Tuesday, February 24, 2009

TWD: Caramel Crunch Bars


These are good, very good. From the moment I saw this recipe I knew there was a good chance that I was going to like these, and I was right.

The are incredibly tasty. I thought the cookie crust was so good and the chocolate layer was the perfect compliment. I ended up using caramel bits on these as I had some in the pantry, and they added a great flavor.


I will definitely be making these again. They are a perfect dessert or snack to have around, as a little goes a long way.

Whitney of What's Left on the Table picked these. Check out her blog and the TWD bloggers to see what everyone thought of these.

Caramel Crunch Bars from Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 112-113.




Friday, February 20, 2009

A Quick Chicken and Dumpling


I feel I must admit this: I used to be a Jessica Simpson fan. There, I feel better now. When she first came out I ate up every song she put out. I Wanna Love You Forever? Screeched along at the top of my lungs. Where You Are? Voted for the video on TRL.... a lot.

But I outgrew my Jessica Simpson phase. You can only laugh along with stupid questions for so long, attempt to sing along to high, warbly notes so many times. So I was a little hesitant when I saw that this chicken and dumpling recipe was from her. Seriously? Ms. Is This Chicken or Fish was cooking on Ms. I Do So Many Shows I Have No Voice's show? Alrighty.

But yet it kept getting rave reviews and it did sound good, so I decided to give it a try.

And I'm so glad I did! This recipe is quick, super easy, and pretty economical. And the leftovers are incredible. I highly recommend this recipe to anyone after a tasty, comforting recipe for a cold night. I promise, it's good!




Jessica Simpson's Chicken and Dumplings
3 Containers Crescent Rolls
1 Small Rotisserie Chicken, skin off and off the bone
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Cup Chicken Broth

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out and separate the cans of rolls. Put a small amount of chicken in a crescent, roll up, press end into roll and place seam side down in 9 x 13 pan. Repeat until all chicken is used.
Cut up rest of rolls into strips and set aside.

Mix the 2 cans of soup and broth, pour evenly over the chicken and crescents.

Place strips over the mixture to make a crust.

Cook until top is brown and mixture is bubbly and tender, around 30 minutes.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Vegetable Soup


Growing up I never really liked vegetable soup, mainly because I didn't really like vegetables. But now that I'm older, and had really good vegetable soup a few times, I actually have started to like it. And even more surprisingly, I've even started to crave it. So when Doug mentioned that it sounded good to him too I decided that it was time I try my hand at this classic dish.

I found a recipe that sounded really good on Sweet Savory Southern and decided to run with it. The only changes I made to this recipe was to double it and add a half cup of water to get the consistency that I wanted. This was because I wanted a slightly thinner consistency, but you can add as much or as little as you want to hit your perfect consistency. Doubling this gave us the perfect amount for dinner and a few days of leftovers.

This soup is perfect for a nice cold day like the ones we've been having recently, so give it a try!


Vegetable Soup

1/2 large white onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
8 oz beef broth
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
2 1/2-3 cups mixed vegetables I used 2 small bags of frozen peas, carrots, corn, and green beans

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add chopped onion and cook for about 5 min. Add beef broth and canned tomatoes. Next add the mixed vegetables. Add seasonings and stir to combine. Add water to achieve desired consistency. Cover and simmer on low for about 35-45 min, stirring occasionally.

These are the directions for a single batch (except for the note about the vegetables). I doubled this.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

TWD: World Peace Cookies


So sorry for the lack of TWD posts, Doug and I decided that it would be fun to each spend a huge chunk of January being sick. It was so much fun, each of us taking turns either feeling horrible or trying to take care of the other one. But we're both better now and I'm really excited for this month's recipes.

I was really excited to try these cookies since they're chocolate (yum) and had some rave reviews online. I was really happy with how quickly the dough came together. When I went to cut them they crumbled a little bit but were easy to put back together. The cookies have a nice flavor but got hard very quickly, and I don't really like hard cookies so that bummed me out.
Overall these are a good cookie and I will probably try them again soon.
This recipe was picked by Jessica of cookbookhabit, make sure to check out her blog. And make sure to check out the other TWD bakers.

World Peace Cookies from Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan, pages 138-139.