The Whitney Whisk

Cleo's Chocolate Chip Cookies

2013-11-20T18:18:00.001-08:00

What? I'm updating this blog? It's been around nine months since I've done so... I guess pregnancy made cooking a little less fun for me. Even if no one else is reading this blog, I still use it for a repository of my recipes and frequent it often so it's good to have, even if it's rarely updated.

"Who is Cleo?" you might ask. To be honest, I really have no idea. This is not a recipe Bryan and I grew up eating. When I was in college my sister made these cookies from a cookbook of her husband's family recipes. I immediately fell in love with them and no chocolate chip recipe I have made since has ever compared. Well, I got a couple of sweet cookie scoops and a KitchenAid Splash Shield for my birthday and I had a hankering for my favorite type of cookie so I decided it was the perfect time to blog again. See below for full recipe. Here's what you'll need:

First things first, the recipe states to measure 3/4 C. oil and add a 1/4 C. of shortening. I usually just do this step altogether in my glass measuring cup to save a bowl. I just kind of use a fork and mix it together. It's gross and ugly but it works.

Mix the sugar into the brown sugar.

Mix the sugar and the oil together and cream until light.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again until mixed.

Mix the baking soda, baking powder and salt into 2 C. flour. Add it to the wet mixture and beat until combined.

At this point, I switch out my whisk in the KitchenAid for the cookie paddle. If you're just using a bowl and a mixer, at this point I'd mix with a spoon instead, as it gets really thick. You're going to add the remaining 2 C. of flour and the 1 C. of oatmeal. I attach my splash shield now to keep flour from flying everywhere.

Lastly, add your chocolate chips (and any nuts or anything else you'd like in it) and beat one last time until all the chips are fully incorporated. The recipe calls for a package of chocolate chips but since I get the huge package from Costco I found that a package is about 2 C.

I forgot to take this picture before I put them in the oven, but spoon about a tablespoon worth of cookie dough onto your cookie sheet and keep them well spaced apart. 1 and a half to two inches, maybe? I just eyeball it. From the picture below you can see sometimes I still don't get them far enough apart but it's no big deal. These are cookies that aren't made for ornamentation.

I've learned not to count too much on cooking times when making this and that is the difference between really good cookies and not so great ones. They won't really look done when they are done, they'll still look puffed up like this. The recipe states to cook them at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes. It depends on your oven-- gas, electric, convection, make, year, etc. These I cooked on convect bake (325 degrees rather than 350) for about 10 minutes. What you need to watch for is for the edges of the cookie to just start to become golden. You do not want these to brown too much or they won't be that good.

Okay, allow these babies to cool on their cookie sheet for 10 minutes before moving them. I honestly like them even more when they've cooled off all the way. They are so soft and chewy and delicious for days and days later and they make so many! The amount pictured above plus maybe 8-10. I really ought to have counted the end result, sorry!

Ingredients:

1/4 C. shortening
3/4 C. oil
1 1/2 C. white sugar
1 1/2 C. brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1 C. oatmeal
1 pkg. or 2 C. chocolate chips

Measure 3/4 C. oil and add 1/4 C. shortening.
Mix sugar into brown sugar.
Beat the sugar and oil mixtures together and cream until light.
Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again until mixed.
Mix baking soda, baking powder and salt into 2 C. flour.
Add flour mixture to wet mixture and beat until combined.
Add remaining 2 C. flour and 1 C. oatmeal-- mix with a spoon or cookie paddle at this point.
Add chocolate chips and mix until fully incorporated.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes (or before-- just until the edges are golden-- do not overbake!)
Take them out and let them cool 10 minutes before moving them.

Honeyed Chicken Teriyaki

2013-03-03T16:40:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh, I'm not really sure why I haven't put these nuggets of goodness up here before. This is a recipe my dad used to make for Sunday dinners and it ranked in my top two favorite meals growing up. I compare just about every chicken piece recipe to this and nothing ever compares, but what really can compare with something so ingrained in my memory as delicious? You'll notice the pictures have less ingredients than what I call for-- I just cut it down to be made for two. See below for the full recipe. Here's what you'll need:

Cut your chicken into about two inch squares.

Before you get frying, you'll want to mix the ginger, garlic, honey and soy sauce together in a saucepan and keep that going on low-medium heat.

For the batter I use your basic egg and flour combination. I like to use shallow dishes (pie or cake tins) to easily transfer pieces from one to another. In one dish, stir eggs with a fork and in the other combine the flour, salt and pepper. Coat the chicken in the eggs, letting the excess egg drip off before transferring to the flour and coating there. While you're doing this you'll want to be heating a skillet with oil about a half inch high on medium heat. To see if it's ready I usually sprinkle a little flour in and see if it sizzles.

Transfer the floured chicken to the oil when it is ready, turning until golden. The chicken just needs to be golden and not cooked through, as we bake it later. Depending on how much chicken you're using, you will need to do this in batches.

