Taco Noodle Soup

It's a constant struggle at our house to make healthy, toddler-friendly meal options. We are also a big soup and hotdish* family. (Mainly because I can get away with only dirtying 1 or 2 pans in the process.)

*Hotdish= casserole (for you non-Minnesotans)

Here is what I made today that was a hit with all 3 kids (yes, even the baby)

I'm not sure what to call it but it has taco meat, and noodles and it's a soup... so I just dubbed it Taco Noodle soup. (Original right?)

PS...like my new turquoise pots??? I'm in love. 

Taco Noodle soup 

Ingredients

1lb hamburger 

1 packet Taco seasoning

1-16 oz canned or frozen corn 

1- 16 oz can pinto beans, drained

1-16 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1- 8 oz can tomato sauce

3 cups chickeb broth (beef broth would work too)

2.5 cups penne pasta (whole grain pasta would up the healthy factor here)

Instructions: 

In a stock pot brown hamburger and add taco seasoning per seasoning packet instructions.

In a separate pot, boil noodles to al dente. Drain. Set aside.

Add broth, corn, beans and tomato sauce to hamburger. Simmer on low for 20-30 minutes.

Add penne and serve.

Feel free to garnish with Sour Cream, cheese, avocado, onions, etc. 

Enjoy!

Laundry Detergent

I know there are a ton of different homemade laundry detergent recipes out there. (Thank you Pinterest) I tried the powder and was not impressed. (My less than stellar washing machine may have played a role)

A lady in moms group I belong to shared this liquid detergent recipe and I have been using for months now. It works great and the cost savings is AMAZING!!!

The first time I made this recipe, I wasn't sure I was doing it right but I assure you, you can't really mess this up.

I have a homemade fabric softener recipe I'll share too.

Laundry Detergent:
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1/3 bar Felts Naptha (grated or chopped finely in food processor)

Directions:
In saucepan mix grated Felts Naptha and 6 cups of water. Heat on LOW until soap is melted (do NOT bring to a boil)
After soap is melted in water, add borax and washing soda. Stir until dissolved.

Pour mixture into large bucket or container. (I use a dish pan) Add 4 cups of hot tap water and stir well. This is also the time you can add a few drops of essential oils for scent (I added lavender oil to my most recent batch)

Stir in 1 gallon plus 6 cups hot tap water. Let mixture sit overnight.

The mixture sort of gels as it sits. I stir it then break it up with a hand mixer before pouring it into my storage containers (which are an old laundry detergent bottle and a well-rinsed milk jug). A hand blender would also work well to sort of emulsify the detergent before storing it.

Use 1/2 cup detergent per load and ENJOY all the $$ you'll save.

Note: This recipe is safe for he washers too.

Fabric Softener:
6 cups HOT water
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups Suave Refreshing Waterfall Conditioner (this smells the most like laundry to me but I also have used V09 Lavender something or other because it was cheaper)

Directions:
Dissolve conditioner completely in hot water. Add vinegar. Stir well and store in a container of your choice.

Use 2-3 tbsp per load of laundry in Downy Ball or Fabric Softener spot in washer.

Happy Washing Everyone!!!

Homemade Fried Rice

Since I live in the middle of no where, Chinese delivery is WAY out of the question. So how do I fulfill the craving for some yummy Asian Cuisine??

This super simple homemade fried rice. It hits the spot and at least helps this former city girl reminisce about days of splurging on take-out.

Ingredients: (these are estimates since I typically don't cook with recipes. Feel free to adjust according to taste preference)

3 cups Rice (white or brown) cooked
1/2 finely chopped onion
2 tbsp butter or olive oil
1 1/2 Cups frozen peas and carrots mix
1/4 c soy sauce
3 eggs

In a large fry pan sauté onions & peas and carrots in butter or olive oil.
Add cooked rice and fry until small pieces are starting to get slightly golden brown.
While the rice is frying, scramble 3 eggs in a separate pan.
Add the eggs to the rice mixture. Stir.
Add soy sauce and stir well.

Enjoy!!

Some other great additions to make this more of a main dish is cooked chicken, shrimp, bean sprouts, or chopped water chestnuts.

On ambitious days I serve this with homemade egg rolls or spring rolls.

