Perfect Oatmeal Cookies

I woke up craving oatmeal cookies today. What can I say? I must've been dreaming about them or something. The kids wanted to go to Grandma's house, and my husband had a slight case of cabin fever, so we decided to go bake cookies at Grandma's house...after a quick trip through Safeway, of course. :)

This recipe is totally not mine, FYI. It has been adapted from Smitten Kitchen's "thick, chewy oatmeal raisin cookies". I cannot express my love for Smitten Kitchen enough!

What ya need, "in order of appearance":

1 cup softened butter (I know I always say margarine is fine....but you need real butter for this....and don't be like me and forget to pull your butter out of the freezer...oops!)
1 1/2 cup brown sugar (whatever you like, I use dark brown sugar)
2 eggs
1 tsp good vanilla extract (I used bourbon vanilla....you could use a vodka vanilla....or McCormick...whatever...I won't tell...)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3-3 1/2 cups oatmeal (anything but instant will work...I use quick oats since that's what I buy for breakfast...)
1 bag chocolate chips (whatever you like...my crowd likes milk, and I prefer dark, so I used half and half)
2 cups raisins
1 1/2 cups nuts (whatever you like....walnuts are good...as are pecans...or, well, anything, really...)

Typical cookie method--cream the butter and sugar together, add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix up the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon with a fork, then combine the wet and dry mixtures. Stir in the oatmeal a cup at a time, then fold in the chocolate chips, raisins and nuts.

Chill the dough for half an hour or so. Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper and then drop the dough in balls about an inch apart (mine didn't spread much at all....but then my dough-to-stuff ratio was VERY heavy on the stuff so there really wasn't much TO spread).

Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes or until browned to your liking. Allow to sit on the hot cookie sheet for an additional 5 mins or so after you pull them out of the oven, then move them to cooling racks.

NOMMMMMMMMM!!!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

*updated 06 March 2013*

I've only been meaning to blog this recipe for a month now, but it's so good I keep forgetting to take a photo until it's all gone!

Sorry, no real process photos, but it's really simple! Here's a general list of what you'll need:

1.5-2 lbs chicken breasts (or thighs)
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 big cloves of garlic, minced and crushed into paste
2 12-16 oz bags of Southwest Mix frozen veggies (the one I love is by Birdseye...use what you like)
2 cans of Rotel (Original)
1/2 cup of white rice
1/4 cup sour cream
1-2 teaspoons of chicken base (I like Better Than Bouillon, but you can use a couple bouillon cubes or substitute a can of stock or leave it out entirely, that's fine too....)
2 tablespoons of your favorite taco or fajita seasoning--I love the one over at Give Peas A Chance, as I've said before....but you can use McCormick if you'd prefer...no one will tell.

seasoning to taste (I use salt & pepper, garlic and onion powders, chile powder, lots of cayenne pepper...Montreal Seasoning works well, too)


Start out with a couple tablespoons of oil in a heavy bottom soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Toss in the onion and garlic paste and cook till the onions are translucent. Cut the chicken into 1/2" cubes and toss it in with the onion and garlic, and then use your misc. seasonings to season the chicken before turning the heat up to high and browning it a bit. Toss in the fajita seasoning and the chicken base, both cans of Rotel, the rice and the bags of veggies, and add about 2 quarts of water (enough to top off the pot). Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat and cover and let it simmer for 20 mins or so (I know this seems like a long time for those of us who prefer their rice a little firm...but I think soft is better for this....so use your judgment). At the end, mix in the sour cream (I *HATE* sour cream straight up....but I still put it in this. It adds a little something and it doesn't make everything taste like sour cream, I promise!).


Spoon out the "good stuff" into a bowl with a slotted spoon, and then use a ladle or a measuring cup to pour the broth over the top of it--this way everyone gets their preferred "stuff to broth ratio." haha!!

Top with shredded cheese (cheddar...must...have...cheddar....monterey jack is good, too, but you simply MUST use cheddar, too! LOL!), more sour cream for those who like it, and tortilla strips or Fritos! I usually add shredded lettuce and chopped tomato and onion to the top as well.

Voila! Tortilla soup.

Opening a Pomegranate

'Tis the season that I start craving pomegranate! I used to be really intimidated by cutting into them, but it's really not too difficult or even messy if you go about it properly.

