Chocolate peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies

What is better than chocolate and peanut butter? Nothing. Nothing is better than chocolate and peanut butter. Especially in a cookie. These soft brownie like cookies won't last long in your kitchen! I promise!

What you'll need:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown
1 large egg, room temperature preferred*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons milk
1 and 1/2 cup peanut butter/chocolate chips plus a few more to press on top

Using a handheld mixer cream the butter on medium speed for about 20 seconds. Add the sugars with the mixer running on medium speed. Cream it all together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

In a separate medium size bowl, toss the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together. Slowly add to the wet ingredients with the mixer running on low. The dough will be very thick. By hand, stir in the milk, then fold in the white chocolate chips. The dough will become thick and very sticky.

Chill the dough for at least 2 hours covered with saran wrap. Do not skip this step!

Preheat that oven to 350F degrees. 

 Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Set aside.

Take 2 Tablespoons of chilled dough and roll into a ball. Place on cookie sheet and press a few more peanut butter chips on the top.

Bake for 14 minutes. Cookies will appear undone and very soft.

These cookies are so soft and delicious, they will be a family favorite for sure! A big glass of cold milk and a few cookies and you're in for a fantastic, chocolatey, peanut buttery treat!

 

A twist on a classic favorite - roast beef bread bowls

Who doesn't love hot roast beef smothered in gravy atop a heaping pile of mashed potatoes and bread? Hot shots are by far one of my favorite dinners. However even I get bored of my favorite things, so I decided to mix it up a bit and instead of regular bread on the bottom of the yummy pile of goodness I decided to bake up a delicious bread bowl.

How to make the bread bowl :

What you'll need :

2 cups + 4 Tablespoons warm water

2 packages of active dry yeast (5 1/2 teaspoons)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

3 teaspoons salt

6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour - If your dough is too sticky you may add additional flour at 1 tsp at a time. If your dough if too dry add water 1tsp at a time. NO more or you could ruin your dough.

Using a large mixing bowl, add warm water and sprinkle in yeast.  Let dissolve for a few minutes until yeast becomes foamy.  Be sure to sprinkle the yeast and don't just dump into the water ..It will clump and become unusable.

Add melted butter, sugar and salt and mix until combined.  Gradually add flour.  Once combined, knead your dough for about 5 minutes, or until it becomes a puffy firm ball of dough.

Form into 6 equal sized balls.  

Place on a greased cookie sheet and let rise until doubled - about an hour

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. 

 Let cool until warm and cut off the top, remove some of the bread from the inside...this becomes your bowl for your potatoes and roast beef.

The gravy is VERY HARD to make (not really) I take a package of brown gravy mix, a package of Au Ju gravy mix and 2tbs of all purpose flour with the recommended water (2c) and mix in a medium sauce LAN on medium.
After the mix is well mixed with the water add the sliced roast beef, the gravy will flavor the roast beef as it thickens.

After the gravy is hot and thickened, put a scoop of mashed potatoes in the bread bowl (I used garlic mashed potatoes) and use a spoon and kind of push it down into the bowl. Next spoon over roast beef and gravy...and there you have it. A twist on a classic meal. It is sooo good!

Meal Plan for Sunday 4/28 - Saturday 5/4

I love meal planning! I started meal planning about a month ago and I'm not sure I would ever change back to figuring out whats for dinner each and every night. As a Mom don't we have more important things to do than figure out dinner? So per request of many friends here is my meal plan for next week.

Sunday 4/28 -
Crock Pot Beef Stew

Monday 4/29
Stuffed Pork Chops
Rice
Sweet Corn

Tuesday 4/30
Homemade Lasagna
Garlic Bread

Wednesday 5/1
Bake Garlic Parmesan Chicken Breast 
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
Rolls

Thursday 5/2
Sirloin Steaks
Buttered Egg Noodles
Cooked Baby Carrots
Homemade cracked wheat bread

Friday 5/3

On Fridays we typically go out to eat

Saturday 5/4
Cheeseburgers
Fries 

The desserts I plan on making this week are chocolate chip banana muffins, and an Oreo chocolate pudding pie. I'll post recipes throughout next week.

Do you meal plan? How does it work for your family? Do you wish you meal planned if you don't?