So much for every day updating

Well that didn't even last half of the month. I was supposed to update daily. I am not doing that great at this. Of course there are a million excuses, but they are all irrelevant. Hoping I can maybe at least update once a week. Maybe I am setting my goals to high to update daily. Work schedule has been a complete ping pong. One day work 8-4 the next day work 5-1, the next day 7-3, the next 8-5. Getting any type of schedule right now is just insane, sleep schedule,eating schedule, just not working. Love the holidays! I am thankful for my weekends and the time I get to bake, I have realized I am more the baker than the cooker. While I enjoy cooking, I have found that baking is relaxing and a stress reliever, and a real passion for me. I have had a few people ask why don't I sell my baked goods, but I am not in an area where there is a market for it. I have seen cake pops sell for around $5-$6 each, but around here I doubt I could get $1 for them. Of course anytime someone mentions it I let them know I will make anything to order! That is never the issue. Maybe one day with a bigger kitchen and a lotto supported dream I could have a bakery or a little cafe with baked goods, or sell the baked goods for the diner, or who knows. But as for now, it is my "woosa" moment. It gets me away from my everyday worries and struggles and lets me go into another world. And I have noticed that when I can bake and there are no stressful factors around me my baking is so much better. Now with the holidays coming up it is time to continue baking and baking and baking. Not that I am going anywhere for the holidays, but I can bake and bring it to work and they enjoy it there. Well at least they tell me to my face that they do, who knows what they really think. But everyone is entitled to their opinions, and the criticism is always welcome, it will only make me stronger and a better baker.

So, it is way way way past my bed time. Hope all is well out  there in cyber world, and just remember that if you are cooking or baking to put your heart and soul into it. Your love is certainly a flavor in your baking! <3 <3

Chicken Bacon Bites

It has been awhile since I have made these. I had bacon in the fridge that I was supposed to use for breakfast but I ended up running errands this morning instead and just had cereal. So after making the Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies I decided to make Chicken Bacon Bites for dinner. Can't say I really know the  recipe for these. I had in once, from a good friend of mine and have since lost it and "wing-it"

I have not complained yet about how I make them :) Take Chicken Cutlets and cut them into small strips or if you grocery store has "stir-fry" packages of chicken, those are the perfect size. Take a package of bacon and cut it right in half. Make a mixture of white granulated sugar and Cajun seasoning. Here is where I am not sure how much of each, I just pour it into the bowl until I like what it looks like. It would also depend on how much chicken you were planning on making.

Take the half piece of raw bacon and wrap around the raw chicken, seal with a toothpick then dip and cover with mixture. Have oven preheated to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.

Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

Now this was yummy... I want to tweak the recipe a bit more to get it to perfection but for the first time making them I was a happy camper. The recipe said it would make 3 dozen cookies. That was a joke. It ended up making over 80 cookies. But I do like my cookies on the smaller size, so that may be my issue. I have a teeny tiny oven and can only bake 9 cookies at a time, so this was more time consuming then I had anticipated but now I know for next time.

First start with 2 sticks of softened butter.

Add 3/4 cup granulated sugar

Add 1 cup brown sugar. (The original recipe called for 3/4 cup brown sugar, but that wasn't enough. Maybe if using Dark Brown sugar that may work better. I use light brown sugar.)

You can place these in the mixer and beat until well combined, light and fluffy. I am not fond of my mixer so I tend to do things by hand.

Next add in about 3oz of almond paste, make sure it is well broken up and mixed in very well. Then you can add 2 eggs and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Make sure this is well combined.

In another bowl, mix 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Then slowly combine the wet ingredients into the dry mix and also add a 12 ox bag of your favorite chocolate chips. (or as many as you would prefer. I would also suggest using a cinnamon chip instead of a chocolate chip, I think that would be a wonderful alternative for this cookie! ) Mix these until just combined.

Scoop onto a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet (Since I have neither I use aluminum foil! WORKS JUST AS WELL!) I try not to make them too big so I use a regular dinner spoon and scoop a little bit up. Just decide what size cookies you would like but try not to make them to thick or you may need to adjust the cooking time. With the oven at 350 degrees these should cook for 10-12 minutes or only just a light golden crisp on the outside edges.

With the last of the batch I added in some extra chocolate chips and some sliced almonds. Yum!!

Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 cup white granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

4oz Almond Paste

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 oz. bag chocolate chips or Cinnamon chips (Or another chip to you liking)

3/4 cup sliced or chopped almonds (not necessary for recipe, but a great addition)

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

In mixer, beat butter, and sugars until combined and fluffy

Add almond paste in pieces and make sure well combined

Add in eggs and vanilla extract until well combined

In another bowl combined the flour, baking soda and salt

Add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips

Mix until combined

Place on baking sheet in scoops

Bake for 10-12 minutes

Let sit on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

So, I made the mini cupcakes again, with a light chocolate cupcake and peanut butter in the middle. They came out great! And then I decided to ice them. HA. I really need some better icing recipes and I think I might have a few that I need to try out. The cupcakes were fabulous, but the icing was almost melting off the cupcakes and made a HUGE mess! Everyone still ate them all and there were none left but not the presentation I was going for. It left me highly disappointed, the perfectionist inside of me was not a happy camper. But practice makes perfect and one day I will find that recipe that works for me.

