PERFECT OATMEAL COOKIES

These cookies are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, doesn't get much better than that!

I played around with a recipe SEVERAL times until I got my desired texture and here it is for YOU to enjoy! Make some tonight, a SURE crowd pleaser that won't disappoint!



Ingredients:
WET
1/2 cup Butter Softened
2/3 cup Dark Brown sugar
1 egg
1 TABLEspoon vanilla extract

DRY
3/4 cup Flour ( I use a unbleached white flour, love it!) All-purpose works great too!
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon All-Spice
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cups Old Fashioned Oats
3/4 cup Chocolate Chips (optional)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix wet ingredients in mixer: butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

3. Mix dry ingredients In a separate bowl: flour, baking soda, all-spice, cinnamon, salt, and oatmeal.

4. VERY SLOWLY add dry mixture to wet mixture in mixer. Turn your mixer to no higher than 3 and add 1/4 of dry mixture, let it get smooth, add another 1/4 of the mixture and repeat... & scrape sides.

5. Add chocolate chips and nuts then mix for one minute.

6. Place dough in refrigerator for at LEAST 30 minutes (You don't HAVE to do this, but they come out MUCH better!)

7. Drop into 1 1/2 inch balls on a cookie sheet, it should make two dozen exactly, if you are having guests over go ahead and double or triple the recipe.

8. Bake for 9 minutes exactly, take out IMMEDIATELY, let sit on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Take off and enjoy! ** You better eat one before they are all gone...

Best & I MEAN BEST Ginger Cookies

So I am salivating at the THOUGHT of getting to eat these cookies!! These have a background story, this a recipe from a friend of a friend kind. I got it from Leslie Davis-Strange and we made thousands, YES thousands of them when we lived traveling doing ministry in Vermont. Everyone who has ever eaten them has asked for the recipe and you are soon about to find out why....Oh my Lord get your self ready for a treat because these are MIGHTY good!!!

They are salty & sweet, that combination is irresistable! They are NOT tough & crunchy like a ginger snap, though if you leave them in the oven too long they can turn into that! They are chewy and yummy! ENJOY!

Ingredients:
3/4 Cup of Butter Flavored Crisco
1 Cup of Sugar
2 Cups of Flour
2 Tsp Ground Cloves
2Tsp Ginger
1 Tsp Cinnamon
2 Tsp Baking SODA
1 1/2 Tsp salt
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Molasses

* Another 1 cup of sugar in a cereal bowl to roll the dough in later.

Directions:

1. Preheat your over to 350 degrees



2. Cream together: Crisco, Sugar, add eggs and Molasses until SMOOTH. Leave alone in mixer.



3. In another separate bowl: Mix Dry ingredients: Flour, All Spices, Baking Soda, & Salt.





4. Slowly add dry mixture to wet mixture in mixer.



5. Roll into WALNUT sized balls, or 1 Inch * Important NOT to make them bigger!



6. Get a bowl and roll into sugar until completely covered.



7. Place on baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes, take out IMMEDIATELY and let cool on pan for three minutes.



8. Take off baking sheet and EAT THEM ALL!

CHICKEN PAD THAI

Are YOU tired of the same "OLD" same "OLD" ? Do you want some SPICE in your HOUSE? How about some THAI food! If you have never tried it you MUST tonight! It is SUCH an AROMATIC exotic cuisine that is delectable to your senses, and oh SO YUMMY!



INGREDIENTS:
Chicken Breasts (Cut into fajita strips)
Limes (Cut into Wedges)
Bamboo Shoots (At your local grocery store)
Cilantro
Green Onion or Scallions (Those long green onions, also GREAT in salads!)
Peanuts or Cashews
1 Egg
Glass Noodles (At your local grocery store in Asian section)
1 Small can Panang paste (If in Abilene at the Phillipino market on Barrow past Abilene High on your LEFT if coming from the South side)
1/3 Cup of Coconut milk (At your grocery store)
1/3 Cup Peanut Butter (Creamy or Nutty your choice!)
SEASONED SALT, (If you don't already have this you MUST have! It is my BEST friend in the kitchen!)

