Italian Knot Cookies

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 cup flour
4 tsp. baking powder

Sift dry ingredients. Cream butter and sugar, beat in eggs; add vanilla and dry ingredients.

Knead and add flour as needed to keep dough from sticking to hands. Pinch off dough, roll in your hands to form a log and then twirl into shape. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

Icing
2 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
6 tsp. water
Stir until creamy

Dip cookies into icing and sprinkle with trim. Place on wire rack with wax paper on counter to collect the dripping icing and sprinkles.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

Mint Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

 

This Mint Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball is going to blow your mind. It's pretty much like a cheese ball and mint chip ice cream had a baby. But it was prettier and more fabulous than it's parents. Yeah. Kind of like that.

Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 1½ tsp mint extract
• green gel food coloring
• 2 cups mini chocolate chips, divided
• animal crackers, graham crackers, chocolate or vanilla wafers to serve with

Instructions

1. Cream cream cheese and butter together.
2. Gradually beat in powdered sugar.
3. Beat in extract and food coloring until desired color is reached.
4. Stir in one cup of mini chocolate chips.
5. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour.
6. Sprinkle ½ cup of mini chocolate chips on top of a piece of plastic wrap.
7. Scoop out cream cheese mixture and place on top of chocolate chips. Sprinkle top of cream cheese with more chocolate chips.
8. Wrap cheese ball with plastic wrap and place in a clean bowl. Press into bowl to form the cheese ball.
9. Invert onto a serving board or cake stand. Sprinkle with more chocolate chips if needed.
10. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

YUM-YUM COFFEE CAKE

YUM-YUM COFFEE CAKE

1 stick butter 1 c. sugar 2 eggs 2 c. flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1 c. sour cream Add soda to sour cream; set aside. Grease and flour Bundt pan; set aside. Cream together shortening, sugar and eggs. Add flour, baking powder, vanilla, salt and sour cream; mix well. TOPPING: 1/2 c. brown sugar 1/2 c. white sugar 1 tbsp. cinnamon 1 c. chopped nuts Mix all topping ingredients together. Alternate (layering) topping and batter by pouring approximately 1/3 of segments each, starting with topping first. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan on rack.Remove from Bundt pan and pour thinned out powdered sugar frosting across top if desired.

Health Boosting Spinach Salad

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smile emoticon This SPINACH based salad will boost the thyroid glands' output of metabolism-reviving hormones!

Ingredients:
5 ounces fresh spinach (half a 10 ounce bag)
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 can (15 ounces) mandarin oranges - or fresh Cuties or Halos
or 1 cup of pomegranate seeds
1 large Granny Smith Apple
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/3 cup pecans
Optional: Feta cheese & Orecchiette (little ears) pasta

Dressing:
4 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2-4 teaspoons white sugar - Or use Honey to taste or Stevia
1/8 teaspoon each: paprika, onion powder
1 tablespoon poppyseeds
Throw it all together!

SERVING: Makes six (6) 1 cup servings. As a compliment to the meal, makes twelve (12) 1/2 cup servings!

St. Patrick’s Day Brownie Trifle

With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I decided to make these festive trifles. I had gone to my grocery store and found mini trifle bowls. They were too cute to pass up, especially since one of my favorite desserts to make, is a trifle. I looked around my pantry, found some basic ingredients and threw these together in no time. Not only were they a huge hit, but they were just the right amount!! If you are looking for a delicious St. Patty’s day treat, look no further!! This can be made in a normal size trifle bowl, or mini dishes, totally up to you!

Ingredients:

• 1 package brownie mix (enough to make an 8×8 tray) *you can also use a homemade brownie recipe
• 1 (3.4 oz) box vanilla pudding (instant)
• 8 oz cool whip
• Green food coloring
• Mint Oreo’s, crushed

Directions:

1. Cook brownies according to directions. Allow to cool completely.
2. Make pudding according to directions. Once pudding is done, add in a few drops of green food coloring, or until desired shade of green is reached.
3. Take a Ziploc bag and place a few Oreo’s inside. Seal the bag and smash the bag to crush the Oreo’s.
4. To assemble trifle; layer cut up brownie, a layer of pudding, a layer of cool whip, another layer of cut up brownie, a layer of pudding, and a few crushed Oreo’s on top!!
5. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve!! *You can also use pistachio pudding if you don’t want to use food coloring!

Honey Garlic One Pot Chicken Dinner

The easiest one pot recipe ever. Simply throw everything in and that’s it! No cooking, no sauteeing. SO EASY!

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
16 oz each baby red potatoes-halved, baby carrots, green beans-trimmed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
For the sauce
1/2 cup each reduced sodium soy sauce, honey, and ketchup
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 tsp both crushed red pepper flakes and pepper

In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, honey, ketchup, garlic, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes and pepper. Place chicken thighs, potatoes, carrots and soy sauce mixture into a 6-qt slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours, basting every hour. Add green beans during the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
OPTIONAL: Preheat oven to broil. Place chicken thighs onto a baking sheet, skin side up, and broil until crisp, about 3-4 minutes. Serve chicken immediately with potatoes, carrots and green beans, garnished with parsley, if desired.

General Tso's Chicken

General Tso's Chinese Chicken

Ingredients

• CORNSTARCH SLURRY:
• 1 egg beaten
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ¾ cup cornstarch
• SAUCE:
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ⅛ cup water
• 1½ tsp fresh garlic, minced
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• ⅛ cup white vinegar
• ⅛ cup white wine
• 2 cups chicken broth
• to serve chicken separate from sauce so as to be more crispy, add 3/4 C + 2 tbs of water + 2 dashes of soy to sauce mixture
• OTHER:
• 2 lbs chicken breasts - cut into cubes
• 2 bunches of green onions
• 5-8 dried chillies
• broccoli

Directions

Place sauce ingredients in a quart jar with a lid and shake to mix. You can make ahead of time and refrigerate until needed, shaking again when you are ready to use it. Mix cornstarch slurry in a large bowl. PLACE INGREDIENTS IN ORDER GIVEN for slurry, gradually adding cornstarch while mixing. It will look almost like peanut butter. Add chicken pieces to coat using a fork and allow excess to drip off. Add chicken to hot oil and fry until crispy in wok. Cook up to 8 pieces at a time. Drain chicken on paper towel and keep warm in oven. Repeat until all chicken has been fried. Add oil and add green onions and hot pepper and stir fry for 30 seconds. Stir sauce mixture in and cook until thick. You will see it begin to bubble and candy. Add chicken and broccoli to sauce and mix together quickly. Cook for just 1-2 minutes and serve over rice. * if you want to keep sauce and chicken separate, do not add chicken to sauce mixture, just broccoli