Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I enjoy Christmas baking (when I have the time) & I have an absolute FAVORITE Christmas goodie: Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Years ago, Crisco came out with Crisco Sticks & on the packaging was a recipe for the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies. You can still find a similar recipe here.  These quickly became known in our house as the best chocolate chip cookies ever. I've given them as gifts to teachers at Christmas time & had them request them again even after they no longer had Livi in class LOL! And, in case your wondering, Santa LOVES them! :)

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup (3/4 stick) butter flavored Crisco shortening

1 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 Tblsp. milk

2 Tblsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 oz)

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, optional (I've never put nuts in my chocolate chip cookies)

Heat oven to 375. Place sheets of foil on countertop for cooling cookies. 

Combine butter flavored Crisco, brown sugar, milk & vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended. Beat egg into creamed mixture. 

Combine flour, salt, & baking soda. Mix into creamed mixture just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips (& nuts if using). 

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls approx. 3 in. apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake one sheet at a time at 375 for 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 11-13 minutes for crisp cookies. DO NOT OVER BAKE!! 

(This I can not stress enough!!! We prefer chewy, gooey cookies. I usually bake mine for 8-9 min. Take them out & let them sit on the cookie sheet for approx. 1 min. Then I take a spatula & literally slide them off onto the foil on the countertops. They are still squishy & appear to not be done. You could not pick them up at this point. When they cool completely they are perfect!)

Makes about 3 dozen cookies. 

**If nuts are omitted, add an additional 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips...let's be frank, I just dump the whole bag of chocolate chips in :) 

"Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up." ~ A. A. Milne

In most cases, the quote above rings true. However, in the case of this blog, I'm doing things a little backwards. When I started this blog, I was new to blogging. There's a lot I didn't know (& a lot I still don't know - LOL - about blogging). One thing I didn't understand was the use of labels. Since I've now realized how much easier it is to search when posts of have labels, I'm going back through & adding labels to the old posts. I'm attempting to label posts with main ingredient (ie. chicken, pork, etc), if it's a dessert, soup, main dish, etc. & if it's a crock pot recipe, microwave recipe, etc. Hope this helps with finding recipes :)

Robert Redford Dessert

I've heard this recipe called "The Next Best Thing To Robert Redford Dessert", "The Next Best Thing To Sex Dessert", "Better Than Sex Dessert" & I'm sure it has many other names. Personally, being better than Robert Redford in my opinion doesn't take much...now if it was "The Next Best Thing To Ian Somerhalder (or Adam Levine)"...well, anyway, the point is this is a fairly simple dessert that tastes INCREDIBLE!! I got the recipe from the wife of an old boss.

I know you won't be surprised to hear I've modified it a bit. I've increased the powdered sugar, cream cheese & cool whip so that that layer would be thicker in a 9 x 13 pan. You could cut the amounts of these 3 ingredients in 1/2 if you want a thinner layer. I also came across a picture of this dessert made with BOTH a layer of chocolate & a layer of lemon pudding. I'm not a big fan of lemon pudding, but it might be interesting to put double pudding layers in. I don't see any reason you couldn't use other flavors of pudding as well.

Robert Redford Dessert

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup nuts, optional
1 stick of margarine, melted
2 cups powdered sugar
16 oz of cream cheese
2 cups of cool whip
2 small packages of instant pudding mix (chocolate or lemon - I've always used chocolate)
2 3/4 cups milk
cool whip to top with (the recipe uses a total of 2 tubs of cool whip)

Directions:

Mix flour, nuts & margarine & press into bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Cool. Mix powdered sugar, cream cheese & cool whip. Place over cooled crust. Beat pudding & milk til smooth & thick. Place over previous layer. Top with whipped cream.

Refrigerate for several hours or over night.

Enjoy!

Grandma's Chili

As I looked through the recipes on this blog trying to decide what to fix for dinner a couple weeks ago, I realized one of our favorite recipes was missing...Grandma's Chili. Since Oct. is just a few days away & that fall nip is once again in the air, I thought it would be the perfect time to introduce you to my family's favorite chili recipe.

The one thing I've learned about chili is that every family has their own "best" recipe. Some people say that chili isn't chili if you put pasta in it. (In fact, my Grandma also makes something called "Goolash" that always seemed a lot like a variation of chili to me...) Then there's those who say it HAS to have pasta or it has to have a little sweetness to it. And, of course, there are those who aren't happy unless it's so hot your nose is running, eyes running tears like 2 rivers & sweat is popping out on your forehead.

