Caramel Oatmeal Cookies

I have had some leftover Kraft Caramel bits sitting in my pantry and I noticed the expiration date was fast approaching. I love oatmeal cookies, so I went in search of something to use both oats and caramel and came across these. (I found it really funny to find these cookies with a stick of butter on Spark People..but hey, everything in moderation, right??:) They're great both warm from the oven and once cooled. I was afraid the caramel would spread a lot, but it only spread a little and then cooled nicely back into the bits of caramel throughout the cookie. I'm sure these will be well received this racing weekend :)

Vanishing Caramel Oatmeal Cookies

from Spark People
(this is a half recipe; makes about 18)

1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups oats (original or quick)
1/2 package Kraft Caramel Bits

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cream together melted butter and sugars. Add egg and beat. Combine flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda in a separate bowl. Add in flour mixture in two stages, mixing thoroughly each time. Stir in oats and caramels.
Drop rounded tablespoon size dough balls onto ungreased parchment or Silpat at least two inches apart to leave room for cookies to spread. Bake 10 minutes. When you take cookies out of oven, use the edge of a knife to reshape the edges where caramel spread. Cool on sheet pan for 3 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Earlier this summer, I needed a couple of mason jars. Norris brought home a case. I was kind of excited about the excess so I could try something new in them. I spent Saturday morning at the Old Town farmers' market with my grandma and aunt and finally found some tiny pickling cucumbers! This recipe comes from Delicious Meliscious. They taste just like those deli pickles you get with sandwiches! (the ones I always like to steal off your plate if you don't want it :)

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

3 cloves garlic, minced
fresh dill
cucumbers cut into spears or cute little pickling cucumbers

Brine:
3 cups water
6 tbsp white vinegar
3 tbsp kosher salt

Combine brine ingredients and let dissolve. Place some dill in the bottom of the jar, then fill jar halfway with cucumbers. Lay more dill on top and finish packing. Pour the brine over the top, making sure it covers all of the cucumbers. Sprinkle garlic and whatever other seasonings you like on it. Store for 2 days in refrigerator before eating.

**I love these, but Norris doesn't like them. I love cucumbers; he doesn't. (so if you don't like cucumbers, you might not like these. I learned this deductive reasoning in 9th grade geometry:)

Chicken with JalaPeach Sauce

For Christmas every year, my aunt buys me a subscription to Everyday with Rachael Ray, which I think is a fun magazine to read. I always tear out recipes to put in my folder to try out, and remembered this one the other day when I was looking for something to make with the great peaches in the stores right now. You could use any dry rub on your chicken that you like, but I just did salt and pepper on them because I was cooking for one and really just wanted to try the sauce, so the chicken was just the delivery method!:) RR suggests chicken wings and grilling the meat while basting with the sauce, which I'm sure would be wonderful! I just used chicken breasts and cooked them stovetop, basting with sauce every time I turned them. Very good! Loved the spicy/sweet of the sauce!

Jala-Peach Sauce

from Everyday with Rachael Ray

Ingredients:
1 pound peaches, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 pickled jalapeño chile, stemmed, plus 3 tablespoons pickling juice (or use fresh plus a splash of white wine vinegar) (I used more like 2 tbsp of the juice here...didn't want to run the risk of it being too vinegary)
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Using a food processor, puree the peaches, pickled jalapeño and juice, the honey, mustard and worcestershire sauce; season with salt. At this point, you can add more sweet or spice, depending on your tastes. Pour one-quarter of the sauce into a large bowl and the remaining sauce into a small bowl.

(at this point, I cooked chicken breast tenderloins stovetop and basted with the sauce) Here are the grill instructions:
Preheat a grill to medium heat. Season the chicken wings with salt and pepper and coat lightly with cooking spray. Arrange on oiled cooking grates and grill, turning occasionally, until no longer raw on the outside, 6 to 8 minutes. Brush the wings generously with the larger amount of reserved sauce. Grill, continuing to turn occasionally, until deep golden-brown and just charred in parts, 8 to 10 minutes. Toss the wings with the smaller amount of reserved sauce. Transfer to a platter.

Simple Southwest Dressing

This dressing is spicy and sweet with the contrast of lime and chili powder. Simple to put together with ingredients you probably already have, and great on top of a salad topped with that shredded Mexican chicken! This dressing will make enough for about 3 salads, unless you're a heavy user of salad dressing!

Simple Southwest Dressing

from Real Simple

1/3 cup light sour cream
juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt

Whisk together all ingredients. Serve!

Shredded Mexican Chicken

This recipe is great for filling tacos (or topping tostadas, like I recommend for a lot of things lately!), but also wonderful on top of a salad! I will post the salad dressing recipe later as a separate post so I can keep track of it :). Make up a big batch of this and you can use it in many ways throughout the week. It's full of flavor!

