Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

I took a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe and substituted peppermint extract for the vanilla extract and added mint covered chips. They were pretty good!


Ingredients

The ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup mint covered chips

Instructions 

1. Melt the butter and mix with sugar. Add the peppermint and 1 egg and mix.

2. In separate bowl, add the sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix.

3. Add the dry ingredients in batches to the first bowl, mixing well.

4. Add the chips and mix. 

5. Bake @ 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Thank you IGE for this yummy recipe!

 I found this blog that has amazing, yummy recipes on it! I found a beefy, cheesy recipe that I knew Ian would love and I thought it was delicious too. Here is a link to the recipe, I have to give Iowa Girl Eats credit for this great meal: http://iowagirleats.com/2012/01/26/bachelor-food-redo/

*She calls for 1 lb of beef but I only used 1/2 lb and it was still meaty enough for Ian.

Ingredients 

• 1/2 lb lean ground beef*
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni 
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (add more if you like it cheesy!)

Instructions

• Brown ground beef in a large skillet or pot. Drain and return to pan.

Using my brand new dutch oven for the first time! Dirtying it with meat but oh well. Thanks Mom and Kelly, it's so beautiful!

• Add in cornstarch, seasonings, hot water, skim milk and pasta. Stir to combine, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, place a lid on top, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until pasta is al dente, stirring a couple of times.

Seasonings

Add milk and water

• Turn off the heat and stir in cheddar cheese until melted. Let stand for 5 minutes, or until sauce is thickened.

• Pour into a glass dish, sprinkle with shredded sharp cheese, Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Broil on high for a few minutes. 

Serve with some fresh sourdough bread!

Quick Meal - Pesto egg on toast!

I wasn't that hungry for dinner tonight but I was craving something tasty. This is what I made!

This was yummy and the perfect amount on food.

Ingredients:


1 egg
1 tbsp Parmesan
2 tbsp of homemade pesto
1 slice Daves Killer Bread Good Seed

Directions:


Toast a slice of bread and spread pesto on it. Cook the egg how you like it, top with parmesan and let melt. Combine and enjoy!

Only 340 calories.

Parmesan-Gruyère Gougères (French Cheese Puff Pastry)

I had the night to myself and I wanted to make something new with only ingredients I had in the house. I had just splurged on a chunk of Gruyere cheese and I had leftover Parmesan from the EPFs so I googled “Gruyere and Parmesan.” This is the recipe I found: http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2010/12/27/parmesan-gougeres/  With no necessary trip to the store I went for it! Besides, anything with Gruyere is good.

Parmesan-Gruyere Puffs!

Ingredients

1 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1 cup flour
3 large eggs
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup shredded Gruyère Cheese
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Add water, butter and black pepper to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

2. Add flour all at once, and using a wooden spoon, continue to stir over medium heat until mixture comes into a ball, about 2 minutes. Let cool at least 5 minutes.

3.  Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well to incorporate each egg into the dough before adding the next. Add both cheeses and mix well.

4. Use a pastry bag and drop dough onto parchment paper on cookie sheet the size of grape tomatoes. If using a spoon, only use one level tablespoon of dough per gougères.

5.  Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then turn oven to 375 degrees and bake for 20 more minutes, or until golden brown.

Review

Yum yum yum! When I pulled these out they were still a little doughy on the inside but I figured they would continue to cook afterwards and they did. I had about 6 and I was done. They aren’t that complex but I think they would be great with soup or with a meal. You can also make them bigger, sandwich size, and put some ham, lettuce and Dijon on it. This made about 40 so I will be sharing some with my coworkers tomorrow!

Homemade Pesto!

I finally made homemade pesto! Finally finally finally. I have only wanted to do this for 5 years when I had some of my friend Anne’s homemade pesto. It’s not hard, maybe a little expensive but very easy if you have a food processor. I chose to go with a simple, standard recipe.

My only picture of the pesto, very green and fresh!

Ingredients

2.5 oz basil

½ cup pine nuts

½ cup olive oil

1/3 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

2-4 cloves garlic

Salt and pepper

Instructions

1.     Wash and de-stem the basil leaves.

2.     Combine all in food processor and mix! It helps to put the basil leaves on the bottom.

3.     Taste and add anything you think is necessary. I thought it tasted too much like olive oil so I added more garlic. You can also add some lemon juice too.

Review

I used minced garlic from the jar: not a good idea. Use real garlic cloves, friends. I am also realizing now that I forgot to add salt or pepper! But Ian and I still thought it tasted great and FRESH! That was the most noticeable difference between homemade and store-bought. I cooked it on my Eggplant Pesto Feta’s (EPF’s) and that also helped to get rid of any bitter olive oil taste.

EPFs (Eggplant, Pesto, Feta)

I have never tried eggplant before, crazy huh? Well maybe my mom snuck it to me when I was little but I don’t think so. There are a few foods I have wanted to cook and eggplant is one of them! So I bought one purple eggplant at the store, browsed some recipes, modified them to my liking and this is what I came up with!

EPF's (it's like a BLT but better!)

Ingredients

1 eggplant

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs balsalmic vinegar

1 tbs lemon juice

1/3 cups homemade pesto !

1/3 cup tomato sauce

1/3 cup feta

Salt and pepper

Instructions

1.       Cut eggplants into thin slices. Lay them on sheet pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2.       Mix the oil, vinegar and lemon juice and brush it on the slices.

