Smore cups- 3rd time is the charm!

On Christmas, I made smores bites from a recipe I found on pinterest. I was a bit distracted by drinks and ping pong, so I left the dough out overnight. They tasted great (they were gone before my family arrived) but were very crumbly, as seen here:


Yummy, crumbly smores

Tonight I figured that I would make the smores again for New Years, but actually share them this time. In my wisdom, I decided to add a bit more butter to the base to see if they stuck better. Let's just say, I should not vary from a recipe. Click here to see the original recipe. Here's what happened:

You need 1 cup of graham cracker crust. Instead of crumbling my own, I bought this premade:



You then should mix 6 tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup powdered sugar with the 1 cup of crumbs.


Mmmmmm.... butter

This is when I decided to use 8 tablespoons of butter instead. You then put the mix in a mini-muffin pan (about 1 tablespoon-ish each)



Then, you bake the mix for approximately 4 minutes at 350 degrees.

Immediately, the kitchen smelled like Auntie Anne's pretzels. While I enjoy buttery caked goodness, I was a bit thrown off since I was not at a mall, nor was I baking pretzels. I decided to check on the shell base and here is what I saw:



Buttered filled shells! Yuck! I basically created butter bowls, as you can see from the butter in the center. I attempted to salvage them through draining, but this is what happened instead:


Bye-bye original batch

I then had the pleasure of a 2nd trip to the grocery store on this lovely New Years eve to buy my crumbs (I bought double supplies on this trip, just in case!)

So, here is take 3.

I followed the recipe:

Ingredients- 1 cup of crumb mix, 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, 12 marshmallows, 6 tbsp butter, several chocolate bars (makes about 24 cups)

Step 1: Add in 1 cup of crumb mix, 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, 6 tablespoons of melted butter (no more!)


Step 2: Mix this and then press into a mini-muffin pan to form a shell:


Step 3: Bake the shells for approximately 4 minutes at 350 degrees. (I slightly overbaked them)


Step 4: Pull out the shells and add a piece of chocolate in the middle of each:



Side note: I would recommend the smaller size hershey bars. I bought some small and some big and here is the size difference between the two:



Step 5: Cut a marshmallow in half with wetted scissors (yes, actually wet them) and put the half, sticky side down on top of the chocolate (Note: I tried full marshmallows in a few, that was not successful).


Step 6: Put the pan into the oven for approximately 1-2 minutes, or until the marshmallows are soft.

Step 7: Let them cool for 15 minutes.

Step 8: Carefully remove them from the pan (I used a spoon to help)

Step 9: Melt chocolate bars in a bowl (I microwaved for 1 minute) and then drizzle the chocolate on top (you can dip it, but this was harder and things were falling apart)



Step 10: I put them in the fridge for a few minutes to solidify. This helped prior to serving.


Actual picture!

Viola!!! 3rd times the charm!

Happy New Years.

Carmel apple cookies--> Success!

In my baking frenzy on Christmas Eve, I tried out a recipe for Carmel Apple Cookies from pinterest from this site.

I love carmel and apple and cookies, so I figured what the heck!? I can say that these weren't as popular as the monster cookies. That may have also been because when people jokingly asked if there was apple in the cookie, I replied "no." That may have thrown things off.

Here is the recipe from the website above (and the picture on the right is from the website):

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix -not sugar free- all 10 packets (I found this in my grocery store near the hot chocolate mixes.)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups all purpose flour

1 bag Kraft Caramels (14 oz)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. (You really need the parchment!)
• In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.
• With your mixer (or an energetic spoon) cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy.
• Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well.
• Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined.
• Refrigerate for about an hour. (If you're really impatient you don't have to do this, but it makes it so much easier to work with.)
• When you are ready to bake, unwrap your caramels.
• Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut.
  
• Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart.
• Bake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. Please don't over-bake! Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.) If you forget about them and they cool too much and stick to your parchment, put them into the freezer for a few minutes and they'll pop right off.
• Yield: about 4 dozen, depending on how large you make your cookies (or how many caramels have been snitched out of your bag before you begin.) Store in an airtight container.

