Recipe: Limoncello Bread Pudding

A few days ago I decided I wanted to make a limoncello bread pudding. I'd been thinking about lemon-y dessert things I could do but didn't want a cake or a pie and that seemed a good idea as any. I love bread pudding and I love playing around with different flavors to do with them. I wanted to wait for a night I was actually going to cook dinner as well so I could have a nice dessert following something that wasn't Chipotle or Snappy Salads.

 So yesterday, after I got all of the food prepping for take to work lunches done for the week, I decided it was going to be a "spend a lot of time in the kitchen" kind of day. I checked over a recipe for spicy Sicilian chicken stew that had been passed along to me from a friend's mother and luckily, I had everything I needed to make it on hand. Which gave me the perfect excuse to make a (hopefully) kick ass dessert to follow up a delicious meal.

I haven't made a citrus flavored bread pudding but I LOVE lemon things. And lime things. Tart and sweet are my friends. The boyfriend also loves lemon and/or lime desserts so I figured this would be the perfect new thing to try out.

It did not suck. 

I posted a picture on my instagram account because what else are food pictures good for other than to take up space on the internet? Anyway, a few people asked if I'd share the recipe. I had already planned to put it up somewhere and this is a better place for a food post than The Book of Faces.

Limoncello Bread Pudding

Ingredients

Bread Pudding:

6 cups cubed challah bread (or whatever you prefer)
3 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup limoncello
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

Unsalted butter or cooking spray, for buttering the casserole dish

Topping:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp limoncello
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

Whipped cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Directions:

Bread pudding: 

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, limoncello, lemon juice, sugar, vanilla, salt and lemon zest.

Butter a 2-quart casserole dish and add the bread cubes to the dish. Pour the wet ingredients over the bread and let sit, refrigerated for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, uncover the dish and continue to bake 20 minutes or until the bread has puffed up and is nicely golden on top. Allow to set for a few minutes after removing from oven.

Sauce to top bread pudding: In a small sauce pan over low heat, whisk together powdered sugar, fresh lemon juice, limoncello and lemon zest until powdered sugar is dissolved and smooth. 

Whipped cream: Place a metal mixing bowl and metal whisk into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. Place the sugar into the chilled mixing bowl and add the whipping cream. Whisk just until the cream reaches stiff peaks. 


Once the bread pudding is ready to serve, cut out a piece and top with the glaze and whipped cream to your liking.

I like to put about a tablespoon of sauce on mine while the boyfriend ended up putting several tablespoons on top of his and about twice the amount of whipped cream as well. Either way it was delicious and I'm not sad that there was plenty left over.

Enjoy!

PS and totally unrelated: I'll have the final post and pictures up from the 2016 Toys for Tots fundraiser up here soon! If we're buds on The Book of Faces, the pictures are already up there for your viewing enjoyment. 

The Great Online Cookie Exchange Extravaganza!

I love baking. It's one of my very favorite things to do in my free time and something I at times to find therapeutic. Even though I work in a bakery, I still enjoy baking goodies for friends and family members, especially during the holidays. Doing the annual Great Online Cookie Exchange Extravaganza brought to you by JZ of the badass blog, A Reluctant Bitch, is also a fun thing I love taking part of during the holidays. What's not to love about sharing recipes and discovering some new ones? As always, I'm going to post a few. :)

Snickerdoodle Cookies
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar and the eggs and mix thoroughly with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy and well combined. Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt, and stir into the shortening mixture.

In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon.

Shape the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls (1 tablespoon per ball), and roll each ball in the cinnamon-sugar. Arrange the dough balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake two sheets at a time until the edges of the cookies are set but the centers are still soft, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Transfer the cookies to wire racks for cooling.

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Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 batch Sugar Cookies, recipe follows
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/2 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candies

Sugar Cookie:

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon milk

Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Directions

Add chocolate and vanilla to 1 half and incorporate with hands. Add egg yolk, peppermint extract, and crushed candy to other half of dough and incorporate with hands. Cover both with plastic and chill for approximately 5 minutes. Roll out doughs separately to approximately 1/4-inch thickness. Place peppermint dough on top of chocolate and press together around the edges. Using waxed paper or flexible cutting board underneath, roll dough into log. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut into 1/2-inch slices. Place cookies 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat and bake for 12 to 13 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

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Peanut Butter Cookies 
Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup additional to roll cookies
• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

 In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Beat in egg to mixture. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy. 

Sift the salt,baking soda and flour and mix into the creamy mixture until well combined.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and then roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet and flatten with fork. Bake for about 12 minutes.

Note: Throwing in some chocolate chips to the peanut butter cookie dough is never a bad idea. ;)

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Mmm, cookies! Those are three of my favorite cookies to make and hand off to others during the holidays. And to eat myself. :D

To see JZ's post and all of the other exchange extravaganza participants, check out JZ's blog post here. 