Directions:

1. Get out a pan and soak the glass noodles (They look like clear fettucine noodles). Keep them long or cut them in half like I did and SOAK them. They MUST soak 30 minutes!!!



2. Prep your ingredients: Chicken breasts cut, lime wedges cut, bamboo shoots washed, green onions chopped, cilantro chopped, nuts and egg ready to go.



3. In a skillet or wok brown your chicken on MED-HIGH HEAT seasoned with salt, cook 85% through, we don't want it to DRY out through the rest of the cooking, it will be FULLY cooked by the end, PROMISE!



4. Move chicken out of skillet or move over and add eggs, cook FULLY.



5. Drain your Glass noodles and add to the top of your chicken & eggs in the skillet or wok. Simmer and stir through.





6. Add the Green Onions to the top.



7. Then add 1/2 a SMALL can of Pad Thai Paste, It will be VERY SPICY if you put the WHOLE can in! Stir in and mix through.



8. Add in 1/3 Cup of Coconut Milk & Peanut Butter, then pour onto serving dish and top with Peanuts or Cashewa & Cilantro with Lime Wedges on the side.

9. Serve as creatively as you like!



10. ENJOY YUM YUM!!

Tangy Beef Roast in a Crock Pot

There is NOTHING like walking into your home with a roast in the oven or crock pot, it is INVIGORATING! Your mouth waters and you are immediately hungry! There are a few things that make a GREAT roast, so lets get started...

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs pounds of Roast
Montreal Steak Seasoning
2 Jumbo Potatoes, or 3 medium Sized ones
5 Carrots (NOT those pre- peeled baby ones, REAL carrots!)
1/2 Large Yellow Onion
1 Clove of 2 Tbs Garlic or pre-chopped Jar of garlic
1 Bottle of Cabernet, Merlot or Shiraz, you'll use 3/4 of it in cooking...
2 Packets of Dry Onion Soup
1 Package of Beef Broth
1/2 Cup- 3/4 Cup Thick Barbeque Sauce
2 Bayleafs
2 Tsp of Salt
1 Tsp of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1. Pick a SHOULDER cut, the rump is usually a lot less tender and we want TENDER roasts!

2. Turn your crock pot on HIGH, then add 1/2 a bottle of RED wine, I prefer a Cabernet but Merlot or Shiraz would do, frankly ANY kind will work. * Also add 2 packets of DRY onion soup mix & your BAYLEAFS. Place the lid on pot and walk away. This is going to prepare a nice warm bath for your meat to be transfered into when it is done being browned, if the liquid was cold it would shock the meat cooking process and we don't want to do that... A HUGE tip of the day...



3. The first thing you want to do is INFUSE flavor into your meat, we are going to do that by chopping 1/2 of a yellow or white onion & a whole clove of garlic chopped ( or if you want to cut some time 2 tbls of that pre cut garlic in your produce section) into your HOT pan with a Tablespoon of oil (Your choice). Place them in the pan on HIGH and leave them cooking on one side 4 minutes then stir and cook another 2-4 minutes... They should be browned and tender or Caramelized. Turn heat off...

* Start peeling & Cutting to 1-2 inch pieces... approx 5 carrots ( I usually do this while my onions are cooking).

4. Immediately Place the onion-garlic mixture in your crock pot & carrots that you have finished.

5. Now lets get that meat all "Dressed" up! Montreal Steak Seasoning is sent to us from heaven I promise! It seasons almost anything I use it for SO well! So place the season GENEROUSLY on BOTH sides of your meat & Rub it in.





6. Get the SAME pan you used for the Onions & Garlic, place on HIGH with 1 Tablespoon of Oil. Let pan heat up, then place the meat down one side & BROWN it, not BURN it but brown it... I would say approx 4-5 minutes on EACH side.

