The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are the best chocolate chip cookies you will ever make. They always get rave reviews wherever I take them.  I hope you enjoy them as much as my family and friends do.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup Crisco shortening
• 2 sticks of real butter (salted)
• Eggs-2
• Granulated sugar-1 cup
• Light brown sugar-1 cup
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups bread flour (all-purpose flour is fine also)
• 12 oz. bag of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

• Mix together thoroughly the sugar, brown sugar, Crisco, butter, eggs, vanilla, salt and baking soda
• Add flour and mix thoroughly
• Pick up a bit of dough.  If it is very tacky, add more flour.  It should come off of your fingers easily
• Stir in chocolate chips
• Drop by hand to a cookie sheet in desired size, spacing 1-2 inches apart
• Bake at 375 degrees until the peaks are golden and they no longer appear gooey in the center (don’t let them get too golden)
• Allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet to allow for residual baking to occur
• Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to continue to cool completely

Enjoy!!! 

10 Meal Prep Time Savers

Family time is so important.  Weeknights are filled with work, school, practices, games, rehearsals, after-school activities, homework, etc.  It’s important to be able to put a healthy meal on the table, no matter what time of day, in a short amount of time.  While this does take an hour or two of your weekend to do, it is so worth the time savings through the week.

Below are 10 meal prep time savers that have saved my sanity a time or two.

1. 1. Cut up pepper, onions and mushrooms.  Place them in gallon zipper bags or bowls.  Omit the mushrooms and you can make enough to store bags in the freezer as well.  Peppers, onions and mushrooms are perfect additions to scrambled eggs, fajitas or tacos through the week.
   2. Bake spaghetti squash and string to noodles.  Store in gallon zipper bags or bowls in the refrigerator.  These make perfect low carb noodles for spaghetti and meatballs, chicken alfredo or beef taco meat.
   3. Make a large batch of marinara from scratch.  Divide it up in gallon freezer bags
   4. Grill chicken tenderloins and dice.  Store in gallon zipper bags in the refrigerator or freezer.  You can also store them in small containers to use for salads as weekday lunches.  The chicken can be used for chicken alfredo, chicken bacon ranch pizza, chicken fajitas, etc.
   5. Make a salad and store in a Rubbermaid container. 
   6. Wash apples, citrus, grapes, etc. with a mixture of white vinegar and water.  Pre-washing fruits allows for grab and go snacking and lunch preparation.
   7. Peel and cut up carrots and celery and place them in small bags or containers for individual snacking.
   8. Cook scrambled eggs and sausage links or crumbles to be warmed up through the week for quick breakfasts.  Put them on a plate as they are or put them in a tortilla with some cheese and roll them as a burrito.
   9. Make Sausage roll ups.  These are delicious and quick breakfasts before school and work.  They also make a filling after-school snack.
   10. Prepare other proteins for the week.  Make ground beef/turkey/chicken patties.  Slice steak or chicken into strips for fajitas.  Place these in gallon freezer bags and place them in the refrigerator or freezer.

These are a few of my favorite products that I use to store vegetables, fruit and meals for the week.  

**This post contains affiliate links.  I may receive a small portion of the purchase at no additional cost to you.**

In the past year, I have been trying to lower the carb intake of my family in small ways.  As most families, we are busy with school activities and sports on weekday evenings.  In order to put a healthy meal on the table, it has to be quick and easy.  This easy, weeknight chicken fried cauliflower rice dish was a great inclusion to our weekly rotation for those later evenings.  And the kids do not even notice that it is not real rice!  It pulls together rather quickly and is a huge hit in our house.  

Ingredients 

• Chicken tenderloins or thighs (deboned) cut in small chunks (1.5 lbs approximately) 
• Bag of frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, peas and green beans) or your choice of veggies 
• 2 bags of frozen cauliflower rice.  We prefer the ones with garlic seasoning.  
• Soy Sauce (4 Tbsp or to taste) 
• 2 eggs 
• Salt 
• Pepper 

Preparation

• Cook chicken chunks in a skillet at medium-high heat until no pink is showing in the middle (approximately 165 degrees in the center).  Add salt and pepper to taste while it is cooking.  Keep in mind that soy sauce packs a salty punch. 
• Cook frozen vegetables and cauliflower rice in the microwave or on the stove top until warm throughout.  
• Combine the chicken, vegetables and cauliflower rice in one skillet and add soy sauce.  
• Move components to one side of the skillet and break in 2 eggs in the empty side.  You can scramble these before putting them in the skillet or just use your spatula to mix them up in the skillet.  
• Once the eggs have completed cooking, mix them in with the rest of the ingredients in the skillet.  

Enjoy!!