Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 c shortening
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
1 egg
1/4 c water
1 tsp vanilla
3 c uncooked oats
1 c flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Cream shortening, sugars, egg, water, and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients and mix well.

Add assorted baking chips (milk chocolate and butterscotch shown above) and/or raisins.

Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes.

Makes about 5 dozen.

Comments from the cook: When my older brother was in cub scouts, my mom discovered this oatmeal cookie recipe in the Bear Cub handbook. It has always been her go-to oatmeal cookie recipe, and was a household favorite when we were growing up.

I prefer to use milk chocolate chips and butterscotch chips (and raisins in the ones that are JUST FOR ME - Brian hates them). If that combo doesn't suit you, try my mom's style out. She uses Craisins, white chocolate chips and coconut. Tasty!

Original recipe courtesy of the Bear Cub handbook.

Beef Enchiladas

8 flour tortillas
1 can refried beans
1/2 lb ground beef, browned (ours were low on meat, so double if you'd like)
1 large can enchilada sauce (I used Las Palmas, mild)
1 packet McCormick enchilada flavoring
1 cup cheddar cheese

Warm enchilada sauce in medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add McCormick packet to enchilada sauce and stir well. Follow directions on McCormick packet (cook 10 minutes).

Spread about 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce in bottom of 9x13 pan.

Next, assemble!

Start with tortilla. Add a heaping tablespoon of refried beans to the shell and spread across length of shell.

Add ground beef. Add about one ladle full of enchilada sauce to tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese, then close. (I do this by lifting up both edges of the tortilla, bringing them together, then folding the two halves to the right and tucking them underneath as you place the finished enchiladas in the pan...so that the edge is at the bottom of the pan. But you can do whatever is easiest for you!)

Use remaining sauce to cover enchiladas, then sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Bake at 425° for 20-25 minutes. Cover with foil if tops start to brown more quickly than you like.

Makes 8 enchiladas.

Comments from the cook: So, what's with the sauce, you ask? We usually just use tomato sauce and the McCormick seasoning...but decided to take it up a notch this time! You may even want to add a bit of water to thin it out too.

We use/ration the uncooked tortillas (available in UT at Costco) that we bought at Christmas...and they are excellent!

Serve with lettuce, sour cream, and any remaining refried beans.

A CookieSheets&CakePans original!

Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

1 lb fresh strawberries (1 carton)
10 vanilla cupcakes
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 small tub whipped cream
1/2 bag frozen strawberries
2 TBSP sugar

Cream cheese mixture:
Allow cream cheese to warm to room temperature. Mix with mixer until smooth, then add 1/4 cup sugar. Whip until smooth. Fold in whipped cream and do not overbeat.

Strawberry syrup:
Defrost 1/2 bag of frozen strawberries (can be done with fresh, if you have them) and mash. Add 2 TBSP sugar and stir until combined. Mixture should be thin with chunks.

Break cupcakes into bite-sized pieces, and slice fresh strawberries.

Now assemble!

Start with half of cupcake pieces. Place in bottom of glass bowl. Cover with half of fresh strawberries. Pour half of syrup over strawberries. Add half of cream cheese mixture to top of strawberries. Repeat, saving a few strawberries for the top.

Chill for 2-3 hours. Serves 6+.

Comments from the cook: I made this last night to share with friends, and it was a hit! The cupcakes were left over from another activity (made with applesauce instead of oil), and were starting to lose a bit of their freshness...but even cake headed downhill will make a good trifle! My mom uses bakery-style muffins - usually the cream cheese crumbly or poppy seed ones - broken up in her trifle recipe, and some people even prefer to use pound cake.

I used low fat cream cheese and whipped cream, and the results were still fantastic. This dessert is good the first day, and even better the next!

A CookieSheets&CakePans original!

Restaurant-style Salsa

1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes with juice
2 cans (10 oz) Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chiles)
¼ cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole jalapeno, diced
¼ tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cumin
½ cup cilantro
½ whole lime juice

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like (10 to 15 pulses).

Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.

Comments from the cook: I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman Cooks. I followed it exactly...except for leaving the jalapeno seeds in (which she does, and I would never dream of). It is fantastic. Akin to the salsa at Chili's that we can never seem to get enough of.

It makes a FULL blender's worth, so make sure you've got lots of chips on hand and a little bit of help to eat it. :)

Originally found on The Pioneer Woman Cooks website. (Text taken from her site.)

Brian's Thin-Crust Pizza & Breadsticks

1 cup warm (but not hot) water
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp salt

Add yeast and sugar to warm water. Stir until dissolved.

Add sugar/yeast/water mixture to a mixing bowl containing remaining ingredients (flour, salt, and oil).

Mix with dough hook on medium speed until dough forms a ball and no longer sticks to sides of mixing bowl.

Cover (moistening surface of dough with a bit of oil, if desired) and allow to rise for 1 hr 30 min.

Roll dough out.

Recipe makes enough dough for 2 large pizzas... or an extra large pizza and a small pan of breadsticks.

