Mexican Pizza

With all the snow, freezing temperatures and early dark hours I haven't been wanting to go out for dinner, not even drive-through!  Instead I am busying myself in the kitchen re-creating whatever dish it is I would order if at a restaurant. A family favorite for us is Taco Bell and I really like Taco Bell's Mexican Pizzas.  These were not hard to make, probably 10 minutes more to prepare than regular tacos and only need to bake 8-12 minutes.  We loved them!

Mexican Pizzas (Taco Bell Copycat Recipe)  Source: Adapted from: Food.com 

Ingredients:

1 lb hamburger

1 package taco seasoning

12 flour tortillas

1 16 oz. can refried beans

1/2 C diced tomato

2/3 C mild picante sauce (Taco Bell sells their own brand or use your favorite)

1 C shredded monterey jack cheese

1 C shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 C chopped green onion

1/4 C sliced black olives

Cooking spray

*Lettuce & sour cream optional additional topping after baking 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Cook the hambruger and drain. Then add the taco seasoning.

3. While the hamburger is cooking spray both sides of tortilla shells with cooking spray.  Place sprayed shells on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven until golden and crispy. I was able to fit 4 shells on a cookie sheet and put 2 sets of sheets in the oven at a time.  If you notice any bubbles forming on the tortilla shell, pop them so that the shells will lay flat for the pizza toppings.

4. Stack your pizza by first spreading beans on one tortilla.

5. Next add taco meat on top of the bean layer, then the second tortilla.

6. Top the second tortilla with 2 T of picante sauce and spread it around as evenly as you can.

7. Add tomato, followed by cheese, then the green onions and olives. 

8. Bake for 8-12 minutes.

This recipe linked to: Countdown to 2011: Main Dishes at Finding Joy in My Kitchen

Hot Chocolate Cookies

Last weekend during my baking blitz I made these Hot Chocolate Cookies.  Lincoln and Carson LOVED the fact the they had marshmallows on top.  I loved that they had THREE cups of chocolate chips in them!  Not only did they have marshmallows and three cups of chocolate chips but they have FOUR packets of hot cocoa in them! How wonderful is that?  I first saw these cookies at See Jane Cook earlier in December and then again just yesterday at Your Homebased Mom.  These cookies are deserving of the blog time they are getting!

The hot cocoa flavor is actually fairly mild so the marshmallows and chocolate chips get to shine without being overwhelming chocolate or too sweet.  Go make these!

Hot Chocolate Cookies  Source: See Jane Cook

Ingredients:

2 sticks softened butter
1 C sugar

2/3 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/4 C flour
4 packets hot chocolate mix
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 C White Chocolate Chips,

1 C Milk Chocolate Chips

1 C Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
Mini marshmallows

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Cream butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, hot chocolate mix, salt and baking soda.

4. Add to wet ingredients until well combined. Fold in chips.

5. Chill the dough for about an hour or a little less.

6. Scoop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. (I used my regular non-stick pans without parchment and they were fine.) 

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes or until edges are golden brown. During the last couple minutes of baking add marshmallows to the tops of the cookies.

8. Let cool for a few minutes before removing from baking sheet.

Sweet & Sour Chicken

I realized that I have pretty much only posted cookies and desserts lately, I guess you can tell  where my mind is :)  Today's recipe is worth a break in the Christmas baking action!  We LOVE LOVE Chinese food at my house.  Even my two boys can put away a serious amount of Chinese from our favorite restaurant.  Sweet & Sour Chicken is my #1 take -out Chinese dish and when I saw this recipe I couldn't wait to try it!

I was pleasantly surprised with my first attempt at Sweet & Sour Chicken.  After looking at the ingredients I didn't know what to expect with the sauce but man was it good!  The breading around each piece of chicken had the flavor I was hoping for.  The breading not as thick as the one I get at the restaurant, but this wasn't a copycat recipe and I think if I were to cut my chicken into smaller pieces the ratio of breading to chicken would be even better.

Sweet & Sour Chicken  Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

 Ingredients:

Chicken:

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 

Salt and pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

Sauce:

¾ cup sugar

4 tablespoons ketchup

½ cup vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon garlic salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg.

4. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish.

5.Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over chicken.

6. Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes so it is evenly coated with the sauce. Serve the chicken over rice.

