Ranger Cookies

Is there anything better than a hot cookie? How about a hot cookie with milk!? YUM!!! These are probably some of my all time favorite cookies. The combination of all of the different flavors and textures gives this cookie an amazing taste personality. My brothers probably had 5-10 each. And that is just as they came out of the oven. LOL! Ironically, I originally tasted this recipe because I was aiding some kids at West Jordan High School in a Foods I class. Guess I got something out of high school!

RANGER COOKIES
From King Arthur Flour

1 cup (6 1/4 ounces) vegetable shortening or butter
1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) brown sugar, firmly packed, light or dark
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) All-Purpose Flour (I used wheat)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup (2 1/2 ounces) shredded coconut
1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips (I did half chocolate chips and half peanut butter chips)
3 cups (2 3/8 ounces) crispy rice cereal or cornflakes (We only had Wheat Chex but it still worked great!)

Beat together the shortening and sugars, vanilla and salt until fluffy; add the eggs and beat until smooth.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda; add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture and beat until well blended. Stir in the oats, coconut, chips and cereal, mixing just until blended.

Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased or parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake the cookies in a preheated 350°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Yield: 60 (2- to 2 1/2- inch) cookies.

Baked Spaghetti

We have TONS of spaghetti recipes at our house. Honestly, I think I may have at least a dozen. And we have tried them all! And while they were all great and delicious in their own way... I must say that I think this one is my favorite. It comes together really quickly and simply and I made it early in the day and put it in the refrigerator for later and it was phenomenal! I was concerned that the original recipe would be too flavorless for our tastes so I added a spaghetti packet to my sauce, and I'm really glad that I did. My husband loved this recipe so much, he says it rivals his favorite spaghetti found here. When Jake asked me what we were having for dinner I told him, "Imagine if spaghetti and lasagna had a baby..." That is this dish! Spaghetti noodles in a lasagna sauce... YUM!

BAKED SPAGHETTI

2 Tbsp. butter
1 lb. ground beef
¼ c. onion
¼ tsp. basil
½ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 pkg spaghetti sauce mix
15 ounce can tomato sauce (I used two 8 oz. cans)
1 c. cottage cheese (I used fat free)
16 ounces spaghetti noodles
Cheddar cheese

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Sauté together in a pan the butter, ground beef and onion; drain. Mix in basil, salt, garlic powder, spaghetti sauce mix if you are using it and tomato sauce. Take off heat and add cottage cheese. Add noodles. Put all ingredients in a 9x13 pan. Top with cheddar cheese and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Navajo Fried Bread aka SCONES

What is better on a cold day than a hot scone with jam or honey butter? If you can think of anything that is TRULY better I would be shocked. Talk about major comfort food! And the best part? They are SOOOO easy to make! These are an excellent compliment to any meal. The picture is courtesy of Tangerine's Kitchen and can be found here.

NAVAJO FRIED BREAD

4 c. flour (white or wheat)
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ c. warm water
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. shortening (or oil)

Mix ingredients together. Knead until dough is soft and elastic and does not stick to bowl (if necessary, add a little more warm water). Shape dough into balls the size of a small peach. Pat back and forth by hand until dough is about ¼ or ½ inch thick and round. Melt 2 c. shortening or oil in heavy frying pan. Carefully put the rounds into hot oil, one at a time. Brown lightly on both sides. Be careful not to pike into round or it will be greasy. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm with jam and jelly.

Wheat Pancakes with Homemade Strawberry Jam

Wheat Pancakes are a staple at my parent's house. My mom never uses white flour - just wheat. It is so satisfying and filling. If you have the opportunity to make wheat pancakes you SHOULD. You will feel better and be more full! These pancakes are moist and tender and just melt in your mouth. They are so fabulous hot off the griddle - you don't even need butter! Plus, jam on pancakes is SOOOO much better than syrup! This homemade jam is fantastic - I could eat it plain! (and I probably have on more than one occasion. :-))

WHEAT PANCAKES

1 c. whole wheat kernels
1 ½ c. milk
1 egg
½ c. oil
2 tsp. sugar (opt.) (or you can use honey if you want to be even more healthy)
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking powder

Put wheat in blender. Add 1 c. milk and blend at high speed for 3 minutes. Add another ½ c. milk and blend a minute or two longer. Add other ingredients. Blend until smooth. Cook on griddle.

HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY JAM

5 ½ c. strawberries, blended
2 c. sugar
3 heaping Tbsp. clear gel
½ c. light corn syrup

Mix clear gel with sugar. Whisk into blended strawberries while slowly adding sugar. Add karo and mix well. Refrigerate or freeze in storage containers.