I’m back…

Hey all, if there are any friends and family out there that still check this.  I have been a complete blog slacker and have been just busy living our life for the last two months.  Here’s a quick synopsis of what we have been doing.

 

Living.  Painting. Christmas laughs. HUGE HUGE new years bash. Cleaning up. Hay Rides.  Walks through the woods.  Playing in puddles (in January-strange).  Work. Night School.  Paul turned 30.  Birthday Party. Cleaning up.  Art Work. Letter and numbers.  Learning to eat big girl food.  Learning to take a bottle. Zumba.  Eating Healthy. Losing weight.  Cleaning my house…messing it up, cleaning again..you get the picture.  Homemade valentine’s. Baking.  Shopping.  Baths. Vacuuming.  Thinking about blogging.  Not blogging. Facebooking…LOTS of Facebooking. Texting. Date Nights. Getting spring Fever.  Planning a Vegas Vacation. Reading. Coloring. 2nd Birthday Party planning.  ECFE Class.  Having visitors. Playing.  Loving…and the list goes on.

 

So I figure you won’t be as mad as me if I offered up a peace offering.  I bought a new cook book FULL of great recipes to make with kids.  Thought I would share what I made today. 

Here is the cook book.  Got it at Barnes and Noble in the bargain row.  I LOVE IT!!  And it has lots of pictures which I love as well.

 

POWER PACKED PUMKIN POTS

If you like Pumpkin Pie you will love this.  It is fairly healthy too.  I reduced the amount of sugar I put in mine to make it a little healthier.

 

Ingredients-

1 can (15 oz) solid pack pumpkin

1 can (12oz) evaporated milk

3 eggs

1/2 cup sugar (i used about 1/4 cup)

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Serve with Whipped cream (optional)

1- Preheat oven to 350.  Spray 6-8 (4oz) or 4 (7oz) ramekins with nonstick cooking spray

2- Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and salt in a large bowl.  Whisk until thoroughly blended.

3-Pour into prepared custard cups; place in 9x13 baking pan.  Pour hot water into baking pan around cups to a depth of 1 inch.

4-Bake 1 hour.  Remove sups to cool.  Let stand for 30 minutes.  Refrigerate 1-2 hours or over night.  Serve with whipped cream if desired.

 

Seriously delish!!!!

 

I’m happy to be back.  And expect to hear more from us Nyquists up here in the Northwoods!!

Meal Planning

I know some of you have expressed interest in meal planning and grocery shopping lists.  I do this religiously every time I go grocery shopping.  I make a meal plan, make a list, then stick to the list (pretty strictly I might add).  It really helps take the stress out of trying to figure out what is for lunch and dinner because I have so many great options to choose from and KNOW I have all the ingredients on hand to make them.  It also saves my family money because I don’t make those impulse buys at the grocery store too often.  (YES-grocery stores are MARKETING MAGNETS!!!  I watched a whole show on the process of setting up a grocery store to get consumers to spend the most amount of money.)  I thought I would walk you all through my meal planning, grocery shopping prep so that maybe it can help you start meal planning or perhaps tweak the process you already have.  (PS..I am always looking for time/money saving tips for grocery shopping/meal planning so if you have some good info-PLEASE SHARE!!)

Step 1-RAID YOUR PANTRY

See what supplies you already have and maybe find some inspiration from your ingredients

Step 2-Check out local ads and coupons

Maybe you can use an on sale item to offer inspiration or ideas for your meals..PLUS save some $$.

Step 3-Write up your meal plan

I used to do my meal plan day by day but realized that my pregnancy whims and cravings had me switching days around so now I just write up a list of dinner’s and a list of lunches or lunch food.  It also makes it easy because I do NOT cook full blown meals EVERY SINGLE DAY.  Some days I just do the quick lunches or dinner ideas OR  If I make a big dinner the night before I will usually have a day of leftovers.   The goal is NOT to micro manage what we eat every single day, rather just take the stress out of wondering what is for dinner…even if that dinner happens to be grilled ham and cheese, steamed veggies, and fruit…which from time to time does happen and is TOTALLY acceptable.  Here is an example of the meal list I made for this week.

