Best Sugar Cookies I've ever made

I don't know about you, but I always have a hard time making good sugar cookies. They either spread out too much, or get too floury when you roll them out. I just always have issues making tasty cut-out sugar cookies. The problem with this, is that I really like sugar cookies! They're so good! I know not everyone will agree, but I like them. :)

Anyway, it's becoming a tradition in our family to make heart-shaped sugar cookies on Valentine's day. And this year I found a winner recipe, so I thought I'd share it.

Here it is:

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Directions
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and vanilla and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown.

Make sure you follow the directions exactly and they will be divine!

Stir-fry

I don't know why I love stir-fry so much but I do.  I think it's easy to make and I like that you can put any vegetables you want into it.  This is a healthy stir-fry recipe I have but when I did this, I changed it a bit.

The original recipe calls for 1 cup of broccoli florets, 1/2 red bell pepper, 

1/4 of a red onion and 4-5 oz. of cubed chicken breast and 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice.  I didn't measure mine and I didn't have broccoli (total bummer because I love broccoli in stir-fry) or brown rice.  That's what makes mine different.

So here are all of the ingredients I used.  I love chopping food and making my dish colorful.

That looks pretty colorful to me.

 I put the chicken in just a few minutes before everything else to give it a chance to cook a little bit.  I also added a clove of minced garlic.  I don't think garlic can ruin this meal.  It only makes it better.

Cook this on medium heat stirring frequently for 10-12 minutes or until veggies are tender.  Then add 1 Tbs of soy sauce and 1 Tbs of teriyaki sauce to the skillet.  Stir well and remove from heat.  Season with any desired spices, such as onion powder.

Here is my rice.  It would be brown but my husband HATES brown rice.

(Measure the 1/2 cup of rice after it is cooked.)

 Here is the final product.  All the juices from the sauce are so good and I make sure to pour extra on my serving.

Sorry the pictures aren't that great.  If you make this with the ingredients in bold, this is the nutrition value of this meal.  I hope you like it.

409 calories,  36 grams protein,  35 grams carbohydrate,  14 grams fat,  4 grams fiber,  6 grams sugar

Homemade Turtles

These are so easy a turtle could make them! :)

What you need:

 Rolos, Pecan halves, and square shaped Pretzels.

First preheat the oven. It doesn't matter how hot really. When I turn mine on it automatically sets to 350* so I just went with that.

 I recommend buying the Rolos that come in tubes (found by the registers). If you buy them in a big bag the way I did you have to unwrap each one. The tubes aren't individually wrapped.

 Lay out your Pretzels on a cookie sheet. I put Aluminum Foil down first because the chocolate melts through to the pan so it just makes for easier clean up.

 Place a Rolo on each Pretzel. Then put them in the oven for a minute or two. They only need to be in there long enough to soften the Rolo.

 While they're in the oven, pull out the unbroken pecans from the bag. It's easier to already have them separated so you can quickly place them while the chocolate is still soft.

Once you take the pan out of the oven, place a pecan on each Rolo and push it down to flatten the chocolate. Let the chocolate harden back up and they're ready to serve. Like I said, so easy a turtle could do it!

If you're unsure if your chocolate is soft enough test it by pushing a pecan down on one while they're still in the oven. If it pushes down with ease then they're ready to go.

Halloween Dinner Success

Here are the pictures from the dinner I said I wanted to do for Halloween. For just my husband and me I'd say it was pretty cute!

Brains and Bones

Blood

Dirt and Worms

For those that have never made dirt and worms before it's SO easy. Here's what you need:

 Oreos, some sort of rectangular shaped cookie (optional), gummy worms, pudding (I recommend instant), and an icing tube (optional).

 I broke the Oreos into fourths before chopping them so it would go a little faster.

 Then I crushed them to make the dirt.

 While the pudding was setting up in the fridge I made the headstones.

The finished product. I did a layer of Oreos on bottom, filled the cup with pudding, a layer of Oreos on top, a gummy worm chillin' in the dirt, and a headstone. Super easy and SO yummy. Some friends got together for a Halloween party for our little ones so this was the treat I took. I think they turned out cute!

