Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Photo courtesy of Madison Myers

Today is my father-in-law's birthday, so I wanted to make him a special treat. I learned he shares his birthday with a National Day of recognition! In addition to being my father-in-law's birthday, June 12th is also National Peanut Butter Cookie Day!  Who knew?  I sure didn't! But now that I do I will be sure to honor it every year by making my favorite Peanut Butter Cookies!

After all, It will be easy to remember!

Once again, I found this recipe on my favorite recipe site - Allrecipes.com. You can view the original recipe here.  I did not change the recipe too much, as it is perfect the way it is! However, this time around I did not have the quick cooking oats on hand, so I used regular oats and they turned out just fine! 

I really love these little sandwich cookies, and when I say little I mean it. The first time I made these - I made them sort of big because so many people really love those big cookies you get from bakeries - my daughter included! These cookies are so rich though, I recommend following the recipe to a 'T' and using a teaspoon to measure them. They turn out to be a perfect bite size piece of peanut buttery goodness! I prefer bite size cookies, so these are perfect as far as I'm concerned!

Happy Birthday, Dad! I hope it's great!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup quick cooking oats (or regular oats)
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter or margarine, 1/2 cup peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. I like to beat this for 3-5 minutes until it is well mixed and lighter in color

See how much lighter it became after mixing for about 5 minutes? Add egg and beat well.

In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir just until combined. 

Add oatmeal and stir - I like to stir this in by hand

Drop by teaspoons onto a parchment lined baking sheet (or greased baking sheet), and press each mound down with a fork (or a spoon) to form 1/4 inch thick cookies. The dough is pretty soft so making the fork marks can be challenging unless you put the dough in the freezer or the fridge to harden up a bit.  I've always found cookies taste better if you refrigerate the dough overnight, so if you can resist baking these for a day you'll have an easier time of making those fancy fork marks for which peanut butter cookies are famous. Notice mine don't have the pretty fork marks...I couldn't wait! But I did reserve 1/2 the dough and filling to make tomorrow, so I'll make fancy fork marks with THOSE cookies! 

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 7-10 minutes, or until cookies are a light brown. (mine were perfect after just 7 minutes)

 To Make Filling: Cream 3 tablespoons butter or margarine with the confectioners sugar, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, and the cream. Spread filling onto half of the cooled cookies, then top with the other half to form sandwiches.

Photo courtesy of Madison Myers

Photo courtesy of Madison Myers

You might also like Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars by The Foodie Affair

Mini Coffee Cakes

Recipe inspired by: Allrecipes Mini Coffee Cakes

 I discovered this recipe last fall when I was searching for something to make for Madison's Equestrian Team. Don and I were traveling to GA to cheer them on, and I wanted to bring snacks for the team.  Because it was a new recipe, I made a test batch to see how they'd turn out.  Well, they ended up being the most wonderful little coffee cakes I have ever tasted! They are so light it is like eating air - only really yummy tasting air with cinnamon!  We gobbled the test batch up right away, so I made another test batch...just to be sure you know - don't want to feed the kids nasty muffins.  Again, we gobbled 'em up! I really should NEVER make these - they are too dangerous to have in the house, but I really wanted to share them here on the blog so I sacrificed just for you - I'm nice like that <<grin>>

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups milk
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• TOPPING:
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. I like to do this for several minutes to make sure it is mixed well - about 3-5 minutes

Beat in the egg 

combine flour, pudding mix, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with milk. Beat until blended. The batter will be thick - sorry I forgot to get a photo of it - I guess I was just so excited about the muffins!

 Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. 

Combine topping ingredients; 

sprinkle over batter. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until the tops bounce back when lightly pressed. Cool for 10 minutes; 

remove from pan to a wire rack and try not to eat them all at once!

By the way - the team LOVED them! They ate every last one!

Slow Cooked Chili

Chili in June? in Florida? Have I gone MAD?  I don't think so, but you never know... I decided to whip up some chili this week because my family LOVES it, and the sausage I use in the chili was on a great sale this week!  I did summerize it though - I reduced the chili powder by 1/2 so it wouldn't have near as much heat.  I think it turned out great - Don had 2 big bowls, and Madison is looking forward to having some when she gets back from TN!

Ingredients

• 1.5 to 2 pounds Mild Italian Sausage
• 2 (16 ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained (I use the garlic, basil, & oregano)
• 2 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce (garlic, basil, & oregano)
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chili powder in warm weather. I use 2 tablespoons when it's cold out
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• Shredded Cheddar cheese
• Sour Cream

Direction

In a skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.

 Transfer to a slow cooker. Add the next nine ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4 hours. 

I like to use a slow cooker liner to make clean up a snap!