7. `Wash your hands ALWAYS after touching meat, then lets start peeling & cutting approx 2 large/jumbo potatoes or 3 medium sized ones while the meat is browning.



** If you want start by peeling and cutting carrots & potatoes before you start the cooking, I'll let you gage which is best for YOU.

9. We want the potatoes & carrots on the BOTTOM so that their juices rise up and help steam the meat.



10. Now after BOTH sides of meat are browned add to the WARM liquid & veggie liquid in crock pot.



11. Now this next step is what adds YUMMY bits of taste to your roast, grab that wine and pour approx 1/2 cup into the pan your just browned the meat it, let it simmer off those bits of meat from the bottom of the pan use your spatula to scrape off the bottom of your pan, then pour into the crock pot for added flavor, YUM!







* My secret ingredient is 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce any thick BBQ sauce that you can buy at the grocery store it adds a NICE tangy kick and it is moisture so it can't hurt! It is beef after all!

12. Make sure the meat is covered with liquid, you can add some water or beef broth at this time to fill it up, but you should have enough liquid to cover meat. At this time add another 2 Tsp of salt to the liquid. You could also add a tsp of Crushed RED pepper for an added kick, but not fire!



13. Cook on HIGH for approximately 8 hours, check it at 4 hours and TURN the meat OVER.... After 8 hours the meat should FALL off of the fat, if not keep cooking another hour should do it. It is always ok to turn it of after it is done and leave it on low until you are ready to eat it, the same day of course! Sometimes I start mine Saturday night and smell it while I sleep and then wake up to roast yumminess! I then turn it to LOW go to church and have a perfect lunch waiting for us when we get home.

14. ENJOY!

Strawberry LOVE Waffles

2 Cups Bisquick Mix
1 1/3 Cups of Milk
2 TBSP Vegetable oil
1 Egg
1 TBSP Vanilla
1 TSP Ground Cloves
1/4 Cup Strawberry Preserves or Jam (Or more if you prefer).




You just mix all of the ingredients together until COMPLETELY blended, especially the egg.

Pour into HOT greased waffle iron... ( Heart shaped if you prefer, otherwise a Belgian Waffle maker will Do). Approx 4 minutes on High

Serve with Bacon, Eggs, and Fresh Cut Strawberries!

Happy Valentines Day!

Ginger Bran Muffins

This recipe makes 12 YUMMY muffins:

1 1/2 cups Wheat Flour
1 Cup of Wheat Bran
1 Tsp of Baking Soda
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Cup of Molasses
3/4 Cup of Milk
1/2 TBSP Oil
1/4 Cup Applesauce
1 Large Egg
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Allspice or Cloves
1/4 Cup of Fresh Ginger Minced & Roasted
1/3 Cup of Pecan Pieces or Walnut Pieces

TOPPING:
1/8 Cup of Oats

OPTIONAL:
1/4 Cup of MINCED Carrots or Zucchini
1/4 Cup Raisins

Heat oven to 400 Degrees
Place Muffin Liners in 12 Muffin Pan

Place everything in a boil & Mix or stir until completely blended & moist.
use 1/4 cup measure to dish out into muffin pan, after filling cups sprinkle some fresh oats on top place in the oven and BAKE..

15 minutes let cool in pan.... & it is as EASY as that!

p.s. These DO fall into the HEALTHY category your Hubby may NOT like these but your kids will.

Reese's Peanut Butter Fudge Pie

Reese's, um did someone say Reese's... YES! This pie is very rich, you will only want 1/16th of it, so it works with every new diet plan right? Well I won't tell if you don't... Oh & did I mention this is EASY, yes SO EASY!

