Cookin' Brooke

Crumble Topping

2012-01-08T20:45:00.000-08:00

This recipe was given to me a long time ago by a girl that used to live in my neighborhood. I made it and LOVED it. Unfortunately, I lost the recipe and she moved out of the state (this happened before the days of facebook). Well, a few years later I was telling some friends about this delicious recipe and we were discussing how I might be able to get my hands on it again. I'd tried plenty of recipes online and none of them were the same as what I remembered. I couldn't even remember her name, so I didn't know how I could reach her. Well, one of my friends knew who I was talking about and somehow got this awesome recipe for me! I made it again and it tasted just as good as I remembered. So as not to lose this recipe ever again, I'm posting it here. Luckily, you all get to enjoy it as well!

1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Oats
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/8 tsp. Salt
1/2 Cup Butter, softened

1. Mix all dry ingredients.
2. Add dry ingredients to softened butter and mix until crumbly.
3. Pour into baking dish over desired fruit mixture (see below).
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

For the fruit mixture, you can use anything you want. When I ate it originally, it was made with apples. Since then, I've also made it with berries and apples together. Peaches would also be delicious.

Cut up whatever fruit you like and sprinkle some granulated sugar, a little flour, lemon juice and salt (tiny bit) over it. Stir it all together. Put that in a baking dish and put the crumble mixture over it before baking.

Oh. My. Gosh. It's amazing! Enjoy!

Figgy Pudding

2012-01-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe from my boss after he brought it to a Christmas party for work. It is DELICIOUS and the three times I've made it since then, it's gotten rave reviews and the bowl is wiped clean. I made a couple of slight changes. I put in less sugar (it was a little too sweet for me) and added figs (what?! No figs in figgy pudding? Ya, madness! I had to add them in). What a fun, festive Christmas treat! This will certainly be a Christmas tradition at my house. Sorry, I didn't take a picture. I will post one when I make it again (it will surely be sooner than next Christmas).

Batter Mix:

3/4 Cup sugar
1 Cup flour
1/2 Cup milk
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 Cup chopped dates
1/2 Cup chopped figs
1 Cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Mix together and spread evenly in a deep baking dish.

Meanwhile, boil for three minutes:

2 Cups water
3/4 Cup brown sugar
1Tablespoon butter

Pour over batter and bake for 30 minutes @ 375 degrees.

Top with ice cream or whip cream

Serve and enjoy! It's best when served warm.

Festive Cranberry Cheese Dip

2011-11-23T21:20:00.001-08:00

A friend introduced me to this recipe a couple years ago and I like it so much, I'm looking forward to eating it around the holidays! I'm making this recipe next week, so I'll add the exact measurements to this post, but for now, here's the general idea in case you feel so inclined to make it for an upcoming event.

You add a 12 oz. bag of cranberries and one store-bought pint of pico de gallo to a blender or food processor. Add sugar to taste (I'm thinking maybe 1/2 cup?) and a handful of cilantro. Add a few drops of red food coloring to beautify it. Then pour it over an 8 oz. brick of cream cheese. Garnish with cilantro and serve it with rice crackers. Yum-O!

Energy Bars

2011-05-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

I love these! They're such a treat, but you can sneak anything into them! These are jam packed with all kinds of good stuff! I got the idea for the recipe from the "Cool Cooking" cookbook series by Lisa Wagner, but I modified it a bit to make them even more healthy.

1 Cup Chocolate Chips
1 1/2 Cups Rolled Oats
2 Cups Crisp Rice Cereal
1/2 Cup Flaked Coconut
1/4 Cup Sesame Seeds
1/2 Cup Flax Seeds
1/4 Cup Sunflower Seeds
1/2 Cup Walnuts, Almonds or Peanuts
3/4 Cup Peanut Butter
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Honey
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup

1. Put the chocolate chips, oats, cereal, coconut, seeds and nuts in a large mixing bowl and mix them together.

2. Mix the peanut butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup in a saucepan over medium heat stirring until everything is blended and the brown sugar has dissolved.

3. Pour the hot mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until everything is completely blended.

4. Pour the mixture in to the prepared baking pan. Use your hands to pat the mixture into the pan.

Then you are supposed to refrigerate for 3 hours, but that is totally not going to happen at my house!

Corn & Black Bean Salsa

2011-05-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

A coworker shared this recipe with me and I love it! Unfortunately, I ate it before I remembered to take a picture of it.

1-2 Tomatoes (medium to large)
3 Avocados
1 Can White Shoepeg Corn, drained
1 Can Kidney Beans, drained
1 Can Black Beans, drained
1/2 Bottle Italian Dressing
Lime or Lemon Juice

1. Dice the tomatoes and avocados, place in a bowl and sprinkle a little lime/lemon juice over the avocado to keep it from turning brown.
2. Add the corn and beans.
3. Pour italian dressing over the top and stir together!

Serve with chips. If you chill it in the fridge for about an hour before serving, the flavors blend together better.

Raisin Bran Banana Muffins

2011-05-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone needs more recipes for using up over-ripe bananas. I tried this one the other day and we loved it. They're healthier than the average muffin with the fruit and fiber in them.

2 Cups Raisin Bran Cereal
1 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Walnuts, chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg
1 Cup Buttermilk
1/4 Cup Cooking Oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cereal, flour, sugar, walnuts, baking soda and salt.
3. Break the egg into another bowl and beat it together with the buttermilk and oil.
4. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together.
5. Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full with mixture.
6. Bake about 20-25 minutes.

Staples Grocery List

2011-03-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to create a "Staples" Grocery List for awhile since we always run out of things we need, but we don't notice until we need them. We use the same things over and over, so I wanted a list that we could just mark as soon as we run out of something. Here's what my list looks like.

I've attached links where you can download them for yourself. One of them is a PDF in case you like it just the way it is and the other is a Word Document so you can edit it to fit your needs. I apologize that the PDF version has a blank second page, I could not get it off no matter how I tried! The Word Document looks like junk, of course, because they don't have the same fonts and it threw all the formatting off, but you can at least get a start from what I've created. This is my first accomplishment from my list of 55 in 500! Woot, woot!

Staples Grocery List PDF
Staples Grocery List

Staples Grocery List Word Document
Staples Grocery List

Hawaiian Sweet Bread

2011-03-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

I busted out the old bread maker and have been loving using it to make dough lately. You know how the bread in those machines always has such a hard crust? Well, just making dough in them works awesome and then you just transfer the dough to the oven for baking. We've eaten a lot of fresh bread this week. Yum!
1 Cup Pineapple Juice
2 Eggs
4 Tablespoons Butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon Coconut Extract
5 Tablespoons Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Dry Milk Powder
2 Tablespoons Dry Potato Flakes
3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast

1. Measure ingredients into the bread machine in the order listed above and set the dough setting.

2. Place dough in a 9X5 inch loaf pan. Allow to rise until doubled. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

3. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Sweet & Sour Chicken

2011-03-21T20:02:00.000-07:00

Sorry this food didn't pose very well for the camera, but I thought a bad picture was better than no picture. I wanted to post this recipe because it's super easy and also because if you take out the chicken, pineapple and bell pepper, it's your regular run of the mill sweet and sour sauce served in chinese restaurants, so you could make it for dipping wontons or eggrolls too.