When the chicken is golden, use tongs to pick it up and let the oil drip off before transferring to the heated sauce mixture. Usually I'll put a couple in at a time and then replace some flour chicken in the oil to keep the process going.

Once they are coated, place them on a greased cookie sheet to bake. Now, my dad always used a broiling pan for this recipe but I've never owned one. Truly, it would be easier but I make do just fine without one. I'll usually put down a sheet of aluminum foil first. You'll bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes. Brush with glaze half way through the cooking time.

I pretty much make a spinach salad every day out of sheer laziness but I usually serve this with rice and a vegetable. I'm weird and like to eat the rice and chicken apart but Bryan mixes them together and pours more sauce on it. I would possibly double the sauce because it's so good.

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
oil for frying
1 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 C. soy sauce
1/3 C. honey
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger

Cut your chicken into 2" squares.
Beat eggs in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish combine flour, salt and pepper.
Dip chicken in eggs and then coat with seasoned flour.
Pour 1/2" oil in a wide frying pan; place over medium-high heat.
When hot, add chicken, half at a time. Cook until golden brown, 4-5 minutes for small pieces and 6-8 for larger.
Meanwhile, heat soy sauce, honey, garlic and ginger in a saucepan over medium heat.
Lift chicken from oil and dip in honey mixture then place on broiling pan.
Bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes and brush with the glaze after 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

REVIEW: Brownie Pudding

2012-12-10T12:59:00.001-08:00

I'm obsessed with Pinterest. Is that a surprise to anyone, though? I have a lot of meals I like and will make fairly regularly but I try to throw in new recipes more frequently and where do I get them? None other than Pinterest. Now, a lot of the time what happens is that I see a picture of a new recipe and start drooling on the spot. I get all excited and make it and then... it's not that good. Or it's fine but not nearly as flavorful and mouth watering as I'd originally thought. Sometimes, I get kind of discouraged and assume that I'll be disappointed before I even make it. Sometimes when I do that I get the rug pulled out from beneath me in surprise of how delectable it is. This is one of those times. Brownie Pudding is so rich and smooth and the perfect flavor-- everything I hoped it would be. I will be making this many, many times throughout our future life-- of that I'm sure! Now one thing, it calls for seeds from a vanilla bean. I couldn't find one at my local grocery store so I used 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract and it worked out great. I also thought it would be more temperamental and difficult because you put it in a water bath but it could not have been easier to make! If you make this you'll become obsessed with it, too.

Brownie Pudding

REVIEW: Baked Potato Soup

2012-12-10T12:43:00.003-08:00

Have I really not reviewed this yet? This is seriously one of our very favorite recipes and, when the weather cools down, I jump at the chance to make it. I'm pretty sure half of the reviews on my blog come from Our Best Bites but what can I say? They make delicious food! Now, this recipe can take a while to make. They recommend grating your own cheese so that It melts better in the soup so none of that pre-shredded stuff. They also give you the long option of baking your potatoes or the fast one (microwave) so it can take longer depending on what you decide to do. You also will need to cook bacon beforehand. I had all of my stuff cooked, cut, shredded and mashed and ready to go right in the soup yesterday. I felt very efficient. Anyway, please make this. You won't regret it.

Baked Potato Soup

Review: The Best Ever Waffles

2012-11-10T09:48:00.001-08:00

Today I woke up with a hankering for waffles. As far as breakfast foods go, I was never much of a pancake or waffle girl. I always preferred eggs in any form-- fried, scrambled, hard boiled, etc. I love eggs. In fact the only waffle I ate on a somewhat regular basis growing up were Eggos! Not that my dad didn't make us pancakes a lot-- he used to make them nearly every Sunday morning. I just liked what I liked, and that was eggs! Well, I've had to learn to be more flexible in what I eat since I've gotten married. Bryan is all about trying new foods and not just sticking with what you know you like. "How will you ever know if you like something if you don't try it?" he always says. So, early in our marriage one Saturday morning he asked me to make him waffles. Having no idea what makes a good waffle recipe, I searched 'best ever waffles.' Hint: Whenever I have no idea what constitutes a good recipe I search 'best ever ______' in bewilderment.

Best Ever Waffles

Well, this recipe has lived up to its name. I love that it has you beat the egg whites until they're stiff and fold that in. It brings a certain lightness to it. The recipe is really good on its own but sometimes I add this or that to it, usually vanilla and/or cinnamon. This morning I added both and some pumpkin pie spice, too! I even made them orange with food coloring. This is a recipe I never want to lose. I know my husband loves me.

Stuffed Peppers

2012-11-01T15:14:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween! I can't believe it's almost time for Thanksgiving and then Christmas! Holidays seem to have a way of speeding time up, it seems. I found this recipe for Stuffed Peppers in a cookbook my mom had made me of her favorites. I made it last year on Halloween and then this year too and I'm thinking it might become our Halloween classic. I'm sure you'll see why.

Anyway, here's what you'll need. I forgot to include the tomato juice so I just popped it into the corner there.

