Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nothing satisfies a craving like a warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookie. With a cold glass of milk. I was relaxing the other weekend and randomly thought, "man, I'd really love to make some cookies. I wonder if we have all the ingredients?" And so it started. We sure did have the ingredients, and I found the most amazing recipe. I could have eaten the whole bowl of dough. I'm living on the edge. 

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. 

3. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. 

4. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
5. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

* Eat cookies within 2-3 days for maximum freshness

Lust List: A Royal Baby, Homeland and Addicting Burgers

This Lust list has a bit of everything. Pop culture frenzy, a drama filled Showtime series and an addicting meatless burger you have to have.

At around half past 4 pm. local time, William and Kate welcomed the third heir to the British throne. For all those following #RoyalBabyWatch (sorry, had to) there were theories as to whether she was having a boy or girl. Of course I wished she was having a mini Kate, but alas, it was a boy. Frankly, I don't care what gender it is, I'm just stoked to see how Kate dresses the little bugger. :) 

 I'm not one of those people who tell you "OMG you have to watch this." But honestly, you need to watch Homeland. Season 3 is going to start September 29, so you have more than enough time to watch the first 2 seasons (there is only 12 episodes per season) On Demand on Comcast or via Netflix. Each episode leaves you with your mouth open, screaming at your TV, wanting more. Just when you think you know what is going on, it flips on it's head. You can't just watch one episode in one sitting. I dare you.

Everyone knows the best thing about going to Costco is all the free food stations. I have been eying Black Bean burger recipes on Pinterest for a while, so when Costco had these samples, I was thrilled. They were fantastic. For me, you can't even tell the burger is made without meat, because it's so flavorful and has the perfect amount of spice. I choose to eat mine protein style, with no bun, with chopped veggies on top (tomatoes, avocado, etc.) with sweet potato fries. 

What are you all lusting over right now? 

xoxo, Courtney

Laughing Cow Chicken

Chicken is my protein of choice when making dinner at home. It's low fat and good for you. There just comes a time when you have had it prepared the same way so many times you start to get antsy. I do for sure. So I made this recipe up right on the spot. I just hoped it would be a success...

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

- 2 wedges of laughing cow 35 calorie cheese

- 1 egg

- 1/2 - 3/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Butterfly each chicken breast. 

2. Spread one wedge per chicken breast on one of the open sides. Then close them back together.

3. Beat the egg in a medium size bowl. Dump the bread crumbs on a plate. 

4. Coat each chicken breast in the egg mixture then transfer to the bread crumbs. Fully coat them. 

5. Place the chicken breasts on a baking pan. Cook in the oven at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until fully cooked. 

 The chicken was so delicious! It was so crispy on the outside and so creamy and juicy on the inside. It may be one of the easiest and tastiest chicken recipes I have ever made. And I'm pretty sure you can't screw it up. :) This will definitely be regularly rotating in my chicken lineup.

Homemade Pad Thai

Thai food may be one of our favorite cuisines. There is a super good Thai restaurant downtown we love to go to, but when I found a recipe for home made pad thai, I knew I had to give it a shot. I knew nothing would compare to our beloved Thai Basil, but when we are craving Thai (which, let's be honest, is always) I am so excited we have a recipe we can whip out at home! And even better, you can customize it to your liking whether you want tofu, chicken, shrimp, beef or all veggies! 

 Ingredients:
 - 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into cubes (or protein of choice)
-  5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce
- 1/2 pound firm tofu, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons rice-wine vinegar
- 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 3/4 pound large rice noodles 
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2/3 cup peanuts, chopped fine
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- 1/4 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves, or more to taste

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, coat the chicken (or protein of choice) and 1/2 teaspoon of the fish sauce.  In another bowl, combine the tofu with another 1/2 teaspoon of the fish sauce. Skip the second part if only using one type of protein. In a medium bowl, combine the remaining 5 tablespoons fish sauce with the water, 1 1/2 tablespoons of the lime juice, the vinegar, sugar, salt, and cayenne. 
2. In a pot of boiling water, cook the rice noodles according the packaged directions. Drain.
3. Meanwhile, in a wok or large frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderately high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring until just done. Remove. Put another tablespoon of oil in the pan. Add the tofu and cook. Remove. Put the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the pan, add the garlic and cook, for about 30 seconds. 
4. Add the pasta and the fish sauce mixture. Cook, stirring, until nearly all the liquid is absorbed, about 3 minutes. Stir the chicken, tofu and 1/3 cup peanuts. Remove from the heat. Stir in the remaining 1/2 tablespoon lime juice, bean sprouts, and half the cilantro. Top with the remaining peanuts and cilantro.

