Chewy Coconut Cookies

CHEWY COCONUT COOKIES

These are really easy and SUPER yummy!

1 (17.50z) pkg Sugar Cookie Mix
1 (14oz) bag Sweetened, Flaked Coconut
1/4 C Milk
1 (14oz) Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

*In a large bowl, stir together cookie mix and coconut. Add milk and sweetened condensed milk. Stir until well blended. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Using a 1 TSBP scoop, scoop dough onto prepared cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake 10-14 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet before moving to cooling rack to cool completely. These cookies have a nice chew to them and are really addicting, especially when they're still a little warm.

As an option you can drizzle them with chocolate. I thought they were sweet enough without the chocolate and was too excited to eat them that I didn't do the chocolate, but it would be great for presentation. Combine 1/2 C semisweet chocolate chips and 1 tsp butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth. Using a fork dip in chocolate and drizzle in lines over cookies.

See how these are just barely golden on the edges? That's what you're looking for. You don't want them to get too dark because the bottom will be darker then the edges and you don't want to over cook them.

Spinach Lasagna

SPINACH LASAGNA

20oz Ground Turkey
1 Medium Onion, chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 1/2 C Lowfat Cottage Cheese
1 (10oz) pkg Frozen, Chopped Spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 C light Olive Oil
1/2 C Flour
1 (14 1/2oz) Can Chicken Broth
1 1/2 C Milk, divided
1 1/2 C Parmesan Cheese, grated
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 (8 or 9oz)Box No-Boil Lasagna Noodles
3 C Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. In a large skillet, over medium heat combine turkey, onion, and garlic. Cook until turkey is browned. Remove from heat and stir in cottage cheese and spinach. season with salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside. In medium saucepan heat oil. Stir in flour and cook 2 minutes. Slowly pour in chicken broth and 1 cup milk. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Whisk until mixture is slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. Add up to 1/2 cup milk as needed to thin. Place 1/2 cup of sauce on bottom of pan. Cover with a layer of noodles. Pour 1/4 of the remaining sauce over noodles. Top with 1/4 of the mozzarella and 1/3 of the turkey mixture. Top with another layer of noodles. Pour another 1/4 of the sauce, 1/4 of the cheese, and 1/3 of the turkey mix on top. Continue until all ingredients are used ending with cheese. Cover with foil. Bake 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake 20 minutes more or until golden brown and slightly bubbly. Let stand 10minutes before slicing.

This was the first time I tried this recipe. I really enjoyed it. I would definitely make it again. I think I would definitely add mushrooms next time though.

Fresh out of the oven, doesn't it look so good? I can't wait to make it again.

Green Bean Casserole

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

Green bean casserole is one of my favorite holiday side dishes. I'm sorry, but the recipe from Campbell's or French's just doesn't cut it for me. So here's my version.

1 (10 3/4oz) Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 C Sour Cream
1 C Shredded Cheese
1/8 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Salt
2/3 C French Fried Onions
2 (14 1/2oz) Cans Green Beans, drained
Additional Fried Onions for topping

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cream of mushroom, sour cream, cheese, pepper, salt, and 2/3 C fried onions. Place in ungreased 9x9 pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until the center of the casserole is bubbly. Top with additional onions and bake about 5 minutes or until fried onions on top of casserole are crispy. You don't have to add that much cheese. I just like it cheesy!

Scotcheroos

SCOTCHEROOS

These are an easy all time favorite.

1 C sugar
1 C light corn syrup
1 1/2 C peanut butter
6 C Rice Krispies cereal
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 2/3 C butterscotch chips

*Spray 9x13 baking dish with non stick cooking spray, set aside. In a large saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup and peanut butter over medium heat. Stir frequently until smoothly melted. Remove from heat. Add Rice Krispies and stir until thoroughly coated. Press into bottom of prepared dish. In microwave safe bowl combine chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir. If necessary, microwave at additional 15 second intervals, stirring just until chips are melted. Spread over cereal mixture. Refrigerate 20-30 minutes or until topping is firm. Cut into bars for serving.

Just before being refrigerated.

I used chunky peanut butter this time, but you can use any peanut butter you like. I couldn't really tell there were nuts in there. I wanted the flavor and crunch of the nuts so the next time I made it with creamy peanut butter, I used 5 1/2 C of cereal and added a cup of peanuts. It turned out ok. They were a little crumbly. I think I prefer the original way better. These are an easy quick treat.

Honey Mustard Chicken

HONEY MUSTARD CHICKEN

This is a recipe I got from my sister, but I didn't have all the ingredients so I improvised.

3 boneless chicken breast halved, cut into 4 pieces
garlic salt and lemon pepper to taste
3/4 C honey
1/2 C prepared mustard
1/2 lb bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 C shredded cheese

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken in baking dish and sprinkle with garlic salt (I use garlic salt in just about all my cooking, if you couldn't tell) and lemon pepper, set aside. In small mixing bowl whisk together honey and mustard. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Turn oven to Broil and add bacon to chicken. Broil for about 7 minutes, or until bacon starts to crisp. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with cheese and put back in oven to broil for about 5 minutes until bacon is crisp and cheese is melted.

Just before going in the oven

There was a lot more sauce than I was expecting. So next time I could cut down the amount of honey and mustard or I think it would be good on top of rice. I think I would like the bacon crispier so next time I would partially cook the bacon before adding it to the chicken. That way the bacon is crisp and you can cook some of the fat out before adding it to the chicken. The original recipe also calls for mozzarella cheese. I think that would taste better.

