Mexican Salad

Wow has it been a while since I have posted!  I took the summer off while traveling and hanging out with my kids. Then I decided to put a little craftiness to use and start a little business of making some really neat baby blankets and other baby inspired items.  It turns out the Cooking Mommy can sew a little too!  So after you read this please check out OneforSAM on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/OneforSAM and see what it is all about. Sorry, shameless plug, but I had to get it in there.

So without further wait, FINALLY, I am going to share the infamous Mexican Salad!!  I know some of you may have no idea what I am talking about, but for those of you who have had it you know what I mean!  This is the stuff I crave all the time. It is great for when you have a lot of mouths to feed.  It is by no means the most healthy eats in the world (so all you health nuts are going to have to deal lol). I have to thank my dear friend Dana (Hawley) Jagger for introducing me to this amazing recipe.

So, I start by chopping up all my fresh ingredients. Layer them up in a large bowl. I mean a very large bowl, this recipe makes a TON! Once the Lettuce, Tomatoes, Green Onion are layered in the bowl start browning the Beef. For those who like to be a little healthier, use ground Turkey as an alternative. I personally use turkey more often than not for this recipe. It makes me feel a little more health conscious and it actually tastes great in it LOL.
Now when browning the meat throw in the drained Kidney Beans when the meat is close to being done.  I never put the Kidney Beans in when I make Mexican Salad because only my oldest daughter, E, likes them. So if you are like me, nix those from the recipe. While the meat and beans are finishing layer the shredded cheese on top of the salad. Then you want to do the funnest part of the recipe... crush the Doritos of course! Your kids may like this part so ask them to join in. Just smash the bag until you can feel all the chips are crushed into very small pieces.
Now that the meat is done and drained, layer that on top of the cheese. This is important because the hot meat will melt into the cheese. Makes it tastier. Now layer the crushed Doritos on top of the meat. Here comes the "secret" ingredient...Marzetti's Country French Dressing!

Pour the entire bottle over the salad and mix!  If you like that extra zing add the splashes of Tabasco now. If not blend and serve. This makes a mountain of a salad so you will want to have this on a night when you have guests. Or if you have a big family, a night when everyone is home.
 
**Note: If you cannot find the Marzetti's dressing (I can only seem to find it in Ohio) use a creamy french in any other variety. Also, when crushing the chips it helps to pop the bag so you don't have a huge air bubble while trying to smash them.

So here are the things you will need:

Large Bowl
1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
1 Head of Lettuce
2 decent sized Tomatoes, diced
1 bunch of Green Onion, chopped
1 package of Shredded Cheese (I use the Mexican Blend)
1 bag Spicy Nacho Doritos (you can use regular Nacho Doritos if you don't want the spice)
1 can of Kidney Beans, drained and fried in with the beef (this is optional)
A splash of Tabasco for those who like the extra kick
1-1 1/2 bottles of Marzetti's Country French Dressing **See note above**

Almost Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookies

A while back I set out on a mission to find the best Chocolate Chip cookies. I was sick of using the recipe on the back of the chips package. They always turned out flat and weird. So I set about the internet to find a good recipe. It didn't take long to find a recipe that would fit the bill of being the best chocolate chip cookies ever. However the recipe wanted all sorts of funny things like cake and bread flour, bittersweet chocolate chips, and sea salt. So originally I went out to find said products and found no cake flour in the Commissary (military base grocery store for all you non-military people.) I already had the sea salt, but was that really needed? I did find bread flour along with bittersweet chocolate chips (but I don't like how the bittersweet chips taste so we scratched that on the second batch.) I must admit up until this recipe I had no idea there were other flours besides the regular "all purpose" kind. Who knew?! 

I have made these quite a few times now and have amended the recipe to what is now the "Almost Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookie." I have to say thus far it is the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever had even over Mrs. Fields! 

**Special note: This is a plan ahead dough as you want to leave at least 24 hours for the dough to sit in the refrigerator and "chill".

