Gooseberry Patch 25 Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes!

I thought I'd share this with you all. 

Who doesn't love 25 different ways to make chocolate chip cookies? LOL!

Enjoy!

25 Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes by Gooseberry Patch

Gluten Free!

I've known for a long time that we probably needed to go off gluten but hesitated because of the extra work it would put on me. But because a couple of family members seem to have a sensitivity and our doctor claims that gluten is to blame, I'm going to go ahead and give it a shot.

I made gluten free bread last night for the first time and it wasn't to bad at all.

The kids liked it so that's a plus right there.

I also went ahead and bought these books.

 

Click here to check it out.

And this ebook from Sheri Graham

Click here to check it out.

Since "baking" will be the biggest struggle with what to replace with what I thought I'd start there. 

And since I'm pretty much a "from scratch" cook the rest shouldn't be to hard.

So if you have any tips or advice for this little journey we're going on I'd be very much appreciative.

HUGS!

Rice Pudding!

It had been a LONG time since I made rice pudding and now that I've made it I wonder why!

I put my own twists on an old favorite. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Jasmine Rice (rinsed)

1 can coconut milk

2 large eggs and 4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup dried cherries

2 1/2 cups of milk ( I used 2%)

1 tsp. vanill

a

1/4 tsp. salt

cinnamon

Whipped Cream

1. Heat rice and coconut milk to boiling in a sauce pan, stirring once or twice; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 14 minutes or until done. Do not lift cover or stir. All milk should be absorbed.

2. Heat oven to 325

3. Beat eggs in an ungreased 2 quart casserole dish. Stir in sugar, dried cherries, milk, vanilla, salt and hot rice. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

4. Bake uncovered for 45 mins., stirring every 15 mins. (Overbaking may cause curdling)

5. Stir well; let stand 15 mins.

Serve warm or cover and refrigerate about 3 hours or until chilled.

Serve with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon on top!

Refrigerate any remaining dessert!

ENJOY!

EASY No-Bake Cookies!

I love easy, I love quick and I LOVE chocolate.
So this is the perfect cookie!

Ingredients:
I'm a kind of throw it in there until it looks right kind of gal so these are estimations.
1 3/4 cup of chocolate chips
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 stick of butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup of shredded coconut (optional)
2-3 cups of oatmeal (not instant)

Directions:
In a large saucepan, SLOWLY melt chocolate chips, milk and butter over low heat. (Don't rush this or chocolate will scorch and that's just nasty. (TRUST ME!)
When completely melted, bring to a slow boil and boil for one minute.
Remove from heat and add vanilla and mix well.
Add coconut and enough oatmeal to be able to mix up all the chocolate and cover the oatmeal.
You want to be able to drop by spoonfuls on wax paper. You don't want them runny.
Start with the 2 cups of oatmeal and slow add more as needed.
Drop by spoonfuls on wax paper that's been placed on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour or less. You want the cookie to set up nicely and this speeds it along.
We actually find that leaving them in the fridge makes them taste better and they hold up better.

You can let them set up on the counter but it takes longer and who wants to wait to eat chocolate? Not me!


ENJOY!

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup!

Grab your crock pots ladies, it's time to make one of the most delicious soups ever!

Crock-Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup!

Ingredients:

3 Stalks of celery, chopped
3 Carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small can of green chilies
1 15oz can of tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes with jalapenos (or without, your choice)
1 cup of frozen sweet corn
1 32 oz box of chicken broth
4 large chicken breasts (I use frozen)

Seasonings: (To be added at the end of cooking!)
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
2 tsp. Chili Powder
1 TBS. All Purpose Seasoning ( I use Spike)

Toppings:
Corn Chips, broken up
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1-2 Avacados, Chopped into bite size pieces
Cilantro, chopped


Directions:
Grab your crock pot and add just a dab of butter to the bottom. Turn it on low.

Then add your chopped veggies.

Next add your canned chilies, frozen corn, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes.

Place your chicken on top.

And then add your broth until just covering the chicken. May add water if one box isn't enough.
Turn the temp. to High and let cook for 4-5 hours or until chicken is cooked through.
Remove the chicken breasts and cut into bite size pieces and return to the crock pot.
Add your seasonings and mix well. Let cook for 10-15 more minutes.

Ladle into bowls and add toppings.
Don't skimp on the toppings, they make the soup!!

Serves 8-10

Enjoy!

Feel free to email me with any questions you might have with any recipe.

Roasted Potato Salad!

