Fun Food

Thank you, Pinterest.  I always find fun stuff to make on there, like these fabulous cookies.  However, I should really say " Thank you, Smells Like Home " for giving me a how-to.   The BF was in town and thought these cookies sounded amazing.   While I am normally anti-anything-pre-made, I really wasn't feeling baking.   So, as a compromise (I can totally be flexible... when I want to be) we used a tube of Nestle chocolate chip cookie dough, the big size.   So delicious! These cookies are awesome, HUGE and super delicious!  If you need something quick and tasty, these are perfect. What you'll need Chocolate chip cookie dough  Graham crackers Chocolate bar Marshmallows  Preheat oven to 325  You can make any of the ingredients (maybe not the chocolate bars but, whatever) or you can be lazy, like me, and buy everything from the market.   Talk about easiest things ever to make.  Cut two slices of dough, make a s'more (graham cracker, choco

So, I know this blog is about food but I'm pretty excited about this wreath that I just finished.  It's my 1st wreath ever!  I saw a great autumn wreath on Pinterest by Jones Design Company  (LOVE the tutorials) and set out to make a similar one.  Well, my wreath is definitely more spring time than autumn but I'll take it!   My original plan included adding in some berries and leaves like the JDC one that I originally fell in love with, but once I started putting it together, I decided to make it all flowers instead.   I set out with a pack of coffee filters from Dollar Tree, acrylic paints, scotch tape, a grapevine wreath and glue gun.   To dye the filters, I filled a cup with water and added paint.  With every color, I added some brown paint to give them a little deeper, fall color (well that was the intention, probably should have added a little more brown).  Then, I took a stack of filters, and carefully sunk them into the paint-water.  After letti

Who doesn't love a parliament of chocolate owls? So, after seeing these adorable owl cupcakes that my BF's Mom and Sister made, I've been patiently waiting for an excuse to make them too.  Halloween seemed like the best excuse ever!  Every Halloween, people in my office bring their kids to trick-or-treat and show off how cute their offspring are.  So I figured, what little kid (or parent) doesn't want a tasty homemade treat? I didn't have time to make the cupcakes from scratch (and lets be honest, I really was more excited to decorate these than to bake them) so, I cheated and used a box mix and pre-made frosting.  To me, the thought of box mix and a can of frosting generally makes me cringe but this might have changed my mind given how much time I saved!  Seriously, all of less than 10min to make!  And lets be real, kids don't care.  Add caption What you'll need Cupcakes (homemade, box-mix, doesn't matter) Chocolate frosting (homema

Been a long day.  So, I decided it was a great day for some comfort food.  Specificaly, grilled cheese.  I looove grilled cheese!  Quick, easy, tasty comfort food.  I'm also a huge fan of brie so clearly a grilled brie sandwich was the best way to go.  After leaving work, I ran to Tader Joe's and picked up everything I would need (basically everything that sounded good): French Double Cream Brie Fig Butter Granny Smith Apple Arugula Wheat Bread One small hiccup in this whole plan is that I SUCK at making grilled cheese!  I always burn it.  So, I decided to try a little trick I discovered.  I baked my "grilled" cheese!  Seriously, whoever thought of this is pretty genius!    Best part, you can easily make multiple sandwiches at once!  How To Build your grilled cheese as you would normally, place it on a baking sheet, bake at 450 degrees for about 5-10 minutes (or however long it takes for your cheese to melt) flipping half way through.   E

Pure tasty. So, it's been a while.  Been a rough couple of days, especially for the BF.  We all said goodbye to one of the cutest, most spirited little buddies of all time, Turbo.  However, calories totally don't count when you're sad so, I've had several of these ridiculously amazing cookies.  Seriously, best cookies ever. Every September, our company has it's annual Community Support Campaign, where offices raise money for charity and do more volunteering.  My office's biggest fundraiser is our annual auction.  After an "I'm having a bad day and need some fresh air SBux run for a Salted Caramel Mocha," I figured out what to bake for the auction, these fabulous cookies .  They might not look like anything special but, they're amazing.  Seriously.  These cookies are seriously life changing and easy to make, albeit slightly time consuming.  However, in the 2hrs that the dough was chilling, I had time to clean up the mess I made in

So, there is no such thing as a quick trip to the market when the BF comes along.  When I need to make a quick run for one or two things and bring him with me, I have to prepare myself for a much longer journey that will end with multiple other random items not on the list (I say "no," a lot).  Going to the market while on vacation, is no exception.  On this particular trip we ended up with Neapolitan Oreos.  I should preface this with, I'm not an Oreo person at all.  However, these, these are not Oreos, these are awesome!  I don't want to admit how many of them I ate.  The tastiness that these things got me thinking, surely I can recreate these at home- fresher and with less bad stuff in them.   The hardest part was deciding on what kind of cookie to make.  Shortbread or a chewy vanilla cookie? After much deliberation and gathering of opinions, I settled on  shortbread .  Figured that the crunch of the shortbread and the slightly less sweet taste of it would comp

It's amazing what I get done when I'm avoiding unpacking!  Another tasty recipe I decided to make was   Chicken Piccata .  This recipe calls for chicken thighs, instead of traditional chicken breast...I used chicken breasts though.  I chose this recipe because it's around 170 calories/serving and 16.6grams of protein, a slightly less bad for you version than others - fabulous!   What you'll need 4 chicken thighs, skinned (or breasts) As much as I hate touching raw chicken, this was pretty worth it 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 large egg white, lightly beaten 1 teaspoon water 1/2 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs 2 teaspoons olive oil 1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth 1/2 cup white wine 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 2 cloves minced garlic 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley  1 teaspoon capers, drained Grated lemon rind (optional) Put chicken in a heavy-duty zip-top plas

This last week was fabulous!  Spent the week with the BF and his family at the beach.  One thing I love about visiting his family (aside from how fun they are) is that his Mom always has a few cooking magazines around.  A couple new favorite recipes I found were:  Cumin Curried Hummus  and  Chile-Cilantro Salad Dressing . I've also been wanting to make my own tortilla chips, so I did. Cumin Curried Hummus  1 tablespoon olive oil  3 garlic cloves, chopped 1 tablespoon curry powder 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds  1/2 cup water 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 (15 1/2 oz) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans) rinsed and drained  Heat oil in a small pan.  Adding in garlic, cooking for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add curry and cumin.  Cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant, stirring constantly. Put garlic mix, water and remaining ingredients in a food processor.  Process until smooth. Tips & Tricks Use pre-chopped garlic to save tim

It doesn't get much better than a perfect grilled cheese sandwich.  From a simple white bread with cheddar to a fancy pants gourmet sandwich, I love it all.  Problem: I can't make a good grilled cheese to save my life!  I burn it every time.  Luckily I have a boyfriend that is a master of all things grilled cheese.  When he sent me this list of  40 Amazing Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipes , the heavens parted and there it was, the Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich from  Closet Cooking .  SO GOOD!  If you like jalapenos, I suggest you try these asap! How to do what you do (for one sandwich)... 2 jalapeno peppers, cut in half lengthwise and seeded 2 slices sour dough  1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoons cream cheese 1/2 cup shredded jack and cheddar cheese 1 tablespoon crunched up tortilla chips Place peppers on baking sheet cut side down. Place baking sheet on top shelf of oven and broil until outer layer of skin has blackened (approximately 8-14min