Ingredients:
1 Oreo Cookie Crust
1/2 Jar of Hot Fudge
1 Cup of COLD Milk
1 Small Box of Instant Vanilla Pudding
1 1/4 cup of Peanut Butter
6 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
1/2 Package/ Bowl of Cool Whip

Directions:

1. Open your cookie crust
2. Place Jar of Hot Fudge in microwave for 20 seconds
3. Pour 1/2 Jar of Hot Fudge into bottom of crust
4. In a blender or mixer combine 1 Cup of COLD milk & your Vanilla Pudding
5. Mix or blend Pudding & Milk for 1 minute on a HIGH speed (While your mixer is mixing mash up finely 3 Reese's cups)
6. Then turn mixer OFF & add mashed up Reese's
7. Mix again for 25 seconds until blended throughout
8. Pour mixture onto Hot Fudge in crust, use your rubber spatula to even out flat
9. Cover with Cool Whip
10. Mash up the other 3 Reese's & sprinkle on top of Cool Whip
11. Cover & Place in Refrigerator OR Freezer for at least 1 1/2 hours
12. Take out & Serve!

See it's THAT easy!!!

Enjoy MOORE Yummy moments in your life!

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

So there are NO pics, it got eaten up SO fast, but trust me that just shows that this recipe is YUMMY!

Ingredients:

4 Large Chicken Breasts
1 Can Rotel
1 Can Cream of Chicken
1 Can Cream of Mushroom
1 Small can of Mushrooms
1/2 Large Yellow Onion
1 Small Can of Sliced Black Olives
16 oz of Shredded Cheddar or Monterrey Jack Cheese
1 Bag of Doritos Nacho Cheese or Cool Ranch Tortilla Chips

* For a lighter version use Light Cream of Mushroom, Cream of Chicken, & Reduced Fat Shredded Cheese

(It's a casserole, they won't even know the difference!)

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees & Spray a 9x13 dish with Non-stick spray

1. Boil some water with 1 tablespoon of salt add Chicken in a pot after the water starts boiling, don't overdo it though approx. 7 minutes of boiling the breasts should do.

2. Chop Onion and brown on high heat in Large Skillet,

3. Then add Mushrooms, Cream of Mushroom, Cream of Chicken & Rotel to browned/carmelized onions in the large skillet & heat till warm & turn off, set to the side.

4. Drain your chicken, pull apart into small pieces.

5. Get out a 9x13 dish and break 1/2 bag of Doritos for your bottom layer

6. Add a l/2 of chicken pieces on top of Doritos bottom layer

7. Spoon over or pour over 1/2 of the sauce from skillet

8. Cover with 8 oz of cheese

9. Repeat with Doritos, Chicken Pieces, Sauce, & Cheese.

10. On top of the cheese spread out the Olives

Place in heated oven & bake 30-35 minutes, let sit for 5 minutes and serve.

YUMMY! Enjoy it from the Moore's to YOURS!

Chocolate Chip Pecan Banana Bread

Was anyone else's mom on eternal Weight Watcher's growing up? Well mine WAS! This is a recipe that she created and then I added Chocolate Chips & Pecans to it. It is semi-healthy and still moist & yummy!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of Mashed Bananas * approx. 6 Large Bananas

(Let them set out a week and get brown, they taste sweeter PROMISE!)

2 1/2 cups of flour
(Sometimes I use 1/2 whole wheat flour & 1/2 white flour) Using all white flour obviously tastes better...

1 cup Sugar, could be decreased to 3/4 cup if you like

4 Tsp Baking Powder

2 Tsp salt

2 1/2 Tablespoons of Vegetable/Corn/ or Sunflower Oil

1 Cup Non-fat milk ( Or use whole milk or buttermilk YUMMMY)!

1 Large Egg

1 Tsp Cinnamon

3/4 Cup of Pecan Pieces (Or walnuts if you prefer)

1/2 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips

Directions:

Turn your oven onto 350 degrees

GREASE & Lightly Flour 2 Bread Baking Pans, or 2 8x8 Square Pans

1. Mix or Mash your Bananas & set to the side.

2. Mix together Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder, & Salt until combined, 15 seconds or so.

3. Add Oil, Milk, Egg, & Cinnamon with your mixer or beater starting off slowly and then turning up to high to blend well about a minute.

