Food blogging on Good Things Utah and some really cute aprons!

On Tuesday a couple of my food blogging friends were on Good Things Utah talking food blogging. I am pretty new to the world of food blogging but have been hooked from the moment I read my first food blog. Now reading food blogs and posting recipes I like on my own blog is something I look forward to every day. It was fun to see the girls on the show and it was especially fun to watch my friend Holly make her Rock your world- Enchiladas, which I have put on my next weeks menu! I am so excited to try them.

On the show Holly was wearing a cute apron by a company called http://www.bloom-n-blush.com/ Check out my favorite aprons from their website below. If you go to Holly's website (http://phemomenon.blogspot.com/) you can enter to win one of these cute aprons. I did! I hope I win one.

THE BEST Sugar Cookies

Ok so I am not even a fan of sugar cookies. I'll eat one from time to time but definitely don't seek them out. If there is a plate full of them in front of me I can keep on walking and not think twice. My sister Shanna however is a fan. For Christmas she received from her cute hubby Brian a set of really cool cookie cutters that she had been excited to use. We had been talking for sometime about getting together to make sugar cookies so she could play with her cookie cutters. I told her I would do some research and find us some recipes to try. So on Friday I did just that. I had a few different ones in mind that all promised the kind of cookie we were both looking for- Soft (not hard or crispy like some tend to be), thick and ever so slightly chewy. After reading through the recipes we settled on one that had some interesting elements which none of the others had- lemon rind and almond flavoring. We were also looking for a recipe that we could make quickly and easily. Some recipes call for refrigerating the dough for one or more hours before rolling but not this one. These were fast and easy to make and OH SO delicious. We were both so thrilled that we had finally found a great recipe. Especially Shanna who had already had a few failed attempts. This recipe is a must try!

PEOPLE we have hit the jackpot. I will never try another sugar cookie recipe. This one is IT!

I found this recipe on
http://goodthingscatered.blogspot.com

Fabulous Sugar Cookies
by Ashlee

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp lemon zest
5 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Powdered sugar, for rolling

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Cream butter and sugars in a mixer for 5 minutes.
-Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly.
-Add vanilla, almond, and lemon zest.
-Add in flour, baking powder, and salt a little at a time. Shanna and I found that we needed to add more flour than what this recipe calls for. Just eyeball it. When the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and is a rolling consistency then stop adding flour.
-Do not over mix, this process should take about one minute.
-Chill dough for up to a week in the fridge, or roll out and cut right away.


My cute sister in law- Shanna

-Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake cookies for 7-8 minutes. Don't over cook. We baked ours for a maximum of 7 minutes.

-Wait until cookies are cooled before icing.

I found that this recipe made 30-32 big, thick cookies. Ashlee says 80, so I think it's just the size and thickness of the cookie.

I decorated the cookies with a cream cheese frosting. See below for recipe.



Cream Cheese Frosting:
From http://priscillabakes.blogspot.com/

3 tsp. vanilla (or almond)- I used a touch of both.
6 cups powdered sugar
12 oz cup cream cheese, softened
A few tbsp. of milk (may need more depending on consistency)

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all together.

ENJOY!

Anzac Biscuits- YUMMMMMMMM!

I have much to be thankful for. One thing I am thankful for is the fact that I am not a HUGE cookie fan. Food is tempting enough, when I don't HAVE to have something I am grateful. That being said however, there are three types of cookies that are dangerous for me to have in my house, because I could literally eat the whole batch without a problem. The first kind is homemade Oreo Cookies, the second is Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies and the third is Anzac Biscuits. Anzac Biscuits were my favorite cookie growing up in Australia and I had forgotten about them until just recently. Like most cookies Anzac's can be soft and chewy or firm and crispy. I like mine moist and chewy. They are the perfect cookie0- soft, buttery with a heavenly oaty flavor.

On Saturday my sister Shanna came over and we had something of a bakeathon at my house. We love to get together on Saturday's and try new recipes. Shanna loves Oatmeal cookies so I knew she would love my Anzacs. They are so simple and fast to make. Try them some time!