Bake crust only at 450° just until slightly browned. Add sauce and toppings, and return to oven until cheese is melted and pizza appears to be done.

For breadsticks:

Roll out, sprinkle with garlic salt, oregano, basil, and parmesan cheese. Add a bit of mozzarella if you're feeling crazy!

Comments from the cook: Another one of Brian's masterpieces! This recipe came from the same guy that gave him the awesome sauce recipe found in this recipe, and has been one of our favorites for a few years now.

And, beware...this crust can make a person fall in love with thin-crust!

Super-Thick French Toast

French toast:

3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 loaf french bread, sliced into 1" slices
cinnamon sugar mixture

Heat griddle to 400°.

Combine eggs and milk. Whisk together with fork until combined. (I used a pie plate to prep this in...)

Dip french bread into mixture one side at a time, saturating.

Sprinkle hot griddle with cinnamon and sugar mixture (just covering area that one bread slice will take up).

Place saturated bread directly over cinnamon sugar mixture.

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of saturated bread.

Flip and brown both sides until thoroughly cooked.

Comments from the cook: I like cinnamon in french toast, but have never liked how the cinnamon sits on top of the egg mixture and doesn't coat evenly. Using a sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar (we have a small shaker of it) and applying it directly to the soaked bread was the perfect solution!

Top with syrup or real whipped cream and strawberries. Makes 10-12 slices.

--

Butter syrup:

3/4 cup evaporated milk (fat free ok)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1 TBSP butter
1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium high heat.

Heat at a rolling boil 2-4 minutes, until desired consistency is reached, stirring constantly.

Comments from the cook: Sometimes maple is a little strong for my tastes, so I wanted to try my hand at a butter syrup. I cooked my syrup on and off for about 4 minutes in hopes of getting the right texture. I boiled it, stirred it, took it off the heat to cool slightly, then would put it back on the heat when the texture seemed too thin. After several rounds of doing so, I overcooked it just slightly and my syrup was a little bit thicker than I was going for. But the taste was fantastic!

Our attempt to knock off the only-in-UT Kneaders french toast...and thus a CookieSheets&CakePans original!

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If you want to add it to your blog, do the following:

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Click on layout.
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(yours will be a bit smaller than mine. mine is gigantor!)

Oatmeal Fudge Bars

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter plus 2 TBSP, softened
2 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract, divided
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt, divided
3 cups oats
2 cups milk chocolate chips
8 oz sweetened condensed milk

Set oven to 350°. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with non-stick spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, 1 cup butter, eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, flour, baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt and oats. Mix well. Press 3/4 of the oat mixture into the bottom of the pan making a crust.

In a small saucepan, combine chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk and 2 Tbsp butter. Melt over low heat. Once smooth, take off the heat and add 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp salt. Pour over oat crust and smooth evenly with a rubber scraper. Crumble reserved oat crust over the chocolate mixture.

Bake for 25 minutes or until top is slightly browned. Cool before cutting.

Comments from the cook: I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs (Rookie Cookie), and it took a few times for me to get it just right. I overcooked it once or twice (beware) and they were JUST RIGHT this time. Then again, I've never thrown two sticks of butter at something and not been at least moderately pleased with the outcome. :)

Give this one a try if you've got a real craving for ooey-gooey-fudgy-goodness. And make sure you've got milk in the fridge first!

Text taken from (and recipe found on) Rookie Cookie's website, here.

Hamburger "Stuff"

4-6 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can water
approx 1lb ground beef, uncooked
salt and pepper, to taste

Use mandoline (fancy name for slicer) to slice potatoes, carrots, and onions. Or, if you're the old-fashioned type...use a knife and cutting board. :)

Place ground beef (defrosted if originally frozen) in bottom of roast pan. Cover with potatoes, carrots, then onions.

In a separate bowl, combine soups, salt and pepper, and water. Mix until smooth.

Pour soup mixture over other ingredients.

Bake covered at 350° for 3-4 hours. Makes 4-6 servings.

Comments from the cook: My mom made this for us last summer...and it was fantastic! It's a great, inexpensive substitute for pot roast - particularly for those of us that don't need a big roast that might take days and days to eat (even after we've cut it in half!).

This is an excellent dish to throw in the oven before church. I even tried this in my CrockPot, and cooked it on high for about 4 hours. The potatoes were much softer and the entire dish was a bit mushy compared to the oven-baked version. It still tasted good, but I liked the results better after baking it in the oven.

Disclaimer: Sometimes it's hard to get a good photograph of food that tastes really good, but isn't as appealing to the eyes. :)

Originally shared (and named) by my mom, Alane.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

1/2 c shortening
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
3 mashed bananas
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
2 c flour
1/2 bag (6 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs one at a time. Add mashed bananas and mix until smooth.

Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Add chocolate chips and mix just until blended.

Pour mixture into muffin tins (greased if not using papers).

Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes.

