chocolate chip cookie cake!

since I'm really serious about my new healthy eating kick...I thought I'd bake today :p

but honestly...a little bit of dessert every now and then is okay...and there's no way I can go cold turkey on my sweet tooth...so I wanted to try out this chocolate chip cookie cake...I LOVE soft chewy cookies...so the recipe I found on the Adventures in Cooking blog- the post can be found here!

I changed the recipe- she used M&M's, and I used chocolate chips...here is the final, delicious product!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
1cup + 1 tbs  All-Purpose Flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup butter softened 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup of chocolate chips


Directions
Preheat oven to 325
Cream butter and sugar
Add in egg and extract and blend
The combine flour and baking soda- mix until completely incorporated
Fold in the chocolate chips
Dump into a greased 9.5" pie pan and bake for 25-30 minutes
When a toothpick comes out clean it's done
Cool, cut into slices and enjoy!

Once a Hokie, Always a Hokie

through the magic of the internet, twitter, etc...I came across a blog run by a fellow Virginia Tech grad, called Young, Married, Chic...I instantly bookmarked it, because if you are a Hokie you know, we all seem to have this special connection and unspoken friendship with other Hokies...so I knew I would want to browse through all the recipes for healthy eating, great ideas for hostess gifts, and then I found it...a cookbook, with recipes and stories from Blacksburg, called A Taste of Virginia Tech...so I pre-ordered it...and sometime in August I'll get it and I am SO excited to read it and try and re-create some favorites!

one of the things that I always loved about school, was definitely the food...there were so many great restaurants, not to mention the amazing dining halls...oh West End, my meal plan dollars were always well spent there!  

you can go order your very own copy here!  you know you want to :D

Recipe Box - Sweet & Sour Chicken

More new recipes here!  This recipe came from the blog Life as a Lofthouse via Pinterest (surprised, aren't you?)

I took a stab at Sweet & Sour Chicken that you bake in the oven...and I was pretty excited about it...and am happy to report it was just as good as it looked!  And another plus it was really easy!  The only thing that I thought would annoy me, was that during the hour you bake the chicken you flip it (in my case I just sort of stirred it) every 15 minutes...and it honestly kept me on my toes to prepare the fried rice that went with it.

I followed the recipe exactly and it came out great!  Another one to add to the rotation!

recipe box favorites: PF Changs Dan Dan Noodles!

In the spirit of eating healthier, and spending less money on restaurants and take out (minus pizza...pizza will always be in the diet and budget) I thought it would be fun to try and make some of our favorite recipes at home...test 1, PF Changs Dan Dan Noodles...B's favorite, and I always end up trying to steal a bite or two of his...

I found a recipe after searching on line for a while, and I am pretty impressed with it and myself!  here was the finished product...and it even got a thumbs up from the "food critic"

you can find the recipe here

but in case your lazy...it's also here :)


Just like "PF Changs" Dan-Dan Noodles

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets, cooked and minced (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for cooking chicken
1 6-ounce package chow mein noodles
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped green onions
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon chile-garlic sauce
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup julienned English cucumber
1/2 cup bean sprouts


Saute chicken fillets in oil for 10-12 minutes in a skillet. Mince cooked
chicken into very small pieces.

Prepare the noodles following the directions on the package.

Make sauce by heating oil over medium heat in a saucepan or wok. Add garlic
and green onion and saute for just a few seconds, being careful not to burn
the garlic. Add soy sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar and chile-garlic
sauce.

Combine the cornstarch with 1/2 cup water and stir it into the sauce. Simmer
sauce for about 2 minutes or until it thickens.

Add the chicken to the thicken sauce and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Place cooked noodles onto a serving plate. Spoon chicken and sauce over the top of the noodles, then garnish with julienned cucumber on one side, bean sprouts on the other.

recipe box favorites: donuts!

I decided that I wanted to try and start branching out on my recipes, so I wasn't getting so bored at the meals I cooked day after day, week after week...B has started helping out, making his go-to dish, tacos, once a week, on the night I get home late from the gym...but besides that...I typically make 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches and 5 dinners a week (pizza is another big helper!)

so in the spirit of having more variety at breakfast time...I thought this coming weekend I'd try to make these donuts that came in my weekly Real Simple email :)

photo by Yunhee Kim

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 8-count package large refrigerated biscuits (such as Pillsbury Grands)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Heat ½ cup of the oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat.
2. Place the biscuits on a cutting board. Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter or shot glass, cut a hole in the center of each biscuit, reserving the extra dough for "holes."
3. Test the heat of the oil by dipping the edge of a doughnut in the pan. When the oil is hot enough, the edge will bubble. Place 4 of the doughnuts and holes in the skillet and cook until golden brown, 1 to 1½ minutes per side. Transfer to a wire rack or paper towel–lined plate to drain. Add the remaining oil to the skillet, reheat, and cook the remaining doughnuts and holes.
4. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Gently toss the warm doughnuts in the mixture a few at a time. Serve warm or at room temperature.
    This recipe makes 8 doughnuts, plus holes.

recipe box favorites: pumpkin cupcakes

I know pumpkin is usually a flavor reserved for fall...but I could eat pumpkin pie, cookies, cakes of any variety all year long...

now this is a recipe I haven't tried yet...but might consider whipping up for a snack for our girls weekend coming up...

Ingredients

• 1 18.5-ounce box yellow cake mix (plus the ingredients called for in the package directions)
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
• 2 8-ounce bars cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 24 pieces candy corn

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners. Prepare the cake mix as directed but with the following change: Add the pumpkin pie spice and substitute the can of pumpkin puree for the water called for in the package directions.
2. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin tins and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool.
3. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Spread on the cupcakes and top each with a piece of candy corn.

Makes 24 cupcakes



how cute are they with the little candy corn on them!? 

recipe from Real Simple

warm soup for cold nights

I love to cook, and I love to cook soups when it is cold and snowy outside...which this winter has been a LOT!

One of my new favorites- that is also really really easy to make (bonus!) is Italian Wedding Soup...I had it for the first time a few Christmas's ago, when Brett and I were at his mom's house in Florida...and I've been hooked ever since! You can make this yummy soup in just about 30 minutes!














the recipe I use is based on Giada De Laurentiis' (yay food network) recipe
photo from http://recipetips.com

Ingredients:

Meatballs:
1 pound of ground meat (I usually use beef, but chicken, turkey or pork would work- whatever you use for your own meatballs)
1 egg
1 small onion, grated
*I use garlic salt to season, but her recipe calls for both garlic and salt
1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
breadcrumbs- I never actually measure, but I think I use about a cup...

Soup:
12 cups of chicken stock
1/2 box, thawed frozen spinach **the recipe calls for endive, which I never have on hand...I love frozen spinach, and always have that!
2 eggs
shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Combine the meatball ingredients in a bowl, mix and form meatballs. I make mine as small as possible, but you can make yours any size you desire :)

Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and spinach and simmer- about 8-10 minutes. Whisk the eggs and cheese in a bowl. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Gradually drizzle the egg mixture into the moving broth, stirring gently with a fork to form thin stands of egg, about 1 minute. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.

I love to serve the soup with some crusty bread, and of course a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top :)

Bakin Pigs

in my daily email from Delight.com today were these adorable serving/baking dishes...and I think that by being a resident of PigTown, that I was most intrigued by them, but even if where you live doesn't have Pig in the name...they're still really cute!















The only downside, is that if you live in PigTown, you definitely don't have the room to store cute baking dishes like this...but I digress :P