And lastly, there are now 8 DAYS LEFT TO DONATE to the Toys for Tots Fundraiser! Also, the Fundraiser Promo contest for a super easy chance to win a $25 Gift Card to Target ends on December 14th as well so there's still time to get it on that. A donation isn't necessary to enter the contest but definitely appreciated! And again, big thanks to everyone that has already helped out via donations or other ways, I appreciate y'all so much. :)

HAPPY THURSDAY!!

Recipe: Fried Mac & Cheese Squares

I had fried mac and cheese at a restaurant and contemplated making them for a special occasion after that. I'm not a huge fan of fried foods but mac and cheese in a crunchy Panko crust with a creamy cheese sauce just oozing out? Not bad.

A week ago, a friend of mine asked if I could make some fried mac and cheese for a party. I agreed and then decided, like with all things I've never made before, I'd do a test run of it. My boyfriend was fine with being my guinea pig for all of this.

Most recipes I found cited using boxed mac and cheese. That didn't work for me and I already have a great recipe for mac and cheese. So I just decided to go at from there and it worked out. I had several people from Facebook and Twitter ask for the recipe so decided I'd put one together since I winged this dish and put it up on the blog for sharing.

Fried Mac & Cheese Squares

Ingredients:

• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk, warmed, plus 2 tablespoons for egg wash
• 1 pound grated Cheddar
• 1 pound grated smoked Gouda
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups Panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions:

Cook the macaroni according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain again and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour into the butter and stir it with a whisk, cooking for about 2 minutes. Whisk the warmed milk into the flour mixture, working out all the clumps. Cook until the sauce thickens, for about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the cheeses and stir until melted and smooth then season with the salt and pepper. Fold the cheese sauce into macaroni. Pour the mac and cheese into a shallow pan. It needs to be refrigerated until cold, at least 3 hours.

After that, shape the cold mac and cheese into small squares by cutting them evenly and removing them onto a waxed paper-lined tray.You can use a table spoon or ice cream scooper if you prefer a ball to a square. Freeze the macaroni squares overnight.

Next day, beat the eggs and 2 tablespoons milk together to form an egg wash and pour it into a shallow bowl. Put the bread crumbs into another shallow bowl. Mix the garlic, onion powder and paprika into the bread crumbs. Remove the mac and cheese squares from the freezer. Dip the frozen balls into the egg wash then into the bread crumbs, making sure to coat thoroughly. Put the squares back into the freezer until you're ready to fry them up.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees F. Fry the mac and cheese squares until they are golden brown and center is hot, about 4 to 5 minutes.

You can serve them as is or marinara or alfredo sauce goes nicely with it as well.

Happy Thursday!

Recipe: Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

I'm definitely making these the next chance I get so someone invite me to something that requires me to bring food. Or I suppose I could just make them for the hell of it and hand them off to friends and/or relatives so that those who live me don't have to be in charge of eating all of them. ;)

Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup salted butter
• 1 (10.5) oz bag mini marshmallows (note: if you have an extra bag, you can add an additional cup of marshmallows, if desired. I recommend it.)
• 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 10 oreos, chopped into bits (about the size of pebbles, there will be powder too), about 1 cup
• 1 1/3 cups white chocolate chips
• 6 oreos, chopped into bits (about the size of pebbles), about 1/2 cup

Butter or spray a 13 x 9 pan, set aside. Melt butter in a large non-stick saucepan over medium low heat, swirling butter up along edges of the pan (this helps the marshmallows stick much less). Stir in marshmallows and stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat and gently stir in Rice Krispies cereal, stir until evenly coated. Fold in 10 chopped Oreos. Pour mixture into buttered dish. Using a buttered spatula or greased hands gently press mixture evenly into dish, set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, melt white chocolate chips on 50% power in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until melted and smooth. Spread melted chocolate evenly over Rice Krispie treats and immediately (before chocolate hardens) sprinkle with 6 chopped Oreos. Gently press the Oreo pieces down with your hands. Cover and refrigerate about 10 minutes, or alternately let rest on counter until chocolate hardens.

Yield: 18 servings | Recipe from Cooking Classy

Happy Wednesday!

Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie

I love smoothies. I'm not a big fan of most breakfast foods so I'm more prone to just eating a bowl of cereal or making a smoothie for breakfast. This is one of my favorites so I thought I'd share the recipe here. :)

Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp flax seed

• 1/2 cup low-fat plain or vanilla yogurt

• 1 medium banana, quartered and frozen

• 2 tablespoons peanut butter

• 1 tsp honey

• 1/4 cup ice cubes

• 1/2 cup non-fat milk

Directions:

• Put ground flax seed meal or wheat germ into blender to grind and further breakdown.

