ho-ly COW

STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND MAKE THESE. NOW.
(http://cravingchronicles.com/2011/12/08/fudgy-triple-chocolate-cookies/)
(Except you Britt. I am commanding Chad to make these for you. Congrats by the way!)

On my search for the ultimate double chocolate cookies, I came across these bad boys.

If you need chocolate, make these now. You will not regret it. Unless you are on a diet. Then you might. But oh well. Sometimes you just have to live in the moment.

 Kya wanted one but I wouldn't share.

yum

 (please ignore the mess. we had a small yet very destructive tornado pass through.)

Todays topic is food. I thought I would share this tasty recipe you. Sorry i just threw the stuff in, I really dont know how much I used. Dont let the name decieve you. This is not a good juicy grilled burger. But we liked it-even the animal-shooting-meat-eating-mountain man didnt think it was too bad. So here you go, give it a try:

Black Bean Burgers for Carnivores

1 can black beans, rinsed, drained, and mashed

1/4ish cup chopped onion

a large sprinkling of garlic powder (1-2 tsp-ish?)

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp hot sauce

salt

1 egg

bread crumbs

mix beans, onion, and seasonings (I just threw it all in the food processor, but left it chunky)

Check the seasoning to your taste. Once satisfied, mix in the egg and bread crumbs. add enough bread crumbs that it is thick and sticks together well.

Make the patties fairly thin if your not a bean lover.

Cook on med heat with a little olive oil until a nice crisp forms on the outside.

Put "burger" on a toasted bun. Cook up an over easy egg and put on top of burger. top with cheese of your liking, lettuce and tomato. Ketchup/mustard if you'd like. Basically like a burger.

This makes probably 4 burgers depending on how thin/wide you make them. We had 2 normal size and a mini for the boy and enough mixture for maybe 2 more leftover.
A good, filling sandwich and healthy to boot.

Countdown to Christmas

Our Christmas countdown started out a little differently than the average countdown.

We headed to "the big city" for an archery tournament.

We started our big journey with this beautiful view:

 We then continued on our journey and made it to our destination.

Unfortunatly all of the pictures here were of the back of the husbands head. 

We did manage to squeeze in a little Christmas though- we hopped on the train and headed to Temple Square to see all of the Christmas lights.

Where, as usual, all of my pictures were a blur.

So sister kindly took a family photo for us-the first since....well, probably since the boy was born.

We came home and decorated (and ate) sugar cookies

And of course-we cant forget poor Darth at Christmas time, so this afternoon the boy and I threw together a quick treat for Darth's stocking

If you feel like baking one day but want need to give your own waste-line a break from the cookie madness this time of year, here is the recipe:

Homemade Dog Treats

2 1/2 c whole wheat flour (I used regular all purpose flour)

1/2 c milk

1 tsp garlic powder

1 large egg

2 Tbsp flavoring (bacon grease, chicken/beef stock, tuna juice....whatever. we used chicken)

Mix together dry ingredients, then add the rest. mix well. Will be thick. If its too thick for your liking, add more chicken stock (if thats what you used)

Roll dough on floured surface to about 1/4" thickness and cut into shapes of your liking. We did snowflakes and triangles (I got tired of cutting "cute"cookies for the dog, so finished up with a pizza cutter)

Bake for 30 min. at 350*. Let them sit in the oven while it cools off to make them extra crisp.

Darth taste tested (even though they are for Christmas. We'll assume he'll forget about them by Christmas) and loved them.

little helper elf

Chocolate Peppermint Snowcaps

(adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe)

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

4 Tbsp butter

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

4 oz chocolate (bittersweet or semisweet) melted and cooled

1 Tbsp milk

confectioners sugar

In a medium bowl stir together dry ingredients. In a seperate bowl cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and peppermint. Mix in cooled chocolate. Gradually add in flour mixture, and beat in the milk until just combined. Flatten the dough in to a disk, wrap in plastic and freeze until firm (30-45 min).

Preheat oven to 350*. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll in confectioners sugar (until no chocolate is showing). Bake on parchment lined baking sheets 2 inches apart until cookies spread and crack, 11-14 minutes (will be soft to the touch). Cool on wire racks.

Party

Last week was the Mountain Mans birthday. 

Last week I made cheesecake.

You should try it.

Last week we also hauled top soil.

Lots of top soil.

11 or 12 hours worth of top soil.

The boy thoroughly enjoyed it.

The boy is still thoroughly enjoying it.

He made it into pie.

In his boot.

Dirt and Rogan are best friends.

Some Sort of Cheesecake: 

 Disclaimer: I combined a couple of recipes and came up with this concoction. I in no way take credit for this recipe.

