Cake Balls and Sugar Cookie Smoore's!

Everybody's askin'....so here you go!


Cake Balls
This recipe is from Paula Dean (no wonder it tastes so good!)


1 cake mix, baked as directed
1 can of frosting
2 cups of chocolate chips (I always need more)
2 TB shortening

While the cake is still warm, but not hot, crumble it up in a large bowl.  Dump in one full container of store bought frosting in with the cake and stir.  Refrigerate for at least one hour.

When cake mixture is cold, roll it into walnut sized balls.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for at least two hours.  (I have taken the balls out in this form two weeks later(!), coated them in melted chocolate and they still tasted great.  Just put them in a ziploc and they should keep for a couple months).

Take two cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips and two tablespoons of shortening and melt in the microwave in thirty second intervals until chocolate is completely melted.

Dip the frozen balls into the melted chocolate and place back on parchment paper.  Refreeze for at least one hour before serving.

Enjoy!

I like to get creative with my cake mixes.  I'll use cherry chip with chocolate frosting and chocolate chips.  Or dark chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and white chocolate chips.  I'll make a spice cake with pumpkin and then coat with chocolate, etc.  Use your favorite cake/frosting/chocolate chip combo! 
I also only use 3/4 of the frosting because I think they taste better with less. 
 




Sugar Cookie Smoore's


1 package store bought sugar cookie dough
marshmallow creme or large marshmallows
Nutella

Bake the sugar cookies as directed.  I form mine into balls and then smash them with the palm of my hand.

Once the cookies are cooled, spread Nutella on one and marshmallow creme on the other and then sandwich them together.

If you are using large marshmallows, put them on the warm cookies so they melt slightly.

It's Dinner Time!

I was given this amazing and versatile recipe from my friend Cindy. Tonight, I'm using crock pot chicken that was "crocked" with celery, bell peppers, carrots, onion, salt and pepper, garlic, and rosemary. I could have been making chicken soup. But I wasn't. I usually use canned chicken, but crock pot chicken is FABULOUS. Just sayin'. Any left over chicken will do.

Chicken Packets
2-3c cooked, chopped chicken
3-6oz cream cheese (I put 8)
1T green onions (omitted because of the onion in the crock)
2T milk
1 clove garlic (omitted again)
salt to taste (yup, you guess it...omitted)
2pkgs refrigerated crescent rolls
1/4c melted butter
1/2c bread crumbs or panko

Oven at 350degrees.
Mix chicken, cheese, onions, milk, garlic and salt together.
Make your crescent rolls into 8 rectangles making sure to press the two triangles together well.
Fill each rectangle with some of the filling and fold over. Press to secure edges.

Dip each packet into melted butter, place on baking sheet, and sprinkle with bread crumbs. *I just sprinkle with bread crumbs and skip the butter*

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

If you add veggies (I add broccoli or mixed veggies sometimes) then it's a one stop shop for dinner.

I usually make it casserole style (and really stuff it full of filling) by laying 1pkg of crescent rolls out in a 9x13 baking dish. Dump your filling on it and then put the second layer of crescent rolls on top. Drizzle the butter and sprinkle the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes.

Cookie FAIL

Alright, so I can do a lot while I make cookies. I can run upstairs and get dressed...fast. I can watch all four of my kids with my four eyes (you know, two in the front...two in the back). I can make myself breakfast and listen to music, watch tv, blah, blah, blah. I'm sure Brooke (my cookie partner) can stand on her head, too...but I'm not the gymnastic type.

So, in the process of starting to make 250 cookies (and I say starting because we're not even 1/3 of the way done) for the MS Society fundraiser, I found out what I can NOT do while making cookies:

For future reference, no more COMPUTING while making cookies!!

Because this is what happens:

Now, I know my mother-in-law likes her cookies crispy...but I don't think even she will eat these. They are brown. Plain and simple. Cookie FAIL.

Cookie Decorating Party

Kiss me, I'm Irish!

Love to decorate sugar cookies or just want to know how? Come over!

When: Saturday, March 6th
Time: 10am-1pm
Where: My house
What: St. Patrick's Day Cookies (shamrocks...oh yes)
Cost: $15 (to cover the cost of cookies and icing)

Who's invited? YOU ARE (you know...if you live in the same area)

You'll leave with a dozen, four inch cookies YOU decorated and the knowledge of how to do it yourself again!

If you would like more cookies, please let me know in advance. Each additional dozen is $10. If you would like a dozen small shamrocks, they are $6/dozen.

Here is a sample of what you can create:

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! (That is the angels singing, I'm sure. Wait...maybe it's just me singing. Whatever.)

I loooove you, Stand Mixer!
What's that you say? My birthday is still a month away? Ooops! :) It was on sale. A lot. With a rebate.

Ha! My actions are redeemed by my frugality! Right, honey?

*Ahem*

So...I'm makin' bread! My mom and I make bread every year for Christmas, but it's just a plain white bread recipe and I figured it was still close enough to Christmas...kind of. I mean, it's only 11 months away. It said the recipe made one loaf, but if you doubled the recipe, it made three. It lied. It really still makes two...or three short loaves. Which I soon found out.
See this fun meatloaf pan? It has holes in the top so that the greasy gross business falls below the meat! I made meatloaf for dinner with my mixer, too. It's amazing how wonderful making meatloaf is when you DON'T have to use your hands to mix it!
See the holes? Yeah. So, the bottom pan is still good for makin' bread. All my loaf pans were a Christmas present from my mom...Thanks Mom!
Oh, "short" bread brushed with butter and making my house smell very "Susie-Home-Maker"...how I love you...but don't eat you. Hhhhmm....
K...gotta run to read Thomas the Train to my kids!

