Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Oh hey there super delicious dip that I will never stop eating.

Seriously.

I cannot believe how amazing this recipe turned out, and I was skeptical at first, considering some of the ingredients I didn't have, haha. But Chocolate Covered Katie has helped me out quite a bit. I love love love her recipes. She hadn't posted this one with pumpkin, but I thought I'd give it a try. This is also the recipe from my pumpkin chocolate chip cookie pie.

Ingredients:
1 can chick peas (also called garbanzos) drained and rinsed off
1/2 c quick oats
2 tbsp canned pumpkin
1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c chocolate chips (to make super healthy, use my sugar-free recipe)

Directions:
1. Blend everything except chocolate chips in a food processor (not a blender, it's super hard).
2. Mix in chocolate chips.
3. Enjoy by the spoonful or with a dippable utensil (i.e. graham crackers or animal crackers)


Honey Cinnamon Cornbread

It's almost time for New Years! You know what that means, right? Yup. Time for your healthy lucky serving of black-eyed peas and cornbread. But this year, whip up something that you don't even need to add butter or honey to. Sounds perfect, right? It is.

Another great thing about this recipe is that you don't need a cast-iron skillet! If you have one, though, that's great. If you don't, you need a metal baking dish.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
1 c flour
1 c yellow cornmeal
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 c low-fat milk
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c oil
2 tbsp honey

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place the butter in a metal baking dish (or cast iron skillet) and heat in the oven while making the batter.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Pour the oil and honey into a small bowl and mix together. Add the milk and beaten egg to the oil mixture. Pour the oil mixture into the dry mixture and mix until just combined.

4. Bake for 20 minutes, the edges will be a golden brown.

Lime Chicken Fajitas

No preservatives.
No salt.
No tricks.





Look at that dish full of delish.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, thawed
2 tsp. Ground red pepper
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1 tsp. Cilantro
2 tsp. Chili powder
1 tsp. Onion powder
1 lime, cut in half
1 bell pepper
1/3 white onion
1 can fat-free re-fried beans
Any taco topping of your choice, I had cheese and fat-free sour cream)
Tortillas (optional)

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix the spices together.
2. Place your chicken breasts on a plate and rub in the seasoning on both sides. Let the chicken sit while chopping vegetables.
3. Cut up your veggies into strips to fit into your tacos, I prefer mine long and skinny so they fit quite nicely inside my flour tortillas.
4. In a skillet on medium heat, cook your chicken. When almost fully cooked, take half the lime and squeeze over the chicken. Let finish cooking, and take off the heat.
5. In a pot, heat up your re-fried beans.
6. Using the same heated skillet for the chicken, saute the veggies using a scant bit of olive oil. After they soften, squeeze the other half of the lime over the veggies. Let cook for a minute more, then take off the heat.
7. Put together your fajitas in any way you'd like, and enjoy!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can never go wrong trying out a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. This past week, I did just that.

These cookies were to die for, and I will definitely make them again.



Ingredients: 
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 
1 cup packed brown sugar 
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups (1 package) semisweet mini chocolate chips

Directions: 
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. 

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. 

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart. 

4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.



Friday, December 7, 2012

Chocolate Gingerbread Trifle

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You guys. I am by no means a fan of ginger. But I must say, this recipe was a success. Everyone who tried it loved it, and I did, too!




Ingredients:
1 box spice cake mix
3 eggs
½ C vegetable oil
3 ½ C milk
6 -1 oz. squares Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate
2 boxes chocolate instant pudding
32 oz Cool Whip topping (4 containers)
½ - 1 C crushed ginger snap cookies

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix together cake mix, eggs and vegetable oil. Place in a greased 9 x 13 in pan and back for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely.

3. Meanwhile, microwave 2 cups milk and 4 chocolate squares in a large microwaveable bowl for 4 minutes. Whisk until chocolate is melted and will blended. Add remaining milk and dry pudding mixes. Stir 2 minutes. Refrigerate until chilled; approximately 3 hours.

4. One the cake is cooled; cut into cubes. Place half into a large bowl. Cover with half the pudding mixture, then half the Cool whip. Repeat the process. Refrigerate until chilled.

5. When trifle is completely chilled, top with crushed ginger snap cookies and chocolate curls from the two remaining squares of chocolate. 

