Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

Last night we had a ladies' event at church featuring a tutorial on how to make strawberry freezer jam (a project that I am super excited about taking on within the next two weeks). When asked to bring a refreshment, I began to look for something uniquely strawberry. After all, it was a night all about strawberries. Not wanting to spend too much money and wanting to use what I had in the pantry already, I found a recipe for strawberry shortcake cookies.

The original recipe come from Martha Stewart (I think), and I found it on wearenotmartha.com. Making a small tweek here and there, here's the recipe for you! Strawberry season is most definitely kicking it up here in the South, and this recipe is a great way to incorporate fresh strawberries to fill that sweet spot for your summer menu!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. fresh strawberries sliced up into 1/4" chunks
• 1 teas. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tblsp. of sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teas. baking powder
• 1/2 teas. salt
• 6 Tablespoons of cold butter, unsalted
• 2/3 cup of heavy whipping cream
• Sanding sugar (optional for garnishing the top of the cookie)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Slice strawberries into quarter inch pieces or smaller depending on your preference. 
3. Mix sliced strawberry chunks, lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons of the sugar in a separate bowl and allow to sit for at least 5 minutes. 
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Cut cold butter into small chunks. 
6. Add butter chunks to the flour mixture and knead in butter with hands until the mixture takes on a crumb-like appearance and you no longer feel clumps of butter. 
7. Add heavy cream to the mixture and knead or stir until dough forms. (Dough will seem very dry until strawberry mixture is added).
8. Add the strawberry mixture to the dough and work in well with hands.
9. Scoop dough mixture onto greased cookie sheet. 
10. Sprinkle sugar on top of unbaked cookies (sanding sugar or regular sugar).
11. Bake at 375 for 19 minutes. 
12. Let cookies cool for 10 minutes, and enjoy at will!

I saw a suggestion to try them warm with vanilla ice cream! Sounds amazing! 

Linked up with How-To-Tuesday!

Dinner in a Pan

Today we are talking food! I came across this super simple recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a whirl. I took pics of the whole meal that I made as well, but apparently, I forgot to save those pics. So, this pic is the one from my pinterest board, but I couldn't find any info when clicking on the link. But no worries! I wrote out all of the directions for this super simple meal for you!

Needless to say, it was a great success at my table! I love this when I have little time to prep and clean. You simply throw it all into the pan and bake! My husband even commented, "Who know you could bake all of that stuff in the same pan!"



Instructions:
* Grease a 9x13 pan
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
* Wash and slice 5-6 new potatoes.
* Place 3-4 chicken breasts in the center of the pan.
* Place string beans (canned or frozen) down one side of the pan.
     (you can actually use any green veggie here - broccoli would be great as well)
* Place new potatoes down the opposite side of the pan.
* Sprinkle a whole packet of Kraft Italian seasoning/dressing mix over everything in the pan.
* Top with 1 stick (1/2 cup) of melted butter.
* Cover with foil.
* Bake @ 350 for one hour.
* Enjoy!

The Cookie Dough Cheese Ball

Parties, Parties, Parties! I love all of the festivities that center on Christmas, and I LOVE to try new and unique recipes for those party goodies! Thanks to Pinterest, I have tried lots of new recipes so far this season, and by far the crowd favorite is the Cookie Dough Cheese Ball. I've made it three times already - YUM! Naturally, I thought I'd share this fantastic recipe with my readers!

Cookie Dough Cheese Ball:

Ingredients:
* 1 (8oz.) package or cream cheese, room temperature
* 1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
* 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/2 cup powdered sugar
* 3 Tablespoons brown sugar, packed
* 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
* crushed graham crackers

Preparation:
* Blend together first 3 ingredients until creamy; add powdered sugar and brown sugar, blending well.
* Fold in chocolate chips; cover and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours.
(It is important for the cream cheese and butter to be room temperature, but no warmer. If you melt too much in the microwave, it won't turn out well.)
* Shape dough into ball; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.
* Roll in graham cracker crumbs before serving.
* Serve with Teddy Grahams, graham crackers, Nilla Wafers, or anything that you think will taste delicious with the dough ball! Enjoy!

Let me know what you think!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

It's a cool, crisp and beautiful fall day...what a great night for soup! I love this recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup - definitely a family favorite. And to make it even better, it's a CrockPot recipe. Put it in in the morning and voila! dinner is done! Give it a try and ENJOY!

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cans Ro-Tel (any kind will work but I use the lime & cilantro flavor)
2 cans chicken broth
1 can black beans (rinse and drain)
1 can kidney beans (rinse and drain)
1 can corn
1/2 onion chopped
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 1/2 cups of water

tortilla chips
sour cream
shredded cheese (Mexican blend is yummy!)

Put Ro-Tel, chicken broth, black beans, kidney beans, corn, onion, seasoning, and water into CrockPot and stir well to mix. Place chicken breasts on top of mixture, making sure they're at least partly submerged in liquid. Cook on high 6-7 hours or on low 8-9 hours. Before serving, remove chicken breasts, shred, and return to soup. Stir and serve! Add tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream if desired.

Enjoy the yumminess!

DIY Pita Chips

I really wanted something to dip in my guacamole the other day, so I decided to make my own pita chips and thought I would share the recipe since they turned out oh-so-yummy!

Step 1: Use a pizza cutter to slice a flour tortilla into small triangles (make them look like mini-chips!)

Step 2: Spread your chips onto a baking sheet or stone. 

Step 3: Take your favorite olive oil and brush it over the tortilla pieces. 

Step 4: Sprinkle seasoning over pieces. (I used garlic salt and pizza seasoning. Italian seasoning would work well too.)

Step 5: Bake @ 350 for 7 minutes (shorter time for softer pieces, longer for crispier pieces). 

Step 6: Cool and enjoy!

Yummo!