Cinnamon, candied almonds

Sorry, no pictures. The hubby and I cleaned our apartment for a Christmas party we held last weekend and by "cleaned" I mean, we threw everything to our extra bedroom, and now I can't find my camera cable, cord thing. So here is the recipe, just in time for a little holiday snack, treat, gift, appetizer, or midnight munchies satisfier.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
3 cups raw almonds
1/2 tbs ground cinnamon
1/4 cup water

1 long strip of wax or parchment paper

In a medium skillet, toss together sugar, cinnamon, and water. Over medium heat, add in your almonds and stir until every little piece of almond is covered in the cinnamony, sugary, goodness. Continue to stir until your sugar starts to crystallize. Now lay out your parchment or wax paper and pour those babies out on to it to cool. Once they've cooled, package them as you please :)

Rolo Cookies

Yes, that's right. It's a rolo, and a cookie! And they're so good. My husband has already eaten half the batch that just came out of the oven. Can't blame him though :) I first made these cookies 3 years ago for Christmas and I've been making them every Christmas since. I think they're my tradition cookies now. Hope you enjoy them

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups salted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 package (48 ct) rolos, unwrapped
1/4 cup sugar for rolling cookies in

Preheat oven to 350. In a mixer combine butter and 1 3/4 cups sugar until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Mix in flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

What you'll need to complete the cookie


Place 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Take a inch size dough ball (about a TBS size). Place an unwrapped rolo in the center and cover in dough. Next roll the rolo cookie ball in the sugar.


Then place on a greased, or silpat, cookie sheet.



Bake for 7-9 minutes (8 minutes is perfect for me) Let them cool on baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Coming soon.

I have a couple of holiday time treats and drinks coming up.

Some things you have to look forward to:

Rolo cookies
Homemade hot cocoa
Chicken pot pie
Cinnamon candied almonds
and
Cranberry apple cider.

See you soon!

Veggie and Gnocchi Soup

Ever been to Olive Garden and had their Chicken and Gnocchi soup? If yes, this is very, very, very similar to that. I used only vegetables because I was too lazy to thaw out frozen chicken, but you can easily throw some in there and it would taste fantastic. Hope you enjoy this creamy, hearty, delicious, tasty soup as much as I did.

Ingredients

1 cup diced, cooked chicken (optional)
4 TBS butter
1 TBS e.v.o.o
4 TBS flour
2 stalks of celery, diced
1/2 an onion diced (optional)
2 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1 quart half & half
2 cups veggie or chicken broth
3 large carrots sliced or diced
1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli
2 cups coarsely chopped spinach
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp parsley
3/4 tsp salt (add more if needed)
1 pound potato gnocchi ( you can usually find this in the pasta isle or gourmet sections)

Here is what gnocchi looks like. The first one is of the packaging, I forgot to actually take one with it in there. And the second is the gnocchi. Looks a little weird but it's really yummy. Tastes like a dumpling.


In a large stock pot saute butter, oil, garlic, onions and celery. Once onions and celery are soft, whisk in your flour to make a roux. Let the flour cook for about a minute. Now slowly add in your cream. If you add your cream too fast it'll leave little flour clumps that are impossible to get rid of, so when I say slowly, I mean slowly :) Now bring to a boil and continue whisking for a minute. Reduce your heat to med/low and continue mixing until roux has thickened.
Add in your veggies and/or cooked chicken. Next mix in your broth and continue to stir. Once your mixture has thickened again add in spinach and seasonings.
Now cook your gnocchi according to the package. Once cooked (should only take about 2-3 minutes) add it to your soup and let it simmer for a few minutes. Once you've completed those steps you're ready to dish up and enjoy!

