I'm back on the wagon - or off, I don't know

Back to menu planning!

M: PW's Perfect Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes (I've been using the Ore Ida Steam & Mash potatoes lately, since I go grocery shopping twice a week, the potatoes always seem to be sprouting when I decide to cook them) I doctor them up by adding in some salt, pepper, cream cheese and caramelized onions.
T: PW's Crispy Yogurt Chicken, Green Beans
W: From PW, again, Pasta a la Marlboro Man, Spinach Salad & Garlic Bread

So, I basically just opened up the PW cookbook on the way to the grocery store and made out my list for the next two weeks (Ryan was driving, don't worry).

Th: Out to dinner in the big city
F: Chicken Fried Steak. I might go with PW's recipe.
S: Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas - my recipe. I'll post as soon as I decide how I am going to make it this time.
Su: Chicken Noodle Soup - a hodgepodge of different recipes.
M: Leftovers
T: Tacos. I like having Taco Tuesday's, it's my ode to Rosa's Cafe.
W: Hamburger Pie (I found this recipe in this month's Weight Watcher's Magazine - looking for a link)
Th: Out to dinner in the big city
F: Chicken and Wild Rice Salad from "With Love, from Cynthia," owner of the Peach Tree Tea Room in Fredericksburg.
Sa: Chicken Spaghetti, from you guessed it, PW.
Su: PW Meatloaf with Creamy Mashed potatoes (I found this recipe in her cookbook, but can't find it online).

I also have plans to make PW's Mocha Brownies and a Lemon Poppyseed Cake I found in the Weight Watcher's Magazine over the next two weeks.

I just love the contrast between Weight Watcher's recipes and PW's. My goal is to even out the two over the next few months.

What are YOU making for dinner?

I'm making my favorite, super easy enchiladas. I'll post the recipe and photos later.

Original Christmas Cookies

I have been making these sugar cookies for about 5 years. It is my standard go to recipe for shaped cookies. I often make the dough and freeze half for later use. It's easy and delicious. I think I got the recipe from a Southern Living Cookie book but I can't remember.

Ingredients:
1 c butter, siftened
1 1/2 c sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla
3 1/2 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
Frosting

Beat butter at medium speed with a mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
Dived dough in half.
Roll 1 portion at a time to 1/8 -inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut with desired cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Spread cookies with frosting, decorate with desired toppings

FROSTING:
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 T milk
1 t vanilla

WHISK together first 3 ingredients until smooth.

Cookies, Cookies and More Cookies

I admit it. I was having an intense craving for chocolate. I never crave chocolate. So, I made these two types of Christmas cookies that had lots of chocolate.

Triple Chocolate Chewy Cherry Cookies (say that three time fast)

Ingredients:

quick snapshot of the ingredients for both recipes

1 c flour
1/4 c cocoa
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 t instant coffee
1 t vanilla *****see picture below, the ONLY vanilla you should use is Mexican Vanilla (if you can get your hands on it that is) The taste is so much richer, once you try it you will never use that immitation stuff again)
4 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
4 oz white chips
1 c dried cherries ( I chop mine)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, cocoa and baking powder. In a mixing bowl beat butter, sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, coffee and vanilla. On low add flour mixture. Stir in chocolate and cherries.
Drop heaping teaspoons on cookie sheet (always lined with parchment paper). Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until tops are just firm. Do NOT OVERBAKE! Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes.



Now, onto the next...... Chocolate Crinkles

Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 3/4 c granulated sugar
4 oz unsweetened chocolate melted and slightly cooled
1/2 c oil
2 t baking powder
2 t vanilla
2 c all purpose flour
2/3 c powdered sugar

First melt your chocolate over a double boiler on low, then let cool
In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, granulated sugar, melted chocolate, oil, baking powder and vanilla. Beat with mixe ron medium until combined. Gradually beat in as much of the flour as you can, use a wooden spoon if you need to. Cover your dough and chill for 2 to 24 hours till it is easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. You can lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper, set aside. Shape your dough into 1/2 inch to 1 inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar. Place at least 1 inch apart onto prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until edges are set and tops are dry and do not overbake. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Chocolate, Chocolate and more Chocolate

Cookies!

Coconutty Cream Cheese Cookies

I love Italian Cream cake, but I needed to make cookies, so I tried to combine the two...they turned out really well!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Sugar
• ½ cups Soft Butter
• 4 ounces, weight Soft Cream Cheese
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• ½ cups mixture of almonds and pecans or whatever kind of nuts you prefer
• 1/3 cup coconut (to mix in dough) + 1/3 cup (to sprinkle on top)
  

Preparation Instructions

Cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar together. Add vanilla and cream the mixture again. Stir in flour, nuts, & coconut just until blended.

Shape into balls and flatten on greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle coconut on top

Bake at 350 degrees for 14-18 minutes. Do not overbake. Remove from oven when cookies start to brown and cool on a cookie rack.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies - found on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen Website


These were a special request by my mom who loves chocolate covered cherries. I can't believe I actually had all of these ingredients on hand.

