Peppermint Meltaways

These cookies are a HIT among the women I know. Men like them, but not NEARLY as much for some reason. DISCLAIMER: If you read the ingredients of these marvelous cookies, you'll see that they are mostly butter and flour. So don't be surprised when a serving size is probably only two cookies. These are almost pure fat... with that said, who freaking cares?! They are awesome!

One more thing before you start. These cookies WILL NOT TURN OUT IF YOU DON'T USE REAL BUTTER. Duh. Some of you might think this is a no brainer, but in my early experiences with this recipe, I discovered this the hard way. If you are able to get them to taste the same using margarine, let me know what portions you used.

Prep Time: 45 min.
Chill Time: 30-60 minutes
Bake Time: 12 minutes
Makes 3.5 - 4 dozen cookies

Nutrition per serving (ONE cookie):
Calories: 83
Fat: 5g
Cholesterol: 10mg
Carbs: 10g
Fiber: 0g
Protein: 0g
Sugar: 6g
Sodium: 45mg


Cookie Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Cornstarch

Glaze Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 to 3 drops red food color, if desired
Candy canes or hard peppermint candy, crushed

Preparation:

1. Combine: Butter, powdered sugar and the peppermint extract in large bowl. (If you use a metal bowl it will cool the dough much quicker.) Beat together at medium speed to cream the butter with the sugar, scraping bowl frequently. Reduce mixer speed to low; add your flour and cornstarch. Beat until mixed together well. Cover and refrigerate until dough is firm (30 to 60 minutes).

2. Heat: oven to 350°F.

3. Shape: Rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into 1-inch balls. (This is smaller than you think. I usually end up going back and pinching a little off of the cookies to make them smaller.) Place 1-1.5 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. (plenty of butter in these so they shouldn't stick.) Also, I flatten mine with the heel of my hand a little so they don't puff as much... I guess this is a personal preference. but the icing stays on better I think.

4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned (the rest of the cookie will still look very light. Let stand 1 minute then remove from cookie sheet to cool completely.

5. LET THEM COOL. (Sometimes it's hard for me to wait, but icing these buggers will be much easier if they are cooler.)

6. Drizzle: glaze over cooled cookies. To make the glaze, combine 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract and enough milk for desired glazing consistency in small bowl OR like I did, in a baggy, and mix by squishing the bag. If you mix it in a baggy, you can just cut the corner and drizzle using the bag like a piping bag and have one less bowl to clean! Add in food color, if desired. Immediately sprinkle with crushed candy.

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Recipe Variation: Try using Almond extract instead of Peppermint, or maybe Lemon or Orange. This cookies is a good base for trying different flavored extracts.

Picante Chicken and Rice Bake

Image courtesy of recipe.com

I got this recipe from my local newspaper, who it appears, VERY indirectly got it from either the Pace® website or the Campbell's® Kitchen website. Brian likes it so I'm saving it here for posterity.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 45 minutes
Makes: 4 servings

Nutrition per serving:
Calories: 399
Carbs: 42g
Fat: 8g
Fiber: 4g
Protein: 30g
Sugar: 12g
Sodium: 1476mg

What you'll need:
1 jar (16 oz.) Picante sauce
1/2 cup water
1 cup whole kernel corn
3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
Paprika
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Preparation:

1. Stir Picante sauce, water, corn and rice in an 11 x 8 inch shallow baking dish.

2. Place chicken on top of rice mixture. Sprinkle the chicken with paprika, then cover the dish with aluminum foil.

3. Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and rice is tender. Sprinkle with cheese.

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Recipe Variation: Make the rice a little creamier and add 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup and only use 1 cup of the Picante sauce.

Nutrition per serving Using Cream of Chicken Soup: Calories: 440, Fat: 13g, Fiber: 4g, Protein: 33g, Sodium: 1305mg

Fluffy Rice & Chicken Bake

Prep Time: 5 minutes  Cook Time: 60 minutes  Servings: Makes 3-4

Nutrition per serving. (Nutrition based on 4 person meal.):


Calories: 349          Sugar: 2g
Protein: 23g            Carbs: 43g
Fat: 4g                    Sodium: 519mg
Fiber: 2g

It's funny, but I had thought I put this recipe up on my blog a LONG time ago. Not sure why I haven't but it's a staple in my house, and I got it from my mother. I see many variations online, but this is the one I use and I will include the substitutions.

