Easy Chili (Sarah Dunn)

1 pound ground beef or turkey
2 cans 8-oz tomato sauce
1 can kidney beans, undrained
1 package (1 1/4-oz) McCormick Chili seasoning
for toppings:
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
chopped onions, sour cream, chips

Cook ground beef in skillet until done. Then add everything into a slow cooker on low for 1-2 hours or on high for 45 minutes.

Big Fat Double Chocolate Cookies (Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

INGREDIENTS

•  1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces), cold butter straight from the fridge cut into tablespoon-size pieces (I use salted butter)
•  1 cup (7.5 ounces) lightly packed light or dark brown sugar
•  1/2 cup (3.75 ounces) granulated sugar
•  2 large eggs, cold from the refrigerator
•  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  1 1/2 cups (7.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
•  1 cup (4 ounces) cake flour
•  1/2 cup (1.75 ounces) dark or Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder (see note)
•  1 teaspoon baking soda
•  1/2 teaspoon salt
•  1 1/2 to 2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two half sheet pans with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cold butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Start the mixer on low (the butter will fly around a bit since it's cold) and gradually increase to medium speed. Mix for 4-6 minutes until the mixture is creamy and very well-combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined and the batter is light in color, 2-3 minutes. Add the flour, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together (and so the dry ingredients don't fly everywhere). When just a few dry streaks remain, add the chocolate chips or chunk and mix just until combined and there are no dry spots.
4. Scoop very large balls of dough (I measured out about 4-4.25 ounces for each cookie) and place several inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. I did five cookies per sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes until set on the outside but still soft in the middle. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets to cool for 5-7 minutes before removing. These cookies are amazing warm (with ice cream), chilled, or at room temperature.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies (5 Boys Baker)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cold butter, cut into small chunks
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips (*see note)
• 2 cups walnuts, roughly chopped (*see note)

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INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 410 degrees. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the cold cubed butter, brown sugar, and sugar 3 to 4 minutes or until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.
3. Stir in both flours, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined (don’t over mix). Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts (if using).
4. Separate dough into 4-oz balls and place on cookie sheets, 4 cookies per cookie sheet. 
5. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown on the top. Let them rest for 15 minutes to set up.

Volume 90%

NOTES

• I am not a fan of nuts in cookies, so I leave them. But you have to replace the volume of the nuts so the cookies will hold their shape. I add an extra 1/3 to 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour and an extra 1/2 cups of chocolate chips.
• Cake Flour can be found in the baking aisle of most grocery stores. I usually buy it in bulk at Winco because it’s super inexpensive there. If you can’t find it or don’t want to buy any, you can make your own. Measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour. Remove 2 tablespoons of the all-purpose flour and place it back in your flour container. Replace the 2 tablespoons of flour with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch then sift the flour 4 to 5 times.

Amber's Kitchen Tomato Soup

INGREDIENTS:
1 large butternut squash, (About 3 cups of cooked squash)
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3, 14.5 oz. cans hunts fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (herb blend, not my jar seasoning that I previously posted)
1/2 -1 cup heavy cream, *optional .
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Cut the squash in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and pulp from each half. Place both sides cut-side-down in a 9x13 baking dish. Add enough water to come about 1/4 inch up the sides of the squash. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for one hour, or until it is fork tender. Let cool a few minutes, then scoop out the flesh from the skin, and plop it into a blender. (The squash can be cooked in advance, and cooled in a container in the fridge for up to 4 days before using.)
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While the squash is cooking, in a medium pot, melt the butter and sauté the onion until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Scoop the onions and garlic into the blender with the squash. Add one cup of broth. (*note depending on your size of blender this may need to be done in two smaller batches. Be careful that hot ingredients when blended can expand and leak out of the blender) blend well, then add back to pot with the remaining broth and seasonings. Then add the tomatoes to the blender, blend well and add to squash/broth. Heat over a medium flame for about 10 minutes, stirring often. If adding cream, reduce heat to low and add cream to avoid the cream from curdling. Serve immediately. Enjoy! .

Opulent Chicken

8 chicken breasts
8-10 oz. sliced swiss cheese
3 cans cream of chicken soup
1 T. Lemon juice
8 oz. sour cream
2 cups crushed ritz crackers
1/2 cup butter

DIRECTIONS

• Clean and skin breast and place in bottom of 9X13 dish. cover completely with sliced cheese.
• Mix together soup, sour cream and lemon juice. Pour over top of chicken covering completely.
• Mix cracker crumbs with butter and sprinkle over the top of sauce.  (Crumbs should cover sauce completely).
• Bake at 275 for 2 1/2 hours uncovered.
• (You may want to put a drip pan underneath depending on how full the dish is).

Mom's Wassail

1/2 gallon apple cider
1 cup lemon juice
2 cups pineapple juice
2 cups orange juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp. whole cloves

Boil juices. Add spices in cheese cloth. Add sugar just before serving.

Apricot Chicken

4 chicken breasts
6 oz. Russian dressing
1/2 pkg. Lipton onion soup
1/2 cup apricot jam

Mix all ingredients. Bake at 350* for 1 hour. Serve over rice.