You can also stir the Oreos into the pudding instead of layering it like I did.

PS. If you don't use the headstone then these are cute any time of year. Earth Day would be a good one! Or use the headstone and have them on Memorial Day. Okay... maybe that'd be weird.

How did you celebrate Halloween? Did you do something fun for dinner?

Haunted Halloween Dinner

I'm excited for Halloween and thought I would share my dinner idea with you in case you want to do it too. I don't have any pictures since I haven't done the dinner yet, but I'll share them next week after Halloween.

We're going to have brains (to feed our inner zombie), bones (to feed our inner warewolf) and blood (to feed our inner vampire) for dinner.

Brains: Spaghetti
Bones: Breadsticks
Blood: Red punch

Then for dessert we're going to have dirt and worms from the grave site where the body was dug up!

Dessert: Chocolate Pudding with Oreo cookie crumbs and gummy worms

I wanted to surprise my husband, but I was too excited to keep it a secret so I told him and he thinks it's pretty clever. I think it'll make for a fun little dinner date!

Are you planning a fun meal for Halloween? Please tell us so we can do it too!

When Cooking Loses it's Appeal

I'm in a cooking funk. I feel like I make the same things on repeat every week. Part of the problem is because I hate following recipes. I'd just rather already know how to do it! My go-to meals seem to be:

• Chicken Enchiladas
• Beef Enchiladas
• Chick Chimies (Recipe to come!)
• Beef Stew
• Chicken and Rice
• Pot Roast
• Tacos (chicken or beef)
• and I'm sure a few others that aren't coming to mind

Help me out of my funk. What are some meals you make often because they're easy and you don't need to follow a recipe? If you have a recipe you want to share we'd love to feature it as a post!

Kids Bake 'Em Cookies

I love this recipe because it only has 7 ingredients and not one of them is an egg which means it's safe to eat uncooked!!! Plus, according to the title, they're easy for kids to make. It's a win-win!

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup honey
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup)

Yield about 2 dozen

• Preheat oven to 300*F.
• In a small bowl combine flour, soda, and salt. Mix well with a wire whisk and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, blend butter, sugar, and honey with an electric mixer at a medium speed. Beat until light and soft, then scrape sides of bowl.
• Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips, and blend at low speed just until combined. Do not over mix.
• Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet, 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately transfer cookies with a spatula to a cool, flat surface.



After it's all blended together I like to stir in the chocolate chips with a spoon so they don't get mixed up in the beaters.



I set a bunch on wax paper and stuck them in the freezer. Don't mind my crooked lines!



Once they were frozen I put a dozen in each bag so they're easy to bake later.




Tada!

 The recipe doesn't make a ton so I always double it. I like to make extra to keep in the freezer.

Baking Tip: If my butter is too soft when I mix them up I stick the dough in the fridge to let it set back up before baking them. I've learned the softer the butter, the flatter the cookies. This is just from my experience. I don't know if there's any truth behind it. Maybe some of you Bakers out there might know more about it.

Planning Ahead

When I was newly married, I often felt like I fell in the category of Horrible Housewife. You know, the kind that can never seem to keep up with the housework, and have dinner on the table by the time the husband comes home. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can count on one hand how many times I made a home cooked meal in that first year, which I find surprising seeing as how I love to cook. Why, you ask did I not cook? Answer: My husband thought It would be cheaper to eat out every night, so we did, except for family dinners with the In-laws on Sunday. It has taken almost 3 years, but I think I have finally proven that it is cheaper to eat at home versus eating fast food every night. (not to mention sooo much better for my waist line!) Being a stay-at-home-mom I feel it's part of my job to have dinner ready at night. Here's how I do it.

I make a weekly list, every day Monday-Sunday I write down what I plan to make for dinner that week. Sometimes I get brave and make a list for two weeks! Here is this week's list: (We can only eat chicken, my husband has a nasty case of gout and most meats (red, and most white, and fish) cause him to have an out break. Therefore I apologize in advance that most of my recipes will be gout friendly.)