What you need:

2 Cups minus 2 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
1 2/3 Cups Bread Flour
1 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
2 1/2 Sticks of Butter unsalted (1 1/4 cups, softened)
1 1/4 Cups Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
2 Large Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Bag of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 Bag Dark Chocolate Chips
Flour sifter
Kitchen scale (if you don't have one you can wing it)
Parchment Paper

Start by adding the following together: Bread Flour, All Purpose Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder and Salt. Once you have added this together sift these ingredients with the sifter. Set this aside.

In your mixing bowl add your softened butter, Brown Sugar, and Granulated Sugar. Mix until smooth. Add Eggs one at a time and mix in well. Add Vanilla Extract.  Once all your wet ingredients are mixed together well you can start adding the dry ingredients. Slowly add the flour mixture letting the flour mix in well before adding more. Your mixer will be working hard by the time you get to the end of the flour mixture. But it should be able to get through the thickness.

Once you have the dough nicely mixed take the bowl away from the mixer and add both packages of chocolate chips. Stir in by hand with a spatula. I love the blend of the Semi Sweet and Dark Chocolate Chips. They make the cookie sweet but not too sweet!

Once you have everything mixed together place a piece of plastic wrap over the dough. Make sure you push the wrap down onto the dough and not just over the bowl or the dough could dry out.

Now the secret to making these cookies bake up well!  Put the dough in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. The dough will stay and can be used for up to 72 hours after making it. I have found this step is key to having your cookies come out plump and gewy in the middle.

24 hours later pre heat your oven to 350 degrees, break out the dough from the fridge and start rolling balls. This cookie needs to be hand rolled into balls that weigh about 3 1/2 ounces or about the size between a golf ball and a small baseball. A good way to measure if you don't have a scale is it fits well in the palm of your hand.

Once you have the perfect ball place it on a Parchment Paper lined baking sheet. You should get about 6 cookies each baking sheet. With your oven at 350 degrees, place your pan on the middle rack and bake for 18 to 22 minutes. I look for a nice golden color on the tops of the cookies to know they are done. That gives them the nice gewy center but a lightly crisp shell. They can be a little too gewy and not quite done if you don't let them get just ever so golden.

Once they are out of the oven you can serve after cooling for a few minutes. They are quite honestly the BEST right out of the oven. When I made them the last time I took some wax paper and wrapped them like a sandwich and used to masking tape to secure them. Put them on a tray and brought them to our Community Group. I feel a little gourmet with these cookies because they are so big and delicious that they remind me of a cookie I would get from a specialty shop. Best part is I made them in my own kitchen!

Enjoy!

** Note: The base for this recipe before I tweaked it was taken from the Tidy Mom Blog.

Taco Lasagna (Easy Style)

I know you thought for a second this would be a Mexican Salad Tutorial. Don't worry it's coming!  But for now I share with you our Mexican Monday meal, Taco Lasagna!  This meal was quick, easy and yummy good!  Thanks to Old El Paso and Taco Bell for giving me the basis for my great idea.  Have you ever had a crunch wrap supreme from Taco Bell? By far my favorite Taco Bell offering! Well this is my semi homemade rendition of that using a kit and some other add ins.

First you need a few things:
Old El Paso Soft Taco Bake Dinner Kit
1lb Ground Beef or Turkey (I use Turkey)
Shredded Cheese (Mexican Mix, Colby Jack or Cheddar)
Tortilla Chips (I used bite sized but I think Restaurant Style would be best)
Sour Cream
Tomato 
Lettuce
**If you don't want to or can't find the kit you can buy flour tortillas, taco seasoning and a jar of queso cheese sauce separately.

Follow the instructions per the box on making the taco meat mixture. Once that is made start layering in your baking dish (9x9) with a flour tortilla. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of the tortilla until you have a nice layer of cheese. Then take a few Tortilla Chips and position them on top of the cheese making a layer one chip thick. Once your chip layer is on add some of your meat mixture (about 1/4 of the mixture).

