Mom on the Make

Finding fun amidst the chaos of Motherhood

Easy Snickerdoodles

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I love snickerdoodles.

And, I really enjoy it when I find a version of snickerdoodles that is just a little better than the last recipe I was using.

Tonight, Bam Bam really wanted homemade cookies, and the only cookie I could make with our ingredients on hand was snickerdoodles.

LOVE snickerdoodle dough……

snickerdoodle dough

And I really love rolling the dough in cinnamon and sugar……

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Walnut size dough balls all ready to go in the oven…..

snickerdoodle recipe

Out of the oven and cooling……

snickerdoodle recipe

snickerdoodle cookies

Bowl full of goodness…….

snickerdoodle cookie recipe

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snickerdoodles

Here’s the recipe…..

Easy Snickerdoodles
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 cup shortening
  • 1½ cups white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and 1½ cups sugar.
  3. Stir in the eggs.
  4. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt over the bowl.
  5. Stir sifted ingredients into the creamed mixture until well blended.
  6. In a small bowl, stir together the 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the cinnamon.
  7. Roll dough into walnut sized balls, then roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
  8. Place them onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, two inches apart.
  9. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven.
  10. Edges should be slightly brown.
  11. Remove from sheets to cool on wire racks.

ENJOY!!

Easy Breaded Chicken Recipe

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Ok, you guys, I have a really easy chicken recipe today that you can use as a base for all sorts of chicken dishes.

I love the taste of homemade breaded chicken.

You know, the kind where you dip the chicken breast manually into flour, then egg, then italian bread crumbs, then you bake it in the oven for awhile until the perfect crispiness is achieved.  The taste comes out quite different than my frozen breaded chicken breasts from Trader Joe’s.

And, that’s saying something.

Because we love our Trader Joe’s frozen breaded chicken a lot.  However, the homemade stuff is just better, as per usual.

With this easy homemade recipe, you can easily make it into chicken parmesan by adding mozzarella cheese on top with marinara sauce.  You can eat it with a side dish of brown rice and veggies.  Or with biscuits and gravy.  The options are endless.

When I made this recipe a few days ago, we enjoyed it with brown rice and carrots.

The key to the flavor of this dish is the addition of a 1/2 cup of canola oil at the bottom of the pan.  It makes the chicken taste not just breaded, but borderline fried.  Think a healthier version of fried chicken.  Really good.

breaded chicken recipe

Set up your three bowls of flour, eggs and Italian bread crumbs. I just poured a bit of flour, a bit of bread crumbs and stirred up three eggs in the bowls. I did not measure the flour and bread crumbs.

breaded chicken

Dip chicken breast in flour. Roll it around until covered.

After dipping in the eggs, roll chicken breast in the bread crumbs for a nice coating.

After dipping in the eggs, roll chicken breast in the bread crumbs for a nice coating.

chicken breast breaded

After pouring half a cup of canola or vegetable oil in the bottom of a 13×9 baking dish, place in the oven set at 375 for 50 minutes. Turn the chicken breasts over after 25 minutes.

Breaded Chicken

All crispy and ready to enjoy!

easy breaded chicken

Easy Breaded Chicken Recipe
 
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Ingredients
  • 5 Chicken Breasts
  • Canola or Vegetable Oil
  • All purpose flour
  • Italian bread crumbs
  • 3 eggs
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Pour ½ cup of canola oil into 13x9 baking dish.
  3. Set up three bowls with flour, 3 eggs, Italian Bread crumbs.
  4. Blend the eggs together.
  5. With tongs, place first chicken breast in flour and roll around until covered.
  6. Then place in eggs until covered.
  7. Finally, place the chicken breast in the bread crumbs and roll around until fully covered.
  8. Repeat with each chicken breast.
  9. Place the chicken breasts into prepared baking dish.
  10. Cook in oven for 50 minutes. Remember to set a timer for 25 minutes to turn the breast over, then cook for remaining 25 minutes.
  11. Enjoy!

This is a recipe that I always forget about.  Its so easy, and I should utilize this more.  Hopefully this triggers some ideas for you and your menu plans.

What’s for Dinner Tonight?

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Today was the first day back to school for the kiddos.

For some reason, this Christmas break seemed longer than others.  We stayed home for the most part with a few local getaways thrown in, so that might have contributed to it, or maybe because Christmas day was at the beginning of the break , or maybe because having the position of Director of Entertainment for my three little ones every day, all day, is a bit daunting after 14 days.  Whatever it was, it seemed long.

So, this morning, the school morning rush began once again.

We started by not being able to locate Bam Bam’s Darth Vader lunch box for at least 15 minutes.

Until we realized, we had never removed it from his backpack TWO weeks ago when Christmas break started.  Oops.

At least, there was not any chicken or mayonnaise left in the box.  Only one z bar wrapper.  Phew.

Then I had to remember which of my three have hot lunch at our school on Mondays.  Only one of them. So that meant, I needed to whip up two lunches and one snack.

Anyway, we finally pulled ourselves together and arrived early to school.

Wow, the house was quiet.  So nice to hit the blog with sheer quiet.  I was supposed to go do a three mile walk, but the force  of my peaceful home would not let me put my sneakers on to brave the cold walking path.