4. Add in Pecan Pieces & Chocolate Chips, mix well another 25 seconds or so.

5. Pour into 2 baking pans, & Bake for 30 minutes, check to see if top has cracked open & the sides have pulled away, or a knife inserted through the middle comes out clean.

6. Cook longer if necessary, I have learned over living in several places that not all ovens cook evenly or similarly.

7. After they are done, take out of oven & set aside for 10 minutes.

8. After 10 minutes take a table knife and be sure to swipe the sides of the pans to make sure no sticking has ocurred and then pop bread out onto drying rack until you are ready to eat it or package it up for a gift! It makes 2 loafs so you could keep one for your self & give the other away or freeze the other one until your next big Breakfast.

9. ENJOY! It goes great with a big glass of milk!

Magen's Lemon Poppy Seed with Zingy Lemon Frosting & Exotic Orange Curd Filling Cake

This cake is DEEEEELISH! I was hosting a shower for a good friend named Magen Roberson & was trying to think of a cake for it, and then I remembered at a Bible Study we were in that she loved Lemon Poppyseed muffins... So... my creative juices started flowing and I thought hmmm I bet I could make a Lemon Poppyseed cake, & I DID! Here it is, I don't claim to be the creator of Lemons or Poppyseeds together, just this cake... Thus it is called Magen's Cake forevermore... You can make this cake just be sure you call it Magen's deal? ok DEAL!



A couple of baking tips before we get started:
1. ALWAYS preheat your oven & wait for it to be thoroughly heated until you pop something yummy in it.

2. Spray your cake pan with NON-stick cooking spray and lightly shake around some flour to coat the pan evenly.

3. Bring your eggs to room temperature, they cook better, this also goes for beating egg whites, you should always bring them to room temperature, not hot, just not cold from the fridge. We don't want to add scrambled eggs to our batter now... just a lukewarm temperature is FINE.



4. Don't use fake juice, squeeze it yourself, it adds an extra ZING that the other stuff won't give you. Cheat in other areas but juice is NOT one of them.

5. Add 1/4 cup of sour cream or cream cheese to cake OR brownies... both of them add moisture to the cake that doesn't cook out and helps keep your cake or brownies tasting YUMMY!

So.... now that we know a couple of tips from Angelique's Baking Bible let's get started!

EXOTIC ORANGE CURD FILLING

*Make the night before or the morning of so that it is completely cooled for you to spread on the cake.

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 cup cornstarch

1 cups fresh orange juice (*2 lbs of oranges)

2 medium eggs

1/8 cup butter

2 Tbsp. grated orange rind

Directions: On stovetop in a pan (med high heat)

1. Mix sugar, cornstarch & juice
2. Whisk in eggs
3. Bring to a boil over medium heat *Keep whisking, it will burn EASILY! For about 3 minutes it will thicken up...
4. Remove from heat, immediately whisk in Butter & Orange Zest (YUM!)
5. Cover with plastic wrap on Curd in another cooled dish & chill


This is also a cheat recipe by cheat I mean semi-homemade... the trick to a great cake is a box cake that you buy and put homemade frosting on it... So much easier but I also make the cake from scratch sometimes too, BUT not this recipe.



Cake Ingredients:

Purchase a box of LEMON cake mix from the grocery store, I bought Betty Crocker, but Duncan Hines will do too...

3 tablespoons of Poppy Seeds

4 Lemons, zested for the peel ( 2 lemons worth for the cake & 2 lemons worth for the frosting)
The same 4 lemons after being zested, cut in half...juiced & strained, we don't want seeds in our cake! Sort of ruins the moment...

