Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Awhile ago I spent some time making cupcakes with my dear friend Allysa who is almost exactly like me just a little more crazy. Love that girl :)
She found this recipe on Pinterest from Your Cup of Cake (she's brilliant), we of course had to choose from like 10 of her Pinterest pins and thought this recipe looked best!

I'm glad we did too because these were raved about at work!

Vanilla Cake:

24 Oreos

1 box white cake mix

2 egg whites

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1 Tbl vanilla extract

3/4 cup chopped Oreos

Cookies & Cream Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4-5 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup finely crushed Oreos

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tin with liners or spray with pam. 

Twist 24 Oreos and place the cream side up in each cupcake liner, reserving the other plain half for the frosting.

Sift the white cake mix in a small bowl, set aside. 

In a large bowl, whisk egg white, two eggs, oil, buttermilk, greek yogurt, and vanilla. Add the sifted cake mix and combine. Fold in the chopped Oreos.

Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full with batter and bake in oven for 15-20 minutes. Make sure a toothpick comes clean through the middle.

For the frosting, mix together the butter and cream cheese. Add the vanilla extract. Slowly add the powdered sugar, tasting as you go. Gently mix in your crushed Oreos. If you have a piping bag, fill it with your frosting and pipe on your cooled cupcakes. If you don't, use a plastic gallon freezer bag and snip the end like I had to do... Top with mini Oreos (optional but cute). Leftover crumbs? Sift on top of your icing after piped.

Creamy Spinach Pizza

Mmm, I now love spinach. I am ashamed that I ever thought it was gross, but then again most kids do.  And now I'm obsessed with white pizza.

How have I lived so long not trying white pizza?!

I can only blame myself. But now I will happily enjoy this new found love whenever I please!

This recipe is adapted from smells like home's spinnoccoli pizza

Ingredients:

For the white sauce:
1 Tbl butter
1 Tbl flour
3/4 cup milk or heavy cream
1 garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
6 Tbl parmesan cheese

For the pizza:
Pizza dough
olive oil
1/2 cup baby spinach leaves
3 oz mozzarella cheese
1 oz parmesan cheese

Directions:
Melt butter over medium-high heat in a saucepan. Whisk in flour constantly for about 1 minute, when it reaches a brown and bubbly state. Whisk in the milk or heavy cream and garlic with the salt and pepper. Cook until the sauce is thickened and bubbly. Take off heat and mix in the parmesan until smooth. Set aside.

If using a pizza stone, preheat oven to 500 degrees and place stone in the oven. If you do not have a pizza stone and are using a pizza pan, preheat the oven to 400.
Roll pizza dough out and brush the top with olive oil. Spread the white sauce onto the pizza, leaving about an inch on outside of the dough for the crust. Evenly sprinkle the baby spinach leaves next, followed by the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
If transferring pizza to pizza stone, bake for about 10-12 minutes.
If using a pizza pan, bake for about 13-15 minutes or until cheeses and crust are nicely browned.

Let cool, even though it's very difficult, before diving in.

Enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie

Hmm, and what could I make with all that pie crust?

Fill it with savory goodness I suppose!

This meal inspired the other two girls in my family to make a pie for their loved ones. What better way to say "I love you" than make pie? At least I was raised that pie equals the greatest love. I mean, pie is served on only the special, family holidays... which is now every holiday... every holiday plus when it sounds really good... who would ever want to limit it to a few days of the year?... we make pie a lot.

That just must mean we love a lot.

Anyway, I adapted this recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything and when I went back to find it again her site was down. I got scared because I love her blog and I hadn't written this recipe down yet! I thought I lost it forever. I waited three days and three nights and checked the site again. It was back up! Yay!! Then I felt reassured and waited until now to type it out... 

Ingredients:

2 unbaked pie crusts, rolled out

1 pound boneless chicken breast halves, cubed

1 cup carrots, diced

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup AP flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

32 oz carton of organic chicken broth (reserving 1 3/4 cups after boil)

2/3 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.

Place one of the pie crust in the bottom of pie dish, poke holes in bottom and crimp edges. Bake for about 6 minutes.