DINNER OPTIONS

Meal 1

Taco Hotdish (Casserole for those NON Minnesotans), Fresh lettuce salad and Sugar free jello w/fresh strawberries

Meal 2

Chicken Stir Fry w homemade Fried Rice

Meal 3

Turkey burgers, sweet potato fries and watermelon

Meal 4

Corndog Casserole (this is a new recipe I found and decided to try because of Tanner’s LOVE of hotdogs..I’ll let you know how it goes), steamed veggies, and pineapple

Meal  5

Grilled BBQ Chicken, grilled potatoes and asparagus, pasta salad

Meal 6

Homemade chicken noodle soup and homemade bread

 

LUNCH OPTIONS

Meal 1

Turkey and Swiss wraps and cottage cheese w/fruit

Meal 2

English Muffin Pizzas

Meal 3

Homemade Mac n Cheese w/veggies

Meal 4

Chicken nuggets, steamed broccoli and yogurt

Meal 5

Breakfast for lunch-(Blueberry Pancakes and turkey bacon)

 

Like I said before..this is just a list of options.  I don’t stick to it like it is LAW.  Sometimes if I am feeling lazy I will even go SUPER crazy and have a lunch options for dinner or vice versa…CRAZY I know. 

STEP 4-Make a Shopping list

Based on your meal plan and what ingredients you already have in stock, make a grocery list.  I like to make categories on a sheet of paper: Produce, Frozen, Meat, Dairy, Canned, and Other.  I write these categories down over the sheet then go through meal by meal and write down the ingredients I will need in the right category.  It makes it easier to grocery shop rather than having a laundry list of random items sprawled over the page.  It also can help gage how much $$ you will be spending on your trip to the market-lots of meat equals a higher bill.  However, if you stock up when there are sales and coupons on the higher priced items you can really save LOTS!!

After you have all the meal ingredients written on you list go through and write any incidentals, snacks or breakfast food you may need/want.  For example: I needed brown sugar, breakfast cereal, vegetable oil,  olive oil and fresh fruit for snacks this week so I added it to the list.  Paul is a chip FIEND so he requested sour cream and onion chips as well as frozen pizzas.  Writing down even these seemingly SIMPLE things will save you $$.  Put it on your list then ONLY get what is on your list.

 

Step 5-Enjoy your STRESS FREE approach to making dinner

I know this sounds SUPER detailed and OCD but it seriously takes me 15-30 minutes from start to finish.  PLUS it makes my grocery shopping and dinner prep STRESS FREE!!!  I  just go to my list and poof –Dinner is done for the night.   I only started planning lunches because the dinner menu was working out so great and I found myself wondering what to make Tanner and myself for lunch everyday with out doing the SAME OLD THING.  It would also be helpful for working moms/dads who want to save money and pack their lunches daily.

Did I mention it saves $$$ too?? Oh I did…Well-  With the exception of milk, eggs and bread runs in between..this amount of groceries and these meals can feed me and my family for about 2-2.5 weeks (3 if I am feeling extra sassy).  But there are only six dinners you say?!?!- remember…I don’t do BIG meals every night, there are leftovers, I use lunch stuff for dinner sometimes, AND there are days when we are running or busy when that grilled cheese and veggies is the dinner of choice.  From time to time I also enjoy the challenge of “throwing” together a meal from what I have laying around.  It makes me feel resourceful. 

Today’s GRAND total I spent on groceries was: $163.54 (including stocking up on meat and olive oil…2 big $$ items)

(Like I said I won’t need to do another BIG trip for about 2.5 weeks)

Pretty good huh???

 

Hope you find this helpful!!!  Remember: I am always looking for tips too so if you have a secret meal planning/grocery shopping tip PLEASE SHARE!!  Also, none of these recipes are SUPER fancy on my meal plan BUT if you want more details on any of the meals just let me know and I can shoot you an e-mail.

Happy Meal Planning!!!

Krumkake

Being the good Scandinavian girl I am, I decided to make Krumkake this year.  My Grandma Huesmann usually makes this but I decided to give a try for myself.  It is easy but time consuming.

As you can see, it is a very high tech and modern machine we use :)

 

We borrowed this iron from my mom’s friend Patty.  I might have to scour thrift stores and garage sales this year to find one of my own to use for next year.

