Simple and delicious Peanut Butter Cookies!

While flipping through a foodie magazine I found one of those 5 ingredient or less recipes and it was for a cookie. 2 things crossed my mind:

Are they good?
How many points can these be?

So I was off for the challenge.

What ya need

1 cup of Peanut Butter (creamy or chunky)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large Egg
3/4 tsp baking soda



What to do

Heat oven to 350 degrees

spray or line your cookie sheets

beat all ingredients until fully mixed

drop level teaspoons of dough onto cookie sheets and bake 8 - 10 minutes until they start to brown around the edges. transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

YUMMMMMMMMY!!!!!

Smothered Pork Chops

Wow Last week got away from me and I just realized I didnt post much of anything. I am so sorry. However I did make my yummy Smothered Pork Chops this week but forgot to take pictures. I will post the recipe and will post pics the next time I make it.

This is a Weight Watchers recipe: 6pts without the rice 9 pts with

What ya need

2 clove(s) (large) garlic clove(s), smashed  

1 pound(s) lean boneless pork chop, four 4 oz chops,

washed, patted dry  

1 tsp table salt, divided  

1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, divided  

4 spray(s) cooking spray, divided  

1 Tbsp olive oil, divided  

1 large onion(s), Spanish-variety, cut in half and thinly sliced  

3 medium sweet red pepper(s), or a variety of bell peppers, thinly sliced  

1/2 cup(s) uncooked white rice, long-grain, rinsed and drained  

28 oz canned crushed tomatoes   

Instructions

    * Rub garlic all over pork; reserve garlic. Next, rub 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper all over pork.

    * Coat a large heavy pan with cooking spray; set over medium-high heat. When pan is hot, sear pork chops until nicely browned, about 2 minutes per side; remove pork and set aside.

    * Off heat, coat pan again with cooking spray; add 1/2 tablespoon oil. Reduce heat to medium; add garlic and cook until garlic starts to turn golden and caramelize, about 1 to 2 minutes (do not allow garlic to burn). Add onions and sauté until onions turn translucent and become golden, scraping bottom of pan occasionally to incorporate drippings, about 10 minutes; remove onions and set aside.

    * Off heat, coat pan again with cooking spray; add remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil and set over medium heat. When hot, add peppers and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes; remove and set aside.

(Please read below for my alterations)

    * Add pork back to pan; top each pork chop with 2 tablespoons uncooked rice. Spoon tomatoes over pork; season with remaining 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Tightly cover pan, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes. Spoon peppers and onions over top and cover again; cook until rice is tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. 

Yields 1 pork chop and about 1 cup rice with vegetables per serving.

Notes

I prefer to not cook the rice in with my pork chops. I feel they never seem to cook fully while still leaving the pork chops moist. 

Dont forget to make a sweet for you sweets Nothing says love like Cupcakes

Orange Chinese 5 Spice Salmon

This is a recipe I found online and wanted to give it a try. I thought it has some good flavor. While cooking the sauce however I didnt find the glaze sweet enough so I did throw in about 2 tablespoons of sugar.

1 ½  cups orange juice

2 tbsp grated fresh ginger

¼ cup soy sauce

½ tsp pepper

1 tsp five spice powder

Few drops sesame oil

Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes before thickening with a slurry of 1 tsp corn starch dissolved in a little water.

Four 6 ounce salmon fillet portions, about 1 1/2 inches thick.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place the salmon fillets on a parchment lined baking sheet, season with salt and pepper and bake for about 15 minutes. 

At this point begin brushing the glaze on the salmon and returning it to the oven for a couple of minutes between coatings. about 3 times. You can always add more of the sauce to the fish when serving.

Planning this week

The sun is shining today in Alaska and we are off for a day to Homer. 

I have a few items Ill be making this week, I will post pics and recipes as i cook them. Here are a few things I have planned more to come:

Smothered Pork Chops

Orange Five Spice Salmon

Lemonade Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting

Lemonade Cupcakes with Raspberry Frosting

    1 cup butter, at room temperature

    2 cups sugar

    4 eggs

    1 tsp. vanilla

    3 cups all-purpose flour

    2 tsp. baking powder

    1/4 cup Lemonade Mix (such as Country Time)

    1/2 tsp. salt

    grated zest and juice of a lemon

    1 cup milk, divided

    Preheat oven to 375 F and line 24 muffin tins with paper liners.

    In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

    In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, lemonade mix and salt. Add to the butter mixture a third at a time, alternating with half the milk and half the lemon juice after each of the first 2 additions of flour. Beat until just combined.

    Fill the prepared tins and bake for 20 minutes, until springy to the touch. Tip the cupcakes in their tins to help them cool. Let cool completely before frosting. Makes 2 dozen.

    Fresh Raspberry Frosting

    1 cup fresh raspberries (or thawed from frozen)

    1 cup butter, at room temperature

    3 cups confectioners’ sugar

    In the bowl of a food processor, puree the raspberries until smooth. If you like, press the mixture through a sieve to get rid of the seeds.

    In a medium bowl, beat the butter and half the sugar until smooth. Add the raspberry puree, then more sugar until you have a fluffy, spreadable consistency. Add a splash of water, too (a tablespoon or two) if it needs it.

Chili Con Carne

No real measurements for this recipe but will try my hardest:

1 Lb Ground Beef
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 bell pepper chopped
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 can diced tomatoes undrained
3 cans Kidney Beans undrained
Chili Powder to taste
2 Bay Leaves
Pepper to Taste

In a Dutch Oven or Pot lightly coat with olive oil and saute your onion and bell pepper

Once it begins to become translucent add the ground beef, pepper and brown.

Once browned add remaining ingredients, stir together, cover and cook on low for 2 -4  hours.

 

Serve with Chopped Onion, Fritos, cheese and of course Corn Bread Muffins. 

 

Diet Brownies???

I know it sounds crazy or even gross....but they are GOOD!!! and EASY!!! All you need is two ingredients, one can of Diet Coke or Pepsi and a box of Brownie mix.

 Preheat Oven to 350 degrees, I sprayed a 13 x 9 dish with Pam
In a large bowl i mixed the brownie mix and the can of soda till thoroughly combined, the mixture will be runny, DONT WORRY :) cook in oven for 30 -35 minutes, may need more time, but check with a toothpick

Cool and Serve

You could top these with some fat free coolwhip or even some slow churned vanilla ice cream and dessert is served!

Oven Roasted Red Potatoes

To go with my BBQ'd chicken tonight Im making Roasted Red potatoes. I found this online and thought it sounded good. Will post pictures later

What you need

• 1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
• 2 pounds red potatoes, halved
• 1/3 cup olive oil

 How to cook them

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. In a large plastic bag, combine the soup mix, red potatoes and olive oil. Close bag, and shake until potatoes are fully covered.
3. Pour potatoes into a medium baking dish; bake 40 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally.