Chocolate Eclairs

These are so yummy.  And they are actually pretty low in calories, if you make them the way I do.  Here's the LINK to the recipe; another great Taste of Home find.  I did modify the recipe a little.  I make 16 smaller eclairs instead of 8 big ones.  And I use half the amount of the filling and the frosting.  Also, I just use cool whip(light sometimes) instead of the heavy whipping cream for the filling and I omit the powdered sugar from the filling altogether.  So there you go.  I'm sure the recipe is good the way it's written too, it's just more fattening. 

Before frosting

After frosting-YUM!

Sweet Chex Mix

NICOLA RATING: 4 STARS
JOSH RATING|G: 2 STARS

Sorry, I am on vacation, and I forgot to post the last two Sundays.  Oops!
I got this recipe from my sister in law, Jen.  She calls it pigeon mix I think.  But she also puts coconut and almonds in it, and I really just like it the plain jane way.  This is so great to give away to friends and neighbors at Christmas.

*The secret to this one is the sugar with butter and more sugar (in the form of Karo syrup) and butter flavoring. YUM!

1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup butter

dash of butter flavoring

1/8 tsp. baking soda (pinch)

18 cups cereal (6 cups each: Corn Chex, Rice Chex, and Golden Grahams)*

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Measure out cereal into a large bowl. Melt butter, sugar and corn syrup in saucepan over high heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and promptly add butter flavor and baking soda and stir. Pour over cereal mixture and stir to coat evenly. Pour onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and dump mix onto wax paper to cool. Store in ziploc bags.

*This year I used Wheat Chex because it came in the combo box I bought at Costco, so I did 5 cups of Golden Grahams, and 4 1/3 cups of the three Chex cereals. Josh thinks I should just leave out the Chex and do it all with Golden Grahams.

You should really try them. Go on, start making them. Hey, are you still reading this?

Busy Day Pork Chops

NICOLA RATING: 3 STARS
JOSH RATING: 3 STARS

I really liked these, especially for how easy and fast they were. Josh also liked them. They're not going to blow you away, but I think your family will eat them up! Here's the LINK to the recipe, another taste of home find.

Wheat Bread

NICOLA RATING: 3.5 STARS
JOSH RATING:  4 STARS

This recipe is my Aunt Lorna's.  She has a fabulous reputation for her baking, at least in my family.  She's pretty much amazing and like the nicest lady I know. 
When I moved to Arizona, I discovered there was no good bread in the grocery stores here.  But if you want tortillas, I can hook you up!  Anyway, I got tired of paying $3-$4 for a loaf of crappy wonder bread.  So, I searched for a good bread recipe that both Josh and I liked.  And this is my favorite so far.  Plus, it is easy and always turns out great!

2 TB SAF instant yeast
4 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
4 1/2 cups hot water
5 1/4 cups wheat flour
5-7 cups white flour

Mix all ingredients in mixer for 10 minutes.  Let dough rise for 1 1/2 hours.  Punch dough down and form into four loaves. 

I had to take a picture of this because usually my loaves look pretty ugly and this one was perfect.

Put into greased pans and let rise until doubled (about 30 minutes).  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Lower heat to 325 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and brush tops of loaves with butter while still hot.

Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies

Nicola Rating: 4 STARS
Josh Rating: 4 STARS

Here is a LINK to the recipe.  This is another Taste of Home recipe, but really I first found out about these cookies from my summer working at Jacob Lake Inn.  Shout out to former staffers-Lacey and Sara! Anyways, they make cookies and sell them in their little store, and I frequently purchased them for breakfast.  They call them "Cookies in a Cloud".  I call them delicious and WAY better than pancakes and eggs. 

Couple of things: I used butter flavored crisco instead of butter to keep the cookies soft. 

Also, I bought the generic marshmallows and they were tiny so I used a whole marshmallow instead of a half.

Then I let all the cookies cool before I made the frosting.  That way I could frost them all at the same time.

And then the frosting process was much smoother.  YUM!