Recipe:

3 eggs beaten

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla

Combine beaten eggs and sugar; beat well.  Add melted butter, flour, and extract.  Cook as directed with krumkake iron.  (Basically it is like making a very thin, mini pancake.  Then you roll it up around the rolling cone-or in my case a turkey baster.)

Here is the finished product.  To eat fill with whipped cream and topped with a cherry or strawberry.  DELICIOUS!!!

Tanner thought the whipped cream was mmm mmm good :)

What's for Supper?? Clean out my cupboard Mexican Chicken Hot-Dish

I am not really one to cook with recipes. More often than not I will throw something together that I roughly remember by heart or, like tonight, just simply throw something together with stuff I have in my cupboard. Since we are moving soon, I am on a mission to clean out my cupboards and start using the food I have stored in them. I just hate moving food and the less I have to move/toss out the better. I decided that I would blog about my "Cleaning out my cupboards" recipes...good and bad you'll get them all with my honest review of how it tastes.

Tonight: Clean out my cupboard Mexican Chicken Hotdish



Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts
1 package Spanish Rice side dish
1 2/3 cup water
1 can black beans
1 can green enchilada sauce
1 can corn (I used corn from my freezer I froze this summer)
some shredded cheese
dash of cumin, coriander, garlic powder, salt and black pepper


Cube and cook chicken

Add rice and cook following directions on packet

In casserole dish mix- Chicken and rice, black beans ,3/4 can enchilada sauce, corn, and a hand full of shredded cheese.

Over the top of the mixture pour rest of enchilada sauce and then sprinkle another handful or two of cheese over the top.

Bake on 350 until cheese starts turning a bubbly golden brown.

Serve topped with sour cream or salsa if you happen to have some :)

ENJOY!!


Review: Both Paul and I thought it was DELICIOUS!!!!! So, 4 thumbs up!! I'll definately have to throw this together again in the future :)

Adventures in Baby Food

Today I am attempting to make Tanner some homemade baby food.  I really don’t mind buying the premade fruits and veggies for him but the protein or “meal” food just really grosses me out.  PLUS,  I’ve read that to help develop a well rounded eater and get them acquired to the taste of your cooking, you should feed them the same meals you make for yourself- only pureed.  So…Here is today’s adventure in baby food.  I am going to turn this: 

(My Yummy home made Chicken Noodle Soup)

Into a yummy homemade chicken noodle soup puree for my favorite little boy :)

How did I do it????  EASY-

1- Take left over chicken noodle soup out of the fridge (or spaghetti, steamed veggies, etc)

2- Fill up your Magic Bullet 

(I guess a blender would work but the bullet is so easy to use and clean when working with small portions…PLUS they make a mean daiquiri for “Mommy time”)

3-Puree (when you think you’ve pureed enough do a little more for safe measure)

4-Spoon mixture into baby food containers you have saved and freeze

**Gerber has AWESOME plastic baby food containers**

OR

 

Lightly spray a ice cube tray with Pam and spoon mixture and freeze then place frozen cubed food in freezer bag for storage.

5-Take out and thaw as needed for baby to enjoy:)

Bon Appetite Babies!!!

 

Can’t wait to make try and convert my other favorite fall dishes into Tanner-friendly food!!!

Hashbrown Egg Bake

No baby news to report today so I thought I'd share my FAVORITE and much loved egg bake recipe. I used to make a different one, but found this one by Paula Dean and changed it a little. I have gotten so many raving reviews from it, I can't believe I have never shared it before. Plus I was telling Bonny about it last night and we might make it while I'm down here. Everyone likes a good "breakfast casserole" as Miss Paula Dean would say. Us Minnesotans prefer "egg-bake". I suppose we could call it a "breakfast hotdish"-just a thought.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
1 small yellow onion, chopped
4 cups frozen shredded hash browns
1 pound sausage or ham (if you buy the already cubed ham at the grocery store it is SUPER EASY)
2 1/4 cups whole milk
8 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
8 cups cubed bread (I use plain cheap white bread and leave the crusts on-you can remove them too if you prefer)
2 cups (1/2 pound) grated Cheddar
2 cups (1/2 pound) grated Parmesan, Mozzarella or other Favorite Cheese (I like Pepper Jack)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a deep 13 by 9-inch casserole dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add the onion and saute over medium-low heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the hash browns and break apart. Saute until soft, about 5 minutes.