***2 lemons juiced for the cake= (1/4cup) and 1 juiced for the frosting =(1/8 cup) & the other 1 =(1/8 cup) add to your drinking water as you bake...

1/4 cup of cream cheese

Oil (not olive oil!), water & eggs as per the cake box/mix calls for

Exotic Orange Curd Filling (Recipe above), or purchase some lemon, or orange curd at the store, or just use frosting for filling.



Directions:

1. Follow the recipe on the cake box (mix, oil, eggs & water) except omit 1/4 cup of the water for the fresh squeezed lemon juice you will be adding to it. So if the cake mix calls for 1 1/2 cups of water subtract 1/4 cup so now only add 1 1/4 cups of water and the other 1/4 cup of liquid will be your lemon juice.

2. After you have made the mix add 3 tablespoons of Poppy Seeds & Cream Cheese or Sour Cream & Lemon Zest from 2 lemons to your batter & mix for another 25 seconds on a high speed to get everything disbursed throughout the batter.

3. Pour into GREASED cake pans & bake according to what the cake box states. I made mine into two 8x8 square baking pans, but you can also use round.

4. You know that your cake is done baking by noticing that it has pulled away from the sides and is no longer touching the pan, it has "sucked in" if you want to call it that. Also by inserting a knife, fork, or toothpick through the middle and it comes out clean.



5. When your cakes are finished baking set them in the pans somewhere to cool, after 20 minutes or so, remove from the pans CAREFULLY! Then let sit until after you are done with the frosting.

ZINGY LEMON FROSTING



Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
6 oz or 1 8oz regular package of cream cheese (but only use 3/4 of it) * use the other 1/4 in cake batter...
2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 cup lemon juice or juice of 1 lemon
Lemon Zest of 2 lemons



1. Soften butter and cream cheese- microwave (without the wrappers on!) the butter for 20 seconds & cream cheese for 30 seconds. Beat together in mixer until smooth, turn off, use rubber spatula to clean off the sides.

2. Then add Vanilla, Lemon Juice & Zest, turn mixer to LOW

3. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at time with mixer on LOW speed, you don't want powder flying everywhere!

3. Then after all the sugar is in beat well (35 seconds on high speed, but start low then add medium then high or frosting bits will spit out every where).

4. At first it won't seem like this is making frosting but the mixer will soon "mix" everything & then it turns into white heaven creaminess...

5. If for some reason your frosting looks too thin add a little more powdered sugar to achieve desired consistency but remember you need it to move on the cake, not run off the cake like an icing, this is FROSTING!

5. Get ready to frost that cake!



FROSTING CAKE

1. Make sure it is COMPLETELY cooled off, if you don't frosting will run down the sides... (some of you are thinking lightbulb moment, that is WHY that happens to me!)

2. Look at your cakes and see which one has the most even top. Use that one to be the BOTTOM of your cake. Use the lop sided one on top.

3. Don't go overboard on frosting the bottom layer, if you put too much it will squeeze out when you put the next layer on. My suggestion is frost the botton with 1/2 inch thickness high and keep a 1/4 inch distance away from the edges so when you add the next layer it pushes the rest out to the sides, but does not spill over.

4. Place 3/ 4 if not ALL the frosting on the very top of the cake and all of it if you go with a fruit center filling. Use your spatula to push frosting from top of cake down to the sides. Use your spatula to spread evenly and don't go back and forth, spread in ONE direction so you don't get cake bits in the frosting. Turn the pedestal of the cake as you run the spatula down and around.

5. Then make it pretty by adding candied lemon drops or mint sprigs, or cut fresh lemon like I did into round circles and then cut the circle in half and then half again making triangle pieces to go around the cake. Make fun designs with it. You could also boil another lemon's rind in sugar and water and make a candied edible rind. Go crazy and make it yummy! A little bit goes a LONG way.

6. Your cake is ready to enjoy with a nice cup of coffee.