Easy Monster Cookies

EASY MONSTER COOKIES

I have been making monster cookies for years, but I found a quick and easy recipe and thought I should try it. This is a great way to make monster cookies fast, but I think I prefer the taste of monster cookies made from scratch.

1 (17oz) pkg peanut butter cookie mix
1 (17oz) pkg oatmeal chocolate chip cookie mix
1/2 C butter, softened
2 eggs
1 C peanut butter m&m's

*Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine cookie mixes, butter and eggs until soft dough forms. Stir in m&m's. Drop large spoonfuls of dough on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 11-14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 to 2 minutes on cookie sheet before moving to wire rack to cool completely.

Just before baking

I think I cooked them a little too long. I ended up baking them for about 15 minutes. They were pretty yummy. You can modify these in a lot of different ways. You can use regular m&m's, add nuts, some people like raisins in them too. But I like just the peanut butter and chocolate.

In case you were wondering, I believe the traditional monster cookies get their name because they are so large, the batch is really large and they have just about everything you could want in a cookie in them.

Christmas Wreath

CHRISTMAS WREATH

This is one of my favorite easy treats to make for Christmas. It's simply my Rice Krispie treat recipe but with Corn Flakes instead of Rice Krispies.
For this wreath I used

4 TBSP butter
4 C mini marshmallows
4 C Corn Flakes
green food coloring

*In medium large saucepan melt butter. Add marshmallows and stir constantly until smooth. Remove from heat. Add food coloring until it is a green color that you like. Add Corn
Flakes and stir until Corn Flakes are evenly coated. Spread treat in a ring shape around a plate to look like a wreath.

As an option you can decorate your wreath. My mom used to always use red hots, but I don't care for red hots with it. I chose to use white sugar pearls, but they didn't show up as well as I would have liked so I added some red mini m&m's.

White Bean Turkey Chili

WHITE BEAN TURKEY CHILI

We use a lot of ground turkey because personally, I like the flavor better than ground beef and we can get ground turkey for a great price at Sam's Club. So I'm always looking for recipes to use the ground turkey. This is another one of my favorites.

20 oz ground turkey
2 TBSP garlic, minced
1 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 medium onion, chopped
2 (15oz) cans great northern white beans, drained and rinsed
1 (32oz) box chicken broth
2 (4oz) cans diced green chiles
1 C sour cream
1/2 C whipping cream

*In a large pot combine turkey, garlic, oil, seasonings and onion. Cook until turkey is browned. Add beans, broth and chiles. Simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add sour cream and whipping cream. Cook until warmed then it's ready to eat.

I doubled the recipe this time so the pot normally isn't this full. This is what the chili looks like after it has simmered for a while, just before adding the sour cream and whipping cream.

The final product, ready to serve.

We love soups this time of year when it's cold outside. This is one of our favorites!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

SWEET AND SOUR MEATBALLS

1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/3 C plain bread crumbs
1/4 C milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg
1 (11.5oz) bottle of sweet and sour sauce for basting or simmering
additional sweet and sour sauce for dipping (optional)

*Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl mix beef, onion, bread crumbs, milk, salt, pepper and egg. Shape mixture into 1-inch meatballs and place into ungreased 9x13 baking dish. cover with entire bottle of sweet and sour sauce. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until meatballs are no longer pink in the center.

Ready for the oven.

I didn't chop the onions as finely as I should have. I also threw them in a warm crockpot after I pulled them out of the oven since I wanted them to stay warm for a get together. I also added a small can of pineapple tidbits to the crockpot to give it more of a sweet flavor. I picked up a bottle of sweet and sour sauce for dipping too. There is a big difference in flavor, so if you do get the extra sauce for dipping, make sure it's the right one. It didn't really need the additional sauce, but it was nice to have it available as an option.

These were really good and easy. Another recipe I will definitely make again.

Homemade Big Hunk

HOMEMADE BIG HUNK

This is a really easy candy recipe that makes a lot! The picture above is the big hunk wrapped in red cellophane. I was trying to be festive.

3 C peanuts
3 (7oz) jars marshmallow cream
2 1/4 C light corn syrup
2 1/4 C granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
6 TBSP butter
1/4 tsp salt

*Spray an 11x17 cookie sheet (with edges) with non stick cooking spray and sprinkle with peanuts. Set aside. Place marshmallow cream in a large bowl and set aside. In a medium large saucepan combine corn syrup and sugar. Place over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Stop stirring. Using a candy thermometer cook to 280 degrees or to a soft crack stage (syrup will make a soft crack sound when dropped into cold water and is hard but pliable when picked up with fingers). Remove syrup from heat and allow to cool for two minutes. While cooling add vanilla, butter and salt to marshmallow cream. Pour hot syrup over marshmallow cream and fold together. Pour over peanuts and spread evenly. Allow nougat to stand at room temperature for 3 hours or until firm. Cut into bite size pieces and wrap in wax paper or cellophane.

Corn syrup and sugar boiling. Just before removing from heat.

All cooled in the pan

I didn't have a candy thermometer so I tried to test it in cold water and thought I heard a soft crack. I think it could have been cooked a little longer though. It was really good and tasted just like a big hunk, except you didn't feel like you were going to break your teeth biting into it. It was very soft. When I twisted the ends of the cellophane, it didn't stay twisted so next time I might try wax paper instead and see if that works better. This was a pretty easy recipe and it makes a ton! I would definitely make this again.