Reader Recipe: Cake Mix Cookies

I obviously have a great love for social media! I love how it connects me with old friends, keeps me connected with current ones and helps me connect to new people as well. When I started this blog, I really didn't just start it for me as I liked the idea of sharing food ideas with others but as I am the Cook Crook, I also wanted readers to share with me too!

Enter friend Michele, who I met through Facebook as she is the dear friend of one my sister-in-laws and of course knows my husband and the rest of his immediate family. She sent me a quick an easy recipe for cookies since I constantly lament about my lack of baking skills (I am working on them!) Her recipe for cake mix cookies was so easy I couldn't wait to try it! Here is her recipe as she told it to me.

Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 Box of cake mix (any flavor - we used carrot cake this time around)
  
• 1/2 cup solid Crisco (I used the stick!)
  
• 1 tablespoon water
  
• 2 eggs
  

Mix the ingredients by hand or in a food processor.

Roll into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

They should still be a bit gooey in the middle when you take them out.

Let sit on cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then cool on a wire rack.

From Michele: "I dipped the chocolate ones in some powdered sugar before baking so they looked pretty...these also freeze really well...I put a few in a snack size bag and the kids put them in their lunches when they pack them and they are defrosted by lunch."


My family loved them as did my office. Good thing the grocery store recently had 10 boxes of cake mix for $10. Can't wait to try other flavors.Thanks Michele!

Reader Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Salad

I LOVE when readers share their own "cook crook" moments!

Reader Matt sent me a picture of his recent meal that he created from leftover smoked chicken he had prepared beer can style. 

Buffalo Chicken Salad: Beautiful Plate!

Matt made a bed of organic greens, fat free croutons and Italian blend cheese.He heated the leftover chicken and then tossed it in prepared buffalo sauce. Then it was as simple as putting the chicken on top of the lettuce and covering it in blue cheese dressing. As Matt said, "Not a bad unexpected dinner using what was around!"

Steal of the Week: Chicken Parmesan Burgers

Once again Cooking Light comes through for me with an awesome recipe my husband and I loved!

This month's Reader Recipe was Chicken Parmesan Burgers. I asked hubby if he'd be interested and he agreed to give it a try...he ate two!

The recipe is also here and I cook crooked it as usual. First you will notice that it calls for 3 different fresh herbs: thyme, rosemary and basil. This was difficult to accomplish on two fronts. 1) because I have yet to start my own herb garden due to fear and the longest winter ever and 2) grocery stores are apparently having difficulty stocking fresh herbs (possible due to my same reasons). I always have dried thyme on hand, so that left me with rosemary and basil. The grocery store DID have rosemary but no basil....but they did have this:

This may in fact be the best invention I have ever discovered! Fresh basil in a squeeze tube? Are you kidding me? I was so excited I think the hub unit questioned my sanity. It's not cheap ($3.99 for tube) but it will now be a staple in my house.

I also was unsuccessful getting ciabatta rolls but the bakery did have some very nice, fresh baked kaiser rolls.

I had already decided to double the recipe knowing using just a half pound of ground chicken was pretty crazy. The final ingredient to reconcile was the marinara sauce. If you are a regular reader, you know my husband always asks for more spice. So, instead of straight marinara, I used Arrabiata sauce.

A few tips I can pass along. The mixture will be very wet and very sticky. You have to work fast with the making of the patties and the skillet has to be HOT. Here's mine after they were flipped and before they went in the oven:

Be very careful flipping them as more than once I thought I could feel them wanting to come apart. 

The rubbing of the cut garlic on the toasted bread may seem like a silly step but it does make a difference. And because I didn't have fresh basil and instead used a small amount of the basil blend from the tube to spread on both sides of the bread, the garlic added a lovely flavor.

The finished product had wonderful flavor, still very light and very satisfying. Hubby suggested (and got with his second sandwich) a little sauce on the side to dip in!