Recipes and Cooking Ideas for Homemakers and Amateur Cooks
 

Month: August 2007

Cookies and Bars

I just realized something…

I have a cookbook holder and always have an open cookbook on it. I change it now and then for a different view. The last while, it was open to this page:
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Those s’mores cookies were really grabbing me every time I looked at them. Finally, one day I made them. If I would’ve been paging thro’ the cookbook, they probably wouldn’t have grabbed me, but sitting on the counter every day for awhile, it grew on me. Then, I thought back and I remember doing that several times before… making something on the page that had been opened for awhile. Anyone know anything about psychology?!
My husband could use this… find a recipe he wants and change it to that on the cookbook stand. Who knows though, he might be after the Ranch Snack Mix and here I’d make the s’mores cookies!!!

S’more Sandwich Cookies …2002 Quick Cooking Annual cookbook 
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I’m gonna be lazy this time and see if it works to just ‘clip’ the recipe and put it in here. Hopefully you can read it. Part of the stand is covering a bit of the ingredient list… that’s 1 tsp vanilla extract under there.

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smore4Side note: That oval plate they’re on is from a set of dishes that my brother brought home for me from Romania when he was over there for a few years. Very beautiful set! I’m almost scared to use them for fear I’ll break one.

These cookies were great, although not as good and gooey as real s’mores ! You could really taste the graham crackers. I might sub grahams for some of the flour in other cookie recipes sometime, just for something different. I made some bigger cookies and some smaller cookies… the bigger ones were best because the ratio of cookie to marshmallow was better (not as much marshmallow per cookie). Maybe your preference would be the other way. Mine made 18 sandwiches, the recipe says about 2 dozen.

Beef, Main Dishes

Steak Fajitas

On a more serious note…

This dish, on the other hand (as opposed to the last post), graces our table quite often.

Even the kids love it… at the end I’ll show you how to make it kid-friendly!
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Did you ever have steaks on the grill?
They were just delicious, but you had 1 steak leftover… now, what to do with it.????  If you keep it, it might get tough when you reheat it.  If you throw it away, it might bug you that something you spent good money one just went in the trash.  Here’s what I do: Slice it thin and put it in a bag in the freezer. Then, the next time you make fajitas, pull it out and add it to the other meat.

Steak Fajitas

1 lb or so of thinly-sliced steak (I either buy it thinly sliced or slice a couple steaks up. If I have any left over from grilling, I add that too.)
1/3 each of a green, yellow, orange, and sweet red pepper, sliced into strips (Or 2 or 3 colors, whatever you have on hand.)
1/2 of an onion, sliced and separated
Tortillas
Shredded lettuce (I don’t keep shredded lettuce on hand, I just cut it thinly off of a head of lettuce.)
Tomatoes, cut up
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Salsa

Spray the skillet with cooking spray or use oil, depends on if you want it more healthy or not. I’ve done it both ways.  Add the steak, peppers, and onion. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper and seasoning. I use Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic seasoning .
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About 15 minutes before serving time, turn skillet to about 300. Cover. Stir about every 3 minutes. Fry for about 12 minutes total or until it looks done. While it’s frying, get the other things around… cut the tomatoes, shred the lettuce, etc. Stack tortillas on a plate with a paper towel between each one. Microwave until warm and soft, about a minute or so.
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Now you’re ready to eat! How’s that for a ready-in-15-minutes meal! …which is one reason why I like it. If your supper time varies (like ours does), you can get everything cut up and in the skillet awhile, then it’s pretty fast from there. And now, for the kid-friendly version… Cut 3 1/2″ circles out of a tortilla.

Fill it and roll up.
Fits in their hands nice and works great,
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until they start playing with it!
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There are a bunch of different variations to making fajitas, I’m sure. We don’t have the fried rice and refried beans and guacomole (ok, I can’t make that word look right, where’s my dictionary?!). All that stuff would make it more complicated, plus we don’t really like 2 or 3 of those things.