You'll need a mixing bowl, a sharp knife (I like my serrated tomato knife for this) and I'd recommend a trash bag to cover your cutting board or counter top as well, because the juice *WILL* stain, I promise.

Start by lopping off the top--about half an inch or so.

See the juice?!

Score the side from top to bottom about half a dozen times, give or take (at least 4 times).

Fill your bowl with cold water, and then break the pomegranate apart into the water. It should come apart pretty easily where you've scored it.

Then, all you have to do is get to work gently picking the little pearly bits out, letting them fall into the water. The fruit will sink, and the icky white part and skin will float to the top.

All you have to do from this point is skim all the white pith off the top of the water, and strain it and you will be left with about a cereal bowl full of pomegranate seeds/pearls/whatever you wanna call them to use however you want. My favorite is to just eat them as-is by the handful, but you could put them in salads, juice them, make jam, make grenadine, or any number of other things.

I store them in a bowl in my fridge wrapped in flour sack cloth.

My Kitchen Sponge

I cut a chunk out of my kitchen sponge so it can sit up off the counter and actually dry after each use. I don't remember where I saw this idea, but I liked it, and it works really well!!! Just cut a bigger chunk out of your sponge and you can stick it around the neck of your faucet. :)

Stuffed Shells

I haven't blogged in forever it seems. *sigh* I am going to TRY to get back into the swing of blogging regularly again.

I made these shells a couple weeks ago and I only took a photo of the finished product, so I'm posting this recipe/method by memory. It's not like I measure anything anyway, so measurements wouldn't matter much.

2 lbs ground turkey
1 lb ground beef
5 oz, divided in half, shredded Parmesan cheese (I PREFER grated...just don't buy that shelf stable crap. It's not cheese. Get it in the deli or grate it yourself)
seasoned bread crumbs (make them yourself, buy them, whatever)
3 cloves garlic, minced...or 1 tbsp garlic paste
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup of chopped mushrooms, minced
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 lb jumbo shells (1 box)
2 qts of your favorite pasta sauce (canned works great for this....home made is fine if you have the energy to make it or have some frozen)

Start off by filling a large pot of water to boil. Salt it, and add the jumbo shells when it comes to a boil. Boil for 1-2 mins shy of 'done' because you are going to bake these as well. Drain when cooked.

Add a tablespoon or two of oil to the bottom of a heavy skillet and add the garlic, mushrooms and onion, and cook over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Then add the ground turkey and ground beef, mixing them together thoroughly as they brown. When the meat mixture is cooked through, add the egg, half the parmesan cheese, and 2 cups of the pasta sauce. Add the bread crumbs a handful at a time until the mixture comes together to a consistency similar to a meatloaf mixture. I also typically pick through all of the cooked shells and chop up any torn ones and add them to the filling.

Pour 1-2 cups of the pasta sauce into the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish. Take a teaspoon and gently fill each shell and set it into the baking dish as close as you can get them. Repeat until the pan is full. Spoon the remaining sauce over the shells in the pan and sprinkle with the rest of the Parmesan cheese and a light dusting of the bread crumbs. Bake at 400ish degrees for about half an hour, or until the cheese is melted and the filling is heated through.

Note: If the pan fills up before you use all of your shells and filling, fill the shells anyway and flash freeze them and store in a Ziploc bag in the freezer till next time.

Ya know how to make a great breakfast sandwich awesome? Smear the bread with maple butter (mix maple syrup with your butter or margarine), and toast it like a grilled cheese sandwich. I guarantee....awesome, no matter what kind of bread you use, whether it's sourdough or whole wheat, a nice artisan bread or a plain white bread. Awesome. ;)

Windows vs. Ford

So, I get loads of forwarded crap in my inbox every day, and most of it I don't even bother to read before trashing it...but this one caught my eye and I laughed out loud at how true it really is. Enjoy! :) For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on.  At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, 'If Ford had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.'  In response to Bill's comments, Ford issued a press release stating:  If Ford had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this part):  1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash..........Twice a day.  2.. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.  3... Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.  4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.  5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.  6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single 'This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation' warning light.  I love the next one!!!  7. The airbag system would ask 'Are you sure?' before deploying.  8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.  9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.  10. You'd have to press the 'Start' button to turn the engine off.  PS - I 'd like to add that when all else fails, you could call 'customer service' in some foreign country and be instructed in some foreign language how to fix your car yourself!!!!