 

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Peanut Butter Squares

Technically these are cookies. But the way I baked them, they are square. So I'm going to call them squares. Regardless, they are amazingly delicious and totally guilt-free so I don't care. They are also only 4 ingredients. Easy as that!


Ingredients:
1 C peanut butter (I used Smucker's All Natural Peanut Butter, no added sugar!)
1 C honey
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together peanut butter and honey. Add in egg then baking soda
4. Pour into a greased 9x13 cookie sheet. The smaller the pan the better, they will cook thicker.
5. Bake for 10-14 minutes.
6. Take out of the oven and let set for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

NOTE: These squares bake very oddly because there is no flour. They have a tendency to puff up during the baking process, but once cooled and more dense.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

White Chocolate Cinnamon Pretzels


This is the most addictive snack I have made besides puppy chow! This takes about 5 minutes to make from start to finish. It's perfect when you're in a rush to get to that party, or can't afford to spend a lot of money. If you bake in general, you should have three of these ingredients and you only have to buy two. It's that easy! Here's the original recipe, which I didn't change, but I'm going to look at some milk chocolate ones soon.



Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies // 2

This is my second attempt at these cookies. I don't remember where I found the original cookies I made, but when I whipped these up last night, they blew me away! I was definitely more impressed with these,.

I altered the original recipe to my own liking, so maybe that's why they are better!

I also doubled the recipe, without realizing HOW MANY these would make! I have like five dozen! That's totally okay though, because they are amazing. I might be the most self-restrained baker I've ever met. I've only had three since I made them! I keep eyeballing them every time I walk into the kitchen, so I need to get rid of them quick! If I don't quit making these huge desserts with no one to eat them, I'm gonna get super fluffy!




Sunday, October 28, 2012

Mini Pizza Cups

These are perfect! I was craving pizza but didn't want to A) Leave my house B) Eat a whole pizza, which is entirely possible. So I came up with these little bites of deliciousness.




Friday, October 26, 2012

Southern "Kolaches"


So I know a lot of you have never heard of this foreign word called Kolache, but they are absolutely amazing. You can get them at donut shops in Texas. Our family tradition was to go and buy donuts and Kolaches on Sundays, and then go home and read the Sunday newspaper. It was a blast, and I always loved that tradition. They also became a tradition to make them at home on Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings, so we would have plenty of room for the holiday meals. That is were this recipe originated!

But then I stopped eating red meat. So the kind of kolache I ate was out of the question. The original kolache has fruit in the middle, but in Texas, they used a breakfast sausage, cheese, and jalapeno for their fillings. And no, they are NOT pigs in a blanket. It's totally different.

But I found a miracle at the grocery store this week! TURKEY lil breakfast sausages! I was so excited! That means I can eat them again! So I grabbed all the ingredients and made them to see if they were up to my standards. They were, of course.

  

Yum yum in my tum tum! Sorry, I couldn't help myself.




Saturday, October 20, 2012

Jack-o-Lantern Stuffed Bell Peppers

I'm really proud of myself on this one. I actually thought of this all by myself! The only thing I took from the original recipe is that the bell peppers had cute little pumpkin faces!



My great grandmother would be proud.

Now someone out there might like the original recipe way better than mine. Who knows? But I don't eat red meat, nor have I ever really like ground beef, so I chose to change mine up a bit. Okay, a lot.





Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

These are not your normal bites.

You could even eat them guilt free.


That's right. Guilt free.

They are amazing, by the way. The taste is just a beautiful medley of deliciousness.

Did I mention they are healthy?

If you haven't heard or read by now, I am obsessed with Chocolate Covered Katie. She makes all of these crazy good recipes that are healthy! HEALTHY! I love it, and I admire her for doing so much.
So that is, of course, where I got this recipe from.

Don't be skeptical, because I grew up eating only junk food, and it's been a recent change to live a healthier lifestyle. I still struggle with the desire to devour a whole box of cheez-its or to go buy a 1,200 calorie pizza and eat it all by myself. So when I say something is delicious, I mean it.


These are homemade Lara Bars, says Chocolate Covered Katie, and they are full of good nutrients! Can't go wrong with that! If you check out her website, she has a bunch of different flavors. I'll make most of them eventually, but if you're curious, go check her out!

INGREDIENTS
2/3 C pitted dates
1/4 C nuts, such as almonds or cashews
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 C chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1. In a food processor, blend the dates, nuts, and vanilla. Add in the chocolate chips.

