November 19, 2018

Kim's Kazookie's


I've loved entertaining over the years.  From hosting Christmas Eve dinners, that consisted of a full blown Italian feasts, to dinners for teenagers before a big dance. Regardless on the dinner, my #1 requested dessert is the Kazookie.  Lucky for me, this is the EASIEST dessert to make.  

What is a Kazookie you ask?  Essentially it's an under cooked pan cookie that you top with ice cream.  Optional toppings can include, but not limited too... caramel or chocolate syrup, whipped cream, crushed up candy bars and sprinkles!  

The best part of this dessert is you can pre make the dough ahead of time. You can use any type of cookie dough, but the fan favorite is always chocolate chip.  My preference is peanut butter or oatmeal scotchie cookie dough.

I make my dough, scoop into balls and refrigerate until you're ready to use.

I'm including my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe since this seems to be the most requested. Your kazookie will only be as the ingredients used. Make sure you use real vanilla and real butter...it makes a difference!



Chocolate Chip Kazookie's

1 cup butter (ONLY use butter!), leave out for an hour to get it at room temperature.  If I'm in a hurry, I will zap it in the microwave for 15 seconds. 
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla (the real stuff!)
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. course salt
2 cups chocolate chips

Mix butter, sugars, egg & vanilla until smooth. Add in dry ingredients and JUST mix until blended. Add chocolate chips. Roll into balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheet and place in fridge.  After one hour, remove balls and place in zip-lock bag until ready to use.

Heat up oven to 350. Place four cookie dough balls in greased 12 oz. ramekins. Push down lightly and bake for 13 minutes...cookie should look under cooked. 

Let sit out for about 4 minutes and then top with ice cream and desired toppings. 

 Enjoy!















Breakfast

Died and gone to heaven Aebleskivers

October 05, 2018


I eat healthy most of the time, I really do. I love green smoothies and big garden vegetables full of fresh, leafy vegetables.

 But that 5% of the time. Well. You have to make it worth it! I want food that is worth the calories! When I share a gluttonous recipe (like this one), trust me, the calories are worth it.

 Now let me introduce you to my little friend, the aebleskiver! Never heard of it you say?
I hadn't either until I tried one at a friend's baby shower and never looked back. It's like a bite-sized cross between a beignet and a funnel cake (without all the grease) disguised as a suitable breakfast option.

 The best part about aebleskivers is the options! You can eat them plain, with syrup, sprinkled with powdered sugar or stuff them with bacon, chocolate chips, apples, huckleberries, etc. Cut them in a half and spread a little jam on them or drizzle them with Nutella.

 You DO need an aebelskiver pan to make these. I have THIS ONE and THIS ONE.  It's a little easier to limit the amount of butter needed in the second one but they both work great. 

 Because it's a cast iron, dab a little butter (or a lot of butter) in each cavity before pouring the batter in.
Hope you enjoy this unique and fun 'breakfast' treat!




INGREDIENTS
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs, separated



INSTRUCTIONS

 Sift together flour, salt and baking soda. Add buttermilk and egg yolks. Beat egg whites until light and fluffing, forming soft peaks. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

 Heat Aebleskiver pan on medium heat. Place a small piece of butter in each cavity. 
When it has melted and starts to sizzle, fill cavity with 2/3 full of batter. 
Cook for approximately 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side until golden brown, flip using a skewer or toothpick. The tricky part is flipping them. Once the top of the Aebleskiver is covered in bubbles, similar to cooking pancakes, you want to flip them. Once flipped, push in the edges a bit. Takes a few tries, but you'll get the hang of it!

 Optional: To add filling, fill the cavity with batter and drop in ingredient. Push down with toothpick until you no longer see the filling. Flip as normal and continue cooking.

Optional Fillings: chocolate chips, fruit, peanut butter, nutella, marshmallows, jam, etc.

Make Ahead Bran Muffins

January 23, 2017

A warm bran muffin and a good protein shake is all I need to get moving in the morning.  In my quest to find the best recipe, I came across a blog that I'm pretty much obsessed with, Mel's Kitchen Cafe http://www.melskitchencafe.com/ has some of the best and easiest recipes.  I love her recipe for refrigerator bran muffins but unfortunately my 14 year old daughter wasn't a fan.  To make them more to my daughters liking, I added a glaze to the muffins, this seemed to make all the difference. So now I can make half the pan with the glaze and half the pan without...and everyone's happy. 

  • 4 cups wheat bran flakes or plain wheat bran
  • 2 cups of bran buds or all-bran cereal
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 1 quart (4 cups) buttermilk
  • 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) butter, melted
  • ½ cup (no-added sugar) applesauce
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 5 cups whole wheat flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Optional Glaze (Use this when making a dozen muffins from the mix)
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp salt

In a large bowl with a tight fitting lid, place the wheat bran flakes (or plain wheat bran) and the bran buds or all-bran. Pour the boiling water over the bran and mix well. Stir every couple of minutes while the mixture cools to room temperature. The mixture will become very thick and sticky.

