Cookies and other stuff.

Went to my parents' yesterday and they watched Rylan while I made two huge batches of cookies. One butterscotch chip and one chocolate chip. I won't post a recipe, I just used the one on the back of the chocolate chip bag. :) The only difference is that I use 1 1/2 bags of chips per batch (for even more chocolatey goodness) and I underbake the cookies by about 1 1/2 minutes than what's recommended in the recipe. Cause we like gooey cookies not crunchy ones. Oh and baking on parchment paper is a MUST! I've been meaning to shell out the money for a silpat liner -- but it's just too expensive and parchment works well. 

For dinner last night, Steve and Rylan had "saucy franks". I think this is a recipe from Steve's grandpa and Steve grew up eating it. I had leftover pizza and salad -- the saucy franks sauce would have given me terrible heartburn. Anyway, you can make this dish with regular hot dogs, veggie dogs, or I use turkey dogs. The idea is that the sauce is NOT like spaghetti sauce...it's more of a tangy-sweet tomato sauce. If you like it less sweet, use less sugar. More tangy, add more vinegar. Rylan loved it -- 

saucy franks

1 bell pepper, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 hot dogs, sliced or cubed
2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 tsp vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar, or more to taste
salt and pepper
1 tsp oil
1 lb. wide egg noodles, cooked according to package directions and tossed with butter

Saute bell pepper, onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add hot dogs, cook for 2-3 minutes. Add tomato sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat for at least 10 minutes. Serve over buttered egg noodles.

(No pics of this -- that'll be in the cookbook)

Tonight I'm going to make cheese soup. Maybe some ham sandwiches to go with it since eating JUST soup never seems like a complete meal to me. This soup has Cheese Whiz in it! Yeah, yeah, I know....it's processed cheese....but it is SOOOO good and smooth and creamy and doesn't get oily like other cheese soups do. Recipe tomorrow.