TWOC: Christmas Traditions of FOOD!!!

Oh! The food!!!

Oh! The aching stomach!

Oh! MORE food!

Oh! Am I glad I wore my elastic-waist pants!!!

Let's see...Where do I start? How about baking day?

We typically made:

homemade bread loafs (and I'm not talking two, here, people..I'm talking more like ten or fifteen)
crescent rolls (about 100)
sugar cookies (about 100)
magic cookie bars (1 or 2 9x13pans)
lemon triangles (1 or 2 8x8 square pans)
Russian tea cakes (lots...these are so good with coffee!)
peanut butter candies
chocolate chip cookies
Cranberry Salsa (with cream cheese and Wheat Thins)


We eat of lot of this stuff on Christmas Eve along with a whole bunch of sandwich stuff...ham, turkey, cheeses, the crescent rolls. A couple years we have made Christmas Eve a Hispanic food night and made enchiladas and taco soup with a whole bunch of chips and salsa.

For dinner on Christmas night we have:

turkey
ham
mashed potatoes
green bean casserole
brussel sprouts and bacon (my fav)
green salad
sweet potato casserole
gravy
and more bread

For dessert we have:
pumpkin pie
apple pie (usually the sugar free kind)
boysenberry pie
cake
ice cream
and coffee, of course!

Sometimes we make:

Brazillian torte
Waldorf salad
Banana/wafer pudding


Did I mention that I follow a low-carb diet? Yeah. Did you see it flying out the window like I do every year. Picture it. It happens. Trust me.

And this is just on MY side of the family.

Linkin' up to Twelve Weeks of Christmas!!!!

I made 'em!

Zucchini muffins from my FIRL (friend in real life), Lora.

Loved 'em! I only had a taste, or two...or four. But my kiddos gobbled them up! I omitted the carrots just 'cause I don't have any. *Gasp* I know.

I'm thinking they might make my freezer breakfast list!

Two by Two Taco Soup

Head over here for a Recipe Exchange:


I posted this over at my friend Shea's because she is having a crock pot party! Go visit her and give her your best recipe!

I thought I'd post it here, too:

Two by Two Taco Soup in the crock pot is a Llanos family stand-by! I have a six quart crock pot so I always make a lot. We eat it that night, Nic takes some to work for lunch the next day and I have a whole other dinner to freeze for another night.

2 cans diced tomatoes (I leave the juice)
2 cans black beans (don't forget to rinse these, otherwise your soup turns out a muddy color)
1/2 to 1 whole onion (how much does your family like onion?)
1 to 2lbs of ground beef (I use 2-already browned, with the onion)
2 cans diced green chilies
1 can of corn (you could add two, I'm just not a huge corn eater)
2 packages of taco seasoning
2 cups water
S/P to taste

Adjust for your family. Sometimes I add salsa instead of the chilies or green (and omit the chilies) enchilada sauce or red enchilada sauce instead of 1 cup of water.

We eat it with LOTS of cheese and sour cream and of course, tortilla chips! Now I wish that's what I made tonight....but nope....Tuna casserole over here...with no PEAS!

Making a Cozy Home with Cookies

One of the things that makes me feel right at home at other people's houses are when there are fresh desserts made and set out on the table/counter.
Don't ask me why. Maybe it's because those are my fondest memories I have with my mom. Aprons on, hair pulled back, two towels (one for drying hands, one for drying dishes), flour on the floor, hands stuck in some kind of dough (cookie, bread, crust, etc.) and Christmas carols playing on the record player. Aaaahhh....the comforts of Christmas vacation.

Well, after some family time, Bambi watching and pizza eating, I got a little sentimental and decided to make some cookies. Yes, it's hot here. Yes, I turned the oven on. Yes, I was sweating. Yes. It was worth it.

I don't carry the ingredients to make traditional cookies at our house all the time, but what I usually always have is cake mix. Odd, right? I know. To allrecipes.com I went (they should pay me for this!) and found a cake mix recipe for cookies.

Um...they are to die for! Big, chewy, and oh so good! At least, according to my husband who scarfed down three (three!) and my kiddos who, for the ten seconds it took for them to gobble them up, were completely silent. Bliss.

This mommy knows no joy like hugs and kisses and thank you's!!! And I got it all for doing this:
Cake Mix Cookies VI
2 eggs
1/3c water
1/4c margarine (I used butter)
1c peanut butter
1 (18.25oz) package yellow cake mix
2c chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.
2. Cream together eggs, water, margarine and peanut butter. Stir in the cake mix and blend well. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet 5 minutes before removing.

I baked mine for 10 minutes but a lot of reviewers thought 12 minutes was better. We like our cookies a bit gooey around here, so 10 was good.

Imagine what you could do with this recipe, though! I think you could easily omit the peanut butter and try instead chocolate cake mix, peanuts, and caramel chips....bet it might resemble a turtle candy! Butterscotch chips...white chocolate chips....almonds...the possibilities are endless...

Enjoy! Go on...get your cookie on!