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

NICOLA RATING: 4 STARS
JOSH RATING: 4 STARS

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter flavor shortening

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

2 TB milk

1 TB vanilla (the real stuff-none of that imitation crap)

1 egg

1 3/4-2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips (I highly recommend Ghirardelli)

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream first four ingredients together.  Add eggs and mix until incorporated.  Combine dry ingredients and add to sugar mixture. Mix; the dough will be stiff.  Add the chocolate chips and nuts.  Drop large tablespoons on an un-greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-11 minutes or until cookies are golden brown on the bottom.  Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5-7 minutes.  (They will keep cooking).  Remove to cooling rack.  Once completely cooled, store in airtight container or ziploc bag.  

These cookies are seriously the best, especially the dough.  And they freeze really well too.  Enjoy!

Shrimp & Pasta in a Tomato-Chile Cream Sauce

NICOLA RATING: 4 STARS
JOSH RATING: 4 STARS

Here's the LINK to the recipe-
This is a recipe from Emeril at the Food Network and it is FABULOUS. But even though this is Emeril's recipe, I found out about it through my friend Ryan. He is an excellent cook, and he prepared this for dinner on one of his visits. I will probably include other recipes that Ryan has shown me. I have made this A LOT. Everyone who tries it, loves it. My friends request it on a regular basis.
FYI, for those who don't like hot/spicy flavor, go easy on the jalapenos. Also, the picture doesn't really look like the finished product. The real thing looks better.

I have variated this recipe a few different ways. Less spicy, more spicy, less cheese, different cheese varieties, even fat-free half and half instead of the cream, and whole wheat pasta to make it healthier. It's STILL delicious. Actually, I usually substitute the cream for half and half because it is cheaper. I don't think you can go wrong with this. The ESSENCE seasoning is so good, I use it in other things to add a little kick. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

NICOLA RATING: 3 STARS
JOSH RATING: 3 STARS

Here's a LINK to recipe. This bread is delicious.  I can eat a whole mini loaf in one sitting.  I usually make this into those little mini loaves, and I get six per recipe and I bake them for about 65 minutes.

Chunky Apple Cake

NICOLA RATING: 3 STARS (if you eat it warm)
JOSH RATING: 2 STARS
The Chunky Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce. The sauce gets 4 Stars for sure. I have a secret. I didn't really like the cake cool, so I just ate the leftover sauce like it was pudding. So GOOD. Don't tell Josh.This is a good Fall recipe because it has apples in it. I do recommend making this for a large group because it is really good warm with the sauce, and the cold leftovers aren't quite the same. Here is the LINK to the recipe. Taste of Home is the best.

Blueberry Muffins

NICOLA RATING: 4 STARS
JOSH RATING: 4.5 STARS
Josh LOVES blueberry muffins. I have never made them from scratch because he seemed perfectly content with the Betty Crocker ones in a box and I didn't have a really good recipe...until now. I came across the recipe on my old roommate Toni's blog and thought I'd try it out. These muffins are SUPER good. Josh gives them a 10! Anyway, here is a shot of the last one. I was going to take a picture of a few, but there was only one left when I remembered. Also, I made a dozen with one batch. I know it says it only makes 8, but I think they must have used a bigger muffin pan then the standard one. Oh yeah, here is the LINK for the recipe! YUM.

Strawberry Ghosts

NICOLA RATING: 3 STARS
JOSH RATING: 3.5 STARS

Here's the LINK to recipe.

This is from the Taste of Home website. They have a ridiculous amount of fabulous recipes. My husband loves their stuff and got me hooked. I give these cuties a 3.5 for a few reasons:
#1 - I don't normally like white chocolate, but the almond extract you add to it makes a perfect combination with the fresh berries.
#2 - Very easy and fun to make.
#3 - They are adorable! I am a firm believer aesthetics are a very important part of any recipe.
Here's a picture of mine. Not as pretty as I would have liked, but still cute. I did do a couple of things differently. I couldn't find white baking chocolate at my little grocery store, so I used Nestle White Chocolate chips. And I doubled the almond extract. Josh ate these up!

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cheesecake

NICOLA RATING: 4 STARS
JOSH RATING: 3 STARS
 Here is the link to the RECIPE. This was Josh's birthday cake last year. It came from a diabetic cookbook, so you can make it low-sugar, low-fat, low-calorie, etc. (a.k.a. not good tasting). We're not diabetic, so I made it the full-fat, full-sugar way. Yummmmmm!

This is called "Finally Done"

This is called "Josh getting Impatient"

And this is called "What? I only get one piece?"