First, slice your peppers. Then hollow out the seeds and membranes. I chose orange peppers but the recipe calls for green. Can you see where I'm going with this?

Voila! This isn't not an essential part of the recipe but if you're looking to make your meal a little festive, here you are. I got this idea from Pinterest.

This recipe makes six stuffed peppers but, as there's just us two, I make two at a time. You'll need to bring water to a boil (enough to cover how ever many peppers you're making) and then boil them for five minutes. In the mean time, brown your meat (and cook your rice if you haven't yet!).

When the meat is finished, drain it to get rid of the fat. Then return it to the skillet and add garlic powder, salt, tomato juice, and rice.

Mix it all up and bring it to a boil.

When your five minutes are up you're going to want to transfer the peppers to a baking dish. Once there, put a half a cup of the mixture in the peppers and cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Once that's done, put a slice of tomato on each and sprinkle with salt. Return to the oven uncovered for 15 minutes.

Generally, you can throw out the tops when you first cut them off but I like them for that Jack-O-Lantern effect!

Ingredients:

6 lg. green peppers
5 C. boiling water
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
2 Tbsp. chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 C. cooked rice
1 C. tomato juice
6 thick tomato slices
Salt

Cut thin slice from stem end of each pepper, remove all seeds and membranes.
Cook peppers in boiling water 5 minutes; drain.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook and stir meat and onion in large skillet until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat.
Stir in 1 tsp salt, the garlic powder, rice and tomato juice; heat to boiling.
Lightly stuff each pepper with 1/2 C. meat mixture.
Stand peppers upright in an ungreased baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 45 minutes.
Top each pepper with a tomato slice and sprinkle with salt. Bake uncovered 15 minutes.

The recipe includes that there are 225 calories so it's pretty healthy, which is something I am currently trying to be. As I typed the last word in that sentence I seriously heard the ice cream truck drive by. Must. Resist... :) Anyway, enjoy!

REVIEW: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

2012-10-05T13:25:00.001-07:00

Even the name of this recipe has my mouth watering. Oh my goodness, I made these last night and they were so delicious and so autumn appropriate! Really, you can eat them any time of year but I especially enjoy getting into autumn by making seasonal food. Anything with cloves and/or nutmeg in it is generally going to be heavenly, in my opinion.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Time Out

2012-08-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

Here at the Whitney Whisk, I'm all about cooking. I love, love, love to cook! For today, though, our post has almost nothing to do with cooking. Almost-- I have a love for cooking in aprons (I have fifteen of my own).

This summer I have been trying to get in to crafting. I've made independence day decorations and a multitude of baby toys and accessories for the three babies to come into our family! A while ago I got the idea to make aprons for two little nieces turning three who got little kitchens for their birthdays last year. Well, I've slowly been working away at them over the past two weeks and I was so excited about the final product that I wanted to share. I tried to make each apron epitomize the style and personality of the little girl it was going to-- trust me, at three they already have acutely distinct personalities.

I went to Hancock Fabrics beforehand to scope out fabric options before buying, then went home and put some ideas together from pictures I'd taken on my phone. I made a rough sketch of each apron and then made my own patterns for each. I used measurements and suggestions for both from this blog post-- the second apron follows it more closely but is still different.

Ava's Apron

Ava is a very sweet, very fun and often silly girl who loves lambies and asking questions. While definitely very feminine, she doesn't seem to care about pink or princesses. In fact, she told me just last week that her favorite color is white! Well she's lucky because I'd finished her apron by then and it definitely has a lot of white in it.

I used this apron for a base of inspiration and then put my ideas to work from there.

Both aprons are made with velcro for the neck and waist ties, as per the suggestion of the blog tutorial linked above. This makes for easier removal by the kids themselves.

I knew I wanted a peter pan collar but the bow and stitching came last as I was finishing the apron. It just needed a little something up there and I think I definitely found that something. In the process, I learned how to tie the perfect bow so that's a plus.

What can I say, I love a good ruffle. I'm very much in to pleats and gathers and anything feminine when it comes to clothes.

When I told my sister that I was going to make Ava an apron she said she'd been thinking about making her a little chef's hat. I thought that would be the perfect accessory. I used this tutorial but I made the rim shorter and opted to go with the classic white fabric. When cutting the circle I just measured 18", found the 9" mark and the measured 9" out from that center mark around in a circle.

Ella's Apron

Ella is a sweet and quite spunky girl who loves princesses and dressing up. She asks her mom for "lips" (lip gloss) often and has her own set of 'high heels.' She is all girl and in honor of this I thought something very frilly and very pink would do the trick.

I went with a sweetheart neckline, which is not so easy to see in this photograph. It was inspired by this apron. The top felt a little empty so i adorned it with a set of pearls and a sweet little bow off to the side. I am a serious pearl girl, myself.

When I saw these frills I knew they were exactly what I was looking for.