2. Form the bites in any shape or form you want, such as a bar or round bites.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Pumpkin Pecan Brownies

These phenomenal recipe is made with two ingredients. Yup. You read that right. Two ingredients.


Don't those look like the chocolatiest brownies you've ever seen? Moist and scrumptious. Yum.

I did a bit of altering to this recipe (of course!) and it turned out way better than I expected!


 I added a few extra ingredients to spice it up. Like I said, the original post only calls for two ingredients, but if you're a pumpkin fanatic, then feel free to experiment. The original recipe also gives a frosting recipe, so feel free to check it out and test the frosting!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

** Edited November 2014 - Click here for the new version, 1/2 sized **

This recipe.... this recipe is so intense, I can't even describe the process it took to make. It wasn't a hard process, necessarily, but it was time consuming, and the original poster made the directions a bit confusing. I'm going to simplify the directions, and how to put the recipe together, and I'm hoping to make it easier for any one else who doesn't cook as often, or has trouble understanding recipes. I'm just grateful I got it right!

This recipe is AMAZING heated up with a cup of coffee. Hence why it's called coffee cake! The flavors are delectable, and I can't get over every texture I bite into! It's just truly wonderful!



 Right here, I will show you the ingredients, but please read through the rest of the recipe's directions before you start. It will make your life a while lot easier! You'll also enjoy this a little bit more!

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

Holy. Cow. I wish more desserts had REAL strawberries in them!
This cookie was absolutely delicious! It tasted JUST LIKE a strawberry shortcake!

This recipe was pretty simple, and quick to make. Also quick to go! I have one left, and I'm sure it'll be gone within the hour. While there seems to be a lot of ingredients, it's not too complicated to put together, as you'll see in the directions.

Here's a tip for you novice cooks (and you veterans, too!). When a recipe calls for parchment paper: use it. I really need to go buy some, and it's just perfect for any cookie you make. It keeps the bottom from burning, and anything that touches the pan from over cooking. It also is an easier clean-up, and who doesn't love that!?


Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars


Pumpkin ALL the things! But really. I mean it. It is FALL! And it's the first day of October! Do you know what that means? Rent is due! And it is socially acceptable to use pumpkin in every dish until New Years. I'm serious.

This recipe was a HIT in my morning design class. Everyone just about jumped for joy (as much joy as you can have at 9:30 in the morning) when I showed up with breakfast on critique day!

I found this recipe on Pinterest, OF COURSE! And if you haven't followed my Board, I have a Pumpkin Cravings Board, that is full of not only pumpkin desserts, but main dishes and appetizers as well!

INGREDIENTS
6 large eggs
1 + 1/2 C vegetable oil
3 C granulated sugar
1 + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large can (29 oz) pumpkin
3 + 1/4 C flour
1 + 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 + 1/2 tsp salt
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix together eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla, and pumpkin. Set aside.

3. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Pour dry ingredients into wet and combine.

4. Pour into a 13 x 18in jelly roll pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips over batter. Bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting into rectangles.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Healthy Recipes

 - 3 Bean Chicken Chili
 - Baked Squash Spaghetti
 - Bison Stew
 - Black Bean Soup
 - Cauliflower Pizza Crust
 - Chocolate Monkey Bites
 - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
 - Cinnamon Strawberry Quinoa
 - Corn Tortillas
 - Easy Fruit Cobbler
 - Egg White Bites
 - Fresh Guacamole
 - Guilt-free Banana S'mores
 - HEALTHY Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip
 - HEALTHY Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pie
 - Homemade Hummus
 - Honey Homemade Marshmallows
 - Inside Out Chocolate Covered Strawberries
 - Jack 'O Lantern Stuffed Bell Peppers
 - Key Lime Pie
 - Lime Chicken Fajitas
 - Mediterranean Fish Tacos
 - Peanut Butter Squares
 - Pico de Gallo
 - Quinoa Caprese Salad
 - Roasted Carrots
 - Southwest Black Bean Salad
 - Thin Mint Brownie Bites
 - Tomatillo Salsa with Baked Tortilla Chips
 - Tomato/Kale/White Bean Soup