I decided that I deserved to be in my quiet home today. 🙂

During my quiet time, I realized that I needed to get back into my meal planning routine for the week.  The planning kind of  (ok, completely) fell to the wayside in these past two weeks.

So, I decided to go with one of my favorites.  Easy peasy, healthy, warm, and the whole family loves it…….recipe is here…..

White Chicken Chili

It is on the stove now, and it smells so yummy.  Both of my girls have basketball practice tonight, so this is perfect, as it just sits warming on the stove as people come in and out of the house.

white bean chicken chili

Scoop of deliciousness!

 

Andes Mints Cookie Recipe

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2013-01-02 21.10.11Unbelievable.  Melt in your Mouth.  Decadent.

Words that popped into my mind when thinking about how to describe these cookies.

If you enjoy Andes Mints, drop everything you’re doing right now and make these cookies!!

Love, love, love them!

We had purchased two boxes of Andes Mints last week and wanted to make something with them before they played a disappearing act on us due to 10 hands in this house that enjoy snacking on chocolates.

We finally set aside some time last night to make these little gems, and oh my goodness, they are amazing.

There is a little more effort involved in these as opposed to most cookies, but so worth it.

One part of the recipe calls for a standing mixer where you beat eggs, vanilla and sugar for 15 minutes.  I only have a hand mixer, so that was a little awkward for me, but it worked out.  Note to self:  buy a standing mixer.  It will be better for my neck.

You will begin by melting chocolate and mixing in the Andes Mints, while watching them melt.  You will then start the 15 minute process of blending the sugar, eggs and vanilla.

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Andes Mints Cookie Recipe
 
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Ingredients
  • Brownie Cookies
  • 10 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used Nestle semisweet chocolate chips)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 ounces chopped Andes mints (about ⅓ cup)
  • 2 eggs
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • Mint Chocolate Glaze
  • 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used the Nestle chocolate chips again. Easier than chopping!)
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1½ ounces chopped Andes mints
  • Extra chopped Andes mints
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  3. Combine the 10 ounces of chopped semisweet chocolate and 3 tablespoons of butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl.
  4. Microwave for 20 seconds, stir then microwave for another 20 seconds.
  5. Repeat this process until the chocolate and butter have melted. This only took me about 1½ minutes.
  6. Now, stir in the chopped Andes mints.
  7. Continue to stir until melted.
  8. The heat from the chocolate and butter should be enough to melt the Andes mints.
  9. If they do not melt when stirred in, simply place back into the microwave for 20 seconds to help melt.
  10. Combine eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a stand mixer, fitted with whisk attachment, then beat on medium speed for 15 minutes.
  11. After 15 minutes, the eggs should have become pale yellow in color, thickened and glossy.
  12. At this point, the eggs and sugar should be at the stage where when you pull the beater out of the mixture, the mixture will slowly fall back into itself.
  13. Place a sifter over chocolate mixture then add flour and baking powder.
  14. Sift over chocolate.
  15. Then, gently stir the sifted flour and baking powder into the chocolate.
  16. Add the whipped egg and sugar and gently fold into the chocolate.
  17. Time to scoop onto cookie sheet and cook
  18. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the cookie batter onto the lined baking sheet, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie (they do spread out a bit when baking).
  19. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookies have puffed and cracked on top.
  20. Cool completely on baking sheet. As the cookies cool, they will deflate a little.
  21. Once cookies have cooled, make the chocolate glaze.
  22. Make the Chocolate Glaze Topping
  23. To make glaze, combine chocolate and 1 tablespoon of butter in a small microwave-safe bowl.
  24. Microwave for 20 seconds, stir, then microwave for another 20 seconds.
  25. Repeat this process until the chocolate and butter have melted. (This takes about a minute).
  26. Stir in the Andes mints, then spoon about 1 teaspoon of glaze onto each cookie and spread into a thin layer.
  27. Top with the extra mints. We found that the more mints we put on top, the better.
  28. SO delicious.

I found this recipe at Inspired Taste and am so glad I did.  These cookies have such a rich chocolate mint taste, and the soft chocolate cookies are a soft brownie texture.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

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I love this pumpkin soup.

The soup is so creamy and very easy to whip up.    The pumpkin mixed with heavy whipping cream, ginger and cinnamon is a perfect flavor combination.

My favorite way to serve this gem is with lots of fresh ground pepper on top.

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Creamy Pumpkin Soup
 
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Recipe type: Soup
Ingredients
  • 2 cups chopped onion
  • ¼ cup butter, melted
  • 4 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
  • 2 (15 oz) cans pumpkin puree
  • 2 t sea salt
  • ½ t ground cinnamon
  • ½ t ground ginger
  • ¼ t ground pepper
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
Instructions
  1. Saute onion in butter in a medium saucepan until tender.
  2. Add cans of chicken broth and , pumpkin, salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground pepper, stir well.
  3. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heate, and simmer 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
  4. Stir in whipping cream and heat through.
  5. Do not boil.
  6. Ladle into individual soup bowls.

Enjoy.  This is a keeper, for sure.

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