Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

The other day I found this recipe online and really wanted to make it. The recipe called for Mint Chocolate Chips. After looking at two stores and not finding them, I decided to substitute Andes Mints instead. I finally made the cookies last night. They are quite tasty. I started making them while Little Monkey was napping and when he got up he decided that I needed his help. He went and got his apron (I made it for him for his birthday.) and came into the kitchen to help. He was very good at taking the wrappers off the Andes mints and putting them in the mini chopper and then chopping them up. He also helped put the cookies on the cookie sheet using a melon baller.

Using the melon baller to put cookies on the sheet. (Notice the tongue sticking out!)

And because I’m sure that you want it, here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 2/3 cups mint chocolate chips ( I just used one full package of Andes mints chopped up. It was actually probably closer to just 1 cup.)

Directions

1. Heat over to 375 degrees F.
2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in a large bowl until creamy.
3. Add eggs; beat well.
4. Stir together flour, cocoa and baking soda.
5. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture beating until well blended.
6. Add chocolate chips to batter.
7. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
9. Cool completely.

Alrighty, good luck making your own. They are easy to make and the recipe makes about 60 cookies! Try not to eat them all! I think  I will try and send some with Big Monkey to work so that I do not eat all of them!

A New PKU Food Recipe

This week, Amy and I worked on PKU-friendly cake balls. It was Amy’s idea and we are using the recipe to enter a PKU Food Recipe contest. Check out this post on Amy’s blog to see the details of making PKU-friendly cake balls. (She also has a link on there to regular cake balls if you want to make them for your non-pku friends/family.)

Yum! Three different flavors!

Honey-Glazed Pork Chops

Friday I went grocery shopping and ended up being able to get some pork chops for really cheap. I decided that we would have pork chops for dinner. The only problem was that I wasn’t sure how I was going to make them. I remembered that my friend Joe had made a few recipes with pork chops before so I checked out his site. Sure enough there were multiple options to choose from. Sadly for me, I had already been grocery shopping and didn’t have the ingredients for any of the recipes. Not even this one…which only had three ingredients besides the pork chops!

I did a quick search online and found Honey-Glazed Pork Chops at All Recipes. It was a pretty simple recipe and we had everything on hand. I actually made more of the glaze than the recipe called for and I’m glad I did. We also used eight thin pork chops instead of bone-in pork chops.

Ingredients:

4 bone-in pork loin chops, 3/4 to 1-inch thick
salt
ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons honey
Non stick cooking spray

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper.
Coat large skillet with non stick cooking spray.
Heat skillet over medium heat.
Add pork chops. Cook until brown, turning once.
Remove chops and place in a 13×9-inch baking dish.
Combine brown sugar and honey in small bowl.
Microwave on HIGH for 20 seconds; stir to combine.
Spoon half of the honey mixture over tops of chops, spreading evenly.
Bake uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Turn chops; spoon remaining honey mixture over chops, spreading evenly.
Bake until internal temperature is 160 degrees F, 15 to 20 minutes.
To serve, spoon pan drippings over chops.

We served this with green beans and stuffing. It was voted as a good meal. I think I may have overcooked the pork just a bit (Ours were quite thin.) but everyone ate it and Big Monkey and I each had second helping of the pork. Sorry we didn’t take any pictures (I was just trying to get dinner on the table!).

Another Yummy Snack

Not too long ago, my sister sent me a link to a blog with a recipe she thought we should try out. I finally made it this weekend for a SuperBowl Party we were going to. I am going to give you the recipe and show you my pictures but I highly recommend that you head over to Bakerella’s post for some much better pictures and probably better writing!

You will need the following:
Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
Betty Crocker Brownie Mix ( You could probably use a different brand, this is just what Bakerella used and what I used too.)
Items needed to make both mixes as listed on the box and bag also
12oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
6T butter

To start, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Make the brownie mix as directed on the box. Pour into a greased 13×9 pan.

Just the brownie mix

Next, make the chocolate chip cookie dough as directed on the bag.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Take the cookie dough and drop it into the brownie mix in the pan. I made mine all about the same size but you can do whatever you want. I think smaller sized drops of dough would be better. Push the dough down into the brownie mix just a bit.

