Peanut Butter Cookies

peanut butter cookies:

1 C. sugar
1 C. brown sugar
1 C. butter flavored shortening
1 C. creamy peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 C. flour

1. preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix sugars, shortening, PB and eggs.
3. Add all dry ingredients adding flour last.
4. Shape dough, roll in sugar, press criss-cross with fork, Bake for 11-12 minutes.

Dip of Mexican Champions

I made this today for Scott's Father's Day after church snack. He loved it! Super easy, and tasty. PS..I realize I've been missing in action, but with being out of town, having our house for sale and not cooking much due to mess and the 105 degree temperature, the updates have fallen victim. I miss you cooking world.

dip of mexican champions:
(this is a made up name)

1-8oz cream cheese
1-15 oz. can of chili
1/2-1 can green chiles
approx 1 C. shredded cheddar cheese
sliced olives
green onions (optional)

1. Spread softened cream cheese on the bottom of a pie plate.
2. Layer on top in this order; chili, green chiles, cheese, olives.
3. Bake 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.
4. Sprinkle with green onions if desired then start dippin your tortilla chips into dip!

Brownie Bliss

Welcome the darling Melissa as our Guest Chef this week!! She has provided this divine recipe for a "straight to the hips" love affair (I'm told)!! Melissa is a mother to 3 beautiful boys and comes up with brownie recipes in her spare time..hehe! Thanks for sharing, I will be giving this recipe a whirl soon!

this picture is not the best, but when a certain 4 year old plays with the setting on your camera and you don't know how to figure out what buttons he pushed, this is the result..slightly blurry!

bliss from brownies:

1 box brownie mix (follow directions) or use a homemade brownie recipe you like

1. 3 minutes before the brownies are done, take them out of the oven and place a layer of mini marshmallows on top. Put back in the oven until the timer goes off.

2. In a double boiler or sauce pan melt together:

2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter (creamy, the cheap stuff works the best)

1 and 1/2 cups rice crispy cereal

2-3 Tablespoons of butter

3. pour over brownies when out of oven, make sure to cover all of the melted marshmallows and then place brownies the fridge to set up for a few hours.

S'mores

Over the long holiday weekend I made these little gems TWICE! The kids were begging to have a fire in the fire pit and roast marshmallows for s'mores, but with it being in the 90's, I opted for s'mores in the pan instead. They were a huge hit and the kids gobbled them up at both BBQ's this weekend! Super easy and hard to resist....even as an adult.

s'mores:

1-12oz. box of Golden Grahams
3/4 C. karo syrup
1 bag chocolate chips
3 T. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 C. mini marshmallows

1. Pour Golden Grahams into a big bowl.
2. Melt chocolate chips, karo syrup & butter in pan until boiling, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat stir in 1 tsp. vanilla. Pour chocolate mixture over golden grahams in bowl and stir with spatula until well coated.
4. After grahams are well coated with chocolate mixture in bowl, add mini marshmallows 1 C. at a time and stir in.
5. Once mixed well, pour mixture into a greased 9x13 cake pan and let sit for about 1 hour. Cut with knife into bars and serve!

Peach Cobbler

Super easy, super delicious! Similar to a recipe my grandma makes called "Dump Cake" (coming soon) but I LOVE peaches so this version is extra delightful! Very rich!

peach cobbler:

2 cans peach pie filling
1 box yellow or white cake mix
1 cube butter
1/2-3/4 C. chopped walnuts
lemon juice

1. Dump peach pie filling into 9x13 glass pan.
2. Top with dry cake mix.
3. Sprinkle nuts over the top.
4. Slice cube of butter into and lay evenly over the nuts, sprinkle lemon juice over top.
5. Bake 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, top with whip cream or vanilla ice cream!

Favorite Pasta Salad

Welcome, welcome to our first timer guest chef....CHARLENE! Charlene is a recent Utahn after many years of making us smile in Arizona. We miss her & her funny jokes. She is a mother to 3 bouncing boys & likes to make pasta salad in her spare time (hehehe)! Lucky for us she decided to share! Now that it's offically hit the 100's here, pasta salad and grilled anything sounds delicious! Thanks for stopping by Char, hope to see you in AZ soon!

I love pasta salads, especially in the summer time. This recipe is one that I got from my sister-in-law and it is by far my favorite! Hope you like it :)

favorite pasta salad:

1 pkg 16 oz Cooked Penne pasta (or whatever you have on hand)

1 small Can sliced black olives

1 Chopped green pepper

1 Chopped red pepper

1 Can Marinated artichoke hearts, drained

2 C Broccoli florets

1 can Baby corn, drained and chopped (usually in the Oriental/Japanese food section)

6-8 oz Feta cheese

1/2 Red onion, finely chopped

1 T Salt

1 T Dry mustard

1/3 C Apple Cider vinegar

3/4 C Vegetable oil

3/4 C Sugar

1 T Poppy seeds

Directions:

1. Mix all salad ingredients in large bowl.

2. Whisk salt, mustard, vinegar, oil, sugar and poppy seeds.

3. Pour over salad. Toss and refrigerate.

*Serves probably 8-10 people

your guest chef,

Charlene

Rolled Up Chicken Dinner

Can you say YUMMY?? I can & did! My family LOOOOOVED this dinner!! Loved with a capital L-O-V-E-D. It is a little messy to make, but totally worth it! It's dinner all wrapped up in a chicken breast. Stuffed with mashed potatoes, broccoli & cheese! After they're each rolled in panko bread crumbs, they're drizzled with a yummy gravy! Told you it was delicious! I say go for it & take this recipe for a spin!

rolled up chicken dinner:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness
1 1/2 C. prepared mashed potatoes, on the thick side (I used the frozen steamer kind of potatoes that you make in the microwave)
2 C. steamed broccoli, chopped into very small pieces, almost minced
1/2-1 C. shredded cheddar

1. Pound chicken breasts out flat (I used my rolling pin), then place on cookie sheet that's been sprayed with non-stick spray or line the cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Spread a thin layer of mashed potatoes on chicken breast, then sprinkle broccoli bits on, then add cheese on top.

3. Fold chicken breast in half (long ways) as much as you can securing with 3-4 toothpicks.

coating:

1/2 C. flour
1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 beaten egg

1 1/2 C. panko bread crumbs

1 1/2 T. dry ranch dressing mix

4. Mix flour, salt & pepper in one shallow bowl.

5. Put beaten egg in another shallow bowl.

6. Mix panko bread crumbs & ranch dressing mix in 3rd shallow bowl.

7. Dip/roll/sprinkle chicken carefully in flour mixture, then in egg, then in panko bread crumb mix. Use your fingers to spread egg onto chicken & sprinkle bread crumbs onto chicken. This will get MESSY & stuff starts falling out, but don't fret, it will taste wonderful regardless!

8. After you've dipped/rolled/sprinkled your chicken rolls in the 3 mixtures, place back on cookie sheet lined w parchment paper (or sprayed with non-stick spray). Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

sauce:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 C. milk

approx. 1/4-1/2 C. finely chopped broccoli (whatever is left from filling the chicken rolls)

2 dollops of sour cream (optional....I just added it to thicken up my sauce).

1. Heat soup, milk, chopped broccoli (& sour cream if you want) in a small sauce pan until warmed. Pour spoonfuls of sauce over each chicken roll before you serve.

MMMMMMMM! Sooooo good! Butter a roll, toss a salad and WALLA, you've gotta a dinner from heaven my friends! Let me know if you loved this dish as much as we did.