Pancakes, Oh My! + 1st Blog From My New Kitchen!

Sorry I have been completely MIA as of late, but it was for good reason-we just moved! It has been an arduous task (buying a house looks a lot more fun and less work on HGTV), but we found a keeper that, if I have it my way, we will never leave.

Anyway to celebrate last week, I made all my worker bees breakfast for dinner (we were really sick of takeout). On top of some eggs and sausage, I decided to try my first recipe from Pip and Ebby, a recipe blog I have been dying to try for ages now. It just happened to be serendipitous that she posted a recipe for Chocolate Chip Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes last week, easily one of my favorite foods ever. I rarely meet a pancake I don't like, but haven't made one that didn't require a toaster oven or a microwave in years. Let's just say after making the real thing, I will not be going back to frozen pancakes for quite some time. Check these babies out:

Photo from www.pipandebby.com

Chocolate chip blueberry buttermilk pancakes

In a medium bowl, combine:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, combine:

3 cups buttermilk

3 eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted

Add the flour mixture to the batter and stir until just combined. Do not over-mix!

Add:

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Stir carefully, just until combined.

Heat a skillet over medium-low heat and spray it with cooking spray. Use a 3/4-cup measuring cup to scoop the pancake batter onto the hot skillet. The batter will be very thick, so use the back of a spoon to shape each pancake into a circle (or whichever shape you wish).

When bubbles begin to form, flip the pancake with a spatula and cook until the batter is no longer runny. I actually had to perform the toothpick test on a few of these due to major fluffiness. Serve warm, with butter and syrup!

The great thing about this recipe is that you can add and subtract filler ingredients to tailor to your liking. Omit the chocolate chips and blueberries for a fluffy buttermilk pancake recipe. Or replace the chips and berries with apple slices or raisins or another type of fruit.

Pros: These are seriously delicious, but how can't they be? Pancake + chocolate + blueberries is simply a recipe for awesomeness. In terms of the recipe, I found it very easy to follow and liked how she combined the ingredient measurements in the directions of the recipe. The only downside was I couldn't find anything I needed so I didn't mix the flour and batter according to plan (I only had one bowl and a solo cup), but I still think it turned out really good.

Handy mixing tool

Cons: My only qualm with this recipe is that she didn't say how many pancakes the recipe made! I literally was making pancakes for an hour (it gets old after awhile). I STILL have pancakes in my fridge. I felt like I was in the book "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" where too much food starts falling from the sky and they all have to escape on peanut butter sandwich boats.

Revisions: Besides having the correct mixing utensils and possibly halving the recipe, I got nothing. It was delicious and a recipe I will certainly make again! 

Also, check out the new kitchen! The only real difference is the paint color, but it feels like new! 

Before (what you can't see is the accent wall is dark blue
underneath the sink)

No more horrible blue!

Like Mother Like DOGaughter

So, I came across this gem of a picture from a year ago of my puppy, Mimi, and just had to share.

Someone has a sweet tooth today

A fellow foodie after my own heart. 

Happy Friday!

The Everything But The Kitchen Sink Brownie Bar

Ever since getting married I have been on a baking terror. Seriously I need Bakers Anonymous or something. I can't go a week without whipping up something insanely tasty (and insanely unhealthy). I swore to myself I was going to limit my baking activities, which lasted until last Friday when my brother looked at me with these big puppy dog eyes and inquired when I was going to bake something because his sweet tooth was acting up. Now who am I to deny a child his dessert? (He's actually 19, but just go along with my baking justification).

So, I gave in. I baked cookies. I baked brownies. I baked Oreos. I baked it all in ONE DESSERT! All these ingredients and more were required in these "Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie n' Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar" from a blog called "Kevin & Amanda". Try saying that recipe name three times fast. And on top of that, I added my own spin on things. Before I give out the recipe, feast your eyes on these pics and try to refrain from drooling on your keyboards. 

So much goodness 

Photo from www.kevinandamanda.com 

Ready to bake? Here is the recipe:

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie n’ Oreo
Fudge Brownie Bar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12 ounces) milk chocolate chips
1 pkg Double Stuffed Oreos
1 Family Size (9×13) Brownie mix

1 Bag of pre-unwrapped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (*My personal revision)
1/4 cup hot fudge topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to thoroughly combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, then slowly incorporate into the mixer until the flour is just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the cookie dough in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish that’s been lined with wax paper and sprayed with cooking spray. Top with a layer of Oreos. Mix together brownie mix, adding an optional 1/4 cup of hot fudge topping to the mix. Pour the brownie batter over the cookie dough and Oreos. Sprinkle Reese's Peanut Butter Cups on top (if you are adding my revision). Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for an additional 15-25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting — brownies may still be gooey in the middle when still warm, but will set up perfectly once cooled. Enjoy!!