 *If you like extra sauce, double the sauce ingredients - pour half over the chicken and follow the baking directions in the recipe and pour the other half in a small saucepan. Cook the sauce on the stove top at medium heat for 8-10 minutes until it simmers and thickens. Serve it on the side of the chicken.

Note: Because I was short on time I altered Mel's directions a little bit and fried my chicken until it was cooked through and made the sauce on the stove top instead of baking them together. 

Buckeyes

Buckeyes are one of my all time favorite Christmas treats!  I LOVE these!!  The outside shell is chocolate and inside is heavenly peanut butter and powdered sugar with a touch of Rice Krispies.  These blow Reese's peanut butter cups out of the water.  Not only is there waayy more of the awesome peanut butter stuff in the middle but the filling is also sweeter than a Reese's. 

While I do completely love these, they are not my normal quick recipe.  Buckeyes are easy to make but do take time to form each ball, allow them to chill and then dip them in chocolate.  But trust me, they are worth the effort!  I like to watch a Christmas movie to while I make these.  That way I get in more of my beloved black & white Christmas movies, get to bake and have a grand 'ol time all at once!

Buckeyes  Source: An 'A' For Effort

Ingredients:

1 lb powdered sugar

1 stick butter

2 C peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)

3 C Rice Krispies

16-20 oz. Chocolate Almond Bark

Directions:

1. In a mixer, cream butter and powdered sugar. 

2. Add peanut butter and Rice Krispies and mix well.

3. Roll peanut butter mixture into small balls and chill.

4. Using a double boiler, melt almond bark and dip chilled balls into chocolate. 

5. Place on wax paper to harden. 

*These are supposed to freeze well.  I have never frozen any in years past but immediately tucked some away in the freezer this year, so I will get to find out :)

If you don't have a lot of time but are in the mood for a peanut butter and chocolate treat, check out my favorite!  Avalanche Bark!

Brownie Covered Oreos

I am SO super duper excited to share some super duper yummy Christmas cookie recipes with you all this week!  First up are these "Mmmm" inducing Brownie Covered Oreos.  In my opinion you cannot go wrong with anything involving Oreos, but add brownie batter and you have one seriously marvelous cookie.  Each Oreo is loving covered in brownie batter before baking, once cooked the Oreo turns cake-like and the brownie is so wonderful, "Mmmmm" for sure!!

If you wanted to dress these up I think drizzling some red or green colored white chocolate over the top would look really pretty, but I had my husband and two boys circling me like sharks while I was trying to make these so I didn't add any extra steps :)

We loved these still warm from the oven, the next day the Oreo is not as soft but definitely still awesome!

Brownie Covered Oreos  Source: Picky Palate

Ingredients:

1 box your favorite Brownie mix

Eggs, Water & Oil as indicated on brownie mix

1 package Oreos (I used double stuffed)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Prepare brownies as indicated on box.
3. Generously grease 2 standard size muffin tins.
4. Drop, dip, cover Oreos one at a time in the brownie batter until completely covered in brownie.  Carefully pick each Oreo out and put into the greased muffin tin (one covered Oreo per muffin cup). Your fingers will get pretty messy while doing this, but don't worry you can lick it all off when you are finished :)
5. Repeat with all Oreos.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the brownie is cooked through.
7. Upon removing from the oven, run a knife around the edge of each muffin tin to loosen the brownie batter so you can get your cookies out.  After doing this you can let the brownies rest a few minutes.  I also had to use a fork to kinda encourage them to release from the pan but they did and ended up looking great.
8. Drizzle with white chocolate if desired.

2 Weeks Until Christmas!

Can you believe there are only TWO weeks left until Christmas?!?  I still have SO much baking I want to do!  None of the presents have been wrapped and I still have a few I need to buy!  I've started our Christmas cards but have a long way to go...

Yesterday morning I actually got to do several things on my 'To-Do' list.  Including finally getting outside with the boys and building a snowman.  The snow was perfect for packing and Lincoln had so much fun.  Carson helped but mostly wandered around the yard and kept taking his gloves off :)

I also did TONS of baking!  I've got some yummy cookie recipes to share next week and can't wait for you to try them out.  Matt kept asking me what I was planning to do with all the cookies, but given the amount he was eating I don't think we will have any trouble!

Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!