Dove Chocolate Discoveries Giveaway Ends Tonight!

by penji1

The subscriber’s only Dove Chocolate Discoveries Giveaway ends tonight at midnight so if you want in on the chance to win some free Dove Chocolate Discoveries yumminess (valued at $25 or maybe even more!) then subscribe to my blog!

FREE + CHOCOLATE = HAPPY SUBSCRIBER!

It’s easy, just enter your email address in the box on the upper left hand corner of the home page of the blog and then you will receive an email asking you to confirm and when you do, you will be subscribed!  Tell your friends, tell  your neighbors, tell everyone about the free chocolate!  Good luck and thank you for subscribing to my blog!  🙂

M & M Cookies

by penji1

I had a bag of Christmas M & M’s and wanted to make cookies so I googled “M & M cookie recipe” and found this one on http://www.squidoo.com which was titled “The Best Ever M & M Cookie Recipe”.  These are going in a care package for my friend Lacee who is on a mission in Virginia.

1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

12 oz package M & M’s

3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1  Preheat oven to 350.

2  Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

3  Beat in egg and vanilla.

4  In another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt.

5  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix.

6  Stir in M & M’s and nuts.

7  Using a teaspoon, drop cookies of about 1 heaping teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheets, about 2″ apart.

8  Bake 10 – 13 minutes.

9  Cool on wire racks.

The recipe said it yielded about 50 cookies.  I used my Pampered Chef medium cookie scoop (so larger than the teaspoon they were using) and got about 3 dozen (just 2 shy of 3 dozen).

Chocolate Walnut Muffins

by penji1

This recipe comes from “The Cookie and Biscuit Bible”.  So good, almost brownie like.

3/4 cup unsalted (sweet) butter, diced

5 oz plain (semisweet) chocolate, chopped (I used about 2/3 cup chocolate chips)

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup soft dark brown sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 2/3 cup flour

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 12 muffin tins or use paper liners.

2  Melt butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of hot water.  (I just melted them for about 1 minute in the microwave.)  Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

3  Stir both the sugars into the chocolate mixture.  Mix in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla and almond extract.

4  Sift the flour over the chocolate mixture and fold in until evenly combined.  Stir the walnuts evenly into the mixture.

5  Fill the muffin tins almost to the top and bake 30 – 35 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

The recipe said that it makes 12, but I ended up with 18 muffins.

Breakfast Bake

by penji1

This was surprisingly good!  (Of course, I changed it a bit which added more taste but calories too!)  It’s a Taste of Home recipe from the Comfort Food Diet Cookbook.

1 1/2 cups egg substitute (I used 4 eggs)

1/2 cup fat free milk

3 1/2 cups frozen O’Brien hash brown potatoes, thawed

1 1/3 cups shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese, divided (I just used regular cheddar cheese)

1/2 cup chopped sweet onion (I used a tablespoon of dried onion)

4 tablespoons crumbled cooked bacon, divided (I used 4 tablespoons Bacos)

1/2 teaspoon salt (left it out)

1/2 teaspoon salt free seasoning blend (I used 1/2 teaspoon Season All)

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

4 green onions, chopped (didn’t have any so left them out)

1  In a large bowl, whisk the egg substitute and milk.  Stir in the hash browns, 1 cup cheese, onion, 2 tablespoons bacon, salt, seasoning blend and chili powder.  Pour into an 8″ square baking dish coated with cooking spray.

2  Bake at 350 for 45 – 50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bacon.  Bake 3 – 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.  Sprinkle with green onions.  Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

If you follow the original instructions, this dish yields 6 servings with each serving having 219 calories.

Peppermint Fudge Cookie Sandwiches

by penji1

I love December!  It’s Christmas time and I get to bake all month long if I feel like it, and I feel like it!  (So get ready for lots of baking posts!)  Woo Hoo!  These are so easy and so fast to make.  The center is a peppermint patty so they go together so quickly.  It’s a Pampered Chef recipe for my friend Wendy who’s birthday is today.  Happy Birthday Wendy!

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup flour

2 candy canes or 8 – 10 peppermint hard candies (about 1/4 cup crushed) (since these were a birthday gift and not a Christmas present, I substituted clear sprinkles for the candy canes but the candy canes look really cute on these cookies for Christmas)

1/4 cup white or semi sweet chocolate morsels (I used 1 two ounce bar of Dove white chocolate)

10 – 12 mini foil wrapped peppermint patties, unwrapped

1  Preheat oven to 375.  Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Combine chocolate chips and butter in bowl and microwave on high 40 – 60 seconds or until smooth, stirring after each 20 second interval.  Add sugar and egg to bowl and mix until well blended.  Add flour and mix just until flour is incorporated.  Using Small Scoop, drop 20 level scoops of batter, 1″ apart, onto pan.  Bake 9 – 11 minutes or until edges are set.  (Do not overbake.)

2  Meanwhile, place candy canes in a resealable plastic bag and crush.  Place white chocolate morsels in small bowl and microwave, uncovered, on high 30 – 60 seconds or until melted and smooth, stirring once.

3  Remove pan from oven to cooling rack.  Immediately turn over half the cookies; top with peppermint patties and remaining cookies to form 10 sandwiches.  Drizzle white chocolate over cookies and immediately sprinkle with crushed candies.  Transfer to platter.  Line pan with additional parchment and scoop remaining batter.  Bake 9 – 10 minutes.  Assemble as directed above.

