Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Fall to me means beautiful colors, crisp air, sweaters, boots, pumpkins, apples, football and baking. On a lesser note, it also mean more camo than I care to see thrown in my entry way.... thanks Chris.  I have a love/ hate relationship with Fall.  I love everything about Fall except knowing that it is leading me to Winter. I always feel like I'm on a mission to do anything and everything in Fall because I know that in a few short months we'll be trapped in the house due to the ice and snow that will NOT go away..... grrr... I get mad just thinking about it.

Anyways, back to Fall..... I love to bake and this is the best time of year to do it.  I try to make something once a week to satisfy our sweet teeth (multiple of sweet tooth??).  I know, it's the most healthy habit ever.  

This week I went classic with one of Chris' favorites- Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies. The recipe is at the end of the post.

Here's a tip from my Momma.  When you have to measure out peanut butter, first spray your measuring cup with non-stick spray.  It helps the peanut butter come right out.

Blend the peanut butter and shortening.

Add your sugars and blend again.

Add the rest of your ingredients and blend one more time.

Give the bowl of the mixer a final scrape with a spoon to make sure there aren't any un-mixed ingredients in the bottom.

Roll into balls and dip in sugar.

Bake 'em up.

Kiss 'em.  Muah!

Eat 'em up.

What you need:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-3/4 cup AP flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Hershey Kisses

How you do it:

1. Preheat your oven to 350.  Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.
2. Blend shortening and peanut butter with an electric mixer. 
3. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and the brown sugar. 
4. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until just combined.
5. Roll into 1" balls and dip each ball in sugar. 
6. Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
7. Kiss it!  Put a Hershey Kiss in the center of each cookie immediately.

-Brooke

Camping Series: Part 3- Campfire Cooking

When we go camping, we always go with a non-electric site.  This means all of our cooking is either over an open fire or on a portable charcoal grill.  Truth is, we bought the charcoal grill but have yet to use it.  Campfire cooking is both the most intimidating and the most enjoyable part of camping for me.  I like the challenge of it, but am always scared I’m going to burn everything.... that's only happened a couple times....  

Every time we go camping we try new recipes, but here are a few of our favorite campfire meals so far.

• Hash browns and Southwestern Egg Beaters- Brown shredded hash browns in a little canola oil (maybe 2 or 3 tablespoons) and the pour the Egg Beaters over top.  Stir until eggs are done.
• Waffles- Just use basic waffle mix and follow the directions on the box.  Pour into a waffle iron like this one.  You can find a link to buy this in this post.

• Chicken Fajitas- Recipe below
• Dutch Oven Ravioli- Recipe below

• Dutch Oven Chili- My super quick and simple recipe is below or just use your favorite chili recipe.
• Campfire Calzones- Press biscuit dough into a greased pie iron.  Put in any toppings you like and seal the edges of the biscuit dough to cover toppings.  Cook over campfire until the dough is cooked through.
• Grilled Cheese- Easy idea for the pie iron.
• S’mores- You gotta have these!!

I try to keep the recipes as simple as possible to make things easier.

Here are a few tips for campfire cooking.

• Instead of bringing eggs, bring Egg Beaters.  They have flavored ones that add a lot to a meal and you don’t have to worry about the eggs breaking in your cooler.
• Don’t forget the non-stick cooking spray!
• Cooking over an open fire takes longer than cooking at home.  Start dinner earlier than usual.
• Watch food closely.  It quickly goes from done to burnt.
• Do as much prep work at home as possible.  Chop up veggies and meats then freeze them in gallon baggies.  They’ll thaw in the cooler and then all you have to do is dump it in your skillet or dutch oven.  I even cooked the ground beef for my chili at home and brought it in a baggie.

   Here are the recipes as promised!

Chicken Fajitas

1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into strips)

Cut peppers and onions (as many as you like)

1-2 Tbsp canola oil

Lemon pepper seasoning (to taste)

4 Large flour tortillas

Toppings-

Cheddar cheese

Fresh diced tomato

Shredded lettuce

Sour cream

Sauté chicken peppers and onions in oil in a cast iron skillet over the open fire.  Sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning over chicken and peppers while cooking.  Once chicken is no longer pink, put on tortillas and top with whatever toppings you like!

Campfire Ravioli

1 bag frozen cheese ravioli

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 jar spaghetti sauce

Dump ravioli and sauce in dutch oven, top with cheese.  Put the lid on and let her cook.  Cook time varies depending on your fire.  Just keep checking.  Once the cheese is bubbly on top, the ravioli should be heated through.

Chili

1 lb. hamburger (pre-cooked at home)

2 cans kidney beans

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 packet chili seasoning

Put it all in your dutch oven and cook until heated through.  Serve with cornbread, shredded cheese and crackers.

-Brooke

Recipe: Kielbasa and Roasted Veggies

My blog has moved!  Please go to the following link for this recipe!

http://lifeonagravelroad.com/2013/06/09/recipe-kielbasa-and-roasted-veggies/ 

All of my friends and family know I love to cook.  Well, most of the time I love to cook.  I hate cooking when I'm rushed, but when I can take my time, I love it.  One of my new favorite recipes is this one-pan kielbasa and roasted veggies dish.  It's super healthy and simple, but tastes soooo yummy :)  Enjoy!

Keilbasa and Roasted Veggies

Ingredients:
4 large potatoes
1 large green pepper
1 large onion
1 cup baby carrots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Drizzle of canola oil
Italian seasoning to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pkg. kielbasa
1 cup chicken broth

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425.  Peel potatoes and cut into chunks.  Cut green pepper and onion into chunks.  Discard the seeds of the pepper. 
Put potatoes, green pepper, onion and carrots on a large sheet pan.  Spread them out so that there is close to one layer of veggies.

Drop the teaspoon of garlic on the veggies.
Sprinkle veggies with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.  I like a good coating over mine.  Drizzle with oil.

Mix everything with your hands to distribute the oil and seasonings to cover all of the veggies.





Bake for 25 minutes. 
Chop the kielbasa.  Pour the chicken broth over top of the veggies and throw in the kielbasa. 
Bake for another 25 minutes. 

And that's it!!   I hope you like it as much as I do :)

-Brooke