• Place the banana, peanut butter, honey, yogurt, and milk into the blender. Cover, and puree until smooth.

And for those who want to keep tabs on their calorie consumption, here's some nutritional facts. The recipe makes two servings and the info below if the amount per serving. Enjoy. :)

Happy Friday!

The Great Online Cookie Exchange Extravaganza....

The Great Online Cookie Exchange Extravaganza, hosted by JZ, is today!

I have three different recipes I'm sharing today because I couldn't decide which one of the three I narrowed it down to I should go with. So, I'm posting Mint Chocolate Chip cookies, Frosted Gingerbread cookies and Peanut Butter M&M cookies. :) Enjoy!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks of butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1.5 tsp. peppermint extract
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup mint baking chips (If you can't find any, Andes mints chopped up work too)
• Green food color gel or food color liquid
  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars on high speed. Beat in egg. Stir in vanilla and peppermint extracts.

Mix together dry ingredients and add to butter mixture slowly. Stir until just combined.

Add in food coloring gel/liquid until you get the desired shade of green you want. I like using the gel because you get a more vibrant color and it doesn't effect the taste or texture but food coloring liquid works fine, too. Stir until well combined.

Fold in chocolate chips and mint chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a cookie sheet. (I actually use a small ice cream scoop.) Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove immediately and cool on wire rack.

You can also make these easier by using a package of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix instead of dealing with the flour, baking powder, etc. Just make the mix according to direction, add the mint extract, baking chips and boom. A little bit of a quicker and easier version.

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 large egg

Icing:

• 1 pound confectioners' sugar
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 drop lemon juice or vinegar

Directions

For the dough, add the dry ingredients (except sugar) to a mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Beat the butter and sugar, adding one egg at a time. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth. Beat in half the flour mixture, then stop and scrape the bowl and beater(s). Beat in the molasses, scrape again, and beat in the remaining flour mixture, just until combined.

Divide the dough into several pieces and press each piece into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least one hour or until firm.

Set the racks in the middle upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Roll the dough, one piece at a time, on a floured surface, just to make the dough flat and even, but not much thinner. Cut with floured cutters and arrange on the pans an inch or two apart. Repeat with the remaining dough. Reroll the scraps immediately; or press together, chill and reroll later. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until firm when pressed with a fingertip.

Cool the cookies on the pans.

Meanwhile for the icing, combine confectioners' sugar and egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat until combined. Add the lemon juice or vinegar and continue beating until fluffy. Use a paper cone or the snipped end of a plastic bag to pipe icing on the cookies.

Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup shortening (or butter for a flatter cookie)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1/2 large bag of M&M’s or 3/4 bag of mini M&M's
  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.

Ceam together the shortening (or butter), sugars and peanut butter. Stir in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Using a wooden spoon, carefully stir in the M&M’s.

Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet and lightly press down with a fork to barely flatten cookies. Bake for 10 minutes.

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Make sure you go see the rest of the Cookie Extravaganza participants!

Aisha
Alice
Ally
Another Suburban Mom
Ashly Star
Beau
Beth
Conina
Elysia
greengirl
Hedone
Jack & Jill
His wyld rose
Infidelity Chronicles
Jz
Kirsti
Krissy
lil
Linda Long
Little Monkey
Lola!
Mijena
mouse
Naughty Kitty
nilla
ponderouspet
ronnie
Rose
Ryan
Sara
selkie (her recipe here, her blog here)
Sephani Page
Serenity
shadesofblue
striving for peace
sin
Tempting Sweets
The Missus
undercovermetamorphosis
Viemoira


Only 9 days left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. I'm sure y'all are sick of seeing me talk about it but oh well. :) December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal unless you email with a reason why you need an extra day or two which has happened several times before. It only takes a few dollars to help out a really great cause and I do all the toy shopping so you can donate toys without having to go shop for anything yourself. So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated. :D

Happy Wednesday!

Banana Nut & Honey Muffins.

Banana Nut & Honey Muffins

Recipe makes 12 muffins.

What you need:

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
  
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• ⅓ cup plus 1 tbsp honey
  
• ¾ cup chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1½ cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
  
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup whole or low fat milk

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour with the baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Use a whisk to combine, blend well.

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sugar and 1/3 cup of honey, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula if necessary. At medium speed, add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each egg. Beat in the banana and vanilla until blended. At low speed, beat in half the dry ingredients, add the milk, add other half of dry ingredients.

4. Fold in 1/2 cup of walnuts into the muffin batter. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin liners. I use an ice cream scooper because that makes it super easy for me. Sprinkle each muffin with remaining walnuts and a light drizzle of honey. Bake the muffins until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on a rack.