I pretty much followed the recipe above. Here is what I learned:

1) Putting the dough in the fridge really did help. Don't be too impatient :-)

2) As someone who hates nuts (just add that to the list), I had no clue the size of a walnut. I can tell you, it is smaller than what I estimated. As a result, the caramel to cookie ratio was a bit low.
Here is the size of a walnut (BTW, just put in walnut size to google images and see what lovely things come up)-------------------------->

Well, that just shows you a walnut. My investigation resulted in learning that "the size of a walnut" was common in cooking in the "olden days" and is about a tablespoon.

3) These cookies stuck to parchment paper. Definitely use parchment paper. My husband had to take a knife to get them off of it without the middle coming off (he slide a butcher knife under it). So don't ignore the step telling you to flip them over

4) I did use the exact brand of apple cider and caramel they recommended. I'm sure you can spice it up a bit :-)

Here they are (actual picture!):



With the exception of my 6 year old cousin, most people seemed to enjoy them!

Enjoy!

Jalapeno popper dip---> success!!!

Now, who doesn't like Jalapeno Poppers! Well, this girl doesn't. But, I have found a soft spot in my heart for this lovely jalapeno popper dip
(actual half-eaten dip--------------------------------------->)

Here is a recipe that was shared from my friend:

2 - 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 cup real mayo
4 oz. can green chillies
4 oz. jalapenos, drained and chopped
1/2 c. parmesan cheese

Soften cream cheese and stir everything together except the parmesan cheese. Put in baking dish. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes ou until bubbly. Serve with tostitos or crackers. Enjoy!!

I made a few adaptations, because I just have such awesome cooking skills that I can do that.

Here is what I use:

2 - 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese- FAT FREE
1 cup real mayo- FAT FREE
2- 4 oz. can green chillies
a bunch of jalapenos (jarred) (aren't I specific). I also add a bit of the jalapeno juice in
covered with parmesan cheese (who needs to measure cheese?!)

I can tell you that you don't notice the difference in the fat free-ness with the jalapeno. Plus, did you know that 1 oz of cream cheese has 10g of fat...so 16 oz= 160 g of fat! 1 cup of Mayo has 80 grams of fat! So, fat free saves you about 240 grams of fat in this dip.

Your arteries can send me thank you letters directly.

Monster Cookies

Throw away that Cookie Crisp! Make room for some Monster Cookies. They do have oatmeal in them, so they make a perfect breakfast food, right?

The first time I heard of a Monster Cookie was at Panes. If you are in Chicago and haven't yet been to Panes you are missing out (3002 N Sheffield, Chicago, check it out.... the best sandwiches/ salads/cookies/food, etc).

This Christmas, I decided to make cookies from scratch. (Yes, you may laugh). I went on pinterest (more on that later) and found this recipe for Monster Cookies (click here)

Since I am not creative at all, I pretty much used this recipe, but made a few changes as written below. I also made 2 batches (doubled this), which resulted in maybe 5 dozen-ish.

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup butter
3 eggs (I use egg beaters)
1 ½ cups peanut butter (I used low fat Skippy...because when you are making fattening cookies, low fat helps, right?)
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
4 cups oatmeal (the original recipe called for 4.5 cups, but 9 cups in a double batch was a lot!)
M&Ms (original recipe calls for 1 cup...why limit the best ingredient? I dumped in about a bag and a half)
chocolate chips (same as the M & Ms. I use milk chocolate)

Step 1: Mix them all in a bowl. You can slowly add ingredients, but why not just thrown them all in?

Step 2: Scoop mounds onto an ungreased cookie sheet. I actually bought this Reynolds wrap half foil, half parchment paper to protect the sheet (I mean, who wants to clean!):


Step 3: Cook them for about 15 minutes (may require more like 17) at 350.

Viola! Super awesome cookies!! This is my actual picture:

Smoothies

For the first "recipe" of this morning (remember blending=cooking in my book), here is a quick smoothie recipe.