            Just like the sugar cookie saga. I have now attempted and failed on over 10 recipes for sugar cookie cut outs. It isn't that I can't make a sugar cookie, I can do that! But to use cookie cutters on them, oh no, it just isnt' working. I have been trying to make bats and pumpkins since well before Halloween. They are the only cookie cutters I own, so that is what I am working with but it has just been a fail and a bad fail every time. The cookies are at least very yummy however I can not get them to keep the shape if I can get the shape to cut out in the first place. I will keep you updated on the sugar cookie saga....as I will defeat it one of these days!!!! :)

           So back to the cupcakes. They were so yummy, I was just highly disappointed with my icing. The cupcakes weren't hot, the icing wasn't warm, there is really no reason that I can think of as to why it "melted" off of the cupcakes. But apparently I didn't make it thick enough. It is room to improve.  I will get it. I don't want to share the photo of the finished product but it is a learning experience for me, so here it goes.

Super Protein Breakfast

You ever have those mornings where you defrosted bacon but you want sausage... So I decided to have it all!! Fried up my bacon, and then crumbled up the sausage in the pan, added some scrambled egg and shredded cheddar and made a delicious high protein breakfast! I certainly started the day on the right foot! or the right stomach! :)

Mini Monkey Bread

So, I was on the phone with a friend of mine when she mentioned that she has to make monkey bread the next day. Well from the moment she said that I couldn't let the thought go. Even though it was almost 9pm. So I decided to go into the kitchen and make mini monkey breads! Super simple, Super great! And instead of using a bundt pan and making a big monkey bread, I use a muffin pan and make mini monkey breads that are much better for just me! What do I need a whole bundt pan of monkey bread for? It's just me! And let's face it, it is Monkey Bread so I might have eaten it all! We don't need that happening!

Let's Catch Up Snickerdoodles, Chicken Parm, Sandwiches, Acorns

OK, lets see if I can catch this all up and try to even make it to bed at a decent hour.

Went on a weekend getaway to visit some family. :) Didn't cook anything Friday as I was traveling.

Saturday my mom decided I wasn't just cooking dinner for me and her but let's make it dinner for ten. Of course, I said sure!

I wanted to make something for dessert and asked her what she wanted, sky was the limit! She wanted snicker doodles. OK!!!! That's simple. I wasn't home so I didn't have my recipe so I went to an online search. Found one that seemed to make sense to me and went at it

The recipe wanted them baked at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes, well after 7 minutes I smelled that the first batch was already burnt. Took them out and tossed them. Second batch I decided to check at 6 minutes, took them out let them cool, they were burnt on the bottom (well if they are darker than golden brown I consider that burnt!) and they still seemed raw to me. I had them out cooling when company arrived, and they were munching away at them and liked them. I was putting together dinner at this point, and was just so mad they didn't come out meeting my standards. Mom ended up eating the rest of them this week and she really liked them. I might try making that recipe again but I think the oven should be at 350 or maybe 375. Or I can just go ahead and use my recipe and not have an issue. But since I was not happy with the turn out I do not have a picture of the finished product. Sorry!!

So next was dinner for ten. I don't think we quite ended up with ten, but I needed to cook enough to feed ten. Haven't done this in a long time. Mom wanted Chicken Parm so that is what she got. We even had a long discussion about how Chicken Parm isn't made with Parmesan cheese and if it was would people still like it as much? One day I will have to test that theory and try to trick someone and see what they say!

Chicken Parm couldn't be simpler. Take raw chicken, bread it, put sauce on bottom of 13x9 pan, add chicken on top, add more sauce on top, bake. :) When it was done baking and I knew the chicken was fully cooked, I added the mozzarella cheese to the top and baked for another ten minutes. I felt rushed and couldn't put what I wanted to put into it so I thought it was just OK. (I am my hardest critic!!!!!) Everyone liked it, or at least they told me they liked it.

Of course I made some spaghetti and extra sauce on the side!

Sunday I drove home, had some leftover baked ziti out of the freezer.
Monday and Wednesday I made a bagel sandwich. I am the sandwich queen!! I had 2 bagels and there is no time before work in the morning to make breakfast, I know i should make time but getting up at 3:30am already and the thought of getting up earlier to make food, just ....well....No. :)

So I used the bagels added some cheese and meat and some chips on the side

Tuesday night, I didn't even cook or bake or eat dinner. Getting out of work after 5pm to be back by 5am the next morning is rough!

I wanted to bake something today but the over exhaustion took over. But at the very least I have the blog updated!

I have been thinking about the facebook vs. blog thing, and still not quite sure what to do. Facebook is a lot easier to use and easier for everyone to access. And well more people are on there all day long, and they wouldn't need to come to another website. But the blog offers features that facebook doesn't have. Just not quite sure what to do, and not quite sure how long I can keep up both. Might use facebook to promote the blog. Who knows. That's a discussion my brain can have when I am awake on another day!

Everyone has loved all of the baked goods, including the acorns.

How cute are these! And So Simple, It is just a Hershey kiss, chocolate chip and a butter butter bite size in between. Keep them together with either a small bit of melted chocolate or some frosting. Super simple, super cute!!

I have been researching some cute things for Thanksgiving. Not like I have that at my house. I just am not close to any of my family, but I figured I can make things throughout the month and maybe someone can make them in their home.

Keep an eye out for the Oreo Turkey coming soon!!! And MAYBE and that's a maybe!!! the turkey Cake pop!

Stay tuned! Good Night