Caramel Apple Cider

We love flavorful beverages at our house and when I saw this recipe on the wonderful site http://jandeecrafts.blogspot.com/ I knew that we had to try it! Unfortunately, I don't think ours turned out the way that it was supposed to. It was REALLY strong, literally like we were DRINKING carameled apples. But I believe it has the potential to be a lot better. Just be really careful. Don't make your initial apple cider too strong. I know it is tempting, but the caramel/sweetened milk will add a LOT of sweetness. And add the caramel mixture slowly, tasting it occasionally, so that you get it just right. I was making a big batch and everyone was in sugar shock for the rest of the night. Lol!

CARAMEL APPLE CIDER

11-14 oz. caramel squares or bits
1 small can sweetened condensed milk
Apple cider packets

Place all of the caramel in a microwaveable bowl with the sweetened condensed milk. Stir. Place in microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Continue this process until caramel is completely melted and mix thoroughly. Make up apple cider packets as indicated on package. Stir in 2-3 Tbsp of caramel mix into hot apple cider. Serve!

Vanilla Coconut Crunch

This is a wonderful way to spruce up vanilla ice cream. Not that there is anything wrong with plain vanilla ice cream but this takes it from plain to a fancy dessert! Super easy, super delicious, with a satisfying crunch!

VANILLA COCONUT CRUNCH

Vanilla Ice Cream
Plain cereal - corn flakes, chex, kix, whatever you have on hand - crushed
Coconut flakes
Cinnamon
Sugar
Chocolate or caramel sauce

This is really a personal preference thing - put as much as you want of each thing! Mix together crushed cereal, coconut flakes, cinnamon and sugar in a shallow bowl or on a plate. Roll vanilla ice cream into tennis sized ball and roll in mixture. Top with chocolate or caramel sauce.

Classic Repeat: Buffalo Chicken Wing Soup

It has been long enough since I posted this that I needed to share it again, especially since the weather is so wonderfully cooling down. This smooth soup with just a bit of kickback is exactly what one needs to make these cold days even better. We love this soup and it is so easy and quick to make with such basic ingredients! The picture is courtesy of Allrecipes.com. My original post for this soup can be found here.

Taco Pasta Salad

Taco salad is one of my favorite go-to recipes. It is so quick, easy, and delicious. When I found this recipe on Sadie's Kitchen Adventures I knew that we had to try it! I am really happy to report that it turned out delicious. I love the addition of that pasta as I felt it gave the dish more substance so it was more filling. Still very easy too! The picture is courtesy of this site here.

TACO PASTA SALAD
From Sadie’s Kitchen Adventures

2 cups uncooked spiral pasta (I used Garden Rotini-YUM!)
1 pound lean ground beef
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground oregano
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced

OPTIONAL: (The bolded/italicized ones are the ones I used)
3 cups shredded lettuce
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup Ranch salad dressing
2 cups shredded cheese
1 avacodo, chopped
1 cup corn
1 cup sliced olives
Tortilla Chips

Cook pasta according to package directions. (If you are using corn you can just throw in frozen corn in the pot with the pasta towards the end - that way you don't have to dirty 2 pans.) Meanwhile, cook beef, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, and chili powder in a skillet over medium heat. Let cool.

Drain pasta and rinse with cold water, stir into the meat mixture. Add any of the optional ingredients you want. Toss to coat. Serve with tortilla chips.

Deep-Dish Taco Pizza

We love Mexican food around here (surprise, surprise...) and this one was a huge hit! Pretty versatile too. I added some things to add more substance and I am really glad that I did. It made the Pizza almost impossible to eat without a fork but I felt like it made it more filling and "better" for you. This definitely isn't the most healthy meal you will encounter, but it was such a big hit with everyone. We were watching our niece, Serenthia, and she ate almost an entire piece by herself (12 months old)! Abrielle couldn't get enough of it either and Jake was raving about it. Try this one. You will really like it! The recipe below is my modified recipe. If you would like to see the original please visit the wonderful site http://threeonfood.blogspot.com/.

DEEP-DISH TACO PIZZA
From Three on Food

1 lb. hamburger meat
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 (15 oz.) cans Rotel, drained
1 pkg. Taco seasoning
1 cup frozen corn, rinsed
1 can medium olives, sliced
2 (10 oz.) cans refrigerated pizza crust dough (for a thinner crust use just 1)
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar (We used 1/2 cup cheddar and 1 1/2 cups Monterey Jack because that is what we had!)
Salsa (optional)
sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°. Cook beef and onion in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until beef is browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well, and return beef mixture to pan. Stir in rotel, corn and taco seasoning; cook over medium-high heat 1 minute or until thoroughly heated; set aside. Unroll pizza crust dough. Press into bottom and halfway up sides of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon beef mixture over pizza crust dough and top with olives. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes. Top with cheese, and bake 5 minutes or until cheese melts and edges of crust are browned. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing. Serve warm. Top with salsa and sour cream, if desired.