Shamrock Cookies

These minty little treats are a perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

Shamrock Cookies

Recipe from Better Homes and Garden

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of butter, softened
• 2/3 cup of sugar
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp of peppermint or vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Green food coloring
• Green colored sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter on a medium speed until soft. Add sugar and salt, beat until fluffy. 

Add egg, peppermint extract and green food coloring. Beat mixture well. 

With the mixer on low, add in flour slowly to butter mixture and beat well. 

Divide dough into three equal parts. Shape each part into a roll about 1 inch thick and about 8 inches long. Roll each in green colored sugar. Wrap rolls in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 1 week. 

Unwrap rolls. Slice crosswise so the slices are 1/4 inch thick. To shape each shamrock, place 3 slices of dough with sides touching in a shamrock shape on an un-greased cooking sheet. To make a stem, take one of the circles and cut it into 4 slices. Use a fourth slice and attach it to the bottom of the shamrock. Press together slightly so that each leaflet curves a bit. 

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Tips:

Store baked cookies in a airtight container for up to 3 days. Or store baked cookies in a freezer container in the freezer up to 2 weeks. 

Corned Beef Hash

Weekends are made for big breakfasts and corned beef hash will give you a reason to crawl out of bed!

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups corned beef, cubed
• 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and grated
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 2 tbls butter

Rinse grated potatoes and pat dry. In a large nonstick skillet melt butter over a medium heat. Combine potatoes, onion, corned beef, salt and peeper and add to the skillet. Press the potatoes evenly into the pan using a pancake turner. Cook for 8-10 minutes. 

Divide into four slices and flip each slice over. Cook for another 5-7 minutes. 

Serve with scrambled or fried eggs and toast. My mouth is watering looking at these photos! I wouldn't blame you if you skipped ahead and used all the corned beef for making hash!! Enjoy!

I love to eat my hash with a fried egg and toast!

Reuben Sandwich

Reuben sandwiches are one of my favorite ways to eat corned beef. I like to use home-made thousand island dressing to take this sandwich to another level!!

Ingredients:

• corned beef
• swiss cheese
• thousand island dressing (recipe below)
• sauerkraut
• sourdough bread or rye bread

Saute corned beef over medium-high heat. Toast bread. Layer dressing, sauerkraut, corned beef and swiss cheese on one slice of the bread. Top with the other slice of bread and Enjoy!!

Thousand Island Dressing:

• 1/2 cup of mayo
• 1/4 cup of ketchup
• 1/2 cup of sweet relish
• pinch of salt
• pinch of pepper

Easy Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

In celebration of St. Patrick's I have cooked up a few corned beef dishes! I start out making corned beef and cabbage then use the leftovers for other tasty meals throughout the week.

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
• 5 red potatoes, quartered
• 1 small onion, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups of water
• 1 (4 pound) beef brisket
• 1/2 head of cabbage
• season packet that comes with the corned beef

Coat crock pot with olive oil. Place potatoes cut side down along with the carrots and onions in the bottom of the crock pot. Cover vegetables with water and place corned beef on top of the vegetables with the fat side up. Empty seasoning packet on top of the corned beef.

Cover and set on low for 8 hours. During the last hour of cooking add in the chopped cabbage.

After 8 hours remove the corned beef and scrape the off fat (this the not-so fun part), slice and serve. 

I really like corned beef and cabbage but I LOVE Reuben sandwiches and corned beef hash. Stay tuned for those recipes using leftover corned beef.

Enjoy!

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day is March 17!! Leprechauns, shamrocks and pots of gold are usually what come to mind when I think about this holiday. But, like with many western holidays, St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday.

St. Patrick was held as a prisoner in Ireland from the age of 16 to 22. He was able to escape his captors and returned to Britain where he studied to be a priest. Later in his life he returned to Ireland as a missionary. St. Patrick often used a shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish.

To celebrate, I have cooked up a weeks’ worth of recipes that remind me of St. Patrick’s Day. I’m starting the week off with “Easy Slow-Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage” then using the leftover corned beef to make “Reuben Sandwiches” and “Corned Beef Hash”. I’ll end the week with the recipe for “Shamrock Cookies”, a treat that you can make with the kiddos.

Enjoy!!

Value Conscious Vase Filler

I needed something new to fill the vase in my bathroom but didn't want to spend a fortune. I had the idea to fill it will coordinating yarn balls. The result was cute and very affordable!

Tools Needed:

• styrofoam balls - $5.46
• assorted yarn - $3.46 each
• corsage pins

Secure end of yarn with a corsage pin and begin wrapping the ball with yarn. 

Continue to wrap the ball until the white foam is no longer visible. Secure the end with another corsage pin. 

Wrap as many balls as you need to fill your vase and display. It's that easy! 

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Chocolate and peanut butter, two of my favorite indulgences, come together to a make a tasty cookie!

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbls milk

40 mini peanut butter cups, unwrapped and frozen

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
2. Cream together butter, peanut butter, white and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla and milk. Add in flour mixture and mix well. Shape dough into 1/2 inch balls and place on a un-greased cookie sheet. Press down on dough to flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 8 mins. Remove from oven and immediately press a frozen peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie. Let cool for 2 minutes and slowly press the peanut butter cup down a little more so that it is flush with the cookie. Allow to cool on rack until the chocolate sets. 

I found freezing the candy then remove the wrappers and place them back into the freezer was the easiest. The frozen candy keeps its shape and does not melt everywhere when it is pressed into the cookie. 

Also, I found that pressing the balls down a little bit before baking them decreased the amount of cracking when the candy was pressed into the center. It takes a while for the chocolate to become firm, so if your in a rush to store these then place the cookies in the freezer to speed up the process. 

Enjoy!!