A little history on Anzacs- Anzacs are a traditional Australian and New Zealand biscuit (ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) and they were used in wartime (specifically WWI) as a nutritional snack that would survive the trip over to the war front. Now, they are traditionally eaten on April 25th which is ANZAC day (the equivalent of Veterans day). But I say you can eat them WHENEVER you want too. I made them on both Saturday and again yesterday. For my hips sake, I'm going to need to tuck this recipe away again for a while.

Anzac Biscuits
Donna Hay "Modern Classics Book 2"

Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain (all purpose) flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup shredded coconut (try the unsweetened variety)
2 Tbs. golden syrup (available at world market in the USA and other stores that specialize in English food and ingredients)-Luckily when I moved to the states my Mum sent me over with 5 jars of the stuff. Thanks Mum!
4oz butter
1/2 tsp. bicarb soda- in US this is just baking soda. It is the same thing we just use the long name
1 Tbs. hot water

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 325F and line two baking trays with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl place the oats, flour, sugar and coconut and mix with a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients.

3. Place the butter and golden syrup together in a saucepan over low heat, and let them melt together.

4. In a small bowl stir the hot water and bicarbonate soda together.

5. Pour the water and bicarb soda mixture into the butter mixture. It will froth up-don’t panic.

6. Pour the butter mixture over the dry ingredients.

7. Mix well using a wooden spoon.

8. Using a tablespoon to measure out the amount place 1 Tbs of the mixture in your palms and then roll together into a ball. Place on the baking trays with enough room for expansion (these do flatten out quite a lot).

9. Bake for between 10-15 min (check after 10min). I cooked mine for 12 minutes max. These will continue to cook a little after you pull them out of the oven. The longer you cooke them the harder they will become.

10. Allow to cool for 5 min and then remove the biscuits and place on a wire rack to cool down completely.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Today is my friend Bonny's birthday. Bonny works at the firm with me and I love her. She turned 60 something. I love working with Bonny, she is funny, a little crazy and has a flare for fashion. We always have a good time together.

For my birthday last year, she was so sweet and took me out to lunch at the Spaghetti Factory. So for her birthday I wanted to do something special for her. She had been asking me to make her some of my dinner recipes (she doesn't cook) so I told her to choose one and I would make it for her. She chose my loaded baked potato soup. She also told me that she loves Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Neither my hubby nor I like raisins so I'd never made this type of cookie before. I was a little nervous. I found this recipe on Cafe Johnsonia's blog.

When I pulled these out of the oven they looked good, but neither Brad nor I wanted to try one (lame I know) so I had another friend at work taste test them for me (I knew he would be honest). He said they were good and that she would approve. I had saved a small portion of the mixture and made two oatmeal chocolate cookies for the hubby and I and they were yummy so I figured these would be ok. The only thing that disappointed me about these was that they were a little flatter than I like. I have another recipe from America's Test Kitchen that I think I'll try this weekend. I like my cookies to be a little more dense and thick. These were more chewy and a little on the flat side.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
The Joy of Cooking's
Classic Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1 cup raisins (or milk chocolate chunks** )
3 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional--my addition to the recipe)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Partially melt the butter in a large bowl in the microwave on 50% power for 50 seconds. Add the sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk well until creamy. Sift the dry ingredients together and fold into the butter/sugar/egg mixture with a spatula. Add the raisins (or chocolate), oats and nuts.

Use a small ice cream scoop or large spoon to drop tablespoon sized mounds of dough onto an greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 6-9 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet halfway through, or until the cookies are evenly browned on top and almost firm in the center. Let the cookies sit on the sheet for a few minutes to firm up and remove them to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Please excuse the bad pic!

Bourbon Chicken

I found this recipe on almost all of the food blogs that are on my favorites list, so I finally broke down and made it myself. I'm not sure where the original recipe came from but I used the recipe I found on MMM Cafe's blog to make mine (she adapted her recipe from Blog Chef).

