Hi friends! I hope you all are well and are ready to have a great weekend! The girls and I are headed to Oklahoma City for the weekend to hang out with my sister and to celebrate her youngest daughter turning 18. I may have cried on my nieces birthday… what does that mean I’ll be like when my own kids turn 18? I can answer that for you… a big, teary, mess!

Anyway, I thought it would be a great idea to start the weekend off with a little bit of happiness. How’s that sound? Great! Let’s do it!…

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The post The Happiness Report #36 appeared first on Dine and Dish.

I have a lot of things that are my favorite. Some things will be forever favorites while other things will be favorites until the next best thing comes along. My favorite pen to write with is a Jonathan Adler teal metal pen, followed closely by fine point Sharpies. My favorite hair product is Chi Silk Infusion. My favorite TV Show is Friday Night Lights, with Parenthood coming in right behind. I’ve never read a book that has moved me as much as The Glass Castle. If I could pick my favorite place to hang out, it would be on the beach of the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  I love too many magazines, but the one that I get most excited to see in my mailbox each month is Real Simple Magazine, followed by Coastal Living. I’m a die hard Nikon DSLR fan. My favorite way to spend an early Saturday morning is baking goodies in the kitchen while listening to Glee (my favorite soundtrack) on my Kitchen iHome. Of course, I’d be wearing my favorite apron while baking from The Hip Hostess. Finally, my favorite child is…. oh wait, I probably shouldn’t go there, should I?

My list of favorite things goes on and on, but there is one question you can ask me that I will be forever dumbfounded on the answer, and that is “What is your favorite cookie?” I enjoy a good, chewy, soft cookie, but narrowing it down to which one type of cookie is my favorite is impossible. I love Monster Cookies, Snickerdoodle Cookies, Pie Crust Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies, Chocolate Caramel Rolo Cookies. I love them all. And as close as I feel like I’ve come to finding my favorite recipe for each of these cookies, a new recipe comes along and gives the old fave a run for the money.

This is how it is with Chocolate Chip Cookies. I love my old standby recipe for Lisa’s Swirled Chocolate Chip Cookies. To me, that chocolate chip cookie recipe has always equaled perfection, resulting in a chewy on the inside, slightly crispy on the outside cookie gem. I don’t know what made me wander away from that recipe this weekend, but I did. I strayed and I found a chocolate chip cookie recipe that is a very close rival. Maybe not my all time favorite, but a cookie recipe I’ll return to time and time again.

As you can see, figuring out my favorite type of cookie isn’t an easy task. I do believe it would be easier to pick out a favorite child…

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies.

Course Dessert

Author Dine & Dish

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 12-ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips, or chunks
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine salt

Instructions

• Evenly position 2 racks in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. (on convection setting if you have it.) Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone sheets. (If you only have 1 baking sheet, let it cool completely between batches.)
• Put the butter in a microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave on medium power until melted. (Alternatively melt in a small saucepan.) Cool slightly. Whisk the sugars, eggs, butter and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth.
• Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon; take care not to over mix. Stir in the chocolate chips or chunks.
• Scoop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared pans. Wet hands slightly and roll the dough into balls. Space the cookies about 2-inches apart on the pans. Bake, until golden, but still soft in the center, 12 to 16 minutes, depending on how chewy or crunchy you like your cookies. Transfer hot cookies with a spatula to a rack to cool. Serve.
• Store cookies in a tightly sealed container for up to 5 days.

Notes

Note - Kristen here... I found the cook time below to be way too long. I had perfectly baked cookies at 9 minutes of cook time, with two minutes of cooling on the baking sheet)

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The post My Favorite Things (Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies) appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Fast forward 6 hours later and I was at the ballpark watching my 6 year old play ball. My 3 year old climbs up onto the bleachers, loses her balance and lands in a huge puddle of spilled nacho cheese sauce. With nacho cheese sauce from head to toe, she was absolutely filthy. I dig in my purse, knowing that since I am now “Mrs. Has It Together”, I would have something to remedy this situation. I pull out my wipes container, open it up and it is empty. Empty! “Mrs Has It Together” would never leave the house with an empty wipes container. Kicked down on the togetherness pole several notches, I had to sheepishly look around and ask some other moms if I could have some wipes to clean up my cheese covered child. So much for that little pipe dream I had about being the mom who has it all together.

One little secret weapon I have in my life that makes me feel like I can inch up on the togetherness ladder a bit each day is black beans. They are healthy, delicious and so versatile. If there is one thing I keep in my pantry in abundance, it is cans of black beans. Why do they make me feel like I have it together? Because… you can heat up a can of black beans, sprinkle some cheese on it and call it a side dish. Mix black beans, corn, taco meat and cheese and put over tortilla chips – you’ve got nachos. Mash ’em up some, mix with cream cheese, some chili seasoning and cheese and you’ve got a dip. Black beans are so easy and versatile. The one problem with black beans is, they don’t ever seem to last around here long enough to make it into an actual recipe. They are my go to food when I need to feed people in a pinch. Black beans are what allow me one step closer to that esteemed title of “Mrs. Has it Together” and for that, I bow to the bean, forever grateful. We all know, I need all the help I can get.

Turkey Black Bean Burgers (from Simple & Delicious Magazine)

• 3/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet red pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 hamburger buns, split
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 4 romaine leaves

In a small bowl coarsely mash beans. Add the egg white, zucchini, red pepper, chili powder, onion powder, pepper and salt. Crumble turkey over mixture and mix well. Shape into four patties.
In a large skillet, cook burgers in oil over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 165° and juices run clear. Serve on buns with onion and lettuce. Yield: 4 servings.

The post The Prepared Mama (Recipe – Turkey Black Bean Burgers) appeared first on Dine and Dish.