3.       Broil the eggplant until they are tender, about 6-10 minutes. Make sure to flip them!

4.       Change oven to 350 degrees.

5.       Spread pesto on top of the eggplant and top with feta.

6.       Bake 3-4 minutes so that the cheese (kind of) melts.

7.       Drizzle with tomato sauce (or drown in Ians case) and serve!

Review

I was very, very impressed with how these turned out. Between the two of us, Ian and I finished all of it! We loved them. As Ian pointed out there is no meat so it cannot be a main dish and must be an appetizer…but you decide J

Calories

In the whole dish there are about 650 calories. 

spring rolls w/ homemade peanut sauce

My godmother Cathie taught me how to make spring rolls this weekend and gave me some extra spring roll skins to try my own. I decided to make them for Ian for his first day back to Portland! Well, we made them together. Ian is my sous chef. These have rice, veggies and chicken for protein. I think they are about 100-120 calories each, including the peanut sauce.

Chicken, rice and veggie spring rolls

ingredients

Spring roll wrap (rice paper)                                                                             

1 cup of rice

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp minced garlic

two 12.5 oz cans of chicken in water

Veggies:

     1 stalk broccoli

     1 cup shredded carrots

     1/2 zucchini, chopped

     3/4 cup red onion, chopped

handful of cashews, chopped

peanut sauce

1/3 cup natural chunky peanut butter

1/3 cup water

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

Tabasco, to taste

how to make:

1. Make your rice. 1 cup rice + 2 cups water on high. Once it starts boiling, turn to simmer and cook until no water remains. 

2. In two separate pans cook your two different fillings:

- one 6 oz. can of chicken in water + 1 stalk broccoli (chopped) + 1 cup shredded carrots (chopped even more)

- one 6 oz. can of chicken in water +  1/2 a zucchini (chopped)  + 1 cup chopped red onion

Cook each of these in separate pans in olive oil, you can also use any veggies that you feel like! In each pan add 1 tbsp minced garlic and other seasonings such as mrs. dash, no-salt seasoning, etc. Cook until veggies are steamed through. Add cashews to the chicken/broccoli/carrot combo.

3. Make your peanut sauce! Put the peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds so that it is easy to blend. Put everything in the blender and whip it good!

Once everything is cooked set up your spring roll making station!

Spring Roll making Station

 In a large pan fill with water and put on low to medium heat, once heated, dip your spring roll paper in:

Let your spring roll paper sit in water for about 10 seconds (depending on the temperature of your water) and take out with a spatula or tongs. Wait until paper is soft and foldable.

Lay out your paper so that it is flat on your board and have your sous chef lay on the filling. Fold the long side over, then the two ends and roll up like a burrito.

We also tried some Thai Yellow Curry sauce from Trader Joes and soy sauce along with our homemade peanut sauce. We enjoyed the peanut and curry sauces the best!

This made 13 spring rolls which is 4 Kate-size servings and 3 Ian-size servings. Needless to say we both had leftovers for another meal. However, they are not NEARLY as good the day after as they are fresh so keep that in mind.

Steel-cut Oats (better than packaged oatmeal)

My grandma gave me a Crockpot cookbook for two so I decided to try my first recipe! I have heard and read about steel-cut oats for awhile now. Apparently they are a lot healthier for you and taste better than the package oatmeal I have been eating my whole life and...I have to say it's true! Here is my recipe:

Look at my cute oatmeal jars! 

Ingredients

Steel-cut oats
Water
Soy milk
Ground flax
Dash of salt
Agave nectar (optional)

Toppings:
Cinnamon
Diced apples
Dried cranberries
Brown sugar
Berries
Bananas
Sliced Almonds
Soy milk


Directions


In the crockpot, combine oats, water/soy milk, dash of salt, ground flax (I used about 1 cup) and agave nectar (I used about 1-2 TBS). For every 1/4 cup oats put 1 cup of water and/or milk. For my first trial I made way too much, I used 2 cups oats, 6 cups water and 2 cups soy milk. It was enough for 8-10 breakfasts. Let it cook overnight for 8-9 hours on low.

Review


I love these oats! Also, knowing that they are healthier makes me feel better about having them for breakfast. I put dried cranberries, sliced almonds and brown sugar on mine. I put them in these cute jars and can easily transport them to work!

Gazpacho

I served mine with shrimp and cheese!

Ingredients

Ingredients

• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1/2 whole Red Onion, Diced
• 1 whole Large Cucumber, Diced
• 5 whole Roma Tomatoes, Diced or 1 can of petite diced tomatoes
• 1 whole Zucchini, Diced
• 2 stalks Celery, Diced
• 1 dash Salt (to taste)
• 1/4 gallon Tomato Juice
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/8 cup Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons White Sugar
• 10 dashes Frank's hot sauce
• A few dashes of  black pepper (to taste)

Instructions

In a blender, combine the minced garlic with half the red onion, half the cucumber, half the tomato, half the zucchini, half the celery, half the tomato juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, Frank's, and a dash of salt.

Pulse until all ingredients are blended well; mixture will have a nice speckled, colorful texture.

My new blender! Thanks Mom and Kelly :)

Pour into a large bowl and add the rest of the tomato juice, and half of the remaining onion, cucumber, tomato, zucchini, and celery.

Stir mixture together and check seasonings, adding salt if needed. Chill soup for at least a couple of hours.

Serve with a sliver of fresh avocado, sour cream, cheese, shrimp and/or cilantro. 

Review

I loved how this turned out! It full of vegetables and cheap, I will definitely make this again. It would be great in the summertime because it's a cold soup. 

Props to Pioneer Woman for this yummy recipe:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/06/gazpacho/