Garnish individual servings with sour cream and cheese if desired.

Recipe inspired by: Slow Cooked Chili

Chili Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Ginger Glaze

Here it is! My favorite recipe! This is so yummy I make it anytime Pork Tenderloin is on sale.  I also make it when we have company, as it is quick, easy, and looks great too!

Ingredients

• 2 (1 pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
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• Spice Rub:
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (you can sub in 1 tbsp of garlic powder if you prefer)
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
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• Glaze:
• 1 1/2 cups apricot preserves
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet and Spicy)
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1/2 lime, juiced (taste and if more is needed juice the other 1/2 -I usually prefer just 1/2)

Directions

Place chili powder, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in a jar; shake to blend. Rub spice mixture onto pork tenderloins. Wrap tenderloins in saran wrap and refrigerate overnight

Prior to cooking tenderloins, melt apricot preserves in a microwave by using a microwave safe bowl and heating on high for 30 seconds at a time until melted.  Stir in remaining glaze ingredients. Reserve 1/2 the glaze to use during cooking, and place the other half in a serving bowl and hold for service.

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Sear the tenderloins over med-high heat - get a good sear on each side of the tenderloins. Be sure to use an oven safe skillet!

Once seared nicely, brush the top of the tenderloins with half of the reserved glaze

Place the pan in the pre-heated oven (be sure it is oven safe) and cook for 10 minutes;

After 10 minutes, remove from the oven and check temperature with an instant read thermometer

Turn tenderloins over and brush with remaining glaze. Place pan back in oven for another 7-10 minutes until temp reaches 140 degrees.   

Let rest for 10 minutes

Slice

Serve with the reserved sauce and enjoy...

I typically serve this with a salad when I make it just for us, but when I make it for company I whip up some garlic mashed potatoes with some sauteed spinach - yummmmm

This can also be cooked on the grill. Pre-heat grill to med-high heat and cook tenderloins for 5 mins on all sides for a total of 15 minutes or until temp reaches 140 degrees.  Brush with glaze on both sides during the last 5 minutes of grilling. Let rest for 10 minutes; slice and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes Chili Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Ginger Glaze

June 7th - June 13th

Another busy week! We enjoyed having Madison home for a couple of days. She even went furniture shopping with me! She is going to take our current sofa set in our family room to college with her in the fall, so I need to redecorate that room and soon! I did find a set I liked well enough, but we tried to pick fabric colors and struck out! I guess we'll have to keep looking - just couldn't decide. It is a big purchase, and I want to be sure. 

Madison went back to Savannah on Tuesday and stayed the night with a friend before getting back on the road Wednesday morning. She started out early to make her way to TN for her apprenticeship, but she only got a little over 1/2 way when the charge light came on! So much for having it checked out here at home by a shop before she left for the trip! Being the smart girl she is, she pulled off the highway and parked to call her dad. Don determined it was most likely the alternator, so we had to find a repair shop who had the part and could do the work that same day. 

Fortunately, we were able to find something very close and she was back on the road several hours and several hundred $$$ later (ugh!).  She did finally make it to her destination around 9:30pm (about 6 hours later than what she had planned!).  It was quite stressful being so far away, but I'm so happy we were able to get it repaired and she made it safely. Now I can relax for a few days until she's back on the road for home. Looking forward to her being home another couple days before she heads to Canada for 6 weeks! Don't worry - the car is staying home! She will be flying!

Thursday - Eye of Round Roast with a salad.  This will be the first time for me making this recipe, so I'm a little skeptical, but will report back with how it turns out. I won't leave it in the oven as long as the recipe states as I think a roast should be taken out about 120-125 degrees for mid rare and that's how we like 'em, so I will check the temp at about 1 hour 30 mins to 2 hours - somewhere in there.  I will most likely season this with a paste of olive oil, minced garlic, fresh thyme, salt, and pepper as well. Eye of Round is on sale, so this is a great time to try this recipe! If you end up making this, please report back and let me know how it turned out for you!

Friday - Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken with a salad. I did make some changes to the recipe as follows: I used fresh garlic, thyme and parsley - if you don't have the fresh stuff, go ahead and used dried. I also add a tbsp of tequila with the lime juice, and if your chicken breasts are thick you will have to cook it a little longer after adding the lime & tequila (about 10 mins instead of 5 as the recipe suggests). No worries though as that helps the sauce to reduce down to a very nice flavorful glaze.

Saturday - Slow Cooked Chili I know it is really hot out, but we do love chili and the sausage I like to use in this chili is on sale.  Here are the changes I make to the recipe:  I use 2lbs Publix mild Italian sausage. I use 2 cans of tomato sauce and 3 cans of diced tomatoes because I like it more saucy. I always buy the tomatoes and sauce with the basil, garlic, and oregano flavor as well. And because I LOVE garlic, I usually throw in some extra cloves.  When using a slow cooker I like to buy those slow cooker liners you can get in the grocery store where you find the foil and saran wrap. I use those to make clean up a SNAP!

