Butterscotch Pecan Cookies

By now, I think that we all now that while I like to cook, I love to bake. So, when the folks at C&H Sugar offered me a chance to bake a recipe from their site, blog about it, and they'd even throw in a $20 gift card to cover my expenses, of course I was going to jump at the opportunity!!

What to choose, what to choose...it was hard picking! I finally decided on Butterscotch Pecan Cookies, which is actually a recipe to make a mix in a jar for gift giving. But who wants to give a mix for a recipe they haven't made? That's what I thought. I decided to pick something just a little bit different, and the butterscotch sounded like a nice change from all the chocolate you get this time of year (not that I'm hating on chocolate, by any means, lol!!).

I must have made them bigger than I was actually supposed to, because I didn't get the three dozen the recipes states it will make. No matter though! They smelled very yummy while baking, and tasted even better! The plan was to send them with D to work tomorrow...not sure they'll last that long.

I'm providing the recipe if you just want to bake them for yourself. The C&H Sugar website has the instructions listed for making it in a jar to give, and they even have handy little labels you can print off!! Perfect for those last minute gifts you forgot you needed...not that something like that would ever happen to me. Ha!! :)

Butterscotch Pecan Cookies
from C&H Sugar

2/3 cup softened butter
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375'F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, egg and vanilla until combined. Add brown sugar and mix well. Add flour, baking soda and salt and stir until thoroughly moistened. Stir in butterscotch chips and pecans.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned.

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Zucchini Parmesan Crisps

I first saw these Zucchini Parmesan Crisps posted by Pamela of Cookies with Boys. They looked so good, that I had to print the recipe to try. I made these tonight while my one-pot spaghetti was cooking. Sean wouldn't try them (shocker) but Kade did, and D and I decided this is the only way to cook zucchini from now on...they're that good!! Really, you should try them. They are not that hard to fix, and quite tasty. I loved the crispiness that they got. I've tried doing something similar before, and they just got mushy, not crispy, so this recipe is definitely a keeper in my house!

Enjoy!!

Chicken Soft Tacos

Lately, I have had a craving for chicken soft tacos from a certain chain restaurant that shall remain nameless, but they do have a giant red pepper on their buildings... Anyway, I almost considered ordering some to-go the other night, so I looked up their menu online. Now, it hasn't been that long since I've eaten there, but I could not find those chicken soft tacos on the menu!! If it's true, I'm disappointed because that was my favorite dish from there.

However, that also set me on a quest to find a recipe to make my own, which admittedly is not only likely better for my waistline, but is definitely better for my bank account! I printed a recipe I found online (but forgot to bookmark the source...oops) and modified it. While I won't say it tastes exactly like the restaurant version, it was quite good and definitely satisfied my craving!! This will most certainly be going in my recipe file. :)

On a side note, I'm getting better about blogging again, but not doing so well at taking pictures...baby steps, right??

Chicken Soft Tacos

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced finely
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground paprika
1/4 tsp Mexican oregano
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp honey
1 Tbsp lime juice
1-1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
small flour tortillas
choice of toppings (cheese, lettuce, sour cream, pico de gallo, etc)

In a large skillet with a lid (or a dutch oven) heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until they begin to turn translucent. Add the garlic and cook 2-3 minutes, being careful not to let the garlic burn. Add tomato sauce, chicken broth, spices, honey and lime juice, stirring to combine. Add chicken, cover and cook on medium heat for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and shred with a fork. Return chicken to sauce and cook an additional 5-10 minutes. Serve with tortillas and toppings!

Enjoy! :)

Spiced Tea Mix

This is something that I've been drinking forever. My grandmother has made this hot tea mix for as long as I can remember. I've seen recipes calling it Russian Friendship Tea, but I always just called it Spiced Tea. This is great for gift-giving, or just for keeping in the cabinet to drink on cold days!!



Spiced Tea Mix

1-1/2 cups sugar
2 cups instant orange drink mix (Tang)
3/4 cup unsweetened instant tea powder
1 envelope unsweetened lemonade mix
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.

To use, fill a mug with boiling water and stire in 2-3 tsp of mix, to taste.

Enjoy!! :)

Buttermilk Waffles

As you know, most Sundays I can be found making either pancakes or waffles. This week, I had some buttermilk to use up, and realized that I didn't have a recipe for buttermilk waffles that didn't require the eggs to be separated and the eggs to be whipped, like this recipe that I've reviewed before. Sure, I could have just used the exact same recipe and just not separated the eggs, but it was early, I wasn't thinking straight, and I hadn't had any caffeine (still haven't for that matter!). So I went on a search.

I wound up adapting a recipe I found on Recipezaar. The kiddos kept asking for more, so I took that as a good sign. When I finally got to taste, I thought they were pretty good. My waffle iron makes quite thin waffles. If it ever bites the dust, I think I'll get one that makes thicker waffles. I think that would be an improvement, but of course the kids would probably want the thin ones!! Acutally, I think the problem is that the wells for the butter and syrup aren't deep enough. :)

Buttermilk Waffles

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter, cooled

In a mixing bowl, add add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Stir to mix.

In a separate bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Add to dry ingredients and mix well, but take care not to overbeat.

Pour batter into a preheated waffle iron and cook until the steaming stops and the waffles are crisp and golden.

Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Ours has been nice. I perhaps overdid it a bit, but that's no big surprise. :)

I thought I would share the menu I served today.

Lasagna (yes, frozen; sue me - I'm pregnant and exhausted!)

Pioneer Woman's Sweet Potatoes - made this last year; I love it! The only thing is I add cinnamon to both the sweet potato mixture and the topping. (Sorry Christi -- forgot to tell you I did that!)

Browned Butter Pecan Pie - hmmm...new recipe for me. Smelled delish. Tasted good. But it didn't set up well at all. Not sure what the deal was.

And my mom brought:

Spicy Brown Sugar Carrots - I'll be honest. I didn't like this one. I don't really like my carrots sweetened and spiced in this way. Just my preference!

And of course, there were other things served, but nothing I can link to. :)

In other news, the Sprout decided that my grandmother is not so bad after all!!

Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Filling

I wouldn't go so far as to say "I'm back!" but I'm getting close. :) It's been a rough few weeks...okay months, and it's just taken the wind out of my sails. But I love baking, especially during the holidays, so I just couldn't stay away.

I stumbled upon a recipe for pumpkin bread on Joy of Baking that I just had to try, and yesterday was the day. Man, it took more energy than I thought it would!! I thought it turned out very well. It was quite moist and had a good taste to it. Toasting the pecans added an extra flavor that I think was worth it. I only added nuts to one of the loaves so the other would be toddler-friendly, and I tasted that one as well -- if you don't like/can't have nuts, you won't miss them if you leave them out!

As I was mixing it, the cream cheese filling was thinner than I expected it to be. I'm not sure if that was due to user error, or if that's just how it is! I did mix it in my mixer instead of a food processor, so that may have had something to do with it. Honestly, I'd like to try the bread without the cream cheese layer and see if it makes a difference in the flavor.

I sent some of the bread to work with D this morning. I received several text messages back that people were requesting the recipe, so I take that as a good sign!!

The original recipe can be found here.

Enjoy!!