Lemon Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

Cliff and I had some friends over last night to hang out. They brought their daughter, and AB had a blast running around the living room playing with her. They were coming just after dinner time, so I wanted to make something sweet we could all have for a nice snack. Cliff was wanting lemon white chocolate chip cookies, which I've made before, and I was very happy to make them. 

Lemon is so fruity and refreshing, which is perfect for this weather. And the white chocolate chips balanced the fruitiness with sweetness. These cookies are perfect with some pink lemonade while you sit on the porch swing. 

Here's what you need:

• 1 C of butter, softened
• 3/4 C of brown sugar
• 1/4 C of granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. of vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. of baking soda
• Juice from 2 lemons
• 3.4 oz package of lemon pudding mix
• 1 lemon's worth of lemon zest
• 3 C of all-purpose flour
• 1 bag of white chocolate chip morsels

Here's what you do:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat everything except the flour.
• After it's mixed well and is smooth, slowly add your flour about 1/2 C at a time until it's all incorporated.
• Using a wooden spoon, mix in your bag of chocolate chip morsels.
• Put about 1 Tbs of dough onto a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper, 2 inches apart.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes.

These soft cookies are still just as fresh tasting the next day as they were when I made them. Not too many survived last night, though. But I'm not complaining about that! I hope you enjoy these refreshing cookies when you make them!

Cheeseburger Wrap

I love cheeseburgers. They're kind of addicting, so I try not to eat them frequently. I had hamburger meat in the refrigerator, but I didn't feel like making patties. I had tortillas, so I thought I'd whip up some cheeseburger wraps. They were the perfect solution.

Here's what you need:

• 1 lb. of hamburger meat
• 2 Tbs of Worcester sauce
• 1 Tbs of soy sauce
• 1/2 C of ketchup
• 5 medium tortillas
• The cheese and other toppings of your choice

Here's what you do:

• Brown and drain your hamburger meat.
• Put it back in the pan and add in the Worcester sauce, soy sauce, and ketchup.
• Stir on low until it's well mixed.
• Add a couple of spoon fulls of the meat to the tortilla.
• Sprinkle on your cheese and add your other toppings.
• Fold the wrap and place in a clean pan with the seam side down, with the stove on medium heat.
• Cook until the tortilla is lightly browned, flip, and cook the other side.

 
It was so easy and fast. And the soy sauce really adds a great flavor to the meat. I can easily see myself making these at least once a week. And, even though it's very difficult to eat only one, they're great for potion control. I hope these turn out great for you!

Cheddar Chicken Lasagna Roll-Ups

The first thing CM ever cooked for me was chicken lasagna. I already knew that I didn't like regular lasagna, but he insisted it was delicious, so I gave it a shot. I was hooked. During his times overseas, I would crave it so much. I'm glad he's home to make it whenever I want now! But I decided to do something a little different with it; I decided to roll it up. I had CD 2 months ago, so I've been trying to lose the baby weight, and my biggest issue is portion control. I would be going, going, going all day, and be starving for dinner and eat more than I should have. That's what makes these roll-ups so perfect! Easy for me to portion so that I don't eat too much.

I'm going to be honest. The way it's supposed to be made is with mozzarella. But when I went to the store, I completely forgot to get some, and all we had was cheddar, so I went with it because I don't like going to the store at 5 pm on a weekday when everyone else is there. It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. 

Here's what you need:

• 3 chicken breasts
• 1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 C of hot water
• 1 chicken bullion cube
• 3 C of cheddar cheese
• 1 24oz jar of pasta sauce (I used Classico Four Cheese)
• 15 lasagna noodles (NOT oven ready)
• 1 Tbs of olive oil

Here's what you do:

• Boil the chicken until it's cooked (it will take about an hour), then let it cool.
• While it's cooling, boil your noodles in a large pot until they're al dente (it took my noodles about 6 minutes or so)- put the olive oil in the water to keep the noodles from sticking together.
• When the noodles are done, drain them and let them cool down.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Shred you chicken and put it in the food processor (or a large mixing bowl).
• Add in the cream cheese, water, and bullion cube.
• Blend until it's well mixed, it will be kind of like a paste.
• Line your noodles up, side by side, on a baking sheet. I was able to fit 6 on the sheet at one time.
• Spread your chicken mixture out down the length of the noodle. I put about 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture on each one.
• Then spread some of the pasta sauce over the mixture. Put as much, or as little as you want. But keep in mind that it will be a bigger mess if you put too much.
• Slowly roll each noodle up, and place in a 9x13 baking dish.
• You should be able to put 3 rolls on one row, and have 5 rows.
• Pour some more sauce over the top of all of the rolls and use a spoon to spread it out.
• For maximum cheesiness, add an additional cup of cheese over the top of the rolls.
• Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

The cheddar added a little more sharpness and flavor to the lasagna. And, again, these rolls are great for portion control. I was able to stick to only 2 rolls. And there are plenty of leftovers to eat for lunch for a few days, which is always nice. These take a little more work than regular lasagna would, but they're so worth it!

Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

I have been craving peanut butter cookies for about a week now. I don't usually crave them, it's typically chocolate chip cookies that I want. So I decided to make them and share them with CM's family when they invited us for dinner. I finally got my cookies and didn't feel guilty about making them since they were going to be shared.

Here's what you need:

• 1/2 C butter, softened
• 3/4 C peanut butter
• 3/4 C packed brown sugar
• 1/4 C granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbs milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 C flour 
• 1 bag of any kind of M&Ms (I used white chocolate)

Here's what you do:

• Preheat your oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a bowl, mix together the butter, peanut butter, and both sugars with a hand mixer.
• Add the egg, vanilla, milk, salt, and baking soda, then mix until combined.
• Add 1/2 C of flour at a time, until it's all incorporated.
• Make tablespoon-sized balls, then press them flat with your palms.
• Add M&Ms on top.
• Bake for 6-8 minutes.
• Let cool, then enjoy!

These cookies were perfect for my craving. They aren't overly peanut buttery, which is perfect because I don't like an overwhelming peanut butter taste. And the M&Ms melt a little on the inside, so they're a little creamy when you bite into them. Needless to say, they only lasted for 2 days. Even the ones I burned, CM ate them up, claiming they were delicious. I think he was just being polite.

Anyway, let me know how they turned out for you! And be sure to share this recipe with your family and friends!

aspoon baking soda

1 3/4 cups flour

Read more at http://www.crazyforcrust.com/2014/03/slam-dunk-peanut-butter-cookie-reeses-smores/#tw1cudsodXtWglIi.99

Apple BBQ Chicken

So I did something I always hate myself for doing. It was about 1 pm and I still hadn't decided on what to make for dinner. I was doing so well with planning, either the day before or the morning of, what to make for dinner so that I'd have enough time to make it, or enough time to get any ingredients I may be short on. I've been slacking on my planning responsibilities. Anyway, I was scrambling to come up with something based on what we had in our kitchen, and I thought about orange chicken. But that wouldn't work because I didn't have any orange marmalade to make it, so I improvised with apple jelly instead. The result was a sweet-tasting chicken that matched perfectly with rice. 

Here's what you need:

• 3-4 chicken breasts
• 1 C of BBQ sauce (I used my homemade sauce that I made for the BBQ Pork Loin Sliders)
• 1 C of apple jelly
• 3 Tbs of soy sauce

Here's what you do:

• Put the chicken in the Crock-Pot.
• Mix together the BBQ sauce, jelly, and soy sauce. 
• Pour over the chicken.
• Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours.

And that's all it takes! It's so easy, it's stupid. Be sure to let me know how it turned out for you and share this with your family and friends!