Veggie Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep: 15 minutes     Set: 30 minutes      

Bake 15-17 minutes a tray

If you could not already tell by my posting, one of my favorite things to make is desserts! I found this recipe in an Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine and I thought it was so cleaver with adding a secret hidden ingredient that you normally do not fine in oatmeal cookies; zucchini. If any of you have zucchini growing in your garden you are probably like me and thinking at this point… what the heck and I going to do with all of this zucchini?? Well folks I have an answer! Shred up zucchini and put it in your cookies. When I gave these cookies to my family they could not even tell that I added it and continued to eat mass quantities. Once the secret was revealed they were a little confused and semi-weirded out that I would put vegetables in cookies but they continued to eat them all =)   

Ingredients

1 cup flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

6 oz. room temp. butter

¾ cup light brown sugar

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 egg

3 cups rolled oats

1 packed cup of shredded zucchini

¾ cup chocolate chips

¾ cup cream cheese, optional

The Process

* Heat oven to 350*

1. In a bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt.

2. In the mixer, beat butter and sugars at high speed until fluffy.

3. Beat in egg at medium speed, then add flour mixture.

4. Stir in oats, zucchini, and chocolate chips, Let it sit for 30 minutes.

5. Bake about ¼ cupfuls on two cookie trays at 350*, switching the trays half way through, until golden brown.

6. You can now eat the cookies as is or sandwich each with a spoonful of cream cheese. YUM!!

French Dip Sandwiches

Prep: 5 minutes   Cook: 8 Hours

The traditional French Dip Sandwich will always be a crowd pleaser, wither you are going to a picnic or thinking of something outside of the box to make for dinner. As I have said many times before I love any recipe that can be thrown together in minutes and then forgot about until it is ready to serve. This French Dip recipe is perfect for an on the go parents who really does not have time to whip up a gourmet meal every night. Since I just started by first year of teaching I am going to live on these types of recipes for awhile until I adjust to my new routine. Enjoy!!  

Ingredients

3 pound beef boneless chuck roast

1 ½ cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 tsp. dried rosemary leaves

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

3 or 4 peppercorns

1 loaf French bread

The Process

1. Trim excess fat from beef. Place beef in a slow cooker.

2. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl; minus the bread.

3. Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 8 hours or until the beef is tender

4. Skim fat from the surface of juices in slow cooker; discard the peppercorns. Remove beef from slow cooker.

5. Cut beef into thin slices. Cut bread into about 5 pieces, cut horizontally in half. Fill bread with beef.

6. Serve with the remaining juices in the slow cooker for dipping.

7. Enjoy!

Roasted Pepper Salad with Cherry Tomatoes

Prep: 20 minutes   Broil: 20 minutes

The best part about making this recipe was the fact that I had most of the ingredients in my garden! Yes… It’s FINALLY starting to produce. While the list of ingredients is rather long, trust me this recipe is not one to pass up. It brings such a colorful and irresistible addition to the table it will even catch the eye of non-veggie eaters in your house. This Italian style salad is designed to be a wonderful side dish to your favorite Italian inspired meal. So toss out that boring cesar salad and step up your veggie intake by trying out this recipe!     

Ingredients

2 each large sweet yellow, red and green peppers

1 small red onion

6 Tbsp. Olive Oil

3 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 Tbsp. each minced oregano, rosemary, basil and parsley

1 garlic clove

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. cayenne pepper

½ tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

8oz. fresh mozzarella crumbled

5 fresh basil leaves

The Process

1. Turn your oven to a broil. Place all the bell peppers on a cookie sheet and place them into the boiler. Once the peppers start to blacken and bubble, use tongs to rotate to each side until all the sides are blister and black.

2. Immediately place peppers in a large bowl; cover and let stand for 20 minutes.

3. Peel off and discard the skin on the peppers. Remove the stems and seeds. Cut the peppers into thin strips and place in a large bowl. Add the onion.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, herbs, garlic, garlic powder, cayenne, pepper and salt.

