Oatmeal Cookie

3/4 cup crisco
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 cups old fashioned oats

Yeilds 36-48 cookies
*Recommended - toast oats in oven at 300 degree for 15 minutes before adding to cookie dough mix*
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream crisco, brown sugar, and sugar. Add egg, water, and vanilla to creamed mix. in a separate bowl combine flour, salt, and baking soda then add this to the creamed mix. Stir the (toasted) oats into the mix. Use greases cookie sheet or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 12 - 15 minutes

Shadow Cookie

This is a very soft, delicious cookie.

1/2 cup shortening
4 squares unsweetened chocolate (4 oz of chocolate)
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup nuts of your choice
small bowl of confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar) for rolling dough in

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt shortening and chocolate in a pan over low heat. Add sugar and vanilla to melted choc mixture. Beat in eggs. Add flour, baking powder, salt, and nuts. Chill for a couple of hours or longer. Roll dough into balls and coat with confectioner's sugar.
Bake for 10-15 minutes.

*you can make about 80 cookies if the balls are smaller than size of walnut

Molasses Cookies

This is a very tasty, not too sweet cookie.

3/4 cup crisco
1 cup brown sugar
1 Egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
small bowl of sugar for dipping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream crisco & brown sugar. Add egg and molasses to creamed ingredients. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger. Add your dry mixture to your creamed mixture. Chill 2 hours.
Roll about 48 balls from the dough (about an inch wide) and tip top of ball in sugar. Grease a baking sheet (or line with parchment paper), place your cookies on sheet and drop a few drops of water on each ball.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Chicken and Rice Soup

Whole Rotisserie Chicken, shredded

Chicken Stock

Rice (we used 1 box Uncle Ben's long grain & wild rice)

Onion

1 Bell Pepper

1 Poblano Pepper

Carrots (we used shredded)

Celery

Cut up all your veggies and put all ingredients in your crock pot, adjust chicken stock amount until desired consistency. Also season as desired. We cooked on high for about 4 hours.

Chocolate Pecan Bourbon Pie

We humbly volunteered our taste buds to test this pie as a potential Christmas menu item for a co-worker. Unanimous agreement that it is, indeed, a great addition to a holiday menu! If you would like to make your own pie crust and include the bourbon sauce, please follow the link for further instructions. We didn't have the bourbon sauce and it tasted fantastic!

Direct link to recipe: http://www.ezrapoundcake.com/archives/18097

Chocolate-Pecan-Bourbon Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie

Crust
1 Traditional Pastry Piecrust (follow link above for recipe or buy one)
2 tablespoons heavy cream (to glaze the pie edges)

Filling
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups dark corn syrup
1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon bourbon
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and kept warm
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To Prepare the Pie Shell: On a lightly floured work surface, roll out half a ball of dough into a 10-inch circle.
Place the circle in a 9-inch pie plate so the edges of the circle drop over the rim.
Using your thumb and index finger, crimp the edges of the pie shell.
Brush the edges with heavy cream to create a golden brown finish. Set the pie shell to the side.
For the Filling: Using an electric mixer on medium speed, mix the eggs, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and bourbon. (Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl at least twice while mixing.)
Add the warm melted butter, and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine the pecans and chocolate. Sprinkle the mixture over the bottom of the pie shell. Pour the filling over the nuts and chips.

Place the pie plate on a baking sheet, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the pie is firm. (The middle will remain a little loose but firm up after the pie is removed from the oven.)
Transfer the pie to a wire cooling rack, and let it cool for 2 to 3 hours before serving.
Serve with a drizzle of Bourbon Sauce or ice cream.

Note: This pie is best served at room temperature or warmed at 350 degree F for about 10 minutes. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it for up to 2 weeks.

Skinny Taco Dip

This is just a snack I wanted to try that I found on Pinterest. What better group to test it out on than my fellow co-workers?! If you want to see the recipe via pinterest go here- http://pinterest.com/pin/63120832246850297/
Or if you just want to go directly to the website with the recipe go here: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/07/skinny-taco-dip.html

Skinny Taco Dip

Servings: 24 • Serving Size: 1/24th of dip • Old Points: 1.5 pts • Points+: 2 ptsCalories: 59.2 • Fat: 3.6 g • Protein: 2.2 g • Carb: 4.7 g • Fiber: 0.6 g

8 oz 1/3 less fat Philadelphia cream cheese
8 oz reduced fat sour cream
16 oz jar mild salsa
1 packet taco seasoning
2 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
2.25 oz black olives

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sour cream, salsa and taco seasoning and mix well with an electric mixer. Spread on the bottom of a large shallow glass dish. Top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese and black olives. Serve with baked tortilla chips.

*A few changes I made: I don't like tomatoes, so I didn't add them. I also used romaine lettuce and added some green onion. I think that darker green colors look fantastic.

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

"Olive Garden" Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Author: CopyKat Recipes
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Serves: 8

Ingredients
1 cup chicken breasts, cooked and diced (you can use a rotisserie chicken)
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 quart half and half
1 14 ounces can of chicken broth
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
2 minced garlic cloves
1 cup carrots, finely shredded
1 cup onion, finely diced
1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoons extra virgin oil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon parsley
Freshly grated Parmesan cheeses is optional
1 pound potato gnocchi you can buy this in the gourmet section of many supermarkets (or in the pasta aisle of you local grocery store if you're lucky, Davinci was the brand we found in the pasta aisle)

Instructions: Saute the onion, celery, and garlic in the butter and olive oil over medium heat until the onion becomes translucent. Add the flour and make a roux. Let the butter and flour mixture cook for about a minute before adding 1 quart of half and half.

Cook gnocchi according to package directions.

Into the roux, add in the carrots and chicken. Once the mixture becomes thick, add the chicken broth. Once the mixture thickens again, add the cooked gnocchi, spinach, and seasoning; simmer until soup is heated through.

This one is a keeper!

Crock Pot Chili 11-30-11

Chilly Weather = Chili Recipes!

Crock Pot Chili

2 lbs. ground meat (beef or turkey), cooked
1 large onion, diced (reserve a small amount to top your serving of chili)
1 large green pepper, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans kidney beans
2 can Chili beans
Your preferred seasoning
Shredded cheese
Bread, crackers, Fritos, etc… (to serve with your chili)

Mix first 7 ingredients in crock pot, allow to cook however long you desire until it is heated through and the flavors are perfect. We cooked ours for around 4 hours on high. When done cooking, serve either by itself, over fritos, with crackers, or with bread. Top with cheese and onions and enjoy!