Homemade Girl Scout Cookies? Are you kiddin' me?

I just had to share this. I ran across it today on this website http://www.bakingbites.com/. Looks delicious. I have not tried these but I do plan on it. I love these cookies!!

Homemade Samoas (a.k.a. Caramel de-Lites)

Cookies

1 cup butter, soft

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

up to 2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350F.In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat with remaining dough. Alternatively, use scant tablespoons of dough and press into an even layer in a mini donut pan to form the rounds.Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set.

If using a mini donut pan, bake for only about 10 minutes, until edges are light gold.Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Topping

3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

12-oz good-quality chewy caramels

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp milk

8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.
While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.
Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.
Note: These cookies are fairly time consuming to make, but if you take your time and have fun with them, the results will be worth it. That said, if you want something a little bit quicker, try baking a batch of Samoas Bars instead, which require no rolling and cutting of the dough!

Homemade Tagalongs (a.k.a. Peanut Butter Patties)

Cookies

1 cup butter, soft

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350F.In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk. The dough should come together into a soft ball.Take a tablespoon full of dough and flatten it into a disc about 1/4-inch thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Cookies will not spread too much, so you can squeeze them in more than you would for chocolate chip cookies. (Alternatively, you can use a cookie cutter, as described in the post above).Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until bottoms and the edges are lightly browned and cookies are set.Immediately after removing cookies from the oven, use your thumb or a small spoon to make a depression in the center of each cookieCool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Filling

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (natural or regular)

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar*

generous pinch salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

about 8-oz semisweet chocolate

In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt and vanilla. When the mixture has come together, heat it in the microwave (again in short intervals, stirring frequently), until it is very, very soft. Working carefully with the hot filling, transfer it to a pastry bag (or plastic bag with the tip cut off) and pipe a generous dome of the filling into each cookie’s “thumbprint”.Chill cookies with filling for 20-30 minutes, or until the peanut butter is firm.Melt the chocolate in a small, heat-resistant bowl. This can be done in a microwave (with frequent stirring) or on a double boiler, but the bowl of melted chocolate should ultimately be placed above a pan of hot, but not boiling, water to keep it fluid while you work.Dip chilled cookies into chocolate, let excess drip off, and place on a sheet of parchment paper to let the cookies set up. The setting process can be accelerated by putting the cookies into the refrigerator once they have been coated.
Makes about 3-dozen
*You might need slightly less sugar if you’re using the conventional peanut butter, as it tends to be a bit sweeter. Taste the filling before using to make sure you like the sweet/savory balance.

Cakes

The Kitty Litter Cake!

(yes, it's totally edible)

The Hello Kitty Cake

Pretty cute, huh?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake. Yummy!!

Here is my latest creation, the Teapot Cake!!

Menu plans for Feb 23-Mar 1

MONDAY NIGHT

Enchilada Casser-Ole!







1 pound lean ground beef (or ground turkey of course)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups salsa
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian salad dressing
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium taco seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
6 flour tortillas (8 inches)
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
Directions: In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the salsa, beans, dressing, taco seasoning and cumin. Place three tortillas in a 2-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Layer with half of the meat mixture, sour cream and cheese. Repeat layers. Cover and bake at 400° for 25 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through. Let stand for 5 minutes before topping with lettuce, tomato and cilantro. Yield: 8 servings. 357 Calories, 12g fat/per serving

TUESDAY NIGHT

Pan Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

2, 7oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4, .71oz slices of mozzarella cheese

1/2c Prego Traditional Italian Sauce

Salt/ Pepper/ Garlic Powder

1 Tbs Olive Oil

Dried Rosemary Leaves

Ground Oregano

Dried Basil

Directions
-Cut chicken breasts in half to create 4 pieces -Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. -Heat skillet with 1tbs olive oil-Cook chicken till done and transfer to a baking dish.-cover each chicken breast with 1/8c Prego Sauce, 1 slice of cheese and dashes of herbs.-bake in countertop oven, broiler or regular oven till cheese is melted and slightly browned. Number of Servings: 4 Calories: 220.4 Total Fat: 9.8 g

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Chicken Lo Mein

Ingredients

1 tsp. ground ginger
1 large clove garlic, cut into 4 pieces
3 Tbs. canola oil, divided
1 lb. linguine
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
1/3 C low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1/3 C thinly sliced onion
2 C broccoli florets
1-1/2 C chopped carrots
1/2 C sliced red bell pepper
1/4 C bean sprouts
1/2 C sliced mushrooms
1 C snow peas