This is such a flexible meal I have made it with pork chops, various types of "Cream of __" soups and 3-4 pieces of meat. It all depends on what you have in your pantry or fridge and how many people you plan to serve. I don't use cream of mushroom for allergy reasons, but that is what the original recipe called for plus the addition of mushroom pieces. I don't add those either.

What you need:
3 - 4 Chicken breast halves OR boneless pork chops
1 can of Cream of Mushroom/Celery/Chicken soup
1 - 1.5 cup of milk (I use the can to measure, and depending on the amount of rice I use, I'll add more or less) You could substitute water here as well.
1 - 1.5 cups of white minute rice
1 package of Onion Soup Mix


Preparation:
Lightly grease or spray a 9 x 13 baking dish ( I use glass)
Place rice in the pan
Mix "Cream of" soup, milk, and HALF the onion soup mix packet and place half this concoction into the pan with the rice. Mix.
Place the chicken/pork on top.
Pour remaining soup over meat.
Sprinkle remaining onion soup mix over the meat.
Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake at 375°F. for 60 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside and the rice is tender.

Recipe Note: For creamier rice, increase the milk by 1/3 cup.

2 Minute Book Review: Waiter Rant

Estimated reading time for this post: 2 minute 21 seconds. Read it Later?

Book:  Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip - Confessions of a Cynical Waiter
Author: Steve Dublanica
Narrator: Dan John Miller

A bitingly funny look into the psyche of a waiter at an upscale bistro.
An irreverent look back on his life as a waiter, author Steve Dublanica, and describes with clarity the psycho world of the waiter. His history as a seminary dropout and laid-off psychiatric worker, allows him some insight on his brutal observations.  So much of what a customer sees or experiences, is nothing close to the reality of what is really going on. The irony is that most of what this book describes happens in the front of the restaurant, in front of the public, not behind the swinging doors of the kitchen. If customers only stepped outside of their self-centric world and opened their eyes, most of this book wouldn’t be such of a surprise. But of course, that is not why we go out to eat. And the author explains his theories for why people behave the way they do, as well as provides an explanation to why your table is never ready when you arrive for your reservation. Crazy insecure bosses, medicated coworkers, drunken customers, a squirrel, a stroke and a broken AC unit on the hottest day of the year…. This book covers them all.


This book was a fun, brutally honest, compilation of the author’s blog about his experience as a waiter in an upscale bistro in New York. The names have been changed but the stories are true. The author covers his meek beginnings into a restaurant manager, and reminds me very much of one of my favorite movies, “Office Space.” Even ending on the positive note with our main hero overcoming his crippling self-doubt.

My one true complaint is that I have is that I have never considered a 20% tip as something guaranteed. A tip, as I was taught, was something earned. I realize that many restaurants don’t pay their employees even minimum wage, but a 15% tip is perfectly acceptable for acceptable service. Twenty percent or higher should (in my opinion) be reserved for exceptional service. Come back to my table more than once before the bill, I may need a refill…  According to the author, the times, they are a changing.

That said, I especially appreciated the 40 point list at the end for those of us clueless customers. Tips on how to be a better customer, the list contained some sage advice presented using the author’s cynical but honest humor. The book was an eye-opener and I completely recommend it. I can’t wait to read the author’s second book, “Keep the Change.”

If you have any book suggestions, please leave me a comment!

Semi-Homemade Spicy Orange Chicken Recipe

Estimated reading time for this post: 2 minute 49 seconds. Read it Later?

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Sauce: (this recipe has been halved since I only serve two people)
1 ½ cups water
4 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
½ teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Chicken:

Tyson Buffalo Style Popcorn Chicken Bites® (try regular if you don't like it spicy)

Added Fun-ness:
Frozen Peppers (I chop mine a little, but that is entirely preference)
Baby Carrots (julienned & boiled with the rice. Julienne cut carrots cook faster.)

