Almond Joy Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups chocolate chips
2 cups sweetened coconut
2 cups chopped almonds

Directions
Pre-head oven to 375 .  Lightly grease cookies sheets.
Combine dry ingredients, set aside
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, stir in the vanilla.  Stir in the dry ingredients until
well mixed then stir in the chocolate chips, coconut, and almonds.
 Bake about 10 minutes.  Do not over bake.

Now, I know what your thinking, man a lot of chocolate chips, well your right.  You be the judge of how much coconut, almonds and chips you want.  Also, this makes a lot of cookies.  This cookies is
a good one to put in to baggies and freeze.  They come out of the freezer really nice and soft.
This has become one of my favorites.

Fettucine Alfredo

This is Amazing! If you like garlic in your Alfredo this is not the recipe for you. Jake and I are not fans of garlic so it works out great. This is really easy for a quick dinner.

6 Tbsp butter ( I recommend real butter )
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
7 Tbsp parmesean cheese

Combine butter and heavy cream. Let simmer down for about 15 minutes. This is really easy to boil over so make sure to turn down your heat and watch it so you don't have a mess. Remove from heat and add parmesean cheese. If it is a little thin- you can return it to the heat for a few minutes on low heat to thicken it up. Pour over noodles and enjoy.

** I like to add steamed broccoili or grilled chicken breast so Jake doesn't feel like he is eating "chick food". Just add broccoli or chicken to plate when you are serving it.

** Leftovers are awesome but do not microwave the sauce. It separates and you end up with chunky cheese and a pool of oil on your plate. Reheat the sauce on low heat on the stove and pour over noodles.

Scotcheroos

I figured out the "top secret" recipe and thought you all might enjoy it. These are a hit wherever I take them.

1 C corn syrup
1 C sugar
1 1/2 C peanut butter
Mix together over medium heat. Warm through until edges are bubbling. Watch carefully. This can burn so stir frequently.

Once heated through pour over 6 cups of chex cereal. (Corn or rice- doesn't matter. Whichever you like best.) Mix together. Drop spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Form into small balls.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup butterscotch chips. Melt in the microwave for 30-45 seconds or until smooth.

Drizzle chocolate over cookies. Let chocolate set. Enjoy~

Almond Joy Cookies

Almond Joy Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups chocolate chips
2 cups sweetened coconut
2 cups chopped almonds
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 375 .  Lightly grease cookie sheets.
Combine dry ingredients, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars
together.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time,
stir in the vanilla.  Stir in the dry ingredients until
well mixed then stir in the chocolate,chips, coconut
and almonds.
Bake for about 10- 13 minutes.  DO NOT OVER COOK

Couple of things, I know your thinking man that a lot
of chocolate chips.  It is.  YOU decide  how much
almonds, coconut and chocolate chips.  To much of
if those can make the cookies dry.  Also this make a lot
of cookies.  You can freeze them in baggies.
They come out of the freezer really good.
I was going to put a picture on here but that
is way to advanced for me this go around.
Maybe next week.
Love, Mom
 

Grandma's shortbread cookies

This is the recipe for Grandma Barfuss' shortbread cookies. The ones that she always has out at Christmas time.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (I highly recommend using real butter and not margarine-it makes a big difference)
3/4 cup sugar
2-3 cups flour

Take butter out and let sit until it is at room temperature. Place butter in mixer and beat well. Add 1/2 of sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add 1 cup flour. Mix. Add rest of sugar and mix. Gradually add flour until dough is able to roll out. I usually only use about 2 cups of flour. It might not hold together in your mixing bowl but that is ok. Just roll it out and it will hold. Just be careful not to add too much flour when mixing. Roll out and cut cookies. Prick cookies with fork before baking to prevent bubbles.   Bake @ 325 for 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely. They are best when stored in a cool place. This is where grandma's recipe ends and my touch begins. Just because I think everything it better with a little chocolate- I like to drizzle mine with melted chocolate. I throw about 1/2 c choclate chips into a small ziploc bag. Melt it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Snip off a small corner of the bag and drizzle onto the cookies. Let chocolate set before serving. These are so amazing and simple- only 3 ingredients. I also have to warn you- the dough is addicting and there are no eggs so there isn't a worry about it making you sick. You might just want to double the recipe and keep half of the dough in the fridge- just sayin'.