Directions
Start water heating for linguine. At the same time in your largest skillet or wok, combine ginger, garlic and 2 Tbs. canola oil. Turn on heat to medium and heat until garlic begins to brown. Remove garlic and ginger slices. Add chicken and 2 Tbs. soy sauce. Cook until chicken is browned on all sides. When water comes to a boil, add linguine and cook according to package direction. Drain, reserving 1 C cooking waterAdd onions, carrots and broccoli to wok and cook until carrots start to soften. Add remaining vegetables, tossing to combine. When pasta is done, add to wok along with remaining soy sauce and enough cooking water from pasta to keep noodles separated and form a nice sauce.Number of Servings: 6 Calories: 438.6 Total Fat: 9.0 g

THURSDAY NIGHT

Turkey Meatloaf Florentine

Ingredients
1 10oz box of frozen spinach
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp canola oil
1.5 pounds ground turkey (93% lean, i.e., not ground turkey breast)
1 onion, chopped fine
1 egg
1/4 cup ketchup
1 cup (approx.) unseasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp poultry seasoning or other herbs and spices
4 oz. shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (do not use fat free cheese, as it does not melt properly. If you use a cheese other than mozzarella, such as monterey jack or provolone, use the full-fat variety.)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Defrost spinach in the microwave. In a large frying pan, heat the canola oil and add minced garlic and drained spinach. Cook until heated through and all of the water is absorbed. Do not let the garlic brown. Set aside.In a mixing bowl, combine onion, egg, ketchup, and any herbs or spices. Mix thoroughly. Add turkey and mix with your hands. Add enough bread crumbs to hold the mixture together, approximately 1 cup or more.On a sheet of waxed paper or aluminum foil, spread out the turkey mixture to approximately 1 inch thick. Spread the spinach on top of it, and the shredded cheese on top of that.Using the waxed paper or foil, roll up into a meatloaf shape. Seal the edges and ends to ensure that all of the spinach and cheese is contained in the middle of the turkey. Transfer to a baking dish or cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked all the way through.Number of Servings: 6 Calories: 343.5 Total Fat: 15.2 g

FRIDAY NIGHT

Turkey Sloppy Joes and Crisp Garlic Oven Fries

Ingredients
1 pkg (1.25 lb) Jennie-O lean ground turkey

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tsp Monteal Steak seasoning

1 small onion, chopped

1 small green bell pepper, chopped

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar (or white vinegar)

1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

2 Tbsp tomato paste

Directions
Place turkey in a skillet and season with steak seasoning and brown sugar. Mix and brown. Add onion and pepper, cook until meat is browned. Add vinegar and worcestershire, cook 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste, cook additional 5 minutes. Place on whole grain burger buns (not included in calorie count). Enjoy!Number of Servings: 8 Calories: 164.7 Total Fat: 5.2 g

Oven Fries

Ingredients

2 Lg Baking potatos with skin

Olive Oil

cooking spray

4 t Garlic salt

1T Oregano flakes

1T Mrs.Dash

1T Paprika

Directions
Preheat oven to 450'.Wash and pat dry Potatos skin on, cut into thin strips or wedges.In large ziplock bag mix garic salt, oregeno, and Mrs. Dash.Spray potato strips with cooking spray, place in ziplock bag and shake to coat.Place on cookie sheet, sprinkle with paprika and bake 15 - 20min., then turn to brown evenly, bakeanother 15 - 20 min.. . For extra crisp, turn on broil for a minute or two. WATCH closely!!!! Servings:4 Calories: 144.0 Total Fat: 0.4 g

Sausage, Onion & Mushroom Casserole-great for weekend mornings!!

Ingredients
3 cups white bread, cubed

2 hot italian turkey sausages

1 small to medium onion, chopped

9 medium sized mushrooms, sliced

1 16-oz carton Egg Beaters or egg substitute

1/3 cup non-fat milk

1 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese

Directions
Slice bread into 1 inch cubes and set aside. Remove casings from sausage and set aside. Chop onion and slice mushrooms. Add sausage and onion to frying pan over medium high heat. Break sausage apart and cook until sausage are browned and onion is cooked through. Remove any fat drippings from the pan and return to heat. Add sliced mushrooms and cook another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.Toss together sausage mixture and bread in large bowl. Mix together entire carton (16 oz) of Egg Beaters and 1/3 cup milk. Pour over bread.sausage mixture. Place half of mixture in large casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Top this layer with 1/2 cup reduced fat cheddar. Cover with remaining bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.Preheat oven to 350F. Cover casserole with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove aluminum cover and top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake uncovered for an additonal 25 minutes.Allow casserole to set for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Makes 8 1-cup servings.Number of Servings: 8 Calories: 175.8 Total Fat: 7.9 g