To half this recipe for an 8×8 brownie mix, simply half the chocolate chip cookie dough ingredients.

First layer: Cookie dough

Next layer: Double Stuffed Oreos 

Third layer: Brownie mix 

Add the Reese's 

Fresh out of the oven

Pros: Just reading the recipe again makes me want to bake it all over again! Seriously, how can you go wrong with those ingredients?! It was all that I hoped it would be and more. The recipe was easy to follow and the baking time for my oven was just about accurate although it did take me the full 25 minutes for the second baking time period for the brownies to cook all the way. I would definitely recommend letting it sit after it is done baking so that everything can settle otherwise it will be a bit runny. I know, the wait is the torturous part, but it is worth it! I've devoured this warm and room temperature and either way it is delicious. After a few days out I would recommend heating it up though just because the only thing that starts to go a little stale is the cookie part.

Don't forget the vanilla ice cream!

This leads me to the good (and bad) part of this dessert: it lasts for days. I would recommend making this when you either 1. Have a lot of people to feed or 2. Have people in mind to force this dessert on the next day so you don't end up with a whole pan to eat by yourself. Unless your metabolism is supernatural, then I say keep it all for yourself! 

Cons: The only real problem I had was figuring out when it was done. I didn't want to burn the cookies or under bake the brownies. I think mine turned out just fine, but once again, the cookies dried out faster than the brownies after a few days left out.

Revisions: If you remotely enjoy Reese's I say adding them is a must! That little bit of peanut butter really put this dessert over the top. In fact, I think you could really get creative and add some crushed butterfingers, M&M's, caramel sauce, etc and make it your own.

I don't even feel like I should have to say it but, we are all in agreement that this is a Hall of Fame recipient right? Right. 

Easy Peasy Chicken Pot Pie with a Twist!

As a girl working, 9-5, what a way to make a living (yes I sometimes sing that to myself as I drive to work- I sound just like Dolly Parton in mind), I am always looking for the perfect dinner dish. That hard to find dish that is inexpensive, somewhat healthy, and most importantly, quickest to make. It is a continual fight to find a recipe that  I can rationally tell myself will take around the same amount of time as going through the takeout menus, picking up the phone, and ordering out.

This is my first week at my new job and I am bone tired, so cooking has been extra challenging this week. For some reason, I decided it would be a good idea to not only try out a new recipe on Pinterest claiming to be "super simple", but also from a blog I've never tried before. 

Luckily, the cards were in my favor and this recipe for "Super Simple Chicken Pot Pie" is from a "mommy" blog called "The Bizy Mommy" and it's about...well it's pretty self-explanatory. Instead of posting her recipe, I am just going to post my adaptations below because I ended up doing a lot of things differently based on what I had in the fridge, but you can always go to her site and check it out for yourself. The great thing about this recipe is that it's so flexible, you can easily put your own twist on it and it will come out tasting fabulous. Here's the recipe:

Yummm

Super Simple Chicken Pot Pie

adapted from "The Bizy Mommy" 

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

2 cups of chicken (I used two whole chicken breasts, chopped them up, and cooked them on the stove). You can use canned, or frozen, just cook per instructions)

1 bag of mixed frozen vegetables (nuke according to directions) 

1 can evaporated milk (skim or regular, doesn't matter)

1 packet of mashed potatoes (cook according to directions. She used a pre-made container of Bob Evans Mashed Potatoes just as an FYI)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup of onion, finely chopped (I used a sweet onion)

pinch of Parsley

pinch of garlic powder

salt and pepper (to taste) 

2 cans of biscuits 

Directions:

(Pre-Heat your oven at 350)

1. Whip up mashed potatoes, set aside. At the same time, prepare your chicken according to package directions.

2. Heat up your veggies (if you are using the frozen kind)

3. Dump everything (Except the biscuits) into a large bowl. Mix up.

4. Pour into a baking pan (round or square) and cover with biscuits.

5. Pop in the oven at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown on top. 

6. Devour

Ingredients sans chicken

Grilled chicken 

Mix it all up  

Poor into a pan 

Put the biscuits on top 

Fresh out of the oven! 

Pros: Despite the fact that I basically ended up changing half the recipe, it was not difficult at all. The best part about this recipe is there is little room for error. It's a "use what you have" kind of recipe. Most importantly it is AH-MAZING! The biscuits on top give it a twist and it is so much easier to make than slaving over a homemade pot pie crust. It is a twist that both my husband and brother gobbled up and then went back for more!

