Snickerdoodle Cake

Seriously sooo good. I found this recipe here and decided to try it out...I sure am glad I did!

Ingredients
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup white sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature

1. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Mix together really well and Preheat oven to 325F. Using a spray product like Pam with Flour, generously spray a 9 inch Bundt pan, being careful to cover all the nooks and crannies, as well as the center tube. (Note: If you don’t want to use Pam with Flour, you can just grease the pan with shortening.) Gently dust the entire inside of the pan with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. You should only need about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar, but you want to try and evenly coat the inside surface of the pan, including the tube. Save the remaining sugar and cinnamon mixture and set everything aside.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. Beat just the butter on medium speed for one full minute. Add the white sugar and mix for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and blade and add the brown sugar.

4. Mix for 2 minutes until the mixture looks light brown and uniform in color. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each for 1 full minute. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream; beat well.

5. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture over top the cake. Spread the rest of the batter into the pan and sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over the top. (If you run out of cinnamon sugar, you can mix just 1/4 cup of sugar + 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon together for the top of the cake. It should be more than enough.)

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. aside.

Taco Soup

I got this recipe from a friend at work, and tweaked it a but to be my own. It is simple and fast, and a good way to rotate through your food storage! It can be as spicy or mild as you like. If you like it spicy, add spicier things-like diced tomatoes with peppers, or spicy taco mix, or hot salsa-or mild everything, it's up to you. Try it out sometime!

Ingredients:

2 Cans Black Beans (drained)
2 Cans Stewed Tomatoes-I use diced (do not drain)
2 Cans Yellow Corn (do not drain)
1 lb Ground Beef
2 Cans Chicken Broth
5 Tbsp Salsa
1 Onion Chopped
1 Garlic Clove minced
1 pkg Taco Seasoning-I used 3/4 a pkg
2 Cans of water (I usually omit this, I maybe add 1/2 a can, any more would overflow my pot :) )

Brown the meat with the Garlic in your pot, drain fat. Add all the ingredients (including liquid in corn and tomato cans)to the browned meat in your pot. Let simmer until frothy and hot (usually about 20-30 min). Add Tortilla Chips, Cheese, and Sour Cream if desired. Enjoy!

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

We had these for dinner tonight, and they were fast, tasty, and satisfying. We paired it with a nice green salad, and add it to our food "rotation". Found the recipe here: Our Best Bites

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough*
marinara/pizza sauce
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil or melted butter
1/2 t garlic powder
1 t dried Italian seasoning
mozzerella cheese
Pizza toppings of your choice

Roll out dough to 8x12 inches. Cut into 25 (I did 20) squares and place toppings on the center of each square. Fold in corners and pinch bottom to make ure it stays together. Place in pie pan or small casseroe dish. Brush with Olive oil. Mix Parmesan Cheese, Garlic Powder, and Italian Seasoning, then sprinkle over rolls. Cook at 425 for 15-20 min. Dip in pizza sauce. THAT'S IT! So easy, and sooooo good.

Fried Oreos. Yes, fried

We forgot to take a picture of the finished product, so I had to go back in my picture archive, and stole these from our trips to the Apple Festival, where I was introduced to these incredible heart stopping American creation. And oh my goodness, these are amazing, especially if you love Oreos...and fried food.

Fried Oreos

Ingredients
1 cup buttermilk pancake mix
3/4 cup ice water
1 quart vegetable oil
1 sleeve of Oreo cookies (14 each)
2 tablespoons confectioners sugar

1. Freeze cookies for 3 hours. ( this is purely optional, but just know if you don't you run the risk of melting the filling when fried-which doesn't taste bad, just loses some of the effect)
2. In a medium bowl, stir water into buttermilk pancake mix with a whisk until thoroughly combined. Batter should be consistency of pancake mix, if not, add more water or mix accordingly. Refridgerate for at least an hour (this helps to keep a cake like texture to the cookies, if the batter is too thing, it wont be AS yummy)
3. In a 3-quart saucepot or deep fryer, heat oil to 350 degrees F (medium heat on stove top).
4. While oil is heating, set up a sheet pan with paper towels for draining.
5. With metal tongs, dip each cookie one at a time into batter, making a coat completely around the cookie.
6. Place coated cookie carefully into hot oil. Repeat for each cookie. Fry on both sides, turning over once until golden brown.
7. Remove fried cookie from hot oil with metal tongs and drain on paper towels.
Note: The cookies inside should be soft throughout, if they are cold and hard reduce oil temperature.
8. Dust with confectioners sugar.
9. Let cool slightly (about 2 minutes) before serving

Peanut Butter Trifle

Peanut Butter Trifle

We LOVED this trifle. So yummy, especially if you like the peanut butter and chocolate combination. We have yet to try the original recipe, I didn't truly follow it. There is a link for it at the bottom. Maybe we will save the "original" for another day...

Ingredients:

• 21 ounce package brownie mix
• 10 ounce bag of peanut butter chips
• 5 ounce package vanilla instant pudding mix
• 3 oz pkg Chocolate instant pudding mix
  
• 5 cups milk
• 1/2 cup peanut butter, creamy
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Whipped Cream or Cool Whip
  
• 24 regular sized (about 2 inches in diameter) peanut butter cups, divided

Preparation:

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Add peanut butter chips. Bake for length of time required by package. Cool completely.

Cut brownies into 3/4 inch pieces, using sharp knife.

Coarsely chop 20 peanut butter cups; saving 4 for garnish.

Combine vanilla pudding mix and 3 cups of milk in large bowl. Beat at low speed for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add peanut butter and vanilla; beat until smooth. Set aside.

Combine chocolate pudding mix and 2 cups of milk into bowl. Beat at low speed for 2 min or until thickened. Set aside.

Layer Brownies, pudding, cool whip, and candy (first layer with peanut butter pudding, second with chocolate, then third with peanut butter). You will end up with 3 layers, ending with candy on top of cool whip.

Refrigerate

This is not the original recipe. Go here for the original.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

I have always been on the lookout for a good Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, so when I got the baking itch today (and knowing how much the husband loves his cookies), I tried Google again, and found this, seriously an easy super good cookie!!!

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
found on allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended (be sure not to over mix). Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.
   
4. Refrigerate for 1 hr (this helps the cookies not to flatten)
   
5. Drop cookie dough heaping tbsp sized at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

A Christmas Book (in Janurary,,,whoops)

Snowmen at Christmas
By: Caralyn Buehner
Illustrated by: Mark Buehner

This is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE Christmas book (yes, we are going back in time and are going to bring back the Christmas feeling for a bit). This book (to me) just has the BEST illustrations, the coloring and the feeling it brings just looks like Christmas to me. The last page showing Christmas morning, is the Christmas morning I picture in my mind. At my house, as a child, we always woke up before the sun came up because we wanted to open presents in the dark so we could have the glow of the Christmas tree (once it got light it was fun to see that the shirt you thought was black was actually red or purple :) ). The story is just as cute. There is also another book by the same people called Snowmen at Night (another great book). Check them out! I love them!