1 3/4 Cups Water, divided
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Distilled White Vinegar
1/4 Cup Cornstarch
1 (8 oz.) Can Pineapple Tidbits. drained (juice reserved)
Yellow (1 drop) & Red (2 drops) Food Coloring
4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, cooked and cut into bite size pieces

1 Bell Pepper, cut into bite size pieces

1. In a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups water, sugar, vinegar, reserved pineapple juice and food coloring. Heat to boiling, then turn off heat.

2. Combine cornstarch and 1/4 cup water, slowly stir into saucepan. Continue stirring until mixture thickens.

3. Add cooked chicken pieces, bell pepper and pineapple. Heat until warmed through.

Serve over rice or chow mein noodles.

Cinna-YUM Roll

2011-02-24T19:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, Lame food title, I know...but it's true. I have been in search of the perfect cinnamon roll recipe for a couple of years now. I make them twice a year because they're such a pain in the %@&, but I love them, so I keep trying to make them. I always end up with disappointing results. The dough has no flavor, it's too tough, not fluffy enough, not dense enough, the filling is not gooey enough, too crispy, doesn't cling to the roll, the frosting tastes like raw powdered sugar, the recipe doesn't make enough, it's not spreadable, etc. etc. etc. Let me also add that I am not a baker. I love to cook (obviously), but I can't say I've ever really 100% successfully baked anything. So I am certain this is a large contributor to the fact that my cinnamon rolls have never quite worked. All the more reason to find a perfect recipe, you know?...fool proof! So, I think I did.

After working hard all day laboring over these rolls, I grunted as I removed them from the oven and they were overcooked. I wasn't surprised, of course, but annoyed. I frosted them up knowing we were about to dig into yet another crappy batch of cinnamon rolls. And then?! Whoa! These were good! Really, really good! Not to say they were perfect, but the problem was the baker, not the recipe. I really think this recipe is perfect. I have some plans to change a few of my techniques here and there next time I make these, but I have finally found a winner.

To give credit where credit's due, I found this recipe on the "all recipes" app on my IPAD. Awesome app, by the way, and it's free. I use it all the time. This recipe was called "Clone of a Cinnabon"...and it really was.

Dough

1 Cup Milk, warm

2 Eggs, room temperature (see all this temperature junk?? This is exactly why I hate baking. The moon has to perfectly align with the planet in order for a baked good to come out right...sorry, I digress)

1/3 Cup Margarine, melted (I used butter, but I'll try margarine next time since the recipe calls for it and maybe the special scientific process used in creating margarine is necessary for the said baked good to come out right)

4 1/2 Cups Bread Flour (I used all-purpose flour, but again, will certainly use the bread flour next time since it will probably make these even more delicious...unimaginable)

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 Cup White Sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons Bread Machine Yeast

Filling

1 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
2 1/2 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon
1/3 Cup Butter, Softened

Frosting

1 (6 oz.) Package Cream Cheese, softened
2/3 Cup Butter, softened
3 Cups Confectioners Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Ok, admittedly, when I made these, I doubled the frosting. The recipe shown here is the doubled recipe because I think it's necessary and when I make these again, I want them to have the right amount of frosting. I made one batch and it wasn't enough, so I made a second batch separately. It was probably more than necessary, but I can't say it hurt them:)

1. Place dough ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press start. (Note: I'm sure you could make these without a bread maker, but since I can't bake, I couldn't tell you how).

2. After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. (Note: I didn't have to flour a surface, the dough was dry enough that it didn't stick).

3. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

4. Roll dough into a rectangle (it says 16x21, but I didn't measure and I just felt lucky enough to be able to get it into a shape that somewhat resembled a rectangle).

5. Spread dough with 1/3 Cup softened butter and sprinkle evenly with the sugar/cinnamon mixture.

6. Roll up dough and cut into rolls (it says 12, I got 15).

7. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9X13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes (ha ha, while typing this I realized I totally skipped this step!). Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

8. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

9. While rolls are baking, beat together all the frosting ingredients.

10. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Ta Da! (Hailee says that's short for Da Da Ta Da!) Happy Baking!

Retirement Cake

2011-01-23T12:59:00.000-08:00

Here's an idea for a retirement cake. I made this one for Ty's mom. She retired this month and now they are off in Arizona for a month. So fun! You just cook one cake mix on a cookie sheet and another cake mix divided between two round cake pans then stack them all together.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Muffins

2011-01-23T12:39:00.000-08:00

Your kids will love cutting into these and finding a surprise inside! We make these for breakfast. Sorry I suck at taking pictures:)

1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Oats
1/4 Cup Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Oil
3/4 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
Jam

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grease muffin tin.
3. In a large bowl, stir together flour, oats, sugar baking powder and salt.
4. In another bowl, mix together the egg, milk, oil and peanut butter.
5. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients until just combined.
6. Fill muffin cups 1/2 full with mixture.
7. Cover each muffin cup with the other 1/2 of the muffin mixture.
In this picture I've covered 1/2 with the rest of the muffin mixture and half still have the jam exposed.8. Bake in oven for 15 minutes.

Unfortunately I overcooked mine so the pictures aren't great, but you get the idea:)
Variation ideas:
1. Replace the peanut butter with mashed bananas and use whole blueberries in the middle instead of the jam.
2. Replace the peanut butter with cream cheese and use sliced strawberries or peaches instead of the jam.

Easy Enchiladas

2011-01-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

Don't be afraid to make enchiladas, they are so easy!! Don't be afraid of using enchilada sauce, either. If you don't use it, then you're really just making burritos. You can make it as spicy (or not spicy) as you want. My kids eat this just fine. You can change this recipe up however you want or to fit what ingredients you have. Here's the basic recipe.

Enchilada
Corn Tortillas
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
Shredded Chicken, Shredded Beef or Beans
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Sauce
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Tablespoons Flour
2-3 Tablespoons Chili Powder
1 (8 oz.) Can Tomato Sauce
1 1/2 Cups Water
1/4 Teaspoon Cumin
1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder (or 1 garlic clove, minced)
1/4 teaspoon Onion Salt

1. Heat oil for sauce in a skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour.
3. Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt into the flour and chili powder until smooth, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt.
4. Spoon some of the enchilada sauce into a baking dish.
5. Heat oil for enchiladas in a separate skillet over medium-high heat.
6. Using tongs, place one corn tortilla in the oil for 30 seconds, flip to the other side for 30 seconds, then remove. You don't want it to get crispy.
7. Dip the oil-covered tortillas into the sauce in the skillet and cover both sides.
8. Sprinkle desired meat or beans onto tortilla, then sprinkle with cheddar cheese.
9. Roll up and place seam-side down into the baking dish (on top of the sauce).
10. Repeat steps 6-9 until you have as many enchiladas as you want.
11. Spoon more sauce over the top of all of them.
12. Sprinkle with cheese.
13. Put all of them under the broiler until cheese is melted.

Delicioso! Serve with mexican rice and refried beans.

For a couple variations on the enchiladas, you could add chopped scallions, chopped green chili's and/or bits of cream cheese into the filling.

5-a-Day...Easy!