And finally, the dessert of the week:

Fudgy Brownies

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp baking cocoa

1 cup water

2 large eggs

Directions
Mix eggs, sugar, flour, cocoa and water together with mixer until smooth. Add in vanilla mix until thick. Pour into 8x5x2 pan and bake in oven at 350 for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Makes 9 servings. Number of Servings: 9 Calories: 82.9 Total Fat: 0.3 g

ENJOY YOUR WEK, FRIDAY IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!!!

This week's deals!!

Good deals at Publix this week--ending today. Crisco Extra Virgin Olive Oil is BOGO-if you've been clipping your coupons you'll also have a $1 off, so you can buy one for $2 and some change or 2 for les than $5--this is a really good deal for olive oil. Also Juicy Juice is BOGO, I also had a $1 off coupon, making 2 big bottles $2.29. They have Coke 2 liters BOBO, so you can get one for $.79 which is a good deal seeing as they have gotten so expensive lately. Ragu and Ronzoni pasta is also BOGO for those quick spaghetti nights. Also they had a Scott 4 roll for $2.79 and I had a $1 off coupon, making a 4 roll of Scott $1.79 which is a good deal. So, during my shopping trip at Publix yesterday.....I saved $82.37--even the cashier was amazed. This is with the store's specials and my coupons combined.

Ingles specials--Tyson Boneless Skinless Chicken breast is $1.68/lb--stock up this is an awesome deal. Honeysuckle ground turkey is $2.50, which I'll be using this week in my Enchilada casser-ole! Organic toaster pastries are BOGO. And if you buy 4 general mills cereals, which are on sale and Fiber One Toaster Pastries (which I had a $1 off coupon for) and/or Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, you get $4 off your total bill! Oh, and I did buy some Blue Bell, I can't help it...whenever it's $3.98--I'll eat 1/2 cup at a time to get my sweet tooth fixation.

Hello! I suggest you all grab an Atlanta Journal newspaper for this Sunday. Over $100 in coupons combined with this week's sales will definately help your checking account.

One coupon I did notice is a Ruby Tuesday Buy One Entree get one Free, this is a pretty good deal especially if you don't have very many people in your family! Great date night opportunity ;).

Fatz has this thing where two people can eat for $19. This is an appetizer and two entrees. Not bad for a nice sit-down dinner. Just order water and save those $4!!
http://fatzcafe.com/files/fatzcafe_partyoftwo_menu.pdf

Also for those of you with kids (like me) I look for places with free or reduced price kids meals during the week for those days I just don't feel like cooking or just DON'T have the time! But you can easily find yourself spending $30 or more if you're not careful. So here's a few places that we've found.

-Johnny's Pizza has 1/2 price kids meals on Mondays after 5pm.
-Shane's Rib Shack has kids meals free with each adult entree. (Mon-Wed)
-Smokin Po Boys--kids eat free Mon, Tues, and Wed from 5-8pm I believe.
-Joy's Buffet--kids eat free on Wednesdays with each paying adult (I'll have to double check this one to see if they still do)
-And of course you always have Little Caesar's where you can get a large pizza, a 2 liter soda and an order of crazy bread for $8.99. Pair this with a bag salad and you have a really good meal. These days $5 won't buy a frozen pizza in the store!

Chicken

This is one of my all-time favorite chicken recipes. I have changed it a little-I use turkey bacon now and it's just as good!!

Bacon Wrapped Chicken-This recipe can easily be halved...

12 boneless skinless chicken breasts halves
2 (8 oz) cartons chive and onion cream cheese
12 slices of bacon
salt (to taste)
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Between 2 sheets of wax paper with a mallet flatten chicken breasts to ½” thickness.Step 2: Spread 3 tablespoons of cream cheese over each chicken breast. Then Dot with butter and season with salt. Wrap with bacon and stick a toothpick through the rolled chicken breast to hold it together. Roll up and stick a toothpick through to hold it together.Step 3: Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes (or until juices run clear).Step 4: Turn on the broiler and broil six inches from the heat for 5 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.