Enjoy!
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Have you checked out the Toys for Tots fundraiser yet? If not, please do! It's a great cause hosted by the US Marines and I'm taking donations to go buy toys for the third year in a row. Click the link for information and to see pictures from all the toys we've purchased the previous two years. Every little bit helps so if you can spare even $5, that would be more helpful than you realize. :)

Happy Friday!

I love Orange Chicken....

For dinner last night, I made orange chicken for myself and a friend. I LOVE orange chicken. It's probably my favorite Chinese dish but I rarely order it because I don't often like it when I get it from restaurants. So when I have that issue with a food I really enjoy, I learn to make it at home. The recipe for the orange sauce is pretty easy so I thought I'd share it on here today. Food posts are fun, right? Right? Okay. ;)



Most chicken in orange chicken dishes is breaded. I don't do breaded chicken in mine most of the time because I prefer to use grilled or broiled chicken* instead. The exception being when the boyfriend is home and eating it, then it's fried. You can do it which ever way you want. Since the fried way is more popular, I'll go ahead and post that up.

Ingredients:

• Chicken:

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes)
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 eggs (beaten)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ cayenne pepper
• Oil (for frying)

Directions:

• Combine flour, pepper, salt and cayenne pepper together.
  
• Dip chicken in egg mixture and shake in flour mixture to coat.
  
• Deep fry chicken in small batches in a wok or frying pan.
• Set chicken on paper towels.
  

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons water

A few notes: If you don't have rice vinegar not a big deal. I've used apple cider vinegar and white vinegar before in a pinch. It doesn't make that much of a difference so you'll be okay to use either of those.

I use 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes because I like my food really hot. You can use more or less than 1/4 tsp based on how spicy you like your food.

2 teaspoons of orange extract works if you don't want to use the grated orange zest. (But why wouldn't you want to do that? Zest > Orange flavoring ;D)


Directions:

• Pour 1 1/2 cups water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar and soy sauce into a saucepan and blend the liquids together well over medium-high heat.
  
• Stir in the orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Mix well and bring to a boil.
  
• In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water and mix thoroughly. Bring the sauce down to low heat and slowly stir mixture into sauce until it thickens. Remove from heat.

In your wok or skillet, pour the desired amount of sauce over cooked chicken pieces until fully coated.

I serve mine with plain white rice or occasionally (like last night) some jasmine rice. I also sprinkle a little more crushed red peppers on top as a garnish and ya know, because I love hot food, lol.

*Note: If you're going to broil the chicken instead of frying, soak the chicken pieced in a marinade for at least a couple hours before cooking them, it helps keep the chicken from being dry. 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic. Mix it all together, stir in the chicken pieces and let marinate in the refrigerator for about 2 hours in a covered container or ziplock bag.

I also made these snazzy little treats.....



That is indeed a cupcake with a chocolate filled center. It's like a Death By Chocolate cupcake. Which is what my friends call these, actually. I made a big batch of those for a friend for a celebratory get together he was having (yes, on a Tuesday. His brother, roommates and some friends were celebrating some amazing news & it was their only night they all had free to hang out together) and ended up with a half dozen left over. Which I offered to them since they all paid me to bake these and paid for the ingredients but they didn't want to extras for fear of not being able to stop eating them, lol. I might also end up posting the recipe for this with a few pictures of the process sometime this week if I find I have nothing else I want to blog about, lol.

Happy Wednesday!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I enjoy cooking and baking. It should also be no secret that I like to think of baking as not only therapeutic but also as a form of art and expression. I like coming up with ways to use bright colors, funky designs, etc.

Sunday night, I made the boyfriend chocolate chip cookies. I decided I wanted some mint chocolate chip cookies for myself and figured I could make a big batch and then give out half a dozen each to a few friends who have a mint chip weakness.

I posted a picture of the cookie dough for the mint chocolate chip cookies on Tumblr and Twitter. I had a lot of people from both want to know where I got the cookie dough because it looked awesome and they wanted to make it.

Then I had to go telling them that I didn't buy the cookie dough anywhere because honestly, I really hate store bought cookie dough. It just doesn't taste as good as cookies homemade cookies from scratch full of love, rainbows and other happy smiley stuff. Once I assured the people asking how easy it was to make, the recipe was requested. I figured I might as well post it on here so more people can snatch it if they want.

Here's how the cookie dough looked:



So, recipe time, yes?

CHOCOLATE CHIP MINT COOKIES

1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1.5 tsp. peppermint extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup mint baking chips (If you can't find any, Andes mints chopped up work too)
Green food color gel or food color liquid

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars on high speed. Beat in egg. Stir in vanilla and peppermint extracts.

Mix together dry ingredients and add to butter mixture slowly. Stir until just combined.

Add in food coloring gel/liquid until you get the desired shade of green you want. I like using the gel because you get a more vibrant color and it doesn't effect the taste or texture but food coloring liquid works fine, too. Stir until well combined.