Oh have mercy. This potato salad was soooo good.
I got the idea from my good friend Lisa's food blog.
But then I had to go and add a few twists of my own.
Whether you're a mustard based person or a mayonnaise based person, I think you are going to love this.
Just in time for Summer BBQ's.

Ingredients:
3lb. Organic Potatoes of your choice. I used baking potatoes.
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2c. chopped onion
5TBS. Olive Oil
1/2 tsp. Thyme
1 TBS Rosemary
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

Dressing:
1/4-1/3 cup Mayo (low fat)
2 TBS. Balsamic Vinegar
1 TBS Mustard
1TBS Basil
Now you can use fresh herbs but I didn't have any on hand and it was still delicious.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut potatoes into chunks.
Place potatoes into a medium size bowl.
Add the Olive Oil - Black Pepper and combine evenly with the potatoes.
Place the potatoes onto a rimmed cookie sheet. Try not to have any overlapping so they can cook properly.
Cook for about 20-25 mins. Check to see if done by inserting a fork and it going in with out any effort. And the potatoes should be a bit brown from roasting.

Meanwhile combine your dressing ingredients.
When the potatoes are done cooking let sit till cooled.
Put in a bowl and add your dressing.
Chill and serve.
Actually this was good warm too.

ENJOY!

Yummy Chicken Marinade

I confess I didn't exactly measure everything but I had to write this down because I came up with this marinade and we just cooked the chicken on the grill and it was delicious.

Ingredients

1/2 cup White Wine

1/3 cup Olive Oil

2 TBS. Apple Cider Vinegar

2 TBS. Red Wine Vinegar

2TBS. Balsamic Vinegar

1 TBS. Lemon Juice

1tsp. Parsley

1tsp. Rosemary

1/2  tsp. Thyme

1 tsp. Basil

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. Black Pepper

Whisk all together and marinade your chicken for approximately 4 hours. 

You may adjust amounts to your taste. Like I said I really didn't measure anything but I think this is close.

Let me know if you try it.

Homemade Balsamic Dressing

Do you buy store bought dressing?
Yeah, I do too!

The main reason? Laziness. Yup, I'll admit it. Sometimes I just don't feel like making it from scratch. 

But I have to tell you that I made it from scratch yesterday and I have no excuse not to do it from here on out. It was sooo easy and so good. And not to mention better for you. You don't need to add all those extra preservatives!

Give it a try.

Ingredients:

 2 TBS. Balsamic Vinegar

1 TBS. Red Wine Vinegar

1 TBS. Yellow or Dijon Mustard

1 tsp Brown Sugar

1 Minced Garlic Clove

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Pepper

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:

Put everything in a bowl and whisk together. 

EASY and sooo good!

Polynesian Banana Nut Bread

I took a basic banana bread recipe and just started tweaking it to my liking and ended up with this final product.
Tis' yummy!

Ingredients:

4 TBS of real butter, softened
1/4 cup of coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut (can be omitted if you don't have any)
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup crushed pineapple, drained (reserve juice to put in as the liquid)
3/4 cup buttermilk OR unsweetened pineapple juice (I use this!)
1 tsp. Vanilla


3 1/2 cups of white/wheat flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Sweetened Coconut

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.
Blend honey into butter and coconut oil until smooth and creamy.
Blend in remaining ingredients through to vanilla.

Blend together dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Slowly add into wet ingredients just until mixed.

Pour batter into 2 prepared loaf pans.
Sprinkle sweetened coconut all over the tops and bake in preheated oven for about an hour or until knife comes out clean from center.

Cool completely before trying to cut.

You are going to love the smell of the coconut toasting while this is baking!
This recipe is linked to this site

ENJOY!

Thank You!

Thank you to all who answered my question in the prior post. I hope to have some fun things in store for you all soon. I saw that a lot of you have the fear of yeast. I hear you and that will probably be the first thing to be addressed.

I've made a couple of yummy things that I need to get on here, because they were too good not to share.
HUGS!

Question!

If you could have a how to video or tutorial of anything that had to do with cooking, what would it be?
What do you struggle with most?

Thank you for your time in answering!

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy!

Okay, no matter what you do you can't make sausage gravy "look" good!
But here it is paired with my heart shaped biscuits that I made on Valentine's day!
My husband wanted to take an action shot and well, you don't want a close up of that! I'm just sayin'!

First let's start with your sausage. It makes this, so don't skimp!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain.

Now for the gravy!

Ingredients:

Your sausage

2 TBS. Real Butter

1/3 cup all purpose flour

4-5 cups milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large skillet, on medium high heat, put your prepared sausage and butter and stir until well blended.