Oatmeal, peanut butter, white chocolate chip cookies

One word to describe these cookies...dangerous. These are seriously so addicting. I've made two batches in one week. I dare you to make some and not eat half a dozen by the end of the day. I'm telling you, it's not possible. Unless you have extreme will power, which I definitely do not have! Here's to adding 5 lbs in one week :)

Ingredients

1/2 cup( 1 stick) salted butter
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup of old fashioned oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1-2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a small, microwave safe bowl, melt together the butter and peanut butter. Pour into your mixing bowl and add in both sugars. Place in freezer for a few minutes to cool down. Once cooled, add in your egg and yolk, and vanilla. Add in your flour, oats and baking soda and mix until well combined. Lastly, add in your chocolate chips to your hearts desire. My husband dumped in the whole bag last time...waaaaaaaaay too many chips for my liking. I'd say a 1 1/2 cups is my preference.



Scoop cookie and place 1 inch sized balls on baking sheet. Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes (10 minutes is perfect for me, slightly undercooked, but not raw) Let cool on sheet for a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Once cooled, indulge and don't feel guilty.


Credit for this amazing recipe goes to love veggies and yoga

Chocolate crackle cookies

Back home there is this AMAZING bakery, that makes the best cakes ever. It's the place that made my wedding cake and it turned out beautiful.

Anyways, my mom went to their bakery last Christmas and bought some cookies called zebra cookies, or chocolate crackle cookies. And I fell in love. They were chocolatey, chewy and to die for (now I was also 6 months pregnant at the time so pretty much everything was to die for) but recently I've been having a major craving for these cookies, so I decided to whip up my own batch. And they turned out NOTHING like the original, HA. But I still liked them. They turned out kind of mellow in flavor, which I like. Considering the amount of sugar that's in them, they don't taste overly sweet at all. They're pretty rich, with a deep, dark chocolate flavor. My husband says they actually taste like brownie bites. Hmmm. So try them out. Let me know what you think, any improvements? I'm totally open for suggestions.

Oh, and just as an F.Y.I. if you're looking for a "I need a cookie right now," recipe, this is not one of them. You have to leave some time for them to chill in the fridge.

Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup oil (olive, canola, vegetable, which ever you want)
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar

*Makes approx. 4 dozen

In a medium bowl whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a mixing bowl stir cocoa powder, brown and white sugars, and oil together. Next add eggs one at a time, then add vanilla. Slowly add in your flour mixture (your dough will be very thick and sticky). Once all ingredients are combined, cover and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats. Place powdered sugar in a small bowl. Take 1" dough balls, roll and cover them in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet.

Bake for 9-12 minutes

Let them cool on baking sheet for a couple minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

The BEST Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread ever

It's true. This is the best recipe ever for pumpkin bread. It comes from The Lion House Pantry and it's incredible. My husband and I downed two loafs in a day and a half...hey, don't judge. You'll end up doing the same. Hope you enjoy!



Ingredients

1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
5 eggs
1 15-oz. can of pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
2 3.4oz. packages instant vanilla pudding mix
1 package chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl combine oil, eggs and pumpkin and beat well. In separate bowl combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and baking soda. Slowly add in pumpkin mixture and mix well. Last, stir in pudding mix and chocolate chips. Pour into three 4" x 8", greased, bread pans. Bake for 60-70 minutes.

Tzatziki

Ever had it before? If not, you should. It's seriously addicting. It's super easy to make and it's a great light, healthy snack. Unless you eat the whole thing in one sitting...which I could probably do. So try this recipe out. All it takes is a few minutes and just a few ingredients.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups plain Greek Yogurt
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
1 clove of garlic, pressed or minced
1 TBS e.v.o.o
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp dill
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, add to taste

In a medium sized bowl combine all ingredients. Hard right?
Serve with pita chips, flat bread, or veggies.

Oh and I realize this may not be "Fall" snack material, but we can always go for a healthy snack right?

Creamy Chicken Fajita Pasta

Okay, all 3 readers of mine... I'm sorry I've been slacking. But I finally have a new recipe to share. Hope you all enjoy it!

