Thursday, August 30, 2012

Funfetti sugar cookies




I doctored up my usual cake mix with a TON of additional sprinkles and a secret ingredient: butter emulsion. Butter emulsion is a more potent, highly concentrated version of butter extract, which you can find in the baking aisle next to the vanilla extract. It’s thicker, stronger and makes these cookies taste SO authentically cake-battery, sugary and totally rich and dreamy. 
Funfetti Sugar Cookies
1 box funfetti cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp butter extract
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
Additional 1/3 cup jimmies
Non-pareils, for garnish, if desired
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with silicone liners or spray lightly with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, oil and butter extract until blended. Fold in the white chocolate chips and additional jimmies.
3. Drop rounded Tablespoons of dough 2″ apart on the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle or roll in additional non-pareils, if desired. Bake for 8-10 minutes, rotating pans halfway through bake time to ensure even cooking. Mine took exactly 9 minutes. Cookies will appear slightly underdone–that’s okay, they’ll finish cooking on the rack. Cool 5 mins on the sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
4. Store leftover cookies airtight, at room temperature, for 3-4 days.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Southwestern Chicken and Rice Casserole with Cheese



Southwestern Chicken and Rice Casserole with Cheese


Southwestern Chicken, Cheese, and Rice Casserole

SO good! I will for SURE be making this again. It only took 5 minutes to put together and it was delicious!

Total Time: 50 Minutes. 5 min to prep, 45 to cook

Tonight I am trying this recipe. I looked on allrecipes.com and there were SOOO many chicken and rice casseroles. I have my own that I cook sometimes as well, but I wanted to try one with new flavors.

Ingredients:

1(10.75oz) can Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup
1 cup water
1 cup salsa (thick and chunky works better)
3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain rice (I just buy the dollar kind from wal-mart)1/4 Teaspoon onion powder
1/4 Teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup frozen corn (again, I LOVE the western family super sweet corn)
2-4 chicken breasts (I did 2, the recipe says you can do up to 4)
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend ( I all ready had medium cheddar, so I will use that)
How to Make: 
1. Stir soup, water, salsa, rice, onion powder, garlic powder, half of the cheese, and corn in a 12x8 shallow cooking dish

2. Top with chicken, you can season chicken how desired, I did lemon pepper

3. Back at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes or until chicken and rice are done. Top with the last of the cheese last 5 minutes so it will melt.

(Some people commented that they used bread crumbs on top. I am going to put on half of the casserole and see which half I like better)