Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Thanks to Annemarie (Taste Buds) for this festive cookie idea :-). The girls and I made up some little plates for the librarians at our library last night and they turned out so cute. I'm not a baker, so the fact that they turned out presentable was definitely a success :-)!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter; room temp
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg; room temp
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Hershey Kisses

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and peanut butter. Mix in both sugars, vanilla and egg. Combine dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add to peanut butter mixture & mix just until combined. Roll dough into 1" balls, roll in granulated sugar and place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 min. Remove from oven and immediately press Hershey Kiss into center of cookie (I put mine in the fridge while the cookies are baking).

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

I took the beginnings of this recipe from one I found on All Recipes and went from there. My pumpkin seeds always tend to get overdone. I only had them in about 40 minutes and some of them were still a little burned. I put them on a baking sheet though I just realized so maybe that was the problem. The flavors in this are great - just watch them closely while they bake!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned sale
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds
(optional: 1/4 t. chili powder)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
-Combine the butter, salts, garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce and pumpkin seeds. Mix thoroughly and place in shallow baking dish.
-Bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Cheesy Baked Mexi Rigatoni

This is the first recipe I have tried from Picky Palate and it was pretty good. The more I ate, the more I liked it. Ella and Addie both LOVED it and wanted more (although while Ella didn't eat the tomatoes, Addie picked them out to eat first). We used ground turkey instead of beef and I didn't have any chilies, but we'll definitely make it again! (oh, and I made a half recipe of it and it was plenty for the 4 of us)

Ingredients:
1 lb dry Rigatoni pasta or any other pasta of choice (we used our Gluten Free Penne)
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 Anaheim green chili’s finely chopped
1 lb lean ground beef
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon Lawry’s garlic salt
1 can cheddar cheese soup
½ Cup milk or half and half
1 Cup sour cream
2 15 oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
Heaping ½ Cup fresh chopped cilantro leaves (add more if you love cilantro)
2 Cups Mexican blend shredded cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook pasta according to package directions, making sure it’s not overcooked. Drain and set aside.
2. Place olive oil into a large skillet or pan over medium heat. Saute onions and chilies until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in beef, salt, pepper and garlic salt; cook and crumble until browned. Stir in soup, milk, sour cream and tomatoes. Stir until well combined. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cilantro and cooked pasta.
3. Pour mixture into a large 9 x 13 inch baking dish or individual size baking dishes of choice, see my link above. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 20-25 minutes. (I broiled mine a minute or two at the end)

Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya

Sorry for the lack of posts this week - I haven't felt like cooking much. But today Mckell made this for us for lunch and it was DELICIOUS!!!!

Ingredients:
2 cans Trappey's black-eyed peas with Jalapenos (undrained)
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
1 med. onion, chopped
1 can beef broth
1/2 c. butter (we put in 1/4 c.)
1 lb. smoked sausage, cut in pieces
Chopped garlic, salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Fry sausage pieces. When almost done, saute onion & garlic.
Combine the black eye peas, rice, onions, beef broth, butter, and sausage in electric rice cooker. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
Cook according to the instructions on the rice cooker.
Gently stir once when cooker reaches the warm mode.

Gluten Free Pad Thai

This was one of the first recipes I tried when I found the Kill the Gluten blog. It gets better each time we make it I think. I added my alterations in italics.

Ingredients:
1 box Original Pad Thai
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced thin
we use 1 can chicken and season with 1/2 t. each pepper, garlic salt, onion salt and 1 t. curry
3 Tbsp oil, divided
I use 1/2 sesame oil, 1/2 canola or veggie oil
1 egg, scrambled (we like 2)
2 green onions, sliced
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1 lime...optional (I forgot tonight and it still tasted great)
2 Tbsp peanuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 c. shredded carrots
Directions:
- Boil 4 cups water. Add the noodles and remove from heat. Let the noodles soak for about 5-8 minutes, then drain and run under cold water.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp oil. Add egg(s) and cook until done. Remove the egg and set aside.
- Add the other 2 Tbsp oil and heat. Add the chicken (and carrots) to the skillet, cooking until just done, about 3-5 minutes. Add the noodles and the sauce packet. Stir fry for a few minutes, or until the noodles are done, adding water if necessary to keep them from sticking to the skillet.
- Add the egg, green onions, cilantro, and squeeze the juice from the lime over the top. Stir for 1 minute and remove from heat.
- Garnish with peanuts. (and some soy sauce if desired)