The fish sauce and rice noodles are easily found at any international market or even your local supermarket. We couldn't find any peanuts (right?) which was a total bummer. Peanuts totally make the dish amazing, and you must must must use them! Enjoy!

Original recipe found here

Oven Baked Kale Chips

I am trying to eat as healthy as I can, even more in the past 2 months since I have a bikini to get into in 3 short weeks. But overall, I like to eat healthy and experiment with different healthy ingredients. But I definitely don't restrict myself. If I go out and want a burger, I'll get a burger. But during the week I try to eat consistently. I just feel better that way. One of the things I have experimented with is kale. Kale may be the new foodie fad after quinoa, and I am trying to find ways to incorporate it into my diet. One of those ways is kale chips. They are oven baked, not fried,  super delicious and a great snack! Below is my recipe on my at-home kale chips.

If you buy kale chips at the store, you can fork over $10 or so for a bag of kale chips. Not anymore. They are way too easy to make at home for you to be spending that kind of money. 

1. Get a bunch of kale and rinse and dry them. (Photo 1)
2.  Rip leaves into bits about 2 inches, and throw into bowl. Don't use thick ribs of kale. (Photo 2)
3. Pour about 2 tbls of olive oil into the bowl and coat leaves. Leaves should only be partially coated. Also shake sea salt onto leaves. Eyeball to desired amount, but start with less than what you think. Place onto baking sheet. (Photo 3)
4. Bake at 350 degrees until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. (Photo 4)

I strongly urge you to test different amounts of olive oil and salt and make note of what amounts work best. The first time I made them I used too much of both salt and olive oil. :(   I haven't tried using other ingredients with the kale, but I expect nuts or garlic would be divine!!!

Enjoy and let me know of any hints you have!  

Oreo Cheesecake Bars

Now that things are pretty much back to normal, let's celebrate with two of the world's best sweets, because we need them. So meet Oreo cookies and cheesecake. Together in sweet harmony. 

I love Oreos a lot. It's my one, store-bought-sweet-guilty-pleasure. I love Oreo's dipped in milk (it's the only way I'll eat them plain), cookies-n-cream ice cream, Oreo milkshakes, etc. Anything Oreo, I'll order it. So when a friend sent me the recipe to this easy Oreo cheesecake recipe, I had to give it a shot. Plus, it's only a few ingredients, how hard could it be? I'll tell you now, it wasn't!

Ingredients:

For the crust:

- 23 Oreo cookies

- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:

- 12 oz cream cheese, at room temp

- 1 cup granulated sugar

- 3 eggs, at room temp

- 6 tbsp sour cream

- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract 

- 12 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8 x 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment  paper, with the sides folded over.

2. For the crust, process the cookies in a food processor until they are fine crumbs. Drizzle the melted butter onto the crumbs and mix until evenly distributed. Dump the crumbs into the lined baking dish and press into an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes. Leave oven on.

3. For the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese at a medium to high speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar until incorporated. 

4. Slowly add the eggs, and mix well until completely combined. Add the sour cream and vanilla, beating until incorporated. 

5. Gently fold in the chopped Oreos, then pour over the baked crust, smoothing into an even layer. Bake until the edges are set, but the middle jiggles slightly, about 40-50 minutes. 

6. Place pan on cooling rack and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Then, cover the pan with plastic wrap then place in fridge for 3 additional hours or up to 24 hours before serving. 

7. Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container for up to one week in the fridge. 

I think the most crucial part of this recipe is getting the baking time down. The middle parts of my cheesecake were a tad pudding-like, and I think that was because I should have baked it for an additional 5 minutes or so. Also, I didn't have my food processor back from the manufacturer :( so I had to improvise with a plastic bag, a rolling pin, and taking out my anger. :) While it was a good compromise, the finer crust was probably much desirable. 

Enjoy!  

Starbucks on a Budget

If you are anything like me, you enjoy your daily ritual of coffee every morning. Whether it's black coffee, an americano, a frappuccino or a breve iced coffee with a splash of sweetener (my poison of choice), you need that liquid caffiene to get you going in the morning. However, as we all know, this coffee habit can get quite expensive. And although I normally drink coffee from home, I like to splurge every now and then and get specialty beverages. So behold, Starbucks from home (and I don't mean buying the bag of coffee).

