Fudge Puddles

If you like the taste of peanut butter and chocolate combined, then you'll love these! These little cookies are delectable, and they are beautifully presentable. Just make sure you have a melon-baller to make the wells, as it will make the whole process much easier. I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com.

Fudge Puddles

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2 . Sift together flour, baking soda and salt.
3. Cream butter, peanut butter and white and brown sugars. Mix in egg and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir the flour mixture into creamed mixture. Shape the dough into 48 balls, 1 inch each.
4. Place each ball in one compartment of a mini muffin tin.
5. For filling, put chocolate chips in a double boiler over simmering water. Stir in milk and vanilla, mix well.
6. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately make wells in the center of each using a melon-baller. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Then carefully remove to wire racks. Using a measuring cup fill each shell with the chocolate mixture.

Green Breakfast Smoothie

The idea of a green smoothie is brilliant, right?  Get so many veggies in all at once, and you're set for the day.  All the green-smoothie lovers swear up and down that "you can't even taste the spinach!"

Well, I'm here to tell you that's a lie.  It's a scam that I fell for myself.  Either that, or I just have ultra-sensitive taste buds.  I tried just about every green smoothie concoction in the books, and let me tell you - you CAN taste the spinach, and spinach goop is just as bad as it sounds.

I was skeptical when Mel posted this recipe on our blog.  However, she's never steered me wrong when trying recipes on her site, so I decided to give this one a whirl.  I went into it with a bad attitude, certain it would be awful.

Boy was I wrong, I love this smoothie!  I can taste the spinich just a tiny bit, but it is mostly diluted with a sweet, citrusy, fresh flavor.  I usually just make half this recipe, since it's just me eating it most of the time, but I figure I get about 2 servings of fruit and 1 serving of veggies.  Not bad for 8:00 in the morning!

Green Breakfast Smoothies
Recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

•     1 cup 100% carrot juice
•     1 orange peeled
•     1/2 lime peeled
•     1 soft, ripe pear, cored and cut into quarters
•     1 to 2 handfuls fresh spinach
•     1 frozen banana
•     1 cup frozen blueberries or strawberries
•     1-2 tablespoons ground flaxseed or chia seeds (optional)

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth (it works best to combine them in the order listed - liquids at the bottom, frozen at the top).

Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins

Breakfast has always been a struggle for me.  I've never been a big fan of cold cereal, and I'm usually on the go in the morning - so I find myself often questioning what I can eat.  This has led to some pretty awful eating habits.  In an effort of full disclosure, here are some of the stages I've been through in my lifetime of breakfasts:

• Toaster Strudels, Pop-tarts, and Nutrigrain bars (gotta love those processed, sugary foods!)
• Doughnuts from the local bakery (hello extra 20 pounds in one year)
• Carnation Instant Breakfast or Slim Fast (I'm starving, and I've still got 3 more hours till lunch)
• What did we eat last night for dinner - is there anything leftover that I can have for breakfast?
• I'm sooooo tired, and need sugar now!  Cookies, cake, and brownies - yes, yes, and yes. 
• Why the duece is it so bloody cold in Chicago this morning?  Why hello starbucks, I would love a piping hot chocolate. 
• Forget it - I'm going back to bed.  I'll just skip breakfast today.  

I really think breakfast sets the tone for my whole day.  If I have any of the above breakfasts, I think to myself "screw-it" when it comes to making healthy choices for the rest of my meals.

Therefore, I've really been making an effort to find quick, healthy breakfasts.  I've found some success over the past few months - but honestly, oatmeal and spinach smoothies are not nearly as good as the bakery down the street.  I guess that's life. 

However, these muffins are close.  They are perfect balance of healthy ingredients, with just a bit of sugar and butter to make them appetizing.  I make a batch on Monday, and they last me for the whole week.  They also freeze well. 

Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins

Recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled/old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 tablespoons butter or coconut oil, melted
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners or grease the muffin cups. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the oatmeal, applesauce, milk, egg, vanilla, butter and sugar. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt (and cranberries or raisins if using). Make a well in the center and pour in the applesauce mixture. Stir until just combined (don't overmix or the muffins will be dense and dry). The muffin batter texture might be a bit different (wetter?) than other muffin batters but no fear, carry on!
4. Distribute the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Don't overbake or the muffins will be dry.
5.  Remove the muffins to a rack to cool completely. Once cool, I place 6-9 muffins in a large freezer ziploc bag, suck all the air out (oh yes I do) and seal the bag, then freeze, pulling them out one by one to stick in my kids lunches or warm slightly for a snack.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

We try to grill-out frequently during the summer, as our house can get so warm and muggy this time of year.  This is one of our favorite weeknight dishes.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

• 1 pizza dough recipe (this one is awesome)
• 1/2 cup barbeque sauce (KC Masterpiece works great for grilling)
• 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• Pinch of dried parsley

Directions:

1. Make your favorite pizza dough. Typically you'll want to split your dough in half and make two smaller pizzas, as smaller crusts are a bit easier to work with on the grill. 
2. Roll your pizza dough into a thin circle, and liberally spread olive oil on top of it. 
3. Place the rolled-out pizza dough on the grill, oiled side down (this prevents it from sticking).
4. Grill for 2-3 minutes, or until light grill marks start to appear.*
5. Remove the pizza crust, and place it grilled-side up onto a greased cookie sheet (you'll be placing the toppings on top of the grilled side).  
6. Layer barbeque sauce, chicken, cheese, and parsley.
7. Return pizza to grill and finish cooking, about 2-3 minutes or until grill marks start to form on the bottom of the crust.*

*Hint:  Sometimes, the dough will get the grill marks quickly, but may not be fully cooked inside.  For this reason, I make sort of a grid pattern on the dough -- place dough on the grill for 2 or 3 minutes, and then move the dough 180 degrees for another 2-3 minutes. 