Comments from the cook: Somehow in college, the page from my Betty Crocker cookbook that had banana bread on it disappeared. When Brian and I got married, a banana bread recipe was (fantastically enough) actually part of his dowry. (Do men have a dowry?) This is his mom's recipe, and it's a go-to one for us. Could be because we seem to be a dead-banana harvesting FACTORY around here. We just never get to the last one before it dies a terrible death and moves to the freezer. But, not all death is terrible...as dead bananas make the best muffins!

I generally don't like to add an entire bag of chocolate chips to any recipe. I use half a bag for these, and they're fantastic.

Best when served warm...and perfect defrosted after a bout in the freezer. (Would you expect anything less from a recipe made from dead bananas that live in the freezer for AGES before they become muffins??)

Originally shared by Debby Mathias (by way of Brian Mathias' dowry).

Orange Chicken

(Made with fresh chicken breast chunks)

(Made with frozen tenderloin chunks)

Chicken and breading:

1 TBSP oil
1 egg
1/4 c flour
1/4 c cornstarch
salt and pepper, to taste
2 large fresh chicken breasts, cut into large chunks (Tenderloins will also work, but pieces will obviously not be as thick. Same goes for frozen chicken.)

Combine egg, oil, and salt and pepper in medium mixing bowl.

Add chicken chunks to mixture and stir together, making sure that all pieces are coated.

Add flour and cornstarch to mixture.

(Don't be fooled. These steps must happen in this order. And the mixture may not look right to you, but it works. Promise!)

Heat oil on stove. You'll need it to be medium high to high, but not the highest heat. It needs to be hot enough to crisp the outside, but not so hot that the outside gets charred and inside isn't thoroughly cooked. (Remember my outrageous paranoia about meat not being thoroughly cooked?!)

Cook thoroughly and set chunks on plate covered with paper towel (to allow excess oil to drain).

Sauce: (**Makes enough for 2 installments...so cut ingredient amounts in half, or go with these quantities and freeze the rest. Freezes like a dream!**)

1 1/2 cups water
4 TBSP orange juice
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 TBSP soy sauce
1/4 cup plus 1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1 rounded tsp chopped green onion
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 TBSP plus 1 tsp cornstarch
4 1/2 TBSP water

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine all of the sauce ingredients, except the cornstarch and 4 1/2 Tbsp water. Stir often while bringing mixture to a boil. When sauce reaches a boil, remove it from heat.

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 4 1/2 TBSP of cool water. Stir until cornstarch has dissolved. Pour this mixture into the sauce and set the pan over high heat. When sauce begins to bubble and thicken, remove it from heat.

Toss chicken chunks with half of the sauce (freeze the rest!) and serve over sticky rice.

Comments from the cook: Hello, and welcome to orange chicken heaven. Since we moved to Kansas, we haven't have access to Panda Express or the fab Chinese that we loved at Smith's in Utah. I stumbled upon this recipe, and my new-recipe-trying husband dove right in one night when I was under the weather. He touches the meat in this family (he really loves me), so he's technically the expert on this one. I've made the sauce, so I can take a LITTLE bit of ownership...

We use more orange juice than the original recipe calls for (quantities already adjusted above), and use all cornstarch instead of arrowroot. If you have it around, click on the links below to fancy up the recipe (then email me and explain to me what-in-the-world you're doing with arrowroot in your cupboards).

We have been searching for an easy orange chicken recipe for a while. Well, guess what? If you want good orange chicken, it takes a little work! Love, love, love this recipe. Am SURE you will too...

Endorsed by so-incredible photographer, Tara Whitney, on here (and she found it here). Some text taken from these websites.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups minus 2 TBSP cake flour
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp coarse salt (I used the grinder attached to my sea salt spice container to grind salt to the perfect texture)
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 c) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 TBSP granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 bags (18 oz) semisweet chocolate chunks
sea salt

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours. (I didn't have the patience to cool the dough overnight and it was still AMAZING!)

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Scoop generous-sized mounds of dough (about the size of golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie.

Sprinkle lightly with sea salt (I used the remaining coarse salt that I used in the dough itself) and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Comments from the cook: My mission in life has been to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Just a tiny bit of crisp, and a LOT of chewiness. I've tried quite a few, but they never seem to quite do it for me. And then these cookies came along! I'm not kidding you, folks. They are phenomenal. For some reason, I thought that $2 or $3 worth of ingredients would magically transform into the perfect cookie. Well, it turns out that a few dollars more may be required.

This recipe calls for cake flour AND bread flour...neither of which I had on hand. I'm the stingy type with grocery money, but these are worth every penny. I also used Nestle Chocolate Chunks instead of chips. I like the size and shape of them a little better. The next time I make these, I will likely add a little less chocolate (maybe just one bag). I also had sea salt on hand (weird, I know) and the grinder on top was perfect for the texture called for in this recipe. Check out the link below to find other alternatives if you don't have sea salt.

My first batch was slightly overcooked, and my 2nd attempt (after the dough had cooled overnight) was perfect. A friend told me once that you should cook cookies until the shiny dough in the center goes away. Well, my take-away is that you should take these out right before that shininess disappears completely.

Originally found here (and attributed to Jacques Torres)