I was trying to come up with an accessory for Ella, like the chef hat above, but I wanted something different. I made her a little headband with a big bow that I will give her but I just wasn't in love with it and then the idea of a matching oven mitt struck me and I whipped up a little pattern for it. The inside layer has minky fabric with a layer of batting in between.

Happy Birthday Ava and Ella!

Aus Jus Sandwiches

2012-08-20T14:37:00.001-07:00

This recipe came from Bryan's Aunt Jeanette in the wonderful family cookbook she gave me just before we were married. I'd had (but never made) Aus Jus/French Dip sandwiches before. Maybe it sounds fancy and difficult but, believe me, this is very simple and quite delicious.

Here's what you'll need:

The recipe calls for one can of beef broth and one can of onion beef broth. I couldn't find onion beef broth anywhere... I added a little onion powder to one of the cans but, since it also calls for onion soup mix, I'd say the powder wasn't all that necessary.

Put your roast in the crock pot and cover with both cans of broth and the onion soup mix. There is no set size for your roast. Generally, I use about half a pound per person. Cover this and cook on low for eight hours or until the roast shreds easily. This made my house smell so, so good all day Friday.

Shred your meat. After I shredded it I poured the contents of the crock pot in a strainer to separate the juice to put it in a bowl for dipping.

Choose any kind of cheese you like for this sandwich. I generally don't like Swiss cheese but it seemed like the right flavoring to go with the meat.

Melt your cheese onto the sandwich however you would like. Most people should know this, but I'd avoid microwaving it. It'll make your bread kind of soggy or, if you've done it too long, really hard. I broiled my for a few minutes. I probably should have taken it out about a minute sooner because the corner of the bread started to burn slightly.

Put the meat in the bun, pour the juice that the roast cooked in into a bowl and dip as you go! So good. (I am obviously really lazy about vegetables so we eat salad from a bag every night...)

Ingredients:

Whole Roast
1 Can Beef Broth
1 Can Onion Beef Broth (if you can find it! good luck!)
1 Pkg. Onion Soup Mix
Hoagie Buns
Sliced Cheese

Place the roast in the crock pot and cover with both cans of broth and onion soup mix.
Cook on low for 8 hours or until meat shreds easily.
Shred roast in juice.
Melt cheese onto sliced hoagie buns.
Place shredded roast in bun with cheese.
Use the juice as Aus Jus sauce for dipping.

Ambrosia Salad

2012-07-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

Bryan's company is having its summer barbecue today and I'm pretty excited. I love, love being a stay at home wife and not having a job but sometimes I really like to have events to go to. During the day the only people I see are strangers at the store. Thank goodness for my cat so that I have another living soul around to interact with. Translation: excited.

I'm supposed to bring a side. I was torn between a chip dip I'd found on Pinterest and this recipe that I grew up with-- my mom would take it to church barbecues as well. I was concerned that maybe it was too dessert-ish since other people are to bring desserts. Am I possibly a little obsessive-compulsive? Then my friend Ashley said, "Everyone loves a sweet salad!" So, it won. Like mother, like daughter, I guess.

See below for full recipe. Here's what you'll need:

I didn't make a neat little grid of pictures showing adding everything together like I did with Taco Salad because I just didn't have the time so you can see all the pictures below. Suffice it to say all you do is mix everything together and then refrigerate it until you're ready to serve it.

I don't even like pineapple and I love this salad!

My mom didn't have exact measurements when I talked to her so I'll just provide what I did but they are very give-or-take kind of ingredients.

Ingredients:

1/2 a bag of mini marshmallows
1 large can of pineapple chunks, drained
2 small cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 10 oz. jar of maraschino cherries, drained
7 oz. shredded coconut (I just used half a 14 oz bag)
1 lb. sour cream

Mix together all ingredients.
Store in refrigerator until ready to be served.

Wasn't that easy?

REVIEW: Zucchini Bread

2012-07-25T14:09:00.001-07:00

Okay, so this is a quasi-review in that I think zucchini bread is a pretty basic recipe but this is my go-to zucchini bread recipe and I have always loved it.

Bryan and I planted a small garden this summer and, though my husband is not a huge fan of squash, I begged him to let us plant some zucchini. He gave in when I promised zucchini bread. Duh! That's probably why I wanted to plant it in the first place... I do like zucchini sliced and fried, though. Anyway, our zucchinis are finally coming to a stage where some of them can be plucked. I trust this recipe to always be good but I do change it up a little. Here is the base recipe:

Zucchini Bread

Sometimes I add the nuts it calls for, if I have them. I seem to almost always have coconut on hand so I throw that in along with about 1/2 C. of chocolate chips. Once I have poured the batter into the bread pans and before cooking I top it with a mixture of 2 Tbsp white sugar, 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon, an idea I got from Our Best Bites. It's to die for!

Taco Salad

2012-07-13T13:01:00.003-07:00

This is a very cool and refreshing dinner in the summer time. Everyone probably already has their own variation on this. This is simply what I grew up having my mom make and I loved it. I think this is the reason I love Fritos so much. Anyway, this is a very basic and simple meal. See below for full recipe. Here's what you'll need:

Here is everything but the green onions, which I forgot to get at the store and the ground beef that I was already browning on the stove when this picture was taken. Oops.