5. Pour the oil mixture over the peppers and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours. 

6. When you are ready to serve, allow peppers to come to room temperature. Place on a serving plate and top with tomatoes, cheese and basil leaves.  

Pair this dish with your favorite Italian recipe!

Chocolaty Brownie Cups

Prep: 15 minutes   Bake: 22 minutes

Cool: 40 minutes

So I know that I have already given you a recipe for the famous VanderMolen Brownies but I just had to add this amazing new recipe that I recently tried out… and love! I adore cupcakes and obviously I think brownies are amazing so I had the idea to combine the two concepts into one tasty dessert. The Chocolaty Brownie Cups are a moist and chocolaty piece of decadent heaven that are then topped with a creamy chocolate sauce and fresh raspberries I got from a local farmers market. Now, you don’t have to use raspberries, get creative and use your favorite fruit or cupcake decoration to present this tasty treat! Enjoy!!

     

Ingredients

1 box of fudge brownie mix

          ¼ cup water

          ½ vegetable oil

          2 eggs

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

½ bag (6oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

Fresh Raspberries, or another favorite fruit and/or sprinkles

The Process

1. Heat oven to 350*

2. Place cupcake wrappers in one cupcake tin (this batch makes 12 brownie cups)

3. Stir brownie mix, water, veg. oil, and eggs until combined.

4. Fill cupcake cups about ¾ full with the batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the brownie cups comes out clean.

5. Cool 10 minutes. Remove Brownie Cups from the pan and let them cool completely for about 30 minutes. If you are in a hurry, place them in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.

6. While the Brownie Cups are cooling, heat the whipping cream in a saucepan over a low heat just until it is hot, not boiling.

7. Once hot mix in the chocolate chips with the heavy whipping cream like so…

8. Stir the chocolate until melted. Let stand for a few minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.

9. Spoon the chocolate mixture onto the top of the cooled Brownie cup and top with your favorite fruit or cupcake topping.

10. Enjoy!

Chunky Chicken Chili

Prep: 5 minutes    Cook: 9 hours

My Chunky Chicken Chili provides a nice and light variation to a traditional chili dish without losing the yummy chili flavoring. As I have mentioned before, I love recipes where I toss everything together and then forgetting about it until dinnertime. It always turns out as if I have been slaving in the kitchen for hours when in fact my Crockpot has been doing all the hard work. There are many different options for this chili recipe, for a little extra spice use a hot chili seasoning instead of a mild and add hot chili peppers instead of the mild green. If you do not feel comfortable using hominy; found in the can vegetable section of the grocery store, you can use black or chili beans. So sit back and relax and let your slow cooker do all of the hard work for you! Enjoy!

p.s. Make sure to pair your Chunky Chicken Chili with the homemade Corn Muffin and Honey Butter recipes found below!

   

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

2 cans diced tomatoes (14 oz each)

1 can of green chilies

1 can tomato sauce

1 envelope mild chili seasoning mix

1 cans hominy (15 oz each) drained

Sour cream, if desired

Cilantro, if desired

The Process

1.    Place chicken in slow cooker. Mix tomatoes, tomato sauce, green chili, and chili seasoning in a large bowl and pour over chicken.

2.    Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 9 hours or until chicken is no longer pink in the center.

3.    Stir to break up chicken, or take it out and chop. Stir in hominy.

4.    Cover and cook on a low heat setting for 15 minutes until chicken chili is heat through.

5.    Top with a spoon full of sour cream and a dash of cilantro.

6.    Enjoy!

DIY Corn Muffin Mix

(Courtesy of Rachel Ray)

Prep: 5 minutes   Bake: 15 minutes

Ingredients for the dry mix

6 cups flour

1 cup sugar

4 cups corn meal

¼ cup baking powder

1 Tbsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

Extra Ingredients to Bake

1 cup milk

2 eggs

4 Tbsp. melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla

The Process

1.  To make the dry mix, whisk together all dry ingredients and store in an airtight container. This mix will make 5 dozen muffins

2. To make 1 dozen corn muffins, whisk milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla with 2 ¼ cups of the dry corn muffin mixture.

