Cake Batter Cookies

We all know I don't really bake, so when our friends invited us to their house for dinner and asked that I bring dessert I figured I'd end up buying something at a bakery. Then I remembered seeing these Cake Batter Cookies on Stephanie's Top Ten Recipes of 2011 and thought it would be a nice way to use up some cake mix I had in the pantry and get Baby Girl in the kitchen with me.


These could not have been easier to make since all you are really doing is dumping the cake mix in a bowl and adding baking powder, eggs, oil and chocolate chips. Like Stephanie says, I bet these would be fun using different kinds of cake mix and different add-ins like nuts or M&Ms, raisins or even dried fruit. The possibilities are endless and because the dough is so simple the sky's the limit.

Baby Girl had a blast helping me (she especially loves stirring and dumping things into bowls). She even had her own spoon to take the dough from the bowl and put it on the cookie sheets. I love getting her into the kitchen and she loves helping so it's a win-win. My only complaint is that my cookies spread in the oven. Next time I'll chill the dough a bit before putting it on the cookie sheets. I've modified the directions below.

Cake Batter Cookies
Slightly Modified from Stephanie Cooks

1 (18.25 oz.) box cake mix
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix and baking powder. Add eggs and oil, then mix until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips, or your choice of add-ins. Cover the bowl and chill for 30 minutes. Once chilled, drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 30 cookies

Orange and Rosemary Pork Tenderloin

I had a pack of two pork tenderloins in the freezer that I wanted to use up and no real recipe in mind. SP asked for something simple with bold flavors, preferably not Asian-inspired (i.e. no soy sauce, ginger, etc.) A quick Google search led me to Orange and Rosemary Pork Tenderloin. Sold!


I was in love with this recipe after I mixed up the marinade. It smelled absolutely intoxicating. I am so happy my rosemary plant is still doing well because fresh rosemary was wonderful in the marinade. After reading through the recipe I decided to modify the cooking method for the pork because (1) a quick sear always adds nice color and flavor and (2) I couldn't see the tenderloins cooking through after only 25 minutes in the oven.


The result was absolutely delicious. The pork had just a hint of pink in the middle and was moist, juicy and flavorful. And the sauce. Oh the sauce. The citrus burst with the touch of cream was perfect. Next time I'll double the marinade recipe (quantity changes reflected below) because I wished there was more sauce. I served the pork with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. The extra sauce would have been great over both, which is why there'll be more next time.

Orange and Rosemary Pork Tenderloin
Modified from Chocolate and Zucchini

1 pork tenderloin

For the marinade:
4 oranges, juiced
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 rounded teaspoons honey
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For finishing:
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt
A handful parsley, coarsely chopped

Cut the tenderloins in 3 or 4 equal portions and place them in a plastic food storage bag. Whisk together the marinade ingredients and pour them over the meat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Preheat the oven to 360 degrees. Remove the pork from the fridge and pour the marinade into a small saucepan.

Heat a cast-iron or other heavy bottomed, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Place the pork pieces into the skillet and sear on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Put the skillet in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, until cooked through but not dried out (the meat should be pale pink in the center; if using a meat thermometer, the recommended safe internal temperature is 160°F), flipping the meat a couple of times during the roasting.

While the meat is roasting, put the saucepan with the remaining marinade over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Keep boiling, uncovered, stirring regularly, until the marinade has reduced. Add in the cream, salt and parsley. Stir, and keep warm over low heat.

When the meat is ready, remove the skillet from the oven, and transfer the meat to a cutting board. If there are any juices in the skillet add them to the sauce and bring back to a boil. Cut the meat pieces into thick slices and serve with the sauce.

Weekly Menu - Week of January 15, 2012

I love meal planning. In the 6 years I've been doing it I know it's helped save us money, time and hassle. I started planning weekly menus when we were saving to buy a house. It was purely about saving money at that point. And, to be honest, I can't even remember how we grocery shopped or cooked before that. Without a list of recipes and ingredient lists, how the heck did I know what to buy? Or cook on a Tuesday?

That being said, there are plenty of weeks I struggle to create a meal plan. Sometimes, like this week, I'm so inspired by blog posts or cravings that I have my meal plan done early in the week. Other weeks it's Friday afternoon and I'm desperately trying to finalize our shopping list when nothing sounds appealing. But I still meal plan because at this point I don't know any other way to cook meals for my family.

Sunday - Pork Chop and Hash Brown Bake: I didn't get to make this last week so I'm carrying it over. The mystery casserole from the freezer will have to wait another week.

Monday - Chicken with Creamy Chive Sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans: I first saw this recipe on Jessy's blog but have since seen others on my cooking board make it and rave about it. I can't wait to try it.

Tuesday - Hoagies

Wednesday - Taco Rice: Another Cassie recipe that I know won't steer me wrong. I love tacos and whenever I make them SP is always asking for rice on the side, so this is brilliant and perfect for us.

Thursday - Crispy Parmesan and Garlic Chicken, pasta and salad: I finally joined Pinterest and this was one of my first pins.

Friday - Homemade pizza

Recipe Swap - Hearty Ham and Potato Soup

Want to see what other SRC-style recipes were made during the swap? Here is the link to the SRC-style Recipe Swap Roundup

If you are a food blogger you've probably heard of the Secret Recipe Club (SRC). I've been a member for a few months and it's a lot of fun. Some of the ladies on the cooking board have been trying to get into the club, but there's a very long wait list at this point. Enter the SRC-style theme for the most recent installment of the recipe swap. Judging from the number of participants I'm planning to do this type of swap (swapping whole blogs instead of specific recipes) every 2 months or so.