Savory Recipes

 - 3 Bean Chicken Chili
 - Baked Squash Spaghetti
 - Bison Stew
 - Black Bean Soup
 - Brie + Jam on Italian Bread
 - Cauliflower Pizza Crust
 - Cheddar Cheese Crackers
 - Egg White Bites
 - Fresh Guacamole
 - Homemade Flour Tortillas
 - Homemade Hummus
 - Homemade Queso
 - Honey Cinnamon Cornbread
 - Jack 'O Lantern Stuffed Bell Peppers
 - Lime Chicken Fajitas
 - Mediterranean Fish Tacos
 - Mini Taco Bites
 - Mini Pizza Rolls
 - Pesto-Mozzarella Wonton Rolls *most popular*
 - Pico de Gallo
 - Mini Pizza Cups
 - Quick + Easy Pizza Bread
 - Quinoa Caprese Salad
 - Rich Tomato Soup
 - Roasted Carrots
 - "Southern" Kolaches
 - Southwest Black Bean Salad
 - Tomatillo Salsa with Baked Tortilla Chips
 - Tomato/Kale/White Bean Soup
 - Yellow Curry Chicken Meatballs

Lemon/Lime Recipes

 - Lemon Cake Balls

Other Recipes

 - Mini Canoli Cups *most popular*
 - Reese's Pieces Puppy Chow *most popular*
 - Trix Treats *most popular*

Breakfast Recipes

 - Cinnamon Roll Baked Donuts *most popular*

Pumpkin Recipes

 - Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars
 - Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bites
 - Pumpkin Bread *most popular*
 - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
 - Pumpkin Coffee Cake
 - Pumpkin Cream Cheese Brookie Sandwich
 - Pumpkin Pecan Brownies
 - Pumpkin Pie Cookies
 - Pumpkin "Poptarts"
 - Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
 - Pumpkin Tarts
 - Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
 - Pumpkin Cream Cheese Snickerdoodle Sandwich

Banana Recipes

 - Banana Bread
 - Banana Donuts with Peanut Butter Frosting
 - Carrot Cake Banana Bread *Award Winning*
 - Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
 - Chocolate Monkey Bites
 - Fresh Fruit Tarts with Cinnamon Cream Filling
 - Guilt-free Banana S'mores

Strawberry Recipes

 - Brownie Kebabs
 - Cinnamon Strawberry Quinoa
 - Easy Fruit Cobbler
 - Fresh Fruit Tarts with Cinnamon Cream Filling
 - Fresh Strawberry Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
 - Inside Out Chocolate Covered Strawberries
 - "Lovely" Rice Krispy Treats
 - Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

Cake/Pie/Cobbler Recipes

 - Berry Cobbler *Award Winning*
 - Chocolate Buttermilk Cake *Award Winning*

Chocolate/Chocolate Chip Recipes



 - Chocolate Buttermilk Cake *Award Winning*
 - Mini Canoli Cups *most popular*
 - Oreo Cream Cheese Cookies *most popular*

Cookie Recipes

 - Cinnamon Roll Cookies *most popular*
 - Oreo Cream Cheese Cookies *most popular*
 - Perfect Sugar Cookies  *most popular*

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Egg White Bites

It is fall! Unfortunately this blog post is not about pumpkin. Wahwah.
But, it's for those early risers who need breakfast and don't have time to cook it!

These are delicious, light, fluffy, and goes great on a lightly toasted English muffin. I found the recipe here and was super excited to try it!


Don't they look scrumptious? It's because they are. And great on the go! Super simple, super healthy, and super good. I can't get over how easy they were to make! 


INGREDIENTS
Egg Beaters
10 pieces turkey bacon, cooked and chopped
1/2 C grape tomatoes, cut into quarters
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red onion, diced
Salt & pepper
Cooking spray

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook your bacon. Chop your veggies and bacon. Mix your veggies and bacon and scoop into greased cupcake pans.

3. Pour the egg whites into each cupcake tin, top with salt and pepper. Bake 20-30 minutes. Let cool completely before storing.

Monday, September 17, 2012

S'mores Campfire Cookies

So I was about to post this recipe on my Facebook page when I realized that I hadn't made the recipe on my blog! Silly me! This recipe is super quick, super easy, and super delicious. It's just super!

You're going to enjoy making this recipe rain or shine, because the awesomeness of the flavors of a s'mores in a cookie are undeniably delectable. Yum! They also make a ton of cookies, so more to share! Or you can also make GIGANTIC cookies! Even better!