(I doubled the recipe and got about 26 sandwich cookies.)

Five Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

by penji1

My mom gave me this recipe and called it the most dangerous cake recipe in the world because now you can have chocolate cake anytime you want it, in just 5 minutes!

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips

small splash vanilla

Add dry ingredients to large coffee mug and mix well.  Add egg and mix really well.  Pour in milk and oil and mix well again.  Add chocolate chips and vanilla and mix yet again.  Cook in microwave 3 minutes.  Allow to cool and tip out onto plate.

And here are my notes after making it a couple of times:

1  It works better to mix the ingredients in a small bowl and then pour them into the mug rather than mixing them in the mug (sometimes things didn’t get mixed well which resulted in a not so yummy cake as in chewy egg chunks, need I say more?).

2  It doesn’t say to, but I spray the mug with Pam just to make sure the cake comes out.

3  Use a large mug otherwise it overflows and makes a mess in the microwave.  As you can see from the picture, I used an extra tall mug.

4  One mug cake is enough for 2 people, usually.

Texas Ranch Style Stew

by penji1

I always wonder what to do when I make something that doesn’t turn out or that some of us or all of us don’t like, should I still put it on the blog?  So far, I’ve put everything on the blog even if it doesn’t turn out all that great or if we don’t like it.  This recipe for example was not my favorite but Bob loved it so here it is.  It is from the “Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook”.  I didn’t have all the exact ingredients so that might be one reason I didn’t love it but Bob liked it so I’ll let you decide.

1 cup small shell pasta (I used whole grain rotini because I had an open box and I used about 2 cups because that was what was left in the box)

1 pound lean ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

2 garlic cloves, pressed

3 cans (5 1/2 oz each) reduced sodium V8 juice (I used two 8 oz cans of tomato sauce)

1 (15 oz) can ranch style beans or baked beans, undrained (I used a can of chili beans)

1 (14 1/2 oz) can Southwestern diced tomatoes, undrained (I used a can of those Rotel tomatoes with green chilies)

1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed (I used 1 cup as 1/2 didn’t look like enough)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet (when they say large, they mean large, I had to transfer to a bigger one half way through so start with a big one), cook the beef, onion, green pepper and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink then drain.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Drain pasta and stir into stew.

1 serving = 1 1/3 cups, 307 calories per serving, serves 6

Dove Chocolate Discoveries Giveaway!

by penji1

Above is a picture of a shelf in my office loaded with Dove Chocolate Discoveries products and I’m going to give away something or maybe a couple of somethings from that shelf to one lucky subscriber of my blog.  This is a subscribers only giveaway to say thank you for subscribing to my blog.  If you are already subscribed then you don’t have to do anything, if you aren’t and want in on this giveaway then sign up by entering your email address in the top left hand corner of the home page of my blog then you will get an email asking you to confirm and when you do so you will be subscribed.  Spread the word!  The more new subscribers, the bigger the prize!  You have a week, so next Tuesday December 7 at midnight is the deadline to sign up.  Good luck!

Easy Double Chocolate Chip Brownies

by penji1

These brownies are for Bob’s friend Shaun at work.  He braved the Black Friday early morning crowds at Walmart while Bob and I slept in and bought us a blu ray player.  Thanks Shaun!  (The recipe comes from “The Cookie Bible”.)

2 cups (12 oz package) semisweet chocolate chips, divided

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into pieces

3 large eggs

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I went with walnuts)

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 9 x 13″ pan.

2  Melt 1 cup chocolate chips and butter in large heavy duty saucepan over low heat; stir until smooth.  Remove from heat.  Stir in eggs.  (Note from me – make sure chocolate mixture has cooled a bit so that you don’t cook your eggs when you add them.)  Stir in flour, sugar, vanilla and baking soda.  Stir in remaining chocolate chips and nuts.  Spread into prepared baking pan.  (Batter will be thick.)

3  Bake 18 – 22 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky.  Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Makes 2 dozen brownies.

(One of the best things about this brownie recipe is that it can all be mixed in the same pot that you melted the chocolate and butter in.  One pot brownies make for quick clean up!)

Tomato Beef Stew

by penji1

What could be better on a cold and snowy day than a bowl of hearty beef stew and homemade rolls?

1 – 2 pounds chuck beef or round steak, cubed (I used a 1 1/2 pound package of stew meat)

6 – 7 medium red potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used about 4 large russet potatoes and left the skins on)

1 (16 oz) bag baby carrots, cut in thirds

1 medium onion, chopped

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes, with liquid

2 cans water, measured from tomato can

1 tablespoon rosemary (I left this out, not a fan)

salt and pepper to taste (I added a teaspoon of season salt instead of the regular salt and 2 pressed garlic cloves)

In a 6 quart stock pot, brown beef.  Add remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then simmer on medium low 25 – 30 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are tender.  OR simmer in 6 – 7 quart slow cooker or crock pot.  Meat does not need to be browned.  Reduce amount of water to 1 1/2 cans.  Cook on low 6 – 8 hours or on high 3 – 4 hours.  (I went the crock pot route.)