Though this chicken was tasty, it was almost a little too hot? Spicy? for me. Neither my husband nor I are big fans of hot or spicy foods. That being said my 18 month old loved it! I actually fed him first while I was cleaning up (gotta do it while he is confined to his high chair) and when he was almost done I sat down to eat mine and noticed the spiciness of this dish. I was surprised it didn't bother him. I think when I make this next time; I will omit the red pepper flakes all together. My husband loved it too so this will definitely make an appearance on future menus.

Bourbon Chicken
Adapted From: Blog Chef


2lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbs. oil (for frying)
4 Tbs. cornstarch

Sauce

1 garlic clove (minced)
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I just used a sprinkling and it was still a tad hot for me. Keep in mind though I'm a wimp!)
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

Cut chicken breasts into bit sized pieces, and lightly dust with cornstarch. Heat oil in your wok or frying pan and fry chicken until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

In a separate bowl combine all sauce ingredients. Pour into wok or frying pan and bring to a boil.

Add chicken back to the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve over rice

(***note***- I found that the sauce was a little too thin for me, so at the last minute I mixed about 2 tsp's of corn flour with a small amount of water and added it to the dish to thicken the sauce a little- worked like a charm)

Hershies Kisses Candy Cane Swirl Cheesecake

Unfortunately the Hershies Kisses that this recipe calls for are seasonal. They come out every year right around the beginning on November just in time for my birthday which I love. For my mother in law's annual pie night this past November I made this cheesecake. It was lots of fun to make and was very tasty.

KISSES Candy Cane Swirl Cheesecake




Ingredients:
COOKIE CRUMB CRUST(recipe follows)
3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
42 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Candy Cane Mint Candies, divided
1 tablespoon milk
Sweetened whipped cream

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare COOKIE CRUMB CRUST.

2. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Set aside 1/4 cup batter; spread remaining batter in prepared crust.

3. Remove wrappers from candies. Place 30 candies and milk in medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at MEDIUM 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until candies are melted and mixture is well blended when stirred. Gradually blend reserved cheesecake batter into candy mixture. Drop candy mixture by tablespoonfuls onto vanilla batter. Gently swirl with knife for marbled effect.

4. Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Remove from oven to wire rack. With knife, loosen cake from side of pan. Cool completely; remove side of pan. Cover; refrigerate until chilled. Garnish with whipped cream and remaining candies. Cover; refrigerate leftovers. 10 to 12 servings.

COOKIE CRUMB CRUST: Heat oven to 350°F. Stir together 1-1/2 vanilla wafer cookie crumbs (about 45 cookies) and 1 tablespoon sugar in medium bowl; blend in 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter or margarine. Press mixture onto bottom and 1/2 inch up side of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 8 minutes; cool.

Snickers Cake

I'm not a huge Candy fan and I really can do without it but every now and then when I have a hankering for something chocolate a Snickers sounds good. A lady I work with has a bowl of mini bite size Snickers bars on her desk and I am definitely guilty of swinging by there from time to time to grab one to satisfy my sweet tooth.

That being said when I stumbled across this recipe online for a Snickers Cake I was interested. Sadly enough though this cake didn't quite turn out as I thought it would. You can see from the pictures how flat and gooey it looks. It tasted wonderful but there didn't seem to be enough cake. The recipe says to pour half of the cake batter on the bottom and then you top the cake with the remaining half of the batter. I think I poured too much cake batter on the bottom and didn't quiet have enough for the top. I also think that almost halving the caramel layer in the middle would make this cake less gooey and more cakey. To my surprise I also didn't LOVE the peanuts in the center. I think as the recipe suggests, next time I'll omit the nuts and make it a Milky Way cake instead. I served this warm with vanilla ice cream and it was delicious but I feel like I still need to play with this recipe to get my desired result. I'll keep you posted. I'm not giving up yet! Please pardon the crappy photos!

