Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

I haven't tried this, but I am totally going to make it during Christmas time! I had to post it so I didn't loose the recipe. Sounds so good to me - I love cheese balls to begin with, but add powdered sugar, chocolate chips and pretzels... Too good to resist, I'm a sucker for sweets.

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball (courtesy of Framed Cooks)
Yield: 8-12 servingsPrep time: 15 minutes
Refrigerate: 2 hours

1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ cup butter, softened
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
¾ cup miniature chocolate morsels
¾ cup finely chopped pecans (or other nut if desired) , divided
Graham crackers, butter cookies or pretzels

1. In a bowl, combine cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, butter, brown sugar and vanilla, beating with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips and ½ cup of pecans. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. (I was in a hurry and found 1 hour in the freezer was just as good.)
2. Once chilled, shape mixture into a ball and roll in remaining ¼ cup pecans. Refrigerate until ready to serve.3. Serve with graham crackers, butter cookies or pretzels.

Chocolate Krinkle Cookies

These are my absolute favorite cookie, hands down, in the entire world. Seriously.
They make me happy. Soft and chewy and chocolaty,
rolled in powdered sugar.......MMM!
They do take some time and effort, but
it is so worth it!!

Cream together:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
3 1/3 cups sugar
4 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
3/4 cup cocoa

In a separate bowl combine:
4 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup chopped nuts (optional, I never put them in)

Add to wet ingredients alternately with 2/3 cup of milk. Dough will be sticky. Sometimes I stick it in the fridge for an hour. And depending on the weather, you might need to add another 1/4 cup of flour.

Roll into balls, drop into powdered sugar, roll around. Place on greased cookie sheet (or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper). Bake at 350 for 12-15 mins.

~Do not over bake these! They will turn out crunchy instead of soft and chewy. I find 12 minutes is about perfect, if I make them a little bigger, then 13 minutes is about right.

~ Using two small spoons is the best way, instead of using a cookie scooper. Or you could use your hands and get really messy!

~ I almost always half the recipe because it makes a TON of cookies.

* I saw these on another cooking blog and she added peppermint to it. YUM!

Wingers Chicken Sandwhich

I know, this is way to easy to even be considered a recipe, but it's so good and so fast I had to post. We had absolutely NO food in the house this weekend (I didn't want to leave the house in the snow storm to go shopping) so I had to get a little creative when it came to something to eat. And although this really isn't that creative or that original, I have never thought of doing it before so maybe you haven't either :)

-Cut chicken breast into small/thin strips
-Mix flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper (no measurements, just tossed it in) in a bowl and coat chicken
-Fry them (make sure to get them really crispy!)
-Remove from pan, set onto paper towell to remove excess grease
-Put chicken in a bowl, drizzle with wingers amazin' sauce (the real thing, OR copy cat recipe soon to be posted) and toss to coat
-Put a little mayo on a hamburger bun, a few slices of chicken, lettuce, and salt and pepper.

Seriously, this little number is so good. The best part - the longest step is thawing the chicken! :)

Pumpkin Bread

This recipe is from "The Essential Mormon Cookbook". Its really good and SUPER easy, which makes it even better. I like it in a loaf as well as mini muffins (for some reason the muffins seem to get eaten a lot faster around here... easy access maybe?).
Today as it was snowing and blowing I got bored cooped up in my house, so what better to do than bake to make your house smell good and feel cozy than the smell of pumpkin? :)

Pumpkin Bread

*Ingredients
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I kinda like semi sweet with this)
3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional.. I don't add these)

*Directions
Cream butter, sugar, and eggs. Add pumpkin, mix, and set aside. In another bowl sift dry ingredients. Gradually add dry ingredients to creamy mixture. Beat until blended. Add chocolate chips and pecans, if desired. Grease one loaf pan or four mini loaves (or mini muffin tin). Pour batter into pans. For one loaf bake at 350 for 1 hour or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. For mini loaves bake at 350 for about 35-40 min. Makes one loaf or four mini loaves. (
(Its been a long time since I made them into mini muffins so I don't remember how long they bake or how many it makes. So bake them on 350 for 10-15 min then check them. Use your judgment to tell when they are done then make a note- like I should have done!! )

Mom's Slush

I absolutely love this and it is a must for our family at Christmas time!

1 6 oz package of Strawberry Jello
6 cups sugar
1 large can pineapple juice

Dissolve jello in 1 cup boiling water. Add 6 cups of sugar and 3 cups of water. Boil 7 minutes. Add 7 cups of water and large can of pineapple juice. Stir well and make sure all is dissolved. Cool and then freeze.

To serve, remove slush from freezer and let it slightly thaw. Mix with Sprite, 7-up, or Ginger Ale.

(I think I made this when everyone came up at Thanksgiving time.)

My Favorite Slow Cooker!

GE 6 Quart Digital Slow Cooker

Yes, I am devoting a post to my slow cooker. I love it! When we got married, 8 years ago, I received 2, a big one and a small one. I didn't like the smaller one because the stoneware wasn't removable, which made it a pain to clean. I didn't like the big one because it would get so hot on the outside, I was always getting burned. Then I saw this baby at Wal-Mart and I just had to have it! Lucky for me, my mom gave it to me for Christmas and I use at least 3 times a week, if not more.

Reasons I love this one:
~The outside does not get hot! It does get a bit warm, but will not burn you! A must with little kids who climb up on the counter and have to explore everything.
~Retractable cord. Love it! Makes storing it that much easier.
~Super light-weight!
~Locking Lid. Perfect for transporting meals.
~The insert it non-stick. Need I say more?
~It automatically sets to "Warm" when the time is up.
~Cooks everything perfectly. (My smaller one is HOT, so even on Low, I have to check it frequently so the food doesn't burn.)
~It's HUGE. Which is perfect for cooking large roasts or turkey breasts. I can lay about 4 chicken breasts on the bottom so I just put in frozen ones, instead of thawing them and they cook perfectly.

I ended up getting rid of both my older slow cookers when I received this one. I did buy a 3 quart one for smaller recipes, but its not anything close to how wonderful this one is.