Special Sugar Cookies Recipe

Another great recipe idea from the gals at Curves. This one is for a sugar cookie with candy bar filling. Delicious and easy to make any time of year, this recipe can also be an extra special homemade holiday gift from the kids. Wouldn't grandma just love something the kids made themselves? And to top it off, it actually tastes as good as it looks (or better!)

You can make this with your favorite sugar cookie recipe but we made it extra simple for the kids by buying a tube of the premade sugar cookies. I cut the cookie dough into 12 circles and then the kids did the rest.

NOTE: Since we made these just for ourselves, we used the dough as-is which means it will spread out into a flat cookie. With the chocolate inside, it looks a bit like a sombrero. If you want to make it into a pretty ball, you need to add about 1/2 cup flour to the dough first.

Special Sugar Cookie Ingredients:
One 16 oz. tube sugar cookie dough
12 miniature (the really small square ones) chocolate candies (we used milky way)
Colored sugar (optional)

Special Sugar Cookie Instructions:
Cut the tube of cookie dough into twelve rounds. Place the candy in the middle of the cookie dough and then wrap the dough around the chocolate to hide it. Optional - roll in colored sugar for a festive holiday look. Bake according to the instructions on your sugar cookie dough. (approx. 350 for 12 minutes). COOL BEFORE EATING as the center will be hot and gooey.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread Great for Thanksgiving

We needed to make a dish with pumpkin in it for a fourth grade Thanksgiving celebration so we whipped up my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe. I, personally, don't even like pumpkin but really like this bread. If you have kids over for Thanksgiving and don't think they'll enjoy a pumpkin pie, try this out. It can be your new tradition!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread Ingredients:
Dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda

Other ingredients:
1 stick butter room temp
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup pumpkin (from a can)
1 t. vanilla
1/3 cup milk (I used skim)
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350. Use flour based Pam (or grease and flour) two metal loaf pans. Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Combine other ingredients and use an electric mixer to mix them up in this order; butter first, then sugar, eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, milk and dry ingredients. Then stir in (by hand) the chocolate chips.

Cook about 55 minutes or until loaf feels firm and a knife comes out of the center clean (or with just melted chocolate!)

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Baked Pork Chops with Stuffing and Apples

Another simple recipe from the gals at Curves. Nothing like talking food while you're working it off! This is compliments of Sherry's sister and is a simple three ingredient meal (four if you count the margargine!) As usual with these conversational recipes, the amounts aren't really discussed but you'll get the general idea.

Baked Pork Chops Ingredients:
1 package pork chops
1 can apple pie filling
1 box corn bread stuffing mix

Baked Pork Chop Instructions:
Brown the pork chops on both sides in a frying pan. Make the box of corn bread stuffing mix. (mine required margarine and water) Layer in a baking dish, apple pie filling, browned pork chops and pre-cooked corn bread stuffing. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve with a green vegetable or salad and you have a full meal.

Thanks Sherry. Can't wait to try the next one.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie a la Kristin

When discussing the simple lasagne recipe, Kristin told me about her easy family favorite chicken pot pie recipe. It too is a snap to make and truely enjoyed the the whole family. It's a great way to use up leftover turkey or chicken too. She didn't have any specific quantities so this is showing how I made it. Like most of these homemade recipes, they taste even better when you add your own flair. For instance, if you like more chicken, add it. If you prefer different veggies, go for it. This is what I did to use as a guide.

Chicken Pot Pie Ingredients:
Crust ingredients: 1 tube of buttermilk biscuits, 1/2 t. each parmesan, basil, and parsley

Pot Pie ingredients: cooked chopped chicken or turkey(I used about a cup)
one can of cream of chicken or mushroom soup
veggies (about one cup from bag of frozen veggies)

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie Instructions:
Chop each biscuit into quarters. Put all the quartered raw biscuits into a baggie with cheese and spices and shake. Bake according to biscuit instructions (minus a few minutes )

Warm the chicken, veggie, soup mixture on top of the stove. When warm, place in a casserole dish. Put the biscuit pieces on top. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Lasagne that is Simpler than Simple

The gals at Curves were discussing this recipe and it came out great. The prep time is 5 minutes which is unheard of for real lasagne and the results of this faux lasagne are just as good. It is also easy to modify based on personal preference. Here's how I did it:

Lasagne (faux lasagne) Ingredients:
1 Two pound bag of frozen ravioli
1 jar spaghetti sauce
16 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 pound cooked ground chuck

Instructions for Faux Lasagne:
Cook ravioli according to instructions on the bag. (The type I used cooked at 400 for 40 minutes). Once the ravioli is cooked, layer sauce, cooked ravioli, hamburger, cheese, cooked ravioli, cheese. Cook at 400 for 30 minutes covered and then 10 minutes uncovered.

Sherry made it with an extra 8 oz. of cheese because she likes hers extra cheesy and she didn't put in any hamburger. Some of the other gals thought some slivered vegetables added to the sauce would add a healthy flare. Whatever your preference, go for it since the main part is this easy! Bon Appetit.

Split Pea Soup made with ham from pams-hams

One of the very best things about ham is the versatility. Not only is it great for dinner and sandwiches, but it's fabulous in soup. After we had ours for dinner several times, I used the ham bone to make split pea soup. I used Wendy's recipe which she calls Walters Alpine Split Pea Soup. Only substitution is that I used a pack of Lysanders split pea soup mix instead of the Manischewitz that her recipe called for.

I like the instructions on this. It makes sense whether you have more beans or less.

Split Pea Soup Recipe Ingredients
1 package Lysanders split pea soup mix (peas plus a flavoring package.)
2 extra packages of split peas (Wendy used 3 - you need a BIG pot if you use 3)
1 large onion chopped fine
5 medium carrots chopped fine - or substitute shaved carrots
1 ham bone - preferrably from pams hams!

Split Pea Soup Recipe Instructions
Wash and sort peas. Cover with water in large pot and soak for 2 hours. Remove dry powder from the pea soup mix. Add all the other ingredients and cover with 1 inch of water. Cook 2 to 2 1/2 hours stirring often. Add salt and pepper plus more water as necessary.

When peas are dissolved, remove the ham bone and blend the soup with an electric mixer until kinda smooth. Trim the ham bone and add the chopped ham to the soup. Add the dry powder from the mix a little at a time to taste. (I used the whole thing.)

It was awesome on day one and even better on day two. Thanks Wendy (and Walter?)