Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yep. A cookie in a cookie. Will I make them again? Eh, probably not. They were a bit messy. I don't like messy. And I had to measure. I hate measuring. LOL! But they were a hit!

They make big cookies. Like the recipes says. HOWEVER (my big complaint here) putting a scoop on top and on the bottom did not work AT ALL for me. Who knows, maybe I didn't add the right amount of flour (I don't like measuring partly because I'm absent minded and get distracted and lose count easy!!) but this dough was sticky and stuck to my hands, not the cookie. So I ended up taking my big scoop and pushing the Oreo into the dough and then plopping it on the cookie sheet. So the Oreo wasn't entirely stuffed in the cookie.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
1 bag Oreo Cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
2. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Serve with a tall glass of milk, enjoy!
Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE Cookies

http://picky-palate.com/2011/01/06/oreo-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookies/ 1

Cowboy Spaghetti

A twist on regular old spaghetti - there are 2, yes 2 sauces! Oh the craziness!!! It's hearty and filling. It can be made as spicy or not spicy as you like! Any cowboys that read this, is this really how cowboy's make spaghetti?

I left the jalapenos out of the cheese sauce because the only hot sauce we had in the house is called Death Sauce. 3 drops of it made the meat sauce HOT. Adding jalapenos would have been rubbing salt in an open wound!

Cowboy Spaghetti

1lb spaghetti
4 slices bacon - chopped
1lb ground beef
1 medium onion - chopped
4 cloves garlic - chopped
2tsp hot sauce
1T Worcestershire
1T chili powder
1/2T ground cumin
1/2 can beer
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2T butter
2T flour
1C chicken stock
1C milk
2C shredded cheddar cheese
1/4C jalapenos - chopped

Sauce #1
In a large skillet brown and crisp the bacon. Remove from pan. Add the ground beef, onion, garlic, hot sauce, Worcestershire, chili powder and cumin. Once beef is cooked, drain any excess grease. Add the beer, cook one minute. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.

Sauce #2
In a small pot melt the butter. Stir in the flour. Cook for one minute. Whisk in the chicken stock and milk. Slowly bring to a boil and cook until thicken. Stir in the cheese and jalapenos.

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions and add to the meat sauce. Pour cheese sauce over top. 1

Jalapeno Sour Cream Chicken

*spicy alert*  Ya know if you couldn't figure it out by the jalapenos being in the recipe! :-)

This was yum. I served it over egg noodles. It'd also be good over mashed potatoes. Or on a slice of bread. Or wrapped up in a tortilla...possibilities - endless.

Recipe says cubed chicken. I used shredded, I had some already pre-cooked that needed used.

Jalapeno Sour Cream Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 small onion - chopped
1 4oz can chopped jalapenos (I used 2, we like spicy!)
1T taco seasoning
1tsp season salt
8oz sour cream
1C pepper jack cheese - shredded (use monterey or cheddar to cut the spicy factor)
3/4C chicken broth

Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes. On medium high heat saute the chicken and onion for about 5 minutes. Add the jalapenos, taco seasoning, season salt and chicken broth. Cover and let simmer 5 minutes. Add the sour cream and cheese. Cover and simmer for 7 minutes. 1

S'more Cookies

A S'more in cookie form??!!! Thanks to my latest addiction (Pinterest) I'd seen 7080989 (roughly) pictures and 7098914 (again, an estimate) variations of these so I had to try them. What I learned (remember, I DON'T BAKE!!!) is that you want a SMALL amount of cookie dough on the cracker because they will spread like crazy. I'll post the link to the blog they came from...mine are no where near as pretty as her's BUT they did taste good!!