2010-11-23T20:49:00.000-08:00

I know, I know....everyone's already heard of Bountiful Baskets, but if you are still unsure of it's awesomeness, please read further.
You cannot believe the amount of produce you get for such a small amount of money! One of the things I love about it is that you don't know what you're getting. It's just a surprise when you go to pick it up. I realize that may not be a selling point to everyone, but it is one of the features I appreciate. I like trying something I wouldn't have normally thought about. For anyone that is concerned about that, I've gotten about 5 baskets so far and out of all the "normal" items you get, there's maybe one unusual thing.

It's also easy. You order it online on Monday or Tuesday and go pick it up on Saturday (with a laundry basket). There are various local locations (in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and I think more), so you just select the one that's closest to you. Then you have this abundance of produce in your house, so you have to eat it because it's always there. You get 1/2 vegetables and 1/2 fruits. Throw something in with your dinners every night or grab a quick healthy snack, you'll never run out. No, I'm not getting paid for advertising, I just think it's awesome and everyone should know about it. So, for $15, here's one of the baskets I got.
If you can't tell, that included strawberries, grapes, cantelope, bananas, pears, peaches, tomatoes, red peppers, carrots, celery, broccoli and romaine lettuce. What more could you need?! And all for $15!

Here's the link: http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ Thank you. I'm done.

Breakfast Skillet

2010-11-21T20:36:00.001-08:00

I'm always trying to come up with new ideas for breakfast because I make breakfasts more often than dinners! I got the idea for this from a food blog, but I can't remember which one. I adjusted it to our liking. My kids loved this. It's one of those methods, not recipes, but those are the best because you can throw in whatever you like!

First, fry some eggs in a skillet (one per person). I prefer mine over-medium (whites fully cooked, yolks warmed through & slightly thickened), but you can make them however you like them. When they're done the way you like them, slide them onto a plate and cover with foil to keep them warm.

For the hashbrowns, you could use frozen hashbrowns or make your own. I made my own this time. It's perfect if you're looking for some uses for your big bag of potatoes in the pantry! Just wash and peel the potatoes and shred them with a food processor. Be sure to soak them in water to release the starches. It makes a huge difference in the texture of the potatoes. After soaking them in water, pat them dry with a paper towel. Then put some butter and olive oil in the skillet you used to cook the eggs and throw the the potatoes in. (Tip: The butter is for the flavor and the oil is so the butter can reach a higher temperature without turning brown). DON'T TOUCH THEM for at least a couple minutes. You want them to be brown and crunchy on the outsides and soft on the inside. The center will steam as the outsides are cooking. Flip them over once to brown the other side. As I cooked them, I seasoned them with salt, pepper and some chives.
Then top with crumbled bacon and cheese. I didn't show the step of cooking the bacon because I used pre-cooked bacon! You could cook the bacon in the skillet before the eggs if you need to cook them, or use the microwave while you're doing everything else. You could also substitute sausage or ham.
After the cheese is melted, slide your eggs back onto the hashbrowns. I then topped them with cherry tomatoes and parsley. Mostly just for color and because I had them in my garden, but it did make them pretty and delicious.
I know some people have an aversion to this, but this is the way I like them! The yolk spills all over the hashbrowns and flavors them up. Yum Yum!
It's easy and something different than the standard pancake breakfast!

Cowboy Cookies

2010-11-21T20:05:00.000-08:00

Hailee watched an episode of Dora The Explorer, where they apparently made "cowboy cookies". I didn't see the episode myself, so whether these are anything like what she was referring to, I don't know. However, she asked me for days to make her some "cowboy cookies", so this is what I came up with. Actually, they turned out so good that I'm very glad she asked me to make them! Now I have a new recipe I'm sure to use again and again! I took a standard oatmeal cookie recipe (from America's Test Kitchen) and threw in "cowboyish" things like nuts & sunflower seeds and then topped them with frosting. Oh. My. Gosh. Trust me, these are good. So, here you go.

Cookies
1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
16 Tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted Butter, softened
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Large Eggs
3 Cup Oats
1/2 Cup Walnuts
1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds, seeded (obviously)
1/2 Cup Raisins (optional-I don't like raisins in my cookies, but if you do, they'd go in here nicely).

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Beat the butter and sugars together in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the eggs until combined.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined. Mix in the oats, nuts and seeds until just incorporated.
6. Working with 1/4 cup of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay on two baking sheets spaced about 2 1/2 inches apart.
7. Flatten the cookies slightly using your palm.
8. Bake until the tops of the cookies are lightly golden, but the centers are still soft and puffy, 22 to 25 minutes, rotating and switching the baking sheets halfway through baking.
9. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
2 8-oz. pkgs. Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 Cup butter, softened
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla

1. Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until combined.
2. Frost cookies.

Chile Con Limon

2010-08-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, No this isn't a recipe, nor does it have anything to do with cooking (besides putting the bag in the microwave), but I just had to share this little beauty with everyone. In 2004, Ty and I went to Puerto Vallarta. In their local WalMart, I found this wonderful bag of goodness. I bought a box to try it out and became immediately addicted. When we were leaving to come back home, we made a special trip back to the WalMart so I could get another box. If I had only known how difficult it would be to get my hands on it again, I would've bought out the whole store. Back at home, I googled it, I searched for it, but it was nowhere to be found. I even went so far as to contact the "ACT II" company begging them to ship it to my house or my state or at least my country! Their response? "Sorry, it is only available in Mexico". I would've paid any shipping price, so I didn't understand that at all, but I'd come to an impasse and had to move on with life. I thought about it, I told others about it, but ultimately, I came to accept the fact that I would have to wait until we made it down to Mexico again someday. Imagine my surprise when I opened my birthday present from my little brother and his wife this year (6 years later) and found this inside! They had found this popcorn available on a website (that probably didn't exist when I was looking for it) at My Mexican Pantry. I have been enjoying this delicious popcorn again and loving every bite. Every bite brings me sadness though, knowing that I'm coming closer to the end of my precious box. Yes, it's available on this website, but at $2/bag, I do have to go easy on it. Just wanted to share this joy with all of you. Please do let me know if you taste it!

Sausage Gravy Pasta

2010-08-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

When I was in AZ visiting my brother's family recently, my sister-in-law made a really good pasta. She told me what was in it and I realized it had the same ingredients as my sausage gravy I use for biscuits and gravy. I decided to experiment with the leftovers and it really worked out great! I'm not very good at using leftovers, but this is one of the best. Your family will have no idea they're eating the same thing for dinner that they had for breakfast! Here's a link to my Biscuits & Gravy recipe so you can make that for breakfast.

I also decided to try something I haven't tried before. I took pictures throughout the process so you can see how easy it really is. Also, I'm not including a recipe here, just the method...

Start by boiling a pot of water and cooking your pasta according to package direction. I used penne with the lines in it, but you really could use whatever type of pasta you want.
In a soup pot or deep skillet, put in your leftover sausage gravy. It doesn't really matter how much there is, just add all of it. If there isn't very much, the small amount of sausage you have will still flavor all of the sauce. If you have a lot, that just more meat for your pasta!
Sprinkle the gravy with 1-2 tablespoons flour and add about 1 Cup chicken stock or broth.
Stir the liquid into the gravy. It will start out thin and gradually thicken as it's heated. If it gets too thick, you can add more chicken stock or even a little starchy water from the pasta pot.
Once it's thickened and your pasta is done, add the pasta to the sauce pot.
And stir together.
Then add a bunch of dark greens. You could use spinach, kale, arugula...any dark green that holds up to cooking.
Stir it all together until the greens are wilted. Put it on a plate and sprinkle with parmesean cheese.
Ta Da!

