Todd's Homemade Oreos!

Ingredients:

2 pkg. German chocolate cake mix

1 1/2 C shortening

4 eggs 

Mix well, roll in balls the size of marbles, no larger. Bake at 335 degrees for 8-10 minutes. 

FROSTING: 

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

1/4 C. butter

1 tbsp. vanilla

3 C. powdered sugar

Mix with hand mixer until smooth.

Emily Roger's AMA-HAZING Pumkin Muffins

These bad boys are so easy and super good!

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 can of pumpkin (smaller can)
1-2 cups of white chocolate chips

Mix them all together, then cook muffin/cupcakes according to directions on the box plus 1 or 2 minutes. These are SO good!

Taco Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 - 3/4 of a bag of large noodle pasta like Ziti or Rigatoni
  
• 1lb of ground beef
• 1 pkg/envelope of taco seasoning or 1 1/2 Tbsp taco seasoning
  
• 1C water
• 1/2 pkg of cream cheese (about 4oz)
• 1 1/2C shredded cheese (I used marble/Colby)

1. Boil pasta, don't over cook it as you will be baking it later.
2. While pasta is cooking, brown ground beef.
3. When ground beef is cooked through add taco seasoning mixed with 1C water and let simmer.
4. When ground beef is ready add approx. half a pkg of cream cheese and stir until melted and mixed in.
5. When pasta is ready drain. 
6. In a casserole dish add cooked pasta, stir in some shredded cheese, the ground beef mixture, top with more cheese, and bake covered at 350 for about 30 minutes (the last few minutes you can take off cover so that the top browns).

Ranch Chicken Strips Recipe

Ingredients:

8 boneless skinless chicken breasts (sliced into strips)

1 cup Corn Flakes (crushed)

¾ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

½ teaspoon Garlic Powder

½ teaspoon black Pepper

1 (1 ounce) package Hidden Valley dry Ranch Dressing mix

1/2  cup Milk

1 Egg

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13×9 inch baking dish.  In a shallow dish combine crushed corn flakes, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, black pepper, and dry ranch dressing mix. In a small bowl beat together eggs and milk.

Step 2: Dip each chicken strip into the egg/milk mixture and then roll in the crushed corn flakes/ranch dressing mixture. Repeat until all chicken strips are well coated.

Step 3: Place onto a greased baking sheet and bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees). 

You can also deep fry these. If deep frying the time will be less.

Fluffy Cheesecake

1 package cream cheese

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 Graham Cracker Crust

Whip together, pour into graham cracker crust and chill 3 hours.

Top with your favorite cheesecake topping and enjoy!

yum!

No-Knead Wheat Rolls - Emily Roeth

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
1-1/4 cups warm water (110° to 115°)
1 tablespoon molasses
2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (optional)
2 tablespoons butter, softened

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the remaining ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes (dough will be sticky). Do not knead. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Spray muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Stir dough down. Divide dough into 12 pieces and place in muffin tin. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 8-12 minutes.
3. Bake at 350 or 375° (depending on how hot your oven gets) for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute before removing from pan to a wire rack. 

Yield: 1 dozen.

Get Up and Gogi

This is as close as the Mr. and I have gotten to our favorite smoothie, down at Tropical Smoothie, it isn't exact but it is pretty good, nevertheless.

3 C Ice
1 1/2 C Frozen peaches
1 1/2 Bananas (I freeze our bananas when I can tell they aren't going to get eaten, so we add frozen bananas)
1 1/2- 2 C Orange Juice not from concentrate
1/2 C Peach Yogurt
1 C Vanilla Yogurt
2 Tbsp Gogi berries soaking in 1/2 C water

Place it all in the blender and blend until you like the consistency. If it is a little thick I will add milk or water (depending on how closely I am watching the Cals) until I get the consistency I like.

Makes enough for me, lots for Todd and enough for the boys left over, no idea how many servings parse. 

 With the Gogi berries, if I have forgotten to soak them overnight or even forgot to soak them for a few hours, I will pop them into the microwave until they are soft (about 30 seconds).

