Giant M&M Oatmeal Cookies

Thursday, April 29, 2010


Last fall I wrote this post about a cookie recipe I lost and tried to recreate. Well, I found the recipe! And I made them...and they were just as good as I remembered. Now I want to share the recipe with you. The recipe as I'm going to give it makes huge cookies - like bakery style huge. You can certainly make them like normal cookies but I would watch the cook time since it won't need to be as long.

Giant M&M Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 2/3 cup all purpose flour (I used 1 cup all purpose & 2/3 cup whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 salt
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups mini candy-coated chocolate pieces
1 cup raisins

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 325F. In a large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and margarine; beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; blend well.
  2. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in oats, chocolate pieces, and raisins; mix well. Drop by 1/4 cupfuls about 3 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
  3. Bake at 325F for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets

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Cabbage Vegetable Soup


I made this soup yesterday for lunch, it makes a huge pot so I'll have lots for lunches for quite a few days or I can freeze it when I'm tired of eating it.  It turned out really good, so I thought I would share the recipe with all of you. :)

Cabbage Vegetable Soup

1/4 cup olive oil
3 medium onions, diced
1 large carrot, quartered and sliced
2 stalk of celery, diced
1 large green pepper, diced
2-3 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups of vegetable cocktail
7 cups of vegetable stock
1 (28oz) can whole tomatoes (broken up)
1/2 a medium white cabbage, cored and sliced (about 4 cups)
2 cups cooked white navy beans(drained)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. cracked black pepper
1 TB. Italian Seasoning
2 zucchinis, halved lengthwise then sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. In a large pot, add your olive oil over medium-high heat. Add your onions, carrots celery, green peppers, bay leaves and saute for 7-10 minutes to soften.
  2. Add your vegetable cocktail juice, stock, tomatoes, cabbage, beans, garlic, pepper, and Italian seasoning and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer for 40-45 minutes.
  3. Add your zucchini and simmer for 5 minutes to cook. Serve hot. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

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Crock Pot Hungarian Goulash

Friday, April 9, 2010


I love my crock pot! It's great on busy days or days I just want to get supper prep over and done with early.  This is one of our new favorite recipes to use with stew meat. It's easy, smells great cooking and tastes even better.  And it's a kid pleaser. :)  Steam a big bowl of veggies or add a big tossed salad to this and you've got a great meal.

Crock Pot Hungarian Goulash

2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 large onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 cup water
1/4 cup flour

Directions:
  1. Place meat in crockpot and cover with sliced onion.
  2. Combine garlic, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt, paprika and mustard Stir in water, mix well, and pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. 
  3. Turn control to high. Dissolve flour in a small amount of cold water and stir into meat mixture.
  4. Cook on high for 10 to 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.
  5. Serve over noodles or rice.
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Slow Oven BBQ Ribs


I've only started making bbq ribs in the last 3 years.  I tried before that but I could never get them to turn out good. They would always come out of the oven tough and chewy - yuck!  Then my parents came to visit us here in Nova Scotia and my dad made oven bbq ribs.  I wasn't expecting much but I was certainly surprised when they turned out so good. Now my kids are always asking can we have bbq ribs this week? I don't make them every week but sometimes enjoying some good bbq ribs is a real treat.  Here's how I make mine:

Slow Oven BBQ Ribs

1 bottle of BBQ sauce or equivalent homemade version
1 rack of ribs - beef or pork

Directions:
  1. Season ribs with your favorite seasoning. Place ribs  meat side down in a foil lined roasting pan. Add approximately 1.5 cups of water and cover.
  2. Bake at 300F for 2.5 hours. Turn ribs over carefully and spread bbq sauce over meat. Continue baking for 30 minutes. 

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Mexican Rice


For years I've been making the instant Mexican rice in a bag to serve on the nights we do taco bar.  Lately I've stopped buying it though. It's not cheap to buy the flavored rice like that and have you ever looked at the sodium content in one serving of those packaged rice deals? Wowza - they have a lot of salt. I decided I could do better for my family.  It took a couple of tries but I think I've come up with a recipe that is amazing. Hubby and the kids think it's even better than the packaged rice I used to buy and I know it's much healthier.  I get to pick what goes in it - I can even buy organic ingredients so I know that this is much healthier.

Mexican Rice

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth to make vegetarian)

Directions:

  1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add rice. Cook, stirring constantly, until puffed and golden. While rice is cooking, sprinkle with taco seasoning.
  2. Stir in onions and cook until tender. Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

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Frijoles Refritos - Refried Beans

Frijoles Refritos

Recently I had my first attempt at making refried beans.  I've had them from the can before and while that is nice and simple, I worry about the BPA that is present in canned foods.  So I decided it was time to learn to make these from scratch with dried beans.  I love beans of any form and I am thinking I'm soon going to start making some up and freezing them to use rather than canned beans.  Anyhow that's another post for another day, let's get back to the refried beans.  These turned out really good and I have lots in the freezer now.  I usually use them on a tortilla - just spread some out, top with chopped veggies and roll up. Makes a great healthy and quick lunch. You could even spread them on a leafy green of your choice and have a great vegan meal. :)

Refried Beans

2 1/2 cups of dry pinto beans
3 quarts of water
1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste

Directions
  1. Sort and rinse the beans. Soak overnight or do a quick soak
  2. Put beans into a pot and cover beans with at least 3 inches of water. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer, covered, for about 2 1/2 hours. Strain the beans from the cooking water.
  3. Add the onions and oil to a wide, sturdy frying pan on medium high heat. Cook onions until translucent. Add the strained beans and about a 1/4 cup of water to the pan. Using a potato masher, mash the beans in the pan, while you are cooking them, until they are a rough purée. Add more water if necessary to keep the fried beans from getting too dried out. Add salt to taste.
*Note* When I made my refried beans I put 1/2 the batch of cooked, cooled beans in the blender and puréed a bit. Then once I put them all in the pan, I mashed the rest a bit with the potato masher.

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