S'more Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
Cream together butter and sugar until incorporated

Add:
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
Beat thoroughly

Add:
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips, or one giant Hershey's bar, chopped
1 cup mini marshmallows
Stir to incorporate

The most fun part about these cookies is that you actually bake the cookie on top of a whole graham cracker.
Bake at F350°, for no more than 11 minutes (after 11 minutes, the graham cracker will burn).
Some of the marshmallow may toast off the cracker, but simply remove the cracker from your cookie sheet and quickly transfer to a wire rack.
Yields 4 dozen

Blog cookie recipe came from! 1

Caramelized Pork Slices & Elegant Scalloped Potatoes

Once again the hubs had to go out of town for work. The night before he leaves I always like to make a "nice" supper. This was a hit!!! And holy moly was the pork good - and neither of us are huge pork fans. At first I was scared - it didn't look like it was going to come together...it wasn't getting "caramelized" and definitely didn't look pretty! But I cranked the heat and walked away. I came back to perfection! So good!!! The chopped garlic almost gets candied...I could have just ate that!!! The pork would be great served over rice too. And you could easily sub chicken for the pork.

The scalloped potatoes were well scalloped potatoes. I don't know why I make them, I don't ever like them, but that's just my personal taste!  LOL! But they are good and my 2 year old ate them. That's saying a lot!

Caramelized Pork Slices

1lb pork tenderloin - cut into 1in thick slices
2tsp canola oil (I used vegetable)
2 garlic cloves - minced (I used 4, garlic is my fave!)
2T brown sugar
1T orange juice
1T dark molasses (I used dark Karo syrup)

In a nonstick skillet, brown pork in oil over medium-high heat. Remove and keep warm.
In the same skillet, saute the garlic for 1 minute, stir in the brown sugar, orange juice, and molasses. Return pork to the pan. Cook, uncovered until pork is cooked through. *I cranked the heat at this step. Get the sauce bubbling so it becomes all ooey and gooey! Turn the pork occasionally. I'm guessing it took probably 10-15 minutes for the pork to finish cooking.*


Elegant Scalloped Potatoes

8 large baking potatoes
6T butter
6T flour
1tsp garlic powder
3 1/2C milk
12oz Velveeta - cubed
6 slices bacon - cooked and crumbled
1C shredded cheddar

Scrub the potatoes. Microwave them until tender. Cool. In a saucepan melt the butter. Stir in the flour and garlic powder. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil, cook until thickened. Add the Velveeta and bacon. Stir until melted. Remove from heat. Cut potatoes into 1/4in slices. Place 1/3 of the potatoes in a greased baking dish. Top with 1/3 of the cheese sauce. Repeat layers twice. Sprinkle with cheddar. Bake uncovered at 350* for 15 minutes or until heated through. 1

Chicken Tortilla Soup

My mom invited us out for supper...then called and said the ingredients are setting out on the counter, can you come out early and throw it together! Ha - so much for being invited over for supper! Buuut this was soooo easy it took 5 seconds to do!

PS - Cooking tip for ya...make sure the cord is OUT of the crockpot before dumping items in it. Oops.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1lb cooked chicken - shredded or cubed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can nacho cheese soup
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can green chilies
1 soup can of milk
corn chips, sour cream and shredded cheddar for garnish

Dump everything in the crockpot (minus garnish ingredients). Stir. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-6 hours. 1

Bavarian Apple Torte

I got a huge bag of apples from a friend and wanted something quick to throw together to go with supper last night. This was perfect!! Easy to do and delicious! A drizzle of caramel sauce and some vanilla ice cream would be absolutely perfect with this!!

Bavarian Apple Torte

1/2C butter - softened
1/3C sugar
1/4tsp vanilla
1C flour
8oz cream cheese - softened
1/4C sugar
1 egg
1/2tsp vanilla
4 medium apples - peeled and thinly sliced
1/3C sugar
1/2tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425*
Cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla and flour. Press in the bottom of a spring form pan.
In a medium bowl combine the cream cheese and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Pour over crust.
Toss apples in cinnamon and sugar. Spread them over the cream cheese layer.
Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 and bake 30 minutes. Cook before cutting. 1