Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Today's recipe was inspired by one over at Cooking Classy. It had been awhile since I made oatmeal cookies, and that recipe looked so good. Mine are adapted some and got the family seal of approval.

Iced Oatmeal Cookies
2 c. quick-cooking oats
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup Butter Flavor Crisco
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla

Icing
2 c. powdered sugar
3 T. milk
1/2 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients together, including oats, and whisk to combine. Set aside. In mixer bowl, whip butter, shortening and sugars together until fluffy--about 4 minutes. (Don't skimp on the whipping time!) Add eggs and beat well. Stir in vanilla. With mixer on low, stir in dry ingredients and mix til just combined. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for about 11-12 minutes, or until just turning golden around the edges. Remove to a wire rack and spread with a light coat of icing. Icing will set as it cools. 
        

Up to no good {Or too much, depending on how you look at it}

 

Hey everyone. Hope you had a great Mother's Day!

I have 4 weeks with Nicole (who is home for the summer) before my other kids get out of school, so we are up to no good--or too much. Making Oreo Peanut Butter is my case in point.

The original comes from Crazy for Crust. As soon as I saw it, I knew we had to make it. Nicole very readily agreed with me. :) It's about as simple as can be:

1 1/2 c. honey roasted peanuts
10 Oreo cookies

Blend in a food processor or blender (up to 4 minutes) until smooth and peanut buttery. The End.

Well, not quite.

I used cocktail peanuts as I don't really like honey roasted all that much. I don't have a big food processor, so we started out in the blender. Fail. We transferred everything in batches to my mini food processor and got the peanuts and Oreos all finely chopped, then we went back to the blender with the milkshake attachment. Success! It took about 3 minutes in the blender to reach a thick, crunchy peanut butter-like consistency. Crunchy peanut butter is my fave, so I'm good with that. It's really yummy on graham crackers.

Happy Mother's Day: To Every Mother

I saw this video last night at the end of our local 10 o'clock news, and I thought it was wonderful. It's a non-denominational message for mothers everywhere.

Quick & Easy Orange Chili Beef

I wasn't lying when I said I'm on a new recipe kick.....yep, got another one for you!

This one comes by way of Our Best Bites. I adapted it some and doubled it so it would feed 7 of us. It was really easy to put together. The hardest part was thinly slicing all the beef, but if it's partially frozen, it's not that hard to do. Next time I make this, I will have some extra bottled orange juice around so that if I don't get quite enough from fresh oranges, I'm still covered. I didn't have quite enough this time, but close.

If you enjoy Chinese food, you'll enjoy this recipe. Make it soon.

Quick & Easy Orange Chili Beef
the zest of two oranges
1 c. fresh orange juice (at least 4 oranges)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1/4 c. soy sauce
4 t. Asian Chili Garlic sauce
1 1/2 t. ground ginger (or 4 t. grated fresh ginger)
4 t. cornstarch
oil for the pan
3 lbs. Chuck Tender steak, sliced thinly across the grain
3 green onions, sliced
hot cooked rice

In a medium bowl, whisk together the zest, juice, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, Chili Garlic sauce and cornstarch; set aside. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Use enough oil to coat the pan. Add the beef and cook until brown. Whisk orange chili sauce to recombine and pour into hot skillet with the beef. Cook until thickened, approximately 3 minutes. Add green onions and cook 2 minutes more to soften. Serve over hot rice with a side of broccoli florets.

Pinterest Success: Broccoli Cheese Rice Casserole {a yummy side dish!}

I'm still on a new recipe kick lately. Chalk this one up to another Pinterest success.

It comes originally from Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice,  and is adapted a little by me. I served it with the grilled Pesto chicken found here and the whole meal was a huge hit. I made the casserole with white rice, although if I'd had brown rice upstairs I would've used that. (I tore my meniscus and didn't feel like going down and back up the stairs to get the brown rice, but next time. Next time!)

Broccoli Cheese Rice Casserole
4 T. butter
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
2 c. milk
1 T. spicy brown mustard
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 c. cooked broccoli florets
3 c. cooked rice, either white or brown
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 8x11 casserole dish with nonstick spray. Melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet, and add minced garlic. Cook about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Whisk in flour, salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes while stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in milk and mustard. Cook until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Stir in 1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese and parmesan until they melt. Add rice and cooked broccoli and stir well. Pour mixture into casserole dish and top with 1/2 c. cheddar cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until browned and bubbly.

Baby Puff Pancakes

 

These may just be the cutest things you ever eat. :)

Puff pancakes, German pancakes, etc....whatever you call them, they are yummy. These are made in a muffin tin, but if you like you can cook the batter in a 9-inch glass pie plate instead. Just cut into wedges to serve.

Baby Puff Pancakes
2/3 c. flour
3/4 c. milk
2 large eggs
1/8 t. salt
1 T. sugar
1 t. vanilla
zest of half a lemon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place a 12-cup muffin tin in the oven to heat up. (Don't spray it first!) Put all batter ingredients in your blender and blend on high for 2-3 minutes til light and well-mixed. Remove hot muffin tin from the oven and either spray with nonstick spray or put a little butter in each one to melt. Pour batter equally into the cups. They should be about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until browned and puffed. Remove from tin at once and put them on a wire rack so they don't get soggy. Great with jam, syrup or powdered sugar....or all of the above. :) Enjoy!!
   
