C is for Cookie

Sadly, no one will take me up on my offer to cook them dinner. They say they'd rather wait until I have a few more successful meals under my belt. Actually that's the nicest thing "they" said, but I guess I can't blame them. 20 years of bad cooking can't get fixed in just two crock pot meals. I gave my crockpot the night off.  I have enough leftovers to last a few nights and no one here to eat them except me.  I thought tonight maybe I'd try one of the dessert recipes I got instead.

This one came from one of my favorite people in the whole world, Selena. (I sure wish I could cook like her mom!) Selena sent me this recipe for Fudge Crinkle Cookies. Those are possibly my favorite cookies, but I usually only get them at Christmas. I probably should have left them in the oven a minute or two longer but they were super yummy and so easy to make. Here's the recipe.

Fudge Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients:
1 box of Devil's Food cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup powdered sugar 

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together the dry cake mix, oil and eggs in a large bowl. Shape dough into 1" balls and roll the balls in confectioners' sugar.  Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until center is just set. Cool on wire racks.

The pictures are not great but the cookies were and "THEY" aren't going to get any. HA! "They" refers to my mother, my aunt and my sister. One day they'll be sorry that they made fun of my cooking. 

Orange is the New Beige Update

Orange really is the new beige! I am 2 for 2!  How is that even possible?  Believe me, no one is more shocked than I am, but dang...that chicken was really good!  Of course, just my luck...Kayla isn't here so there is no one to back me up. I guess you're just going to have to take my word for it. Or, better yet, check out the picture on the right. I NEVER eat my own cooking so if that isn't proof then I don't know what is.

There are a few minor tweaks I'd make to the recipe. Three hours was almost too long to cook the chicken. It was borderline dry. Also I would put in less marmalade and more soy sauce. It was a tad bit too sweet.

All in all I think this was a pretty good dish, but of course it still has to stand up to the 24 hour test before I can fully consider it a success. 

(The 24 hour test: If no one poops, pukes or dies then the meal was a winner!)

*24 HOUR UPDATE: It's all good!

Kayla came home and had some left over chicken. She agreed it was good! : ) 

  

Crock Pot Chronicles #7- Orange is the New Beige

I couldn't wait to get home from work today to start cooking. WOW! Never thought I'd say that! On the menu tonight is orange chicken cooked in what else...the crock pot.

4-5 Boneless Chicken Breasts - Thawed
3/4 cup Orange Marmalade
3/4 cup of BBQ sauce
2 tbsp. Soy Sauce

Directions

Cook the Chicken in the crock pot for 3 hours - covered
Drain the Juice from the Crock Pot
Mix the BBQ sauce, Orange Marmalade, and Soy Sauce
Pour Mix over chicken, cover and cook on high for an additional 30 minutes.

LET'S DO THIS THING

Crock Pot Chronicles #6 UPDATE

I got impatient waiting for the soup to finish. In fact, I probably checked on it every ten minutes. Something just wasn't right. It was too...soupy. Ok...I know it's soup so it's supposed to be soupy, but I like my potato soup a little thicker/creamier. At one point I seriously considered dumping the whole thing down the drain.

In a last ditch effort to save what was looking to be another culinary failure...I began to add my own ingredients.  Usually when I start experimenting (instead of just sticking to the recipe) is when things start to go wrong. But...it was either that or take a dump (the soup not me). First I diced up some onion and threw that in. Then I added some more pepper and a little salt. And then I hit it with the big gun...CHEESE! I love cheese and everything tastes better with cheese right?
Drumroll please......

IT WORKED!  IT ACTUALLY WORKED! The soup wouldn't win any awards at the county fair, but it was edible and really pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

Here is a picture of the finished product. Kayla got home right as the soup was finishing up and ate a big bowl of it. I think she was pleasantly surprised!

So after what I consider a pretty big win....what's on the menu for tonight?
Well I found a recipe online for crockpot orange chicken......stay tuned!

Crock Pot Chronicles Episode #6: No Soup For You!

Saw this picture on the internet.  Looks yummy right? So I decided to haul out the old crockpot and make me some soup! The recipe looks rather easy....I mean it even says Easy in the name!!!

Ingredients: 

1 30oz. bag of frozen diced hash browns

1 32 oz box of chicken broth

1 can of cream of chicken soup (10 oz)

1 pkg. cream cheese (8 oz, not fat free)
 3 oz bacon bits 

                                                          1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 

                                                       salt and pepper to taste 

I posted this pic on instagram with the caption "Yep, this is happening!"
Anna commented.."I feel bad for Kayla".  (Bet she's thanking her lucky stars she's away at college!)
Kayla commented...."Oh no!" with a crying face!  (She'll be home from Cali about the same time the soup is done!)

It takes about 7 -8 hours to cook.  It's been about 3 hours now and it's not looking so hot....I've got a very bad feeling about this! I guess we will know in another 4 hours!  Fingers crossed!

Pie Auction

The youth are having a pie action at church this weekend to raise money for camp. The girls told me that they will be at a serious disadvantage if anyone thinks I made their pie. Sad, but true. So they kicked me out of the kitchen while they worked on their pies. Take me out of the equation and these things should be yummy!

Beating the Odds

Once upon a time I made a dinner that was good. (I know right?) The girls had a friend over that night and she said....and I quote...."Anna that was awesome! I want your mom to make dinner for me every night!" Needless to say the rest of us began laughing hysterically! Oh Trinity! You must be new here! Two weeks later that same friend just happened to stop by unannounced on enchilada night. (It was also the first time I had cooked since the last time she was there.) What are the odds that she would get not just 1, but 2 good dinners at my house? The girls told her that she needed to stop by more often because those were the only nights dinner didn't suck. I don't think she got the full magnitude of my incompetency in the kitchen until we showed her this blog and explained my "track record" in the culinary world! She hasn't stopped by since. Weird. Maybe she's afraid her luck will run out.