Shredded Mexican Chicken

from Blog Chef

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I used about 8-10 chicken breast tenderloins)

1 (4 ounce) can tomato sauce

¼ cup salsa (**instead of using salsa, I used another 4 oz. of tomato sauce)

1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 garlic cloves (minced)

1 teaspoon chili powder

hot sauce (to taste)

In a medium sauce pan add chicken breasts and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil; add salsa, taco seasoning, cumin, garlic and chili powder. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Start pulling chicken apart with 2 forks into strings. (I added about 1/2 cup water at this point as well.) Cover and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. Add hot sauce. Cook until chicken is fully cooked. Remove from pan and finish shredding chicken using 2 forks.

(Makes 4 Servings)

http://en.petitchef.com/

Breakfast Turkey Sausage

I am officially broken of my "have to have cereal every day for breakfast" mindset. I ate baked oatmeal every morning for months, but have been trying to change it up a little this summer. Now that I'm back to work, I definitely need something that will keep me full through the morning, and these were pretty good at doing just that. You could have them on a breakfast sandwich, which I am planning on doing soon, or just on their own like I did with this breakfast. The original recipe source, Elly Says Opa!, shows a really good looking sandwich made from them! She used ground chicken, which you could also try!

Breakfast Turkey Sausage

from Elly Says Opa!

1 lb ground turkey or chicken
1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1/2 to 3/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
heaping 1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
~3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tsp maple syrup
2-3 tsp olive oil

Lightly mix all ingredients together until the herbs/spices are well incorporated – make sure you don’t over mix!
Divide the mixture into 4 equal parts, and then make 4 (or 2, for 2-oz. patties) patties from each part. (I made about 14 patties. They are super sticky when you are forming them--spray your hands with cooking spray to prevent them from sticking to your hands and so you are able to make better shaped patties out of it.)
Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat and add 1 tsp. of oil. Put 1/3 or 1/2 of the patties (depending how big your pan is and how much space your patties take up) into the pan and cook about 2 minutes per side or until browned and cooked through. Repeat with the next 1-2 batches, adding an additional teaspoon of olive oil per batch.

*Ground chicken breast will make a leaner patty, but dark (or a mixture of white and dark) meat will make a tastier patty. Nutritional information (also from Elly Says Opa):

Using all white meat (per 1 oz. patty, using 3 tsp. oil): Calories: 40.9 / Fat: 1.2g / Saturated Fat: 0.2g / Carbs: 0.6g / Fiber: 0.1g / Protein: 6.6g

Using dark meat (per 1 oz. patty, using 3 tsp. oil): Calories: 52 / Fat: 3.6g / Saturated Fat: 1.0g / Carbs: 0.6g / Fiber: 0.1g / Protein: 5.2g

Pesto

Before you look at this picture and wonder why I made green ice cubes, hear me out!
I love pesto and I loooove the smell of basil. It's so fresh and earthy and I love making things with it. My basil plants pretty much died when I was gone for a week and are just coming back, but Amber shared a bunch of hers with me and I was overly excited about it. Since my basil doesn't live all year round outside, I like to make cubes of it in ice trays. When you are ready for 1 cube (or the whole bunch), you can just thaw them out and have fresh pesto!
Pesto can be used in so many ways. I plan on making a grilled chicken with pasta, peas, and pesto soon. It's also great in place of mayonnaise/mustard on a sandwich. It's excellent as a spread on pizza or crusty bread, too! This recipe comes from Cooking Light, and if you click the link, they offer a bunch more suggestions for it. Any way you try it, I hope you enjoy it!

Classic Pesto

from Cooking Light

4 cups basil leaves
2 Tbsp pine nuts (or walnuts)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
~1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional)

Combine all ingredients in food processor. It should be a runny paste consistency. (is that even a good descriptor??:) Add olive oil as needed. I don't like mine super thick, so I tend to add a little more olive oil. Don't add too much at one time or it will just taste like olive oil and you'll miss the other bright, fresh flavors! I like to add the lemon juice to brighten the flavor a little, but you don't have to! Taste it pre-lemon juice and add it if you feel it needs it.

EDIT:
I went to a demonstration at the farmer's market today and learned a different perspective. The chef said that he blanches his basil leaves (basically dip in boiling water then shock in ice cold water), cuts them up a little, puts them in ice cube trays, pours water over them, then freezes them. That way he has fresh basil that he can use whatever way he wants all year round. He also said he never freezes his pesto with the oil and parmesan cheese already in it, which is something I haven't heard before. I will try both ways and see which way works better!! Sounds like a good idea though, so the oil and cheese and fresh in the pesto when you are ready to use it!


Country road, take me home...
This is our "bored" activity--driving around in the country with the dogs in the back dreaming of living in the boondocks with our own pond. We see some pretty hilarious things, like the peacocks I have previously mentioned. Last night we saw a random really short bulldog standing on the side of the road staring at us. Missed the picture, but it made me laugh for a while!