KashiBerry Smoothie

Oh my goodness, this is THE BEST smoothie ever! Well at least according to Todd and I ;-)

3 C ice
1 1/2 C Frozen Peaches
1 1/2 C Frozen Blackberries or Blueberries (I prefer the taste of the Blackberries but they have a lot of seeds which are super annoying)
1 1/2 C Vanilla Yogurt (we usually get the non fat kind, we have tried plain but prefer vanilla)
1 C Orange Juice not from concentrate, which kind of means fresh squeezed
1/2 -1 C Pomegranate Juice if you can find it not from concentrate Cudoos to you!
* 1-2 Tbsp Gogi berries soaking in 1/2 C Water
* 1/2 C Half and Half this makes it taste AMAZING, but skip it if you are counting the Cals

* = Optional

Put everything in the blender and blend until your preferred consistency.  If your blender is a little older or not the amazing Vitamixes that everyone is getting (we don't have one, but our Ninja Rocks!), I would pulse your ice a few times by itself to help break it up, and you may need to blend it longer before you get the consistency you prefer.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Really can you go wrong with peanut butter AND chocolate chips? I say, no, no you cannot!

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar or 1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 to 1 tablespoon milk (add this at the very end just to make dough smooth and creamy)
1/2 to 1 cup milk chocolate chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for until creamy, about 30-40 seconds. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder, beat until combined. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in four. Add milk from 1/2 Tablespoon to 1 Tablespoon just enough to make the dough moist and creamy. Add chocolate chips and mix till just incorporated.  If necessary, cover and chill dough about 1 hour or until easy to handle. (I didn't do this, and they turned out fine, although a bit crumbly)
Preheat oven to 375. Drop cookies by scooping them out of the bowl with a spoon dropping them in small balls onto your greased cookie sheets. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Let sit on pans until set. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Makes about 36 cookies

These tasted amazing but they were a bit crumbly the next day, next time I make these I will probably take out a tablespoon of the flour. Cheers!

Emily Rodger's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVA!

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3.4 oz. package vanilla instant pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips I use milk chocolate, because I am a semi-sweet snob

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and set aside.

2. Beat together butter, sugars, vanilla pudding mix, and vanilla extract until creamy. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated.

Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

3. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until slight golden and set.

Remove cookies from oven and let cool on baking sheet for two minutes.

She made these for me when I had Kason, and I begged and begged for the recipe, seriously best cookies ever, even when I made them they weren't bad. She will freeze the dough and then pop them in the oven so that she can have them later, I may try this.

Mac N Cheese

Usually the recipes I find online for Macaroni and Cheese have egg in them. I do not like the egg and cheese custard together, I think it is nasty. This recipe didn't call for egg and it turned out beautifully! Mmmmm so good!

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated extra-sharp cheddar 
1 cup (4 ounces) grated Monterey Jack 
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan or Gruyere 
2 1/2 cups milk 
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the dish 
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon ground mustard 
1 teaspoon kosher salt 
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic (optional) 
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
Dash of cayenne 
3/4  pound (8 ounces) elbow macaroni 
Hot sauce (optional)

• Preheat the oven to 375.  Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Set a baking rack in the top-third of the oven.
• Combine the cheddar, monterey jack and Parmesan cheeses in a medium bowl. Transfer 1 cup of cheese to a small bowl; reserve for topping.
• Start your macaroni cooking, fill a large saucepan with water cook macaroni as directed on package instructions.
• In a medium saucepan, warm the milk over medium heat or I did it in the micro wave in small bursts and mixing in between.
• In a Dutch oven or saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter. Add flour immediately; whisk to combine for about 1 minute. Raise the temperature to medium, and slowly whisk in the milk. Bring it to a boil to thicken, whisking the entire time. (You might need to raise the temperature slightly to get things going.)
• Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the mustard (I didn't use mustard), salt, garlic, pepper, cayenne and the 2 cups of mixed cheeses (from the larger bowl). Set the cheese sauce aside.
•  Drain pasta well, and add pasta to the cheese sauce. Stir to combine. Taste, adjust the seasonings, and add hot sauce, if you wish.
• Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with reserved cheese, and bake in the top-third of the oven for about 25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and bubbly, but the inside is still creamy.