Like how I used my Starbucks mug? Genius.

I am so glad I came up with this recipe, because as far as I can tell, it's the same darn thing as a Starbucks Mocha Frap. It's the perfect indulgence on a Saturday afternoon when you are craving something sweet, but don't want to eat a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies. (You know it's possible) I can't wait to get my blender back from Cuisinart (it's really cramping my style) so I can make this more often.

Recipe:
Add 1/2 cup cold coffee, 3 tablespoons sugar (or sweetener), 2/3 cup cold milk, 3 tablespoons chocolate syrup, and a handful of ice cubes in a blender and blend until smooth or ice chunks are virtually gone. Add a spoonful of Cool Whip on top and drizzle with more chocolate syrup.

This recipe gave me 2 grande sized servings, but you can always adjust the ingredients to make more or less. I really love this recipe, and I hope I can save you all a few bucks by making your own at home!  

Healthy Banana Oat Muffins

I have been on a serious kick lately. I have an addiction. And that addiction is to muffins. Yep. Freshly made, banana oat muffins. More specifically, the recipe I am about to provide to you. I've made these muffins 3 times since I found the recipe, and unfortunately, my last time around I broke my food processor so I am out of commission until Cusinart fixes it. It's going to be a long few weeks, to say the least. Hopefully you all can make them in the interim, and send me some my way. Please and thanks!

Ingredients:
-2.5 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup plain low fat Greek yogurt (I use Trader Joes Vanilla low fat Greek yogurt because it's the yogurt I always have on hand)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup honey OR 3/4 cup sugar (depending on preference)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp ground flax seed (I buy mine at Trader Joes and I love it! Great way to get extra health benefits)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 ripe bananas (when they have a lot of brown spots, and are a tad mushy, they're perfect)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. Place the oats in the food processor and pulse for about 10 seconds. Add remaining ingredients to the food processor.
3. Process until everything is mixed together and smooth. Because of the flax seed and oats, the batter won't be completely smooth, but as long as everything is incorporated.
4. At this point, you can add walnuts and/or chocolate chips. I add both to mine, about 1/2 cup each. Mix well.
5. Divide mixture into muffin tins. I usually have some batter left over, so I put some in a bread pan, and make a mini banana bread. :)
6. Bake for 18-10 minutes. 
7. Serve WARM. It's a must!

I love that these muffins replace all the "filler" ingredients and replace them with healthy ones like Greek yogurt, oats and flax seed. Best of all, you can't even tell the difference in taste! I hope you find these as addicting as I do!       

Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken

I have had a lot of requests to post this recipe as soon as possible. I have been taunting all my friends by posting Instagram pictures of this chicken. Now it's their turn to taunt me! 

 Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup honey mustard dressing
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp dill, freshly chopped
- 1 medium uncooked scallion, thinly sliced 
- 1 cup cornflakes, crushed
- 1 lb uncooked boneless skinless chicken breasts 
*adjust the recipe if using less chicken

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat a shallow pan with cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, combine honey mustard dressing, salt, pepper, dill and scallions; remove 1/3 cup and set aside.
3. Place cornflake crumbs in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken into dressing mixture and then cornflake crumbs; place in prepared pan.
4. Bake until chicken is golden and no longer pink in center, about 15 - 20 minutes.
5. Drizzle remaining dressing mixture (the 1/3 cup that was set aside) over chicken breasts and serve. Yields 1 piece of chicken and about 1 1/3 tablespoons of dressing per serving. 

 The honey mustard dressing coating kept the chicken so moist and juicy, and the cornflake coating was a nice texture. I used Safeway brand Honey Mustard dressing (it's our favorite). Served with brown rice and vegetables, it's perfect meal, and the taste is scrumptious! Enjoy!

Crockpot Ravioli

I have been neglecting the recipe posts, but I assure you, I have a list of future posts for you in the pipeline. Awards Season means my attention is fashion-based for a month or two, but now I hope to return the blog back to normalcy! But it was a fun awards season. It won't be long until the next. 

I made this Crockpot Ravioli a few days after the Oscars. I found the recipe and it looked so easy, and having leftover pasta is a simple and delicious work lunch. We had leftovers for 3 days!! 

