Oh Dear

I've made a recipe three times this week. THREE TIMES. It's that good. And bad. Because if you eat these all the time... I don't see your butt thanking you at all. :/

Anyway, I figured since it's been such a hit, I should share. Especially since I can't take the credit for it.

First, let's look at my first version. Done Tuesday for the All Star Game.

Yup, baseball version. Of something that I don't even have a proper name for. I guess the easy name would be Oreo truffles. Or The Answer to World Peace. Ya know, whatever.

I've seen versions of these in several places, but the way this blogger wrote about them is what finally sold it to me. I laughed. Feel free to do the same. If you're afraid of making a big batch (and unless you have a lot of people to share with... you should be) a half batch is easy. Half the cream cheese and half the Oreo package. That would be 21 Oreos. I counted for you because I love you.

I made them Tuesday and they were popular. So popular that my cousin who had one Tuesday requested them for our failed Harry Potter premiere on Thursday. No pics of that one because I apparently had a fail of my own in that department. Sadsies. Tonight I make them for my mom's house.

And I branched out tonight. I made the original Oreos AS WELL AS the Golden Oreos. I have 30 of these babies setting up in my fridge. Good thing hubby works tomorrow. I can send some there. My butt will thank me when it doesn't expand.

So try these. Please. Or if you're too busy, pay me to do it. But don't blame me if your shorts get tighter...

Caramel Frosting...

... for National Caramel Day. You think I'm making this up? Nope. Head on over to the American Food Holidays site. I enjoy it. Although I've not actually made something because it was a holiday. I meant to do it on Friday, which was Chocolate Mousse Day. But I didn't check ahead of time and failed to notice that the mousse needs EIGHT HOURS to set. So that plan got slashed.

But today I totally followed through on my plans. I looked around for caramel recipes, but really wasn't feeling making my own caramel. And didn't want to make a trip to the store JUST for caramels. I did have caramel ice cream topping here though. So I found a recipe for frosting that uses the topping!

After I figured out my frosting I had to decide what I was going to put it on. I JUST did cupcakes yesterday, so I didn't want to do them again. And I wanted a recipe I could scale down easily. I don't need desserts floating around here for days. I found a chocolate cookie recipe (sorry, I didn't save the link). So chocolate cookies with caramel frosting it was!

Hubby may eat all of them tonight if I let him. Of course he also said he could eat the frosting with a spoon. So if you want to give it a try...

Caramel Frosting

3 oz. cream cheese, soft

3 tbsp. butter, soft

4-6 tbsp. caramel sauce/topping

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Mix the cream cheese and butter until light. Mix in caramel and vanilla on low speed. Add powdered sugar a little at a time and mix until incorporated. Beat on high for two additional minutes.

Cookies!

Okay, so I had this grand plan to give you a recipe complete with pictures, but that's not gonna happen. I have entirely too much to do. Christmas shopping was going on at seven this morning, then some wrapping, and now I have to be at my father-in-law's house in an hour and half. So, recipe only.

Easiest cookies ever: cake mix cookies.

That's right, you're using cake mix to make cookies. Any flavor mix will work. For yesterday's batch I used french vanilla and dyed the dough in Christmas colors.

You need:
1 box of cake mix (as I said, any flavor)
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
2 eggs

Mix everything together. Roll it into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Flatten them a little (or a lot if you want a crisper cookie) and stick them in an oven heated to 350 degrees. For soft cookies, my oven only took about six minutes. Obviously, longer time would make crispier cookies.

I frosted mine. But apparently people go crazy with adaptations to this recipe. You can add chips (chocolate, peanut butter, white, toffee), vanilla or other extracts, nuts, whatever you want. Play with them. They're pretty tasty for how simple they are. My master teacher was thrilled with how easy they are. And the kids loved them.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I've gotta get going now. Talk at y'all later.

Mmmm... soup

So to prove I can cook, I'm posting my first ever recipe on this blog. I cooked dinner Monday night and had been wanting soup since it cooled down recently. I got the recipe from my grandma, who apparently pulled it from a magazine within the last month. I couldn't begin to tell you which magazine though, so if you happen to know, feel free to leave me a comment so I can give credit where it's due.

According to the mag, it's called Southwestern Chicken Soup. But to me it tastes like chicken enchiladas with green sauce. So I'll change it's name. Let's just call it Green Enchilada Soup. Although I'm sure the "green" part would dissuade some people... Here's the recipe as I copied it, my adjustments are in parentheses.

For soup:
1 12-oz. jar salsa verde (I used a full 16-oz. jar)
3 cups cooked chicken pieces (I probably used 4 cups, about a whole roasted chicken from the store)
1 15-oz. cannellini beans, drained (WTF are those? I used a can of pintos)
3 cups chicken broth (I put four bouillon cubes in 3.5 cups of water)
1 tsp. ground cumin
(I also added some minced onion and green onion)

For garnish:
chopped green onions
sour cream
tortilla chips, broken up
mozzarella cheese

Empty the salsa into a large saucepan. Cook for 2 minutes over medium-high heat. Add chicken, beans, broth, and cumin (and onions for my adaptation). Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve it up and garnish.

It smells AWESOME while cooking. Tim walked up to the door and could smell it. And now, as promised, some pictures...

The finished soup and the garnishes...

And here's Tim's with sour cream and mine without...

Looks pretty awesome huh? It was. I may change it a little more next time. Add a second kind of bean. It's seriously good. And it's not some weak, thin soup. It'll totally fill you up. Give it a try.