Here's a tip I learned about slicing avocados. Cut it in half and slice it it while still in the shell and then just pop the slices out. Also, if you have a bigger knife you can whack the seed with it to pry it out. I'm realizing that both of those tips need to be followed by: Caution! Don't slice your hand open while doing so.

I decided I didn't need to post every picture. First, brown your meat and then basically, just put all the ingredients in the bowl, making sure to tear the lettuce. I use maybe 2 cups of cheese but you really can put however much of any of these things as you want.

Toss the mixture and then pour Italian Dressing over it until wet. Maybe like 1/3 cup? Depends how much you like the Italian Dressing flavor. I made the mistake of using the whole bottle once in my early days of cooking...

Serve with Fritos! (This is the best part of the meal, in my opinion :))

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
1 can Kidney Beans
1 can sliced olives
1-2 tomatoes, diced
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1-2 avocados, sliced
About 2 cups Mexican Mix (or other) Cheese
1 head lettuce, torn (I use romaine because it's better for you than iceberg but crispier than spinach)
About 1/3-1 cup Italian dressing (however much you want)
Fritos

Brown meat and rinse off fat.
Place browned meat, kidney beans, olives, tomatoes, green onions, avocados, cheese and lettuce in the bowl.
Toss mixture and then coat in Italian dressing until wet.
Serve over Fritos.

REVIEW: Steven's Oven Baked Chimichangas

2012-06-08T12:33:00.001-07:00

I just realized something. I only review recipes that I really, really like. Isn't a review something that can be good or bad? I make a lot of food (you wouldn't tell by my lack of recent posts...), mostly from pins I find on Pinterest. Some of them are just okay and others are really not that good but I really only save the best to put on my blog. Why would I tell you about something that you won't want to try? So, to clarify, all of my reviews will be about meals I like.

That said, I just made this meal from Pinterest and was pleasantly surprised by just how good it was! I like the idea of chimichangas but I don't think I've ever had one I really loved. This one was so delicious and it had some healthy things in there. You also bake it rather than fry it so that's healthier too! I made these with homemade flour tortillas and homemade taco seasoning. The result was delicious!

Steven's Oven Baked Chimichangas

Chicken Divan

2012-03-28T18:12:00.004-07:00

Ah, Chicken Divan... when I was little I must admit that I threw a little bit of a fit when mom said this was for dinner. I guess I had a picky palate-- at least when it came to broccoli. I hadn't eaten it for a few years when my sister made it once while I was in college. I was so surprised! How could I not have liked this? How can anyone not like something smothered in cream of chicken soup and mayo and topped with cheese? Needless to say, I've been converted to Chicken Divan.

Before we start you'll want to boil or bake your chicken breasts (I generally use this method) and chop them into little 1" by 1" squares.

You can see the full recipe below. All right, here's what you'll need:

Spray the bottom of a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and spread our your broccoli as the bottom layer. There is no need to have previously thawed the broccoli, just put it in frozen.

As your second layer, spread your chopped chicken over the broccoli. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.

Now lets make the sauce! Combine all your cream of chicken soup, mayonnaise, curry powder and lemon juice in a medium bowl.

Spread that mixture over the chicken and broccoli.

Now, top it with your cheese. Mmmm, cheese.

Baked at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Voilà! This goes best served over rice!

Ingredients:

5 chicken breasts, thawed, cooked and chopped
2 (10 oz) or 1 large bag frozen broccoli
3 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp curry powder
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt
pepper
paprika
2 cups monterey jack cheese

1. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray and spread frozen broccoli on the bottom.
2. Cover broccoli with chopped chicken and sprinkle salt, pepper and paprika.
3. Combine soup, mayo, curry powder and lemon juice in a medium bowl.
4. Spread mixture over chicken and broccoli.
5. Top with cheese.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve over rice.

REVIEW: Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce

2012-03-11T10:18:00.001-07:00

I did not make this recipe, I only reaped the benefits. Well, I suppose I helped mince the garlic and grate the ginger. We went to Bryan's mom's birthday party yesterday and his sister made this dinner for us. It was unbelievable. When she told me what blog she had found it on I immediately looked it up. I'm going to be looking for more delicious recipes from here in the future but I just wanted to share this first!

Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce

P.S. Sorry for my long absence. I will try to make up for it! Life sure can get hectic!

Tortilla Soup

2012-01-24T15:53:00.000-08:00

This recipe is easy, easy, easy. Kudos to Bryan's mom for finding something so simple and delicious! You don't even use the stove top-- everything is done in the microwave! Well, I suppose you need to have cookedchicken so you might have to bake that or you can just use leftovers from a rotisserie! Bryan loves this and said, when I made it the other night, "I want to keep eating this forever!" I must say it is pretty delicious, especially with toppings. So first, get your chicken cooked and shredded or diced, your preference. I like mine shredded best. See below for full recipe.

