Hipper Chippers Cookie Recipe

  This is a recipe that my nephew brought home from school and made. Then last night my SIL decided to try them and made a double batch for everyone.. they were gone pretty fast. So now I am posting the recipe here to share! These are really good and the batter is the kind where you can add anything you like to change them up. The original calls for mini M&M's, which is what we used. But you could use any candies like Reese's Pieces, or nuts, or whatever you like. I think these would be great with some chopped walnuts or pecans in them myself. :-) 

   Hipper Chippers

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup mini M&M's 

Preheat oven to 375°
Cut the butter or margarine with a table knife. Put butter in mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer on medium speed about 30 seconds or until butter is softened. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and baking soda. Beat on medium speed until combined, stopped the mixer occasionally to scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. 
Add the egg and the vanilla and beat of medium speed until combines. Add half the flour and beat on medium until combined and then stir in the remaining flour. Then fold in the M&M's. 
Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a cookie sheet, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown. 

NOTE* the recipe says that it makes approximately 32 cookies. We made a double batch and came out with maybe 24...?? 

Herb Roasted Chicken

I have never really roasted a chicken before, I have no idea why. So when I realized I had a whole chicken in my freezer that I needed to cook I decided to look up a recipe to roast it that didn't include lemons. I love lemons but I use them on my fish a lot and Hubby was getting tired of lemon pepper. Plus my little brother was coming over and I knew he wasn't a fan of lemons on anything. SO I found this one by Anne Burrell and even though I think she is a great chef and somewhat like her show (when she isn't being obnoxious...) I have never tried one of her recipes, it didn't have lemons.. so I went for it. It turned out delicious. It was super easy and everyone loved it. Going in the "keeper" box for sure. I made a few modifications to the recipe so I will post how I made it and link to her original recipe below. Enjoy! 

Herb Roasted Chicken

By: Anne Burrell 

1 whole chicken
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary, picked and finely chopped
5-6 fresh sage leaves, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
dash of red pepper flaskes
1 T onion powder
2 tsp fresh chives, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp bay leaves, chopped (not whole leaf) 
2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
4 cups chicken stock or broth (large box) 
4 T olive oil plus more for drizzling


Preheat oven to 450°

    In a small bowl combine all seasonings with olive oil and set aside.  Using your fingertips carefully work your way under the skin of the chicken to separate the skin from the breast to make a pocket. Now push handfulls of your seasoning mix into the pocket and rub all over to coat the inside of the chicken, using all the seasoning mix. Now drizzle the outside of the chicken generously with olive oil and massage it into the skin all over. Basically think of tanning oil and rub it all over. Sprinkle with salt and any little bits of herb stuck to your hands from stuffing it under the skin is fine. 
   
    Using a large roasting pan with a rack place the chicken on the rack and pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the pan. Cover with foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Then take the foil off and bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until the skin is nice and crispy with a nice dark color to it. 

     Remove from the oven and let rest for about 10 minutes before carving. While chicken is resting pour the stock from the pan (and all the drippings that have fallen into it from the chicken) into a sauce pot over medium heat. In a small bowl to the side mix warm water with corn starch to dissolve the corn starch. When the drippings and stock start to boil add the corn starch mixture to the stock slowly until it starts to thicken to your desired consistency. This is a fantastic sauce to pour over your chicken or sides. Carve your chicken and serve while hot! 

Roasted Sunchokes with Salsa Verde

Another recipe from my favorite cooking show, Extra Virgin. I have made several recipes from the show and every one has came out delicious, not to mention they are easy and fresh. I have never tasted sun chokes before, or anchovies or capers for the matter,  but when they made them on the show they looked delicious, so I just had to try them. The salsa Verde is delicious and would be fantastic to put on lots of things. Potatoes, fish, pasta... anything you want to add a little kick of flavor to. Surprisingly, I can see myself making sun chokes again in the future,and most definitely trying the salsa verde with some other dishes as well! Don't be skeered. Just try it and you will like it!

Roasted Sun chokes with Salsa Verde

From: Extra Virgin

Sun chokes, washed and chunked into bite size pieces
Generous bunch of fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic
Olive Oil
1 T capers, rinsed
salt and pepper
4-5 anchovies
squeeze of fresh lemon

Preheat oven to 400

Sun chokes:
   Place chunked sun chokes on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

Salsa Verde:
    In food processor place parsley, garlic, capers, anchovies, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Blend well while adding olive oil until you get a smooth consistency.

When sun chokes are done baking dress with Salsa Verde and serve.

White Sandwich Bread

I have always wanted to make my own bread, but seeing as how I am not a baker, it never turned out very well. When we started eating "cleaner" the hardest part has been finding bread that Hubby and Little Man would eat. So I made it my mission to find a good bread recipe and make my own sandwich bread. This one did the trick! The first time I made it, it turned out good and every time I make it, it comes out better than the last. This recipe will make 3 loaves. Enjoy! 

Sandwich Bread

2 T yeast 

2 cups warm water

1/4 cup honey or sugar

1 T salt

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup vegetable oil or soft butter

6 1/2 to 7 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water to activate. Add honey, salt, eggs, oil, and 3 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in additional flour, 1/2 a cup or less at a time, until a soft dough forms and the dough is pulling away from the bowl. 

Turn dough onto an oiled surface and knead until smooth, about 6-8 minutes. (If your mixer has a kneading hook just leave the dough in the mixing bowl and put the dough hook on, let knead for at least 5 minutes) Place dough in a greased bowl (you can leave it in the mixing bowl, just take the dough out and form a small ball and place it back in the bowl) Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down and divide and shape into 3 loaves. Place in loaf pans and let rise until doubled once again. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool. 

If you wish, brush some butter on top while still warm.

*NOTE* I didn't want to knead the bread by hand so I used my dough hook on the stand mixer. The first time I let it knead for 5 minutes and I used a fast rising yeast. It came out a tad on the crumbly side. The last time I made it I used a regular active dry yeast, and I let it knead for 7-8 minutes in the mixer with the dough hook and it came out much better. I am not sure if it is the extra kneading time or the different yeast that made it come out better? 

Chicken Parmesan Baked Pasta

Once again, I found this recipe (and a great blog by the way) while searching recipes on pinterest. This one was easy to make and had a great, lighter flavor. I will definitely be making it again and again!!! 

Chicken Parmesan Baked Pasta

By: Tracy's Culinary Adventures

1 (28 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups water
1 - 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
12 oz pasta (I used shells) 
2 oz (about 1 cup) grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 oz (about 1 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese 
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 475 F.

Add the tomatoes to the bowl of your food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped, about 10 pulses. Set an oven-safe 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and salt and cook just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, the water, 1 cup of the chicken broth, and the pasta to the pan, stirring to combine. Bring the mixture to a vigorous simmer, then cover the pan and continue simmering (you may need to reduce the heat slightly) until the pasta is tender, about 16-18 minutes. Stir the pasta frequently as it cooks.

Once tender, remove the cover and stir in 3/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the pepper, and the chicken. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if necessary. If the mixture seems dry, mix in as much of the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth as needed to loosen it up (I didn't add any of it). {Note: if you don't have an oven-safe skillet, transfer the mixture to a baking dish at this point.} Sprinkle the top evenly with the mozzarella cheese and the remaining Parmesan cheese. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and bubbles around the edges. Garnish with the basil then serve.