Fruity French Toast Casserole

2010-06-03T21:26:00.001-07:00

I got a version of this recipe from KSTU-TV, but adapted it for my own family. I cook a hot breakfast at least 4 days a week, so I'm always looking for new things so it's not always the standard "bacon & eggs" or "pancakes". Also, anywhere you can sneak some fruit in is always a bonus. This one is good and just fun for something a little different from the standard breakfast foods. This will serve about 4-6 people.

Casserole

6 Slices Bread, cubed

4 oz (1/2 pkg.) Cream Cheese, cut into small cubes

1 Cup Fresh Fruit (blueberries, strawberries, peaches or whatever you like)

5 Eggs

¼ Cup Milk

¼ Cup Maple Syrup

1) Place ½ of cubed bread in a well greased baking dish (8X8’ish or one like I told you about in this post). Spread around evenly.

2) Sprinkle cubed cream cheese evenly in dish over the bread.

3) Arrange fruit on top of bread & cream cheese.

4) Top with remaining bread cubes.

5) Beat together eggs, milk and syrup and pour over bread mixture so everything is moistened.

6) Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least a couple hours.

7) In the morning, bake at 350 covered with foil for 30 min.

8) Remove foil and bake another 30 min. until lightly browned.

Fruit Topping

½ Cup Water

½ Cup Sugar

1 Tbsp. Cornstarch

1 Tbsp. Butter

1 Cup Fresh Fruit (same as in the bread mixture, or not I guess)

1) While the casserole is baking, combine water, sugar and cornstarch in pan and stir together to dissolve sugar.

2) Heat until thickened and add the fruit. Continue cooking for a couple of minutes.

3) Remove from heat and add butter. Stir together until butter is melted.

Cut french toast into servings and top with fruit mixture.

My Cute New Cookware

2010-06-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

You might be thinking, "how could someone refer to their cookware as cute?" Well, let me just show you what I got for Mother's Day that I am so excited about. In fact, I'm so excited that I haven't stopped cooking ever since and our fridge is getting too full to fit anything else into it. I'm going to have to take a break for awhile until we catch up! Cookware isn't what it used to be...silver, black, straight, boring. There are so many fun options out there, why didn't someone think of "cute" cookware sooner?! Next, I'm going to have to replace my entire pots & pans set! Anyway, here are my two new items that have brought me so much joy.

Rachael Ray's Bubble & Brown Stoneware Set: You can select from a few awesome colors. I chose the orange. You can use these as you would normally use any kind of glass baking dish, except instead of clear, square and boring, you've got a beautiful bright color, shape and even handles! You can use it to make things like lasagna, casseroles, brownies, etc. They are even cute enough to use as serving dishes for other things! I served a fruit dip in the little one last week. Tramontina Gourmet Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven: This one is great because I've always needed a smaller dish for things like soup for my little family. I have this giant soup pan and I seriously think because of it, I rarely make soup for my family. Who wants to lug out this giant thing that's way bigger than what you need and that you have to clean when you're done? This is cast iron so it heats everything evenly and can be used right on the stove and transferred into the oven. You could brown beef in it for spaghetti sauce (or hamburger helper, I'll just admit) because you still have plenty of room for more. It also has cute little handles so you can serve in it as well. Who doesn't love to save cleaning time by using less dishes? And again, it came in a fun color! Love it!

Tea Party Tea Sandwiches

2010-05-20T19:43:00.001-07:00

We had a fun little tea party for Mother's Day. I kind of just took a combination of ideas from online, made up some of my own ideas, put them together and man, they turned out so yummy! What a fun activity for the girls, I'd highly recommend it. One of the best things about these sandwiches is I assembled all of them from start to finish in about 15 minutes. That was good since I decided to have this tea party the day before I actually had it. I shopped for the food that morning, so these are really great if you're a procrastinator like I am!

For all tea sandwiches, you first have to cut the crusts of the bread. Also, you are going for small and cute. Don't forget to bring out your best china and make it fancy!

I wanted a combination of both sweet and savory sandwiches, so here are the savory ones.
Tomato & Olive Sandwich
Bread (I used white for these), with crusts removed
A Variety of Marinated Olives (You can get these in the bulk section of the deli area in the grocery store).
Cream Cheese, softened
Tomatoes, sliced
Salt

1) Pit and chop the olives.
2) Mix the olives with the cream cheese.
3) Spread the olive/cheese mixture onto the bread slices.
4) Lay tomatoes over the cheese mixture and sprinkle with salt.
5) Top with another slice of cheese covered bread and cut diagonally in half to form a triangle.

Cucumber & Chive Sandwich
Bread (I used white for these), with crusts removed
Cucumber, peeled & sliced
Chives, fresh
Cream Cheese, softened
Salt

1) Mix the chives with the cream cheese.
2) Spread the chive/cheese mixture onto the bread slices.
3) Lay cucumbers over the cheese mixture and sprinkle lightly with salt.
4) Top with another slice of cheese covered bread and cut diagonally in half to form a triangle.

And here are the sweet ones.
Pear, Honey & Walnut Sandwich
Bread (I used wheat for these), with crusts removed
Pear, sliced
Cream Cheese, softened
Honey
Walnuts

1) Mix equal amounts of honey and cream cheese together.
2) Spread mixture onto the bread slices.
3) Lay pears over the honey/cheese mixture on half of the slices of bread.
4) Sprinkle walnuts onto the other half of the slices of bread.
5) Put the bread slices together and cut diagonally in half to form a triangle.

Strawberry & Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwich
Bread (I used wheat for these), with crusts removed
Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread found next to the peanut butter in the grocery store)
Strawberries, sliced

1) Spread the nutella onto the bread slices.
2) Top with strawberries.
3) Put the bread slices together and cut diagonally in half to form a triangle.

Banana & Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwich
Bread (I used wheat for these), with crusts removed
Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread found next to the peanut butter in the grocery store)
Bananas, sliced

1) Spread the nutella onto the bread slices.
2) Top with bananas.
3) Put the bread slices together and cut diagonally in half to form a triangle.

5 different sandwiches in 15 minutes!

Biscuits & Gravy

2010-04-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

This is your basic run of the mill biscuits & gravy recipe, but I wanted to post it because I have a great recipe for leftovers. You can click this link for that recipe: Sausage Gravy Pasta. Even though these are basic and easy, I make them all the time at my house because my kids LOVE them...well, and so do I!

4 Buttermilk Biscuits (we like Pillsbury frozen biscuits best)
1 tube Jimmy Dean Sausage
2 Cups Milk
2-4 Tablespoons Flour

1. Prepare biscuits as instructed on package.
2. Brown sausage in skillet. As soon as sausage is completely brown, turn to medium heat.
3. Add flour by the tablespoon, stirring constantly. Let the flour turn BROWN before adding another tablespoon (if you don't, your gravy will taste like flour).
4. After you have added enough flour to make the gravy as thick as you like, add milk and stir with whisk.

Serve over biscuits.