Taco soup

This is a recipe for taco soup that my friend gave me a couple of years ago. I know that mom's taco soup is awesome but I like to try different things and this one is really good.

Taco Soup:
1 lb hamburger
1 chopped onion
Brown together

Add: 2 cans tomato soup
1 can kidney  beans
1 can garbanzo beans (can do 2 can kidney beans if you don't like garbanzo beans)
1 can corn
1 can creamed corn (mom- I know you don't like creamed corn. You can do 2 cans of regular corn. I have tried it both ways and I like the creamed corn because it adds a sweetness to the soup. Just try it once for me.)
1 can sliced olives
1 jar (pint) mild taco sauce
3 tsp. chile powder
1 qt. V8 juice (you don't have to add all of this. Just until it is the consistency you like. If you don't have V8 that's ok. Just use equal parts tomato sauce and water.)
Simmer for about 45 minutes

Top with crushed fritos, monterey jack cheese, and sour cream. Super good!

Sugar Cookies

When making sugar cookies, instead of rolling the dough out on to flour, roll it out on to powdered sugar.  It makes it not so dry and  just a little bit more sweeter.

Dirty Diet Coke

Everyone keeps telling me how delicious this drink is. One of my friends sent
me this recipe and I thought I would see what all the hype is about. You know
I am not a big soda person but this drink is pretty tasty!

Ingredients
- 1 can of Diet Coke
- 2-3 tablespoons of half and half
- 2 tablespoons of Torani coconut syrup
- Squeeze of lime (optional)

Just mix all together stir and enjoy!
It is pretty hard to find the coconut syrup. You can use cream of coconut(pictured),
it just tastes a little different but still yummy.

Chicken pot pie

This is the best! It is one of Jake's favorite meals. Good luck!

Boil:
1 Chicken breast
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced celery
1 small potatoe cubed
3/4 c frozen peas

Boil until chicken is cooked through and vegtables are tender.

While veggies are boiling- line a pie pan with premade pie crust. Press down well and get all air bubbles out. Poke crust with a fork to ensure no large bubble form during cooking. You don't need to trim the excess yet.

 Once veggies and chicken are done strain out all liquid. Cube chicken breast and then pour all chicken and veggies in bottom of pie shell.
In separate pan:
Melt 1/3 c butter
Add 1/3 c chopped onion
Cook until onion is soft.
Add:
1/3 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Stir well. Mixture will be thick.
Add:
1 can chicken broth
1/2 c milk
whisk together. Let simmer 10 minutes. Mixture should still be soupy. Pour over veggies and chicken in pie shell. You do not need to use all the liquid. Just fill until you can see the vegtable are covered. Don't let the liquid over flow.
Place top pie shell on top. Trim the edges and pinch together. Pinch them well so it won't boil out while baking. Cut slits in top.

Bake at 425 for 30-35 minutes until top is golden brown.

AMAZING!!!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

My family loves this meal. I found a recipe while we lived in California and changed it up to what we like. I was going for a dish close to the sweet and sour chicken at PF Changs. It is not exact but it is close enough. I hope you guys love it.

Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in bottom of pan. Saute chicken in pan until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.

In a separate bowl combine:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp dehydrated onion
1 can pineapple tidbits drained (save the juice in a cup for later)

Pour into pan you cooked the chicken in. Turn to medium heat.
Slice chicken into slices or cubes.

Add chicken to mixture on stove. It should look like this all together.

Let this simmer on medium heat for about 15 minutes. While this is simmering get your rice cooking.
If you need it to simmer for a little longer while your rice is cooking, no big deal. If you think it is getting a little thick you can add some of the pineapple juice to loosen it up a bit. It adds a little sweetness too which I like. And the final product should look something like this:

I hope you like it. Let me know what you think.
Andrea

Hi Everyone, Its up and working thanks to Andrea.  This week lets get our hints and recipes on.
Happy Cooking
Mom