Peanut Butter Brownies

Sunday was crazy! I think I spent the whole day doing laundry. Folding a "Mountain." Makes you want to let your kids have 5 outfits, one for church, 1 pair of pjs, and that is it! Crazy...It took all day. So much for a day of rest...well I did manage to make Peanut Butter Brownies for lunches and loaves of bread for the week. We had a simple dinner of Sauteed chicken breasts, pounded thin with Grandma's special spices, Sauteed Zuc's and Stove Top...not too original, but very easy and quick. I had to get back to the mountain...

Peanut Butter Brownies
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/3 cup white sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
2/3 cup butter, softened
2 tsp baking powder

Cream peanut butter and butter together in mixer. Add in one at a time; sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until fluffy. Ins medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder,and salt. Stir into the peanut butter mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 to 45 min in a 9x13 pan. They will be done when the top springs back. These are dense and not too sweet. For the finale, I put 2 cups of chocolate chips on the hot brownies and then spread evenly making a chocolate layer on top. Cool overnight or stick in the freezer if you just can't wait until the chocolate hardens!

Herbed Focaccia

Friday is "Fend for Yourself" day at our house. Thursday, I experimented with a potato soup that was really good. Unfortunately, I had no recipe for it, so next time I make it, I will remember to write it down. Saturday, we met Kip and Jen at the "Elephant House" park by the Zoo. The kids had a great time and we chatted about the impending wedding. Of course, I had to make bread for the sandwiches, so I thought I'd try something a little different.

Herbed Focaccia
2 c warm water
4 tsp dry yeast
1 tsp sugar or honey
5 to 6 cups of flour
4 tbls olive oil
1 tsp salt
Place water, yeast, 2 tbls of the flour, and sugar in a bowl. Mix and let foam for 15 min. Meanwhile, measure 2 cups of flour and the salt into electric mixer. Add the yeast mixture and combine until smooth. Add olive oil. Mix. Continue adding flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Place dough onto floured surface and kneed for a few minutes until springy (it never takes too long if you have made the dough in a mixer.) Place in a oiled bowl and cover until it has TRIPLED in size. (about an hour on a hot day or 1 1/2 hours on a cool day.) Punch down and press into a greased, large, cookie pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise till doubled. Dimple the top with your finger and drizzle 2 to 4 tbls of olive oil with herbs of your choice onto the top (I used rosemary since I have 3 large bushes in my garden.) You can use oregano, basil, sage that is fresh or dried. Sprinkle top with course or Kosher salt. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 to 45 minutes depending on how brown you like it.

We sliced the Focaccia and put turkey, tomatoes, cheese and avocado between the layers. It's yummy. Have fun with it!

Chicken Enchiladas

Normally, I serve a chicken enchiladas that have a sour cream sauce instead of the traditional red, but I thought I would give this one a try.
Dinner tonight:
Chips
Homemade fresh salsa (thanks Afton!)
Refried beans (we actually use the church cannery ones and they are my kids favorite)
Chicken Enchiladas

Cottage Cheese Chicken Enchiladas
2 cans of chicken, drained and shredded (from costco) or two chicken breasts cooked and shredded
1/2 of large onion chopped
1 jalapeno cored and seeded then finely chopped
1 tbls chili powder
1 heaping tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
Saute onion and jalapeno in a little oil. Add chicken. Heat thoroughly and add spices. Remove from heat.
18 corn tortillas
2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp salt
Mix this together in small bowl
2-3 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese or Colby jack
Large can of Enchilada sauce 20 oz+
To assemble; soften tortillas in the microwave wrapped in a wet towel. Put a spoonful of meat mixture, spoonful of cottage cheese mixture and a sprinkle of cheese. Roll and place into a large casserole pan that has a thin layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom. Add remaining enchilada sauce and rest of shredded cheese over the filled pan. Top with olives if you like (my family does not.)
Place in 350 degree oven for 30 mins.

Hints: You can use taco seasoning in place of the chili powder and cumin if you want, but I prefer the cumin flavor with chicken. The recipe called for a can of green chilies, but my family wont eat them. I added a jalapeno instead and it was very mild with a little kick. Don't let the cottage cheese fool you, you can't even tell and it gives a great flavor.

Tuesday is Crazy day!

On tuesdays, in addition to Scouts and YW at 7:00pm, we have 3 piano lessons. Needless to say, not much cooking got done. We had soup and crackers and pears that my daughter cooked.
I did attempt a new recipe out of America's Test Kitchen which my kids loved. They took it their lunches today, and had some for a snack yesterday. It's not bad, but it didn't blow my socks off...

Banana Chip Snack Cake
makes one 8 inch cake

2 c flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 stick of softened butter
2 large eggs room temp
2 ripe large bananas, peeled and mashed
1/2 cup milk at room temp
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl, set aside. Beat sugar and butter together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy...yes it does get light and fluffy! Beat in eggs until incorporated(I used my eggs from my chickens and their yolks were a bright orange! It was kinda cool.) Beat in bananas, milk and vanilla. Add flour mixture and incorporate until no flour streaks remain. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into greased pan and bake 55 minutes or until center is cooked. Let cool on wire rack and serve.

It's not dense and moist like banana bread, but it isn't exactly fluffy either. It's a great treat for the kids and it keeps well wrapped in plastic.

Fun with friends

We had friends over tonight to plan a fun and scary Halloween Party in the barn. So tonight, all I provided was the bread and salad. Rachel made an amazing spaghetti sauce that I am going to get the recipe for...very fresh with zuc's and summer squash. It was really yummy! We also had deer sausage that the Updikes brought. It was really good. And I don't like deer. Evidently deer in Oregon eat good green stuff so it tastes a lot better than the stuff in Utah. I will post the recipe as soon as I get it...still waiting...

Kid's Favorite Things

Most kids I know love Mac and Cheese, carrots and applesauce...well that is what we had tonight with a little twist:

Brown Sugar Carrots
5 large carrots cut into cute pieces
2 tbls brown sugar
2 tbls butter
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dill
Cover carrots with water and add salt. Boil until tender. Drain. Add sugar, butter and dill. Yumm!


Way Better than Kraft Mac and Cheese
1lb elbow macaroni
1 1/2 cups grated cheese
3 to 4 cups half and half or milk
1/4 cup flour
2 tbls butter
1/2 lb Hickory Farms sausage
1 Tbls salt
Bring water to boil with salt added. Cook Macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, cut sausage into bite size pieces and saute' until crispy on the edges. Remove from pan and leave grease(that's the best part!) Add butter, add flour and stir until bubbly. Add half and half and whisk until thick. Add cheese a handful at a time. Thin to desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste. Add macaroni and you are done! This recipe feeds 5 hungry kids and two adults with leftovers.

Hope your family likes it as much as mine. Can you see why we want a cow!! All that cream and milk...

Did you ever wonder What's for Dinner?

I am doing this blog mainly because we eat as a family every night. Sometimes we can get stuck in a rut and we all need new ideas to keep us from falling into the Take Out bandwagon. I plan on posting our menu for the day and a few recipes to go with it. I would love to have my friends post what they eat for dinner too...

Last night it was simple.
Pancakes
Blackberry syrup
Bacon
Grapes
Milk
For Dessert: Blackberries and Cream