Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

These are the best cookies. Ever. My picture does not do them justice. Grease up your cookie sheets because you need to make these. Now.

I was a Girl Scout up until High School. My favorite time of year was cookie time! I loved selling cookies and trying to see which of the prizes I could get. My parents' attic is probably full of trash bags containing the large stuffed turtles or huskys that I won. I loved doing cookie sales outside of Bed Bath and Beyond but the reason I loved it so much was Do-Si-Dos! Thin Mints came in a close second place but the peanut butter and oatmeal combination of Do-Si-Dos was, and is, the best.

I've made these three times in the past two weeks. I, of course, sent half of them to work with the hubs but I have consumed way too many of these. The cookie itself is delicious but adding the creamy filling is... mmmm, I can't even think of a word for it. Recipe from Annie's Eats, originally from Allrecipes.

Yields about 18 sandwich cookies

For the cookies:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

8 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup quick-cooking oats

For the filling:

3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

2 tbsp heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir together with a fork to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Blend in the egg and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients and mix on a low speed until just incorporated. Stir in the oats with a spoon until evenly blended.

Scoop about 2 teaspoons of the dough onto the cookie sheet. Roll them into a ball. Bake about 10 minutes (mine only took 7-8 minutes), rotating the sheet halfway through. The cookies will be light golden brown and slightly puffed. Cool on the baking sheet about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Once the cookies have completely cooled, pair them up by size. To make the filling, combine the peanut butter, butter, and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Cream together until well combined. Mix in the heavy cream until smooth and fluffy. Spread a small amount of filling on the flat side of one cookie and sandwich together with the remaining cookie and press down so the filling reaches the edges.

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

I've decided to start a new series called Crock Pot Mondays. On Mondays, I have an evening class so I'm usually gone from 3-8. I love crock pot meals because Neil can eat when he gets home and then leave it on warm for me. It's so much easier than trying to prepare a meal before I leave and leaving instructions for how to cook it and then heating it up in the microwave when I get home. So, Mondays are now Crock Pot Mondays!

The only downside to this meal is that is smelled so delicious the entire day while it was cooking that it was hard for me to leave without getting any. It reminded me of a creamier salsa chicken just with more substance. Hubby complained only a little about the beans but in the end he admitted they made a pretty good addition. Recipe from the Cooking Nurse.

1 cup chunky medium salsa

8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)

15 0z can yellow corn, undrained

32 oz can pinto beans, undrained

15 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

30 oz cream of chicken soup

2 tbsp taco seasoning

2 (6-inch) corn tortillas cut into strips

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Add everything to the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours. Before serving, remove chicken and shred with two forks, then add the chicken back to the crock pot. Serve with shredded cheese and tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Weekly Meal List

Monday: Chicken Brunswick Stew

Tuesday: Baked Shells with Pesto, Mozzarella, and Beef Sauce

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: Spicy Chipotle Shredded Beef

Friday: Enchiladas

Saturday: Blue Ribbon Chili

Sunday: Super Bowl Party (menu coming soon)

Caramelized Chipotle Chicken-Revisited

A few months ago, I posted about the Caramelized Chipotle Chicken we had. I made it again recently with just a few changes and it was even better! It's such a bold dish and will definitely spice up your night!

3 tbsp olive oil, separated

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 onion, chopped (this was much better than the onion powder)

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tbsp packed brown sugar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp chopped chipotles in adobo (more or less depending on your preference)

1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Heat 1.5 tbsps of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until golden. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon. Reduce heat to medium and add onions. Cook stirring occasionally until golden brown. Add garlic back to skillet, along with the remaining ingredients, except chicken. Simmer until thickened.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In another skillet, heat the remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden, about 7 minutes, flip and continue cooking until chicken is cooked through.

Place cooked chicken in a baking pan. Spoon the chipotle sauce over the chicken. Place under the preheated broiler until caramelized, about 5 minutes. Make sure you check so it doesn't burn. Enjoy!

Buffalo Shrimp

I don't eat shrimp but Neil loves them. So to go along with the buffalo chicken tenders I made recently, I made him up a special batch of buffalo shrimp from Stephanie's blog. He loved them!

20 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 eg

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup panko

1/3 cup of Franks Buffalo sauce, or your favorite sauce

salt and pepper

Pat the shrimp dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dip first in the flour, followed by the egg, and then panko. Repeat until all shrimp are coated.

You can either bake or fry the shrimp. I choose to fry them. To do this, heat some vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet. Put the shrimp in the oil and flip after 3 minutes, or when golden brown. Repeat for the other side. If you choose to bake, preheat the oven to 425 and bake until cooked trough and crisp on the outside.

Remove cooked shrimp to a shallow dish. Coat with buffalo sauce and toss until evenly coated. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Tenders

We love Buffalo Wild Wings but the nearest one is a good 30-40 minutes away depending on traffic. So if we get the craving for BDubs, we make do with homemade. I don't offer the array of choices that BDubs does but I have to say my buffalo chicken fingers are pretty darn good. I don't make them too often because there is a bit of prep but hubby loves when I do. I found this recipe a while back over at Stephanie Cooks and we love it! I recently made both these and her buffalo shrimp, which I'll be posting soon.

1 package of chicken tenders (or 4 thin chicken breasts sliced in half vertically)

1 cup bisquick

1/2 cup panko

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

smidge of garlic powder

smidge of paprika

Salt and Pepper to taste

1-2 eggs, beaten

Franks Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce, or any wing sauce you prefer

Preheat the oven to 450º. In a ziplock bag, add bisquick, panko, parmesan cheese, and seasonings. Shake up to mix thoroughly. Dip the chicken tenders into the egg, then into the bisquick mixture. Shake to thoroughly coat.

Lay the chicken tenders in an even layer on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 7-8 minutes then flip and bake for an additional 7-8 minutes.

Place the tenders in a large bowl, douse with wing sauce, and toss until evenly coated. Return to the baking sheet and bake for an additional 3 minutes. Enjoy!

Spicy Potato Soup

With all the hours I'm taking this semester I've decided to start making freezer meals. That way, if I ever have a busy week with lots of tests, or just get tired of doing it all, I have a go-to meal in our fridge and we don't have to go out and get fast food for dinner. We do that quite a bit even with all the meal planning I do so one of our goals for 2011 is to cut out the fast food visits. This made quite a bit as a single batch so I was able to get two freezer meals out of the second batch.

This reminded me of something that I couldn't quite place. Maybe it's shepherd's pie because of the meat and potatoes. Regardless, of what it reminded me of, it was delicious. I upped the spiciness a bit and it was a great ending to a long day. Recipe from Cooking This and That.

1 lb ground beef

4 cups cubed peeled potatoes (1/2 inch cubes) or 4 cups hash browns, defrosted (I used hash browns)

1 small onion, chopped

24 oz tomato sauce

4 cups water

2 tsp salt

1.5 tsp pepper

1/2 to 1 tsp hot pepper sauce

In a dutch oven or large kettle, brown ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add the potatoes, onion, and tomato sauce. Stir in the water, salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for an hour or until potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened. Make sure to stir occasionally. Serve with parmesan cheese and enjoy!