Fold in chocolate chips and mint chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a cookie sheet. (I actually use a small ice cream scoop.) Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove immediately and cool on wire rack.


You can also make these easier by using a package of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix instead of dealing with the flour, baking powder, etc. Just make the mix according to direction, add the mint extract, baking chips and boom. A little bit of a quicker and easier version.

Enjoy!

Happy Tuesday!

Zombie Brew! Plus,,, Moneyball, Rangers & Stars!

The Boyfriend got me a few things last night, just because he's awesome and likes to get me gifts randomly for no real reason. He got me two new paperbacks I've been wanting but have yet to buy myself and a new coffee mug complete with a zombie buddy! I know some of you might be unsure of what exactly a "zombie buddy" is since I wasn't sure until last night myself, heh. So, here you go....

Adorable, right? Okay, maybe not to most people but I dig it. Cute little plushy thing and a new coffee mug to go along with two new books. Awesome stuff, for sure.

Keeping with the theme here, here's a recipe for Adult Zombie Brew. Although this won't be going in the coffee cup. ;)

1 oz. Light Rum
1 oz. Gold Rum
1 oz. Dark Rum
1 tsp. 151 Rum
1/2 oz. Apricot Brandy (Or cherry brandy)
2 oz. Orange Juice (Or papaya juice)
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 oz. Lime Juice
1 tsp. Sugar
1 cup Crushed Ice

In a blender, combine all ingredients except the 151 with crushed ice. Blend at a high speed until smooth and pour into a Collins glass. Float the 151 rum on top and garnish with a maraschino cherry. To make it on the rocks, add all ingredients except 151 rum into a cocktail shaker with 1/4 a cup of ice, shake well, strain into a glass with 1/2 cup or desired amount of ice. Float 151 rum on top, garnish with maraschino cherry.

I love Halloween. It's by far my favorite holiday and even though most people only celebrate it for the one day, I pretty much enjoy it all month long, haha. :D

Aside from all of that......

The Boyfriend and I went to see Moneyball last night. Not bad at all. Kind of long and a little slow to get going but still a good movie. Even if it is about one of the teams I dislike most in baseball, haha. :D That's pretty much irrelevant. Even though the movie is based off the Billy Beane and the A's story, the movie is pretty much about the way Beane changed things up. Which I won't talk much about the movie in case any of you reading want to see it but haven't yet. Definitely go see it! Unless you don't like movies about sports, being the underdog, trying something unorthodox and attempting to succeed when everyone's telling you you're wrong.

Speaking of, RANGERS ARE IN THE ALCS! Game two was supposed to be yesterday but got postponed due to all the rain Arlington saw on Saturday night. I saw a lot of people bitching about it being postponed but I was happy about it. The field was too wet. Do you really want poor playing conditions to help dictate a game? Wet field means people could slip, slide and miss plays they normally would have made because of it. I don't want that happening and am happy they postponed the game. Texas won game one and now we need to win three more to go to the World Series for the second year in a row. EXCITING! :D

Also in sports, The Boyfriend and I are going to the Stars game tonight against Pacific Division rivals, the Phoenix Coyotes. We went to the home opener Friday night against the Blackhawks, where the Stars won in spectacular, energetic fashion. They played back to back with the Hawks, facing them again Saturday night, in Chicago. Goaltending was off and most of the team didn't play well. Adam Burish looked awesome (he did miss the game Friday though since he's been working on coming back from a groin injury) and he looks great player on Fiddler's line, in my opinion. They're both speedy and I like the chemistry they seem to have going so far. I'm hoping for a good effort from the team tonight. Yay hockey being back!

Happy Monday!

50 Yummy Smoothie Recipes...

Some of these would be rather unhealthy but delicious nonetheless.

1. Banana Blend 2 bananas, 1/2 cup each vanilla yogurt and milk, 2 teaspoons honey, a pinch of cinnamon and 1 cup ice.

2. Strawberry-Banana Blend 1 banana, 1 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup each vanilla yogurt and milk, 2 teaspoons honey, a pinch of cinnamon and 1 cup ice.

3. Strawberry Shortcake Blend 2 cups strawberries, 1 cup crumbled pound cake, 1 1/2 cups each milk and ice, and sugar to taste. Top with whipped cream and more strawberries.

4. Triple-Berry Blend 1 1/2 cups mixed blackberries, strawberries and raspberries with 1 cup each milk and ice, and sugar to taste.

5. Raspberry-Orange Blend 1 cup each orange juice and raspberries, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 cup ice, and sugar to taste.

6. Peach-Mango-Banana Blend 1 cup each chopped fresh or frozen peaches and mango, 1 cup each plain yogurt and ice, 1/2 banana, and sugar to taste.

