Super Thin Chocolate Chip Cookies

My husband loves thin, crispy chocolate chip cookies! Here's a recipe I found that he absolutely loved!

Ingredients:
2 Sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
1tsp Vanilla
1 3/4 Cup Flour
3/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 Cup Chocolate Chips

*I strongly suggest using a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper*
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Cream butter and add sugars.
Beat in eggs and vanilla.
Sift dry ingredients(flour, salt, baking soda) in a separate bowl.
Slowly beat in dry ingredients.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Drop dough 2 inches apart at about 1 1/2 Tbsp per cookie. Cookies will spread out while baking.

Cook 8 minutes or until golden brown. Keep an eye on these because they will burn quickly since they're so thin.

Creamy Chicken, Cheese, Broccoli, Peas and Garlic Casserole

Our friends made us some amazing lasagna last weekend and it got me thinking about how easy casseroles are and why I haven't made one yet. So here's my recipe for a creamy chicken, cheese, broccoli, peas and garlic casserole. The only thing I had an issue with while making this was leaving it in the oven long enough for the sauce to thicken. I was too hungry but hopefully you'll have more willpower than I did. Also, this dish is not low fat but I'm sure you can find a way to cut some corners if you're looking for that type of dish.

Ingredients:
2 Boneless chicken breasts
1/2 Cup frozen peas
2-3 Cups pasta (whole wheat used here)
Fresh broccoli florets
2 Cloves garlic
1 Pint heavy cream
2 Tbsp salted butter
1 Bag of shredded italian blend cheese
1/4 Bag of other favorite sheredded cheese
3/4 Cup grated parmesan cheese
Bread crumbs (Panko used here)
3/4 tsp dry or fresh parsley, italian seasoning and dill
salt & pepper to taste

Salt and pepper chicken and cook throughly in a little bit of olive oil. Dice up chicken and put in large bowl.

Salt water for pasta and bring to a boil, cooking until al dente.

Rinse broccoli and break up into bite-sized pieces.

Mince garlic cloves.

Add broccoli, minced garlic, frozen peas, and 1/2 bag of shredded itailian cheese to the large bowl that the chicken is in.

Sauce:
Bring heavy cream, butter, seasonings, salt and pepper to a simmer. Remember to keep stirring sauce. Turn off heat and add other 1/2 bag of shredded italian cheese to sauce, stirring until melted.

Slowly fold sauce mixture into big bowl of deliciousness until everything is coated.

Butter the sides and bottom of large glass casserole dish. Spread out casserole mixture into casserole dish. Sprinkle your other favorite shredded cheese on top and then sprinkle bread crumbs on top of cheese.

Cover with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Take foil off and broil for a minute or two but make sure to keep a close eye on the casserole while broiling to make sure it doesn't burn. Ta-Dah!

DIY Ticket Stub Shadow Box

I don't know about you but I'm a sucker for nostalgia. I tend to save every ticket stub to events we've attended. I feel like it's a nice way to remember the places we've been and things we've done together. My problem was that they were all kept in an old shoe box and forgotten about until we moved and were forced to look through boxes. I found this idea online but little information on how to actually create one of these. This is my version of this project.

You will need:

Shadow Box (whatever size to accommodate the amount of stubs you have)
Rub-on letters
Large decorative tickets (found in craft stores near scrapbook isles)
Adhesive background of your choosing
Scissors
Something to rub Rub-on letters with

1. Measure adhesive background to match the shadow box backing. Cut to size and stick background to shadow box backing.

2. Take large decorative ticket and rub Rub-on letters one at a time to read "Admit One". Make sure to take your time with the rubbing on step. These letters can be a little tricky if you don't rub each part of the letter hard enough for it to stick to the surface of the ticket. If you mess up, no worries! You'll have plenty of letters and tickets left over to try again.

3. Tape or glue back of decorative ticket to adhesive background. Add your ticket stubs and attach shadow box backing. Ta-da! Now you're the creator and owner of a brand new ticket stub shadow box! No more stubs sitting in old shoe boxes!

Homemade Vegetable Beef (or Chicken) Soup

I love making soup! It's so easy to make and easy to store for later use. Here's my recipe for Vegetable Beef Soup. I hope you find it as tasty as I do!

Ingredients: (Add as many or as little veggies as you like. This is just my version)

2 Ears of corn cut off the cobb (or 1 can of corn)
9 Stalks of celery
4-5 Carrots
1 Cooking or white onion
6 Baby potatoes (red or white)
1 Can black beans (rinsed)
2 Cans diced tomatoes
2 Bay leaves
1Tbsp vegetable oil or olive oil
1 32 oz Vegetable stock
1 32 oz Beef broth (or chicken broth)
1 package of Stew beef (or cubed chicken)
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat oil and add chopped carrots, celery and onion. Cover and let these ingredients soften on medium heat, stirring occasionally to keep from burning. If there's browning in the bottom of the pot, leave it! These will be good for flavor later on.

