Gingerbread Men

Today, Daniel and I went over to my friend and neighbor Julie's house to decorate Gingerbread Men for Santa.  Normally, I am not a huge fan of gingerbread, but a friend of mine gave me this recipe for chewy cookies so I thought I would give it a try.  The results were great, a nice soft, chewy gingerbread cookie!  We decorated with candy pieces and cream cheese frosting!  I am sure Santa will be very happy when he visits this year!

Gingerbread Man Cookies Recipe

3 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter (room temperature, softened)

1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed

1 Tbsp ground ginger

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Aubrey decorating her cookie

1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

Daniel decorating his cookie

Optional raisins, chocolate chips, candy pieces, frosting

1)  In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.

2)  In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses. Gradually add the flour mixture; combine on low speed. (You may need to work it with your hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.) Divide dough in thirds; wrap each third in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour or overnight. Before rolling out, let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. If after refrigerating the dough feels too soft to roll-out, work in a little more flour.

Daniel's cookie for Santa

3)  Heat oven to 350°. Place a dough third on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper or wax paper. Using a rolling pin, roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Refrigerate again for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to cut out the cookies. Use either a cookie cutter or place a stencil over the dough and use a knife to cut into desired shapes. Press raisins, chocolate chips, or candy pieces in the center of each cookie if desired for "buttons".

4 Transfer to ungreased baking sheets. Bake until crisp but not darkened, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Let sit a few minutes and then use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate as desired.

Makes 16 5-inch long cookies.

The Best Popcorn EVER!!!

I LOVE popcorn!  But I am very particular.  I won't eat movie popcorn, for example, and I will rarely eat the microwave variety.  Popcorn can be a very healthy treat, if  you air pop it and don't add much butter.  I like to experiment with different flavors of popcorn, cheesy popcorn, garlic popcorn, chocolate caramel corn, etc.  A couple of weeks ago I was asked to do a Pampered Chef party for my friend.  I made this popcorn and it was an instant hit.  The idea came to me because I was craving popcorn while I was trying to brainstorm some ideas of easy snack foods for entertaining for the holidays.  I made this for another Pampered Chef show last night and again, it was a total hit!  The secret ingredient?  The Pampered Chef Oil Dipping seasonings, but you could use any type of seasoning you have on hand.  Pampered Chef has four varieties - sundried tomato, parmesan garlic, lemon herb, and spinach and red pepper.  They cost $6.50 and they all work really great for this popcorn.  If you are craving some popcorn tonight and don't want to wait, you can use any variety of salt free mixed herbs and spices.  No need for salt here, the flavor of this popcorn is FANTASTIC!  This recipe couldn't be easier!

The Best Popcorn EVER!
Note- the instructions for this recipe are for popping the popcorn on the stove.  You can also air pop your popcorn, just omit the instructions for cooking the popcorn.

• 1/2 cup un-popped popcorn kernels
• 4 tbsp. butter 
• 1 tbsp. Pampered Chef oil dipping seasoning of your choice or other salt free seasoning mix
• 1 tbsp. parmesan cheese 
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil

In a medium sized saucepan with a lid, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add two or three popcorn kernels and cover.  When those kernels have popped, add the rest of the popcorn and cover.  Allow popcorn to pop, shaking the pan back and forth to prevent burning until the popping slows to about 15 seconds between pops and a majority of the popcorn is popped.  Remove the popcorn to a very large bowl.  Place the butter and seasoning in a microwaveable bowl.  MIcrowave on high for 30 seconds or until melted.  Add the parmesan cheese, stir to make sure it is well combined.  Pour over the popcorn and use your hands (or a large spoon) to mix until the popcorn is well coated with the butter mixture.  Enjoy!

Until next time, happy and HEALTHY cooking and EATING!

Happy Halloween! Bat Wings and Eyeballs!

Be sure to head over to The Foodie Mommie Store to take advantage of the November Pampered Chef Sale!  Order by November 15th and get 10% off!

This is a fun Halloween recipe that I made over a couple of years back.  I cannot take credit for the idea, but I can say that the way I make it now is pretty much my own.  I am not sure where I found this recipe, but I always make it around Halloween and it is always a hit!  The leftovers are even better!  I renamed it Bat Wings with Eyeballs because it is made with Farfalle pasta (bat wings) and I use little balls of fresh mozzarella and sliced black olives to form the "eyeballs."  Unfortunately this evening I was doing two things at once, and baked it a little too long, so my "eyeballs" melted. That's ok though, it was still a hit!

Bat Wings and Eyeballs

• 1 pkg. Farfalle (bowtie) pasta
• 1 lb. ground turkey (or beef)
• 1 large (28 oz) can whole tomatoes
• 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. Italian herbs
• 2 oz. cream cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan
• 12 small balls of fresh mozzarella (ciliegine)
•  9 sliced black olives (from a small can)
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray a large baking dish with cooking spray.  Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain, and set aside. In a large, deep sided skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Cook the onion, garlic, and ground turkey until the turkey is no longer pink and the onions are translucent.  Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and herbs.  Turn heat down to medium heat and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes stirring frequently.  Add the cream cheese and mix until melted sauce is creamy.  Mix the pasta and the sauce together in the baking dish.  Top with the shredded cheeses.  Make four rows of three mozzarella balls and top each ball with an olive to form the "eyeballs."  Bake for 10 minutes or until the mozzarella is just starting to melt.  Yummy!

Until next time, happy and HEALTHY cooking and EATING!