I didn't take a picture of all the ingredients with the chicken but you can see that above. Other than that, here's what you'll need:

Mince your garlic and chop your onion and put them in a large microwave safe bowl. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the diced/shredded chicken, chicken broth, chili powder and tomato sauce and stir it all up together.

Microwave this for 10 minutes or until boiling.

Pile on the toppings and enjoy! Did I mention this was easy?

Ingredients:
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. chili powder
15 oz. can tomato sauce
2 cups cooked, diced or shredded chicken

Optional Toppings:
grated cheese (I used Mexican mix)*

sour cream*

crushed tortilla chips*

sliced black olives

green onions

avocado

guacamole

Chop onion and mic garlic. Place them in a large bowl and microwave for 3-4 minutes.
Add chicken broth, tomato sauce, chili powder and chicken and microwave for 10 minutes or until boiling.
Use any of the above toppings, those marked with a * are recommended.

Cheesy Potatoes

2012-01-15T17:44:00.000-08:00

Okay. Christmas came and threw me off my schedule and so I've had the pictures for this recipe sitting here on the computer for about a month... woops. I love these cheesy potatoes! My mom makes them for all our big holiday dinners: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. So good and so easy! See below for full recipe. Here's what you'll need:

Okay, first you need to melt your butter and then chop your green onions.

Then mix melted butter, soup, sour cream, cheese and green onions together.

Add the frozen hash browns to the cheesy mixture.

Place in a 9 x 13 pan. You will also need to process/smash your cornflake crumbs if you are using it from the cereal instead of buying the crumbs pre-processed. I have done it both ways. To smash, you can put the cornflakes in a big Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them to crumbs. I much prefer the food processor.

Pour the cornflake crumbs over the cheesy potatoes and then pour the 2 Tbsp. of melted butter over them.

Cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour. This is so cheesy and delicious!

Ingredients:

32 oz. bag of frozen shredded hash browns
1/2 C. melted butter
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
1 pt. sour cream
1 1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 C. green onions, chopped
1 C. cornflake crumbs
2 Tbsp. melted butter

1. Mix 1/2 C. melted butter, soup, sour cream, cheese and green onions together.
2. Mix frozen potatoes in with this mixture.
3. Pour in to a 9 x 13".
4. Sprinkle cornflakes over top and then pour 2 Tbsp. butter over top of cornflakes.
5. Cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
6. Devour.

Smith Chicken Enchiladas

2011-12-17T13:59:00.000-08:00

Remember that post, not too long ago where I mentioned that Bryan and I grew up with different enchilada recipes that we both loved? Well, here is the recipe that I grew up with! I know this recipe like the back of my hand, I've made it so many times.See below for full recipe. You'll need:

You can find green chilies in the Hispanic food aisle. Canned chicken must be drained before use. Mix only one can of the Cream of Chicken soup, both cans of chicken, sour cream and green chilies together.

I have a little trick to make it easier to roll corn tortillas without frying them. About five at a time, put them on a little plate with a damp paper towel over them and heat in the microwave for 15-30 seconds.

I fill and roll the tortillas as each batch of five comes out of the microwave so they don't harden again. Spoon about a tablespoon of the chicken mixture onto the tortilla and roll. You will probably use 13-16 tortillas, depending on how tightly packed each roll is.

Place tightly next to each other in 9 x 13 casserole dish. After filling all of them, there should still be chicken mixture left over. There will be a little corner that I usually split a tortilla in half and put half the amount of mixture in, as pictured above.

Mix the remaining can of Cream of Chicken soup with the rest of the chicken mixture.

Spread across the rolled tortillas.

Use the whole bag of Mexican mix cheese and cover the the enchiladas. Chop your green onions and sprinkle them over the top as well and then sprinkle the sliced black olives (these are my favorite part!).

Ta da!

We usually cut them like squares rather than serving by enchiladas. Because of this, Bryan calls it "Enchilada Casserole."

Ingredients:

2 cans Cream of Chicken soup

8 oz. sour cream

1 sm. can green chilies

2 cans diced chicken

1 pkg. small corn tortillas

1 bag (2 cups) Mexican mix cheese

1 bunch green onions

1 sm. can sliced black olives

Mix one can Cream of Chicken soup, both cans chicken, sour cream and green chilies in a medium to large bowl.
Soften tortillas using the above method or frying.
Spoon about a tablespoon of mixture into each tortilla and roll.
Place tortilla rolls side by side, tightly in 9 x 13 casserole dish.
Mix second can of Cream of Chicken soup with remaining mixture and spread over the tortillas.
Spread cheese over top, followed by chopped green onions and sliced black olives.
Cook at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

REVIEW: Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

2011-11-28T17:53:00.001-08:00

For Bryan's birthday I made a cake I had found on Pinterest. Everyone LOVED it. In fact, the reason I am updating with it right now is that one attendee of his birthday party requested I do so. This cake is so deliciously moist (due to the sour cream). The post I'm directing you to has a ton of peanut butter in it. I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter desserts so I just took out anything that said "peanut butter." You may leave it in-- that's your prerogative. It's just much better without, in my opinion. The frosting might need to be a little bit adjusted for the lack of peanut butter but that's about it. Bryan and I both LOVE cream cheese frosting so when I found this cake I thought it was perfect!