In a pot, combine carrots, peas, chicken, celery, and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil and cover for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Reserve 1 3/4 cups chicken broth and drain the rest of the liquid. In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the onions, cooking until translucent. Add the flour, salt, and pepper. Slowly stir in the milk and the reserved chicken broth. Stir until thick and creamy on medium-high heat. Add the mixture to your chicken and vegetables. If desired, you can add more chicken broth if you like your pot pies more runny. 

Place your filling in the bottom shell and cover with your other prepared crust. Seal and cut away the excess crust. Poke vents on the top to allow steam to escape. Place in 425 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. 

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before enjoying.

Blue Ribbon Pie Crust

Wow, have I been slacking. My bad, sorry. I could list all of my excuses but it doesn't change the fact that I should have posted something, anything, sooner! Ha, all well. At least now I'm going to put on my mother's deliciously incredible pie crust recipe. Your welcome.

Ingredients:
5 cups AP flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups shortening
1 tsp vinegar
1 egg

Directions: *Prepare ice water first, at least a cup of water  with ice

Combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Cut in shortening with a pastry cutter until it resembles cornmeal (this takes a little while and to make good crust you really have to work it). 
In a liquid measuring cup, beat the egg and vinegar. Pour ice water up to the 1 cup mark. Stir and add to flour mixture. Combine just enough to form a ball, it will be soft and sticky.

If you need a pre-baked crust, make vents with a fork at the bottom of crust, preheat oven to 425 and bake for 6 minutes with foil at the bottom. Remove the foil and bake 6 more minutes. 
To save, I wrap in wax paper and either freeze or it can rest in the refrigerator for a couple of days. 

This recipe makes 3-4 pies.

Mango Crepes

A Saturday morning breakfast that brought everyone crawling into the kitchen. Perfect for four people. No doubt we were stuffed and ready to enjoy a walk around town. Delicious mangoes are a must.

What's your favorite brunch item?


Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup AP flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
2 ripe mangoes, diced
powdered sugar
cinnamon (optional)
fat free vanilla yogurt (optional)
maple syrup (optional)


Directions:
Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center and crack eggs in the middle of the well. Beat the eggs in the middle and slowly add the milk, slowly adding the flour into your whisking path. When it forms a smooth batter, no chunks, mix in the chilled melted butter. 
Butter a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour in about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of batter into pan and swirl until the batter hits the edges. When edges begin to brown, use a spatula to lift an edge, and flip with your hand. Do not damage the crepe by folding over. Allow to cook for about 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate. Stack crepes on top of each other.
Fill crepes with mango pieces and powdered sugar. You may want to add syrup, cinnamon, or yogurt, depending on your preferences.

Blackened Fish Taco Towers

A favorite around our home?? Mahi Mahi fish tacos.
A meal we like to play around with and make unique every time. Changing up salsas, adding a sour cream sauce, or switching up the marinade... it's a perfect dish to experiment with.
This one ended up being our "taco tower".
The night before we made some delicious Naan flat bread and so I incorporated the leftovers (there surely weren't many...) with our fish. Had some ripe mangoes and.. Ta-da! Blackened mahi mahi with a mango salsa on some yummy Naan.


*makes two tacos


For the salsa:
Ingredients:
1-2 mangoes, preferably not quite ripe, cubed
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 chopped small red onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
dash of salt, optional


Directions: Toss all ingredients together and refrigerate for an hour to let flavors mingle.


For the fish:
Ingredients:
4-8 oz cut of mahi mahi, thawed
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
0.5 tablespoon Mccormick Smokehouse seasoning
0.5 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
dash of ground oregano
0.5 tablespoon lime juice


1-2 tablespoons olive oil


Directions: Place thawed mahi mahi in a bag and incorporate the next six ingredients in a bowl, mix. Combine the marinade atop the mahi mahi and thoroughly smother the fish in the red mixture. Marinate in fridge for at least 2 hours.
About 10 minutes before you serve, heat olive oil in a skillet until it smokes. Carefully tong the fish into the oil and cook, flipping fish when half of the pink on the fish turns white. When just cooked through, a fish is white, remove from pan and break up into chunks. 


For tacos:
Ingredients:
Black beans, heated
Queso Fresco, crumbled
Green Leaf Lettuce, chopped


On tortilla or Naan, lay down a bed of chopped up green leaf lettuce, then black beans. Cover with your mango salsa, queso fresco crumbles, and blackened mahi mahi. Serve.

