Watch out Mrs. Fields!

Posted in What's Cookin' by Selections By Sisters

I am that person who can’t make a trip to the mall without stopping at Auntie Anne’s for a pretzel or Mrs. Fields for a cookie. Unfortunately this is an obsession that I have already passed on to Big H at the age of three…oops. Nine times out of ten I will pick an M&M sugar cookie. Unless I feel like being a little bit “healthy” and opt for an oatmeal raisin one instead haha. Well I recently found the absolute perfect recipe that rivals those sweet mall morsels. Since the the Summer Shape Up starts tomorrow I figured I needed to get this recipe up so that you could make them today and eat the whole batch like I plan to! I followed Joyfull Momm’s recipe almost exactly but I always make a double batch because they are so melt in your mouth delicious that they disappear quickly and because I like to keep some in the freezer :).

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups All-Purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling

2 oz. cream cheese

6 tblsp. unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup canola oil (or vegetable)

1 large egg, preferably at room temperature

1 tblsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups M&Ms

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl combine the cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Pour warm melted butter on top and cream together.

3. Whisk in the oil, then the egg, milk and vanilla extract.

4. Slowly start to fold flour mixture in with a rubber spatula.

5. When the dry ingredients are partially incorporated, add in 3/4 cups of M&Ms. If you wait until the mixture is fully mixed in to add the M&Ms then you will end up overmixing. Refrigerate 2-3 hours.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll about 2 tbs of dough into a ball and roll in reserved sugar as quickly as possible. You don’t want to handle dough too much.

7. Flatten dough balls with the bottom of a glass or measuring cup until they are about two inches in diameter. Bake 10-12 minutes or until just set.

8. When cookies are out of oven press three (or more) M&Ms onto the top of each one. Let cool on baking sheet for five minutes and then transfer to cooking rack.

The recipe yields about two dozen cookies so I definitely recommend doubling it :)

21May2013

Brussel Sprouts

Posted in What's Cookin' by Selections By Sisters

My eye has been drawn to brussels sprouts lately, both at the Public Market and on Pinterest. This past Saturday, I couldn’t resist buying these beautifully green sprouts and I’m so glad that I did because they were absolutely delicious!

Ingredients:
(this recipe fed 2 adults with leftovers for the next meal)

8 brussel sprouts
Olive oil
Minced garlic
butter

Directions:

Heat pan over medium heat. Pour two tablespoons olive oil into hot pan. Add one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of minced garlic. Cook oil, butter and garlic for 3 to 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

While butter mixture is cooking- rinse brussels sprouts and cut in half.

Scoop as much of the cooked garlic as you can out of the pan; being sure to leave the oil and butter mixture. I scooped the garlic and then held the spoon against the side of the pan to drain the oil mixture back into the pan.

Place the brussel spouts cut side down in the pan. Cook brussel sprouts for 5-7 minutes, pushing around on cut side, to be sure that they don’t stick to pan. I added a bit more olive oil during cooking. Flip the brussel sprouts over and cook opposite side for 2 minutes. If you want your sprouts on the crispy side; cook for additional time.

So Yummy! I sprinkled parmesan cheese over the sprouts before serving!

19May2013

St. Patrick’s Day Treat… a few months late!

Posted in What's Cookin' by Selections By Sisters

I made these are a few months back to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at a shindig that a friend was hosting. Even though I missed the boat on posting them for the holiday, these bite size treats could be made year round for a variety of festivities using the other M & M colors. Many of the pins I saw on Pinterest showed these snacks with an icing stem to make them look more like shamrocks. In the end I chose not to using the icing because it didn’t harden and would make transport difficult.

What you’ll need:

Pretzels
M&M’s
Hershey Kisses
Parchment Paper
Writing Icing (optional)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

If you are looking for one specific color to work with, you have to dig through the bag first.

Lay out your pretzels on parchment paper. We still do not have cooking gas, almost 9 MONTHS later, so I am still working with what I have and using my toaster oven for all cooking endeavors.

Place a Hershey Kiss in the center of each pretzel. Bake at 200 for about 7 minutes. You want the chocolate to be soft so you can easily put the M&M’s in place but you don’t want it to be melted. As all ovens are different, keep an eye on your first batch.

