Celebrating Chocolate Chips

It's National Chocolate Chip Day.

A view of my own private stash...

At least it is according to Facebook, so it must be true, right?

Have I ever told you that I think chocolate chips should be a food group?

No, well I've thought it before.

To celebrate I decided to share some of my favorite recipes from this blog that have featured chocolate chips. 

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chocolate Chip Pie

Sweet and Saltines Candy

Zinfandel Cupcakes

Buckeye Brownies

Pantry Cooking Pinterest Style

Source: Uploaded by user via Megan on Pinterest

Well, I had no bacon in the house but I did have the ingredients for a dish on Pinterest that I have had my eye for quite a while. Unfortunately, I took NO pictures of it (though it isn't the most eye-appealing dish)...hence the photo above...had to have some visual on here.

Have you seen this pin?

Luckily, I had all of the ingredients in my pantry and freezer to put this together on Sunday morning. I love when a plan comes together!

Mel over at The Larson Lingo shared this recipe on her blog and admitted that it doesn't really have a name. I'll call it Slow-Cooked Salsa-Style Chicken...be sure to go to Mel's blog to see the final product.

Here are the directions. Believe me you need to try this. I served it over rice and it was delicious. I had leftovers tonight and it was as good (or better) than yesterday's serving.

Slow-Cooked Salsa-Style Chicken

Bag of frozen chicken thighs (2.5-3 lbs.) - could use chicken tenderloins or breasts
8 oz. cream cheese
Can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
Can of corn (drained)
Can of seasoned diced tomatoes (I used Red Gold's Lime and Cilantro Petite Diced Tomatoes - GO Indiana company - but you could use a store brand or Rotel.)

Place chicken into the crock pot (I always use the plastic liners...clean up is so much easier.) and top with cream cheese. Add the black beans, corn and tomatoes. Put the lid on and cook on slow for 6-8 hours.

Stir every two hours...it looks very bland but don't let that worry you!

Mine was done at 6 hours...assuming all crock pots are a bit different. When chicken is done, turn off the crock pot and let set for 30-45 minutes to allow it to thicken.

Serve over rice or whatever you want! I served peas with the meal and ended up mixing them with the chicken and it was yummy.

I'm very excited that the recipe lived up to the hype on Pinterest!

If you want to see some of the other recipes that I've tried from Pinterest...check out my "Recipes I've Tried" board.

Linking to Beyer Beware's Hunk of Meat Monday linky party. Be sure to check out here 3 Cheese Baked Spaghetti...yummy!

Loving My Pinterest Waffles

Woo Hoo!

via

That's right...I tried one of the recipes that I pinned. 

For full disclosure, it isn't so much a recipe as an alternative cooking method of a favorite breakfast food.

via

That's right...cinnamon rolls in the waffle maker.

One word...GENIUS!

Just heat up your standard Belgian waffle maker and coat with some cooking spray.

Grab a roll of basic cinnamon rolls from the fridge.

Place a cinnamon roll on each of the sections and close the lid - pressing down lightly.

Let them cook for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes and that's it.

Use the frosting that is included with the rolls...

Or use maple syrup.

I liked them both and suggest you try them both ways!

Maybe I'll try one of my pinned recipes with more than one ingredient next time.

Christmas Kitchen Cookbook Giveaway

Since the end of May I've been fixing recipes from Gooseberry Patch's Christmas Kitchen cookbook.

This was done in anticipation of a giveaway of this cookbook right here on my blog as part of the In the Kitchen project between the Real Farmwives of America and Gooseberry Patch. And, yes, it's a brand-new copy - NOT the one I cooked from, promise!


In case you missed one, here is a round-up of my 10 recipes:


Recipe 1: Quick Cheese Bread
Recipe 2: Grandma's Butter Cookies
Recipe 3: Cheesy Potato Puffs
Recipe 4: Baked Ziti Supreme
Recipe 5: Cheesy Garlic Biscuits
Recipe 6: Cream Cheese Candy
Recipes 7 and 8: Tina's Creamy Bacon Crescents and Scrambled Eggs in Toast Cups
Recipe 9: Hot Cinnamon Twisters
Recipe 10: Chicken, Spinach and Bows Casserole


Big Thanks to Gooseberry Patch!

So with no further ado, let's get down to business.

There are LOTS of ways to enter to win. You don't have to use them all, just do the ones you want. Just make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Follow Gal in the Middle through Google Friend Connect (GFC) (right sidebar).

2. Subscribe to us via email (right sidebar).

5. Subscribe to our feed (right sidebar).

6. Check out The Real Farmwives of America and Friends and follow through GFC. 

7. "Like" The Real Farmwives of America and Friends on Facebook.

8. Follow @realfarmwives on Twitter.

9. "Like" Gooseberry Patch on Facebook.

10. Comment on Gooseberry Patch's Blog or Facebook Page and tell them Megan from Gal in the Middle sent you.

11. Follow @gooseberrypatch on Twitter.

12. Tweet about this contest and include @realfarmwives and @gooseberrypatch in your tweet.

13.  Join the Gooseberry Patch Circle of Friends email club.  

14.  Share this giveaway on your Facebook page and tag The Real Farmwives of America and Friends, and Gooseberry Patch in your post.

15. EXTRA SPECIAL ENTRY: I just started my own Facebook Fan Page - Gal in the Middle - so go over and like it and let me know in a comment and get an extra entry!  

