Recent Favorites

I'm all about trying new things.  When Tyson and I got married I made a goal to try one new recipe a week with the intention of discovering and collecting a variety of yummy recipes for our family to enjoy through the years.  I've decided to share two of my recent favorites.

This recipe was on the back of my Gold Medal whole wheat flour package.  Admittedly, I didn't buy the flour.  Last summer some of the Summer Citizens left it for me and I never thought I'd use it until I discovered this recipe.  I figured it was worth a try- -I wouldn't do anything else with the flour- -and now I'll never turn back.  They are DELICIOUS!  We like them even better than normal chocolate chip cookies.  Ask Tyson- -and he doesn't even like wheat!

WHOLE WHEAT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

3/4 C granulated sugar

3/4 C packed brown sugar

1 C butter or margarine, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2 C whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 bag (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips 

(I used Guittard real extra dark chocolate chips instead.  Divine!!)

Heat oven to 375 F.  In large bowl, stir sugars, butter, vanilla and egg until well blended.  Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff).  Stir in chocolate chips.

On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft).  Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Yields 3 dozen cookies.

This other recipe was found at www.allrecipes.com.  I love that site!  Especially when I have an  ingredient that I need to use but can't decide what to cook.  The site has an "ingredients" tab you can select and type in what ingredient(s) you have and it gives you the results of recipes with those ingredients.  In this case, I had ground sausage so I searched for recipes with ground sausage and voila!  One of my new absolute favorites!!  And it's SO so fast and easy! (Notice my alterations- -I can't speak for the result of the actual recipe but we loved the way I changed it.)

MICKMACK

note: double this recipe for 9x13 pan

1 cup leftover cooked pinto beans (I used canned pinto beans)

1 cup leftover cooked macaroni (I used bowties)

1 cup leftover ground sausage

1 large onion, chopped and sauteed (I only did 1/2 medium onion)

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I used petite diced tomatoes with sweet onions)

1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley (I omitted this)

1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used chili powder)

1 tablespoon chopped garlic (I used about 1/4 tablespoon minced garlic)

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine everything in a large bowl.  Mix well and spread in a lightly greased 9x9 baking dish.  (I topped mine with cheddar cheese.)

Bake for 30 mins

If any of you try these out, let me know how you like them!

Enjoy!