After they cooled, I put them on a tray in the fridge to harden until I was ready to pack them up for the party. I also used the mint M&M’s as another flavor option.

15May2013

Chicken & Rice

Posted in What's Cookin' by Selections By Sisters

I randomly buy mushrooms to incorporate into dinner recipes. I’m not a fan of the fungus, but my husband is. I purchased a package of sliced baby bella mushrooms at the grocery the other day, with no set plan in mind on how I was going to use them. I had half a bunch of asparagus that were on their last day of holding on to whatever life was left in them, a small yellow onion that needed to be used, along with an orange pepper (pepper was an after thought). I figured I would cook some chicken in the crock pot, while Reagan and I went to the park and then saute the onion, mushroom and orange pepper, bake the asparagus and cook the rice when we got home. Sounds good, right?

Something is quirky with my crock pot…Reagan and I were gone for less than an hour and when we got home, the chicken, which was cooking on low, was over cooked. So on to another plan. I chopped the chicken into small pieces and put together a stirfryish dish using some soy sauce. I wasn’t convinced that the basil dressing that I cooked the chicken in would be the best match with the soy sauce, but I gave it a try anyway. Overall a quick and easy meal…that Reagan wouldn’t touch (NOT A SURPRISE), but that Ryan and I enjoyed.

The amount of ingredients included below were enough to feed Ryan and I with no leftovers. The pictures could have been better, but we were flying by the seat of our pants. Not everything that was incorporated in the dish is included in the pictures.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

basil vinaigrette dressing

1 bell pepper

1 small yellow onion

1/3 of an 8 oz package of baby bella mushrooms

1/2 a bunch of asparagus spears

4 servings of instant rice

salt

pepper

olive oil

soy sauce

Directions:

Cover bottom of crock pot with dressing. Add in chicken, top with dressing and cover. Cook time depends on your crockpot. My chicken was over cooked within an hour.

Begin to prepare your asparagus by turning your oven to 375 degrees. Snap the ends off of the asparagus and place on a baking sheet. Lightly cover asparagus with olive oil (roll around so completely covered) and sprinkle with salt. The asparagus will bake in the oven for 10 minutes. I don’t like my asparagus crispy, if you do, I would suggest additional cooking time.

Cut mushrooms lengthwise and then in half. Chop onion and thinly slice pepper. The pepper was an afterthought, so it isn’t included until the final picture. Heat olive oil in pan until hot. Add in mushrooms, onion and pepper. Cook, while continuously stirring for approximately 10 minutes or until desired tenderness is reached.

At this point, I would begin the Instant Rice by following the directions on the box.

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and add into pan. Add 1/3 cup, or more, of soy sauce to your chicken and veggie mixture. I just continually added more and more soy sauce until I had the desired amount. Add pepper and cook for an additional 5 minutes while occasionally stirring.

Place a large spoonful of rice on a plate and top with chicken mixture. Serve with a side of asparagus.

28Apr2013

Blueberry Muffins

Posted in What's Cookin' by Selections By Sisters

Martha has done it again! I made these delicious Blueberry Muffins that I found on her site and they are absolutely delicious! I didn’t take step by step photos, because Reagan was awake and there was just too many things happening at once. The next time around I will make a very small amount of the crumble topping. Even after generously topping all 12 muffins, I still had tons left over. You will need a had or stand mixer for this recipe, that is unless you have speedy wrists and can get the desired egg and sugar consistency without an electronic device.

REAGAN LOVED THESE MUFFINS!!

Martha’s Recipe

Ingredients:

For The Crumb Topping
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For The Blueberry Muffins
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for tin
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large whole egg plus 2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 cups fresh blueberries
Granulated sugar and mace, for topping (optional)

Directions

Make the crumb topping, if desired: Whisk together flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl. Pour in melted butter and toss with a flexible spatula until large crumbs form.

Make the muffins: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter and granulated sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla; mix until well combined. Reduce speed to low; alternate adding reserved flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour. Gently fold in berries by hand.

Divide batter evenly among prepared cups; if desired, sprinkle generously with granulated sugar and mace. Alternatively, sprinkle crumb topping evenly over batter in each cup.

Bake until light golden on top, rotating tins halfway through, about 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes before turning out muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is what was left over from the crumb topping

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

REAGAN LOVED THESE MUFFINS!!

Share this: