White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

If you still need a holiday recipe then try these!  A combination of molasses, spices, and white chocolate all rolled up into a simple cookie.  These were absolutely DIVINE!  My first thought in comparing it with a flavor was that it reminded me of a cinnamon roll followed by the taste of gingerbread.  I am definitely keeping these in my recipe book!

A combination of late-night internet surfing and a need to make something for an upcoming Christmas party led to this find.  And I knew I had to make these because cookies are my specialty!

White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies by kSk


There were no extra steps or waiting time for these.  I just put all the ingredients into my Kitchen Aid mixer and let it go to work.  I did debate about whether or not to add an extra egg but in the end I went with the recipe as it suggested.  I think next time I will add two eggs and adjust the recipe around that.

Korey mentioned he wanted to eat these topped with whipped cream.  Yum! I thought these were best right out of the oven.  I typically like to wait for a cookie to cool down but these were even better warm.


White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies by kSk



White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

(click for printable)

1 cup shortening


1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup molasses

2 1/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 package white chocolate chips



In a large bowl, mix shortening and brown sugar until creamy.  Slowly add in an egg until it's mixed in.  While the mixer is running on low speed pour in the molasses. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients.  With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients.  Stir in white chocolate chips. Using a large ice cream scooper, scoop out on onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let them sit on the baking sheet for a minute longer and then using a spatula move them to wire racks to cool.
 
Adapted from Hanging on by a Needle and Thread

Boys and their Wrapping Paper Tubes

Need something to do with your leftover wrapping paper tubes?  Why not let your men engage in a Star Wars-like battle.

Gladiators ready?

Hiyah!

I have prevailed!

Round two!

Hunter and the Christmas Tree

Such a precious face!

Skillet Parmesan Chicken

Yesterday I came home from work, raided my pantry, and served up Parmesan Chicken for dinner.  We always have extra cans of tomatoes on hand and they came in handy.

I had already thawed two chicken breasts in the fridge so I was ready to go.  I dipped them in an egg and then Italian bread crumbs and set them to cook in a skillet with some olive oil.  Once they were halfway done I added a can of stewed tomatoes (that's all we had on hand) and let it simmer.

Then I topped everything with cheese and set the lid on top so the cheese would melt.  Dinner was done in about 30 minutes!



Skillet Parmesan Chicken by kSk


Skillet Parmesan Chicken
(click for printable)

2 chicken breasts, thawed (or thighs)
1 egg
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 T olive oil
1 can of stewed tomatoes (or crushed or diced)
Mozzarella cheese

Heat up 1 T of olive oil in pan on medium heat.  Set up two bowls.  One for your egg and one for the bread crumbs.  Beat egg with a fork.  Dip chicken in egg and then dip into the bread crumbs until both sides are well coated.  Place in skillet and let them brown on one side before flipping it over and browning on the other side.  Once chicken is mostly cooked through add your tomatoes and turn down the heat to let it simmer.  I cut my chicken in half at one point to make sure it was cooked.  Top with mozzarella and let it melt and add the lid so the cheese will melt.  Serve with pasta and veggies.

Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells

This is the most glorious, wonderful Italian dish you will ever eat.  I promise.  It's not lasagna.  It's not spaghetti.  It's stuffed shells!

Chicken...yum.

Spinach...healthy.

Cream cheese, ricotta and mozzarella...yes, please.

Tomato sauce...the icing on top.

See?  How can you resist?

This recipe makes a ton of food (a 9x13 plus an extra casserole dish) so make half for yourself and the other half you can freeze or give away.

The filling can be made a day in advance and then the shells stuffed the night of your dinner.  I came home from work determined that I was not going to eat beef stew for one more night so I got this together and into the oven after work.  We did eat a later dinner but it was absolutely worth it!



Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells by kSk

 Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells
(click for printable)


1 box uncooked jumbo pasta shells (we got by with one but you could probably use two)
2 c chopped cooked chicken
1 box frozen spinach
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (5oz) package shredded Parmesan cheese (about 1 2/3 c.)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 Tb dried parsley flakes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
26 oz can crushed tomatoes (I make my own sauce.  See below.  You can also use jarred spaghetti sauce).
Thaw spinach and press papertowels agains the spinach in a colander to drain excess liquid.

Cook shells according to package directions.  Drain and let cool.

In large mixing bowl (I did this in my Kitchen Aid), combine chicken, spinach, onion, garlic, ricotta, cream cheese, egg, spices and one cup of mozzarella. 

