Creamy Surprise Cookies!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter

Cooking Instructions:

In a small bowl...blend flour, cocoa and baking soda. Mix until blended!

In a large bowl...beat white and brown sugar, butter and 1/4 cup of peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg, beat. Stir in flour mixture until blended. Set aside!

To make filling:

Combine powdered sugar and 3/4 cup of peanut butter. Blend well!

Roll filling into 30-1 inch balls.

For each cookie, with cloured hands, shape about 1 tablespoon of dough around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely.

Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. (I used parchment paper!) Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar!
Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes. When cookies are done, they should be set and slightly cracked!

Enjoy the peanut buttery goodness!!!

Green Chile and Chicken Tamales!

The best things I ever put in my mouth! Well, as far as tamales go! I am NOT going to attempt to re-create it though. Tooo much work! Antoinette got them from her husband's job! Holy Moly are they good!

Sorry, I haven't posted in a while! I haven't been in the cooking experimenting mood!

Apple Slice Cookies!

Fun for the beginning of school. I'm making these for the teachers...toooo cute!!

INGREDIENTS
1 little jar of red decorator sugar
1 roll Pillsbury Create 'n Bake refrigerated sugar cookies 2 tablespoons miniature semisweet chocolate chips
Black string licorice, cut into 1-inch pieces

Heat oven to 350°F. Cut 17x12-inch piece of plastic wrap; place on work surface. Sprinkle red sugar evenly over plastic wrap. Roll cookie dough in sugar to coat. Wrap in plastic wrap; freeze 30 minutes.

Remove half of dough from wrapper; freeze remaining dough until needed. Cut dough into 1/4-inch slices. On ungreased cookie sheets, place slices 2 inches apart. Place 3 chocolate chips in center of each slice to resemble seeds. To form slice shape, make 2 indentations on 2 opposite sides with fingers. Repeat with remaining half of dough.

Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until unsugared edges are light golden brown. Insert 1 licorice piece on top of each cookie to resemble stem. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Baked Cavatelli!

I have been on a pasta kick lately. I dunno, don't ask...

This is like a grown-up version of my favorite PASTA BAKE that we make at school.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. mild Italian sausage
1 lb. dry Cavatelli
2 tablespoon onion powder or minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 tsp black pepper


1. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.


2. In a large skillet, cook the sausage, onion powder/minced and garlic until sausage is brown. Drain and remove from the skillet.


3. In a large bowl, mix the spaghetti sauce, 1 cup mozzarella and pepper. Add the cooked sausage and pasta to the mixture. Mix gently.


4. Spoon mixture into a casserole dish. Bake, covered in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes or until nearly heated through. Then, sprinkle the remaining mozzarella over the top of the entire casserole dish. Bake about 5 minutes more, or until the cheese is melted.

Fettuccine Alfredo!

Who is Alfredo anyway?

This week, I am going to perfect my Fettuccine Alfredo. Here is my original recipe. It may need tweeking...we shall see! Beth is going to be my official taste tester. I'll be sure to report back.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup half and half
1 tablespoon butter
6 oz. dried fettuccine
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
black pepper

1. Let your butter and half and half sit out for a half an hour.

2. Meanwhile, cook the fettuccine according to the package directions. Drain.

3. In a saucepan, over medium heat; mix half and half, butter and cheese. Stir gently until all are mixed well. Add pepper to taste.

4. Pour the sauce over the cooked fettuccine. I add some steamed broccoli and chicken breast chunks to make it a wee bit more hearty.

This recipe makes enough for 4 folks.

****UPDATE...The alfredo was super tasty. Just the consistency was a lil' bumpy. Does anyone know why this would happen?

Blog Action Day 2008!

Even though this blog is fairly new, I thought it would be cool to participate in the Blog Action Day 2008. Please go and register your blog! The more participants the better! We will all blog on October 15th...

Simple Breakfast Burrito!

This is not really a recipe that I NEED to share, but I just made it on a whim and it was SUPER tasty. I love having breakfast for dinner. And not too mention, just taking what I have and making a meal, impromptu style.

3 eggs
4 pcs. bacon
1 burrito sized flour tortilla
sharp cheddar cheese, to your liking
seasoning salt
salt and pepper
chipotle salsa

Chop up the bacon into bite sized pieces. Cook over medium heat until toasty and brown. Drain on a paper towel.

Scramble the eggs. Add seasoning salt, salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and set aside.

On a large skillet, warm up the tortilla. Sprinkle the chease on the tortilla to get it nice and melty. Add the scrambled eggs, another layer of cheese, then bacon crumbles. I covered with a large lid so that all the cheese could melt. Take tortilla off of the heat. Before you fold into a burrito, add salsa to taste!

Locally World Famous Mac n' Cheese!

This ain't your momma's Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I've tried several recipes to find an authentic one that even black folks love. I put a few different things together to make this one my own! I was conflicted as to whether or not I was going to share this one, but here it is...

1 lb. large elbow macaroni
1/2 lb. sharp cheddar, cubed
1/2 lb. colby, cubed
1/2 lb. monterrey, cubed
1/2 lb. Velveeta, cubed
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1-5 oz. can evaporated milk
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees!

Boil macaroni. While it's boiling, mix; cheeses, evaporated milk, butter, salt and pepper in a large microwave safe bowl. Place in the microwave on high for 2 minutes. Take out and stir. Put back in the microwave for another minute, take out and stir. Continue this step until all of the ingredients are mixed well. Mixture will be thick and look a lil' rubbery. When you take it out, stir in the sour cream.

Drain the macaroni. Place in a rectangle casserole dish or disposable foil pan. The foil pan is much easier to work with, no clean up. :) Pour the cheese mixture over the macaroni. Make sure to stir and coat all the macaroni. Cover the top with your favorite shredded cheese. I always use the 2 cheese blend of monterrey and cheddar. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until the cheese on top turns golden brown at some spots.

Southwest Chicken Quesadillas!

Ok, so originally stole this recipe from Helen. However, I put my own spin on it!

Ingredients for Chicken Filling...
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp oregano
2 bay leaves
3 cups chicken broth
3 tsp onion powder
2 jalapeno peppers, halved
2 cloves garlic, halved

Put all the above ingredients (except the chicken) into a pot and bring to boil. Then, add the chicken, reduce heat to medium, and cook for 20-30 minutes. Be sure to occasionally turn the chicken if it is not completely submerged in the liquid.


While that is cooking...

Ingredients for Southwest Sauce
1 cup roasted chipotle salsa
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chipotle tabasco sauce
2 tsp chili powder

Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl and set to the side.

By now, the chicken should be done. Remove chicken from the liquid and place in a shallow casserole dish. When it is cool enough, use 2 forks or your fingers (I opted for my fingers) to shred the chicken into bite sized pieces. When all the chicken in shredded, gradually pour the Southwest Sauce over the top of the chicken. Be sure to coat all the chicken.


Warm up a large skillet. Coat the skillet with a dab of butter. Place a burrito-sized flour tortilla in the skillet. On one half of the tortilla, place some of the chicken mixture. Coat with your favorite cheese! I used the Mexican Blend. Next, fold the tortilla in half and flatten with a spatula. After a few minutes, flip it! Few minutes more? Your done! Chop it up and eat with your favorite chips and salsa AND cerveza!

a fresh start...

Hi blogworld...I'm so addicted to blogging that I want to dedicate a whole blog to my cooking and experimenting. I often blog of the cooking on my personal blog. Now I can share it all here...stay tuned!