Snickers Cake

Ingredients

1 - 18.25 oz. package German chocolate cake mix with pudding
1 - 14 oz. package of caramels, unwrapped
1/2 C. butter
1/3 C. milk
1 C. dry-roasted peanuts, chopped
3/4 C. milk chocolate morsels

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 13 x 9" pan. Prepare cake mix according to package instructions. Pour half of batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350° F. for 10 minutes. Take cake out of oven and cool cake on wire rack for 10 minutes. CAKE WILL NOT TEST DONE!
Meanwhile, combine unwrapped caramels, butter and milk in a saucepan over medium heat, cooking until caramels melt, stirring often. Spread mixture over cooled cake. Sprinkle chopped peanuts and chocolate morsels over the caramel mixture. Spread remaining cake mix batter evenly over top.
Bake at 350° F. for 20-25 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares. Can leave out peanuts if you like and it could be a Milky Way Cake.

Nats Cheesy Chicken Penne

On Sunday I was perusing through recipe books and food blogs looking for a dinner idea for Monday’s dinner and I found a great sounding recipe for a chicken curry dish. I thought I had printed it off but come Monday morning I couldn't find it anywhere. Bummed, I started perusing again to find something to make for dinner. After searching for a little while and being frustrated that I couldn't find that original chicken curry recipe, I decided I'd just go with what sounded good. I ended up making this dish from ingredients I had at home that I thought sounded like they would be good together. And so it was that Nat’s Cheesy Chicken Penne was born. I must say I was rather proud of myself for this dish. It was really yummy and the hubby and my toddler loved it too- Always a huge bonus!

Nat’s Cheesy Chicken Penne


Serves 4
Ingredients
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cubed and cooked (see note below)
Enough seasoning salt to lightly coat chicken- I used Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup of grated cheddar cheese- We like sharp
3/4 cup of sour cream
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp of dried thyme
Pinch of salt
Dash of pepper
Milk
approx 3/4 of a package of uncooked penne pasta

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the chicken breasts into bite size cubes and season with Lawry's Seasoned Salt. Cook chicken thoroughly. ***note***- Because I had the time- I seasoned my chicken breasts with the seasoned salt and cooked my chicken in tin foil in the oven for 35 minutes. I love to cook my chicken this way because none of the juices are lost and it makes for a moist favorable chicken breast. Once my chicken was cooked, I cut it into cubes. If I were to make this dish and were pinched for time I would have just cut my chicken and cooked it in a skillet until no longer pink. While the chicken is cooking cook the penne pasta in salted water until al dente. I cooked mine for about 6 minutes. Drain well. Don't panic if the noodles look undercooked, they will cook some more in the oven.

In a bowl combine the chicken soup, sour cream, thyme, garlic powder, salt, pepper and cheeses. Set aside.

Once the chicken is cooked add to above mixture. Then add cooked pasta and pour the mixture into a baking dish. I used an 8X8 glass baking dish which was border line too shallow. Next time I think I'll use my deeper corn ware dish. Add a few splashes of milk just to thin out the mixture and place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

Enjoy

Yummy Breakfast Casserole

This breakfast casserole recipe comes from my sister in law Elizabeth. I'm not sure where it originated, but she made this dish for our Thanksgiving breakfast I had at my house last year and after one bite I was hooked. I thought I had actually posted this recipe already but when I was labeling my recipes yesterday I couldn't find the post.

Breakfast Casserole


Ingredients:
-6 to 8 slices of bread (butter on both sides and trim off crust)
-1 lb. pork sausage browned (and drain)
-1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar (I usually add a little extra cheese since I am a cheese freak!)
-7 eggs
-2 cups 1/2 and 1/2 (OR 1 cup cream, 1 cup milk- either way is fine, I do whatever is cheapest that day and it all tastes the same)
-1 tsp salt

Place buttered bread in the bottom of a 9x13 pan filling in cracks where possible. Sprinkle sausage and cheddar over the top of the bread. Mix eggs, half and half and salt in a bowl. Pour mixture over the bread, sausage and cheddar. Cover and chill overnight. Pull out of fridge 30 minutes prior to baking. Bake in oven at 350 for about 45 minutes or until eggs are cooked and golden on top.

ENJOY!

Make-up at the gym?

