Irresistible Peanut Butter Cookies

I had a recent complaint that every time I make cookies, I always make either Sugar or Chocolate chip. And while he LOVES any type of baking I do, my husband's favorite cookie is Peanut Butter. So I did him a favor tonight and baked him some Peanut Butter Cookies! He'll be so glad when he comes home from work!

3/4 cup JIF peanut butter
1/2 stick or 1/2 cup Butter flavor shortening (I use the pre-measured sticks and love them! So much easier than trying to measure it out!)
1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 TBS milk
1 TBS vanilla
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups Flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt

*Heat oven to 375. Combine peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended. Drop my rounded measuring tablespoonfuls of dough 2-inches apart onto greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly in a crisscross pattern with tines of fork. Bake one baking sheet at a time for 7-8 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to cooling racks to cool completely.

*I rolled the dough into a ball in my hands and then rolled them in sugar.

*Next time I would add a little more flour, they were a little flat, but still very tasty!

*Makes 3 dozen cookies

Easy Bake Chicken Strips

Last night, was one of those nights. You know the kind.
Look in the fridge-nothing
Look in the Pantry-nothing
Look in the freezer-nothing

Then...an hour later, hoping something has just magically appeared in one of those places we look again.

Fridge-nothing
Pantry-not much
Freezer-nothing

When the 3 year old says "What are we having for dinner?" you know it's really time to throw something together. At least for my 3 year old. More often than not, he'd rather skip anything meal related, live on fruit snacks, graham crackers, and play, play, play.

So, I look once again in those 3 places and find

Milk
Eggs
Frozen Chicken Tenderloins
Tator Tots
A Can of Green Beans
Spices (seasoning salt, garlic powder, lemon pepper)
Bread Crumbs
Flour

So things, that most everyone usually has on hand.
I dipped the chicken tenders in milk & egg
then rolled them in bread crumbs, flour & spices.
Threw them in the oven with the tator tots & baked at 450 for 16-18 minutes. Turning half way through.

THEY WERE DEEELISH! My husband LOVED them, and so did my son! We had leftovers for lunch today and they were just as good! Mmm...Mmm! My son liked dipping them in ranch, hubby liked BBQ sauce, but I thought they were very flavorful without any dipping sauce!

Chicken Salad

This has to be one of my very favorite dishes! And it's not the usual Chicken Salad you're used to seeing. This one is BETTER! The possibilities are endless with this salad! So Yummy!!!!




Ingredients:
-4 Chicken Breasts
-1 Large package of shell or macaroni noodles
-1 cup purple grapes
-1 package slivered almonds
-1 diced red apple (with peel)
-Green Onions (finely chopped)
-1 small can pineapple tidbits
-1 can mandarin oranges
-1 cup mayonaise
-1 jar coleslaw dressing

Directions:
Boil & dice chicken. (tonight I used canned and it turned out great!) Mix all ingredients, except oranges. Add them last and gently toss them in. Chill. Tonight I added some craisins that I needed to use up, and they were great. I thought about adding peas, maybe next time. I usually don't like mixtures like this, but this one I LOVE. My little guy loves it, and my husband has yet to try it when he comes home from work, but I'm sure he'll like it. I just served it with rolls. This is a must try!

GoOd EaTiN'!--In LeSs ThAn 15!

I just made THE BEST pork chop dinner! It was quick, easy and super tasty! Mmm...Mmm!!!

Here's what I used

2 Bone-In Pork Chops
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup flour
Seasoning Salt
Lemon Pepper
Paprika
Salt & Pepper

1 bag steam fresh peas

1 package Pasta Sides (chicken flavor)

Here's what I did
Mix milk and egg in one bowl
Mix bread crumbs, flour & seasonings in another bowl
Dip chops in egg and milk
Then roll chops in Seasoning mixture
Grill the chops on the George Foreman! (for about 10-15 minutes)

Mean while the pasta side takes 8 minutes to cook
And the peas only take 4-5 minutes to steam in the microwave!