Monday- Cream Cheese Chicken and Noodles
Tuesday- Chicken Fajitas
Wednesday- Taco Salad
Thursday- Chicken and Broccoli over Rice
Friday - Date Night (but just in case we can't find a sitter, Hawaiian Haystacks)
Saturday - Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and a Veggie
Sunday- Baked Chicken Chimis

See, I really wasn't kidding about my whole week being mainly chicken recipes. You learn to love it. But my reason for sharing this is because it helps so much to be organized and have a list when you go grocery shopping. I am famous for shopping when I'm hungry and filling my cart with junk, and not enough items for dinner. Planning ahead also cuts my spending by almost half. By making this list I can check my pantry and know what I have already and what I need. Instead of showing up at the grocery store and realizing I can't remember if I have this or not! It is completely worth it. Dont believe me, try it for a week... I dare you! Happy Planning!

For those that already do this, what are some things that you've found work really well for you or are different from what I've talked about?

Yummy Salsa!

I don't know about you, but I personally have an addiction to homemade salsa. I absolutely love it! I'm always seeking out salsa recipes. This recipe gets an 8 on my 1-10 flavor scale! (10 being unbelievably good!) I think an 8 is completely blog worthy, don't you? The original recipe calls for canned tomatoes, so its simple and easy, however I have a garden over run with tomatoes so I decided to improvise and use those instead. 

~What you'll need

• 1 (14oz) can whole tomatoes
• 2 Jalapeno peppers with seeds
• 2 Serrano Peppers with seeds
• 2 Yellow Peppers
• 1 (28oz) Can of Petite diced tomatoes
• 1 (28oz) Can of Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 Onion
• 1 Bundle of Cilantro
• 1 bottle/can of green chili
• Lime juice
• Salt
• Garlic powder

Alright lets begin! To start we'll make the motion potion. Here's what you'll need:

(Motion Potion)

In a blender drain 1 (14oz.) can whole tomatoes. Use juice only

2 Jalapeno peppers with seeds

2 Serrano peppers with seeds

2 Yellow peppers

Be sure to cut the stems off the peppers.
Blend and set aside.

(*DISCLAIMER* Please excuse my untidy kitchen. We had friends coming for dinner and I was in a massive rush. But I wanted to share this recipe. So Viola! I sacrificed my dignity by showing you my untidy kitchen!)

 Now once you've poured the motion potion into a bowl or measuring cup (so it's easier to pour later) you can get started with these steps!

Blend together

1 (28oz) can of Petite Diced Tomatoes

1 (28oz) can Crushed Tomatoes

1 Onion, diced

1 bundle of Cilantro (excluding the stems, and roughly chopped)

1 bottle/can Green Chili

Most likely it wont all fit in your blender. I know it didn't all fit in mine. I did it in sections, and poured all of it into a big bowl and mixed it with a spoon. You're almost done! Now just add lime juice, salt, and garlic powder to taste! As well as some motion potion. When I made this, I could smell right away that the motion potion was hot. Those peppers had an extra spicy kick! So I started with adding about half of the motion potion, but that's my preference because I like spicy salsa. It's easier to be safe than sorry. Just add a little at a time and taste until you get your desired spice! This recipe makes a lot of salsa. And by a lot, I mean enough to feed an army. (Okay maybe not that much... but close) When I make it I plan my weekly meal list to include a lot of salsa. 

If you are using garden tomatoes like I did here's what you need to know. First I probably used close to 50 Roma tomatoes. I diced them, and boiled 3 1/2 cups at a full boil for a minute. Then I drained them and pureed them in the blender. You'll need 3 1/2 cups of pureed tomatoes. I also picked as many skins out as I could. They don't blend very well and you end up with huge chunks of skin. You'll also need 3 1/2 cups of diced tomatoes. I diced those and then put them in a cake pan and broiled them on high until they started to char. That should replace the two 28 oz tomato cans. You'll still need 1 (14oz) can for the motion potion.

 This is the end result. It isn't chunky salsa; I'm still working on figuring that out with this recipe. (*Warning* Picture taken after everyone had eaten!)

After i finished dicing the tomatoes

Diced tomatoes ready to boil.

 This is what they look like boiled. (Don't forget to drain them!)

Enjoy Megan's Salsa! It'll leave your taste buds craving for more!