Ingredients: 
- Cooking Spray
- 2 25oz jars of pasta sauce (I used mushroom, but you can use whatever)
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (I used garlic and herb, for some added flavor)
-  1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup (I had no idea what this was, but it's a Campbell's soup!)
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 1 25 oz bag frozen cheese ravioli   
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
1. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray.
2. In a separate large bowl, combine pasta sauce, tomatoes, cheese soup, and garlic. Mix well. 
3. Spoon 1/3 of the sauce into the slow cooker, top with 1/3 of the ravioli. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup of cheeses over the ravioli. Repeat until all ingredients are used. 
4. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours.
5. Serve warm. 

I clearly modified the recipe a bit, just to add a few things to give it some personality. I do this all the time with recipes, and I think it's worth the risk! I also had trouble finding a 25 oz bag of ravioli (I found a 20 oz) so I cut the other ingredients to make up for the modification. I thought this dish was super cheesy and yummy! We made the ravioli with garlic bread and it was quite the filling meal. Not to mention lunch for the work week! 

Enjoy!      
  

Superbowl Ads and Appetizers

Football is my least favorite sport to watch, but since moving in with my boyfriend a year ago I have been forced against my will to watch it. But luckily for us, and my boyfriend's sake, his favorite team the 49'ers made it to the Superbowl, but as we know from yesterday, didn't take the top prize. I love getting together with a big group and enjoying the festivities, the food, the beer, the company. I also love watching the Superbowl ads. As a marketing student, I like grading the best and worst and what company spent their millions the best.

Overall, the ads weren't stellar, and over than CBS promoting their own shows, the ads only played once so they really had to make an impression. My favorite ads in no particular order are below. 

1. Volkswagen "Get in. Get Happy."

2. Taco Bell "Viva Young"

3. NFL Network "Leon Sandcastle"

And the award for the most awkward and uncomfortable ad of the afternoon goes to Calvin Klein. And yes, I'm going to post it so you can see it again. 

Now on to the most important stuff, the grub! At our Superbowl party we had the usual things; pizza, beer, chips, dip, wings, and sweets. I decided to contribute an easy Stuffed Mushrooms recipe I found. It was super easy, just prepping the mixture and pulling the stems from the mushrooms without breaking them, took the most time. Luckily I baked them on a sheet pan with raised sides, as water from the mushrooms leaked onto the pan creating a pool. These were so addicting, and perfect for any occasion like a party or potluck where you have to bring a side dish. 

Image and recipe from Chef in Training Blog

Find the recipe here
   

Quick Shrimp Gumbo

Mmmmm. This gumbo has become a staple in our house. I discovered it in a great cookbook and we make it multiple times during the cold months. The most time consuming part of this recipe is all the chopping of the vegetables, but you can easily do that the night before to save precious time. Other than chopping, this recipe is easy as pie. For the sausage I like browning it so there's a little crisp around the edges. We also recommend fresh uncooked shrimp as opposed to cooked frozen shrimp. They work fine in the recipe, but the flavor is so much better with the uncooked shrimp. We noticed the gumbo has a consistency of a chunky soup (as it should), but if refrigerated and eaten the next day, the liquid is absorbed and it becomes almost a jambalaya. Still delicious, and paired with french bread and a lemon slice, it's the perfect winter meal. 

Quick Shrimp Gumbo:

1 cup finely chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp canola oil
1/2 lb cooked kielbasa or Polish sausage, cut into 1/4 in slices
1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper   
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp hot pepper sauce (ie: Tabasco)  
3/4 lb uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined 
1/2 cup uncooked instant rice (ie: Minute Rice)
Lemon slices to garnish 

In a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in oil for 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir in sausage; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until sausage begins to brown. Add green pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, seasonings and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil. 

Cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes or until heated through. Stir in shrimp. Cook 3-4 minutes longer or until shrimp turn pink. Stir in rice. Remove from heat. 

Cover and let stand for 5 minutes or until rice is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve with lemon slices if desired. Yield: 4 servings.  

Enjoy!  

Christmas Monkey Bread

Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope you all had a great holiday. I spent 3 straight days with family and while it was hectic, it was nice to enjoy everyone's company, and have good laughs and great food! Speaking of great food, we did something a little different on Christmas morning this year in terms of breakfast. My boyfriend and I volunteered to make a recipe I found on Pinterest (surprise!). 

 I have seen Monkey Bread recipes floating around Pinterest for a while now, and they looked so simple and less time consuming than our normal 4 hour cinnamon roll recipe. This recipe couldn't be any easier. It took about an hour from prep and baking time. What I loved about it was the outside crunch combined with the warm, gooey and sugary inside. Since we had half the pan leftover, I had some the next morning. It was still amazing the next day. This is definitely being added to the 'ol recipe book. 

Recipe Here