Ingredients

• 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
• ½ cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Baking Soda
• ¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
• ½ cups Butter, Room Temperature
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 whole Egg
• 1-½ teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 jar (10 Oz.) Maraschino Cherries, Drained, Reserve Juice
• 1 package (6 Oz.) Semisweet Chocolate Chips
• ½ cups Sweetened, Condensed Milk

Preparation Instructions

In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and soda. Blend well and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter or margarine and sugar on low speed until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well.

Gradually add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture; beat until smooth and well blended.

With hands, shape dough into 1-inch balls; place on an ungreased baking sheet. Press down the center of the dough with your thumb.

Drain maraschino cherries well, reserving juice. Place a cherry in the center indention of each cookie.

In small saucepan, combine chocolate pieces and sweetened condensed milk. Heat over low heat until chocolate is melted. Stir in 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of the reserved cherry juice.

Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the topping over each cherry, spreading to cover the cherry. If frosting seems too thick, thin it with a little more cherry juice.

(I was worried that I read my original recipe wrong when it told me to put the frosting on BEFORE baking. I thought it would melt and run all over. But I did as it said and it is amazing! This super-silky chocolate frosting does not melt or run anywhere! It seals in the cherry beautifully!)

Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes, or until done. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies.

-- Post From My iPhone

Couple Tasty Dishes

Hi Girls, here are a couple tasty recipes from the Pampered Chef. Roger's schedule is crazy this week, so I'm not cooking too much. But here are a couple yummy recipes that I don't think I've posted. Enjoy!

Italian Chicken Pasta Toss
6 oz uncooked bow tie pasta (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 plum tomatoes
1 small onion
1 medium zucchini
1 small yellow or red bell pepper (I used orange because that's what I like)
8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tsp Italian Seasoning Mix (italian seasoning)
1 tsp salt
Grated fresh parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, dice tomatoes and chop onion. Slice zucchini into 1/2 inch thick pieces (I also cut them in half, so they were half moon shaped). Cut bell peppers into thin strips, and chicken crosswise into 1/2 inch strips.
2. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Press garlic into skillet. Add chicken. Cook and stir 4-5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Add onion, zucchini, bell pepper, peas, seasoning mix and salt. Cook 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring gently until heated through. Remove skillet from heat and stir in pasta. Serve with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

6 servings

Valerie: from what I calculated, the Italian Chicken Pasta Toss is 2 points per serving and my servings were a little more than a cup each. I guess it would vary slightly by how you measure and chop your vegtables.

Also, I thought it was a little heavy on the onion. I personally didn't like it diced up. I would probably next time do about half the onion in long slices, and maybe a red onion instead of white or yellow.
*****

Tamale Verde Skillet (Not as healthy, but very yummy!)
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 can (15.25 ounces) corn
1 medium onion
1 medium red bell pepper (I never add this because I'm not a huge fan of red peppers)
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
4 ounces chorizo sausage
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 can (19 ounces) green enchilda sauce (I buy mild)
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded monterey jack cheese
snipped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. Add oil to skillet; heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Meanwhile, drain corn; pat dry with paper towels. Add corn to skillet in a single layer. Cook without stirring 5 minutes or until caramelized on one side. Remove skillet from heat and remove corn to a separate bowl.
2. Meanwhile, dice onion and bell pepper; set aside 1/4 cup of the bell pepper for later use. Cut tortillas into 1-inch squares.Add chorizo sausage to skillet; cook over medium-high heat 3-4 minutes, breaking sausage into crumbles. Add onion and remaining bell pepper; cook an additional 3-5 minutes or until vegtables are tender crisp. Add half of the tortilla squares, chicken and enchilada sauce to skillet. Bring to a simmer; cook 2 minutes or until tortillas are softened and mixture is hot. Remove skillet from heat.
3. Top chicken mixture with remaining tortilla squares, cheese, corn and reserved bell pepper. Cover skillet; let stand 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. If desired, snip cilantro and sprinkle over top. Serve immediately. Yield 6 servings.

Coconut Panko Chicken

Coconut Panko Chicken
2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into strips
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 tbs butter
salt
pepper

I served this with brown rice, so before I got started on the chicken, I started the pot of brown rice.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and cut chicken breast in to strips. Melt butter and let cool a bit. Mix eggs in a bowl & combine with buter. Mix coconut and panko in another bowl. Dip chicken into egg mixture and then coat with coconut/panko mixure. Place each strip onto pan (I line my pan with foil and spray with Pam). Cook for 25 minutes, flip chicken, and cook for 20-25 minutes more.

Sauce - well, I have no exact measurements because I always forget about it until the chicken is almost done. Initially, I wasn't sure if I liked the sauce, a little potent on it's own. However, it blended well with the sweetness of the chicken. I started with a few tablespoons of hoisin sauce then added low sodium soy sauce, about a fourth of a cup. Next I added about a 1/2 teaspoon of chopped garlic and then about 1/4 tsp of ground ginger. It needed a little sweetness so I added about a 1/2 tsp of brown sugar and stirred well. Usually I add orange zest and orange juice, but I was out.

I also like to serve this with sauteed bell peppers and onions. I love the frozen grilled bell peppers from HEB, I keep a bag in my freezer and can just pull out however much I need whenever I need them.