Contest ends 9 PM EDT on July 31st and the winner will be selected at random. The winner must live in the continental U.S.  


Special thanks to Gooseberry Patch for providing me with this great cookbook to try and share with you. If you would like to purchase this or other cookbooks, please visit their store. If you would like to see other great recipes, check out www.realfarmwivesofamerica.com.

Pizza Batter Bread and a Challenge

I'm participating in Ott,A's Iron Chef Challenge again this month (BTW...I won her milk challenge!) and the sponsor is King Arthur Flour.

I chose King Arthur's Unbleached Bread Flour so I could test my bread-making skills! It's been years since I've done any serious yeast baking. When doing a bit of research on what King Arthur flour I wanted to use, I found out that the higher the protein level in the flour, the stronger the rise...King Arthur bread flour has a higher protein level than most brands. Check out more nutritional information about the flour here.

I was tempted to mix up the Cheddar-Stuffed Crusty Loaves from the recipe on the back of the package...yummy.

But, I decided to mix up a loaf of Pizza Batter Bread from the local extension homemaker cookbook. This cookbook features recipes from local women and 4-H members and I have had great luck with the ones I've made before. This one was no exception, two thumbs up from the family.

Here are the ingredients...

I didn't snap many photos of the dough in process...but I did get this one of the dry ingredients...flour, spices and yeast!

Here's the "soft dough" before I set it in a warm place to rise.

Once it doubled in size, I stirred it and placed it in a bread pan to double in size again before baking.

It turned out great! I took it to a pitch-in at my mom's on Sunday night and it was well-received!

Here's the recipe:

Pizza Batter Bread
3 c. flour (I used unbleached bread flour from King Arthur.)
1 pkg. yeast
1/2 t. dried oregano (I used Italian seasoning.)
1/4 t. garlic powder
1 1/4 c. water
2 T. butter
1 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1/4 c. finely chopped pepperoni

In mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of flour, yeast, oregano and garlic powder.

In saucepan, heat water, butter, sugar and salt just until water is warm, stirring to melt butter. Add to dry mixture in mixing bowl. Beat at low speed for 1/2 minute, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat at high speed for 3 minutes.

By hand, stir in pepperoni and enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough. Cover, let rise in warm place until double, 45 to 60 minutes. Stir dough down. Spread evenly in greased 9 x 5 x 3-inch pan. Let rise until double, about 30 minutes.

Bake in 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from pan: cool on rack. Makes 1 loaf.

Check out the other Iron Chef Challenge entries here.

King Arthur provided me with a coupon for a free sack of flour. But the opinions and thoughts expressed in this post are all mine, of course!

Gal Pals + Food + Fun = Girls Weekend!

For the last couple of years, my gal pals over at Going Jane and Bathtub Mama and I have been getting together at least once a year (maybe twice if we can swing it) to shop, scrapbook, talk and generally laugh our butts off at a Girls Weekend (GW).

Last year we TRIED to re-live our college days with a little too much rum, lots of chocolate, and some late-night crank calls to the hubbies (theirs, not my imaginary guy - he never answered). Unfortunately we re-lived the bad, as well as the good. WARNING: Never, ever drink rum from a Listerine bottle. Trust me on this one!

This time the gals are each bringing their daughters so there will probably be a little less re-living of the glory years, but still lots of fun.

Basically, I live smack dab in the middle - a four-hour drive for each - so this year GW is rocking my place.

Right now, I'm channeling the Pointer Sisters..."I'm So Excited and I Just Can't Hide It!!" (Imagine me singing and dancing through the house. OK, maybe you shouldn't.)

I already have some of our weekend planned.

Last GW just happened to fall while New Moon was in theaters. Since the new Twilight movie - Eclipse - won't be out until NEXT weekend, we have to fill our time with other activities.

I do have some movie theater gift certificates that I got a rockin' deal on recently at CVS and Toy Story 3 is in theaters so maybe we'll trade Edward and Jacob for Woody and Buzz.

Or there's always Redbox (I heart Redbox, as they say over at GOODEness Gracious) where we could go with Remember Me and still get our Edward fix!

In non-movie news...I was totally excited to learn that one of Bathtub Mama's and my favorite haunts when she's up from her southern home is having a monster of a sale this weekend! Half Price Books is having a huge clearance sale at the state fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday and we are SOOO there. Everything is under $3. Awesome.

Add in some swimming time and all that left is figuring out how we'll feed ourselves!

I've been drooling over a multitude of recipes in the blogsphere and have decided to attempt at least one or two this weekend.

First, I've stocked up on biscuits so we can gorge ourselves on Going Jane's strawberry freezer jam. I'm also going to attempt a variation of The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon toast with English Muffins - an ode to my days out East. I also have a wide variety of cereals that I have gotten for a steal so we are good to go for breakfast.

I'm taking advantage of the homegrown ground beef (hamburger) in the freezer and doing tacos or spaghetti or maybe loaded nachos...dishes the wee ones will enjoy as much as we will.

For dessert, I've been craving these Grasshopper Cupcakes over at Sumo's Sweet Stuff since I joined the Cupcake Carnival earlier this week!

Of course, it wouldn't be a weekend visit to my house without going out at least once (usually more than that). Bathtub Mama and I always hit Ruby Tuesday's for their delish salad bar and I have a coupon so here we come.

I'm sure some Malibu will find its way into our Diet Cokes & Coke Zeros so maybe, just maybe, there will be some dancing as well..."to the windows, to the walls."