TheKitchenCookie

The boys were talking last evening about the fact that we haven't had pork chops lately and I needed something easy and quick for supper tonight and happened to be at the grocery store today, so I picked up some thin sliced boneless pork chops. I brought them home and looked through my cupboards to see what I could marinate them in and decided on this combo. 7 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced ¼ cup soy sauce ¼ cup honey ½ cup Sherry Cooking Wine 10 ounces crushed pineapple in juice salt and pepper to taste ¼ teaspoon ground ginger 12 thin sliced boneless pork chops Combine the first seven ingredients, place the chops into a resealable bag or a glass baking dish and cover with marinade and allow to marinate for at least 3½ hours. Grill and serve. ~Blessings~ Home Sweet Home

Some of the recent sunsets that always draw my mind to our Creator and His abundant goodness to us! Enjoy your day! ~Blessings~

  Someone  mentioned last night that she was hungry for peanut butter cookies. These are for you Betsy!☺ This made me think I'm hungry for them too! I needed cookies for the lunches on Monday anyway so I thought that gave me a legitimate excuse to make them. The recipe comes from my sister-in-law Laura and uses vegetable shortening instead of butter. I like to use the oraganic, non-hydrogenated kind. They turned out delicious (especially with a cold glass of milk) and made me fear they might not last till Monday! The boys wanted to eat them all, but I put them away for safe keeping.☺ ¾ cup creamy peanut butter ½ cup vegetable shortening 1½ cups brown sugar 3 Tablespoons milk 1 Tablespoons vanilla 1 egg ¾ teaspoon salt ¾ teaspoon baking soda 1¾ cups AP flour Combine the first 5 ingredients and beat until well blended. Add the egg and beat until just blended. Combine flour, salt, and soda and add to the creamed mixture. Mix just until blended. Drop onto a ...

These rolls are a bit tricky and sticky to handle but the flavor is totally worth the stress. The dough itself isn't hard to handle, it's the creamy chive filling you spread on that makes it difficult to form them nicely. I definitely need more practice with the rolling and shaping but there is nothing wrong with the flavor of these soft, tender rolls. I won't tell you how many I ate :) I'll just tell you I won't be needing any tomorrow! ha  Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon Yeast (I used Instant) ¼ cup warm water Dissolve yeast in warm water. Set aside. In a small saucepan combine- 1 cup milk 5½ Tablespoons unsalted butter ¼ cup instant potato flakes 1/3 cup sugar 1¼ teaspoon salt Heat to 110°-115°. remove from heat and allow to cool a bit the add yeast mixture and 1 beaten egg Pour into mixer bowl and add flour, approximately 3¾-4 cups flour to form a stiff dough. Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic. Place into a greased bowl turning once to grease the...

~Lunch Today~ Recently when I was out and about I stopped in at my favorite Reuzit shop and found this cute little glass. I love it for my smoothies I've been enjoying for lunch. Today the smoothie consisted of  2 cups fresh strawberries and about 3 large frozen ones , a ½ banana , ½ cup Greek vanilla yogurt , ½-1 teaspoon vanilla extract ,  1 teaspoon flax seeds, and 1 packet of SomerSweet sugar . It was delicious! ~Blessings~

It was a dreary day with lots of rain and it was chilly outside. The menu was begging for soup but we've had our usual Chicken Noodle and Chili lately so I didn't want to make those again. Most of us enjoy a good Potato Soup so I went on a hunt and found this one and adapted it to our taste preferences. It turned out delicious and sure hit the spot on a chilly, grey evening in January. I liked that it was not milk based and thickened with flour but I would have preferred it a bit thicker, so the next time I think I would add more potatoes or reduce the liquid and possibly add some cooked, diced potatoes after the blending. Ingredients: 4 Tablespoons butter 2 Leeks, finely chopped 1 medium Onion, finely chopped 2 quarts Chicken Broth 3 Celery stalks, diced 4 Fresh parsley sprigs, chopped 6 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced thin salt and pepper, to taste 2 shakes of Worcestershire Sauce ½ teaspoon curry powder 1 cup heavy cream 2 lbs. ham, cubed Fresh Chives, ch...

