Chocolate Chip Cookies

Typically I just get those tubes of Toll House cookies and bake those, but one day I figured... what the heck... my daughter and I can make homemade cookies. I found this recipe for chocolate chip cookies from my Amish cookbook and they are AMAZING! So much better than those refrigerated tubes. Plus, I can add extra chocolate chips, peanut butter, whatever to them. They are wonderful!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (or 1 stick)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 pkg. of chocolate chips (7 oz)
1 tbsp hot water
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 1/2 cup flour
vanilla

Directions:
1. Mix together butter and sugar in a large bowl

2. Add the egg, hot water, and some vanilla to taste (I usually put a cap full of vanilla in and I microwave the water in a cup so it's nice and hot when I add it) and mix with butter and sugar.

3. Add flour, salt, and baking soda to the mixture and beat until smooth

4. Add chocolate chips and blend into the mixture

5. Scoop out spoonfuls of cookie dough and put on cookie sheet

6. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until light brown

See how simple this is? And my daughter LOVED them. She kept begging for more! The store bought kind have her done when she is halfway through a cookie.

Ranch Chicken & Potato Packets

This recipe is meant to be done with a grill, but I did it in the oven. It turned out fine and was super easy... but it took about an hour in the oven to cook.

Ingredients:
1 large potato
6 boneless chicken strips (uncooked)
Sprinkle of chicken marinade (I used the Montreal Chicken from Grill Master)
some bacon bits
Ranch dressing

Instructions:
1) Heat the grill up or preheat your oven to 400 degrees F

2) Take your raw potato and slice them into thin or small chunks. The smaller the better because they will cook faster.

3) Cut and place 2 sheets of foil onto a baking sheet and divide the potato pieces between the two sheets of foil

4) Sprinkle seasoning and bacon bits on top of the potatoes

5) Place raw chicken (3 pieces per foil sheet) on top of the potatoes

6) Squirt desired amount of ranch dressing on top of the chicken. Be generous!

7) Wrap each packet of foil on the cookie sheet and place them on the grill or oven

8) Cook for 45-50 minutes or until the chicken and potatoes are tender and break apart easily.

Serves: 2

*Note- Picture up top is BEFORE I put them in the oven... not after. They didn't last long after I pulled them out of the oven.*

Chicken Fettiuccini Alfredo

Takes about 30-45 minutes... not bad for a whole meal!

Ingredients:
1 jar of Alfredo sauce
5 chicken strips
1 head of broccoli
1/2 a tomato or 6-7 cherry tomatoes
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
Olive oil

Directions:

1. Pour olive oil in a skillet and cook your chicken until the inside is no longer pink and it's easy to shred with a fork.

2. Shred the chicken into small pieces and add broccoli and tomatoes. Add more olive oil if necessary, cook until vegetables are soft. About 3-5 minutes.

3. Pour in Alfredo sauce and add seasoning. Stir while skillet is hot for about a minute, mixing everything together

4. Boil water and add fettuccine noodles- following directions on the box. Serve with sauce.

You can make it healthier by adding more vegetables and/or finding an Alfredo sauce that isn't loaded in calories. The Alfredo sauce is the LEAST healthy thing in the pasta.

Something you can also add is bacon. I know that prevents it from being as healthy, but it does add to the flavor!

Spicy Cajun Chicken Pasta

This is a knock-off of TGIF's receipe, and let me tell you it is AMAZING! It feeds 2 people very very generous portions!

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp. butter
1 bell pepper diced
1/2 white onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, diced
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp. olive oil
1 med. tomato diced
4-6 mushrooms, diced (optional)
1 cup chicken broth or 1 boullion cube
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. thyme
4 to 6 quarts water
1/2 package of noodles

Directions:

1. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in skillet and saute' bell pepper, onion, and garlic until vegetables begin to soften (about 5 minutes)

2. Cut chicken into bite size pieces and place in chicken in the skillet with the olive oil. Stir 5 to 7 minutes and make sure the chicken isn't pink or raw

3. Once vegetables are soft and the chicken is done, combine them together and add tomatoes, mushrooms (optional), salt, cayenne pepper, pepper, and thyme

4. Allow it to simmer for 10-12 minutes until it thickens

5. In the meantime, pour your water into a large pot and bring to a boil

6. Add noodles to cook and then remove (10-12 minutes)

7. Drain the noodles, add butter, and then serve the chicken-vegetable sauce over the top of the noodles.

Overall, I was able to dice everything and get it cooked in about 45 minutes. Not a super quick, but definitely worth it. And with all the vegetables it's fairly healthy and Sophie ate it. I didn't think it was that hot... but some might want to tone down the peppers if they find it too spicy. But for your first attempt... try it using all the ingredients, and then taste, because I really didn't find it too spicy.

Calzones

This is a really easy recipe and everyone in our house loves them. The only downside is that this recipe only makes 6 so I would suggest doubling the recipe. They also freeze well and are perfect for lunches and kids!

Focaccia Bread:
1 1/4 c. water
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 1/4 c. flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp oregano
2 1/2 tsp yeast (1 package)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Mix all ingredients
Place in cookie sheet
Spread dough in the pan
Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 30 minutes
Divide dough into 6 pieces and roll it flat with a rolling pin
Place in your meat and cheese (I used pepperonis, Parmesan cheese, and spaghetti sauce, but you can use whatever you want)
Pull up sides and seal
Turn them over and roll them a little so they look like little bread loaves
Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes

For filling you can use just about anything. I thought for Lent it might be good to have spinach dip inside.