Perfect Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookies

5 oz Butter (2/3 cup)
10.5 oz White Sugar (1 1/2 C)
2 Eggs
1 t. Vanilla
2 T. Milk
2 1/2 t. Baking Powder
1/2 t. Salt (I used 1 t.)
14.6 oz Flour (3 1/4 C)

350 degrees 7-9 min. until lightly browned.

Frost w/ Buttercream Frosting

Buttercream Frosting

16 oz Butter (4 sticks)
32 oz. Powdered Sugar (2 lbs. or 8 C)
2 t. Vanilla
4-7 T Milk

Cream butter and Powdered sugar till dry and hunks of butter gone. Add milk and Vanilla, ship till light and fluffy.

Ah the perfect sugar cookie - light, fluffy, sugary, melt in your melt goodness. And the Frosting - wow!

Thank you cookies master Missy Hintze for the recipe and for teaching us how cookies enrich our lives. Great tips from Missy:
To reduce cleanup time: weigh all ingredients and use parchment paper. You will only need to wash the one weighing bin and mixing bowl. No measuring cups or cookie sheets to wash (parchment paper can be thrown away after about 7 uses). So clever!
For a fluffier cookie - add more powdered sugar and/or milk.

Super Healthy Super Easy and Super Quick Super Bread

2 1/2 Cups Spelt Flour

1/2 Cup Seeds (you can use any kind of seeds or nuts, I use Chia Seeds and Flaxseeds)

3 tsp Aluminum free baking powder (you can use regular baking powder)
1tsp Salt
2 Cups plain Kefir
1 1/2 -2 Cups hot water

Mixed the dry ingredients and then slowly add the Kefir and the hot water, use only enough hot water to make it all stick together.

Bake for 30 minutes on 320 F.

All the ingredients are available at Giant in the Organic department.

Banana Muffins with White Chocolate

1 dl melted butter (that's one stick)
2 1/2 dl flour (one cup)
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 dl sugar (about 1/4 of a cup - Splenda works fine if you want to keep the calories down)
1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1tbsp vanilla sugar)
2 tbsp cocoa
2-3 ripe bananas
white chocolate (or regular which ever you prefer)

mixed together- you don't need a mixer you can just use a spoon.

Bake on 435 for 12 minutes

This is super easy and quick and kid friendly. My kids love helping out when we make these.

Maybe not the prettiest muffins but they sure taste good.

Enjoy

Jana F

Crockpot Thai Chicken

2 cups salsa
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbs. honey
4 tsp. soy sauce
3-4 chicken breasts
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

rice or pasta

Combine all ingredients (except peanuts and cilantro) in crockpot and cook 4-6 hours.

Serve over rice or pasta with chopped peanuts and cilantro.

This recipe is YUMMY! And super easy. Care of my friend Marie in VA.

Best Ever French Toast

French Toast

The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Revised Edition

Serves: 4

Prep time: 5 minutes

Total time: 45 minutes

Many types of bread can be substituted for white sandwich bread, including cinnamon-raisin bread and challah.  The recipe can be doubled and the cooking time sped up by preparing batches simultaneously in two skillets or by using an electric griddle.

8 slices of high quality white sandwich bread

6 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1 cup milk

1 large egg

2 tablespoons of sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1.   Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 200 degrees.  Arrange the bread on a wire rack set over a baking sheet and bake until slightly dry, about 15 minutes.

2.   While the bread is in the oven, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and whisk it together with the milk, egg, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.  Slowly whisk in the flour until smooth.  Pour the batter into a large shallow dish. 

3.   Transfer 2 pieces of the bread from the oven into the batter and soak both sides, about 30 seconds per side.  Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until beginning to brown, swirling to coat the pan.  Remove the bread from the batter, allowing excess batter to drip back into the dish, and lay in the hot skillet.  Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2 1/2 minutes per side.  Transfer the French toast to the wire rack to keep warm in the oven.  Repeat with the remaining butter, bread and batter.

Test Kitchen Tip: Flour does the trick

            All too often, French toast is as soggy on the outside as it is on the inside.  To remedy this, we experimented with a number of techniques.  In the end, we found that adding flour to the batter, although a bit odd, was a highly successful solution.  It lends crispness to the French toast that milk and egg alone cannot provide.

Jen’s variations:

            I use my multigrain bread and skip the drying in the oven.  I also use my electric griddle to cook 4 at a time. I use a shallow baking dish that can accommodate 4 pieces of bread soaking at the same time.

*** I would 1 1/2 the batter because I ran out of batter when it came down to my last 2 pieces of toast! 

***We used this buttermilk syrup from Linsy on top...so GOOD!

Crockpot Lemon Butter Chicken

Ooooooo, you ladies ready for the ultimate easy chicken staple? This comes to you care of my friend Tiffany. It is TASTY and makes your kitchen smell yummy! You can enjoy its savory deliciousness tonight and then - because it is a basic, versatile recipe - so you can use leftovers for any recipe that calls for chicken (think BBQ chicken sandwiches tomorrow, tortilla chicken soup the next day.)

• 4-5 breasts chicken (I use frozen)
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4-5 tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• seasoning salt (I use Lawry's brand) to sprinkle on top

Throw all ingredients in the crockpot together and cook on high 4 hours or low 6-8 hours.

Sausage Tortellini Soup

1 lb Italian sausage, browned and drained

1 c. coarsely chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 c. beef broth

1/2 c. water

1 lg. can crushed tomatoes

1 med green pepper chopped

1 c. thinly sliced carrots or baby carrots sliced lengthwise

1/2 t. basil

1/2 t. oregano

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 1/2 c. sliced zucchini

1 (10 oz) pkg. cheese tortellini

-Brown sausage and drain.

- Sauté onions and garlic in sausage pan.

- Add all ingredients except zucchini and tortellini.

- Simmer until carrots have cooked some.

- Add zucchini and continue to simmer just until barely tender.

- In a separate pot, prepare tortellini as directed on package, but undercook a little. Drain and add to soup.

- Thin soup with more beef broth if you would like.

Makes 6-8 quarts: ten to twelve big servings. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. This tastes even better the next day!

My sister-in-law Alyssa made this soup for us this week. AMAZING!