Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are such a fun cookie to make - they taste good and are so fun and easy to make. I found an amazing recipe on allrecipes.com a few years ago and I've never used another one. Sheridan loved making these and she loved eating them. : )

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Pig Rating: The Pig isn't a huge fan of sugar cookie type cookies. He liked them, but his fave is still chocolate chip : )

Mrs. Pig Rating: I absolutely love these cookies. They turn out so perfect - a little crisp on the edges, and so soft in the middle. These are awesome!!!

Little Pig Ratings: Both kids loved eating these. Sheridan had so much fun making them as well : )

Mrs. Pig's Co-workers - LOVED them! They couldn't stop eating them today at work : )

Recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/, picture from my kitchen

Puppy Chow

I love puppy chow - one of my really good friend's mom always made this in high school and I would eat it by the huge bowl full. LOL I figured this was a good one for Sheridan and I to make together since it's easy, yummy, and to an 8 year old - has a really funny name. : )

Ingredients

9 cups crispy rice cereal squares
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate; add peanut butter and mix until smooth.
Remove from heat, add cereal and stir until coated.
Pour powdered sugar into large plastic bag, add coated cereal and shake until well coated. Store in airtight container.

Mrs. Pig Rating: Well, I already knew I loved puppy chow and I still do. It is such a yummy snack and so easy to make! YUMMMMMO! (That was for you Nikki....LOL)

Pig Rating: The Pig likes this one too - he isn't a huge sweets person but I did see him snacking on this a few times last night. ; )

Little Pig Rating: Sheridan really had fun making this one and she thought it was yummy : )

Recipes from www.allrecpies.com, picture from my kitchen

Cajun Chicken Pasta

We love Cajun food and we love pasta and chicken so this one seemed like it would be really good for us to try. I usually eat a very similar dish when I am dragged to Red Lobster since I am allergic to seafood. : )

Ingredients'
4 ounces linguine pasta
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1 red bell pepper, sliced (I left this out)
1 green bell pepper, sliced (I left this out)
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green onion, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Place the chicken and the Cajun seasoning in a plastic bag. Shake to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the chicken in butter or margarine until almost tender (5 to 7 minutes).
Add the red bell pepper, green bell pepper, mushrooms and green onion. Saute and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat.
Add the cream, basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper. Heat through. Add the cooked linguine, toss and heat through. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

Pig Rating: He thought it was too salty, but he thought if I hadn't added salt, that he really would have liked it.

Mrs. Pig Rating: This smelled so good while it was cooking, but I do agree it tasted too salty. I think that I added Cajun seasoning salt instead of just seasoning. Oops....I am definitely going to make this again with the appropriate seasoning though. I think we will love it!

Recipes from www.allrecipes.com, picture from my kitchen

Lemon Meltaways

I really like lemon cookies, lemon muffins, etc., so I wanted to try some this year while I was on one of my baking frenzies. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and I was so excited to try it!!

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

FROSTING:
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Directions

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy; beat in lemon juice. Combine the flour and cornstarch; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Shape into two 8-in. rolls; wrap each roll in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.
Unwrap and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-12 minutes or until the cookies are firm to the touch. Remove to wire racks to cool.
For frosting, in a small mixing bowl, combine the butter, confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel and food coloring if desired; beat until smooth. Frost cooled cookies.

Mrs. Pig Rating: I was not impressed with these. They received awesome reviews on allrecipes.com and I just wasn't feeling it. It was weird...they smelled and tasted too buttery for me. Not sure what I did wrong but I wasn't feeling them at all. I was disappointed. :(

Pig Rating: The Pig doesn't do lemon. : )

Recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/, picture from my kitchen

Fun cooking with the kids!!!

This weekend we visited my parents. My mom bought the kids and the CUTEST outfits ever because she knows we all always cook together as a family. : ) I mean, how cute are these?!?! Will might hate this some day but he loves it now. He just likes to be involved. LOL

Here we are in action baking cookies this weekend:

Anyway, I love these new outfits to add to our cooking dinner/breakfast/goodies together. : ) As you can see, it's a family effort every time. We really have a good time with it.

Thanks mom for the outfits!!!!!

Chicken and Potato Pizza

My great friend Clara who is also a foodie (she has 3 food blogs....THREE!!!), had this pizza on her blog and it intrigued me. Her hubby likes this one from CPK and I figured that mine would as well so I thought I would give it a whirl. At first I was a little scared...I mean, potatoes on a pizza?!? But, I like potatoes and I like pizza, so why the heck not?? : )

Thanks for the recipe Clara!! I changed it a bit from her recipe so we'll call this Clara's recipe modified to April's taste.. ; )

Ingredients

1 pizza crust (I cheated and bought Pillsbury refrigerated crust)

1 jar pizza sauce

mozzerella and/or cheddar cheese

1 large potato (fry in oil until potatoes start turning golden brown)

1 chicken breast (I shredded the chicken but you can cut it into chunks if you prefer)

1/4 or 1/2 cup onion (to taste)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Pre-heat oven 400F

Roll out dough on pan (I used a big cookie sheet as my crust was more rectangle than round). At this point, I baked my dough in the oven first for about 8 minutes before putting on toppings. I think it depends on the crust that you use.

Spoon on the pizza sauce & sprinkle with cheese. Add all other toppings. (Clara uses tomato chunks on hers but Tommy isn't a huge tomato fan so I omitted but I bet it is yummy!)

Bake for 15-20 minutes

Pig Rating: He really liked this a lot. He said, "Pig says this one is REAALLLLY good! Put that on your blog!". LOL Definitely a keeper (the recipe and the Pig ; )

Mrs. Pig Rating: I really liked this one a lot. I think I might try it with something other than pizza sauce....maybe a white sauce of some type. This is a really awesome easy recipe though. YUMMMM!!!

Recipe from Clara's blog, picture from my kitchen

November SBGEX - Thank you Clara!

Another month, another baked goods exchange with my Facie/Foodie friends. And my secret baker this month was....Clara!!! Totally funny because she kept giving me updates on what my "secret baker" was saying about the mailing progress, etc. and I totally thought it was someone else because everyone goes to Clara with updates. Sneaky sneaky!!!

Anyway, I was so excited when I saw the box on the doorstep - so was Tommy! LOL

Lots of yummy goodies....I had 4 different kinds of cake truffles - white chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, white chocolate with cocoa powder, cocoa powder, and white chocolate with dyed white chocolate stripes. Also, she made me chocolate cream cheese cookies! YUMMO!

See links for these recipes on Clara's blog - I'm too lazy to type them out. LOL : )

http://iheartcooking-food.blogspot.com/2007/11/cake-truffles.html

http://iheartcooking-food.blogspot.com/2007/11/homemade-chocolate-sandwich-cookies.html

THANK YOU CLARA!!!!!! Now you might be Sheridan's favorite friend...if the goodies last long enough for her to see them! : )

Recipes from Clara, picture from my kitchen