It doesn't get any easier than this! You know those yummy Rotisserie Chickens from the grocery store deli? Tender, juicy, and flavorful they are, but I always wonder what kind of preservatives lurk in all those juices. I've been seeing these around the web and have been making them for a little while now in my crock pot. Such a simple way to get such a moist roasted chicken! I love to have it on hand because of it's versatility...and because seemingly the children's love languages include quesadillas fairly often lately. ha 5 lb. chicken Olive oil Seasoning of your choice I used the Perfect Pinch Rotisserie seasoning. Remove chicken from it's wrapping and rinse. Pat dry with a paper towel. Spray or rub with olive oil and sprinkle generously with seasoning. Place in crock pot. Spray crock pot with non stick spray and add about 8 ounces of water to the pot. I don't like if the cooked chicken is in it's juices and I don't have a rack for the bottom ...

Because it was Anthony's birthday I asked him what kind of cake he wants me to bake. I should have known ☺ he always picks a chocolate layer cake. I try different ones about every year but this one is by far my favorite as far as cakes go. He likes dark chocolate so I thought I would use that instead of just the regular cocoa. I also had some buttermilk in the fridge that needed using so in place of the water in the recipe I used that. It turned out very moist and delicious and is even better a few days later. I added crushed Oreos to a basic Butter Cream Icing (my favorite for a cake).  So. Good! It turned out just like I thought it would and "Buddy" was quite happy with his dark chocolate cake.☺ Ingredients: 2 cups AP flour 1 2/3 cups sugar 2/3 cup dark chocolate cocoa 1 teaspoon vanilla 1¼ teaspoons baking soda 1¼ teaspoons baking powder 3 eggs 1 1/3 cups buttermilk 1 cup Mayonnaise Basic Butter Cream Icing ½ cup butter, softened ½ cup Crisco 4 cups powdered sugar ...

It's been rainy and foggy around here for the last little while and although the sun did make a reappearance today, I still felt like I needed a bit more sunshine.  I had a mango that needed to be used and a pineapple just sitting around. So I decided to make a smoothie for lunch, with a bit of Greek Yogurt it was very satisfying. ☺ 1 mango, peeled and diced 1½ cups fresh pineapple, diced 1 (6 oz.) container Greek yogurt Cardamom, to taste Combine and blend till smooth. Enjoy! Cupcake Apothecary

 Today, 13 years ago we were blessed with a quiet, calm, baby boy with dark chocolate brown eyes. He slept most of the first 3 months of his life. He is still gentle, easy going, and calm. Like his Dad! ☺ He is third born of 3 boys in row, so I always assumed his calm personality was a double blessing.☺ He loves to read, does well in school, loves to play games and is a peacemaker/keeper. He is dependable, patient, and will do everything he can to make sure the ladies of the house are taken care of. ☺ He is also a perfectionist and asks very technical questions that can make me feel confused about the instructions I'm giving him at the time. haha He's quite a handy fellow in the kitchen and loves it when I ask him to bake cookies. He's usually willing to try new food ☺ at least once. He has a hilarious sense of humor and has a way of telling his little jokes that make us all laugh. He's not overly fond of being photographed and once when I...

... from my kitchen window... Have a Blessed Day!

Google Gmail Yahoo Mail Hotmail AOL Mail Any email         If you enjoy chicken salad and avocados you will love them put together like this. It was a lovely light supper for me today. 3 cups chicken, cooked and shredded 1 cup cabbage, shredded ½ - ¾ cup celery, diced ¼ cup green onions, chopped ½ cup sliced almonds Dressing: 1 cup mayonnaise 2½ teaspoons mustard 1½ teaspoons sugar* ½ teaspoon salt* ¼ teaspoon pepper* Milk, to desired consistency * I substituted Stevia and Herbamare for these. Combine the first four ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add dressing ingredients and toss together. Just before serving add the almonds. Serve in halved Avocados. Have a blessed weekend!                        

Google Gmail Yahoo Mail Hotmail AOL Mail Any email         Like some of the rest of you when January comes I usually think of eating healthier and getting more exercise. But the rebel in me always asks for a sugar fix before too much time has elapsed. So one dreary day... yes, still in January! I caved. I've been craving oatmeal cake for quite a while. I know, strange, but it's true. The one I had in mind has a wonderful topping of coconut and pecans and buttery brown sugar that gets a bit of time under the broiler. Love that topping! ( Like my Mom used to make ☺ ) But... since I'm the only "nutty" one in my family that also enjoys coconut, I knew I would be the only one consuming that confection. And while that is totally possible, (gasp!!) it is also entirely unnecessary!! so I decided to play with it a little bit to see if I could give everyone what they wanted, (yes, I'm like that) including me. I googled to se...