Crust

about 1 cup graham cracker crumbs

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp butter, melted

zest of 1 lemon

Mix crust ingredients and smash into springform pan (just the bottom) (first wrap the outside of the pan in a couple layers of foil)

Bake the crust on 350*until beginning to brown, 10-12 minutes. Lower oven to 325*.

Filling

3 (8oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup milk

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add lemon juice and vanilla. Mix in sugar, flour, and salt; mix well. Add eggs and yolk, beating until just combined. Stir in milk. Pour into crust. Place pan in a larger pan (like a roasting pan, or I used a dutch oven) put an inch or to of water in the pan (don't get it on the cheesecake!). 

This is where it gets tricky. I cooked mine on 375* for about 35 min before I found a website that said NEVER COOK IT THAT HIGH!  so I then turned the oven down to 325 for about 10-15 minutes more. The idea is that when you gently jiggle the pan, the center of the cake will still move, but not be "sloshy" if that makes sense. Another way to check is to put a knife in the center just a little bit and see if it comes out clean.

SO you could try my weird way of making it, or put it on 325* from the beginning and cook it probably 50 min to 1 hour. 

Good luck and good eating.

PS top how you like. The man chose blueberries.

This weeks treat

I make a lot of muffins. I like a good muffin. A long time ago grandma (aka gram) sent me this recipe and I never got around to making it until recently. Boy was that a mistake....they were YUMMY! As usual-no pictures...

Banana Pumpkin Muffins
Cooks.com
INGREDIENTS  
½ C banana puree                                    1 egg
½ C  pumpkin                                1 ¾ C flour
½ C sugar                          2 tsp baking powder
¼ C milk                        1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
¼ C vegetable oil                                 ½ tsp salt
and of course.....I added chocolate chips....
Topping  
½ C packed brown sugar                    ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ C chopped nuts or oats  

Mix banana, pumpkin, sugar, milk, oil and egg until well blended. Combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Spoon into greased muffin tins. Top each with topping. Bake 375* for 15 min or until toothpick comes out clean. (I substitute whole wheat flour for most of my muffins and it usually turns out good [I use Wheat Montana bronze chief-its pretty awesome]. I also sometimes add a little ground flax seed if I want to pretend I'm healthy)

baking with the boy

When I wake up in the morning and its snowing (again), I know its a day that will be spent in the kitchen with the oven on.Tyson started a new job this week and I wanted to bake something  to send with him, but wanted to try to keep it healthy, so , as I do for many healthy recipes, I resorted to sisters blog for chocolate chip oatmeal "cookies". I chose to make them in bar form.

Rogans steps for successful cookies:

mix well, but not too well.

Taste test peanut butter.

Put in oven for recommended time

Wait. This is the hard part.

Taste! (mmmm-ats gud)

Get every last crumb.

Sleep.

must try

I got this recipe out of Taste of Homes Complete Guide to Baking cook book. It was gone before I remembered to take a picture.

Buttermilk Banana Cake
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour (i used all purpose)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk (I never have this, so I used 1/2 Tbsp vinegar and enough milk to make 1/2 cup)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beat 2 minutes. Add bananas and vanilla, beat 2 minutes. Combine dry ingredients, to to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition.

Bake in two greased 9 in round baking pans (I used a 9x13) and bake at 375* for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I frosted it with chocolate buttercream frosting and it was delicious.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
milk

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa, powdered sugar and vanilla. Add a Tbsp of milk. Stir, adding more milk until you have your desired consistency.

I have topped it in the past with a cream cheese frosting and it was also delicious.

Now- GO BAKE!

Delectable Whole Grain Bread

I Have been experimenting with different bread recipes the last couple of months and found one that I am IN LOVE with. It started with this recipe, and a few tweaks here and there and I can't get enough of this bread. Light. Fluffy. Delish.

1 Cup warm water

1 Tbsp milk

2 Tbsp oil

2 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1 Cup oat flour

1 1/2 Cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup ground flax seed

3 Tbsp vital wheat gluten

1 Pinch citric acid (a little goes a long ways)

Sprinkle of ginger

2 tsp instant active dry yeast

I just put the ingredients in that order in my bread machine and let it do the mixing/kneading. Take it out when its done rising (double in size), form into a loaf, let it rise until double again (30ish min).  Bake at 350* for 30-35 minutes. Cover with foil if it starts to get too dark on top (I usually cover for the last 10 min). YUM.

Keep in mind I am at ridiculously high altitude and have no idea how to adjust it for you low altitude people-so good luck with that. But I strongly suggest you try it anyways. Britt-your baby is begging you.

I will be making this without the oat flour and using all whole wheat flour and have all the confidence it will be awesome. Go bake and eat!