7. Honeydew-Almond Blend 2 cups chopped honeydew melon, 1 cup each almond milk and ice, and honey to taste.

8. Cantaloupe Blend 2 cups chopped cantaloupe, the juice of 1/2 lime, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 cup water and 1 cup ice.

9. Carrot-Apple Blend 1 cup each carrot juice and apple juice with 1 1/2 cups ice.

10. Spa Cucumber Peel, seed and chop 2 medium cucumbers. Blend with the juice of 1 lime, 1/2 cup water, 1 cup ice and 3 to 4 tablespoons sugar or honey.

11. Kiwi-Strawberry Blend 1 cup strawberries, 2 peeled kiwis, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 cups ice.

12. Cherry-Vanilla Blend 1 1/2 cups frozen pitted cherries, 1 1/4 cups milk, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, a pinch of salt and 1 cup ice.

13. Tangerine-Honey Peel and seed 4 tangerines, then blend with the juice of 2 limes, 1/4 cup honey and 1 cup ice.

14. Apricot-Almond Blend 1 1/2 cups apricot nectar, 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt, 2 tablespoons almond butter and 1 cup ice.

15. Grape Blend 2 cups seedless red grapes with 1 cup concord grape juice and 1 1/2 cups ice.

16. Blueberry-Pear Blend 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries, 1 chopped pear, 1 1/2 cups each maple or plain yogurt and ice, and sugar to taste.

17. Banana-Date-Lime Blend 2 bananas, 3/4 cup chopped pitted dates, the juice of 1 lime and 1 1/2 cups each soy milk and ice.

18. Peach-Ginger Blend 2 cups frozen sliced peaches, 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger.

19. Grapefruit Peel and seed 2 grapefruits, then blend with 3 to 4 tablespoons sugar and 1 cup ice. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

20. Pomegranate-Cherry Blend 1 cup frozen pitted cherries, 3/4 cup pomegranate juice, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, a pinch each of cinnamon and salt, and 2 cups ice.

21. Chai Blend 1 1/2 cups chai tea concentrate with 1 cup each milk and ice. Sprinkle with chai spice or ground cinnamon.

22. Blueberry-Banana Blend 1 banana, 1 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk, 1 tablespoon each honey and lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract and 1 cup ice.

23. Creamy Pineapple Blend 2 cups chopped pineapple, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/4 cup milk, 2 teaspoons honey, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, a pinch each of nutmeg and salt, and 2 cups ice.

24. Watermelon Freeze 3 cups cubed seeded watermelon until hard. Blend with 1 cup cubed fresh seeded watermelon, the juice of 1 lime, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 cup water.

25. Pineapple-Coconut Freeze about 2 cups coconut water in 1 or 2 ice-cube trays. Blend 2 cups each chopped pineapple and coconut ice cubes, 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 tablespoon honey and 1/2 cup coconut water.

26. Apple-Ginger Blend 1 chopped peeled apple, a 1/2-inch piece peeled ginger, the juice of 2 limes, 1/4 cup honey, 1 cup water and 2 cups ice.

27. Black Raspberry–Vanilla Blend 1 pint blackberries, 1/2 cup raspberries, 1 cup vanilla yogurt and 1 tablespoon honey.

28. Creamsicle Blend 3/4 cup frozen orange or orange-tangerine concentrate with 1/2 cup cold water and 1 cup each vanilla ice cream and ice.

29. Mango-Acai Blend two 4-ounce packages frozen acai berry puree, 1 cup chopped mango, 1/2 cup orange juice and 2 cups ice.

30. Spiced Pumpkin Blend 1/2 cup each pumpkin puree and silken tofu, 3 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, a pinch of salt and 1 cup ice.

31. Mexican Coffee Blend 1/2 cup chilled espresso or strong coffee, 1/2 cup milk or almond milk, 3 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon almond extract and 1 1/2 cups ice.

32. Vietnamese Coffee Blend 1/2 cup chilled espresso or strong coffee, 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk and 1 1/2 cups ice. Top with chocolate shavings and/or chocolate syrup.

33. Banana PB&J Blend 1 frozen banana with 1 cup soy milk, 1/4 cup each creamy peanut butter and wheat germ, and 2 tablespoons seedless strawberry or raspberry jelly.

34. Peanut Butter–Apple Blend 1 chopped peeled apple, 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter, 2 tablespoons flax seeds, 1 1/2 cups each soy milk and ice, and honey to taste.

35. Pomegranate-Berry Blend 1 cup blueberries, 3/4 cup each beet juice and pomegranate juice, 1 cup ice, and honey to taste.

36. Cucumber-Kale Blend 1 1/4 cups vegetable juice, 1/2 peeled cucumber, 3 kale leaves and the juice of 1/2 lemon.

37. Pineapple-Mango Blend 1 cup each chopped pineapple and mango, 1 cup coconut water, a dash of ground allspice and 1 cup ice. Sprinkle with toasted coconut.