Spaghetti Pasta Salad

2010-04-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a couple of leftover recipes. I really have a hard time with leftovers and can only eat them if they are completely transformed into something that doesn't resemble what they were originally. This is one of my favorite things to do with leftover spaghetti noodles. In fact, I usually try to make extra pasta just to make sure we have enough left over to make this. It could not be any easier.

Cooked Spaghetti

Tomatoes, chopped

Cucumber, chopped

Can of sliced Olives

Zesty Italian Salad Dressing

Salad Supreme

Combine all ingredients in whatever quantities desired. Serve warm or cold.

Fruit Roll-Ups

2010-03-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

I didn't even know this was possible without a food dehydrator, but I found out how to do this in an old book I've been reading called "Today's Tips for Easy Living". It's a great book even though the "today" referred to in the title was in 1988!

All you have to do to make these is puree whatever fruit you want in the blender. Add about 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice per quart of puree to keep the fruit from browning and as a preservative. After blending them, pour onto an inverted cookie sheet covered in saran wrap. Put them in an oven set at 175 degrees and leave the door open a couple inches (I assume so the moisture won't remain in the oven?). You have to leave them in there for several hours, but you can tell when they're done because they don't look "wet" anymore and when you try to peel them they'll be pliable.

For mine, I used strawberries, oranges and bananas. They all tasted great. Also, I dried my strawberry one out so much that it was brittle and I was just cracking pieces off of it. I put it in a ziplock bag with a few drops of water and the next day it was just as soft as the others.

I'm looking forward to trying this with all different kinds of fruit. What a healthy treat! Enjoy!

Eggs 'n Gravy

2010-02-15T12:30:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered this breakfast food and I absolutely love it! We all need another way to cook eggs, right? I've never heard of this method before, but it's so simple. The kids love it too.

It's made just like you would make biscuits and gravy (which I just recently learned how to make as well), except with eggs instead of sausage. You'll need some biscuits, so you can either use pre-made biscuits or start cooking your favorite kind while you're preparing the rest.

1. First you hard boil some eggs (I make one per person). Peel them and then separate the whites from the yolks.
2. While the eggs are cooking, heat a pan over medium-high heat. Add butter and cornstarch or flour. Whisk them together. This is a roux.
3. When the butter is melted, add milk while stirring. Make sure it is hot enough that it's bubbling a bit so it will thicken.
4. Add salt & pepper to taste. I also add a little hot sauce here because I always add hot sauce to my eggs, but you can leave that out if you don't like it.
5. Chop up the egg whites and add them to the milk mixture.
6. Split each biscuit in half and spoon some of the egg/milk mixture onto it.
7. Crumble an egg yolk over the top of each biscuit.

Ok, normally I just "eye-ball" it, but in the interest of trying to create a recipe, here are the general amounts per person:
1 Egg, 1/2 Tbsp. Butter, 1/2 Tbsp. Cornstarch/Flour, 3/4 Cup Milk, 1 Biscuit.

Stuffed Mushrooms

2009-12-04T20:17:00.000-08:00

Ok, here's the second one. You would not believe how good these taste with so few ingredients. I even have to pop bits of the filling into my mouth while I'm making these because I can't wait until I'm all done!

2 Pkgs. Whole Button Mushrooms

8 oz. Cream Cheese

1 Pkg. Jimmy Dean Sausage Tube

Cook sausage over medium-high heat until no longer pink.
Meanwhile, clean mushrooms and remove stems.
Chop stems.
Combine stems, cooked sausage and cream cheese until mixed together (if the sausage is still warm, it will melt the cream cheese and make it easier to stir).
Stuff mixture into mushrooms (and don't worry if they are bulging far over the top). I've tried many methods for this, but you really just have to use your hands.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

You could also sprinkle bread crumbs or parmesean cheese on them if you wanted to, but I really think they are fine just the way they are. CAUTION...Make sure you have a napkin when you eat them, because they drip!

Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts

2009-12-04T20:10:00.001-08:00

I'm posting my two favorite appetizers that I always make during the holidays. Wait til you try these two EASY recipes. You won't believe how good they taste for being so simple!

1 Pkg. Bacon

2-3 Cans Whole Water Chestnuts

1 Cup Ketchup

1 Cup Brown Sugar

Combine Ketchup and Brown Sugar.
Cut all of the bacon in half.
Separate the bacon and lay on a plate with paper towels. Cook in the microwave until they're about half-way cooked.
Wrap bacon around water chestnuts and secure with a toothpick.
Dip each one into ketchup mixture and set into a glass pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Ok, I know the Ketchup and Brown Sugar mixture sounds nasty, but it's really the only combo that works. I've tried every kind of BBQ sauce known to man on these, and they just don't work! Ketchup is really just tomato sauce, sugar and vinegar anyway, so that sugar really comes out when you bake it and it becomes sweet and delicious...of course you're also adding the sweet brown sugar to it as well, but man, it just doesn't get better than this!

Taco Soup

2009-11-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

Everyone has a recipe for Taco Soup, but I'm posting this one anyway because it's my favorite. I always make this on halloween and serve it with corn bread. It's so easy to make because everything is right from your pantry. You just throw in can after can!

1. Saute ground beef and onion together in a large pot over medium-high heat.
1 1/2 lbs. Ground Beef
1 Onion

2. Add the following to the pot and bring to a boil:
1 Can Green Beans & Liquid
1 Can Whole Kernal Corn & Liquid
1 Can Red Kidney Beans & Liquid
1 Can (pint) Tomatoes
1 Can Beef Broth
1 Can Tomato Sauce
1 Pkg. Dry Taco Seasoning

3. Reduce heat and simmer at least 1 hour to blend flavors.

4. Ladle into bowls and top with the following (if desired):
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Sour Cream
Fritos
Sliced Green Onions

Cake Decorating Tips

2009-09-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

Do many of you have the same problems with frosting cake as I do? I always try to frost it and end up churning the cake up right into my frosting. It's so frustrating. My sister-in-law, Kaleena, is an awesome cake decorator and shared these tips with me.

1. Be sure you have good cake pans. It's worth the extra money for the non-stick cake pans to make sure your cake doesn't stick. It's much easier to frost when it's smooth.
2. Freeze cake for an hour or two before frosting.
3. Use a cake decorating spatula. It just makes the job easier.
4. Use plenty of frosting, usually about two pillsbury containers per one box of cake mix. Just gob it on there and then you're essentially just pushing the frosting around to cover the cake.
5. After spreading frosting around, dip knife into cold water to smooth out frosting all over cake.

These tips helped me, so I thought they might help you too. Good Luck!