Pour half of tomato sauce into bottom of two 9x13 pans.  Place stuffed shells on top.  Top with remaining sauce.

Cover pans with aluminum foil.  Bake one and freeze the other.  Or bake two and eat two.

To bake:  Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.  Uncover and sprinkles remaining one cup of mozzarella on top.  Bake another five minutes until cheese has melted.

To freeze:  Cover pan with aluminum foil until ready for use.  Thaw in refrigerator and bake according to the directions above.

Tomato Sauce
Saute two cloves of garlic and however much onion you like in a pan with some olive oil.  Stir in can of crushed tomatoes.  Add whatever Italian seasonings you like.  I use basil and Italian seasoning.  Let it simmer for about ten minutes and then use in whatever recipe you need it for.
Makes 8-10 servings.

Adapted from The Sisters Cafe

Peanut Butter Cookies

Korey asked for Peanut Butter cookies last week so I obliged.  I asked him if he wanted me to add chocolate chips.  He said no.  He wanted simple peanut butter cookies.

I strongly recommend refrigerating the dough once it's mixed.  Otherwise, your cookies will spread and be huge.  I used my large ice cream scooper to scoop out the dough and once I saw how big they turned out I had to reduce the size.  Drastically!

Grab a glass of milk and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

(click for printable)

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars together on low speed.  Add in eggs one at at time until well blended.  In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients.  Slowly add those to the wet ingredients at low speed.  Place a layer of plastic wrap over the top of the dough in the bowl and refrigerate for one hour.  Scoop out enough dough and roll into balls and place on your baking sheet.  Use the back of a fork to press down.  This will make the criss-crossed lines in the dough.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

This made a lot of dough so I decided to save the rest.  You can freeze whatever amount you don't want to use.  Scoop out the remaining dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap.  Bring up the bottom layer over the top and form it into a log.  Wrap it up and freeze.  Then when you want to use the dough you can "slice and bake."

Kerusso Retreat - Part 2

(My computer has been acting up thus the delay in posting part 2!)

If you missed Part 1 of the Kerusso Retreat go here!

Now where were we?  Hunter was acting as the local horse whisperer.  The black horse loved having us around.  I think if there hadn't have been a fence Hunter would have probably hugged the horses's legs.

I noticed there was a nice, clean line of grass at the edge of the fence where the horses had eaten it.

Again, I have a thing for barns.

I tried to move to another part of the Ranch but Hunter decided he'd rather be with the horses.

Mmmm...clover!

This was the inside of the barn.

We found a pinecone tree and I had to take photos.

This is the bear skin that greeted us in our cabin.  The light quality isn't very good but you get the idea.  I took a picture of the bathroom but for some reason it wouldn't upload.  The bathroom cabinet literally was so tall that it came up to Korey's waist.  So that was probably about four feet?  I think it came up to my chest.  Korey loved it because he didn't have to bend over.  I was miserable.

Then there was the bed.  It was super tall too.  There were no steps up to it just a little bench at the foot.  When I tried to climb up onto the bench in the dark, I fell.  Take two.  Korey had to hold the bench while I catapulted myself into bed.

This table sat near the door and had the guestbook, a large basket of chocolate candy, and the cabin rules.  Check out the beautiful colors outside the window!

This was the front porch of the cabin which connected to the stone building.  That building is called the Loft I think and was a hunter's dream and a vegetarian's nightmare.  There were full-size animals everywhere that I guess the owner had hunted and then had mounted.

This was the view right off of our porch.  Gorgeous!

I found a little chair perfect for Hunter's size in our living room and we had a mini photo session.

Here are the men of Kerusso.  They are looking at someone else's camera so I just snapped a quick photo.  The guy in the middle is Jay who is the founder.

It's a sippy break for Hunter.  Check out his sick face.  Yep, sick again.  No fever though.  And on Saturday I woke up with another round of a dreaded crud that I'm still not over.  We didn't stay the whole weekend though for which I'm glad.  We drove back Saturday night once the meetings and dinner were over.  On Sunday we all stayed home so we could conquer our sickness.


This was the front porch of the bunkhouse.  Love this red rocker!

I think this was called the Guest House.  It's where we would have our meals and our meetings.  There was a screened-in porch off the back that led down to the dock.  I loved the back porch because Hunter could run around, explore, and he was contained!

Thanks to the Tuttle's for letting us crash their Ranch for the weekend!