In a second frying pan, saute the sausage, breaking apart large clumps. When the sausage is cooked through, remove it from pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk, eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg and mustard, briskly to blend.

To assemble, spread the onions and hash browns evenly at the bottom of the greased dish. Place the bread cubes evenly on top of hash browns. With a slotted spoon distribute sausage as the third layer. Pour the milk and egg mixture over these layers. Add Parmesan as the next layer, while then adding the Cheddar.

*Cook's Note: Save a few tablespoons of Cheddar for the last 10 minutes of baking, where you can add a fresh topping of melted Cheddar.

Bake the casserole, uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.

ENJOY!!!! This is a PERFECT dish to make when you have overnight guests or family functions. I make mine the night before then pop it in the oven in the morning while I enjoy my morning coffee! mmmmmm....mmmmm..mmmmm

What's for dinner?? Chicken Bacon Artichoke Pizza

Papa Murphy's makes a stellar Chicken Bacon and Artichoke Pizza that I LOVE!! I figured I would try and make something just as delicious at home tonight. No recipe, just me making something I thought would be DELICIOUS!! Let me tell you it was GOOD!

Ingredients:

2 Tbls Olive Oil

2 cloves fresh garlic (optional)

2 cooked and diced boneless skinless chicken breasts

5 slices VERY crispy bacon or some Real Bacon Bits

1/2 can Artichoke hearts chopped

1/2 c Alfredo sauce (I just bought the cheapest jar in the pasta aisle)

1 refrigerated can of pizza crust

1 1/2 C shredded cheese ( I used the Italian blend)

Sprinkle of Grated Parmesean (optional)

How to whip it up:

Spread out dough over your pan (If you have any stonewear, I reccomend using it)

Brush with olive oil and finely chopped garlic (I used my Pampered Chef garlic press)

Cook crust @ 400 until it is barely turning light brown

Remove Crust

Top with Alfredo sauce, Chicken, bacon, and chopped artichokes and topp with shredded cheese and a sprinkle of grated parmesean over teh entire pizza.

Bake at 400-425 until outer crust is crispy and cheese is melted. (I like my pizza a little crispy so I bake it until the cheese start to get a little crusty)

ENJOY!!!

Paul really like this one and I will definately be making it again soon! mmmm....mmm...mmm

What's for Dinner??? Mexican Chicken "Lasagna"

This is a pampered chef recipe that I have adapted a little to make a fabulous and easy Mexican dish. It's DELICIOUS!! As many of you may know I don't really cook with measurements but I will write them down to help those of you who cook with a little more structure :)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro (I use a little more because I love it)

1- 8oz pkg cream cheese

1/2 c. sour cream

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (This is equal to 1 small bag- I use the Mexican cheese blend that they sell)

1 medium onion

1 can enchilada sauce (28 oz) You can make a small 15 oz can work but the bigger works better.

12- 6inch Corn tortillas ( I suppose you could use flour if you don't like corn but the corn ones taste so good in this dish)

3 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken (about 2 large boneless skinless breasts or 3 small ones)

Here's the Prep work-

-Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl and microwave for 30-40 seconds to soften it up.

-Add cilantro, sour cream, 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese and mix

-Chop onion and place aside

-spread 2/3 C of the enchilada sauce over the bottom of the pan. (I use my pampered chef pan but I think these portions would fit just fine in a 9x9 pan)

-pour the rest of the Enchilada sauce into a small mixing bowl and set aside

To assemble the lasagna:

-Dip 4 tortillas in the enchilada sauce that you placed in the mixing bowl and arrange over the bottom of the pan overlapping as necessary.

-Spread 1/2 of the cream cheese mixture over the tortillas

-Sprinkle with 1/3 of the onions and 1/3 of the chicken

-Repeat layers one time (dip tortillas, spread cheese, sprinkle 1/3 chick and 1/3 onions)

-Dip 4 remaining tortillas in enchilada sauce and arrange over second layer.

-Top with remaining chicken and onions

-Pour remaining enchilada sauce over lasagna

-sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 c of shredded cheese.