Pirate Ship Cake

2009-09-06T13:49:00.001-07:00

I was so proud of myself for making this cake for Jakey's first birthday. I'm not a great "baker" and my cakes never turn out, so I pretty much gave up on them a long time ago. I've never made Hailee a birthday cake, I always buy them or have someone else make them for me. I decided I'm going to start trying to make my own kids birthday cakes. You know, just one of those things that makes me feel like a better mom, as irrational as that may be. Anyway, I loved how this one turned out!
It was actually pretty simple. I got the idea on the internet and then made some improvisations. Here are the steps:

1. Bake cake according to package directions in two round cake pans.
2. While cake is baking, frost the bottom of a cookie sheet with blue frosting for the water and position Swedish Fish and/or Gummy Sharks around.
3. When cake is cool, cut each circle in half.
4. Use frosting to "glue" each half circle together to make a boat shape. Cut a tiny bit off the bottom so it will stand upright.
5. Frost the top and sides and transfer to frosted cookie sheet.
6. Use "pirrohette" cookies around the edges of the top to form a "wooden railing". Pipe more frosting around the top of the cookies to add a second layer of cookies.
7. Insert Swiss Rolls or Ho Ho's with straws into the side of the ship to form "cannons".
8. Punch holes into white cardstock and slide a straw through to form the "sails".
9. Decorate the top of the cake with a pile of Nestle Treasures for "treasure chests", a pile of Whoppers for "cannon balls" and toy pirate figurines. I also put a pirate bracelet across the front for decoration.

Just have fun with it and good luck!

Gazpacho

2009-09-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

I have always loved Gazpacho and there are tons of recipes out there for it, but this one is official. I got this recipe from my sister-in-law, Kaleena. Her family is from Spain and this is the recipe her Grandma makes. If you don't know what Gazpacho is, it's a cold soup that tastes similar to salsa. There aren't exact measurements, so you just have to do it to taste, but with the delicious ingredients in here it wouldn't matter what the ratio's were, it would still taste good.

2 Medium Tomatoes
1/4 Green Pepper
1/2 Cucumber, peeled and seeded
1 Clove Garlic
1 Serving of hard French Bread, soaked in water
2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2-3 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
Water to your thickness

Mix all ingredients in a blender and serve in a bowl or cup.

Frog Eye Salad

2009-08-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

This is a common dish (at least it is around here), but I really love this recipe and make this often in the summer, especially when I need to bring a dish for a party. It feeds a ton of people and the leftovers are great.

1 Box Acini de Pepe (in the pasta section of the grocery store)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Rinse and cool.

1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs, beaten
2 Cups Pineapple Juice
2 Tablespoons Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

3. While pasta is cooking, combine above ingredients, cook until thickened and let cool.
4. Pour sauce over pasta and store in fridge overnight.

2 Cups Mandarin Oranges
2 Cans (20 oz.) Pineapple Tidbits
1 Can Crushed Pineapple
2 (8 oz.) Cool Whip
2 Cups Mini Marshmallows

5. In the morning, add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

In this picture I just garnished it with some clementines.

Broccoli Salad

2009-08-16T13:03:00.001-07:00

This is great for summer too, because you can use up all your vegetables. You could throw extra vegetables in because it would taste great with any combination.

Tops off 4 bundles of Broccoli, cut to desired size
2 Carrots, Chopped
1 Bunch Green Onion
2 Cups Celery, Chopped
1 Cup Craisins
4 Tablespoons Bacon or Bacon Bits
1 Cup Honey Roasted Peanuts (optional)

1. Add all ingredients to a bowl, set aside.

Dressing:
3/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1/3 Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Curry

2. Mix dressing to taste, pour over salad and mix.

Stuffed Tomatoes

2009-08-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post some of my favorite summertime recipes since we all have an abundance of produce right now. These are so easy to make, but they look really fancy. They'd be great to serve to guests.

5 Tomatoes
2 Jarred Pimientos, drained and chopped
1/4 Red Onion
1/2 Small Zucchini, diced into 1/4 in. squares
1 Jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/2 Lemon
1/2 teaspoon Oregano
2 Tablespoons Fresh Cilantro or Flat-Leaf Parsley, chopped
2 Tablespoons Bread Crumbs
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

1. Cut the tops off 4 tomatoes and trim a thin slice off the bottoms so they will sit upright. Hollow out the tomatoes with a spoon and discard the insides. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and pepper.
2. Seed and chop the remaining tomato and place in bowl.
3. Add the next 7 ingredients to the bowl.
4. Sprinkle bread crumbs evenly over mixture.
5. Add olive oil and salt and pepper and toss mixture to combine.
6. Fill the empty tomatoes with stuffing and serve.

Calling for Recipes!

2009-08-12T18:28:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone! I need some ideas and I want to post some recipes from other people. Send me your favorite recipes so I can share them with others! Email them to cookinbrooke@gmail.com. Thanks!

Tangy Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

2009-07-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to think of fun recipes for summertime that you can make to bring to parties or just different ways to use all the readily available fruits and vegetables during this time of year. I am a huge fan of any kind of chips and salsa, definitely my weak spot, but I like knowing that at least the salsa is packed with vitamins and nutrients. Here's a unique one that I just love. In this recipe you make your own chips and they are baked, so it's fairly healthy.

1 Tablespoon Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
4 (7 in.) Flour Tortillas
1 Cup Raspberries (fresh or frozen)
2 Peaches, peeled and chopped
2 Kiwifruit, peeled, sliced and quartered
1 Lime
1 teaspoon Sugar

Cinnamon Chips:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a flour/sugar shaker, combine sugar and cinnamon.
3. Using kitchen spritzer, lightly spray tortillas with water; sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture.
4. Using pizza cutter, cut each tortilla into 8 wedges; place in single layer on flat baking stone. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp. Remove to nonstick cooling rack. Cool completely.

Fruit Salsa:
1. Place raspberries, peaches and kiwifruit in 1 qt. batter bowl.
2. Add zest and juice from lime.
3. Add 1 tsp. Sugar and mix all ingredients gently.

Cucumber Dip

2009-06-21T20:59:00.001-07:00

This is one of my favorite dips during the summer. I make it all the time. Every time I bring it somewhere I get requests for the recipe. It seems like it wouldn't have a lot of flavor because there aren't many ingredients, but it really does. I got this from my friend, Natalie, several years ago. I did make one adjustment to the original recipe and that is that I added the garlic. If you're not a big garlic fan, just take it out because it didn't originally call for it anyway.

1 Pint Cottage Cheese
1 Pint Sour Cream
1 Cucumber, peeled & shredded
3 Green Onions, sliced
1 Clove Garlic, finely chopped

Combine all ingredients and serve with Ruffles potato chips.

I decorated the top with green onion and a little bit of chili powder, just for garnish.

Tomato Tip

2009-06-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

Don't you love fresh tomatoes during summertime? Especially right out of the garden. Yum! Well, I learned something a few years ago that I really never knew before and I need to make sure everyone else out there knows it too! Never, ever store tomatoes in the fridge. It completely changes their flavor and texture. I thought I didn't like tomatoes until I learned this. When you bring them home, just keep them out in room temperature. They will taste so much better! If you don't believe what a difference it makes, do a test. Put one in the fridge and keep one out and you'll see what I mean. You'll never store tomatoes in the fridge again. One rule of thumb I use is I pay attention to how it's stored at the grocery store. If it's in the refrigerated section, it should obviously go in the fridge and vice versa.

Chili's Peanut Dipping Sauce

2009-06-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

This recipe is also from Chili's and meant to be served with the Asian Lettuce Wraps, but you could use this sauce for plenty of things besides the lettuce wraps, so I posted it separately.

1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 Cup Water
2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Ginger, finely minced
1/8 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Chili Oil
1/2 teaspoon Vegetable Oil
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium/low heat.
2. Heat while whisking until sauce becomes smooth.
3. Remove from heat when done.