Oh yeah, you'll want RICE with this dish since the sauce is awesome. I use the Uncle Dan’s® Boil-in-a-Bag® brand but I have used regular Minute Rice and boiling the carrots with it, didn't seem to affect how the rice turned out.  Of course, I likely over cook my rice anyhow. Gourmet, I ain’t!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the popcorn chicken on a cookie sheet and follow the cooking directions on the bag. So, in my case, I would put half a bag of the popcorn chicken on the sheet and cook them for 10 - 12 minutes. That should be enough for three people.

2. Grab a pot and boil your rice and julienned carrots, this works for me because the Uncle Ben's Boil-in-a-Bag takes like 10-12 minutes. Depending on the rice you choose, you may have to cook your carrots some other way or leave them out. (You can steam them in the Micro.)

3. NOW, while you have a second, start making the sauce. Pour 1 1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce into a saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir in the orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, chopped onion, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Mix together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water separately then stir water/cornstarch mixture into the sauce.

4. Reduce heat to medium low, fish out your carrots and add them and the peppers and simmer, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. (I go until the peppers look done.) The sauce thickens as it cools but you can add more cornstarch... not that I would recommend this, especially if you want to eat leftovers that don't look like jell-o.

5. Now while you were making the sauce, the Chicken and the Rice should have finished cooking. Perhaps the Chicken may have even cooled. You can add the piping hot sauce to the chicken and everything should warm back up.

I tweak my recipes nearly every time I make them. This recipe is a foundation to build on and make changes to so feel free to make them and leave them below as comments. I would love to hear how you have improved upon this.

Thanks!

As per your requests.....

So Tex Mex Lasagna is not my recipe per say, but I have played around with it a little. The original recipe was taken from Dinners Done Right, which I am a total advocate for, but that's not what this entry is about. I may have also stumbled upon a similar recipe on the Cooking Light website in my quest for an image...

I am about to share how I make my award winning... ok, maybe not award winning, but relatively popular Tex Mex Lasagna recipe and an adaptation for crock pot. WooT for the Crock Pot Mod!  Also, this recipe can be made as a meatless meal... Not how I prefer it, but still quite tasty.

WHAT YOU"LL NEED:

1 can Tomato Sauce

1 can Black Beans, rinsed and drained

1 can Stewed Tomatoes (I use the kind with Chilies in them)

1 jar of Pace Chunky Salsa (here you can also choose your own flavor of salsa, but for liquid content, I stick with this brand)

1 small bag of Frozen Corn

1 bag (2 cups) Shredded Cheese (usually use Mexican Blend, but here again, plain cheddar or Monterrey Jack would be good as well)

Box of Lasagna Noodles (I use the Oven Ready or No Boil noodles from Barilla for obvious reasons)

-----HERE IS WHERE YOU STOP if you don't want MEAT----- (see also, boring)

Approximately 2 cups of Diced Chicken  (Now I get all Sandra Lee: Semi-Homemade here and use the grilled frozen strips because they only need a little chopping and they are ready to go into the dish. They are also precooked, which means I can worry less about contamination and more about preparation.)

TO PREPARE:

Ok since you probably know how to build a lasagna, I will only share this: There apparently IS a right and wrong way to stack the noodles.

So you'll be layering a little bit of everything in each layer. But make sure you put a little sauce in the bottom, and you can even grease/ spray you baking dish for (hopefully) easier clean up.

Bake this bad boy for about 30-45 minutes, depending on size and depth of the dish @ 450° F (Look for bubbly sauce and tender noodles.)

Should be perfect with a dollop of sour cream!

---- CROCK POT MOD -----

I use a 6 Quart Oval Crock Pot so four hours on low is enough for me. Should be enough for anyone assuming you do no more than three layers. If your crock pot is smaller, you may want to adjust the time.

Now I wish I had a beautiful image of a delectible layered lasagna to share here... alas, I don't BUT it would (and sorta does on a good day) look like this:

If you have tried this recipe with modification such as corn tortillas or added things like olives or chillies or green onions, I am sure it was great! Please let me know about it, I'd love to try your recipe. Thanks!