Hard Boiled Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yup, you read the title right. Chocolate chip cookies made with hard boiled eggs. I found the recipe on thegirlwhoateeverything.blogspot.com. Its a great way to get rid of your extra eggs from Easter and they taste great!

2 3/4 cups flour

1 cup butter, cut into small chunks

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced finely and chopped in a blender

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour and butter and beat until mixture is the texture of small crumbs. Add the salt and baking soda and beat until just combined. Add sugars, vanilla, and boiled eggs. Beat until mixture comes together. Add chocolate chips. Egg whites may still be visible in the dough but will disappear as the cookies bake. Place cookies on parchment lined baking sheets. Flatten balls of dough slightly with your hand. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned.

Also we will be having a giveaway next week so make sure to check back!

Strawberry Jelly Roll

I grew up eating and loving this, we always made this in the summer when the strawberries in the garden were ripe. It is so yummy. I had some strawberries from the summer in my freezer and they worked great too.

4 eggs

1 scant cup flour

1 cup sugar

2 T. warm water

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Beat eggs 5 minutes until thick and light colored. Gradually add sugar, beating 2 more minutes. Blend in water and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients. Bake in a jelly roll pan lined with wax or parchment paper which has been sprayed with Pam. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. When you take it out of the oven, sprinkle a dish towel with powdered sugar. Dump the cake on the dishtowel and peel off the paper. Roll it up in the dishtowel while still warm and leave it until cooled. Unroll and put the filling in and roll it back up and refrigerate.

Strawberry filling:

1/2 cup fresh strawberries (I used 1 cup more)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese

1 4 1/2 oz. cool whip

Crush berries, beat cheese, add sugar, fold in cool whip. Blend in Strawberries and spread on cake.

Homemade Marshmallows

These aren't the best pictures but I wanted you to see how to make the molds for the egg shaped marshmallows. The ones on the right I have frosted with melted chocolate chips so there isn't too much chocolate on them. The ones on the left I flavored with cherry and the chocolate ones are just vanilla. They were super easy to make and taste yummy!

Prepare molds for marshmallow eggs: Fill 3 or more 9x13 pans with about 3 cups of flour each (smooth and level). Make mold depressions in the flour with plastic eggs that you have stashed somewhere. Leave a depression as deep and smooth as possible.
Marshmallow filling: In a mixing bowl, dissolve 2 T of Knox unflavored gelatin in 6 T. cold water. I just let this sit while I was doing the molds and making the syrup. In a saucepan mix 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup water. Stir and dissolve the mixture over heat while bringing to a boil. Remove from heat once it barely starts to boil and pour over the softened gelatin. With a wire whisk stir until dissolved and mixed. Whip the mixture with an electric mixer (I used my kitchen aid) for about 5 minutes. Just before completely whipped add a dash of salt and your flavoring. Spoon mixture into molds until they are completely full. Work fast because this mixture sets up fast (about 10-15 minutes).
When it is set gently turn the eggs over so they are completely coated with flour. Then you can just eat them or dip them in chocolate.

Broccoli Cheddar Chowder

At a going away party for a friend of mine, I sampled this delicious soup and craved it for months until I finally asked my friend, Tara, for the recipe. We have now eaten it several times! YUMMY! For me, the best part is that it doesn’t have any Velveeta- I am not really a fan. Anyway it’s easy to make and super yummy! The kids even like it!

Broccoli Cheese Soup
4-5 cups cubed potatoes
2 cups diced carrots
1-2 cups chopped celery
1 cup onion, finely chopped
2 heads broccoli, chopped
Measurements don’t really matter with the veggies—just put in whatever. Simmer these in 2 ½ cups water for 7-8 mins, covered. Then add two bunches of broccoli and continue to cook until veggies are tender.
*It will seem like not very much water but don’t add more, you can always add more if the soup is too thick at the end, but you don’t want to have to fix a soup that’s too runny.
In a separate pan. . .
½ cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
5 cubes or tsp chicken bouillon
1 Tbsp mustard
½ tsp pepper
1lb cheddar cheese, grated (I just fill my IKEA grater)
Melt butter/margarine and add flour. Cook this while stirring for 1-2 minutes. Then add milk, bouillon, mustard & pepper. When it thickens add the cheese and stir to blend—do not let the mixture boil after this, it will get chunky.
Add sauce to the un-drained veggies and stir until thickened.
YUM!
If you are wondering about that incredible looking breadstick here is what I do:
Make one recipe of my pizza dough then I let it rise for a good 30 minutes. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle. On half of the dough(lengthwise) spread garlic butter and then sprinkle cheese (mozzarella and parm). Fold rectangle in half, completely covering butter and cheese. Take a pizza cutter and cut strips of dough lengthwise and then simply twist and place on a greased cookie sheet. Let rise for 30 mins and bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until golden brown. I honestly make soup so that I can eat breadsticks!

Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Syrup

I got this recipe from The cook next door. For this recipe you can use any fruit you like.

1 cup blackberries

1 cup strawberries

1 mango

zest of 1/2 lime

1 lime, juiced

3 Tbs honey

pinch of salt

Mix it all together and enjoy.

Broccoli Tomato Salad

So, this is an old family favorite. My mom made it for me as a kid and I have made it for my family for years. It is a real favorite. I usually triple the recipe when I make it so that is how I am going to post it here.

3 lb. broccoli, blanched (I buy the 3 lb. bag at Costco and use that, I usually cut it into bite size pieces)
2-3 tomatoes, diced
1/3 - 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Blanch the broccoli until you reach your desired doneness. Drain and run cold water over it until its cooled down. I run it through my salad spinner to get all the water out of it. Mix the mayonnaise, salt, pepper, onion and lemon juice together. Pour over the broccoli and mix well. Refrigerate until cold. Add tomatoes before serving.