I received The Cooking Nurse, the blog that brought me one of my all-time favorite soups - Chicken Gnocchi Soup. I spent some time browsing through the various categories and had such a tough time narrowing it down that I finally told SP to decide. He chose this Hearty Ham and Potato Soup. Perfect for a cold winter day...except we haven't been having typical January temps. Still, it was close to 40 degrees the night I made this, as opposed to the almost 60-degree days we've been having lately. Not that I'm complaining, because I most certainly am not. I love this weather.


This was a delicious, easy soup to make. I prepped the ingredients ahead of time so all I had to do when I got home was cook it. I upped the amount of ingredients so we were sure to have enough leftover for lunch the next day. I've said before that I'm not a big fan of soup but that's changed lately. A big bowl of hearty soup with bread for dipping is pretty darn good in my book. And PS, Baby Girl pronounced this soup "delicious," which is an automatic "make again" in my book.

This post is actually doing double duty as both my recipe for the SRC-style swap and my entry into Branny's Charity Souper Bowl. As many of you know, we had to say goodbye to our beloved cat, Dusty, on New Year's Eve. I know it's only been about two weeks but we still miss him every day. The house is too quiet. I find myself stepping around his non-existent food and water bowls in the kitchen, propping our doors with door stops to keep him from banging them open and doing my usual "locate the cat" scan of the house when I get home from work. Dusty came to us from our local SPCA so it's very fitting that I dedicate my Charity Souper Bowl post to him. We love you, pal.


Please consider blogging about a soup and submitting it to Branny for the Souper Bowl. Shelter animals will always hold a special place in my heart and organizations like the SPCA always need help caring for animals.

Hearty Ham and Potato Soup
Slightly Modified from The Cooking Nurse

2 tablespoons butter
2 ribs celery, diced (about 1 cup)
1 medium onion, diced (about 1 cup)
1 1/2 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups diced ham steak
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheddar

Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and cook until just tender. Add the potatoes, ham and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and thyme.

In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Whisk in milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.

Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot and continue cooking soup until heated through and bubbly. Add cheddar cheese and stir to melt.

Santa Hat Brownies

As soon as I saw my friend Jessy's post for Santa Hat Brownies I knew they needed to be part of our Christmas dinner. I emailed my mom to ask her to make the brownies and bring the rest of the ingredients to our house for dinner so Baby Girl could help her assemble them.


Watching the two of them assemble the brownies was priceless. Baby Girl loved helping and the resulting brownies were adorable. But man, are they rich! I don't eat dessert that often but I could barely finish one of these. I think the buttercream was very, very sugary and heavy so I, personally, would prefer whipped cream. I don't know how they whipped cream would hold up, but at least it would be lighter. Even so, these are a really cute addition to any Christmas table.

Santa Hat Brownies
Gourmet Day to Day

1 pan of brownies, baked and cooled
20-24 small strawberries
1 batch of buttercream frosting (or a frosting of your choice)

Buttercream Frosting
(you will have some extra buttercream left with this recipe)

3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup butter (softened but not melted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low-speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

To Assemble Brownies:

Using a small round cookie cutter or a small drinking glass, cut out brownies. Clean and remove stems from strawberries, cut the stems off flat so it will sit flat on the brownie. Place strawberries point side up on the center of each brownie circle.

Using a piping bag (or zip-top bag with the corner snipped to create a piping bag in a pinch) Pipe the frosting around the strawberry for the white rim of Santa’s hat and top each strawberry point with a small drop of frosting.

Note for storage: If you plan on refrigerating these cuties, make sure you chill them uncovered first. This will allow the buttercream to harden so you don’t you lose your cute Santa hat topper to plastic wrap!

Pretzel Ranch Chicken Tenders

Another simple, easy and delicious dinner from Cassie - Pretzel Ranch Chicken Tenders. I love how the salty pretzels and the Ranch combine to make a perfectly seasoned chicken tender.



Pretzel Ranch Chicken Tenders
Cassie Craves

1-2 pounds chicken breasts, sliced into strips
Ranch dressing
Pretzels

Place chicken tenders in a bowl and cover with ranch dressing; stir to combine. Let sit for 5 or 10 minutes or cover and refrigerate overnight.

Process pretzels in a food processor until they are fine crumbs. Coat chicken tenders in pretzel crumbs. Cook over medium heat in a skillet with a small amount of oil, or bake in a 350-degree oven, until cooked through.

Serve with additional ranch dressing for dipping.

Weekly Menu - Week of January 8, 2012

I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with our weekly meal plan. Now that the holidays are officially over (in our house they extend to my birthday), I'm getting back into the swing of things. It's hard for me to believe it's January already. Aside from the freak Halloween snowstorm we haven't even had snow yet. But that's the Northeast for you. We don't usually get measurable snow until after the New Year. I'm envisioning lots of comfort food in the coming months!

Sunday - Final birthday celebration = SUSHI and cupcakes!

Monday - Orange and Rosemary Pork Tenderloin, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli: The marinade alone smelled amazing. I can't wait to try what I hope will be a flavorful pork dish.

Tuesday - Hoagies: I'll finally come clean and admit that we've been getting these weekly since I started taking my exercise class. Oops. We each eat half of a hoagie and take the other half for lunch the next day. One of their Italian hoagies was the first thing I ate after giving birth and it always hits the spot to this day.

Wednesday - Hearty Ham and Potato Soup, ciabatta for dipping: This recipe is doing double duty as my recipe swap recipe and my entry into Branny's Souper Bowl Challenge

Thursday - Pork Chop and Hashbrown Bake, green beans or salad (or maybe salad with green beans): This is one of SP's favorite dishes and he was very excited to hear it's on this week's menu.

Friday - Homemade pizza (if I remember to pick up pizza dough sometime this week)

Saturday - Italian Nachos: We usually have a big lunch on Saturdays so this will be perfect for dinner.