Perfectly Rounded Choc. Chip Cookies.

Good Monday everyone! Whew. Crazy weekend. But a blast. I love Mondays because they are the only day all of us are home evenings.

Ever since getting this recipe from a friend, I haven't been able to stop making these! They are superb. I prefer these with Chocolate Chunks but I don't always have those on hand so sometimes I use Chips. Still delicious either way.
To get those perfectly rounded cookies....you must use a cookie scoop. My Mom bought one at some Amish Country Store but I bet Wal-Mart or any other store with cook/baking ware would have one. My size is about medium. I started using it a couple months ago and haven't stopped. Can't use spoons anymore!

Perfectly Rounded Choc. Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter or stick margarine, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 tsp. vanilla

1 large egg

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups chocolate chips (or 1 bag of chocolate chunks)

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat sugars, butter, shortening, vanilla, and egg in large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips/chunks. Using a cookie scoop, drop onto ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light brown. Cool 1 to 2 minues; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

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We recently discovered Ultimate Frisbee earlier this summer. Wow. We had no clue what we were missing out on. All 6 of us kids play. And we love it. It is a bunch of friends that get together weekly.

We can get rough with each other....grabbing the frisbee from someone else or crashing and taking out other players. But with most of us under 25....I think that is pretty normal.

Mr. Joe...sporting his new haircut.

Yeah...that is me with those red shorts.

It is good to be back! Looking forward to another busy week...see you in not too long with another food post!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix Added Into Brownies.

Good Tuesday! I am glad to say we are all finally getting over colds we've had for 2 weeks. But now my sister has Larengidus....these past few months have been tough with us all getting colds often and the 24 hour flu thrown in the bunch. I hope this is the last of it for a while! Not until I am sick do I realize how great it is to be healthy.

I currently have an addiction of making brownie mixes and adding different twists to them. I know this isn't helping those of us who are trying to loose some of that weight for summer! This will be the last one for a little while!

I saw the Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix (Betty Crocker) on the shelf and thought why not add the cookie mix with cream cheese and sugar and then swirl it in the brownie batter....and top it off with frosting? Mmm, it is good. This chocolate frosting is one of my all time favorites...I love to eat the leftovers! I also love to eat Brownie batter....almost better than cookie dough batter.

Swirled Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

Ingredients:

Batter:

1 brownie mix

1 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

3 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 (17.5 oz) Chocolate Chip Cookie mix

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare brownie mix according to box directions. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Beat cream cheese for 1 minute. Add eggs and sugar. Beat well. Dump cookie mix in and mix until blended. Drop spoonfuls of the cookie batter on brownie batter. Swirl lightly with knife. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until ready. Cool. Frost with below frosting recipe.

FROSTING:

1/4 cup baking cocoa

1 stick salted butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup buttermilk

3 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Combine cocoa, butter, and buttermilk in a pan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar and vanilla. Pour over brownies and spread. Let sit until hardened. Cut into squares and serve.

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This brother is one of the three I have to thank. For doing something very significant in my life. Thank you Steven. Thank you for making me a girl who others would say...."is your sister coming to the airsoft games? She looks like a strong one". Or..."I saw your sister signed up for the softball team and wait, she is a sports fan...so is she a tomboy?"

Growing up with 3 brothers I will admit it is a bit of a hard task to remain completely girly. I did also grow up with 2 sisters but for some reason outdoor activites and the boys games have always looked so much more exciting to me than playing dolls inside or having a tea party. And to 3 boys...Andrew, Steven, and Joe, guys....from the bottom of my heart I have to thank you. For making me who I am today.

Hope you all enjoy a Tuesday afternoon! Not sure if you guys are familiar with a restaurant called Noodles...we love that place. I will see you next with a dish I created from that place that I get every time I go there! I'll also see you with some new family pictures we had taken, getting the boys to take pictures is a big accomplishement!

Strawberry And Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Good Sunday everyone! Hope you had a great weekend with good weather. I can't believe this but it is snowing right now. It may be April 5th but that doesn't make any difference to the

snow coming. I am itiching for some spring weather, we have been getting tastes of it here and there.

I am super excited about this weekend, because the new Hannah Montana movie is coming out! My friend Amanda and I are going to see it, my other friends are anti-Hannah Montana so I can't take them. I have been waiting for this for a long time, can't wait to finally see it.

I took our muffin recipe we use and decided to use strawberries and chocolate chips together instead of blueberries. It was delicious. The strawberries make the muffins moist and the chocolate chips add that sweet taste you need. My family loved these and so did my friend. These can't be overbaked because the muffin will lose its moist flavor, which maked this muffin superb.

Strawberry And Chocolate Chip Muffins
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup or oil

2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped

1 cup chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400F. Grease muffin pans. In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, eggs and oil. Mix until flour is not visible. Make sure there are lumps in the batter. Do not over beat. Add strawberries and chocolate chips. Bake for 20 minutes or until top springs back and is golden brown. Yield: 2 dozen jumbo muffins.

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I have the best friends. I am also blessed to have friends that love God. Friends that make me want to pursue more after God.

This is my friend Katie. We are both Seniors this year. We laugh a lot when we are together. Katie is full of energy but says it best with this statement, "I could never be a Emo, I am too happy". When we first started attending the church we now go to, Katie made me feel very welcome and like I had always known her. In the time I've known her, she is the kind of person you love being around. She is also my snowboarding buddy.

Here's to a great rest of your Sunday night and I'll see you with a another post soon!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pizza Topped With Toffee.

Monday. I am glad to say school is done and so is work. Mondays are such busy days, and they also happen to be my dinner night. Tonight, I felt like making something quick and easy so I cooked up some French Toast and eggs. I will be sharing our recipe for French Toast soon here, it is out-of-this-world good. I love having breakfast for dinner. Yum.

I am a big pizza lover. I love big slices of cheesy goodness. I also love dessert pizza. The apple pizza at Pizza Hut is one of my favorites. I haven't made homemade dessert pizza much, so I made some. I like the chocolate chip cookie dough crust and the chocolate pudding mixture on top the best. The chocolate pudding mixture is lip-smaking good.

Chocolate Chip And Toffee Cookie Pizza
Ingredients:
1 tube (18 ounces) chocolate chip cookie dough
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups cold half-and-half cream
1 package (3.9 ounces) instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup toffee bits

DIRECTIONS:
Press cookie dough onto an ungreased 12-in. pizza pan. Bake at 350° for 13-16 minutes or until center is set and cookie is lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes; gently run a flexible metal spatula under crust to loosen. Cool completely. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until blended. Spread over crust. In a large bowl, whisk cream and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Spread over cream cheese mixture; sprinkle with toffee. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 14-16 slices.



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Seeing funny animal pictures is something I love doing. They make me laugh hard. Couldn't not share these with you guys.

Have yourself a good week and I'll see you with a tasty way to make French Toast soon!