3. Blend together and transfer to a greased cupcake pan and bake at 400* for 15 minutes.

4. Top delicious muffins with regular or honey butter.

* To make honey butter simply thaw a stick of butter to room temperature and mix in ¼ cup of honey.  

Authentic Carne Asada Marinade

Prep: 10 minutes   Marinade: At least 1 hour  

Grill: 15 minutes

I could not think of anything tastier to place on the grill than some thin and juicy strips of carne asada. This traditional Mexican Carne Asada marinade recipe will marinade 5-6 pounds of meat and can be easily halved or doubled to fit your eating needs. While the long list of ingredients below might seem a little daunting, I guarantee that most of it will be common things found in most kitchen pantries. Plus this combination of yummy and smell good ingredients are a must to make your Carne Asada tacos/burritos the tastiest they could be.  

Ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (can substitute with white vinegar)
1/3 cup lime juice (can substitute with lemon juice)
1/3 cup orange juice
1 cup water
2 tablespoons peeled fresh garlic - crushed
1 tablespoons white pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 orange, sliced
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped (no stems)

The Process

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

2. Place Carne Asada in gallon sized freezer bag or in the bottom of a shallow baking dish. Pour Carne Asada marinade on top of beef, cover dish or close bag, and marinate beef for at least 1 hour before grilling.

3. After the beef is marinated. Place the beef on the grill turning the beef only once after about 5-7 minutes depending on how thick your Carne Asada is.

4. Slice up the Carne Asada in small strips and serve with small corn/flour tortillas to make tacos or a larger flour tortilla to make yummy burritos.

5. Enjoy!

Cake Pops!

Prep: 10 minutes     Bake: 25 minutes

Assemble/Cooling: 3-4 hours

When I was first introduced to these at the Starbucks Drive-Thru, it was love at first bite! A Cake Pop is a little ball of moist cake heaven that is dipped in candied chocolate, which is then placed on a lollypop stick. After continuously pairing a Starbucks Birthday Cake Pop with my morning latte, it dawned on me… why am I not making these! So here is my first attempt at making Cake Pops! Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 box of your favorite cake mix, I chose Red Velvet and Funfetti

(each box requires 3 eggs, 1 cup water, 1/3 cup veg. oil)

Large bowl

2 bags of candy melts, found at Michaels or JoAnns (any color)

1 container of your favorite frosting; I love butter cream

1 bag of lollipop sticks; also found at Michaels

Styrofoam blocks; optional, this is what I used to hold the Cake Pops up (Michaels)

The Process

1.    Follow baking instructions according to your chosen cake mix.

2.    After cake has settled but is still warm remove cake into large mixing bowl and crumble.

3.    Add ½ - ¾ cup frosting into the crumbled cake. Have fun getting messy by mashing and messing the cake and frosting with your hands and begin forming small balls the size of a ping pong ball.

4.    Melt a half a bag of candy melts, following the instructions on the bag. Once the candy is melted, drip one end of the lollipop stick into the candy and insert it into the cake ball. Allow the balls to chill for 2 hours to overnight in the refrigerator, or freeze them for an hour if you are in a hurry.

5.    Melt the remaining chocolate or flavored melting candies in a double boiler or microwave.

6.    Dip each cake ball individually in the melted topping, and rotate each ball while dipping in order to release any excess.

7.    Place each cake pop stick on the Styrofoam tray. Immediately apply sprinkles or edible decorations, as the candy topping will set quickly.

8.    Place the pops back in the refrigerator or freezer for about an hour to further set the topping.

9.    Enjoy!