Chocolate No-bakes

My mom makes these cookies.  They are her specialty. 

She calls them Winter Delights. My Uncle Tim calls them Cowboy Cookies. I call them Chocolate No-Bakes. 

Whatever you choose to call them, the fact remains...they are de-lish-ous!

2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 stick of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups of oatmeal
3/4 cup of peanut butter
2 tablespoons Hershey's cocoa

First mix sugar and milk in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Then time it for 2 minutes.

Add the butter, vanilla, peanut butter, and cocoa. 

Mix well. 

Lay out a sheet of tin foil or parchment paper, and drop cookies by the spoonful onto the sheet. 

Let them sit until hardened. 

Then...enjoy :)

blueberry french toast casserole

This is one of those dishes that doesn't look as near as good as it tastes. (I stole this picture off the internet, because well...mine never looks this pretty.) 

But the moment this custard-y confestion hits your taste buds, you're hooked. It's like having a decadent cheesecake for breakfast. And I'm pretty sure that's a no-no. But live a little. 

Note: If you are serving this at a breakfast event you want to make it the night before because it has to chill for at least 8 hrs. It is so worth the wait though!

12 slices of white bread (crusts removed)
2 8oz packages of cream cheese
1 cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen)
12 eggs
2 cups milk
1/3 cup maple syrup

Note: Sometimes I prefer to change up the bread and egg ratio. I tend to add more bread and a little less egg. For example: 10 eggs and 14 slices of bread. Depends on how custard-y you like it. (I'm going to add "custard-y" to my dictionary. I think it needs to be a word from now on. Just sayin')

Grease a 13x9 pan.

Cut bread into 1" cubes. Place half the bread into the pan. You'll next want to cut the cream cheese into cubes as well. Place over the bread in pan. Add the blueberries, making sure that everything is evenly distributed. You want to have each bite containing all ingredients. Top with the remaining bread.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and then add the milk and syrup. Make sure it's all mixed well. Then pour over the bread. Just like bread pudding you want to make sure that everything is well coated.

Cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 25 minutes or until center is set.

For the sauce:
1 cup of sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup of water
1 cup of blueberries
1 tbsp of butter

Combine sugar, cornstarch and water. Bring to a boil. Boil for 3 min then reduce heat. Stir in blueberries and cook for 8-10 min. Add butter to the sauce and stir until it is melted. Pour on top of the french toast casserole.

One last step...Enjoy. You've worked hard for it.

new things

I've just posted some new things in my etsy shop, Tanya Lynn. 

Hope you check it out. 

I'm venturing into handbags and purses. 

You just never know what I'm gonna come up with!

home made baguette

So my mom turns to me yesterday and says "Uh-oh, Tan. We have no meat for dinner. What do we do?" 

When I cooked for the college students there was one meal I made that had everyone talking and no one complaining over the lack of meat. Soup and bread bowls.

I don't mean to brag, but I've actually had  my soup and bread bowls mentioned in two songs. Just sayin'. 

The secret is out though...I used store bought dough. *gasp*

Rich's frozen bread dough to be exact.

However, yesterday, when we had hungry people coming home from work I had no store bought dough. 

So I went to my handy-dandy Pinterest site and found an excellent recipe for a quick and easy baguette. And when I say quick and easy, I so mean it.

Source: thesisterscafe.com via Tanya on Pinterest

My mom made the most amazing broccoli and cheddar soup to dip the bread into. 

Now you could make your own bread bowls instead. I just find the baguette easier. 

When I made them at the school, I would first thaw the frozen dough. You want to spray a baking sheet with a food release spray, place the dough on sheet and spray the dough as well. Cover (plastic wrap works fine) and let room temperature do its job. 

When the dough has thawed out but not began to rise, I would cut (if needed) the dough and roll into balls similar to the size of a baseball or maybe a little larger.

(If you use the baguette recipe, you'll want to make them larger like a grapefruit. It didn't seem to rise as much as Rich's frozen dough did.)

Place on baking sheet again. Make sure they are well coated with spray and cover. I always found the longer you wait, the larger they rise. 

Bake as instructed...until golden brown. Sometimes, when they first start turning golden I would brush them with butter, honey butter, or garlic butter, then let them finish baking. You're choice. Not necessary. 

Now the difficult part is cutting the hole for the soup. I prefer to do it while the bowls are hot, so I can serve immediately. Some places serve them room temperature. It's up to you. If you do it while its hot, just know you're hands won't be happy with you. But if you decide to wait, it is much easier to do. 

I always just cut a circle in the top, then when it's time to serve I would tear out the top and make room for the soup with my hands (I used gloves at the school of course).

This can all be done with the baguette recipe above as well. Just skip the thawing stage. 

Here's a pic of how my baguettes turned out last night. Sorry about the poor mobile phone quality. 

This meal went so fast once everyone was home. And not one of our meat-lover family members commented on the lack of meat.

 A great, CHEAP meal idea! Enjoy!

lighter options

So I promised some lighter options for dinner. Sorry it has taken so long. I don't have the money to make all of these and tell you how they worked, but I'll give you ideas for you to try yourself.

Here's a comfort food recipe that is also weight watchers. Its a corn, bacon, potato chowder. Umm yes please! Especially on these cold New England nights. And only 6 points!!

Source: weightwatchers.com via Laura on Pinterest

I really want to make this one! Can't wait until payday. This is another weight watcher recipe and only 5 points. I love beef and broccoli! The recipe suggest lettuce leaves to create a wrap. Or I would serve over brown rice.

Source: weightwatchers.com via Tanya on Pinterest

Then last but not least...a weight watcher dessert recipe. This one is only 3 points! Cherry cheesecake. Yes, you read that right...cheesecake. As the recipe indicates, you can change up the topping if you don't like cherry. I would totally do strawberries. Just sayin'.

Source: weightwatchers.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I hope you enjoy these ideas and I would love to hear back from you about how they turned out. Leave a comment here or on my facebook page. Enjoy :)

my momma's coconut cake

Mmm..good ole southern comfort food. I may be from Florida, but my grandma sure knew how to make some good ole southern food. She taught my mom and my mom taught me. My mom had this hankerin (I use that word because in my head right now I'm southern--just deal with it) for some southern coconut cake. Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm! Now I am very, very picky about coconut cake. I'm not sure how to explain how I like it. There are just some I hate, and some I enjoy. Because I am so picky, I don't eat it very often and I never make it.

Well, my momma got herself up in that kitchen, and made one dee-lish-ous cake. I learned one of the secrets to a good coconut cake is the frosting. You don't want to use a plain ole buttercream. Nope, you want a sugary sweet 7-minute frosting. I had totally forgotten my grandma's decadent frosting. She made it all the time when I was little. She would let me lick the silver mixer thingies (you would think I would know what those are called, but I don't). Mmmm, this frosting tastes like marshmallow cream. So good.

My mom found this recipe that uses both the 7-minute frosting and has a delicious southern recipe for the cake. I was immediately transported back to my grandma's kitchen. Made me miss her a lot. The recipe is called Jamie's Coconut Cake by Paula Deen. Highly recommend it for all you lovers of coconut cake and good ole southern food.

I made all kinds of good food last night as well, but that will have to wait for another post. Can't give away all my secrets in one shot, now can I?