Ingredients: fruit (I use bananas and frozen mixed berries and/or frozen mango), fat free vanilla yogurt, soy milk, OJ (optional). I also add chia seeds, flax seeds, and protein powder (optional).

Step 1: Get your blender ready!

Step 2: Add in about a cup of yogurt, just a bit of OJ (if you want...maybe like 4 oz), soy milk (about a cup), banana, frozen fruit (I use frozen berries from Hy-vee, sometimes frozen mango...there are a lot to choose from).



Step 3: Add in the chia seeds, flax seeds, and protein powder, if you want. Here is what I use:



You can get flax seeds and chia seeds at Hy-Vee in the health food area. I get this bag from Whole Foods (it's cheaper) and also get this powder from Whole Foods (although I bet you can get it at Hy-Vee.

Before we move on, you may ask, chia seeds? Like a chia pet?



Or the famous chia hair:


Yes, that's what I mean. Chia seeds are a "super food" (and pizza is a vegetable so take that as you may). Seriously, you can read about chia seeds here: chia seeds

Step 4: Blend and viola


Smoothie!!

Stuffed shells--> Depends on who you ask

I have also been asked for a recipe for stuffed shells recently, so that is the second recipe I'll be sharing. Hold onto your hats, ladies and gentlemen. This one is intense ;-) (Again, this probably is off of a box somewhere. I claim no creative genius on any recipe on here...ever!)

Ingredients: jumbo shells, fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella, mushrooms, garlic, artichoke hearts (or whatever else you want to stuff shells with), spaghetti sauce

Step 1: Boil stuffed shells in well, boiling water ;-) I like the ones pictured here:

Step 2: As the shells are boiling if you are quick (otherwise, maybe you should do this ahead), finely chop the garlic, mushrooms (I like portebella), and artichoke hearts. Theoretically, you can put in anything you want now..... like other veggies, onions, probably even meat, etc, but I'm sticking to my ingredients for now.

(Side note- I HATE peeling garlic...it takes forever, it flies across the room like it is from the movie the Exorcist, etc. So, I like to make my husband mad by spending $$ on pre-peeled garlic, like the one you see below...seriously)



Step 3: Saute the mushrooms, garlic, and artichoke hearts (or whatever else you choose) in olive oil (saute= put it on med/low on the stove in a non-stick flat pan with olive oil....or at least that's what I think saute equals). The more sauted they are, the better the shells are.

Step 4: DON'T FORGET THE SHELLS! When they are almost totally edible, drain them and set aside.

Step 5: Cut up fresh mozzarella. You can also use ricoatta cheese instead, which I hate (and therefore, don't use). I recently discovered that many people have NEVER had fresh mozzarella, which is a travesty. This is in the "nice cheese" section of most grocery stores. I get this kind at Hy-Vee:


Step 6: Put the sauted whatever you decide to use in a bowl with the cut up cheese. Mix it together.

Step 7: In a baking dish, pour spaghetti sauce on the bottom so it is covered. After moving out of Chicago and leaving my little grocery on Newgard that had the best bottled sauce ever, I have now found this at Hy-Vee (Sorrisos). Making my own sauce is way too advanced. This isn't watery and has good flavor (there are different kinds)





Step 8: Stuff the shells with the veggie/cheese combo. Put each shell in the baking dish (this usually results in a bad stuffing/shells ratio that results in some waste...)

Step 9: Coat the top of the shells with more sauce and shredded mozzarella.

Step 10: Bake it (covered) in the oven at 400 for about 20 minutes... keep an eye on it. Everything is cooked, so once the sauce is hot and the cheese is melted, you are good to go.

Viola!!! (I promise to take a pic next time)

Pulled BBQ chicken--> Success!

First, I can tell you that there is NO way that my pulled BBQ chicken would look like this and I promise to share my own pics whenever I can. That being said, 2 people have asked me for my ever-so-famous BBQ pulled chicken recipe today (that I got off the internet somewhere and some point in time- feel free to comment with citations), so I figured this was a good starting place.