Greek Pasta Salad

Coming home from the beach, I was fishing through our fridge for something to whip up for dinner and decided I had enough to do something Greek. Since I recently bought some whole wheat pasta... Pasta salad it was! By the time it was cold and ready to eat, I snapped one picture before my husband snapped the bowl out of my hands and into his mouth. Smiling, he sauntered off with it...


Ingredients:
1 cucumber diced
1 tomato diced
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 cups cooked and cooled whole wheat penne pasta


Dressing:
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
dash of nutmeg


Directions:
Cook and cool penne pasta to package directions.
Combine cucumber, tomato, and sun dried tomatoes with the cooled pasta. Add all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk them until smooth. Toss it over the pasta, adding the feta in. Place in fridge for about an hour before serving.

Oreo, Oreo Cookies

Caution: If you are currently dieting and don't want to be tempted do not read or look any further!! Because if you make these you will be sitting here wishing you worked out before starting the dough....

You know these cookies are WAY too good for your own good when you make a batch and can't stop licking the dough off a spoon that you shouldn't have picked up in the first place... If you like cookies and cream ice cream in cookie form I would recommend this cookie recipe. The pudding makes the cookie come out soft and creamy, makes them taste good days later too! :)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (4.2 ounce) package instant Oreo Pudding mix (see Note)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla 
2 1/4 cups flour  
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups smashed, crumbled Oreo cookies


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Smash about one row of Oreo cookies in a bag just until each cookies is broken up, with varying shapes and crumbs.
Mix butter, sugars, and pudding mix together until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add one cup of the flour mixture at a time to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated. Pour in all the smashed Oreos and mix on low for a couple seconds. Roll into 1 inch balls on a nonstick sheet and bake for 8 minutes. Wait 3 minutes before transferring over to wire rack.

Mango, Cucumber, and Black Bean Quinoa Salad

Oh how my husband loves this salad. He has established it his favorite dinner and now I must have all the ingredients in the kitchen at all times, just in case... Well, it is delicious.


With a perfect combination of flavors, trust me, you will have happy taste buds.


Ingredients:
*Note: I always cook my quinoa in veg. broth & remember to rinse.
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 (15 oz) can black beans rinsed and drained
1 cup diced cucumber
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon black pepper


Directions:
In a large bowl, combine quinoa, mango, black beans, cucumber, cilantro.


In a separate dish, whisk together red wine vinegar, olive oil, lime juice, and pepper until combined and toss into salad. Refrigerate for at least an hour.


Adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Homemade Puppy Treats

Yesterday I was so extremely happy when Boston ran out the door, ran straight for the grass, and went potty. I praised him "good boy" enthusiastically and gave him a treat. He was pleased but he's so young that the treat is difficult for him to eat so, today, I made him some. They're extremely basic and easy which is wonderful because half of my attention is always on watching him! Another plus? It's so much cheaper.

Here's how the four ingredient puppy treats go:

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix peanut butter and milk together in a bowl. Once combined, add flour and baking powder. Knead and roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4" thick. Cut into 1/4" squares and bake for 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool before handing them to pup!

Boston, Wisdom, and Smoothies

So I haven't gotten around to cooking or baking lately since:
 1. Nick got his wisdom teeth out and making delicious food that he can't eat would be cruel and
 2. I've had a brand new puppy to chase around and make sure he knows to not eat my computer cords, go to the bathroom outside, and stay off the furniture. 
 It's two wonderful full-time jobs. 

But, I have to write and post how adorable our newest family member is!

Yes, we fell in love with him immediately and named him Boston. The day we picked him up Nick was wearing a shirt that I had given him the week I went to Maine and Massachusetts. I fell in love with the city and got him a "Boston" shirt. It also happened to be his birthday and I was missing it... and we thought it was unbearable to be apart for a week (haha, he joined the Navy a year later. We got used to it...) so it was one of his birthday gifts. Anyway, we were stopped for a pit stop on the way home from picking our pup up and throwing name ideas back and forth. While we walked, a guy shouted after Nick, "Boston, Yeah!" and pointed to his hat which had the Red Sox logo. Nick looked at me and we both knew it was the perfect name for our puppy. For some strange reason, it just had a ring to it and let me tell you now I can't imagine any other name on this dog! It suites him. He's so adorable, watching him fetch is honestly the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Anyway, enough of my rambling on... Nick's assigned to plenty of bed rest and aspirin so we need to make some nutritiously-filling soft food!