Stir in flour until mixture is pasty.

Reduce heat to medium low and slowly add the milk, stirring constantly until mixture is thick and bubbly or to desired consistency. (This takes a little time so be patient!)

Season with salt and pepper to taste!

Pour over your favorite biscuits!

Enjoy!

Let me know if you try it.

Hugs!

Individual Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This isn't so much a "recipe" as it is an idea of what to do with leftover cheese fondue! LOL!
I had a fondue party not to long ago and had a lot of leftover cheese fondue and bread that we were dipping in it.
So the next day I cooked some macaroni, added the leftover cheese fondue (approx. 1 1/2 cups), one egg, and a 1/2 cup of bread crumbs that I had made from the leftover bread cubes. I simply put the bread cubes under the broiler for about 2 mins or until browned then stuck them in the food processor.
With the leftover bread crumbs (approx. 1 cup) I added some basil, garlic powder, and chipotle seasoning to taste.
I then put my macaroni mixture in my individual mini loaf pan. Sprinkled with the rest of the bread crumbs and baked at 400 degrees for about 15- 20 mins.

Let the baked macaroni set for about 5 minutes if you want it to come out in one piece.

Now this can be a meatless main dish served with a nice salad or you could use it as a side.

Enjoy!

I found this basic recipe if you want to make it from scratch and just incorporate what I did with it!

Pumpkin Scones!

These were so good! I hope you give them a try.
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour 1/2 -3/4 cup reserved
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup of canned pumpkin
2 eggs

Glaze:
2 TBS. butter, melted
2 TBS powdered sugar
1 TBS maple syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 4oo.
Combine the flours, spices, baking powder, baking soda and sugar in a medium size bowl.
Add the yogurt, eggs, and pumpkin and continue to stir with a spatula until well blended. Here is where you may need to add a bit more flour. Continue to add more flour until you can successfully "knead" the dough without it sticking to you. I like to just combine it with my hands a little bit to make it more manageable.
Place your dough onto a baking stone or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Shape into a circle and pat down slightly.

Bake for 25-30 mins. Depending on the consistency of your dough, check the middle at 20 minutes and see if knife comes out clean. If not back an additional 5 minutes and check again. I had to cut mine in half and finish baking in the middle an additional 5 minutes.
But it's so worth it!

Make your glaze and drizzle over the top of the scone!
Enjoy!

If you ever have any questions about a recipe please don't hesitate to ask. Just make sure I have a way to answer you back via email.
BLESSINGS!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie!

With the latest discovery of my 6 cans of pumpkin I decided to use at least one can.
One can made 2 recipes and I'm going to share one of them today and the other in a day or two.
I hope you enjoy!Pumpkin Pie Smoothie!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
1 frozen banana
3/4 c. pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp.nutmeg

Whipped Cream for garnish.

Directions:
Put all things in blender in the order given and blend until smooth.
Pour into two glasses and garnish with whipped cream.

It's like pumpkin pie in a cup!

Enjoy!

Blender Molasses Muffins

If you don't know who Sue Gregg is and you want to know how to eat healthier but think it's too hard. You need to visit her website.
I purchased all her books and have recently started perusing them again and I'm ready to challenge myself to eat more healthy.
Starting pretty soon I'm going to do a whole month of nothing but Sue Gregg recipes and see how we feel at the end of that month.

I tried this recipe last night. If you are unfamiliar with the 2-Stage process, it's not hard at all. It just takes planning.

Blender Molasses Muffins

I love the ease of this recipe. It may sound strange to you to leave it sit over night but if you get her cookbooks she explains this in great depth. Her cookbooks aren't just recipes, but they are filled with tons and tons of great information. I can't even begin to tell you how much I recommend these books.
But enough of that. Here's the recipe.
I adapted this to what I had on hand and it came out great!

Ingredients
Stage 1:
3/4 c. warm filtered water
3 TBS. Whole Plain Yogurt
1/4 extra virgin olive oil
3 TBS Raw Honey
1/2 Blackstrap Molasses (much better for you than plan ol' molasses)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry berries (not flour)
(If you choose to make these by hand in a bowl and not the blender, use 2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour, kamut or spelt in place of the whole wheat berries)

Place in blender at high speed (I have a Vita-Mix and only have to blend for about 1-2 minutes) 3-5 minutes or until smooth. Cover and let stand 12-24 hours.

Leavenings:
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
Sift leavenings and salt through a small strainer into a small bowl and set aside.

