Oatmeal and M&M cookies

What do you do with the large bag of M&M you received for Christmas? Make cookies, of course!

I tried out a new recipe I found, but I modified it so much, I'm going to claim this one as my own. :)

Starts with butter and ends with M&Ms. What could go wrong?

Oh yeah! We have two friends that have egg allergies, so I substituted flax meal instead. (FYI: 1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp of water = 1 egg)

Oatmeal and M&M Cookies

1 C butter, room temperature

1 C sugar

1 C brown sugar

2 tbsp flax meal

6 tbsp water

3 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 C flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 C quick cooking oats

2 C M&Ms

Cream Butter, brown sugar, sugar.

Add in vanilla and combine.

Mix flax meal and water in a separate bowl then pour into dough and mix.

Add in flour, salt, soda, and cinnamon. Mix until just combined.

Add in oats and M&Ms. Mix gently.

Scoop out onto a Silpat on a perforated baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 9 1/2 - 10 minutes.

Heck, make these for Valentines day and any other time you end up with an extra large bag of holiday M&Ms. They're that good!

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

1 Pie Crust (top and bottom)

1/2 C butter

1/2 C flour

3 C chicken broth

3 C cooked chicken, chopped

1 1/2 C mushrooms, sliced

1/2 onion, diced

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 potatoes, diced

1/2 C frozen peas

salt and pepper

In a sauce pan saute onions, potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms until slightly tender.

Add in celery and stir.

In a separate sauce pan melt butter, add in flour. Stir.

Add in broth until combined and boil until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

Combine vegetable mixture, sauce, chicken and peas.

Place one pie crust into the Pie Mold and cover with pot pie mixture.

Cover with second pie crust.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Let cool slightly before serving.

After Christmas Sale! (December 23-30)

Mint Brownies

Delicious. Minty. Chocolaty.

Start with you basic brownie recipe, or heck, use a boxed brownie mix if you want.

Cream 1/2 C butter, add it 2 C powdered sugar, a teaspoon of peppermint extract and a dab of green food coloring (if you'd like).

Smear the minty goodness over the cooled brownies.

Melt 1 C chocolate chips with 6 tbsp of butter in a double boiler.

Pour it over the minty mixture that is on top of the brownie goodness.

Cool, cut, enjoy!

Crunchy Nutella Brownies

Do you love chocolate?

Do you love the chocolate hazelnut spread otherwise known as Nutella?

Do you love simple recipes?

If you answered yes to any or all of these, I've got a recipe for you!

Crunchy Nutella Brownies

For the brownie:

1 C chocolate chips

1 stick of butter, cut into pieces

1 3/4 C sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 C flour

In a double boiler melt the chocolate and butter. Add in the sugar, and vanilla and beat in the eggs. Mix in flour and dump into the grande mold. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Crunchy Nutella layer:

1 1/2 C chocolate chips

1 C Nutella

1 tbsp butter

1 1/2 C rice cereal

In a double boiler melt chocolate, Nutella and butter. Fold in rice cereal and spread over semi cooled brownies. Let brownies set and cool all the way before cutting.

Borrowed from La Casa de Sweets

Peppermint Bark

2 bags of vanilla melts...

a Demarle mold....

or two...

a box of candy canes (broken to bits) and a splash of peppermint extract...

and a bit of fridge (15 minutes) or freezer (5-10 minutes) time...

add a cute holiday cellophane bag and you have a delicious treat for friends or family!

Stuffed Shells

Stuffed Shells

1 lb sausage

1/2 onion, chopped

15 oz container Ricotta

1 C cottage cheese

2 eggs

1/4 tsp. salt

pepper

1 tsp. Rosemary, Basil and Thyme Demarle Herb blend

12 oz box jumbo shells

4 C marinara sauce

1 C. Parmesan

2 C. Mozzarella

Boil shells to directions on box, or until 3/4 of the way cooked, set aside cool.

In large pan brown sausage, add onion, set aside to cool.

In bowl combine, Ricotta, cottage cheese, egg, herb blend, Parmesan, salt and pepper

Add sausage and onion to cheese mixture. Using the green Demarle spoon, stuff a scoop into each shell and place in Sunflower or flower mold coated with marinara sauce. Once shells are stuffed, layer with remaining sauce and top with Mozzarella. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.