After the mixture cools, add the buttermilk, melted butter, applesauce, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well to combine all the ingredients together.

The batter can be covered well and kept in the refrigerator for up to 30 days. To bake, scoop the batter into greased or lined muffin tins. Fill 3/4 full. Bake at 375 degrees for about 14-16 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Now these muffins are great as is BUT if you have a family like mine who felt they were a little bland...you can add a little extra sweetness to please them.
Whisk together all the ingredients for the glaze. Evenly distribute the glaze into each of the the muffin tins (I lightly sprayed my tins lightly with cooking spray to make sure the muffins could come out easy), then add your bran batter. Cook as indicated above.
Once the muffins are done cooking (Note: The muffins might spread all over the top of your muffin pan when done...not to worry! Just go ahead and scrape away the extra) flip them over immediately. You can serve them upside down or right side up...delicious either way ;)
If you put the glaze on the muffins, don't use cupcake liners or serve on napkins, it tends to be a little sticky.
If you add glaze to the muffins, it's much easier to serve them upside down.

Chicken

Chicken enchiladas

January 04, 2017


There are only a few thing that all my kids can unanimously agree on -- these chicken enchiladas are a hit with all of them! 
They are amazing day of but also make great leftovers. 
We like to eat them with my homemade salsa (I'll post a recipe later) and Spanish rice.

The key is the raw tortillas found at Winco or Costco. Are you sick of hearing about them yet? :)



INGREDIENTS

3 to 4 cups shredded chicken breast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers, drained
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1/2 cup water
8 (10 inch) raw flour toritallas -- Costco has these. This is key to this recipe. Just cook both sides.
1 cup heavy cream
Canned enchilada sauce, divided


INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the green chilies, jalapeno and garlic. Cook and stir for a few minutes, then stir in the cream cheese and half of the Monterey Jack. As the cheese begins to melt, gradually stir in the water. Add the shredded chicken meat and stir into the skillet. Remove from the heat.

Pour half the can of enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9X13 inch baking dish. Spoon the chicken mixture into tortillas, and roll up. Place the rolls seam side down baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining Monterey Jack cheese over the top, then pour cream (mixed with other half of enchilada sauce) over all.


Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven , or until the enchiladas are golden brown on the top. I like to broil the top for a minute or two to get a nice golden top. 

Yum. Enjoy. 

Baking

Kim's Chocolate Chip Cookies

December 31, 2016


If you walked into my kitchen right now, I guarantee you would find a jar full of homemade cookies. Friends and family know that they are free game. No need to ask, just help yourself. 

In fact, I've had friends of my children knock on my front door to play. If my child couldn't play, they'd ask, "well can I just have a cookie?"

I've tried so many chocolate chip cookie recipes over the years.  In fact, one time I had my entire family do a taste test of four different chocolate chip cookies I made in order to find the winner.

What's funny is that I found the best to be on the back of Toll House chocolate chip bag.  Yep, that's the winner!  I tweaked the recipe a bit (I added a little more flour and vanilla and lowering the oven temperature) but otherwise it's the perfect cookie.  Crispy on the outside, chewy inside and the taste of butter!










INGREDIENTS

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature (or zap each stick in microwave for 10 seconds)
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) semi sweet chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix all wet ingredients together with kitchen aid or electric mixer at lowest speed until just combined (Don't over mix or you'll have flat cookies) In a separate bowl, mix together flour, sugars,  salt and baking soda. Once mixed, add to wet ingredients and mix until just combined combined. Add chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls on parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake in preheated 325 oven (If you have a convection oven, use it!) for twelve minutes or until done. Let cool for three minutes and move to wire rack.




Drinks

Pineapple Slush (Rachel's Favorite)

December 31, 2016


I can't believe the holidays are behind us! It feels like this year flew by.

We normally have a big Christmas feast with our family and friends but this year decided to just hang at home. However, I couldn't break the tradition fully and had to whip up my favorite punch recipe that I've been making for over 15 years. My friend Rachel bypasses the cute party cups and gets a Route 44 size cup out of my cupboard for this drink. It's amazing.

Heads up : this recipe makes a lot of punch! I portion out the punch into three to four gallon sized bags and just add another bag to the punch as it is running out. I always seem to have punch-filled gallon bags leftover for New Years Eve. My family never complains about that ;)

Hope you all had a happy holiday season! On to summer. :)




INGREDIENTS :

2 cans frozen orange juice, thawed
2 can frozen lemonade, thawed
3 large cans of pineapple juice
6 to 7 ripe bananas
4 cups sugar
Bottles of 7-up or Sprite

INSTRUCTIONS :

Place ripe bananas in freezer zip lock bag and squeeze with hand until mushed. In bowl, mix juices and sugar; add bananas. Portion out into three to four gallon ziplock bags. Freeze for at least 24 hours. When ready to serve, place one frozen bag of punch into punch bowl, let sit for 15 minutes. Add two 2 liter bottles of 7-up or Sprite. Serve.

Helpful Hint: 
If the mixture is not forming slush, you can help it along by using a knife or a gloved hand to break it apart.

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