1 egg
1/3-1/2 c. additional flour, optional ( I did do this to make the batter a little thicker)


Stage 2:
Preheat your oven to 325. Grease muffin pan with non stick spray or butter.
Slightly stir egg into blender mixture and blend at high speed for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Blend in an extra 1/3-1/2 cup flour with a rubber spatula, if desired. Briefly blend in leavenings and salt.
If mixing in a bowl simply add these ingredients to your mixture and blend well with spoon or spatula.

Fill muffin cups evenly and bake for 20 mins.

Enjoy!
If you like molasses you'll love these!

*This recipe was adapted from the Sue Gregg cookbook "More than....Breakfasts...with Blender Batter Baking & Allery Alternatives!

King Ranch Chicken Casserole!

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

I made this for 15 people the other day (by doubling the recipe) and it was a hit with everyone. Even the 11 children. So you know it's got to be good. Almost everyone went back for seconds.
There is no picture because, well, it's just not that photogenic once you get it on the plate. LOL!

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut in pieces
1 cup chicken broth
1 onion chopped
2 cups half and half cream
8 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. cumin
1 poblano pepper chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
2 cans Ro-tel petite diced tomatoes with jalapenos
1/4 c. freshly chopped cilantro
1 package corn tortillas
3 cups shredded Colby-Jack Cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.
Saute onion and peppers in a little oil until just soft
Add the broth
Whisk in the flour and cumin until smooth
Add cream cheese (in pieces) and cream and simmer until the cream sauce thickens, whisking often.
Stir in tomatoes and cilantro
Set cream sauce mixture aside
Oil a 13 x 9 inch casserole dish. Add a layer of tortillas (breaking up as needed), then a layer of cheese, then a layer of chicken. Repeat layers ending with a layer of tortillas on top.
Pour sauce over all and top with layer of shredded cheese.
Bake for 35-40 mins.

Serves 8

Enjoy!

Sundays are made for Crockpots! Potato Soup!

Here is the recipe I tried for Crockpot Sundays!
It was very warm and filling. Perfect for a cold day.

Ingredients:
5lb. bag of organic potatoes
1 very small onion or a 1/4 of a regular one. Trust me on this one.
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 quarts of chicken broth
2 packages of cream cheese, added near the end
1 package of Bacon, I used turkey bacon. (It makes this soup!)
Garnish with green onions, cheddar cheese, chives or all 3!

Directions:
Peel and dice potatoes. Put them in your 6 quart slow cooker.
Add onion and garlic.
Add seasonings and then pour in broth.
Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5.
The potatoes should be fork tender.
At the end of the cooking time you can either use a potato masher or a hand blender to make a smooth soup. I used a hand blender. I highly recommend the hand blender. I love mine.
Blend until it's your desired consistency.
After blending or smashing the potatoes, crumble in cream cheese and put lid back on.
Cook for 30 mins or until cream cheese is completely dissolved. Stir a few times within that 30 minutes.
While the cheese is melting cook your bacon and fill your house with that delicious aroma!

Now serve up your soup and enjoy!

Sundays are made for Crockpots! Potato Soup

Sunday's Crockpot recipe is going to be Potato Soup.
I'll let you know how it went on Monday, with the recipe if it is worthy of posting! LOL!

Sundays are made for Crockpots! Chicken Vindaloo!

I'm officially starting my own little Meme and I guess I'll even have a button made at some point but I loved the idea of using my crock pot AT LEAST on Sundays.
And this past Sunday I told you I was going to make Chicken Vindaloo and let you know how it was.
Well first off it's a different taste. If you like Indian food you'll love it. We don't eat a lot of Indian style food but we all enjoyed it very much. My whole family ate it, right down to my 7 and 4 year old boys. So that's saying a lot. My 7 year old actually said, "This is pretty good Mom."
The only thing I did different is if you look at the recipe, I used a whole can of tomato sauce, not just 1 cup, I didn't have mustard seed or cardamom so I left them out. And at the end I cut the chicken up into bite size pieces and let them cook in the juices while I cooked the rice.

I was going to take a picture of it for you but to tell you the truth it doesn't photograph well! LOL!
Let me know if you give this a try. I'd love to hear how you liked it.
Enjoy!

Sundays are made for Crockpots!

I really like my crock pot or slow cooker (whatever you want to call it) but I tend to forget about it.
For one of my goals this year I'm going to try to implement it more in my cooking.
So I'm going to start with Sundays. I'll throw something in there before church and lunch will be ready when we get home. That sounds good to me!
I came across a recipe called Chicken Vindaloo and I am going to make that tomorrow. I'll let you know how it turns out and the changes I'll probably make to it.
Hugs!