Ingredients

1 package of pasta, your favorite kind (mine's bow tie)
2 chicken breasts
2-3 bell peppers of your choice
1/2 an onion - optional
1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup cream
1 TBS flour
1 package Taco Seasoning
Salt
1/2 a lime
Cilantro - optional

Slice your chicken in breast in half (vertical) then cut into strips/pieces. Place chicken in zip lock bag with taco seasoning, salt, pepper, and the juice of half a lime, then toss to coat. Slice up your bell peppers and onions. In a skillet, with a little bit of e.v.o.o drizzled at the bottom, toss in your chicken over medium heat. At this point you can start boiling water for your pasta and cook accordingly. Let the chicken brown on both sides and then throw in your peppers, onions and broth. Continue to cook until chicken is cooked all the way through and peppers are semi soft and then add in your cream and flour. Whisk until well combined. Let it simmer until it begins to thicken. Drain your pasta and toss it in with your chicken and peppers. If it's not "saucy" enough for you, add more cream until desired consistency. Dish up and garnish with cilantro, if you're into that kind of thing...which I am!

Banana, Zucchini Muffins/Bread

Have I mentioned before that I LOVE Fall time? Well I do. Especially because I think it makes baking so much more enjoyable. I don't know why? I must be the "chilly" weather that makes it so great.
I decided today, because it was pouring down rain, to make some sort of bread. I had originally wanted to make my sister's bread known as her "Whatever bread," see her post here, but I didn't have the right ingredients to make it. So then I pondered at what I could make with half the ingredients her recipe called for. And then I came up with a super original recipe. Banana, zucchini bread...because those were the only 2 fruits and veggies I had in the house. And to my dismay, it came out pretty good. I didn't add any chocolate chips and they came out a little "boring" without them, so do your taste buds a favor and add some.

Banana, Zucchini Muffins/Bread

1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup oil of your choice (I prefer olive)
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
2 cups grated zucchini
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
2+ cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare bread pans or muffin pan by spraying non-stick cooking spray.
Combine sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Sift in flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Once all ingredients are combined, add in grated zucchini, mashed bananas, and chocolate chips. Mix well. Pour into pans of your choice.

For muffins bake 20-25 minutes
For bread bake 40-45 minutes.

Bread will be done once tooth pick is inserted into center of bread and comes out clean.

{Crock pot} Chicken Taco Soup

My favorite time of the year has almost arrived. I am so excited for Fall to hit. The smell of football is in the air, along with giant pots filled with homemade soups. I love making soup when the leaves start to change colors and the temperature drop. There's just something so "homey" about it.
And because all of that is sort of happening now, the husband and I decided to whip out the crock pot and make some taco soup. The thing I love about a crock pot is that it does all of the work for you. Just dump in your ingredients and walk away. How easy is that? Pretty easy. Here is a quick recipe for shredded chicken taco soup.

Taco Soup

2 skinless chicken breasts
3 cups veggie or chicken stock
1 8oz can El Pato tomato sauce (or just regular tomato sauce)
1 10oz can tomatoes w/ green chilis
1 15oz can pinto or kidney beans, whichever you prefer
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups corn
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot, excluding the chicken breasts. Once all ingredients are mixed, add in chicken breasts. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Pull chicken out and grab two forks to start shredding it. Once chicken is shredded, dump it back into the crock pot. Continue to cook for another 2 hours on low before serving.

Serve with tortilla strips, avocado, sour cream, and/or shredded cheese.

Please don't judge my "photography." I'm still in the process of trying to figure it all out. It's very hard to do so when my picture taking coach (my sister) lives in another state :)

Exfoliating facial scrub

This isn't a recipe to fill your tummy with food but a recipe for smooth, baby soft skin. I have extremely sensitive skin and have to be really careful when it comes to putting anything on it, especially my face. Over the past few months, I've noticed my face becoming super dry and flaky...gross right? Well I finally decided enough was enough. I wanted soft, clear, pretty skin. So I did some research and found a great homemade exfoliating facial scrub.
I made it, I tried, I loved it. And now I'm here to share it with you. It's super easy to make and literally you'll be done and left with baby soft skin in 5 minutes.