Chili's Sesame-Ginger Sauce

2009-06-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe from Chili's that is meant to be served with their Asian Lettuce Wraps. I posted it separately because this sauce would be delicious on many things, not just the lettuce wraps.

1/4 Cup Water
1 teaspoon arrowroot (or cornstarch)
1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 Cup White Vinegar
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon Ginger, finely minced
1 teaspoon Vegetable Oil
1/2 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 dash Red Pepper Flakes
1 dash Parsley

1. Combine the water and arrowroot in a small bowl and mix until arrowroot is dissolved.
2. Combine this solution with the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 2 minutes.

Chili's Asian Lettuce Wraps

2009-06-08T20:06:00.001-07:00

I love these lettuce wraps. They are so good! I always ordered them at Chili's, until recently they discontinued making them. That was a sad day for me. Fortunately, someone gave me this recipe, which is the exact Chili's recipe. It's pretty involved, so you really could cut out some steps (like the way it is served), but I wanted to put the entire recipe here in case you feel so inclined to make them exactly as they are supposed to be.

Chicken:
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
4 Chicken Breast Fillets
4 Green Onions
1/2 Cup Water Chestnuts, minced
1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds
1 Head Butter Lettuce

Stir Fry Sauce:
1/4 Cup Water
1 teaspoon Arrowroot (or Cornstarch)
1/3 Cup Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 Cup White Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Dried Chives
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
2 teaspoons Sesame Seeds
1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 teaspoon Chili Oil
1 teaspoon Creamy Peanut Butter

STIR FRY SAUCE:
1. Combine the water and arrowroot in a small bowl and stir until arrowroot is dissolved.
2. Add this solution to the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes or until thick.

CHICKEN:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken breast until done (3-5 minutes per side), turning every couple of minutes.
2. Remove the cooked chicken breast to a cutting board and slice it into strips with a sharp knife. Keep the pan hot.
3. Load the chicken back into the same pan over medium/high heat, and add the water chestnuts. Heat for 1 minute.
3. Add 5 tablespoons of stir fry sauce to the chicken and heat for 2 minutes, stirring often. Sauce should be bubbling.
4. Add the sliced green onions and stir.

TO SERVE:
Prepare each serving plate with a bed of bean threads (optional)-(see directions below).
Spoon one-fourth of the chicken onto the bean threads.
Sprinkle the chicken with about a tablespoon of sliced almonds.
Add three leaves of butter lettuce to the plate, along with a garnish of shredded carrots.
Repeat for the remaining servings. Serve with sesame-ginger dipping sauce and peanut dipping sauce on the side (see other recipes).

Bean threads can be found in the Asian food section of your supermarket. Before using as a garnish, the threads must be flash-fried in a skillet in 2 inches of hot vegetable oil. When the threads float to the top, remove them to a towel to drain.

Apple Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup

2009-05-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

This recipe is from my mom. She made these often when we were still living at home. It's nice having another recipe to throw your apples in. I love these and the syrup is so good, you could drink it!

Pancakes:
1 1/2 Cups Flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Tablespoon Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg, beaten
1 Cup Evaporated Milk
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 Apple, peeled & chopped

1. Stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar & salt.
2. Combine the beaten egg, milk & melted butter.
3. Add the liquid mixture gradually to dry ingredients, stirring only until the batter is smooth.
4. Fold in the chopped apples. The batter will be very thick.
5. Drop the batter by generous tablespoons onto a hot, greased griddle, spreading to make the pancakes round. Allow plenty of cooking time as the pancakes are very thick.

Syrup:
1 Cup Light Corn Syrup
2 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Water
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 Cup Evaporated Milk

1. Mix together the corn syrup, sugar, water & cinnamon in a medium size sauce pan. Bring to a full boil over medium heat, stirring constantly for 2 more minutes.
2. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.
3. Slowly stir in the evaporated milk.

A little extra tip on this syrup is that I pour it over my yams at Thanksgiving too!

Peanut Butter Fingers II

2009-05-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

I had posted recently about a treat I remember eating from my childhood days in elementary school. I had a similar recipe, but it wasn't quite what I remembered. Well, my friend Whitney came through for me! She happens to know someone who was a cook for Weber County School District and got me the official recipe from my childhood! I made them and they are sooooooo good...just the way I remember them.

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Cup Margarine or Butter

2 Eggs

1 Cup Peanut Butter

2 Cups flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon Salt

2 Cups Oats

1. Mix all ingredients and press in a large cookie sheet.
2. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes. When crust is done, it should be soft to the touch and don't over-bake.
3. When crust is cool, spread a desired amount of peanut butter on top and then top it with chocolate frosting.

Kix Cookies

2009-05-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

I went to a party tonight and Cherie (Ty's cousin) made these delicious cookies. I couldn't get enough of them. She gave me the recipe and they are soooo easy! They're along the sames lines as Rice Krispie Treats, but better! 1/2 Cup Light Karo Syrup
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Cream Peanut Butter
3 Cups Kix Cereal

In medium saucepan, bring Karo syrup and sugar to a hard boil. As soon as it boils, immediately remove from heat, add peanut butter and blend well. Stir in cereal, then drop by tablespoonfuls onto wax paper. Makes approximately 30.

Tip: She uses just a little less than 3 Cups of cereal so there's plenty of peanut butter! Yum-O!

Easy & Delicious Chicken

2009-04-28T18:10:00.000-07:00

This is a really easy meal, especially when you don't have a lot of time, because it cooks in the crockpot. It's sort of like a chicken stroganoff. I always take this to neighbors when I make dinner for them. Everyone loves it.

6 Chicken Breasts
1 (8 oz.) Bottle Italian Salad Dressing
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1 (8 oz.) Package Cream Cheese
1/2 Teaspoon Basil, dried
1/2 Teaspoon Thyme, dried
Salt & Pepper, to taste
1 Package Bowtie Pasta

1. In a slow cooker, combine the chicken and italian dressing. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
2. When chicken is tender, drain most (not all) of the dressing and discard. Shred the chicken and return to slow cooker.
3. In a medium bowl combine the soup, broth, cream cheese, basil, thyme, salt and pepper.
4. Mix well and pour mixture over the chicken in the slow cooker.
5. Cook on low for 1 hour and serve over bowtie pasta (or any kind you like).

Easter Chick Nests

2009-04-18T11:53:00.001-07:00

These are a perfect treat to make with the help of your kids. Hailee loved helping me make these. I always like to give credit where credit's due, but I got the idea for this out of a magazine and for the life of me, I can't remember which one. Have you ever heard of "moose poop" (or a more appropriate name is "oatmeal munchies")? Well, it's delicious and here's the recipe:

1/4 Cup Margarine or Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Baking Cocoa
Dash Salt
1/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 1/2 Cups Oats
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup Flour

1. Mix first 7 ingredients and bring to boil on medium heat. Boil for 1 minute.
2. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.
3. Stir until well mixed.
4. Using 2 teaspoons, drop small portions of mixture on cookie sheet lines with waxed paper. Allow to cool in refrigerator before eating.

So instead of dropping them onto a cookie sheet as you normally would, you drop them into muffin tins and form them against the bottom and sides of each tin to make a "nest". Put them in the fridge until you're ready to serve them, then pop them out of the pan and fill them up with robin eggs and top with a Peep! So cute!

