffins are still hot, dip tops in melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar mixture.


Banana Coconut Muffins
Source: Kelly Cooks..and Other Amazing Feats

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 3/4 c a.p. flour and 1/2 c wheat flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 very ripe bananas, mashed (3/4 cup)

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted

2/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions

- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line muffin cups with liners.

- Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

- Whisk together bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup coconut in a large bowl until combined well, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.
- Divide batter among lined muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut.

- Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes. (I baked for about 22 mins)