Ready to go in the oven.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. After they are done cooking, let them cool for at least an hour. They will look something like this (If you made them like I did).

Yummy!

Once the cookie brownie mixture has cooled, you can frost it or put some ganache on it. I made the ganache…it is quite tasty.

In a small saucepan, heat the butter and heavy whipping cream to just before boiling.
Pour over the semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Let it sit for 20 seconds and then stir until the mixture is smooth.
Then pour it over your brownie cookies.

So Good!

Let it sit until the ganache has set. Then you can cut them and enjoy. They are VERY yummy and you will probably need to have some milk with them! Fairly simple and rather impressive! Thanks to Bakerella for the recipe.

Ooey Gooey Snack!

A while ago I found a yummy looking snack on another blog. (I don’t even remember how I found it because if you go check out when the post was from…it was 2005!) The snack looked very tasty and we finally decided to make it last week. The snack is actually called Nutty Peanut Butter Caramel Bars (But we didn’t use any nuts is ours). I’ve included some pictures and the recipe for you.

Nutty (or not) Peanut Butter Caramel Bars

8 Tablespoons of butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups pecan halves (We left these out.)
14 ounces of unwrapped caramels (We think you could probably use less.)
2 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 ounces milk chocolate chips
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees
In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter. Beat in egg until well combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Pour into sugar mixture and beat until dough forms.

Scoop out dough into a 15″x10″ baking pan (We used a 9″x13″ because we didn’t have this size.) and press it out to fill the pan. Scatter pecans evenly over dough. Bake for 10-20 minutes (We cooked ours about 18 minutes.) or until lightly browned around edges. Set on a wire rack.

In a small saucepan, add caramels and milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Drizzle caramel mixture over pecans. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let cool completely and then cut into bars.

(I forgot to take a picture once it had fully cooled. But the chocolate chips melted in a little bit. It was VERY yummy and VERY gooey!)

Thanks again to Culinary in the Desert Country for posting this recipe!

Lemon Glazed Chicken Breasts

The other night we tried a new recipe from “Don’t Panic-Dinner’s in the Freezer” and since it passed our vote, I decided to share it with you. We made it fresh and ate it the same night but I will probably make some more of it and put them in the freezer, now that we know that we like the meal.

This recipe is for one meal, three servings. You can double, triple, etc. We served ours with a pasta side dish but I’m sure it would also be good with rice or salad.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup flour
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 T. soy sauce 

Cooking day instructions:

Pound chicken breasts to 1/2-inch thickness. Mix flour and pepper together. Dredge chicken through flour mixture. Lay breasts flat on cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and flash freeze for one hour.
Mix together butter, honey, lemon juice and soy sauce. Place in quart-size freezer bag (Mixture will be watery). Freeze glaze, using freezer bag method. Place frozen chicken breasts in separate freezer bag and freeze.

Serving day instructions:

 Allow chicken breasts and glaze to thaw. Place chicken in baking dish, pour glaze over chicken breasts and bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Glaze will thicken as it cooks.

An Adventure In Cooking

This year I decided that I would make a few special items for Thanksgiving to serve at our yearly family get-together. I wanted to make foods that Little Monkey would be able to have, as well as everyone else. I have not made very many “pku-friendly” foods yet because Little Monkey doesn’t eat much and I hate to waste the time and ingredients (some of which are not cheap). I should have taken pictures during the process but I was doing good to just keep up with all the things I was trying to do at once in the kitchen!

I made Butternut Squash with Caramelized Apples and Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I was hopeful that they turned out okay an everyone would like them. We put them on the buffet line up just as if they were regular foods (And well they are regular foods, just ones that Little Monkey can also have).

The Butternut Squash with Caramelized Apples went over pretty well, at least with the non-pku folks. Little Monkey wasn’t that thrilled with it but he did try some of it. The Pineapple Upside Down Cake went over MUCH better. Everyone liked it and Little Monkey LOVED it. Thank goodness it was low in phe! I’m thinking about making the Pineapple Upside Down Cake for Little Monkey’s birthday instead of regular cake!

And in case you want to give them a try yourself or for your PKU family member, here are the recipes!