This yields about 9 nests.

Easter Bunny Cake

2009-04-18T11:41:00.001-07:00

We made some fun treats for Easter. My mom made this one. This is a really easy cake to make. You just cook a cake as you normally would in two round pans. When they're cooked and cooled, do this to one of them:
Then place the round cake in the center of a cookie sheet and use the two side sections from the cut cake for the ears and the middle section for the bowtie. Frost the cake white and the bowtie and center of the ears pink. Put coconut all over the round cake and ears for the fuzz and decorate the face and bowtie however you want. My mom used oreos, frosting and blue gumdrops for the eyes, licorice strings for the whiskers and mouth and gumdrops for the nose and the bowtie. Then she mixed some of the coconut with green food coloring to cover the cookie sheet and it looks like easter grass. (The missing gumdrops are because Hailee & Bryce got to the cake before I could get the picture). Isn't it cute?!

Iron Chef Part II

2009-04-15T18:25:00.001-07:00

For dessert we made a fruit pizza. Everyone has a different recipe for this, but ours turned out really good. We used 2 pillsbury sugar cookie dough rolls, rolled them out onto a cookie sheet & cooked according to package directions. We mixed 8 oz. Cool Whip, 8 oz. Cream Cheese & 4 oz. Vanilla Yogurt. After the cookie cooled, we spread the mixture over the top. Then you can use your creativity. Top the entire cookie with an assortment of whatever fruits you like. We used raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, green apples, grapes, kiwi fruit & apricots. Then to make it shine, we brushed corn syrup thinned with a little lemon juice & juice from the canned apricots all over the fruits. Very pretty!

Iron Chef Part I

2009-04-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

On Monday at work, we had a manager's retreat and did Iron Chef. It was so fun. My team was in charge of salad and dessert and the other team was in charge of the main dish and beverage. Our secret ingredient was fruit. The team that cooked at my house came up with this. And here I go with the method again, rather than the recipe.

Mix Mayonnaise with curry powder to taste. Cut up rotisserie chicken and mix with mayonnaise mixture. Serve over a bed of greens and top with coconut, toasted almonds and an assortment of tropical fruits. We used mango, pineapple and grapes (and just a couple strawberries for color). The salad would've been fine for a main dish in itself. It was delicious.

Peanut Butter Fingers

2009-04-11T20:48:00.001-07:00

I love these. They remind me of the peanut butter fingers I used to get in elementary school. I think this particular recipe needs to be tweaked just a little bit, because I don't think it's the best it can be. I'm posting it because I do think they're definitely worth trying. However, if you make them and think you have a better recipe or you have found a way to make these a little better, leave a comment or email me at cookinbrooke@gmail.com.

3/4 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 1/3 Cups Brown Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
2 Eggs
2 Cups Flour
2 Cups Oats
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Cream Peanut Butter, whipped
Chocolate Frosting

1. Cream together first 6 ingredients, then add next 4 ingredients.
2. Spread into butter jellyroll cookie sheet (12X7). Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.
3. While hot, spread with 1/2 whipped peanut butter. Cool or freeze to harden the peanut butter.
4. Frost with chocolate frosting.

Share your stuff!

2009-04-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

I want all of you to share your recipes with me too and I can post them on here. So if you have a recipe or a cooking tip for me to post (or anything related to food), please email it to me at cookinbrooke@gmail.com. Thanks!

Orange Kisses

2009-04-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

These are sooo good and sooo easy! Try them with your next dinner!

12 Frozen White Dinner Rolls (Rhodes Dough)
1/2 Cup Butter, softened
3 Tablespoons Orange Rinds, grated fresh
1 Cup Sugar

1. Allow dough to thaw.
2. Mix orange rind and sugar.
3. Coat each ball with softened butter, then roll in orange-sugar mixture.
4. Place in pan. Let rise until dough doubles, about one hour.
5. Bake at 350 degrees until just golden brown.

Poor Man's Queso

2009-04-04T21:09:00.000-07:00

I was thinking that one of the problems for me on this blog is going to be the fact that I really don't have "recipes" for some of the things I come up with on my own. So I had a couple of choices. I was trying to decide if I should make each recipe and pay careful attention to how much I put into it so I can give you an exact recipe or I can just tell you the method and you can make it to your own taste. I liked the second idea better. Sometimes just learning a method rather than following a recipe makes it easier to be flexible and adjust things if you don't have the exact right ingredients. So, here's one of my favorite snacks. My sister-in-law, Trish, came up with the name tonight.

Take a couple of handfuls of whatever kind of cheese you like (I usually use cheddar) and put it in a saucepan over medium-high heat on the stove. Sprinkle in a bit of flour. This helps to both emulsify and thicken it. Pour in a little bit of milk and stir until it's melted. Rachael Ray would tell you it has to be stirred with a figure 8 (I'm not sure why, but I do it because she says so). Keep adding milk until it's at the desired consistency. Then throw in a can of your favorite chili. Mix together and serve with tortilla chips. It's delicious!

Brownie Cutting Tip

2009-04-04T21:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is the most helpful hint I've learned in the kitchen for awhile! Our friend Kirk taught us this trick and everyone needs to know it. You know when you cut brownies and the brownies churn up and all the insides come out and it turns into a big, huge mess? This is especially true when you can't wait for them to completely cool, which is certainly a problem of mine. Well, all you need to do is use a plastic, disposable knife to cut them and it cuts them perfectly smooth every time. Try it, it is amazing!

April Fool's

2009-04-04T20:56:00.001-07:00

I made this April Fool's Day meal for Hailee. It came from Family Fun Magazine in the April issue, but I made a few changes based on what I had in my pantry.

It's supposed to look like fish sticks, sauce & peas. It is actually graham crackers covered in peanut butter & rolled in crushed up corn flakes, raspberry jam & green apple airheads rolled into little balls.

So certainly not the most healthy meal, but Hailee loved it. It was funny because she wouldn't eat the "peas" and we told her the joke and told her it was candy and she didn't believe us. Ty held them right up to her nose and told her to smell them. She said "It IS candy!?" and gobbled them right up, of course. :)

Dutch Babies

2009-04-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd start with a breakfast food. I love these! This is a refreshing change from the typical breakfast foods. These were always my older brother's favorites growing up. Give them a try!

6 Eggs
1 Cup Milk
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Butter
Lemon, Powdered Sugar & Maple Syrup

1. Combine the eggs, milk & salt in a blender. Blend the batter until fluffy.
2. Tap in the flour a little at a time, beating the ingredients until well blended.
3. Melt the butter in a 9X13 inch baking dish in a 425 degree oven. When the butter is bubbly, pour on the batter.
4. Immediately return the mixture to the oven. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon, a sprinkle of powdered sugar and some maple syrup. Yum!

My New Cookin' Blog

2009-04-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know me, know that I have a passion for FOOD! The saying holds true for me that "some people eat to live and some people live to eat!" I wanted to start this blog to share recipes and cooking tips with anyone who wants to hear them. I have lot's of family favorites that have been passed down for generations and I want to always have them and be able to share them with others. I have recipes that I've gotten from others that are just quick and easy. I even have some that I've come up with myself. The recipes will always be pretty simple because I love to eat as fast as possible! So, I hope you all enjoy!