Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know everyone loves good old fashioned chocolate chip cookies and these are SOOOO good! Another recipe I found off AllRecipes.com when I didn't buy the Nestle's chocolate chips with the recipe printed on the back of the bag. Paired with a nice glass of ice cold milk... it's hard to beat!Ingredients:

2/3 c butter flavored shortening

2/3 c butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla (yes, tablespoon)

3 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix thoroughly the shortening, butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Place on cookie sheet by rounded tablespoon scoops. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until centers are set and very light brown. Cool 2-3 minutes before removing from baking sheet. Enjoy!

Broiled Tilapia with Thai Coconut-Curry Sauce

I had gotten a bag of frozen tilapia fillets one day at the store because they are fairly cheap and I wanted to add more fish into our diets, but I had no idea how to make them tasty. I googled tilapia and found this awsome recipe on MyRecipes.com. It's really easy, especially if you do all the food prep first and just have it waiting to be dumped in the pan. Lots of flavor and a nice meal that's out of the ordinary.

Ingredients:

- 1 tsp dark sesame oil, divided

- 2 tsp minced peeled fresh ginger

- 2 garlic cloves, minced

- 1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

- 1 cup chopped green onions

- 1 tsp curry powder

- 2 tsp red curry paste

- 1/2 tsp ground cumin

- 4 tsp low-sodium soy sauce

- 1 Tbsp brown sugar

- 1/2 tsp salt, divided

- 1 (14 oz) can light coconut milk

- 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

- 4 (6 oz) tilapia fillets

- cooking spray

- 3 cups hot cooked basmati rice

- 4 lime wedges

Preparation:

Preheat broiler.

Heat 1/2 tsp oil in large nonstick skillet over med. heat. Add ginger and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add pepper and onions; cook 1 minute. Stir in curry powder, curry paste, and cumin; cook 1 minute. Add soy sauce, sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and coconut milk; bring to a simmer (do not boil). Remove from heat; stir in cilantro.

Brush fish with 1/2 tsp oil; sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt. Place fish on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Broil 7 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve fish with sauce, rice, and lime wedges.

Cowboy Caviar

This recipe is straight from Dad. I loved it at Christmas but hadn't made it myself until a few weeks ago. Jason and I seriously ate the entire bowl in one sitting, and I have made it about once a week ever since. We took it to our church retreat this past weekend, and it was gone within about 30 minutes. I imagine this would be good on top of a chicken salad (the dressing is amazing), but I never have enough left over to try.

Ingredients:
1 can corn, drained (I use about a cup of frozen corn)
1 can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed (in a pinch, pinto beans or even black beans work)
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (in a pinch, a can of diced tomatoes, drained, works)
2/3 cup green onions
2/3 cup chopped cilantro
2 avocados, chopped (add right before serving)

Dressing:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 t cumin
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1 lime, zested and juiced

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Mix all remaining ingredients in a large bowl, then stir in dressing. Chill and serve with tortilla chips!

Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches

Don't have a picture, but I love this recipe (and it sounds like everyone else does too), so I thought it necessary to include in our cookbook.

INGREDIENTS:
1 (14oz) can beef broth
3 lbs boneless pork ribs
1 (18oz) bottle bbq sauce
sandwich buns

DIRECTIONS:
1. Pour can of beef broth into slow cooker and add boneless pork ribs. Cook on high heat for 4 hrs, or until meat shreds easily. Remove meat, and shred with two forks. It will seem that it's not working right away, but it will.
2. Preheat oven to 350* F. Transfer shredded pork to an oven-safe dish and stir in bbq sauce.
3. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until heated through.
4. Serve on sandwich buns.
ENJOY!!!

Slow-Cooker Pepper Steak

So I got this recipe from allrecipes.com which is one of my favorite recipe websites. I've made it twice and love it. I usually make it for lunch when Chad works that evening, so I usually have it on high for 4 hrs. My recommendations, though, are to let it cook for the full 8 hrs and have it for dinner. The longer it cooks, the more tender the meat (and the more yummy).

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs beef sirloin, cut into 2 in strips

garlic powder to taste

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 cube beef bouillon

1/4 c. hot water

1tbsp cornstarch

1/2 c. chopped onion

2 large green bell peppers, roughtly chopped

1 (14.5 oz) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid

3 tbsp soy sauce

1tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Sprinkle strips of sirloin with garlic powder to taste. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil and brown the seasoned beef strips. Transfer to a slow cooker.

2. Mix bouillon cube with hot water until dissolved, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved. Pour into the slow cooker with meat. Stir in onion, green peppers, stewed tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.

3. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hrs, or on low for 6-8 hrs.

Blackberry Cobbler

My friend Missy P. sent this recipe around after we went blackberry picking a few years ago, so I figured after you all stock up on blackberries at the Farm this summer you will need to try it. Amazing. I've adapted it slightly based on Missy's suggestions--the crust is amazing, so you will want as much of it as you can get.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 cups white sugar, divided
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons cold butter
1/4 cup plus 2 T boiling water
4 cups blackberries
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
1 tablespoon lemon juice

* Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

* In a saucepan, dissolve cornstarch in cold water. Mix in remaining 1 cup sugar (I only used 3/4 cup and it was still pretty sweet), lemon juice, and blackberries. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Pour berries in a 9X9 (or similar) baking dish.

* Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/4 cup boiling water just until mixture is evenly moist.Drop dough into the blackberries by spoonfuls. Place dish on foil lined baking sheet.

* Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven until dough is golden brown.

Indian Spiced Chickpea and Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

So, it's clearly soup season around here! This soup is simple, warm, delicious, and healthy, and (because this is the true test of a great soup) even better the next day. This is straight from Rachael Ray. She says it serves 4 as a first course, but I think that making the whole recipe is easily 4 full meals, if not a bit more. Of course, these days we like to eat it over rice, which makes it go a bit further...

Ingredients:
1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans chickpeas, drained
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
2 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground cardamom
1/2 t turmeric
salt and pepper
2 c chicken of vegetable stock
1 (28-oz) can fire roasted tomatoes*
1 cup plain yogurt
Warm pita, any flavor or variety, toasted

*note about the tomatoes: on the show, Rachael used crushed fire roasted tomatoes, but at my store they only sell diced fire roasted tomatoes (which are actually a new addition to the tomato aisle, thank goodness). I just popped them in the food processor for a couple seconds once I was done with the chickpeas and it comes out splendidly.

1. Heat a medium pot with the extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Grind the chickpeas and onion in food processor. Add to pot and cook 5 minutes to sweeten onion.

3. Season the chickpeas with cumin, cardamom, turmeric, salt and pepper. Stir in stock, then tomatoes.

4. Simmer soup 5-10 minutes to combine flavors. Serve with a dollop of yogurt and warm pita for dipping.