Chicken Pot Pie 

Cons: The big issue I had with her original recipe is that it called for pouring everything into a huge bowl and microwaving it for five minutes. Microwaved chicken breasts are going to turn out rubbery, so I was not inclined to follow that step. Based on that, I edited most of the recipe to fit my needs, but once again, that is the beauty of the recipe; it is very flexible. 

Revisions: Next time I would add more pepper and let it sit a few minutes before serving so it could firm up a bit, but other than that, it was absolutely delicious and a meal I will definitely make again...and again...and again...

Welcome to the Hall of Fame Super Simple Chicken Pot Pie! Your flaky, creamy, chock full of protein and veggies goodness is on its way to becoming a staple in my household. 

Happy Day After Valentines Day!: Brownie Stuffed Oreos

Hope you all are not still in a treat induced coma because I have an after Valentine's Day treat for you! Don't know what to do with all that leftover baking sugar, chocolate, sprinkles, etc? Then how about whipping up some Brownie Stuffed Oreos. Yes I just went there. And yes, they are delicious.

I actually wrote this blog for Valentine's Day for my high school bud and fellow blogger, Esther. She writes an insanely awesome blog called "Lovingly Thrown Together" and when she asked me to blog for her...well you'll find out the rest when you check out my guest blog. Here is the link with the recipe of course: http://www.lovinglythrown.com/2012/02/when-brownie-met-double-stuffed-oreo.html

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cake Batter Cookies

It's almost Valentine's Day (aka my excuse to bake as much as I want without feeling guilty day), and to get into the holiday spirit, I decided to try out a Pinterest recipe I have had my eye on for awhile. Right now one of the popular posting trends is anything cake batter-related, so I decided to give these "Cake Batter Cookies" from "Lovintheoven" a try. I also decided it would be the perfect opportunity to test my creative skills and do some holiday-themed decorating. I also wanted to try this idea I discovered on Pinterest where you use a rubber stamp and stamp a design or word into the cookie. How cool does that sound!? But...

....then I remembered I am atrocious at any decorating related to baking.

And I realized this after the fact.

Love

Love? It's like a Magic Eye book, I swear it's there! 

Le sigh.

So, bear with me and my "unique" baking skills. I am going with the "love isn't perfect, it's the effort that counts" motto with these cookies. In all honesty besides their visual imperfections, these cookies are divine. The chocolate and cake batter combines perfectly and best of all, the cake batter isn't overpowering. They taste like cake batter without feeling like you are going to have a tummy ache (think anything from Coldstone). 

I'm going to blame the decorating on the dog. She has horrible
fine-motor skills!

Here's the recipe with a few important revisions to follow:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup funfetti cake mix
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup softened butter
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Cream together the butter and sugars. Mix in the egg yolk, egg, and vanilla until creamy. 
2. Add in the flour, cake mix, and baking soda.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
5. Preheat oven to 350.
6. Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets. (*Note: Up for debate, see "cons" below) 
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are golden.

Pros: They are super easy to make and taste divine. I am also partial to funfetti, so these really are my ideal kind of cookies. They are cookies with a twist. If you are in a baking mood and don't want to go wild, these are an easy treat to whip up and require most ingredients one already has in his or her home. 

Cons: We already know the whole "rubber stamp" idea was a bust. I think next time I would try it with a sugar cookie and a recipe that gives implicit instructions for how to go about this "stamping cookies" idea. Also, and this was my big issue, emphasis on the word big, my cookies were so big that they ended up baking into one big cookie sheet shape! The recipe does call for "a heaping amount of cookie dough", but she neglects to mention how big her cookie sheets are. I have those rinky dink sheets, so next time I would scoop out maybe half a tablespoon and bake them for half the time. It didn't effect the taste, but it did leave me with sort of abstract shaped cookies (to put it nicely).

Too heaping big!

Also, I have no idea why you had to refrigerate the dough. I don't think it made a difference. If you're in a rush, go ahead and bake them right away. I give you permission to do so. 

Revisions: On her website, she talks about how one thing she would try next time is to add more baking soda and a pinch of baking powder to help them rise more...it didn't work. I tried it, they were still flat. Flat and delicious. Don't bother with that. Also, I baked them all with chocolate chips; she only did one batch with chocolate chips. Why? I have no clue. 

Besides smaller scoops for baking purposes, there is nothing I would change about this recipe. It produces some tasty cookies! Although I might forego my decorating visions in the future....