Butternut Squash with Caramelized Apples

2 medium butternut squash (1100gm)
1 teaspoon salt
3 Granny Smith apples (460 gm), peeled and cored
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons brown sugar, divided
9 tablespoons unsalted butter; plus extra for the pan, divided
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream (90 gm)
1/4 cup brandy
1/4 cup orange juice

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Bake squash until soft, 40-45 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel and place flesh in a medium bowl; add salt and mash with a fork.
2. Meanwhile, slice apples into 1/8-inch-thick wedges and place in a medium bowl. Add lemon juice; mix.
3. In a medium skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook apple slices in three or four batches, until golden and caramelized, about one minute on each side. As they finish cooking, transfer to a plate and set aside.
4. In same skillet, melt 3 tablespoons butter over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons brown sugar and cook until sugar dissolves. Stir in 1/4 cup of cream and the brandy; cook until slightly thickened, about one minute. Remove from heat and add to squash, mixing well. Transfer squash mixture to a buttered 3-quart ovenproof casserole. Arrange apple slices over squash; set aside.
5. In same skillet, melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar and cook until dissolved. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of cream and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir in orange juice and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until thickened and dark brown. Pour over the apples and cover with aluminum foil.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately or let stand at room temperature for up to 30 minutes before serving.

Makes eight servings, approximately .47 mg phe/gm

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

1 Full Can of Maddy’s Homestyle Yellow Cake Mix
1/3 cup oil
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
5 Tablespoons margarine
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
6 pineapple rings, canned
5 maraschino cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease sides and bottom of 9×2 inch round cake pan.
3. Cut out a circle of parchment paper to fit pan and place in the bottom.
4. In a large bowl, blend Maddy’s cake mix with oil and water as directed on can; mix in cinnamon and nutmeg, and set aside.
5. In small saucepan, over medium heat, melt margarine, lower heat and simmer about five minutes.
6. Take margarine off heat and whisk in brown sugar.
7. Pour brown sugar mixture into bottom of greased pan. Using a rubber spatula spread mixture evenly around bottom of pan.
8. Arrange pineapple rings and cherries in bottom of pan.
9. Spoon cake batter evenly over top of brown sugar and pineapple/cherry mixture.
10. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-48 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Let cool at least 10 minutes to allow syrup to thicken.
11. To remove from pan, run knife or spatula around edge of cake. Place serving plate over top of baking pan and gently flip over. Gently lift pan off plate until cake has fully released. Peel parchment paper off top of cake. To serve, cut into 12 slices.

Makes 12 servings, 9mg of phe per serving

Menu Plan Monday

Time for another menu plan. We actually made and started ours yesterday, so we’ll back track a little bit.

Sunday: Darn Good Chili with Beer Bread
Monday: Baked Potato Soup
Tuesday: Waffles
Wednesday: YOYO
Thursday: Fiesta Chicken Tacos
Friday: Pasta, Garlic Bread and Salad with our friends

We actually planned out our days more than we normally do, but we have a hectic week this week. Big Monkey quit his old job and will be filling in this week at the hospital while waiting for his new job to start in December.

Menu Plan Wednesday

Last night we finally finished our last meal from our meal plan last week, so after dinner we sat down to come up with a new menu plan. Here is our new listing of meals…(this week we did actually assign meals to specific days)

Wednesday: Big Monkey at work, Little Monkey, Amy and I are going to Mom and Dad’s
Thursday: Leftovers (Options include-Pumpkin Ravioli, Hawaiian Chicken and Fiesta Chicken Tacos)
Friday: Amy not here, Halloween-play it by ear depending on Big Monkey’s schedule for the day
Saturday: Big Monkey at work, Amy not here, You’re on Your Own (YOYO)
Sunday: Burgers and Fries
Monday: Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Mashed Potatoes
Tuesday: Big Monkey at work, Tater-topped Casserole (new recipe)

Menu Plan Monday

Today is Monday…and time for a new Menu Plan but I haven’t made one yet. We still have two meals and leftovers on our menu from last week. I can tell you that tonight we plan to have Pumpkin Ravioli. We’ll see how that goes. It is a new recipe that I found in a magazine, so maybe we will all be eating leftovers instead. For more Menu Plans, head over to Organizing Junkie.

If you are so lucky…I might post again later with the Free Redbox code of the day. I forgot last week (and heard about it from some people) so I will try not to slack on this!