BakeAwayGirl

I've had a little internal debate going on over the past two weeks.  I've tried a couple recipes only to discover that we didn't like them.  I wondered if I should post about the failed ones as well.  Well... they weren't failures, we just didn't care for them.  I didn't want this blog to be "Molly & Jeff's amazing cooking lives" because we make "eh" dishes plenty of times, but I also don't want to bore you with recipes that we didn't much like and who wants to try something with that kind of recommendation. So here's my disclaimer:  Sometimes we make lousy food, blah food, or boring food.  I'm not going to post about them because I want this to be a record of recipes I like so I can go back and find delicious things any time I want.  Ta daaaa... problem solved. Now, onto our delicious experiment last weekend... We're hosting the Superbowl party here next weekend, and Jeff didn't want chili or pizza or wi...

I blatantly stole this picture from A Bitchin' Kitchen Chicken gyros... yummmm!  As soon as I saw this little beauty on Pinterest, I announced to Jeff what we would be doing for dinner that night and we headed to the grocery store.  You can, of course, skip one part or another.  This has a recipe for the tzatziki sauce (my favorite!) as well as the chicken.  If you want to make just one and buy the other from the store, that's fine too. It's actually pretty low calorie (which I don't usually care about, but it's a nice change of pace after the holidays) because the tzatziki is a greek yogurt based sauce and I use chicken breast.  You can use wheat pitas, but I personally think that is a crime.  Either way, do your thing the way you like it. Below, I've broken down the meal.  If you buy certain parts or make it all from scratch, in the end, you'll have a delicious gyro.  I suggest you brown the pitas by spraying it with some cooking spray a...

What's that you say?  S'mores in my oven?  Heck yes!  This was another Pinterest find a long time ago, placed in my Bake It, Girl board for a rainy day.  Well, it's not quite raining here today, but the weather is gross and I'm bored. It's a quick easy recipe, but I warn you, you most likely will have to hit the grocery store for this.  Most of you won't have marshmallow fluff and two 4.2oz special dark Hershey's bars in your house.  If you do, I'm on my way over! S'mores Cookie Bars Adapted from Baked Perfection 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup sugar 1 large egg 1 tsp vanilla 1-1/3 cup flour 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 5 graham crackers) 1 tsp baking powder Splash of salt 2  4.2 oz dark chocolate (I like Hersheys) 1 7oz jar of marshmallow fluff Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8-in square pan. Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  In a separat...

After about 9 years of searching and experimenting, I have found the ideal decorating sugar cookie.  A few years ago, I plopped myself down on the floor of my local library in the middle of the baking cook book aisle and poured over book after book until I found the perfect recipe.  I've tweaked quite a bit and have played with it a couple of times since.  Here is the recipe, along with some pictures of the different cookies I've made with this recipe since discovering this gem. 4th of July Treat Deliciously Soft Sugar Cookies 11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 3/4 cup sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1 egg 1 tablespoon 2% milk 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups all-purpose flour Mix butter alone until creamy.  Add sugar and baking powder.  Beat until thoroughly blended.  Stir in egg, milk, and vanilla.  Add flour one cup at a time, mixing completely before adding the second cup.  Chill dough in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.   Sprinkle...

Wraps are probably my favorite sandwiches, but this recipe doesn't count as my typical wrap.  It's more of a chicken taco salad pinwheel.  I usually don't like pinwheel sandwiches, but this one is deeeelicious!  You can make these one day ahead of time if necessary or 10 minutes before the party.  The best is a couple of hours before, to let the wraps set. This calls for shredded chicken breast and you can do it however you'd like.  I've cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast and shredded it myself.  You can shred a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store (not my favorite option).  You can also use shredded chicken in a can because it's so well mixed with delicious seasonings and fresh flavors.  There is also no fat on that chicken. Again, I'm sorry for the poor quality of the picture.  Still workin on that camera situation! Chicken Taco Wraps Adapted from Homemade by Holman 1.5lbs of shredded chicken Pinch of salt ...

You'd think with the holidays just passing that I'd have enough sweets to last me a lifetime.  I do, and I did.  I'm looking forward to going back to work on Monday just to start eating normally again!  But when my mom mentioned our weekly pizza date with my grandparents, I immediately thought of making a double chocolate chip cookie.  I've never (successfully) made them before, so I thought I'd go to my trusty Pinterest to find it. Problem was... I fell asleep on the couch.  When I woke up, I had just over a half an hour to find a recipe, bake it, and be in the car.  I will tell you now, I didn't make it.  But I was close!  At 5:03, I jumped off the couch and by 5:43, we were pulling out of the garage with a delicious smelling plate of cookies.  Here's the recipe! Decadent Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Adapted from Kitchen Simplicity 1 cup flour 1/2 cup cocoa powder 1/2 tsp baking soda Pinch of table salt 2/3 cup chocolate chips ...

I've never made soup before I stumbled upon this Pinterest treasure.  If you don't have a slow cooker, don't give up!  The original recipe is here , and uses a regular old pot on the stove.  I'm just lazy and want my soup to cook itself.  Now, I love spicy things, but don't shy away from this if you don't.  Jeff hates spicy and loves this soup.  I loooove spicy and love this soup.  It's a crowd favorite, so dig in! Chicken Tortilla Soup Adapted from  here 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts 3 cups chicken stock (or 3 cups water and 3 chicken boullion cubes) 3 chopped fresh jalapenos 1 chopped onion 1 chopped green pepper 2 cups frozen corn 1 can drained black beans 1-6oz can tomato paste 1-14.5oz can tomatoes Taco seasoning (as much as you'd like, I just sprinkle) Throw it all in a crockpot and let it cook on high.  When the chicken is fully cooked, use two forks and shred it.  I usually pull the entire breast out to shr...

My favorite way to get new recipes is by browsing the cooking section at the library.  I discovered this one for apple pie last year in the book  Apple Pie Perfect: 100 Delicious and Decidedly Different Recipes for America's Favorite Pie  by Ken Haedrich.  He has zillions of different apple pie recipes, including the old fashioned simple apple pie, which is my favorite.  They are very straight forward and don't require much (if any) experience or understanding of pies, though, of course, they turn out better if you do.  My favorite is  My Mom and Dad's Brown Sugar Apple Pie , which requires the  All-American Double Crust .  Below are his recipes for hand mixing (he does have different directions for a food processor, but I don't have one), with my commentary in  purple . All-American Double Crust 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons sugar 3/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces...

Hello!  I've tried a blog before, but I was rotten.  I tried too many things and it didn't work.  So I decided to try something more up my alley... cooking and baking!  I know, everyone has one these days.  But I already do it all the time anyway, so here's the place I can keep a record of my pictures, recipes, and successes/failures. So browse away, and enjoy the recipes!