What I have been doing is making some protein smoothies, which is probably the best thing you can do for someone who can't chew... The oats balance out all the sugars from the fruit and powder. It's packed full of vitamins as well!

Our all-time favorite smoothie: Strawberry Mango Oat Smoothie

Ingredients:
5 ice cubes
1/4 cup milk
1 scoop oats
1 mango
1 cup fresh strawberries
1 scoop vanilla protein powder

Directions:
In your blender, add ingredients in order. Quickly increase speed and make sure all ingredients are blending. Blend for a minute and serve.
Makes two servings.

Veggie Pesto Pizza

Ingredients:
12" pizza dough (I used this pizza dough recipe)
1/4 cup pesto
1/2 cucumber, slices
1/2 diced green bell pepper
1/2 roasted red pepper from jar, diced
1/2 cup baby arugula
1 tomato, slices
3/4 cup mozzarella
1/2 cup parmesan


Directions:
Preheat oven to 450. 
Roll out your pizza dough, 12 inches across. Move dough over to your pizza pan. Spread out the pesto evenly, leave 1 inch space from the edge. Lay out cucumber slices across, then diced bell pepper, and roasted red pepper. Cover the veggies with the cheeses. Sprinkle the arugula out. Lay tomato slices on top. Roll your dough in to where the pesto starts to form the crust around the edges. Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes or until the crust and cheese is nicely browned.

Macadamia Nut Pesto

Pesto is delicious! Nick will eat the entire batch when we make Naan. This is perfectly paired as pizza sauce or in a wrap. Mmm. Mm. Mm.
Ingredients:
1 cup basil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped macadamia nuts
1-2 garlic cloves
Directions:
In a food processor or blender, add all ingredients and mix for about a minute. In the Vitamix, I turned it up to 7.

Greek Chickpea Salad

Vegetables and chickpeas? How can this not be good?? Nick found this recipe on Peas and Crayons, pointed to it, smiled, and said, "Thursday". So I guessed he wanted it for dinner and I clearly wasn't going to say no. It looked delicious! So I've created it tonight, although slightly altered, but we were both very very happy with how it turned out!

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/2 a cucumber
1/4 onion

2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tsp lemon juice
1-2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp dill
salt and pepper

Directions:
Dice the bell peppers, cucumber, and onion. Toss them in a bowl.


Combine the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl, whisk the dressing until smooth and toss into the bowl with the vegetables. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving.

Aunt Molly's Granola

My favorite food in the world: Granola. 
I eat mine with yogurt, cinnamon, and blueberries... every morning. 
I'm attached what can I say.

A lot of people know this so when I received this recipe from Molly, I was ever so grateful! I'm happy to relay that this is the best. I usually half this recipe just because I only have one large pan, which is very easy to do.

Ingredients:
5 pounds rolled oats
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 1/3 cups coconut
3 1/3 cups sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, macadamia nuts, or pecans (or all!)
4 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup honey
3 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 pound raisins, dried blueberries, or craisins


Directions:
Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. Add liquids and mix in until just incorporated. Place in 2 2" parchment paper-lined pans and bake at 275 degree oven until dry and crisp. Stir granola every 15-20 minutes for even browning. This takes about two hours. Let set at room temperature until completely cooled. Mix in raisins and store in airtight container.

Cinnamon and Cocoa Coated Pecans

I really really like pecans. So does my husband. Almonds and cashews are okay, but pecans are just so much better. It's the only nut we use except maybe when we can get out hands on some macadamia nuts.

Anyway, I went to Maine two years ago to visit my aunt and she shops at a Whole Foods store that carried cocoa covered almonds. They were so good! She and I would sit there eating handful after handful while watching movies at night for dessert. I developed a sweet and tasteful addiction to those things and when I went home I couldn't find them anywhere. I still search for them in any store that carries ingredients in bulk but have yet to come across them. Sure there's chocolate coated ones but that's so far from the same. 

