I love the end of Winter as much as the beginning!

As excited as I get for the first snowfall, I'm equally excited about the "Spring" thaw. The days get warmer, the nights are still chilly and I can see the beginning of my daffodils pushing through! I also take this time as my last chance to cram in some good winter comfort food. I don't have a strong desire for creamy soups, chili or hearty casseroles in the heat of the summer. I decided to make my own version of a classic comfort item....Chicken Pot Pie, in soup form!

Start with the basics: a few carrots, a few stalks of celery (plus the leafy tops) and 1 small onion. Chop everything about the same size.

Throw into a large pot with a couple cloves of minced garlic and a few TBS of butter. I didn't really measure, just eyeball it :)

After the veggies had cooked for a few minutes, I added two large potatoes (peeled and cubed).

To the pot of veggies and potatoes, add about 6 cups of chicken stock or broth and bring to a simmer for about 25 minutes, or until veggies and potatoes are all fork tender.

I usually make my own stock by boiling a whole chicken. I found chickens a few weeks ago for $.39 a lb! I used just the white meat for this.

Add in the meat and then turn heat to Medium-High and stir in about 1 1/2 cups of Half and Half.

Let the soup thicken a bit and adjust with a cornstarch slurry. Mix a couple TBS of cornstarch with COLD water until smooth and gradually add until soup is thick enough. In the last few minutes of cooking, add a few handfuls of frozen peas and season well with Salt and Pepper. (I use LOTS of fresh cracked pepper!!!)

Serve with your favorite bread or biscuit. A hearty bowl of comfort to celebrate the end of Winter!

***If the soup isn't rich enough for your taste, you could also add a little Chicken Bouillon and use Heavy Cream in place of the Half and Half. ***

How can you NOT love cookie dough?!!

I will admit it, I have a weakness for cookie dough. However, I think my husband actually prefers cookie dough to baked cookies!! When I saw this recipe, I knew it was perfect. I decided to make Frozen Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls for Valentine's Day...and I dipped them in chocolate :)

For all you cookie dough lovers out there...these will indulge your need for dough safely. No eggs!!

In a large bowl, cream softened butter with sugar. Stir in flour, vanilla, and water. I also added a 1/2 tsp of salt to the dough, because I love a little salt with chocolate. Mix in semi-sweet mini chips.

I used a scoop to get all the dough balls the same size and then rolled to give them a nice shape. I froze for about 1 hour at this point.

In a narrow, but deep bowl...melt your chocolate coating. I use chocolate Almond Bark.

I like to use a two fork method to remove the chocolate dipped dough balls.

About every five balls, I stopped to top them with sprinkles. Act quickly, before the chocolate dries.

A total of 50 delicious cookie dough balls. They are a little difficult to eat right out of the freezer. I actually like them better after they come to room temp. Store in the freezer and if you are really a dough fan, make some mini dough balls to add to ice cream!!

I love that Snow Days seem to be made for baking!

The Midwest got nailed with a pretty crazy snow storm this week. The forecast for my area kept changing from high amounts (18 inches) to low amounts (4 inches). I didn't necessarily want the snow itself, but I wanted enough to give us a snow day! Well, I got what I wished for...13 inches! Hubby got to leave work early Tuesday and had Wednesday off as well. Seems to mean I was given a great excuse to keep our house warm- and bake!! I've had this recipe in my recipe book forever....I have no idea where I got it!

My recipe calls for:

1 cup of White Sugar

1 cup of Brown Sugar

1 stick of butter- room temp

3 eggs- room temp

1 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of vanilla

1 1/4 cups Peanut Butter

4 1/2 cups of Rolled Oats

1 Bag Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

1 Bag of M & M's

    

 

Begin by creaming together the butter and both sugars. It will be crumbly well when combined. Add in the peanut butter, mix again and then add your eggs.

Mix in the vanilla and baking soda with your hand mixer, then switch to a wooden spoon and mix in the oats.

Robyn loves to help- so even though I used the WHOLE bag of chocolate chips and M & M's, we measured them a cup at a time :) It's great for counting!

Stir together the dough and scoop heaping spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes...until set but before they start to brown too much.

I made mine in two sizes...the MONSTER sized cookies are a little too big for Robyn :) These are very soft, not chewy or crispy. They stay soft for about a week, if they last that long!

A football food everyone loves!

I love Hot Wings and my husband loves Hot Wings. The beauty of this relationship is that I actually like the "wing" portion and he likes the little drummies. We happily split orders of wings in this way :) We've had great wings all over the place and they all seem to carry a general theme....they are fried. Frying is messy business at home. I don't want or need a deep fryer. Frying makes my kitchen stink and uses tons of oil- not to mention it isn't the healthiest way to cook (Not that there is such a thing as healthy Hot Wings!). I searched for a long time to find a wing recipe I was happy with at home. Not only did I find a good recipe, I found a GREAT recipe!!! Thank you Alton Brown- Buffalo Wings!

It all starts with a steamer basket. Place the basket in a large pot with about 1 inch of water. Bring water to a boil.

Fill the pot with your wings and cover. Turn heat down to Medium. Cook thawed wings about 10 minutes and frozen wings about 15 minutes. Remove from the pot and place on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. Refrigerate for 2 hours. I have cheated and done just 1 hour- they turned out fine :)

Remove the wings from the fridge and place on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Flip and bake another 20 minutes.

