Favorite Recipe - Cowboy Cookies

Since I've been asked for this recipe many times in the last week or so, I figured this would be the one that I'd use for today's prompt.

They are the bestest and biggest cookies EVER.

Laura Bush's Cowboy Cookies 

3 cups all-purpose flour 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1 tablespoon baking soda 
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 
1 teaspoon salt 
1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter (at room temperature) 
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 
1-1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar 
3 large eggs 
1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips 
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 
2 cups sweetened flake coconut 
2 cups chopped pecans (8 ounces) 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in bowl. In 8-quart bowl, beat butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 1 minute. Gradually beat in sugars; beat to combine, 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Beat in vanilla extract. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Add chocolate chips, oats, coconut and pecans. For each cookie, drop 1/4 cup dough onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Bake for 17 to 19 minutes, until edges are lightly browned; rotate sheets halfway through. Remove cookies from rack to cool. Makes about 3 dozen cookies. 

NOTE: For 6 dozen smaller cookies, use 2 tablespoons dough for each. Bake at 350 F for 15 to 18 minutes.

A Tasteful Countdown: The Rescuers

Not a fan of seafood, but mom and dad are. Yuck.

So Dad had to go up to Anchorage for training the week after Toy Story so we rescheduled the movie for the next week. This would not have been a big deal had it not been for the fact that my dad loves the rescuers movies (though I found out he likes the rescuers down under way more) and because the first movie happens in the Bayou and the menu I chose he was very excited for.

Thankfully the wait did not disappoint. My dad had several helpings of what I had to offer. Mom did too. It was very good, though for me I didn't like the proteins it called for. Oh well, this isn't *just* about me, right?! So I made two types of the sauce.

The menu was a pasta dish and garlic bread. I was too pooped to do a dessert and as rich as dinner was it wasn't missed. I made a cajun style alfredo with Shrimp and Andoulle sausage over fettacine. I did not make the pasta, but everything else was from scratch and fresh. I made a smaller batch without the shrimp, just the sausage, for myself, and served it with garlic bread.

It was delish. Dad couldn't stop talking about it! He ate his fair share and then some, and then he let it be known he was getting any leftovers for lunch. Except he didn't get my leftovers. I took those to Kassy's. She told me she thought it was better than any pasta dish at Paradisos (Kenai's Greek-Italian-Mexican restaurant that I love). So I have to say this has to be one of the most successful dishes I've made to date!

Without the seafood. So good! A little spicy but not bad.

Find the recipe here: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/cajun-shrimp-andouille-alfredo-sauce-over-pasta-10000001033054/

A Tasteful Countdown: Toy Story

Pizza, Cake, and a movie, what could be better?

January 31st marked Duane's 18th birthday. It also landed on a Thursday, so we mixed the two together. Duane's big party would happen that weekend, so we did a small deal with just us and his best friend. It worked out great because Toy Story was one of his favorites when he was small - and it has that "army man" element so we could still do the "Go Army" so it wasn't totally cheesey.

Well, there was cheese - I made homemade pizzas. Thanks to my awesome new KitchenAid pizza dough was so easy! I loved how simple it was, and for the first time of me making the dough I have to say it was excellent. I used a recipe a friend gave me, but didn't put in the total amount of yeast that it called for. It still rose well, and it didn't taste yeasty. A win-win for me as I hate the taste of yeast!

I forgot to save some white frosting for stars on the blue.

I also baked a cake from scratch - the first one I did the night before and it didn't go very well. I tried another recipe the day of and it came out better than the first, but I think I'm over mixing with the KitchenAid. I will have to keep working on it. However, I loved how the camo effect came out. That's right, I made a camo cake! The cake was green, brown, and black inside. It was frosted red white and blue and had toy army men in honor of both the movie and Duane's love of the Army.

The cake was two layers and had a chocolate mousse filling. It was pretty good and I'm not a cake fan.

You might be asking what my mom ate with all of this gluten loaded food - for the cake she had the mousse only (we had a lot more mousse than we did cake. It was not what we planned. Not sure what happened there. For the pizza we tried the pinterest craze of the cauliflower crust. It really works and it tastes great -and I hate cauliflower! Mom was happy enough with it - she still misses the regular crust, but at least she's found something that she not only can stomach but likes! Just a tip - use a ricer not a grater. The ricer looks to give you more cauli-meal for the crust.

With two 18 year old boys plus the three adults, we ate all but a couple of slices of pizza (we made four plus moms!) and ate half a cake. All in all a success even with the cake issues.

Very proud of how the camo came out! AWESOME!

Pizza Crust recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/basic-pizza-dough-recipe/index.html
Cauliflower crust recipe: http://whatsfordinner-momwhatsfordinner.blogspot.com/2012/06/cheesy-garlic-cauliflower-bread-sticks.html

Oh! The week of Toy Story also brought our first bit of DISNEY MAIL! We all know how much I LOVE Disney Mail. And it was Toy Story themed mail at that! How awesome!

Disney Mail is almost as good as being there!

Pinterest Find: Lasagna Soup

Pinterest is the latest greatest social media craze.

Who knows if Pinterest is here to stay, even I was sceptical, but with everyone talking about it and friends sharing their finds on facebook I bit the bullet and joined. It's a dreamer's paradise. Everything you could possibly want at your fingertips. Boards for travel, reading, movies, life, children, clothing... and, yes, food.
For a picky eater like me, most recipes are intimidating because they are typically food stuffs I don't like. However, we do eat with our eyes and pinning a picture that looks amazing before you know what's in it? Makes it hard to pass up.

There have been some misses - smoothies just aren't for me it seems - but lately we've found some great finds. There was the nacho cheese (fake cheese!) during football season, and the glueten free chocolate cookies...

Photo from Deen Bros.

And last night we tried the Lasagna Soup that's floating around the Pinterest Boards. It was AMAZING. As a big lasagna lover I was not disappointed. It's basically just a deconstructed lasagna, but it is oh so good -and it's faster than baking one! The recipe used is Bobby Deen's version of his mother's Lasagna Soup. It's deemed "lighter", but it tastes pretty filling to me.

In the soup you have everything that makes a great lasagna, the only thing I would change is the portion of red pepper - I'd use about half of what the recipe calls for. I would also make a double batch, three people cleaned out a full pot of the stuff with just a little left for one of our lunches. I've never been so sad to see no leftovers in my life!

The depth of flavor is what, I think, makes one want more. At first taste you think it's your basic tomato sauce, and then the other flavors kick in. It's almost a religious experience. It really is like eating a lasagna, but it's not as heavy. Even though it was a hot day it was well worth it to have soup!

You MUST try it, you will NOT be disappointed! - http://thedeenbros.com/index.php/recipes/recipe_detail/bobbys_lighter_tastes_like_lasagna_soup/