Sunday, September 16, 2012

Guilt-free Banana S'mores!

You guys. I have never been able to make an actual dessert that my paleo-ridden boyfriend can eat. (Just kidding about ridden, he has chosen to partake in the diet himself) But it was our two-year anniversary and I really wanted to enjoy something dessert-like for our nice quiet evening together. I kind of concocted this myself and put it together via other recipes.


Look at that gooey deliciousness! And completely guilt-free!

Now this recipe is not like a typical s'more. It's made with banana instead of graham crackers, but I will tell you how you can add a little crunch of some other varieties to make this one-of-a-kind delectable dessert.

Let me break this down, because it's hard to understand where all of these recipes came from.
3 Ingredient Chocolate Bars (recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie)
Honey Homemade Marshmallows (recipe from The Nourishing Gourmet)
Banana S'mores Recipe (recipe from Quick Dish)

But it gets a little more in depth! I added and removed my own ingredients (which is why my blog exists for the most part) and made it completely sugar-free!

There are going to be three recipes on this blog (eek!)


Banana S'mores

Ingredients:
2 Bananas
3-ingredient Chocolate, cut into small cubes
Honey Homemade Marshmallows, cut into chunks

Other toppings:
Organic peanut butter (for the guilt-free) or just regular peanut butter (I used reduced-fat)
Cinnamon Toast Crunch (for the indulging types)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Take a piece of aluminum foil and place under each banana you are baking.

3. Take your banana, and slice down the center hotdog style. Split it to give some room to place your s'mores pieces in. Place your chocolate, marshmallows, and whichever other toppings you want into/on top of your banana.

4. Put directly on the oven rack and bake for 5 minutes. Using tongs, or an oven mit, and take out of the oven. Unwrap and enjoy!


3-Ingredient Chocolate Bars

Ingredients:
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
4 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil (melted)
1/4 cup agave nectar

Directions:
Mix ingredients together until smooth. Place into a container with wax paper. Place into freezer for about 30 minutes. Take out, cut into squares, enjoy!


Honey Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tbsp. unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup honey
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
(Note: I copied and pasted these directions because she did such a good job of describing how to make the marshmallows with and without a candy thermometer!)

1. Lightly grease a loaf pan. Then cover with parchment paper (with enough to hang over the sides of the pan one way), then grease the parchment paper.

2. Put ¼ cup of water in a medium bowl (or in the bowl of a mixer with attached whisk) , and sprinkle the gelatin over the water. Set aside to soften.

3. In a small pot, place the honey, salt, and the other ¼ cup of water. Heat on medium heat. Using a candy thermometer, bring the mixture to 240 degrees. (Because this is such a small amount of liquid, I had a hard time getting an accurate temperature. You can also test it by dribbling a little of the liquid into a bowl of ice cold water. It should be in the candy stage of forming little soft balls when cooled in the water and taken out. It takes about 7-8 minutes to reach this temperature. ). Remove from the heat as soon as it’s at the right  temperature.

4. Using a hand mixer on low, very carefully mix in the hot syrup into the gelatin mixture by pouring the hot syrup in a drizzle down the side of the bowl. Once it’s all combined, add the vanilla and increase speed to high. Beat for 12- 15 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and fluffy (it will look like marshmallow fluff). Scrap into the prepared pan and leave, uncovered, for 4-12 hours to dry. It’s just about perfect in my climate when left overnight. Cut into squares, serve as is.

Tomato/Kale/White Bean Soup!

It's getting cooler in Norman, OK, FINALLY! I really wanted to enjoy some soup while the weather is cool, and I have been under the weather for the last week and a half. I love Kale, but I wasn't sure if Kale soup would be any good. Boy, was I wrong! This is delicious!



I found the recipe online, not remembering where exactly, but it's nice to find vegetarian and hearty soups/chilis for me and the boy. He can't eat much (I think it's horrible, but he enjoys his diet, and it's for his future success and career), so this was a winner!

Monday, September 10, 2012

Roasted Carrots

Well I just found my new snack! Carrots!

Taken with my iPhone because I wasn't expecting it to be as good as they were. Also I was starving and didn't want to waste time documenting it. Hah!

This recipe is super simple and is ready in 25 minutes. You just need four ingredients, and you'll probably just have to buy one!