Grown-Up Pasta Night: No-Cook Tomato Sauce

One of the reasons I first started to cook was actually because of Weight Watchers Online. I went through some "2nd Semester Senior" weight gain in college (aka the "I won't be able to drink all night and munch like this forever so I might as well overdo it while I can) time of your life. Wow those lbs can pile on fast. So, I decided to try Weight Watchers and discovered half my problem was eating out too much (somehow my wallet lost weight during that time, but I had the opposite reaction with my waistline). Weight Watchers forced me to take up cooking, which I surprisingly enough took a liking too. Weight Watchers has tons of recipes that are broken down in several ways, one way being the "easy, medium, difficult" option, which was great for a beginner chef like myself.

One of the first recipes I made from Weight Watchers was this online recipe: No-Cook Tomato Sauce. Not only was it delicious, but a nice break from the typical pasta and tomato sauce type meal that was shamefully typical in our 1/8 Italian household. The reason I call it "Grown-Up" in my blog title is because my nineteen-year-old brother is the only person I know who does not enjoy this meal, and he has the palate of a five-year-old, so there's your litmus test. But if your kids are more refined than my brother, go for it because it's delicious. Anyway, months later, I decided to revisit this recipe and share it with you, my foodie faithful, so here it is:

Always gotta have some cheese

No Cook Tomato Sauce
(Note: I halved the recipe since it was just my husband and I)

Serves 6
WW points 7

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup basil, paced leaves, chopped (*Note: I used the squeeze basil in a bottle kind. It refrigerates for months)
1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP white wine vinegar
2 TSP dried oregano
1/2 TSP sugar
1/2 TSP table salt
1/2 TSP black pepper
12 oz uncooked who-wheat spaghetti, cooked and drained according to the package

Directions:

Roughly chop the tomatoes; place in a large bowl. Stir in rest of ingredients. Add the drained pasta and toss well. Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

Add all the ingredients and stir 

Throw in the cooked pasta 

Dig in! 

Pros: It's surprisingly delicious. I honestly was not expecting much the first time I made it, but it is just so fresh tasting. That's the best way I can describe it. Everything blends together really well to produce a deliciously light meal. Also, it takes less than a half an hour to make (factoring in boiling the water for the pasta), which makes it a great midweek meal.

Cons: Honestly chopping up those darn tomatoes is the worst part. It is just so boring and monotonous. The first time I made it I really chopped them carefully and into fourths, but now I just chop them in half and move on. It tastes the same.

I despise chopping tomatoes! 

Revisions: I don't play around with this recipe except with the basil. I have purchased fresh basil before and I feel like most of it just ends up going to waste and I hate throwing away food. I buy the squeeze herb bottles because they last for months in the fridge and taste just as fresh. I recommend using about half of the recommended amount if you are going to use the squeeze version since it is already pretty packed in, unless you really love basil of course.

I am obsessed with Gourmet Garden

I'm glad I pulled out this recipe gem from my Weight Watchers days because it really is a fresh and a different way to change up Spaghetti Night that is good to your wallet and your waistline. 

Easiest Crockpot Chicken Taco Ever...Seriously

In honor of the fact that this is the shortest recipe I have ever posted (it's already committed to memory), I am going to keep this post brief. Well that and the fact that I am bone tired from my full-time job. I do enjoy working, but man it interferes with my foodie pursuits (and subsequent blogging adventures). 


I discovered this recipe on Pinterest and it comes from a blog titled "My Chocolate Therapy", which I think we can agree is an odd title for a blog that includes dinner meals like Chicken Tacos. Anyway I decided to give it a try because, and I could have sworn my eyes deceived me, it involves only 3 ingredients and turns your Crockpot into the Head Chef of the evening. Here is the recipe:

Mine

Hers. Photo from www.mychocolatetherapy.blogspot.com

Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Recipe from Tasty Kitchen

1 envelope Taco Seasoning
6 pieces Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 jar Salsa (16 oz)

Dump everything into a crock pot and give it a little stir to blend the seasoning with the salsa. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. When done, the chicken should shred easily when stirred with a fork.

For tacos, serve the chicken with soft flour tortillas, lettuce, shredded cheese and sour cream. This is very versatile and can be used for enchiladas, nachos, tostadas, etc. Any leftover chicken can then be used for tortilla soup (make it the next day or freeze the chicken to use at a later time).

Throw it all in the pot and get cooking!

