Cappuccino Coolers

Here's a good drink recipe for those of you looking for a sweet pick-me-up treat for yourself. (My kids would probably have no problem enjoying this either--if I let them!) It is from an Allrecipes cookbook that I have.

(This yields 2-3 servings, so plan accordingly)
1.5 cups cold coffee
1.5 cups chocolate ice cream
1/4 c. chocolate syrup
crushed ice
whipped cream
chocolate shavings

1. In a blender, combine coffee, ice cream and chocolate syrup. Blend until smooth. Pour over crushed ice into glasses (I threw the ice in the blender, too). Garnish each serving with a dollap of whipped cream and chocolate shavings, find a quiet closet to hide in and ENJOY!

Burnt Offerings

I was lucky enough to be able to go out the other night for supper club. This month's theme was 5 ingredient recipes. I was in charge of the main dish. Let's just say that I had a crazy day of running kids and errands, etc. When I came back from picking up the babysitter my smoke alarms were ringing, and my entree was burned. I was really frustrated. However, I was able to salvage the vegies and chicken (the burnt sauce I am still scrubbing from the bottom of my pans!) and the night ended successfully, as usual.

Here's the recipe for Maple Roasted Chicken-Thighs with Sweet Potatoes from Good Housekeeping.com (and yes, this is one that I would make again for my family). I doubled the recipe and cooked it in 2 pans.

4 large skinless chicken thighs with bones
2 small (about 1 lb. total) sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 small onion cut into 1-inch pieces
8 oz. baby carrots or 8 oz. parsnips cut into 1-inch chunks
1/4 c. maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. In 15.5 x 10.5 inch jelly roll pan or large shallow roasting pan, combine chicken, sweet potatoes, onion, carrots, maple syrup, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Toss to coat.
3. Roast chicken mixture for 40-45 minutes or until juices run clear when thickest part of thigh is pierced with tip of knife and liquid in pan thickens slightly. Stir vegies once and turn chicken over halfway through roasting.

Jo-Jo's Strawberry Poppy-Seed Salad

I made the salad that sis JoLynn had on her blog about a month ago for a shower last night. It was just as she said it was going to be--really yummy. Here's the recipe:

Dressing:
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. red wine vinegar
2T. lemon juice
2 T. onion
1/2 t. salt

I mixed these first ingredients in my blender, then added 2/3 c. veg. oil and 2 t. poppy seeds (also in the blender).

For the salad I had lettuce (she used romaine, I used green leaf), fresh strawberries, cucumber, green onion, and cashews. She added pear and craisins to her salad, but I didn't have these. The dressing makes the salad, so the toppings can be almost whatever you like. The Wally-Worlds had good strawberries this week on sale. Enjoy.

Gertie's Granola

Kali came home with this recipe from school. They make their snack on Fridays. She was bugging me to make it, because it was sooooo good. I just happened to have all of the ingredients, and it was soooo good. So, I thought that I would share the recipe.

Gertie's Granola (G was her letter of the week!)
2 c. old-fashioned oats
1/4 c. wheat germ
2 T. dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. extra ingredients (i.e. chopped nuts, coconut, raisins, seeds, dried fruit, mini choc. chips)
1/4 c. maple syrup
3 T. veg. or canola oil
1 T. water
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 275 degrees. Coat a 9x13 metal pan with cooking spray. Mix the oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, salt, and extra ingredients (except for the dried fruit and choc. chips). Bring syrup, oil, cinnamon and water to a summer in a saucepan over low heat. Drizzle over oat mixture and stir to combine. Pour mixture into pan. Working a handful at a time, squeeze cereal to form small clumps. Bake for 30 min. Stir in dried fruit. Continue to bake another 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool. Add choc. chips if desired. May be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Christmas Comfort

Yahoo, the Christmas cards just arrived. I was getting kind of nervous, because it had been almost two weeks since I ordered them. (I thought that I was going to be early this year! haha...) We finally put a tree up also. We usually get a real tree, but this year we changed things up and bought a fake one.




(Beware, I am still a really junky picture taker)


Last night I also made these....

You know that I love chocolate. These are a chocolate take on the ordinary peanut butter kiss cookie. My husband had me make them so he could take them to work. Here's the recipe:


Brownie Kiss Cookies
1 (13x9 size) Box brownie mix that comes with a packet of Hershey syrup with it
66 Hershey Caramel kisses
1/4 c. cocoa
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbsp. water
1 c. ground pecans
2 tsp. milk

Lightly grease cookie sheets. Mix together until well blended the brownie mix, syrup packet, cocoa, eggs, oil and water. Refrigerate for 1 hour (dough will be sticky). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 48 (1 inch) balls. Roll in pecans (I only rolled the bottoms in pecans and the recipe said that they are optional, but they did help with the stickiness.) Gently press thumb in center. Bake 9 - 11 minutes. Cool completely. In microwavable bowl, combine 18 caramel kisses and milk. Microwave for 30 seconds, and then 1o second intervals until melted. Put 1/4 tsp. of melted chocolate on each cookie and then press a whole caramel kiss on top.


I have a few admissions to make. I didn't have the brownie mix with the hershey syrup. I ended up adding some chocolate syrup that I had in the frig. I also added a little more oil and water (since I didn't have the correct brownie mix). My husband wasn't able to find the caramel kisses, but he did find some super yummy mint filled dark chocolate kisses that I used instead. So if you are a rebel like me and want to make these cookies on a blizzardy night and don't have the right ingredients...it can be done! Happy Tuesday to all and to all a good chocolate cookie recipe!

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon-Mustard Dressing

The dressing smelled REALLY strong (vinegar) when I was making it, but I think that it tasted pretty good in the end.

Here's the recipe

1 (10 oz.) bag spinach leaves
4 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
4 strips crisp bacon, crumbled
10 oz. shredded Swiss ( I used smoked gouda--very good)
1/2 c. toasted sliced almonds (I used toasted pecans)

1 T. olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/3 c. white wine vinegar
1/3 c. Dijon mustard
1/3 c. honey
2 strips crisp bacon, crumbled
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil in small skillet over medium heat. Stir in shallots and garlic, and cook until softened and translucent. Whisk in vinegar, mustard, honey, and 2 strips of crumbled bacon. Season with salt and pepper, then cook until hot.
2. Enjoy!

Tilapia Baked in Couscous

So here's the recipe that I promised.....

10 oz. couscous
1/2 c. slivered almonds
1/4 c. sun dried tomatoes (I just used a couple of fresh roma tom.)
1 T. cumin
salt & pepper
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 lemon sliced thinly
4 (8oz.) tilapia fillets (I used 8 (4oz.) fillets from the frozen section)
2 1/2 c. water
3 T. flat leaf parsley chopped
Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Combine couscous, almonds, tomatoes, and cumin. Season this with salt and pepper.
3. Stir in 1/4 c. olive oil and lemon juice
4. Drizzle 1 T. olive oil over bottom of 9x13 pan. Arrange fillets in single layer. Season well with salt & pepper. Drizzle 1 T. oil over the top of them.
5. Cover fish with the couscous mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and put lemon slices on top. (I would say the lemon slices weren't really necessary)
6. Pour water around fish, cover with foil and bake for about 25 minutes
7. Top with chopped parsley (I didn't have this either--still was good)