38. Peanut Butter–Banana Blend 1 banana, 1 cup vanilla yogurt, 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/3 cup milk, 2 tablespoons malted milk powder, 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder, a pinch of salt and 2 cups ice.

39. Green Tea–Almond Brew 1 1/2 cups extra-strong green tea; cool completely. Blend with 1/3 cup almonds, 1/4 cup honey and 1 cup ice.

40. Chocolate-Banana Blend 1 banana, 1 cup chocolate ice cream, 1/2 cup milk, a pinch of salt and 1/2 cup ice.

41. Chocolate-Raspberry Blend 1 cup each chocolate ice cream and raspberries, 2 tablespoons sugar and 3/4 cup each milk and ice.

42. Strawberry-Maple Blend 2 cups strawberries, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/4 cup each maple syrup and wheat germ, a dash of ground cinnamon and 1 1/2 cups ice.

43. Chocolate Chip Cookie Blend 1 cup each vanilla ice cream, milk and crumbled chocolate chip cookies with 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips. Top with a cookie.

44. Oatmeal Cookie Blend 1 cup each vanilla ice cream, milk and crumbled oatmeal cookies with a pinch of ground cinnamon. Top with a cookie.

45. Birthday Cake Blend 1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream, 1 crumbled vanilla cupcake (unfrosted), 1 cup milk and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. Top with sprinkles.

46. Black and White Blend 3/4 cup each vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream with 1 cup milk and 3 crumbled chocolate sandwich cookies. Top with a cookie.

47. Lemon–Poppy Seed Blend 2 teaspoons poppy seeds, the zest and juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 cup plain yogurt, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/2 cup each milk and ice.

48. Apple-Spinach Blend 2 cups spinach, 1 chopped peeled apple, 1/2 cup silken tofu, 1/4 cup each soy milk and orange juice, 1 tablespoon each wheat germ, honey and lemon juice, and 1 cup ice.

49. Veggie Blend 1 1/4 cups tomato juice, 1/4 cup carrot juice, 1/2 peeled cucumber, 1/2 celery stalk, 1/4 cup each parsley and spinach, and 1/2 cup ice.

50. Mint-Jalapeno Blend 1/3 cup fresh mint, 1 seeded jalapeno pepper, 2 1/2 tablespoons honey, a pinch of salt and 2 cups each plain yogurt and ice. Top with toasted cumin seeds and cilantro.

Ginger lemon chicken & rice....

Ginger Lemon Chicken and Rice:

INGREDIENTS (serves 4):

* 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
* 3 1/2 cups rice (brown or white works fine)
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon sesame oil (can use canola or vegetable oil)
* 3/4 Cup thinly sliced onion
* 2 Tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger, divided
* 1 cups zucchini sliced in 1/4 inch round slices
* 1 1/2 Cups broccoli florets
* 1 Cup carrots sliced in 1/4 inch round slices
* 1 Tablespoon minced fresh garlic
* 2 Tablespoon honey
* 3 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
* 3 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* 2 Tablespoon water
* 2 teaspoon cornstarch
*Zest from 1/2 a lemon (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

*Cook 3 cups rice according to packaged direction and set aside.

* Combine remaining garlic, minced garlic, honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, water, cornstarch and lemon zest (optional) mixing all ingredients together until well combined. Set aside.

* Sprinkle the chicken with black pepper.

* Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.

* Add chicken, onion, and 1 Tablespoon ginger, and stir-fry 4-6 minutes making sure chicken is cooked through.

* Add zucchini, carrots and broccoli florets and stir-fry for 3 minutes.

*Stir honey ginger lemon sauce mixture a few times, then add to the pan, stir fry for 4-5 minutes.


You can leave the rice and stir fry mix separate and serve the chicken and vegetables on top of the rice. Or just add the rice right after you add the sauce mixture to the pan, stir fry for 4-5 minutes.

Also, garlic powder and ground ginger can be used as substitutes for the minced ingredients but it won't taste as good, lol ;) You can use different vegetables, too. Or do no vegetables if that's how you roll. The picture above also has 1/2 a cup of squash thrown in there so I could use up the rest of some left over squash I had in the refrigerator. Worked out fine.

Happy Friday!

Rainbow cake...

Yesterday I had the day off from work. I was super productive by doing laundry, doing a little grocery shopping, buying some things from Target that were needed, cleaning the bathroom including scrubbing down the shower, sink and toilet, did some other errands, colored my hair and then baked a cake.

The cake I baked is a "rainbow cake" and I've been wanting to make one for a few months now but have just lacked the free time to do so.




Making it was so fun. It's also inexpensive to do and super easy.

I'm not usually one for posting recipes on here but I already had a few people off Tumblr request it last night as I was posting pictures on there as I went. So, here we go.