 

{I like it better than Cafe Rio} Slow Cooker Sweet Pork

 

Today I have another delicious recipe for you. This week I haven't cooked anything but new recipes, and this was one of them. If you like Cafe Rio pork, you'll like this. And if you don't like Cafe Rio pork, you will still love this recipe. {I do not really like the Cafe Rio pork, because it's too sweet for my taste, but I LOVE this}. Give it a try. You can't beat another slow cooker easy recipe.

Slow Cooker Sweet Pork
adapted from The Sisters Dish

3-4 pound pork loin roast
2 liter bottle Coke
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. water
garlic salt
20 oz. can mild red enchilada sauce
4 oz. can chopped green chilies
2 T. brown sugar

At least two hours before cooking (or even overnight) put the pork loin roast in a large ziploc bag. Mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar, and about 2-3 cups of the Coke. Pour over the roast and let it marinate.

After marinading, pour off the liquid and put the pork into your slow cooker. Sprinkle it liberally with garlic salt. Add 1/3 cup water and 2/3 cup Coke. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Remove roast from slow cooker and drain off the liquid. Using two forks, shred the pork. Put shredded pork back into the slow cooker and stir in 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, the green chilies, and most of the can of enchilada sauce. Stir in up to another 1/2  cup of Coke to make the pork the consistency you like. You don't want it too saucy. Continue to cook for another 1-2 hours on low. Serve in tortillas as pork tacos, or roll up into burritos, or make your own Cafe Rio sweet pork salad. Delicious!

Baked Chicken Chimichangas

Hey everyone!

Here's a delicious, easy-peasy dinner idea for you. The filling in these chimichangas is spicy without being too spicy, and melted butter on the tortillas makes them crispy and flaky. Delicious!!

Baked Chicken Chimichangas
3 10 oz. cans white meat chicken
1 15 oz. jar salsa--your favorite
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried cilantro
1/2 t. onion salt
1/2 t. garlic salt
1/2 t. dried oregano
1 1/2 c. shredded Colby Jack cheese
16 flour tortillas
4 T. butter, melted
1/2 c. shredded cheddar or Colby Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combined drained chicken, salsa and spices. Stir in shredded cheese. Warm the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds on high. Put a rounded 1/4 cup of chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla. Fold in opposite sides, and then roll up. Place folded sides down on a large greased baking sheet. Brush each chimi with melted butter.  Bake for 25 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese over top of chimichangas and bake for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve topped with sour cream and chopped avocado or guacamole.

The beauty of this recipe is its variability. Use cooked, shredded chicken breasts instead of canned chicken if you have time. Add black beans if you like. Try it with whole wheat tortillas. The possibilities are endless.

72 hour kits--circa 1957

When you help clean out your in-law's house, which they built in 1966 and spent the rest of their lives in, you never know what you might find lurking in dark corners.

Behold, the 1957 Perma-Pak Survival Kit.

All I really have to say is that the 1957 concept of  "perma" packing something was not what it is today. Not by a long shot. I'll let you just imagine how well the food stuffs were preserved in that thing...Not as bad as you might think, but kinda smelly.

It's interesting to see how times change, isn't it?

Do redheads (a.k.a gingers) have more fun??

This one definitely is.

Now, you can judge me if you want for coloring my kid's hair--that's okay--but here's the story. Mia, as I posted back here, played Ariel in her school's production of The Little Mermaid Jr. A red wig was brought in for her to wear, but according to her, it was "HIDEOUS!" The directors agreed with her. The idea was given to dye Mia's hair red using the wash-in, wash-out foam. Trouble is, the hair has to be soaked in conditioner first, and this would have to have been done before every performance.

I figured that would be a pain in the butt. So we used a semi-permanent hair color instead. (One that gradually washes out over 6 weeks or so). It's L'Oreal Healthy Look 6R Reddish Brown to be exact. And it turned out better than I imagined. She has had TONS of compliments.

Fast forward to the day after her Ariel gig ended. She had an audition for Fiddler on the Roof at the big community theater in our area, and of course, her hair was still red.

I turned in a BLONDE headshot. I wondered about the red hair in comparison to the headshot, but not for long. Because she scored a callback. This happened during the time Jeff's dad got really sick and went to the hospital. A few days later, he'd been put on hospice care, and we got a call that Mia was offered the role of Bielke, Tevye's youngest daughter!! This was such a huge bright spot in an otherwise very difficult week. It gave Jeff a lot of happiness and really brightened up his entire week--that can't be understated.

Monday night of this week, Mia had her first Fiddler cast meeting, where she was introduced with the oldest sister as "our two redheads!!" with great excitement by the director. I sat there and thought, "Uh oh." I told the director Mia is really blonde, and she was surprised. She said Mia is "an adorable redhead."

She was cast as a redhead, and blonde is a no-go. You know what they say about "look" being a big part of casting? It's true.

Of course, we are not giving up the role of Bielke--so the red is here to stay until Fiddler is over in July. Miss Mia is not unhappy about it, either.