Bake on 375 for 45-1hr minutes or until center is hot. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Sprinkle with extra chopped cilantro for garnish if you want! Enjoy!!

Like traditional lasagna, this can be prepared up to one night in advance. Just refrigerate and take out to cook when you are ready!

Makes 8 servings

A Day late...

I know St Patrick's day was yesterday and I am actually not even Irish. However, that does not stop this stay at home mom-to-be from cooking up some traditional St Patrick's day grub. I have some corned beef and cabbage brewing in my crock-pot right now. And since I couldn't partake in any of my normal (pretending to be Irish) traditions like getting surprisingly drunk of green beer and specialty cocktails I thought I would celebrate with a pregnant lady's only available vice- FOOD!!

Click HERE for a link to the recipe I am using.

(** Please note that since I NEVER follow a recipe EXACTLY, I have tweaked this one too. I was not up @ 5 am to start my Crockpot so will NOT be cooking it on low for 10-12 hrs. I will be cooking it on low for 5hrs then Hi for 2-3. Also, I don't have Dijon mustard for the sauce so will be improvising with yellow mustard and some spices I may be able to wrangle out of my cupboard**)

Baked Potato Soup Recipe

I got this recipe e-mailed to me from my friend Bonny. Being the preggo I am, if I hear something that sounds good or get a food idea in my head, I will obsess about it until I get it. (Just ask Paul- I had strict instructions to pick up Raspberry Sherbet and he got me orange instead...I almost cried then ran to the store the very next day to get me some Raspberry)

I made this recipe (with a FEW adjustments/tips of my own-marked in PINK). I will give myself some credit for being a pretty good cook most days but this soup was one of the best tasting things I have made in a while!!!

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter

2/3 cup flour

7 cups milk

4 large baking potatoes, baked, cooled, peeled and cubed, about 4 cups

(I didn't have 4 baked potatoes just lying around my house so I used raw, peeled, and cubed spuds)

4 green onions, thinly sliced

10 to 12 strips bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled (I used turkey bacon because I like it better)

1 1/4 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese (I probably added a little more than this- I LOVE CHEESE!!!)

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:

In a large Dutch oven or stockpot over low heat, melt butter. Stir in flour; stir until smooth and bubbly. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly, until sauce has thickened. (I like to use a wisk to keep it from getting clumpy) Add potatoes and onions. (I added the bacon at this time too to get the bacon flavors cookin) Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until soup begins to bubble. Reduce heat; simmer gently for 10 minutes. (If you use raw potatoes you will need to simmer it longer-until the potatoes are soft enough to eat...but not too cooked-think potato salad potato texture) Add remaining ingredients; stir until cheese is melted. Serve baked potato soup immediately.

I topped mine with a little more cheese and some sour cream.

This baked potato soup recipe serves 6 to 8. (It makes A LOT of soup...I plan on freezing some to bust out when I have a newborn and don't feel like cooking. Definitely cut the recipe in half if you don't want lots of left overs)

ENJOY!!!!! There's not too many winter days left to enjoy a nice, warm, tasty soup!!!

Caramel Macchiato Thumbprints :)

Well, here's how my cookies turned out. Not quite as pretty but they are certainly DELICIOUS. They have just a touch of coffee flavor that I love and are perfect with a cup of coffee or ice cold glass of milk. They actually weren't as hard to make as I expected either. (a little more labor intensive than your standard chocalte chip, but worth it)

Tip: If the indents are a little shallow after baking use your thumb or finger to make a bigger depression to pour the caramel into. (theis must be done right after they come out of the oven though)

Recipe


2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder or granules
1 tablespoon hot water
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/4 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
18 caramels (from 14-oz bag), unwrapped
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon shortening


1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, dissolve coffee powder in hot water. Stir in cookie mix, flour, butter, vanilla and egg until very soft dough forms.
2. Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Using thumb or handle of wooden spoon, make indentation in center of each cookie.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.
4. In small microwavable bowl, microwave caramels and milk uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring once, until caramels are melted. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon caramel into indentation in each cookie. Cool 15 minutes.
5. In another small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and shortening uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds or until chips can be stirred smooth. Drizzle chocolate over cookies. Let stand about 30 minutes or until chocolate is set.