This is our favorite chili recipe. It's simple, inexpensive to make & easily adapts to feeding 4 or 40. For years, if I wanted good chili I always went to my Grandma Patton's (Livi's great-grandma). One day a few years ago, I was with her at the grocery store & she was looking for Campbell's Spaghetti in a can. Knowing she wasn't one for canned pastas like this I couldn't help but ask her what on earth she wanted that for. "I'm making chili," she said. I know I must have looked at her like she'd grown another head. My grandma, the one who makes the best chili in the world, uses canned pasta in it!?!?!? I knew right then, I HAD to know how she made her chili.

Right about now, you're thinking I've lost it. I know, I thought she had too :) Trust me, give it a try. You'll love it (& how easy it is to make).

Grandma's Chili

1 can of Campbell's Spaghetti in a can 

 (NO MEATBALLS...this is very important as it will NOT taste the same...even if you pick the meatballs out (Grandma has tried))

1 can of chili beans
We like the hot because we like a little kick to our chili, you should use whichever "hot" level suits your family
1# of hamburger, browned & drained
1 packet of Chili seasoning mix 
Sorry, Kroger. You dropped the ball here. Your chili mix use to be great, but the past 3 times I've used it my chili was BLAND :( And, yes, I know that Kroger doesn't read my blog, but it's my blog so I can gripe about their chili mix if I want :)
1 jar of home canned tomatoes (or you can use 1-2 cans of diced tomatoes from the store)
Tomato juice (or water) as needed to thin chili to the consistency your family prefers
Shredded cheese & Crackers :) 

Combine the 1st 5 ingredients in a pot on the stove or crock pot (oh, yes, this great recipe is crock pot friendly :-)  Add water or tomato juice or a combination to thin based on what your family prefers. I LOVE tomatoes so I could easily use the whole big can of tomato juice, but my family thinks that makes it too "tomato-y". So I usually use about 1 cup of water & maybe half of the can of juice. Just be warned that if you use too much water, you'll water down the flavors & the chili will be blander.

The above ingredients makes enough chili for about 5-6 adult servings. I usually double this so we have leftovers. I have also frozen it before & it freezes & reheats well too.  One time I multiplied the recipe by 5 or 6  & made HUGE stock pots full for a family gathering. It multiplied well.

We love ours topped with shredded cheese & served with Saltines & pickles on the side. :) ENJOY!

Toby's Favorite Roast

Today's recipe is another one I found on Pinterest. Unfortunately, the "pin" linked only to a picture & not to an original source (it happens sometimes). (If this is your original recipe & you want credit, message me & I'll gladly link to you here:)  Here's the "pinned" pic:

I used the Kroger brand of Zesty Italian dressing mix, McCormick's Brown Gravy mix & Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing mix. My roast was a little over 2 pounds.

Place the roast in crock pot, mix the mixes with 3/4-1 cup of water & pour over the roast. I let mine cook on low for abut 8 hours.

The result:

No knife needed! Super tender & easily cut with a fork!

Toby doesn't care much for roast, but I love it.  Usually, I just throw the roast in the crock pot, add some carrots & potatoes & a little water & let it cook. I love it that way. Toby: not so much. Not the case with this roast. He said it was quite possibly the best roast he'd ever eaten. (He also requested that I never cook roast  my old way again :) 

Most Amazing Pork Chops Ever

Ok, I don't know if I'd say "most amazing EVER", but these are pretty darn good chops. (And that's saying something coming from me, because I am not a big fan of pork chops!) This recipe is one that my bestie, Steph, found on Pinterest a while back. Here's a link to the original recipe, including a great picture of the finished product. The best part: this is a CROCK POT recipe!!! (Love my crock pot!!) :)

Most Amazing Pork Chops Ever

4 Bone-in/thick cut pork chops (I used 6-8 smaller boneless pork chops)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 envelope dry pork gravy mix
1-1/2 cups chicken broth

Place the pork chops in the bottom of the crock pot. Mix the other 4 ingredients in a bowl & pour over chops. Cover & cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Crockpot Ranch Chicken

This one is for Mom since she recently requested I add something to my blog that was new & good to eat :) I pulled the basics for this one off a forum I came across this morning, but (like most of my recipes) I've tweeked it a little...

Crock Pot Ranch Chicken

6-8 chicken breasts (I used the frozen ones which are generally large in size)

2 packets of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 can of cream of celery soup

1-1/2 - 2 cups of sour cream

4 Tbsp. bacon bits (I used Kroger Real Bacon Pieces)

2 tsp. garlic powder

Put chicken in crock pot. Combine everything else & pour over chicken. Cook on high at least 6 hours. Serve over noodles or rice. 

Enjoy!