Oh Nuts

I don't remember what website I originally found this recipe on, but I wanted to share it here. So far, I have only made this recipe once, but it is very easy to make. The cookies are amazing, and I haven't made more yet.  Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash Italian Christmas Cookies YIELDS: 30 | PREP TIME: 10 mins | TOTAL TIME: 45 mins FOR THE COOKIES 2 c. all-purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1/4 c. (1/2 stick) butter, softened 1 c. granulated sugar 8 oz. ricotta 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. almond extract (optional) 1 egg FOR THE ICING 1 c. powdered sugar 2 tbsp. whole milk 1/4 tsp. almond extract (optional) Sprinkles Directions Step 1: Adjust an oven rack to center position and preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Step 2: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Step 3: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, c...

This recipe from Taste of Home is something that my family and I have been making for quite a few years now. And it is an easy recipe to double as well as bring to potlucks. My family also makes this recipe sometimes with beef instead of turkey and it is easy to do. We also leave out the celery seed and you can use any type of hamburger bun that you want. Ingredients 1 pound lean ground turkey 1/4 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup no-salt-added ketchup 3 tablespoons barbecue sauce 1 tablespoon white vinegar 1 tablespoon prepared mustard 1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon celery seed 1/4 teaspoon pepper 6 whole-wheat hamburger buns, split Directions In a large skillet, cook and crumble turkey with onion over medium heat until no longer pink, 5-7 minutes. Stir in all remaining ingredients except buns; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve on buns. Nutrition Facts 1 sandwich: 259 calories, 9g fat (2g saturated fat...

This is a recipe that a family friend found in the Fix-It and Forget-It cookbook a while bag and shared with my family. It is delicious and is a family favorite. And it is such an easy recipe to do that you can make it in the morning or around lunchtime and it will be ready when you sit down at the table for dinner. Photo by  Steve Tsang  on  Unsplash Taco Soup 2 pounds ground beef, browned 1 small onion, chopped and sauteed in ground beef drippings 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 1/2 packages dry taco seasoning (my family makes our own seasoning mix) 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning 1 tablespoon dried minced onion 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1-quart water 15 oz. can black beans 16 oz. can tomato sauce 16. oz. diced tomatoes Combine all of the ingredients in a 5-quart or larger crockpot. Cover and cook for 1 hour on high and reduce to low for 3-4 ...

For several years now during the season of Lent my family and I have done a specific meal on the same night of the week. On Thursdays this year the meal someone makes each week for dinner is called Melt In Your Mouth Chicken Breast* and it is delicious. We have baked potatoes and veggies with it as well. Because we enjoy this meal so much and since it is so easy to make I thought I would share it here. Photo by  Jonathan Melendez Melt In Your Mouth Chicken Breast Ingredients: 4 boneless chicken breasts, halves 1 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated (we use pre-grated) 1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt 1/2 tsp black pepper, ground 1 tsp garlic powder Directions: Mix mayonnaise, cheese, and seasonings. Spread mixture over chicken breast and place in baking dish Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes. If you don't like mayonnaise a simple trade-off is simply sprinkling salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and garlic powder over...

I don't really know where this recipe originally came from, but it is in our house and it tastes good and is easy to make. So here is the recipe for easy crock pot mac and cheese. Ingredients: 3 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese 2 1/2 cups Milk 12 oz. Evaporated Milk 8 oz. Cream Cheese 16 oz. Elbow Macaroni Directions: Put all ingredients, except for macaroni, into the crock pot. Leave on low for an hour. After 1 hour, stir the sauce in crock pot. After the sauce has been "crock potting" for about 45 minutes, make macaroni & drain. Add cooked macaroni to sauce after it has been drained. Add any extras you like. (Ham, bacon, etc.) Cook on low for another 45 minutes. Feeds approximately 6-8. Tip: you do not have to add all evaporated milk or cream cheese if you do not like it very cheesy.

Last week during one of my many Pinterest scroll and pinning sprees I found a delicious sounding recipe for Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins. So I printed out the recipe and thought that I wouldn't be able to make them last week. But I ended up having Thursday off of work unexpectedly so I decided to make the muffins. Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins Recipe: 1 egg (room temperature) 1 tbsp. coconut oil (melted) 1 cup milk (I used almond) ½ cup honey 1 cup flour* 1 cup rolled oats ½ tsp salt ½ tbsp. baking powder 2 tsps. cinnamon Recipe Directions:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl add egg, honey, and melted oil. Stir until the ingredients are combined and slowly stir in milk. Add the oats to the mixture and let it rest for 1-2 minutes. Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl and add to the mixture. Mix until dry ingredients are blended in well. Place cupcake liners in a muffin tin and add 1-2 heaping tablespoons of batter to each liner. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or unt...

Since I didn't really eat much for lunch today I was starving around 3:30-4:00 and that resulted in me creating a new smoothie! My original idea was to do a Blueberry Strawberry Banana Peanut Butter smoothie. But my mom said that she didn't think the peanut butter and blueberries would go together, so I switched ideas.While I personally think that the smoothie could be a little bit less think, it was still pretty good. So without further ado here is the recipe that I created for the Cherry Banana Oatmeal Smoothie. Ingredients: 1/2 cup Oatmeal  1 Banana 1 cup chopped cherries  (I used frozen tart cherries for this) 1 1/2 cups milk* Splash of Vanilla If you don't like a lot of grittiness you can grind up oatmeal in the blender first before adding the other ingredients. Put everything in the blender.  Since I used tart baking cherries I added a pinch of sugar to my smoothie so that it wouldn't be to tart from the cherries.  *Almond...

