Saturday, December 29, 2007

Chocolate Lovers Oatmeal

(from the Quaker Oatmeal website)

This one tastes a little like a creamy chocolate oatmeal cookie. And I sprinkled some cinnamon on top before eating it.

1 1/4 cups milk or chocolate milk
2/3 cup quick or old fashioned oats
1/8 t salt
1 T semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a medium saucepan, bring milk just to a boil. Add in other ingredients. Reduce heat to low. Cook 1-2 min for quick oats or 5 for old fashioned, stirring occasionally. Let sit until it reaches the consistency you like. Makes 2 servings.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Ham & Bean Soup

Found this online at about.com & have made it twice now-very tasty & perfect for the leftover ham!

INGREDIENTS:
8 cups water
1 pound Great Northern beans or navy beans
2 cups cubed ham
1 ham bone or ham hock, optional
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon pepper or to taste
various seasoning to taste *my addition
1 bay leaf
1 carrot, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped or sliced thinly
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

PREPARATION:
Bring water and beans to a boil; boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour.
Stir in ham, ham bone or hock, pepper, bay leaf, carrot and celery. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until beans are tender (skim foam from top), about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If soup is too thick, add a little water. Remove ham bone or ham hock (if used) and trim meat from bone. Return meat to soup with tomato sauce and salt; simmer for about 15 minutes (or until ready to serve) Remove bay leaf.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Chocolate Crinkles

Ok, Analise and I are embarking on a month of Christmas cookies and candy. This was our first recipe, and it was AWESOME! Easy and incredibly delicious. These are like little brownie bites.

  • 3/4 c. butter, melted
  • 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 t vanilla extract
  • 2 c. flour
  • 1 t b aking powder
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 6 ounces (half a bag or 1 cup, I think) mini semisweet chocolate chips
  • 3/4 c. confectioner's sugar
In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter, cocoa powder and sugar. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Use a large spoon to slowly add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture. Stir in the chips. Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Form the dough into 1-inch balls, then roll them in confectioners' sugar. Bake the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet for 10 minutes. Set the baking sheet on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then lightly dust the cookies with the remaining confectioners' sugar. Transfer the cookies directly onto the rack to cool thoroughly. Makes about 4 dozen.

From Family Fun magazine here