I use Frank's Red Hot Sauce...it is by far my favorite for wings and the brand used most in restaurants.

Heat about 1/2 cup of sauce with 4 TBS of butter- this will cover 24-36 wings. You can grate fresh garlic into this mixture as well, but I just throw in a few cloves of smashed garlic while it heats.

Toss wings in the sauce and serve with celery and Ranch or Blue Cheese Dressing. Do yourself a favor...if you are going to the trouble of making wings at home, make your own Ranch or Blue Cheese Dressing as well. It is so much better!!! I assure you, these are well worth the work and I will never prepare wings any other way. They get crispy just like Fried Wings, and they taste unbelievable!!

A use for leftovers that I love!

I always try to make extra meat when I cook Tacos for dinner. It can be re-purposed so many ways!! I often use it to make a Taco Salad or as a topping for Pizza. If I don't use it the next day, I throw it in the freezer for quick meal inspiration another time. This time, I used it to make Mexican Pizzas.

Robyn loves eating these too, but the round tortillas are a little difficult for her to handle, so I made her heart shaped pizzas using a cookie cutter.

Bake tortillas at 400 degrees for about 4 minutes to lightly toast them. Spread on a thin layer of re-fried beans. I usually have these leftover after Taco night too.

Top with Taco meat and cheese. I used a blend of Cheddar and Monterey Jack Cheese. I made Robyn's into sandwiches.  Put back in the 400 degree oven for about 8 minutes until cheese is melted.

Robyn's finished  heart-shaped pizza sandwiches!!

And my Mexican Pizza...I like to top mine with fresh Tomatoes and some pickled Jalapenos. A fun and simple way to make a new meal out of leftovers.

I love these so much, I wish I hadn't made them!!!

I saw this recipe the other day when I was browsing the Kraft Foods website. I've been hooked on Yoplait Light- Boston Cream Pie Yogurt the last couple of weeks, so when I saw an easy recipe for Boston Cream Pie Minis...I had to make them!!!!

You need a standard yellow cake mix (prepare as directed on box), a box of vanilla pudding (I used Sugar Free), a container of Cool Whip (I used Fat Free) and 4 oz of Semi-Sweet Chocolate.

The mini in the recipe refers to using a standard muffin pan, but I went even more mini by using my mini muffin pan :)

I also got these adorable aluminum hearts (Reynolds) and decided to try a couple heart shaped pies. The mini muffins took about 14 minutes at 350- the hearts took closer to 20 minutes.

Robyn mixed together the pudding mix with one cup of skim milk. Then I let her fold in the Cool Whip :)

I put the pudding mixture into a piping bag to make filling the pies a little less messy.

Use a serrated knife and cut all the cupcakes in half. Fill with the pudding mixture and replace the tops.

Top with a mixture of melted Cool Whip and semi-sweet baking chocolate (about 1 minute in the microwave and cooled for 15 minutes before frosting). I had no idea what the texture would be like and I was so excited when I tasted them! The frosting gets thick and fudge-like...so good!

And just for fun, we topped them with some adorable Valentine Sprinkles. Store in the refrigerator and enjoy cold :) I'm glad I froze half of my cupcakes before making these...I can't stop eating them!!

The search for a loveable Vegetable Beef Soup recipe!

I've made several Vegetable Beef Soups...sometimes using a recipe, sometimes just winging it as I go. I've done some with Barley, some with Tomatoes and some I was just plain disappointed in. Not any more!!! I found the most delicious Steak Soup Recipe...the one I will use from now on. So perfect!

I used a lean bottom round roast for mine and cut into small cubes. I love that this uses celery leaves...such an under utilized flavor!! I love them :)

Begin by browning your meat and onions in a mixture of vegetable oil and butter. I only used 1 TBS of each instead of the 2 called for in the recipe. That was plenty for me!

 

I mixed together my flour, salt, pepper and paprika. Unfortunately, I only had 1 tsp of paprika left in my spice jar, so that is all that was added. It was perfect for my taste. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the browned meat and cook just a moment before adding your liquids. I did this all in the same soup pot instead of using two pots like the recipe suggests. Who needs extra dishes?! I added the water, beef broth, celery leaves and marjoram...brought to a boil then lowered the temp and simmered with the lid on for about 45 minutes.

I chopped up my carrots and celery while I waited for my liquids to boil.

When you are home alone with your two-year old and she sees you taking pictures, she wants to get in on the action :) She took this lovely photo of me cooking.

After your meat is tender, add in your carrots, celery and potatoes. I used two large russet potatoes that I peeled and cubed. Check your broth for seasoning at this point. I always need more pepper! This is also the point where you add your tomato paste. I only used half the can (3 oz) which was plenty for me. Cook another 20 minutes or so with the lid off over medium heat. Stir frequently so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.

I also hate the idea of corn in any type of soup, and this needed some color, so I used frozen peas instead. Add in the last 5-10 minutes of cook time.

Isn't that a pretty bowl of soup?!! The flavor was wonderful, even better the second day. Hearty and packed with veggies. Perfectly yum- the search is over~