Finally I attempted to recreate them with pecans and this is what I did... (go ahead and use almonds or walnuts if you'd like)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup pecans

1/2 cup chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 Tablespoon Hershey's unsweetened Cocoa powder

Directions:
Toast pecans in a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes on a baking sheet. You can usually tell when they're done when the kitchen has a nutty aroma in the air. Melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter on low in a small saucepan, stir when the chips start to look glossy and remove from heat. Don't overcook. Gently mix the toasted pecans into the chocolate mixture just until the nuts are coated. On a wax paper lined sheet, spread the pecans out evenly and set in freezer until the chocolate is hardened, about 15 minutes. Put cinnamon and cocoa powder into the bag, followed by the hardened, chocolate-covered pecans and seal the bag. Shake and enjoy!

Adapted from Green Kitchen Stories, I really do love their site.

Peanut Butter-Only & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sooo.. I had just moved into our new place and I desperately needed to bake. We had made about two store runs, one to Costco and one to the base's Commissary... Needless to say I hadn't bought any butter yet. I don't particularly put butter in or on anything unless it calls for it in a cookie so I was postponing the inevitable. Or did I have to?

Our home was fairly bare, All of our brand new appliances and pans and really, everything, was packed up in boxes. Stuck in a truck somewhere up the coast. I moved with a small frying pan, a pot, a baking sheet, a spatula, two towels, and an oven mitt. I guess it was all I needed because these cookies were absolutely delicious and they did not require butter. Peanut butter, yes.

At Costco I picked up two Skippy's jars of peanut butter because I had somewhat of a craving for the stuff for about a month. I had some chocolate chips and basic baking necessities. Minus the butter... I searched online and found this recipe, exactly what I needed! Except that I had to mix it all by hand and I really wanted to make that go as smoothly as possible. So I melted the peanut butter and oh! How easier that made mixing! These cookies were so incredibly soft and flavorful. Peanut butter and chocolate, could a girl ever ask for more? And to top it off, the next day they were even better. Believe me, I do not say that very often. I have a belief that a cookie is best right out of the oven, slightly underdone and gooey. But these, oh these cookies...

So here's the ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter (or any other nut butter)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.

Melt the peanut butter in a saucepan (or in my case a frying pan). In a bowl combine the sugars and baking soda, stir in the melted peanut butter until creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Then add vanilla, followed by flour. When ingredients are well combined, stir in the chocolate.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and slightly flatten. Bake 8-10 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges. Cool on a wire rack.

Adapted from Joanne Bruno's Recipe

Naan, Flatbread

If there's one thing that I love, it's bread. The soft, yummy carbohydrate will happily fill me up before I spend time eating an actual meal. If anyone is like me, it can be dangerous, but I'm not about to let carbs go. Instead, I make as much as I can of it in my very own kitchen.

Hello, naan.

I've made this recipe seven time in the past two weeks and I'm not about to stop. This bread is perfect to eat plain, dipped in a vinaigrette, or as a wrap. Mmm.

 

I found this recipe on Mel's Kitchen Cafe and oh how pleased I am with it.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup milk

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1 tsp salt

3-4 cups flour 

olive oil (optional)

Directions:
Measure out the milk and heat until warm to the touch (about 110 degrees F). Mix the sugar and yeast into the milk and let it sit for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is foamy, this means the yeast is activated. Once the yeast, milk, and sugar mixture is foamy, pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and add the salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour. 

Mix well to combine. Continue adding flour gradually in small amounts, until a soft dough is formed that cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough by mixer or hand until it is smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes in the mixer

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rest at room temperature, covered lightly with greased plastic wrap, for about 2 hours.

Divide the dough into 12 equal sized balls on a floured surface and let them rise, covered with a towel, for 30 minutes. 

As the dough rests, either preheat an oven to 50o degrees to use a pizza stone, heat a grill, or heat your griddle to it's highest setting (I used a griddle).

Roll each piece of dough into a 6-8 inch circle and bake 2-4 minutes or until brown spots appear on top. I like to sprinkle olive oil over my griddle before laying the dough down. Serve warm or cooled.