The chops were very tasty and very juicy! The chicken flavored noodles complimented the chops well and I love the steam fresh veggies! I don't like canned peas, but I LOVE the steam fresh ones!

Home-Made Mac & Cheese

I like to make a big pan of this during January. My boys can live on it for a week, and I can take it to work for lunch.

1 box macaroni noodles
1 can Campbell's Cheddar Cheese Soup
1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (I like to add more, I like my Mac & Cheese VERY cheesy!)

Boil Macaroni
Spread in casserole dish and add Cheese and Soup
Sprinkle some cheese on top
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted

YUM!

--My New Best Friend--

My hubby spoiled with for Christmas with this new Kitchen Aid and I'm in love with it! I just baked a batch of cookies and my wrists don't hurt! (arthritis) It's a miracle! My 3 year old son loved being able to help me a lot easier. I didn't have to try and steady a hand mixer while I helped him dump ingredients in the bowl. It was awesome! Merry Christmas to me for sure!

P.S. I haven't forgotten or abandoned this blog, I'm just busy. Gearing up for working 7 days a week through January. But I promise, some day I'll post more recipes, and more tips and such from my Eating Clean journey!

--HoLiDaY tReAtS--

Got some good Holiday Treat recipes you want to share? E-mail them to: megcancook@yahoo.com
Next week is my "Holiday Baking Week" since it will be THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!!! You'll find me in the kitchen stirring up some yummy fudge, sugar cookies, mint fudge and possibly some Peppermint Brittle! I've got a couple little holiday parties next week to provide Desserts at so I'm pretty sure from Monday to Thursday I'll be baking whatever I can get my hands on! YIPPEE!!! I love this time of year to bake! I love making cookies look cute, and trying new recipes. This will be my first time making fudge and peppermint brittle so wish me luck!

Kneader's Inspires

Yesterday I went to lunch with my sister and had an EXCELLENT salad! So today while I was grocery shopping I thought "I want another one of those salads" well since I don't have that restaurant we went to, near where I live I decided to pick up the things to try and make my own version of the salad. I substituted a few things, but over all it turned out GREAT! I'll be having this salad for lunch tomorrow at work!




Here is what I used:
Leaf Lettuce
Spinach
Green Onion
Craisins (dried cranberries)
Grape tomatoes
Raw sunflower seeds
KRAFT Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing
Canned Chicken (or Turkey or Tuna is good too)

The salad from Kneaders did not have Tomatoes or Green Onion, it had mushroom. I'm not a mushroom fan...or much of a Tomato fan, but my husband loves tomatoes so I put some on our salad. I did end up eating the tomatoes, they actually weren't too bad with that tangy dressing =)
This is a great side to any meal, makes a great lunch, or if you wanted to add some grilled chicken strips it'd be a decent dinner with some bread!

Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup in a Crock Pot

SERVES 12 -14 - this is a big recipe, can be halved.

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Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (16 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
• 1 (16 ounce) can white kidney beans, drained
• 3 (10 ounce) cans beef stock
• 3 teaspoons oregano
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 5 teaspoons parsley
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (optional)
• 1 (20 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 8 ounces pasta

Directions

1. Brown beef in skillet. Drain fat from beef and add to crock pot with everything except pasta.
2. Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours.
3. During last 30 min on high, add pasta. OR even better, cook pasta on the stovetop and add as you are serving the soup.

I haven't made this soup YET this cold season, but we did enjoy it earlier this spring and it was DEE-LISH! I can't wait to make it this weekend! The only changes I remember making last time was--I did not use Tabasco Sauce and I used 2 cans of Red Kidney Beans instead of the White Kidney Beans. I've not had this soup at Olive Garden myself, but I hear it tastes exactly like that. All I know is it is SUPER YUMMY! You can serve it with bread-sticks, garlic bread or rolls!

Some Day

Some day when I have a free moment, I'll post some of the yummy soup recipes I've tried, and will be trying. If you have any soup (or not) recipes that you'd like to share. E-mail them to megcancook@yahoo.com the more the merrier!