Miniature cookies

Don't let the first picture fool you- in reality these cookies are about the size of my thumbnail, or a little larger! Bite sized goodness!

2 1/4 Cup all-purpose flour

2 Cup butter (softened)

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

3/4 Cup brown sugar (packed)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs (large)

1 Tablespoon milk

1 12 oz. package of miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In mixing bowl/ mixer, mix together butter, sugar, and brown sugar and milk on medium speed until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Slowly add the remaining mixture, making sure to mix well to avoid clumping. Lastly, add all chocolate chips.

Spoon the mixture into a large (gallon-size) ziplock bag. Cut a small hole out of onecorner of the bag (about the size that a 6-year-old's index finger will just perfectly fit through all the way up . . . don't ask).

Squirt the cookies in small sizes all over the cookie sheet (as you see here to the right), being careful not to put them too close together.

Bake for 7-8 minutes at 375, or until the cookies are just golden brown. I found times vary slightly depending on the type of cookie sheet used. Bake shorter if you want really chewy cookies, longer if you like them crunchy.

Makes about 200 perfect, bite-size chocolate chip cookies!

Strawberry Harvest Omelet

Tried to branch out and we did omelets this morning, with the following ingredients:

strawberries

apple

butternut squash

spinach

tomatoes

parmesan cheese

ham

crumbled cheddar

top with grated cheese, salsa, ketchup, or nothing, and enjoy! All the kids loved it- and so did we. They were gone very quickly- almost didn't get a picture because they were gone so fast!

chocolate mousse - healthified and yummy!

Tofu Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate bars, broken into pieces


• 12 oz silken tofu* at room temperature, drained


• 1/2 cup warmed skim milk or soy, rice or almond milk


• 1 tsp / 5 ml best-quality vanilla

*NOTE: You must use silken tofu for this recipe.

Preparation

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave. Make sure to let the chocolate melt slowly. Stir until chocolate is uniformly smooth.

In a food processor, combine tofu, melted chocolate, warmed milk and vanilla. Process until smooth. Place tofu mixture in fine-mesh strainer or sieve, pushing through with the back of a wooden spoon, into a medium decorative serving bowl. Serve from the bowl or ladle into individual serving bowls. Chill and serve.

**Make this recipe with white chocolate chips for a different spin on decadence.

Lemon White Chocolate Cake

We have a lot of cake leftover, but that is only because people stuffed themselves with donuts, crackers, and pizza all day. This cake is really good. I would suggest not layering it, but using a 9X13 pan, spreading the lemon curd (found in the jam section of your grocery store), and then spreading the frosting on top. It just seems like it would be easier than layering, which is not my speciality...

This recipe is from the cake doctor (check out the website since there are lots of yummy ideas!)

Preparation time: 10 Minutes
Baking time: 28 to 32 Minutes
Assembly time: 12 Minutes

When I offered my husband, John, a piece of this lemon cake after dinner one night, he said with a grin, This is incredible, but too bad you can’t use it in the chocolate book. Well, of course I can. Here it is-lemon, white chocolate (the unexpected secret ingredient), and all. This is just the delicious sort of cake to serve on birthdays and special occasions like christenings and showers. Lemon curd is sandwiched between white chocolate layers and all is covered with a lemon—flavored white chocolate frosting.

Cake

• Solid vegetable shortening for greasing the pans
• Flour for dusting the pans
• 6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (see below)
• 1/2 cup store-bought lemon curd (half of a 10-ounce jar)

Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 package (8 ounces)cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside.
2. Melt the white chocolate in a small glass bowl in the microwave oven on high power for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the oven and stir with a small rubber spatula until it is smooth.
3. Place the cake mix, water, oil, whole eggs, egg whites, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the slightly cooled white chocolate. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look well combined. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side.
4. Bake the cakes until they are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 28 to 32 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert each onto a rack, then invert again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Allow to cool completely, 30 minutes more.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows).
6. Place one cake layer, right side up, on a serving platter. Spread the top with the lemon curd. Place the second layer, right side up, on top of the first layer and frost the top and sides of the cake with frosting.
7. *** OR NOT LAYER...

Place this cake, uncovered or in a cake saver, in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes. Then store it, in a cake saver or under a glass dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in aluminum foil or in a cake saver, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Place the white chocolate in a small glass bowl in the microwave oven on high power for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the oven and stir with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula until it is smooth. Set the chocolate aside to cool.
2. Place the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and melted white chocolate, and blend on low speed until just combined, 30 seconds. Add the confectioners' sugar and blend on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 30 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the frosting is fluffy, 1 minute or more.
3. Use to frost the top and sides of the cake of your choice.

Chocolate cookie deluxe!

Make the recipe from the back of your chocolate chip bag.

Add a mini marshmallow to each cookie in the middle before baking.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler (or a metal bowl on top of small pot of water).

Dip cookies in chocolate half way.

Cool in fridge.

Eat!

French bread

This has been my family's favorite the past two weeks, even more so than the sabotage bread I usually make.

2 1/2 cups warm water

2 T sugar

2 T yeast

Let poof.

Add 3 cups flour, 1 T salt, 2 T oil and mix.

Add 3 more cups flour and mix.

Let it sit for 10 minutes.

Mix. (Or knead.) Let sit for 10 minutes.

Mix. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Mix. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Mix. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Put on floured surface and shape into 2 long french loaves.

Let rise for 35-40 minutes.

Cover with beaten egg and make 3 slashes in each loaf.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Try to let it cool before you cut it...

Devour.

Chicken and Rice Comfort soup

From Make it Fast, Cook it Slow

2 cups blended veggies (frozen or whatever is in your fridge)

1 cup cooked, diced chicken

8 cups chicken broth

1 cup raw brown rice

1 tsp seasoning of your choice

salt

pepper

Put this all together in your crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 3-4. YUM!