White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

One of my parents friends makes these cookies and I think they're wonderful.  I felt better about eating more than one of them when she (who is a trainer) said that there wasn't any white sugar in them so they were sort-of healthy.  I later saw the recipe and there's lots of brown sugar, butter, and chocolate in them but they are divine!  If you don't like "stuff" in your cookies these probably aren't for you, but then again, I don't typically like "stuff" and I love these.  Try them and see if you love them as much as we do!

White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

2 2/3 cups old fashioned oats

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup dried cranberries

6 oz white chocolate broken into pieces

1/2 cup walnut halves finely chopped (optional)

1 cup unsalted butter

1 1/3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (or use my favorite new cookie sheets!).

2. Whisk oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in cranberries, chocolate and nuts.

3. Melt butter for 4 minutes until brown. Pour butter into large bowl and whisk in brown sugar until combines. Whisk in cinnamon, then eggs and vanilla, beating well after each. Add dry mixture and stir. 

4. Shape into ping-pong ball size. Bake 16 minutes. Cool on rack.

Ham and Chicken Croissants

After eating the French Dip Croissants that my mom made recently I thought I'd try the same concept with what I had on hand.  I have always loved Chicken Cordon Bleu so I tried a very simple version.  It's, obviously, different than a traditional Chicken Cordon Bleu but I loved the taste.  And you could use this concept with whatever meat or cheese you have in the fridge.  I didn't put any condiments on these before I baked them but I bet they'd be divine with some honey mustard if, unlike me, your husband likes honey mustard.

Ham and Chicken Croissants

16 slices of deli Chicken (sliced thick)

16 slices of deli Ham (sliced thin)

16 slices of Swiss Cheese

2 rolls of Croissants

1. Unroll croissants and stack ham, chicken, and cheese on them. 

2. Roll back up and place on a cookie sheet.

3. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until the rolls are golden.

Bite Sized Cinnamon Rolls

My Mom made numerous breakfast options for us when we celebrated Christmas morning with them and one of the things that she made were these wonderful mini cinnamon rolls.  They are made with crescent roll dough and are wonderful!  I especially love that they can be made ahead of time and just rewarmed or you can serve them right after adding the icing.  Either way, they're great and easy!

Bite Sized Cinnamon Rolls

1 can of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

4 T Brown Sugar

1 t Cinnamon

1 T Butter

1 T Flour

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

2 t Milk

1. In a small bowl mix together a tablespoon of slightly melted butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and flour.

2. Open crescent rolls, taking half of dough, and separate at the vertical seams.  Press the diagonal seams of dough together so that the dough is smooth. (keep other half of dough in the fridge)

3. Spoon half of the cinnamon mixture onto dough.  Roll short side up then continue with the remaining dough.

4. Cut 2 inch slices and place all the rolls on a cookie sheet.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

6. When rolls have cooled, mix powdered sugar and milk.  Add more sugar/milk to get frosting to the consistency of your liking.  Drizzle the sugar over the rolls and then serve or let dry.

From Life's Too Short to Skip Dessert via Pinterest

Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

I needed to bring a dessert to Thanksgiving and so the weekend before when we were in Tuscaloosa I gave Jason, Charlie, and Dad a choice of three desserts.  They chose the one that included 'Chocolate Chip Cookie' in the title and now having had the dessert I'm glad that they did!  This was so good but wasn't overly sweet with all of the Cool Whip mixed in that it made it the perfect Thanksgiving (or anytime!) dessert.  If you go to Taste of Home's website their picture shows it much higher than this.  I'm thinking to achieve that look they probably put it in a smaller pan or something to cook.  If you make it in a 9x13 pan it has much thinner layers but it is still so good!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

1 tube refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup Confectioners' Sugar

12 oz (1 carton) Cool Whip, thawed, divided

3 cups cold 2% Milk

1 package (3.9 oz) Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix

1 package (3.4 oz) Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix

1. Let cookie dough stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften.  Press into an ungreased 9x13 baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Fold in 1 3/4 cups Cool Whip.  Spread over crust.

3. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes; let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.  Spread over cream cheese layer.

4. Top with remaining Cool Whip.

5. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight until firm.

From Taste of Home via Pinterest

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

One of the earlier recipes that I saw on Pinterest was a recipe for mozzarella sticks in egg roll wrappers baked instead of fried.  I pinned it and when I was looking for an appetizer to take to Christmas I decided to try it.  Mine didn't turn out exactly like the picture but they were really good.  

In getting all my ducks in a row for this post I found that the person who uploaded the picture on the pin that I repinned basically uploaded a picture of fried mozzarella sticks and said that she would bake instead of fry them.  A little confusing, but I'm glad that she wrote that because this is really easy and even though they don't look as awesome as fried mozzarella sticks they are still great!

I'm modified the recipe to give you the best non-fried approach but if you want the fried version check out the link at the bottom of this post.

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Egg Roll Wrappers

String Cheese

Water

Salsa

1. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with sides with cooking spray.

2. Lay out an egg roll wrapper.  Place a string cheese near a top corner point and begin rolling the wrapper up.  Halfway through fold the outer corners in and continue wrapping.  When you finish rolling moisten the edge with water and seal.

3. Continue with as many wrappers as you have and place on your cookie sheet with a little bit of space between the rolls.

4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.  Keep a watch on them to add or take away time.  You want them to get slightly brown but you also don't want all the cheese to seep out.

5.  Serve warm with salsa or marinara sauce.

Modified from Taste of Home via Pinterest

Snickers Cake

I made this cake when Jason's family was over for Christmas and it was a big hit.  I made it early in the day so didn't serve it warm but it might be better that way because it's still pretty gooey when you pull it straight from the oven!

Snickers Cake

1 German Chocolate Cake Mix

Ingredients called for on cake mix (oil, eggs, water)

1 14 oz bag of Caramel squares

1/4 cup Milk

1/3 cup Butter

1-2 cups Chocolate Chips

1 cup Pecans, chopped (optional)

1. Mix together cake mix as directed on the box.  Pour half of the batter into a greased 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

2. While it bakes, unwrap all the caramels. Put the caramels, milk, and butter in a sauce pan and melt over low heat, stirring constantly until caramel is melted and smooth.

3. Pour the caramel on the cake as soon as it is finished baking.

4. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and pecans (if desired) on top of the caramel.  Spread the remaining half of the prepared cake mix batter on top.

5. Bake for 20 more minutes at 350 degrees.

From Six Sisters Stuff via Pinterest

Chicken Fried Rice

You would think that something with "fried" in the name of it wouldn't be healthy but this recipe surprisingly is supposed to be.  It is also very tasty and satisfied my ethnic tooth on the cheap.  PLUS I knew exactly what was in it which made me feel better about eating it.  It was also easier to make since I learned that you can scramble eggs in the microwave!  Stir with a fork and then microwave for 45 seconds to a minute for every egg.  Worked great and a tasted perfect! We'll be making this fried rice frequently!

Chicken Fried Rice

2 cups cooked rice (I used brown rice)

3-4 cups Veggies (I used frozen green peas because I had them on hand)

1 1/2 cups cooked chicken 

2 eggs, scrambled

1 tablespoon Sesame Oil

3 tablespoons reduced sodium Soy Sauce

1 teaspoon minced Garlic

1 tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar

1. Add sesame oil to a wok or frying pan over high heat.

2. In a small bowl mix together soy sauce, garlic and vinegar.

3. Drop a single piece of rice in the oil, if it sizzles the wok is ready.

4. Add rice, chicken, and any thick veggies that you're using.  Stir a couple of times and then add the soy sauce mixture.  Stir frequently for about 3 minutes.

5. Add in any remaining veggies and eggs.  Stir for 2 more minutes.

6. Serve immediately.

From The Joy of Clean Eating via Pinterest