Once carrots, onion and celery are softened and onions look translucent, remove from pot and set aside in large bowl. Combine the diced potatoes, black beans, and corn into this same bowl.

Keep heat on medium and add tiny more vegetable or olive oil. Add stew beef or cubed chicken and cook until beef is browned or chicken is white. Remove the meat into a separate bowl to cool for later use.

Again, if there are any brown bits in the bottom of the pot leave them for flavor. Keep heat on medium and add veggie mixture into pot along with the 2 cans of diced tomatoes. At this time you will want to add half of the vegetable stock and beef or chicken broth to the pot. If you cannot fit all of the stock at once it's ok. Use the remainder later on to make a second batch of broth. At this time your pot should be pretty full. Remember you still need to add the cooked meat back into the pot after chopping up large pieces.

Add cooked meat to soup mixture and cover. Let the soup come to a boil and then let simmer for half an hour. Salt and pepper soup to taste. If you can find them, remove the bay leaves before dividing soup into containers to refrigerate or freeze.

Summer is a time for grilling and who doesn't love pizza? So why not combine the two? Here's a recipe for an easy grilled pizza topped with ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmigiano reggiano grated cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, pancetta and sun-dried tomato pesto. Super easy and yummy!

Ingredients:
1 Boboli ready made pizza crust
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 jar sun-dried tomato pesto
Ricotta cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
Pancetta
Sun-dried tomato halves or slices
Fresh basil

Rub bottom side of ready made crust with olive oil. Spread as much sun-dried tomato pesto on top of crust. Have fun and get creative adding the rest of your toppings! If you have kids, this is a fun way to make fun memories in the kitchen. Place on grill for about ten minutes checking often to make sure crust doesn't burn. When it looks done to your liking, remove from grill, cool, cut and serve.

Looking for an easy, fresh, delicious salad for the summer? Here's a recipe that'll be sure to make your taste buds go crazy.

Ingredients:
2 cucumbers
1 tomato
1 small/medium red onion
1/2 cup white vinegar
4 tsp sugar
Add as much dill as you'd like for taste. Dry or fresh both work.

Slice cucumbers fairly thin, slice onions thin, and rough chop tomato. Mix vinegar and sugar together and pour onto vegetables. Add dill and salt/pepper to taste. (I added some capers to add a little extra taste and texture but that's completely up to you) Toss together and voilà! Easy, delicious, fresh summer salad.

Today I found a couple different chicken enchilada recipes and decided to combine two of them. My husband and my mom were my guinea pigs and both of them didn't leave a trace of food behind. And my husband tends to eat at a much slower pace than a few people we know but he was the first one finished. That was my "oh yeah! I did good!" moment. I paired the enchilada with some stovetop Spanish Rice and some homemade salsa.

Ingredients:
2 boneless chicken breasts
32 oz chicken broth
3 Tbsp butter
1 small onion (red or cooking) chopped rough
1/4 Cup flour
4 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 can diced tomatoes (I used a 14.5oz can with garlic & onion)
1 can enchilada sauce (I used a 10oz mild sauce)
1 bag of shredded Mexican blend cheese
1 package of tortillas (size selection is completely up to you)

Boil chicken breasts in chicken broth, leaving at least a cup of chicken broth reserved for the sauce mixture. Drain chicken and with forks in separate bowl.

In a saucepan melt a Tbsp of butter and add onions, only softening them. Add onions to shredded chicken.

Sauce: You'll be making a rue but not to worry! It's a lot less scary than you think.
Melt 2 Tbsp butter and on low heat slowly start to sprinkle in flour little by little mixing it with the butter. It should resemble a paste. Gradually stir in a cup of reserved chicken broth making sure to stir out any lumps. Add chili powder and cumin to sauce mixture. Turn heat up a little and make sure to continue to stir sauce until it looks thick.

Stir in half of sauce mixture to chicken/onion and save the other half for bottom of casserol dish. At this time you'll also want to add half of each can of diced tomatoes and enchilada sauce. You can also add some shredded cheese to chicken mixture but be sure to save enough for the top of the enchiladas.

Tortillas: Heat oil in pan and fry each side for about 10-15 seconds. Seperate each tortilla between papertowel layer to absorb excess oil.

Spread remaining sauce mixture on bottom of casserol dish.

One at a time, sprinkle small layer of cheese in middle of tortilla and add chicken mixture. Roll-up and lay in casserol dish with the "seam side" down. Once all tortillas are rolled up, top with remaining enchilada sauce and diced tomatoes. Top with the rest of the cheese, cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove foil and place back in oven, setting it to broil. Keep an eye on it. The cheese will bubble up pretty quickly. Garnish with fresh cilantro.