Twice-Baked Potatoes

Every year, Alex makes his mother and me a delicious steak dinner for Mother's Day.  Everything always turns out delicious, but I think these twice baked potatoes are my favorite thing on the plate.  These are actually better than the ones from nice steakhouses!

 

 

Twice-Baked Potatoes

Recipe from one of Alex's old roommates (but who?)

Ingredients:

• 6 large potatoes
• 1 C. onion sour cream dip (I just add onion powder to sr. cream)
• 6 to 8 T. milk
• ½ t. celery salt
• ¼ t. pepper
• 2 C. shredded cheese  (I use sharp)
• 2 T. chopped gr. onion
• 2 T. crumbled cooked bacon

 Directions:

1. Bake potatoes as you usually would, then cut off the tops lengthwise, a little higher than halfway up, to keep the potato skins in tact.  Scoop out the potato pulp into a mixer bowl.  Add sr. cream, milk, celery salt, pepper and half of cheese to potatoes.  Beat at low speed with electric mixer until blended.  (sometimes I add extra butter or softened cream cheese to add flavor)  Turn mixer to high speed – beat just until fluffy.  Do not overbeat. 
2. Spoon mixture back into shells.  Place in 9X13” baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese, gr. onions and bacon.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Mormon Tiramisu

Alex made this for Mother's Day, and boy howdy, this a good dessert!  Keep in mind I've never had tiramisu before, so I can't tell you if it tastes anything like the real thing - but this version most definitely will not disappoint the taste buds.  I think I'll be requesting this in lieu of birthday cake in a few months.  :-)

Mormon Tiramisu

Recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups good-quality hot chocolate, made with water and using 1 ½ times the hot chocolate powder
• ½ teaspoon rum extract
• ½ tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 large egg yolks
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
•  ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
• 8 ounces mascarpone cheese (can sub cream cheese in a pinch)
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream
• About 36 crisp ladyfingers cookies/biscuits
• 1 tablespoon natural cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Make the hot cocoa according to the instructions above – using water instead of milk and using 1 ½ the amount of hot chocolate powder you would normally use to make a cup for drinking. Allow the hot cocoa to cool while you are preparing the rest of the recipe. Once it is lukewarm, add the vanilla and imitation rum extract. Due to the high cocoa to water ratio, whisk the cocoa mixture frequently to keep the cocoa suspended.
2. Set a medium saucepan over medium heat and fill with about 1-2 inches water. Let it come to a simmer while you proceed with the recipe. In a medium bowl (an appropriate size to be placed on the pan that is heating), beat the egg yolks at low speed with a mixer (hand or electric) until just combined. Add the ½ cup sugar and salt and beat at medium-high speed until pale yellow, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula once or twice. Add ¼ cup cream to the yolks and beat at medium speed until just combined, 20 to 30 seconds; scrape the bowl. Set the bowl with the yolks over the saucepan of water that has come to a simmer. Cook the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly and scraping along the bottom and sides of the bowl with a heatproof rubber spatula, until the egg yolk mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 4 to 7 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir vigorously to cool slightly, then set aside to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
3. Add the mascarpone cheese to the cooled mixture and beat at medium speed until no lumps remain, about a minute. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and set aside. In the now-empty bowl (no need to clean the bowl), beat the ½ cup heavy whipping cream at medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. Then gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until no white streaks remain. Set the mixture aside.
4. Give the hot cocoa mixture a good whisk to combine. Pour it into a shallow baking dish like a pie plate. Dip 1 ladyfinger into the hot cocoa at a time, allowing it to soak up the hot cocoa for about 1-2 seconds per side. Transfer each ladyfinger immediately to an 8-inch square baking dish. Lay the cookies side-by-side to create one even layer. You may have to trim/break the soaked cookies to fit the pan. After finishing the first layer of ladyfinger cookies, spread half of the mascarpone cream mixture evenly over the ladyfingers, spreading to the edges of the pan. Using a small fine-mesh strainer, sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon of the natural cocoa powder over the mascarpone layer.
5. Repeat the soaking process with the ladyfingers, creating one more layer of ladyfinger cookies over the mascarpone/cocoa layer. Spread evenly with the remaining mascarpone mixture. Dust with the final 1/2 tablespoon of natural cocoa powder. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours to chill and set. This can be made up to 1 day in advance. Cut into squares and serve.