--- 1 --- Last week on Saturday four out of six siblings had rehearsal all day for their upcoming Christmas play "The Conversion of Scrooge,"and Aaliyah was helping out at a food pantry in the morning. So it was just me, my mom and Amanda at home, so we decided to stop over at Hobby Lobby to do some shopping. --- 2 --- Even though I usually don't like to start my Christmas shopping until after Thanksgiving I found some crafts to add to presents. For the three kids that I nanny I got them each an ornament that you could color, though I already did that. For the oldest girl that I nanny as part of her Christmas present from me I got a canvas bag and decorated it. But now that Thanksgiving is over I can start looking for the rest of the presents that I need. --- 3 --- At the end of August we started doing a clean eating plan thing and one of the smoothie recipes that you get with it is a peanut butter smoothie and I really like it so I decided to share it here ...

Since I couldn't think of anything else to write about I decided to share a dinner recipe with all of you that my and I enjoy. The recipe is "Easy Chicken Enchiladas" from the 2004 edition of The Best of Country Cooking . 3 cups (12 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese 2 cups chopped cooked chicken 1 1/2 cups sour cream 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion  1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/8 teaspoon salt 10 flour tortillas In a large bowl, combine 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, chicken, sour cream, soup, chilies, onion, pepper and salt. Spoon about 1/2 cup off center on each tortilla; roll up. Place seam side down on a greased 13-in x 9-in backing dish.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let sta...

--- 1 --- On Saturday TJ had another soccer game. The weather was in the upper 60's and lower 70's all day which was nice and there was a breeze as well, it was a nice difference from the 80/90 degree weather that we'd had for his game the week before. TJ got a goal, though I didn't get a picture of it, even though I had my camera with me. Since one set of grandparents came to his game we went out to Stake N' Shake for lunch after that game. --- 2 --- Even though TJ isn't in the picture below I had to share it because of how it turned out. For the photography class I'm taking we have to practice using our cameras in manual. Which I did for this photo and I used the lens of Amanda's clop on sunglasses over the camera lens and this is what happened. I like how there is still color in it as well as a speia like tone. --- 3 --- This week the weather has stayed pretty much in the 70's, with three days in the lower 80's! It has been a ...

Here is this week's Monday Meal as I just started calling these :) Even though the recipe calls for Turkey we have used beef as well :) This recipe has been used by my family for a while and it is a very easy meal to make if you need something easy to make for dinner :) 2 pounds ground turkey breast (or beef) 1/4 cup chopped onion 1 cup ketchup 6 tablespoons barbecue sauce 2 tablespoons mustard 2 tablespoons vinegar 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1/4 teaspoon pepper In a nonstick skillet, cook the turkey(beef) and onion for 5 minutes or until turkey(or beef) is no longer pink. Add the next 7 ingredients; simmer for 10 minutes, sitting occasionally. Serve on buns. Since I come from a large family we always double the amounts so I am going to include the doubled amounts for you. For three pounds of meat: 3 pounds turkey/beef 1 1/2 cups ketchup 9 tablespoons barbecue sauce (1/2 cup + 1 tbl) 3 tablespoons mustard (1/4 cup) 3 tablespoons vinegar (1/4 cup) 2 ...

--- 1 --- On the 9th I started the photography class that I mentioned before. It felt a bit overwhelming but I think I'll manage it :) The book we are using for the class is "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson (the 3rd edition). Each week we go through a different section/chapter of the book. This week was "Defining Exposure." I will try to keep you up dated each week :) --- 2 --- This is what the weather where I live has been like all week. Though I am glad that it got cooler today :) --- 3 --- Just recently two friends of ours came out with a cook book. Here is the name of the book: "The Twins' Guide to Gluten-Free Baking: 25 Quick and Easy Recipes for Busy Bakers"   [Kindle Edition] . If you are interested in getting it you can follow this link . You can also read the reviews that people have written about it :) They are also on Facebook so you can look them up at "The Twins' Guide" and like their page ...

Last week Amanda found this muffin recipe on the Brown Eyed Backer and decided to make them and they were amazing so I decided to share the recipe here with you :) this is from the website ALLSPICE CRUMB MUFFINS yield:   Makes 12 muffins   prep time:   20 minutes   cook time:   20 minutes   total time:   40 minutes INGREDIENTS: For the Streusel : ½ cup all-purpose flour ½ cup light brown sugar ½ teaspoon ground allspice 5 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits For the Muffins : 2 cups all-purpose flour ½ cup granulated sugar 1 Tablespoon baking powder ½ teaspoon ground allspice ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ cup light brown sugar 1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 2 large  eggs ¾ cup whole milk ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract DIRECTIONS: 1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 375  degrees  F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or line with paper cups. Pl...

On the 14th we celebrated my grandma's birthday and for dessert Amanda made a recipe that I had found a while ago on Pinterest. It is Chocolate Lasagna and it is delicious. I had first found the recipe when I was looking for dessert recipes to make for the monthly make a dessert for our grandparents, though my mom said no to it for that I pinned it for a rainy day. Though it wasn't a rainy day when we had it. Here is the recipe! The recipe is originally from here . Prep:  20mn Total:  1hr 20mn Cook:  N/A INGREDIENTS 1 package regular Oreo cookies (Not Double Stuff) – about 36 cookies 6 Tablespoon butter, melted 1- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup granulated sugar 2 Tablespoons cold milk 1- 12 ounce tub Cool Whip, divided 2 – 3.9 ounce packages Chocolate Instant Pudding. 3 1/4 cups cold milk 1 and 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips DIRECTIONS Begin by crushing 36 Oreo cookies. I used my food processor for this, but you could also place t...