Facial Scrub

2 TBS baking soda
1 lemon
1 wash cloth

In a small bowl combine baking soda and lemon juice. Add enough juice so your mixture becomes a thin paste (I added about 1/2 a lemon). Apply to face in circular motions with fingers for about 2 minutes. Rinse with warm wash cloth and water.
DONE.

Easy right? And I promise you, your face will feel amazing! Enjoy. Here's to smooth, beautiful skin.

Tortillas

Homemade tortillas, is there anything better? I think not. The smell, the taste, it just can't be compared to store bought. Making them may seem a little intimidating, but don't be fooled. It's so easy, it's almost ridiculous. It calls for very few ingredients and just a little, teeny, tiny amount of time.

Tortillas (makes about 12)

2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup warm water (heat in microwave for about 30-35 seconds)

Combine flour, salt, and e.v.o.o in mixer (Kitchen Aid or something similar). Mix until it makes little clumps. Slowly add in warm water, and mix until dough forms. Do not over mix, it will make for tough dough that is very difficult to work with. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes. Break into 2 inch sized balls. Roll out into circular discs and cook in a skillet on medium to high heat. As soon as bubbles start to form (big ones, not little ones) flip over and wait for bubbles to form again. Both sides should be golden brown and "bubbly."
Fill with your favorite taco fixin's or eat it plain. Either way, you shouldn't be disappointed.

BBQ Chili

I must have inherited this from my dad, but I love BBQ. I could put BBQ sauce on just about anything and enjoy it. The other night I was making a chili and felt it was missing a little "pizazz," so I asked my hubby what he thought it was missing. He quickly said, "BBQ sauce." Ah, now why didn't I think of this? I squeezed a little bit in, and then I squeezed a lot more in. For me, it was perfect, but if you're not a smokey BBQ fan, you may want to leave it out. But try it, you'll like it...I think I've been watching way too much Yo Gabba Gabba! And if you got that, well, you've watched it too much as well :)

BBQ Chili

1 lb ground beef
2 15oz cans chili beans
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 8oz can of El Pato tomato sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP BBQ sauce

In a large pot cook the ground beef. Once cooked all the way through, drain liquid out (it's okay if you don't remove all of it). Add in chili beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, sugar and BBQ sauce.
*Note about the El Pato tomato sauce. It's a very spicy sauce, so if you don't like spice, I would add a small amount at a time and taste it. If you don't like any spiciness at all, use regular tomato sauce.*

Let simmer on low for at least 1 1/2 hours. If you're in a rush, you can eat it sooner, but the longer it sits, the better it tastes.
Enjoy!

Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade

This is my most absolute FAVORITE drink in the whole world. It's refreshing, sweet, sour, carbonated and all around, delicious. Now, I can't take credit for this sweet, sweet drink. All credit goes to my Young Woman's teacher, Sister Rich. For mutual, occasionally she would have us over for cooking lessons. I wish I would have paid more attention because she is an amazing cook...from what I can remember. Anyways, she gave us a packet of recipes and this was in it. And I've been hooked ever since I first tried it, and you will be too, I promise.

Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade

2 lbs fresh (or frozen if out of season) hulled strawberries
1 1/2 - 2 cups fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 bottles of sparkling water (you'll need about a liter a half)

Directions:Slice strawberries and place in blender. Add 1/2 cup sugar. If you want a more sour lemonade, use 2 cups, for a little more subtle taste use 1 1/2 cups. Pour lemon juice into blender. Next, make a simple syrup. To do so, boil last 1/2 cup of sugar to 1 cup of water. Boil until sugar has dissolved. Remove from stove and let cool for 5-10 min. Add simple syrup to blender. Blend until smooth.
Pour mixture into a pitcher and add sparkling water slowly. Stir with a large spoon. Chill for about 2 hours or serve over ice immediately because really, it's just too good to wait for.