White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

My very favorite kind of cookie! I just love the combination of white chocolate and macadamia nuts. 

ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large egg
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup coarsely chopped salted macadamia nuts

directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract.

Add flour mixture, mixing until completely combined. Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts until evenly distributed (you can do this by hand or with the stand mixer).

Bake for 12 minutes, or until the edges are very slightly browned. The cookies will not look cooked in the center, but they will finish cooking while cooling on cookie sheet!

Remove from oven and let cookies rest on baking sheet for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

Jello Pineapple Slices

Pour out liquid from a can of sliced pineapple.

Dissolve a 3 oz. box of any flavor jello in 1 cup boiling water (you could also use the pineapple juice and water to equal 1 cup liquid)

Pour hot Jello water over pineapple rings in the can.

Chill until set.  I would definitely suggest letting it set overnight. I tried taking mine out at about 8 hours and it was still kind of runny. Run hot water on the sides and bottom of can to loosen.  Then cut the bottom of the can and push the mold out or try to squeeze it out of the can. It is a little bit tricky and they don't come out absolutely perfect, but good enough! Cut between pineapple slices and serve.

*Optional:  top a slice with an ice cream scoop of cottage cheese or a dollop of whipped cream.

I think this would be really fun to do at Christmas time and do a red jello and a green jello and then layer them in a pattern on a platter. 

Stuffed Peppers Appetizer

My husband loves a good appetizer and these really hit the spot! In fact, I almost labeled them as a main dish because he loved them enough to just eat these! And they are incredibly easy!

Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 lb. breakfast sausage, cooked and drained (I used a roll of Italian sausage)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 package mini peppers, at least 25

Directions:
Blend the cream cheese using a hand mixer, add the sausage and shredded cheese and mix well. Wash peppers and slice in half and clean out the seeds. Mound cheese/sausage mixture generously on each half until you've used it all up. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes and then enjoy!

Esquites (aka Mexican Corn Salad)

We all loved this Mexican Corn Salad recipe. The only problem is that I didn't make enough the first time so this is the recipe doubled for future reference. I didn't double the lime juice though because I thought it was a little too intense on the original recipe. 

Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 4 cans corn, drained or 4 ears fresh corn cut off cob
• 1/2 Jalapeno seeded and diced
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (or half greek yogurt, half Mayo)
• 2 clove of garlic, minced or 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1 handful cilantro, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• 4 Tablespoons Cojita cheese (or Mexican blend cheese)
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder to taste
• 2 avocados, diced

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add corn and allow it to char on the bottom of the pan, then stir and char one more time.
3. Add jalapeno, mix and remove from heat.
4. Place corn mixture into a bowl and add mayonnaise, garlic, green onions, cilantro, lime juice, cheese, chili powder and avocado.
5. Gently fold ingredients until mixed through.
6. Serve warm or chilled, your choice. I like them both!

Beef Empanadas

These were a yummy, easy dinner to make, though I will admit it took me a few tries to fold the edges of the pie crust together and make them look halfway decent! I doubled the recipe for my family of 6 and we ended up having some leftovers but not a lot. I froze the extras because we were headed out of town and I wanted to see if they would make a good freezer meal. They froze okay, but I probably won't do it again. I found them on http://numstheword.com/easy-beef-empanadas/ and I made the Esquitas corn salad that's also mentioned on that website. It was a huge hit with all of us!

Ingredients

• 1 package of pre-made pie crust (2 rolls)
• 1 Tablespoon of oil
• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1/4 cup diced onions
• 1/2 medium diced bell pepper, any color
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili pepper
• 1 cup Mexican blended cheese
• 1 egg

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375*
2. Combine bell pepper, onion, garlic and oil and saute 3 minutes over medium heat.
3. Add hamburger, cumin and chili pepper to the pan and cook until meat is cooked through.
4. Set pan aside and let cool.
5. While meat mixture is cooling, roll out pie crust.
6. Using a bowl or large circle cutter, cut out 6" round discs from pie crust. You should be able to get 3 from each crust making 6 total with a 7th created out of the leftover dough rolled out.
7. Place 2 - 3 Tablespoons of mixture in the center of each pie disc.
8. Top with cheese.
9. Fold over and seal edges with a fork.
10. Place Empanadas on a cookie sheet.
11. Whisk egg and brush on to tops of each Empanada.
12. Bake in oven for 15 - 20 minutes.

Key Lime Pie Muddy Buddies

This summer I've been trying out lots of different snack recipes since my kids are out of school and always wanting a tasty treat. I really liked these Key Lime Pie Muddy Buddies, especially the graham cracker pieces! I did try to double the recipe because this seemed kinda small for my 6 member family, but I wouldn't recommend it because they do start to get a little soggy/soft by the next day. So it's probably best to just make what you'll eat right away. 

Ingredients

1 c powdered sugar

4 c of your favorite Chex cereal

About 1 c (about four rectangular sheets) graham crackers broken into pieces similar in size to the Chex (see Note)

1½ c white chocolate chips

2 T unsalted butter

1 t vanilla

2 t lime zest

1 T lime juice

Instructions

1. Place powdered sugar in a large zip top plastic bag and set aside.
2. Gently toss together the Chex and graham cracker pieces in a large bowl.
3. Combine the white chocolate chips, butter, vanilla, lime zest and lime juice in a bowl and gently melt in the microwave or over a double boiler. If doing it in the microwave, use 50% power and stir every 15-30 second until melted. It may look slightly thick and clumpy.
4. Pour chocolate mixture over the Chex mixture and gently stir and toss until fully coated, breaking up any large clumps that may form.
5. Transfer the cereal mixture to the plastic bag with the powdered sugar seal and toss until fully coated.
6. Pour out onto a sheet pan lined with a nonstick baking mat or wax paper and allow to cool and harden.
7. Store in an airtight container.