Next, you want to "butter" the back of your next flour tortilla with sour cream. Just enough to make a thin layer across.

Lay this sour cream side down on the meat mixture.  Repeat this process until you get to the last flour tortilla. Use remaining meat mixture on the top flour tortilla. Once you have the meat on open your packet of squeeze cheese (or queso cheese if you aren't using the kit) and spread around the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Once you take it out of the oven let it stand for a few minutes while you chop up some tomato and lettuce. Sprinkle on top and serve!  

I really enjoyed this dish because I like both the hard and the soft shell taco. It makes enough to feed my family and because it is not too spicy the kids will eat it too.  Someday I may even get a little crazy and try it with Doritos inside! 

Everything but the Dough Dip

Ever wondered what to do with the half bag of left over chocolate chips, holiday candy, or the not even a full serving of oatmeal sitting in your cupboards?  Well this recipe will help with that. I found the original recipe on skiptomylou.org under Monster Cookie Dough Dip. Great recipe, but I have changed it up a bit to incorporate all my "left overs". I call it my "Everything but the Dough" Dip, since to me we are leaving the dough (flour and such) out.

My oldest daughter, E, and I made this together the other day for our Community Group snack. She was so excited about it she made this as her "How To..." presentation for her first grade class. She thinks this is the best thing ever! And of course, ever so easy!

First things first, make sure your butter and cream cheese are softened. That is 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter and 8 oz of cream cheese. Add those with the 1 cup of peanut butter in a mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer until smooth. ** 1 stick of butter is a lot in this recipe, I would recommend using 1/2 a stick, otherwise you can taste the butter a little too much**

Next, add in 1 cup powdered sugar, 3 Tbsp Brown Sugar and 1 tsp. of Vanilla Extract. Continue to beat with the mixer until smooth. Once mixed well stir in your "left overs." In my case I had 1 cup of oats (I used whole but quick oats work too), 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, M&M's left over from Valentines Day (hence the pink and red) and coconut about 1/2 cup.

This makes a great bowl full of fun. You can mix up the base for this dip and add any ingredients you think would taste great together. Maybe some Reese Pieces and Crunched up Butterfinger Bars or Heath Bar? Or make it more of a Trail Mix Dip and add Raisins, Nuts and Coconut with the M&M's.  I think I may have to try that next! The great part is once you get the base the possibilities are endless!  Be creative!!  It also gives your kids the opportunity to put their favorite treats into one. I know my kids like that second best to actually eating it. You can serve this with Graham Cracker quarters, sticks or even pretzels.

Everything but the Dough Dip 

1 Stick of Butter **I use 1/2 stick**
8 oz of Cream Cheese
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Powdered Sugar
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Chocolate Chips (or a mixture of mini's and regular or whatever you have)
1 Cup M&M's (Or a Cup of any candy pieces you like)
1 Cup Oats (any kind)
At this point the rest is up to you and your imagination!
Suggestions: Crunched up Nuts, Coconut, Raisins, Craisins, Mint Chocolate Chips or Andes Mints crunched up, Heath Bar, the list goes on and on!

Welcome!

Welcome to The Cooking Mommy's Blog! I am a stay at home military wife and mother of 3/4 (three of my own and one I inherited with marriage, hence 3/4.)  Our house is very busy so meals do not come gourmet style. I mean, how many kids do you know that eat gourmet food? My oldest, E, will eat just about anything, but she is an exception to the rule for sure! "I don't like that" is a common phrase from our kids, so finding food that appeases everyone (or at least most of them), on a budget, and is easy to make is "fun" (insert sarcasm here.)
With this blog I will share some great, easy, mostly kid likable recipes via video blog and notes to you with pictures. On occasion I may throw a craft idea or a mommy tip or two in there as well. After all, The Cooking Mommy can "cook up" a mean craft now and then (sorry for the lame pun LOL) and may have something smart to say too. tay tuned for the yummy goodness to come and don't forget to leave me a comment for suggestions for future blogs and how you liked the recipes!

The Cooking Mommy