So, here you have it: Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

Sweet Potatoes

2011-11-26T20:37:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! What a time for delicious food. I helped out this year by making two pumpkin pies, an apple pie and sweet potatoes (Bryan made rolls). I got both pies off of the internet but the sweet potatoes are something my mom has made for every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner that I can remember (among a few other dishes). I love these sweet potatoes. It's really the brown sugar topping that makes it. After it was done cooking and I took it out of the oven, I leaned down and took in the aroma. Immediately it felt familiar and warm, accompanied by a rush of family memories. Anyway, onto actually making it. See below for full recipe. Here's what you'll need:

This includes the entire recipe, filling and topping. We'll start by making the filling.

The recipe calls for 3-4 cups of mashed yams or sweet potatoes (either is fine). What is really the difference anyway? I found that two 29 oz cans worked perfectly.

The first thing you'll want to do is pour the yams/sweet potatoes in a larger saucepan with all the liquid. Bring the contents to a boil and then use a strainer or the lid of the saucepan to drain off the liquid and then put it in a bowl.

The yams/sweet potatoes are pretty much covered by the rest of the ingredients here. Place all filling ingredients in a bowl to be mixed.

Mix it up! You can use a hand mixer-- I used my KitchenAid. Maybe this picture wasn't necessary but I thought it looked pretty cool.

Place the filling in a 9x13" casserole dish and move on to the topping.

Chop your pecans..

.Mix all the ingredients together. It might be useful to mix all the dry ingredients first and then add the butter but I didn't and it turned out great!

Here is the result.

Crumble onto the filling and then bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Ah, delicious end result.

Ingredients:

Filling:
3-4 C. mashed yams or sweet potatoes
1/4 C. milk
2 eggs
1 C. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. butter

Topping:
1 C. pecans, chopped
1 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. flour

1. Pour yams/sweet potatoes into a saucepan with liquid and bring to a boil. Drain off liquid.
2. Mix yams/sweet potatoes, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla and butter together with an electric mixer.
3. Place filling in 9x13" casserole dish.
4. In a small to medium bowl, mix pecans, flour, butter and brown sugar.
5. Crumble topping onto filling.
6. Cook at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Whitney Chicken Enchiladas

2011-11-22T21:41:00.001-08:00

One thing Bryan and I had in common growing up was a love for chicken enchiladas. In both cases, it was our most requested meal-- especially for birthdays. I remember writing my favorite meal for something in elementary school and calling it, "Chicken Chiladas." However, our family had two different enchilada recipes that are different only a few ingredients and steps. This is the recipe Bryan grew up loving. True to form, he requested it for his birthday this year. One thing to note when reviewing these pictures is that I doubled the recipe for our dinner party. See the full recipe below. Here's what you'll need:

(These tortillas are very much not round because they are homemade.)

You may use canned chicken, rotisserie chicken or shredded chicken that has been baked. I baked mine and shredded them with a very handy tip I learned from Pinterest. Put your chicken in your KitchenAid with the paddle attachment and turn it on for 20-30 seconds. You will soon have perfectly shredded chicken! I would not have believed it had I not tried it. Anyway, add your green onions to the shredded chicken.

In a separate bowl, mix together sour cream, cream of chicken soup, green chilies and green taco sauce.

You may notice the green taco sauce is full here. I accidentally left that out for the filling process and added it later when I topped the enchiladas with the remaining sauce. As a result, your soup mixture may look more green than mine. It was still good, by the way. I usually buy my cheese in blocks and shred it myself so you can see I've done that already.

On each tortilla, put some chicken, cheese and a tablespoon or so of the soup mixture.

You can pack them tighter than this, I was filling up several casserole dishes and had extra space. Whether tight or loose, it still tastes just as good.

Top with remaining soup mixture and the rest of the cheese. I forgot to take a picture after it had cooked because I made it the night before and cooked it when I got home from work. Sorry! Just imagine the cheese all melted.

Make sure you cover this with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Ingredients:

10-12 lg. flour tortillas
About 1 C. shredded chicken
1/2 a bunch of green onions, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz . sour cream
1 can diced green chilies
1/2 a small bottle of green taco sauce
4 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
4 oz. monterey jack cheese, shredded

1. Combine shredded chicken and green onions.
2. Combine cream of chicken soup, sour cream, taco sauce and green chilies. Mix well.
3. On each tortilla place some chicken, cheese and a tablespoon of soup mixture.
4. Roll up and place side by side in a 9x13" casserole dish.
5. Pour leftover soup mixture over top.
6. Top with remaining cheese.
7. Cover with aluminum foil and cook at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

REVIEW: Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers

2011-11-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

If you've never been to Our Best Bites you must go! All of their recipes are so delicious. I always trust that my recipes will turn out well and taste great whenever I make anything from them. This is one of our absolute favorite dishes from them.

Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers

Almost anything with the word 'coconut' in it is definitely worth a try. We love these chicken fingers! They have just the right amount of spices to give it a little zing and the perfect amount of sweetness as well. We make these fairly regularly-- definitely a family favorite.

Stir-Fry Tips

2011-11-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

One thing we both love is a good stir-fry. Bryan especially loves them after spending two years in Thailand! I don't have a specific recipe for it because it is generally just a bunch of things thrown together but I do have some tips!

My very favorite stir-fry sauce ever is "Mr. Yoshida's Original Gourmet." It can be found at Costco and select grocery stores. I was once pleasantly surprised to find it at Winco! It is the perfect sweetness.
I heat my sauce up in a sauce pan prior to pouring it into the stir-fry.If you want it to be thicker, you might add some cornstarch.
When I decide to use broccoli in my stir-frys I like to steam them a little first so they are less crunchy.
Nuts! We looooove nuts in our stir-frys-- particularly cashews. They add the perfect final touch to the flavoring. They should be added last of all. If you are keeping some stir-fry in the fridge for leftovers, don't add the nuts to that because they soak up all the sauce and lose their crunchiness.

REVIEW: Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

2011-11-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

Happy autumn! One thing I meant to do in starting this blog was to review those recipes I found on the internet that were so delicious we want to add them to our family favorites. Today, I have my first review of such a recipe.

It seems especially appropriate for this time of year. I made this a month or so ago but, on my suggestion, my sister made it for her book club and told me it got rave reviews. I thought it only prudent to share it here.

Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

This cake is so delicious. With it's apple cinnamon flavoring it is just perfect for this time of year. Or really, any time of year! It is so moist, too! That is something I definitely strive for in cake making. No one likes a dry cake, do they? I do have a word of advice, though. My sister called me worried she had done something wrong because the batter was pretty thick rather than the more liquid-like cake batters we're used to. That is perfectly normal! If your cake batter is thick, that's good for this particular recipe.

Happy eating! I hope you find this to be as delectable as I did!

Killer Rice Casserole

2011-11-02T22:58:00.000-07:00

This was one of Bryan's favorite meals that his mom made while he was growing up. It was printed in a magazine/newspaper (he can't remember which) as, simply, "Rice Casserole." However, it kept being described in the article as a "killer" recipe and they definitely found it to be so after giving it a try. So, it was dubbed "Killer Rice Casserole." He told me that his mom lost the recipe for several years and when she finally found it again and made it, it was still delicious as remembered. This recipe lives up to the "killer" hype!

See the end for the full recipe. Here's what you'll need:

(you can see I was getting pretty low on rice...)

The first thing you'll want to do is to cook your rice. I always find it helps to let your rice rest a while after it is done cooking, so whipping up the rest of this recipe gives it ample resting time.

Next... Yes, I know this picture is terrible quality... and you probably all know what it means to chop an onion, but I thought I'd throw it in anyway. So go ahead and chop your onion! (You'll probably want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees at this point as well.)

Melt a stick of butter in a skillet over medium to med-high heat.

Stir in the chopped onions and sauté until they become translucent.

Then, add the sour cream, cottage cheese, salt, pepper and cooked rice (everything but the cheese and green chilies) and fold the mixture together gently.

This is just a picture of the end result after it has been folded gently.

Take one third of that mixture and spread it across the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Now take half of your cheese and spread that in a layer over the rice mixture.

Now take half of you green chilies and sprinkle them on top of the cheese. After this, take half of the remaining rice mixture and spread another layer over the cheese/chilies. Spread the rest of the cheese on top and follow with the rest of the green chilies. Now, spread the last of the rice mixture over the top for your final layer.

Cover this with foil and bake for one hour at 350 degrees.

Hurray for cheesy goodness! I should mention that Bryan's Aunt Jeanette put together a Whitney/Gillmore family cookbook and marked all of Bryan's favorite recipes as a present for my bridal shower. It was a great idea and I've really cherished it. It's great to add a whole new set of favorite recipes to my own.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. uncooked rice
1 stick butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream
1 (8 oz.) carton cottage cheese, small curd
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper
2 C. grated cheddar cheese
1 can chopped green chilies, drained

1. Cook rice, set aside.
2. Melt butter in a skillet and sauté onion until translucent.
3. Add cooked rice, sour cream, cottage cheese, salt and pepper and gently fold everything together.
4. Spread one third of this mixture on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.
5. Top with half of the cheese and half of the green chilies.
6. Put another of the third of the rice as another layer (half of what is left of the rice).
7. Top with remaining cheese and then remaining chilies. Spread the rest of the rice on top as the final layer.
8. Cover with foil and cook for one hour at 350 degrees.