Sunday - Chicken Milano - this is a new recipe for me, but it sounds really good. I will report back on how it turns out.

Monday - Wednesday - I will have lots of leftovers at this point, so in an effort not to waste anything we will be enjoying leftovers on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Sometimes I fit in the leftovers on other nights if I have a day where I'm not able to make my planned meal for whatever reason, so working in leftover nights is always a good idea when menu planning.

Produce

Lime Juice

(2) Onions - medium

(1) Green Pepper

Garlic

Fresh Basil

2 bags of Salad

Dairy

Butter

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Sour Cream (If you like for the chili)

Heavy Cream (at least 1 cup)

Canned Food

(2) 16oz canned Kidney Beans (I prefer the light colored beans)

(3) 14.5oz cans Diced Tomatoes (I always use the garlic, basil and oregano flavored tomatoes) Hunt's tomatoes are BOGO sale at Publix this week

(2) 8oz cans Tomato Sauce (garlic, basil and oregano flavor is what I use)

Chicken Broth (at least 1 cup or if you have chicken base you can sub that with 1 cup water)

Extras

Extra Virgin, First Cold Pressed Olive Oil

Vegetable Oil

1/2 cup Sundried Tomatoes

8oz Fettuccine Pasta

Salad Dressing if needed

Slow Cooker Liners

Spices

Salt

Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

Paprika

Onion Powder

Thyme (dried or fresh - whichever you prefer)

Parsley (dried or fresh - whichever you prefer)

Chili Powder

Meat

3 lb Beef Eye of Round Roast (On sale for $3.99/lb at Publix)

6-8 boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts (on sale for $2.99/lb at Publix)

1.5 to 2 lbs Publix Mild Italian Sausage (on sale for $3.99/lb at Publix)

Extra Stuff I need on my list

Pineapples (on sale already peeled and cored for $2.99 each)

Mountain Dew (Pepsi products are buy 2 get 1 free)

Ice

Bread

Eggs

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June 2nd - June 6th

My menu is a little late this week.  I drove up to Savannah on Thursday to help my daughter move out of her dorm room and get it all cleaned, so I was out of town on Thursday and Friday. I am still amazed her freshman year of college is already over!  My drive to Savannah was an easy one - the interstate cooperated and the weather did too - mostly. There were 2 quick storms I had to drive through in Georgia - at one point it was even hailing, but fortunately both were over quickly.

Once in Savannah I headed straight for the dorm. Madison was waiting for me - she let me in the gate; I parked the truck, and we headed to dinner.  It was her last day of freshman year and she ended it with straight A's!  She had a very successful first year of college, and we are so proud of her!

After enjoying a nice meal, we walked back to the dorm and assessed the situation.  Clearly it was going to be a big job!  There was still lots of stuff to organize into boxes, and lots of trash to remove.  Both of her roommates left the day before, and Madison agreed to take care of all of the cleaning so they could get home.

Before...

In addition to the cleaning (which was a big job all on its own), we had to move Madison's furniture into storage for next year. She is sharing a storage unit with a friend, and we picked up his stuff for storage too. We worked until midnight Thursday, and woke up at 6am on Friday to start moving the furniture out. We got to the storage place around 7:30 and no one was there! We had to wait until 9am for the attendant to get us into the unit, so we went to breakfast.  After picking up and transporting Johan's stuff to storage, we got to work in the room. We just about used an entire bottle of bleach on that room, and we finished around 2pm - had the walk-thru with the RA  - then went to the barn to say so long to the horses.  After having a late lunch, we drove home and made it by 9pm. 

After

So happy to be home with my girl. She'll only be here for a few days, but I plan on making her favorite things while she is home, so my menu this week will be built around Madison's preferences.

Saturday - Pulled Pork and the Best Coleslaw Ever (For the pulled pork I used the Boston Butt Roast I picked up on sale last week.  I follow the recipe exactly, except have to slow cook it longer for about 8-10 hours until the roast shreds easily)

Sunday - Spaghetti and Meatballs - use this red sauce and your favorite noodles. Serve this with a garden salad

Monday - Meatball subs and french fries (use leftover meatballs and sauce). I use mozzarella cheese on the subs. For the sub rolls I use this bread, but you can purchase sub rolls at the bakery.

Tuesday - Madison is heading back to Savannah on this day, so Don and I will have leftovers Tuesday and Wednesay

Back to normal next week with a full menu and shopping list.  Have a great weekend!!