So I had never understood those girls who show up to a gym class with a full face of makeup. I'm talking foundation, blush, mascara, lip gloss, eyeliner and even eye shadow! When I used to have the time to hit the 5:00 am classes, I was always baffled by the girls who could not only manage to drag their butts out of bed for the 5:00 am class but also found the time to put on a full face of makeup. Why? Are we really that vain and/or insecure girls? I mean I never saw any paparazzi following any of them around waiting to snap an ugly picture for that night’s episode of Inside Edition or anything. I suppose the one exception I could accept would be if you were young and single and therefore on the lookout for Mr. Right... but really?

Now that I am a working mum, those 5:00 am classes are no longer an option for me. I now hit the 6:00 pm classes after work and I have dinner on the table. However, on Saturday I love to go to my 9:00 am Body Jam dance class at the local Fitness Zone.

This past Saturday I found out why you should wear make up to the gym. My Saturday started like any other. Our alarm clock Gabe woke us up just before 7:00 am. I rolled out of bed looking anything but lovely and threw on my sweats. I made the boys breakfast, got the laundry started, picked up the toys for the millionth time that week, pulled the now greasy cockatoo hair into a messy ponytail, grabbed the keys and my water bottle and headed for the gym. Upon arrival I was greeted by our instructor Marci. Marci is so cute that you could drag her through 6 puddles of mud, throw some sand at her, a quick hose down and she would still look great. Not me. I show up- no make up, greasy messy hair, ugly oversized sweats and man gym trainers only to be told that "Channel 5 was coming to film us today". CRAP (actually a much naughtier word entered my mind). No time to run home to try and fix the mess I was, and no money to run to the store and grab an emergency makeup kit. I'm screwed.

The class starts. Marci is up front looking...well hot...and I'm in my usual spot, the back corner hoping and praying that Mr. Camera man spots me and in all my ugliness decides it would be cruel to film such a 'mess' and put it on an 11:00 am morning show. No such luck. Not once, not twice, but three times the lovely camera man is in my face filming the 'mess' as I attempt to perform whatever dance move Hot Marci is doing up front. Yep I learn't my lesson. From now on I will shower before the gym, do my hair and be wearing a full face of makeup. Turns out "those" girls were smarter and more prepared than I.

Oh My - Chicken Pillows

I had seen recipes for these on various blogs in the past couple of months and thought they looked good but just hadn't been in the mood to actually make them. On Saturday I thought I'd give them a go and boy was I glad I did. These were really easy to make which surprised me and they were oh so yummy. We had some friends over for dinner- I think of them as my Guiney Pigs because they are often over on Saturday night for dinner and are therefore forced to try my latest concoction. Much to my delight everyone was impressed. There seem to be quite a few variations of this recipe out there but I based mine off this recipe from the blog of Real Mom Kitchen.

Chicken Pillows
http://realmomkitchen.blogspot.com
Some modifications by Nat



3-4 cups chicken, cooked and cubed- I used Rotissere chicken for ease and flavor
6 oz of cream cheese, softened
2 -4 tablespoons green onion, diced- I omitted these because I didn't have any
1/3 cup chopped mushrooms (I omitted these because we are not mushroom fans)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
¼ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Sprinkling of garlic and herbs from Mrs. Dash
Dash of pepper
2 cans of crescent rolls
Bread crumbs
1 stick melted butter

In large bowl, mix together cream cheese, green onion, mushrooms, 2 Tbsp butter, milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder and herb sprinkle. Stir in chicken and set aside. Open crescent rolls and carefully unroll dough. Separate each tube into 4 rectangles. Seal seam in center of each rectangle. Place one heaping tablespoon on half of each rectangle. Fold over other half of roll dough and seal edges, creating a pillow. Dip the top of each pillow in melted butter and then bread crumbs. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with cream sauce.

Cream sauce:

1 can cream of chicken of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/8 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon mayo
Milk- just enough to get it to your desired consistency

Combine ingredients in sauce pan and cook over medium heat until heated through.



I'm a HUGE fan of these Mrs. Dash herb sprinkles. I use them in almost everything to add a little extra flavor. They are also awesome for marinating meat. I love to coat a chicken breast with a little olive oil- sprinkle it with Mrs. Dash and then after a couple of hours of marinating grill the chicken. Tastes like summer BBQ all year round! YUMMY!