Here is what you do:

Step 1: Get a crockpot! (WOO HOO for crock pots! The lazy person's cooking tool).

Step 2: Get a whole bunch of chicken breasts. I use frozen (they are cheaper and good to keep around when possible...to eat, not just for decoration or something creepy like that).

Step 3: Put the chicken breasts in the crockpot. I like to shove as many in there as possible. I mean, why take the time if you can't make a lot!

Step 4: Fill the crockpot with water so the chicken is totally covered (this is generally the time when I realize that my chicken to water ratio has gone awry and I need to remove some chicken or add some water without overflowing things)

Step 5: Add whatever else you want that you think will flavor the chicken well. Since I have no ability to determine what flavor is what, I generally just chop an onion (in large pieces... it just gets thrown out later...although I'm sure you could chop it finely and leave it in if you wanted to be super fancy) and add in crushed red pepper

Step 6: Turn the crockpot on low for about 6 hours

Step 7: Come back 6 hours later and pull out the chicken. Discard everything else. Let the chicken cool as to not burn your hands.

Step 8: Pull the chicken (like pull into little pieces) throwing away any fat.

Step 9: Put the pulled chicken back in the crockpot

Step 10: Add however much BBQ sauce you like... I generally add it until the chicken is totally covered and then there is just a bit more. Add just a tiny bit of water (I generally add a bit of water to the almost empty BBQ sauce bottle and use that)

Step 11: Cook for about 4 more hours on low.

Viola! BBQ pulled chicken!

Now....for a special surprise....

You can also make pulled buffalo chicken.

All you need to do is go back to Step 10. Instead of BBQ sauce, add buffalo sauce. I just add a LOT of Frank's Red Hot sauce, but that depends on how hot you like it.

O-so-creative serving tips:

Eat it on a bun for a sandwich
Roll it into a wrap (add pepperjack cheese/whatever else you'd like in a flour tortilla)
Save some of the pulled chicken to make something way to0 advanced for me, like enchiladas

Last tip- I prefer Famous Daves BBQ sauce. Yes, I know Sweet Baby Rays is often the favorite, but give me some Rich and Sassy for cooking and then Devil's Spit to add on later for the spice...mmmmmm (you can check them out by clicking here SAUCE)

Bon appetit! (BTW, I'm sure you could do this with pork, or some other meat, but as a poultry-itarian, I haven't tried that)

What the heck is this blog?

As the blog title says, I hate cooking. And we're not talking just "uh, I'm tired" and I don't want to cook, We're talking "I'd rather eat peanut butter on saltines for dinner" than have to cook.

First, I should say, I am lucky. I have a husband who cooks. Not only does he cook, but he cooks well, like really well. We're talking win a cooking award well (albeit, a cooking award given by the downtown area of my very small town, but that's beside the point).

Secondly, I should say, I am very unlucky. We are gut rehabbing a house from 1886 that is a money pit a la Tom Hanks and Shelly Long (read about that here: This Old Hampshire House). So, my built in chef/husband turned contractor is very busy.

Now everyone, put away your tissues and the letter you are writing to Dr. Phil (or Rachel Ray) about my plight. OCCASIONALLY, I will take a stab it cooking. Generally, the stab at cooking ends up with turkey burgers spilled on the ground being eating by my dogs or just general nasty-ness, but occasionally things work out. Yes, you read this right. Try to contain your excitement. Occasionally I cook and occasionally the attempts are successful.

One more caveat before we start. I don't cook meat. SOMETIMES, I will cook chicken, but I will really only eat poultry and will barely cook those two. I think I'm just making a karmic offset for my Hindu husband who will eat/cook anything.... (that's how it works, right?).

So, why the heck and I doing this, you may ask? When the food that I occasionally cook occasionally turns out well, the odds are kind of like hitting the lottery. I figure I should share that wealth. In other words, if I can do it, any slightly competent person can do it. I am also very lazy when it comes to cooking (I mean, who really wants to peel garlic) and am always looking for ways to make it easier.

You want lazy, easy, fool proof tips that will occasionally be posted? I thought so!! Read on ;-)