Vegetable Chowder, a.k.a "Funny Soup"

2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 small onion
2 cups water
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup flour
1-2 cups milk or cream
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Put carrots, celery, and onion in blender with 2 cups water. Blend until only small pieces remain, almost a puree but not quite. Put into sauce pan. Add chicken stock. Cook 10 minutes or until soft. Whisk flour with a small amount of milk or cream to make a thin paste. Add 1 to 2 cups of milk or cream to mixture in sauce pan. Stir and add in flour mixture. Cook until thick and smooth. Add 1 to 2 cups shredded cheese. Stir until melted. Do not boil.

Comments: I use about 2 cups of cream (as in the no-carb heavy cream), and waaay more cheese. Three cups worth, probably. Also, "small onion" means SMALL ONION. It will overpower the other stuff if it's too big. This is probably my favorite soup on the planet.

Oatmeal Buttermilk Quickbread

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix oatmeal with buttermilk and let stand for 30 minutes. Stir in oil, egg, and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to oat mixture and mix well. Pour into greased/floured loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until done.

Comments: Well...this would have been great had I not dropped the loaf pan on the counter and caused the top to explode. What we did get to eat (the bottom half of the loaf) was very good. I threw some vanilla in to the mix, as well as a little bit of cinnamon and some raisins. Turned out like a typical quick bread---moist and soft. I think this would be good with dried cranberries and the like in it as well. Again, my oven was done early, and I pulled it when the top started to get too brown. A larger, flatter pan probably would have solved that problem.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie n' Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar

This bar will destroy your soul.

This is not my recipe, and these wonderful people at this website are EVIL.

No, not really. These were awesome and made me gain 8 pounds.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12 ounces) milk chocolate chips
1 pkg Double Stuffed Oreos
1 Family Size (9×13) Brownie mix
1/4 cup hot fudge topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to thoroughly combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, then slowly incorporate into the mixer until the flour is just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the cookie dough in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish that’s been lined with wax paper and sprayed with cooking spray. Top with a layer of Oreos. Mix together brownie mix, adding an optional 1/4 cup of hot fudge topping to the mix. Pour the brownie batter over the cookie dough and Oreos. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-55 minutes. To half this recipe for an 8×8 brownie mix, just half the chocolate chip cookie dough ingredients. Enjoy!

Comments: Where to begin? I used peanut butter Oreos, and the Hershey Ultimate Fudge Brownie mix (the kind with the goo your pour in?) and I left off the fudge topping. The oven that I used had them done at around 35-38 minutes--I should have pulled them when I started to smell the top getting dark. No matter, they were still delicious. I had never baked anything *in* waxed paper either, but that worked out ok. Very thick bar, very rich. I would like to try putting the little square caramels in between the Oreos, or pour some sort of caramel sauce in there too. Sugar free it's not---but you could get close by using Splenda and sugar free chips in the cookie dough, sugar-free Oreos, and sugar free brownie mix. Make sure you have some milk (and your glucose monitor) close by when you eat these!

Pumpkin Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon vanilla

Cream butter, sugar, and egg. Add the pumpkin and mix well. Add all other ingredients and mix together for several minutes. Batter will be soft. Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake at 8-10 minutes until just set. Allow to cool for a minute of two before removing from cookie sheet.

Comments: This makes a really yummy soft pumpkin cookie. Very moist! They also make great whoopie pies with cream cheese frosting. I found that it works out best when I use a cookie scoop to get them all the same size (and I don't get as sticky) and parchment paper lets me slide one sheet off and move on to the next batch without waiting. My oven takes about 9 minutes and I pull them when the tops start losing their give. Leave them in longer if you like a drier cookie.

Simple Coffee Cake

2 cups brown sugar
2 cups plus 6 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

Mix flour, sugar, and butter until crumbly. Reserve 3/4 cup for topping. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pour into a 8x10 pan. Sprinkle on topping. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Comments: I needed something easy to use up buttermilk, and this one looked yummy. I probably used more vanilla and cinnamon than what was called for (because I don't so much measure as toss in) and I added cinnamon to the topping. It was done prior to the 45 minutes in my oven--the crumbly bits were starting to get dark, so I pulled it at around 38-40 minutes. It had a nice taste and soft texture that wasn't overly sweet.