Money & Time Savers

These are just a few of my money/time saving ideas.
I like to go to Sam's and get a couple of packs of bonless skinless chicken breasts-there's usually about 12 chicken breast halves in one pack. This should be enough chicken for your week's meals for around $12. If you're a meat eater, the ground beef is usually a good deal, anywhere from $1.98lb-$2.48. The ground beef usually comes in 5-10lb packages. Brown up all of the meat when you get home and separate portion sizes into ziploc bags. When you're ready for a quick taco or spaghetti night-you've already got the ground beef cooked up. Sam's also has whole pork loin for like $1.98lb, this is a huge piece of meat. You can cut this into thirds and freeze them and have whole pork loin or barbecue or anything. You could also slice into porchop sizes and freeze (I have a vacuum sealer that works great for this).
Also, the bread there is a really good deal. The bread I buy for the kids is the WhiteWheat (because they won't eat "brown" bread). The two-pack of bread there is $2.88, which is what one loaf will cost you at Ingles. If you don't eat that much bread, freeze one! Bread takes no time to thaw out. Also milk and eggs tend to be cheaper at Sam's. I fully believe that the membership fee of $35/year is so worth it in the long run. Plus I share my membership with my sister (yes, you can do that) so actually my membership is $17.50. They give you two cards and since my husband is usually with me anyway, I figured I might as well help out the rest of the family.

Oh and another thing--I buy the big bar of soap pack and it lasts us all year and we don't ever run out of soap! We have soap all year long for $7!

Monday February 16-20

Monday-Roasted Chicken Breast, Broccoli, Brown Rice
-make low fat peanut butter pie and enjoy all week

Tuesday-Million Dollar Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, Salad
-this can be cooked the night or morning before and put in the frig to be ready for the oven. Just have to heat up the garlic bread and fix the salad.

Wednesday-Pork Loin, Mashed Potatoes, Corn on the Cob

Thursday-Chicken Alfredo Pizza
-so easy! quick meal I use for those dance/soccer/gymnastic nights

Friday-Turkey Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries
-this is always a good go-to meal

Saturday-Bacon Wrapped Chicken, Mac & Cheese, Green Beans

Sunday-Chicken N Dumplings
-you can put the chicken in the crock pot on low the night before and have it ready for the dumplings to be put in before church. When you get home you'll have lunch!

RECIPES:

Roasted Chicken:
Boneless, skinless chicken breast
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
House Seasoning*

Place the chicken breasts on a cooking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with house seasoning. Bake for about 30-45 min depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts.

Broccoli:
If it's fresh, you can steam it or drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper and roast for 10-15 min. If it's frozen, you can boil or steam it.

Million Dollar Spaghetti
1 (7 ounce) package thin spaghetti (for healthier version use whole grain)
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 pounds ground beef (I like to use ground turkey)
salt & pepper
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
8 ounces cream cheese (for healthier version you can use low fat or fat free cream cheese)
1/4 cup sour cream (for healthier version, you can use fat free sour cream)
1/2 pound cottage cheese (can use low fat)
1 tablespoon minced green pepper
2 tablespoons melted butter

Cook spaghetti drain. Saute beef (or turkey) in olive oil until brown. Add tomato sauce, salt & pepper, remove from heat. Combine cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and green pepper in a food processor.In a 2 quart dish, spread one half the spaghetti and cover with the cheese mixture. Add remainder of spaghetti and pour melted butter over spaghetti. Spread tomato-meat sauce over top. Chill.Remove from refrigerator 20 minutes before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Pork Loin:

Take a whole pork loin and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and grill seasoning. Wrap entirely in foil. Bake at 400 for 50-60 min. Let cool slightly before slicing.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza:

Store Bought Pizza Crust
1 Jar Alfredo Sauce
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Cooked, sliced chicken breast (if you're totally out of time, you can buy the pre-packaged cooked sliced chicken breast in the meat section of the grocery store)
Toppings of your choice: I like to use chopped red onion, mushrooms, parsley, mozzarella cheese

Take the pizza crust and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil; spread the alfredo sauce over the crust. Add chicken and other toppings. Lastly sprinkle with cheese and parsley. Bake at 400 for 10-14 min.

Turkey Burgers:

1-2lbs ground turkey
Grill Seasoning
Worchestershire sauce

Mix well and fry in 2T olive oil in frying pan or on broiler. Cook until well done. Grill the hamburger buns in the same pan. Enjoy!

You can use frozen sweet potato fries or slice up fresh sweet potatoe thinly and drizzle with olive oil and grill seasoning and bake at 450 for 15 min.