Soft Sugar Cookies

Ok so we don't have any great artists at our house but believe me these are tasty! A friend was shopping at the DI and saw these dinosaur cookie cutters and knew my boys would love them, she was right. They have been used several times just on pieces of bread.
When I was first married I went to make sugar cookies and my hubby insisted I use this recipe (thanks Cindy P.) and I have used it ever since. They are so soft! They remind me of a Lofthouse Cookie. Top them with Almond Powdered Sugar frosting and you can't beat them.

Sugar Cookies
1 c butter (or marg.)
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 TBS milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 c flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla and mix together. Then add the remaing dry ingred. This is a very soft dough, chill for 10 min. or so before rolling out.

Bake @ 400 for 6 min.

Mom's Meat Loaf

Not sure how many people like meatloaf but it has been a staple at our house forever. The girls are always asking me for the recipe and I never have one since I have put a little of this and a little of that in it. So, last time I made it I measured my guesses and came up with this recipe. We had it for dinner this evening using my measurements and it turned out great. This is quite a moist meatloaf. Grandson Braydon was here and got so excited to see that we were having meatloaf and said it was one of his favorites. Perhaps it will become one of yours as well.

Mom's Meatloaf

1 lb. ground beef
1/4 C chopped onion
1/4 C chili sauce or salsa
2 slices bread soaked in 1/2 C milk or chicken stock till softened
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 C katsup
1 egg, beaten

Mix all ingredients together till well combined and place in an 8X8 baking pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Smooth out evenly. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.

4th of July Cookies

This week I was incharge of the "Activity Day" for the girls in my ward. I thought with the 4th of July right around the corner we would talk about why we celebrate it and how blessed we are to live in this great country! They each learned how to fold the flag. We wrote letters on paper stars (familyfun.com/fold and snip stars) to send to the young man from our ward serving in Iraq. For treats we had these festive cookies. I adapted the recipe from Taste of Home's "Ultimate Cookie Collection"

4th of July Cookies

1 c butter, softened

1 1/2 c sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 c flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp almond extract, divided

red food coloring

blue food coloring

1/2 c flaked coconut, finely chopped

1. Line a 9-in.x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan with waxed paper; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

2. Divied dough into thirds. Add 1 tsp almond extract and red food coloring to one portion; spread evenly into prepared pan. Add coconut to second portion; spread evenly over first layer. Add 1 tsp almond extract and blue food coloring to third portion; spread evenly over second layer. Cover with foil; freeze for 4 hours or over night (I only did 1 1/2 hours and it worked fine)

3. Unwrap loaf and cunt in half lengthwise. Cut each portion widthwise into 1/4-in. slices. Place 2-in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 12-14 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Yields: 3 1/2 dozen.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I don't have a lot of muffin making experience, so when my brother-in-law asked me to make some for a brunch for after his baby's blessing, I went surfing for some recipes to try. This one was a hit. I found it at The Sister's Cafe.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

3 cups flour

1 tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS poppy seeds

10 TBS unsalted butter ( 1 1/4 stick), softened

1 c sugar

2 eggs

3/4 c sour cream

3/4 c buttermilk

1 TBS lemon zest

Glaze

2 TBS fresh lemon juice

1 c powdered sugar

Preheat oven 375.

Cream butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add buttermilk, sour cream, and lemon zest.

Whisk together the dry ingredients and then add it to the butter and sugar mixture.

Mix until all is moist. Do not over beat. Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake till golden brown 15-20 min. (use toothpick to test)

Set muffin pan on wire rack to cool. After 5 minutes, remove muffins from pan.

While the muffins are cooling, make glaze. Just whisk lemon juice and pwd sugar together. Add more juice if necessary. While muffins are still a bit warm, use a pastry brush to glaze each muffin.

This makes about 18 muffins.

Chicken Pasta Soup

This soup is a favorite of my daughter Brianne. When she was in the MTC, she told some of the other sister missionaries how much she loved this soup. She made it sound so good that one of the other sisters, Hermana Carroll, told Brianne she would come to our house after their missions so that I could make Chicken Pasta Soup for her. Well, she was true to her word, and yesterday I fixed Chicken Pasta Soup for Hermana Carroll. After she tasted it, she claimed it was perfect and well worth her trip up from St. George. I don't know if it is that good, but it is a soup we all like. Here is the recipe:

6-8 chicken breast tenders
1/2 tsp. Lawrys seasoning salt
4 T olive oil
1/2 C butter, divided in half
1 small onion, doced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
1/2 C flour
2 (14 oz.) cans of chicken broth
pepper to taste
1/4 tsp. dried basil
2 C half n half
4 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms
1 C sugar snap peas
1 T sugar
6-8 oz. penne pasta

Sprinkle chicken with seasoning salt. Saute in olive oil over medium heat in large skillet about 6 minutes per side or until done. Remove chicken and set aside. In same pan melt 1/4 C butter. Over medium heat, cook onion, celery, and carrot until limp. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Gradually add chicken broth, stirring constantly. Transfer to a large soup pot, and turn heat to low. Cut chicken into pieces and add to broth mixture with pepper and basil. Slowly add half n half. Stir and heat through. Melt remaining butter in a large shallow bowl in the microwave. Combine mushrooms, sugar snap peas and sugar with the butter and cook on high for 3 minutes, stirring once midway. Fold this into soup mixture on the stove and simmer for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile prepare pasta according to directions. drain well and add immediately to soup. A complete meal when served with hot, crusty bread. Serves 6-8.

Banana Biscotti with Cinnamon Chips

I saw this recipe at Annie's Eats (who adapted from Picky Palate) and thought it would be fun to try. I had never eaten a biscotti before let alone made a biscotti! We go through bananas around here like crazy so it is seldom that they sit around long enough to ripen. So last week I bought 2 bunches hoping that would do the trick. I still had to hide two, to ensure I would have some to make this. I am a fan of Biscotti, I love the crunch! It is a little time consuming but not hard. I also love cinnamon chips! I didn't know they even existed till I started looking at food blogs. Hereshey makes them. I will be trying more recipes with them. We have been having a good time just saying "Biscotti" at our house. Give it a try! Banana Biscotti with Cinnamon Chips

Ingredients:

3/4 cup very ripe bananas, mashed

1 egg

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup cinnamon chips (or mini-chocolate chips)

5-6 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or use a silpat if you have one (I borrowed my mother-in-laws, loved it, I need to get me one).
Combine the mashed bananas, egg, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix until well combined. In another mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and cinnamon chips. Stir together to mix. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.
Divide the dough into two equal parts on the prepared baking sheet. Spread into two logs on the baking sheet, about 4 inches wide and 1 inch deep, leaving at least 4 inches or more between the two logs. Bake for 25 minutes, remove from the oven, reduce the heat to 250 degrees F and let cool for 10 minutes. Using a long, thin knife slice the biscotti into 1/2-3/4 inch pieces on the diagonal.
Place the slices back onto the baking sheet on their side and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip the biscotti over to the other side, and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the baking sheet.
Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler until smooth. Drizzle over cooled biscotti. Let cool until set.