What you need:

Cake:

2 boxes white cake mix
Eggs
2 12 oz of can of Sprite
gel food colouring

Icing:

16 oz whipped topping
2 oz instant pudding mix

OR

You can just used frosting from the can if you don't want to make your own.



You'll be using the soda in place of the water and oil in the cake mix. Mix the cake mix, eggs and soda in a mixing bowl.

You'll need 6 bowls to do the rainbowing. You equally divide the cake batter into the 6 bowls. Then you add the food coloring gel. I used gel because you get a more vibrate color out of the gels. You can use as much or as little as you want, just add the gel until you get the desired shade you're looking for in each color. I also used 6 separate spoons because it's easier than rinsing one off each time you move to the next color.





After you get all the colors mixed, it's time to layer them into the cake pans. Pick whatever color you want to use first and drop it as close to the middle of the cake panas you can. Drop the next two colors, then work on the other pan with the last three colors. So if you’re doing rainbow order, the first pan should have red, then orange, then yellow, and now the purple, blue and green go into the second pan.



For this recipe, I wanted to make 2 separate cakes instead of one big double layer cake. So, I dropped smaller amounts of cake batter into each pan using all 6 colors in each pan instead of doing 3 and 3 for the double layered cake.



The Frosting:

Mix the pudding mix into the whip cream using a spatula until it's combined nicely. Then just spread over the cake. It's a little difficult to work with so be careful.

I decorated it with some colored sugar on top that was left over from Christmas baking.



And there you have it. A rainbow cake. It was super easy to make and I had fun doing it. Next time I'll have to try my hand at doing some rainbow cupcakes. Now if I could just get people to pay me to bake stuff for them, I'd be doing this for more than just fun, lol.

Happy Tuesday!!

Treat Exchange!

Thanks to the wonderful people who have donated money for the fundraiser. I appreciate your help very much. Whether it's $3, $5, $10 or more than that, any amount is enough to help buy a toy so a kid will have something to open on Christmas morning. If you want to donate, please do! I edited The Blogger Fundraiser post with more information on Genesis Women's Shelter so please check that out! I promise, next year if (when!) I do this again, I'll start much sooner. ;) If you want to see picture proof of the toys I've got already, click here. Toys for Tots shopping will be finished tomorrow! Anything that gets donated tomorrow until the 17th goes towards the Toy Drop at the Genesis Women's Shelter for battered and abused women.

Moving on! Veronica of Another Suburban Mom has organized a treat exchange! I'm a little late getting my post up today so sorry about that. I stayed over too late at my mom's hanging out with her and YB last night then got home and was wiped out so I just went straight to bed. This was a little after 4 AM, lol. Anyway, I'm not a big fan of chocolate. I like dark chocolate because it's not as sweet but that's about it. Something I love? Chocolate covered pretzels! A lot of people don't know just how easy they are to make. So for my treat today, I'm going to put up my chocolate covered pretzels!

Here's what you'll need:

* 12 ounces chocolate chips, any variety!
* 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
* 20 old-time style (thick, not thin) pretzel twists

*Variety of holiday sprinkles and/or chopped walnuts
(Optional ^)

I like to use dark chocolate for mine but I also use a mix of semi-sweet and milk chocolate morsels for other people. My boyfriend hates dark chocolate but loves almost every other type of chocolate. For these in the pictures, they're 3/4 semi-sweet morsels and 1/4 milk chocolate chips. You can also use white chocolate and those turn out really well. Or do the semi-sweet/milk chocolate mix and then drizzle with chocolate.

What you do:

Line two large cookie sheets with waxed paper.

Combine chocolate chips and vegetable shortening in a double boiler stirring until smooth.
If you don't have a double boiler (like me!) you can use a pot of water and then use either another pot or a glass bowl to place inside the pot of warming water. Don't let the water actually boil because if it gets too hot, your chocolate will harden. Also don't add water to thin out the chocolate, that will make it clump and you won't be using it. If you want it to thin out more, add a little more shortening until you're happy with the consistency.


With mine, I like to leave a loop free of chocolate and I use that as a handle to dip the pretzel into the chocolate. If you want the whole pretzel covered in chocolate, use a fork, dip each pretzel into chocolate mixture and gently tap off excess. Place on the wax paper lined cookie sheet.


Sprinkle on whatever toppings you like or just leave plain.

If you want to drizzle with white chocolate, a fork dipped in the white chocolate works well.

Leave pretzels undisturbed until completely set. I put mine in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

If you don't want to use pretzel twists, you can use sticks or rods and they work just fine and turn out just as yummy.

Since I made these with my Christmas goodies, I used holiday sprinkles, red sugar and walnuts to decorate my chocolate covered pretzels with. Enjoy the pics!

Happy Friday!!