Pros: The recipe is simple, but more importantly, it is entirely accurate. Throw everything in the Crockpot, give it a stir, and in 6-8 hours on low you will get some shredded chicken goodness. My first thought when coming home from work was, "Wow this smells amazing. I hope it tastes as good as it smells." Oh it does. The chicken is so moist and packed with flavor. You really don't even need items like onion and salsa on the side. 

It was so good that the pup was begging for scraps!
Which, honestly, she does for any human food. 

Cons: I have zip. None. It was delicious. 


Revisions: The nice thing is that, you can really get creative and top your chicken with whatever you want. The chicken is so good that you could easily eat it on its own. If you wanted to be healthy you could also put the shredded chicken on a big leaf of Romaine lettuce and use that as your taco. I have read in the comment section of her blog that some people have added a can of  "Cream of Mushroom" soup to the mixture, but I didn't feel like it needed anything else. 

Check out that chicken!

I love taco night. 

This is definitely going to become a weeknight staple in our house. It is a great way to get some good home cooking without shelling out a lot of time or money. It is a great way to do Mexican and honestly, I do not think you can get chicken that moist any other way. So, give it a shot and let me know what you think! 

Not Your Momma's Oatmeal Scotchies: Peanut Butter Coconut Oatmeal Scotchies

My mother was not much of a baker when we were young. She really only started baking my little brother's last semester of his senior year of high school (we chalked it up to her impending empty nest, so she was making up for lost time). Her mission to bake every single kind of cookie known to man ended after a few months when she realized she was eating more of the batter than she was baking (who hasn't been there).

But I have to give my mom credit where credit's due; she made some mean Oatmeal Scotchies growing up. That may have been the only cookie she baked, but man oh man were they tasty. I believe I bonded with my freshmen year of college roommate's quicker because of those cookies (my mom had barely left campus before those babies were devoured).

So, when I saw this recipe from Lauren's Latest for Peanut Butter Coconut Oatmeal Scotchies, I knew I had to try them. They were like my mom's, but with a twist, a delicious twist that I know my mom is going to have to bake (and kill me for introducing the recipe to her). I also saw this as an opportunity to redeem my dear Lauren for the S'mores Tart fail of a few weeks ago. I'm not even going to wait till after I post the recipe to let you all know that they were AH-Mazing!!! According to my brother they were, "as good as mom's or better." Smooth way to cover your bases with the ladies in your life little bro. I actually would say they are more accurately "Oatmeal Scotchies with Coconut and Peanut Butter Chips", because the peanut butter flavor is not overwhelming. So, anyone out there that was considering not making these because they don't like peanut butter cookies should still give these a shot. They will not disappoint. Here is the recipe:

Mine

Lauren's. Photo from www.laurenslatest.com 

Peanut Butter Coconut Oatmeal Scotchies
yield: 8 large, 12 small

(*Note: I doubled the recipe)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup margarine
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 egg, beaten
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon oats
2 tablespoons shredded sweetened coconut
2 tablespoons peanut butter chips
2 tablespoons butterscotch chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with silicone mat or parchment paper. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugars together. Stir in egg and vanilla. Stir in baking soda, salt and flour until just incorporated. Pour in remaining ingredients and stir. Scoop onto prepared pan and bake 8-9 minutes, rotating the pan half way through. (*Note: I needed more like 11-13 minutes) Cool 3 minutes on the pan and remove to cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cream butter and sugars, will stick together a lot!

Don't forget to beat that egg in another bowl

Add egg and vanilla to butter and sugars
(will be a bit watery)

(Add salt, flour, and baking powder)

Add the good stuff

Scoop onto your baking sheet and pop into the oven

Pros: Delicious and easy to make! No mixers needed and they take no time at all to whip up. Another plus for me was that none of the elements were overwhelming. They didn't taste too peanut buttery or too coconut-y (yes I made up that word), they were perfect. They are just the scotchies you had growing up, just chock full of other good stuff. 

Fresh out of the oven

Cons: I found that the timing was off for baking the cookies, but that is to be expected. Everyone's oven is different, it also depends on the altitude you are baking in, so keep that in mind. I generally find when I make recipes from "Lauren's Latest", I need to add a couple of minutes of baking time. 


Revisions: I stuck to the recipe this time, but did double it and they came out excellent. If you wanted to, you could leave out any of the elements and possibly add some. I'm sure chocolate chips would taste delicious in this recipe, it just depends on your taste!

From Hall of Shame to Hall of Fame, Lauren's Latest has done a 180 in desserts for my blog. This lady knows how to make a mean cookie and these are definitely an instant favorite for my family. Easy and delicious, what more can you ask for out of a cookie?