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I love this messy oatmeal photo.  It makes me want to get a tall cup of coffee and sit on the porch outside on a cool spring morning.  All the little nooks and crannies filled with gooey peanut butter and chewy raisins.  I’m officially addicted to this breakfast.  My puppies love when I make this because I let them lick the peanut butter spoon.  Oatmeal+peanut butter=Awesome!

My photos for this breakfast were all kinds of terrible so forgive me this one time.  It is super hard to make messy bland colored oatmeal look all scrumptious.  All you food photographers out there who can – I’m so jealous and when can you please come over and teach me?  

I have mentioned several times on this wonderful site about how much I hate eating dessert for breakfast (donuts, toaster strudels etc…)  So it may come as a surprise or even hypocritical of me to post this recipe.  Well for this oatmeal I’m willing to risk being called names.  My hubby and I have been eating homemade oatmeal for years but we never really got creative with it.  Well we were missing out big time.  Now my obsession for all things oatmeal might start getting out of control.  Oats are simply amazing.  They absorb whatever you put in them, making them these amazing little pockets of flavor holders.  Crazy…..

So now I pre-pack my breakfast for the whole week – and let’s just say I’m not exactly a pre-packer of meals.  AKA I’m lazy and not a morning person.  Do any of you live with a morning person?  The type of person who sings in the morning or dances?  Maybe even jumps on the bed like a crazy person? Well welcome to my mornings with my crazy morning person husband. 

But enough about me.  Let’s talk breakfast. 

What is your favorite breakfast??

1 Serving size, About 250 calories 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Oatmeal

1 tbs organic peanut butter (it just tastes better)

1 little packet of Truvia or any Stevia based sweetener

About 10 Raisins

hot water – the amount will vary depending on how watery you like your oatmeal – I do not like mine watery.

Place the oatmeal, peanut butter, raisins and Truvia in a small container or bowl.  Heat your water separately in a microwave safe bowl for about 2 minutes.  Pour the water slowly over everything in the bowl.  Stir everything together until the peanut butter melts and the oatmeal is wet enough for your liking.  This seriously tastes like a peanut butter oatmeal cookie.  So yummy.

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CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE STUFFED WITH AN OREO

I realize I’m not reinventing the wheel here with everyone stuffing cookies and brownies and candy inside cookies and brownies and candy, but who can resist really.  It is a cookie stuffed with a cookie!!!  How can you go wrong?  I also love everyone’s expressions when they pick up a seemingly innocent chocolate chip cookie and bite into it to find ANOTHER cookie!  Every adult turns into a little kid and starts using sayings like, “dude, this rocks”.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE STUFFED WITH TWIX

My husband is a cookie connoisseur/monster.  He can tell you where it is worth buying a cookie and where it is not anywhere in town.  Everywhere we go he buys a chocolate chip cookie.  It is insane.  He is constantly in trouble for eating a dozen cookies straight without taking into consideration that someone else might want ONE cookie.  I can’t tell you how many times he has accidentally eaten my cookie as well as his because he didn’t remember eating the first one.  It is a problem and I’m looking for a good counselor to discuss the matter with….

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE STUFFED WITH A THIN MINT

Over the weekend Natalie brought me a cake to surprise me with while I was not home.  She brought Michael a cookie to eat to keep him from cutting into the cake before I got a chance to see it.  He has absolutely no will power!!

Needless to say these suckers were a total hit at my house.

TRIO OF AWESOMENESS

My hubby wasn’t home while I was baking all of these crazy cookies so I actually got to take photos of them all without fighting him off.  He lays claim to all of the “ugly” cookies that I don’t deem pretty enough to photograph.  Once the photo session is over he lays claim to all the other cookies.

Recipe:

This is the easiest recipe ever.  Go buy a box cookie mix and your favorite cookie or candy to stuff it with.

Preheat your oven and make the cookie dough according to the package directions.

Take about 2 tbs of dough and flatten it out on your pan.  Place the Oreo (or whatever stuffer you choose) on the dough and top with another 1 tbs of cookie dough.  Mush the cookie dough all around the “Oreo” until you can’t see the Oreo anymore.  If you have too much dough take some off.  Don’t have enough?  Add some more!  It is up to you how big you want your cookie.  Just make sure the stuffer is fully covered.

Bake according to the packaged directions.  (350 for about 13 minutes was perfect for me.)

Cool the cookies on a cooling rack and enjoy!

Of course you can use homemade cookie dough but I made all of these on a Wednesday night after running errands so 3 different cookies from scratch was so not going to happen!

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Oh-em-gee, ya’ll have got to try this cake.  This is my favorite chocolate torte because it is so rich and decadent that it literally kills any crazy chocolate craving I might be having.  You don’t need a large slice and this is a single layer cake with no icing for a reason.  The center is moist and rich like chocolate mousse but the crust is like a perfect chocolate cookie.   I have made this cake easily a dozen times.  It is simply beautiful dusted with powdered sugar and perfect for any event.

This recipe is a little tempermental and you have to follow the directions to the T!  No skipping the water bath and if you don’t whip those eggs into a frenzy for 10 minutes this beautiful torte will fall and you will have a chocolate sunken torte which is pretty heart breaking after working so hard in the kitchen.

Straight from:  Bakewise, Author: Shirley O. Corriher

I love my Bakewise cookbook.  I would highly recommend it to anyone who is just starting to bake or if you are interested in knowing why something works and doesn’t.  It is a very smart book and has totally changed how I bake everything.  (literally)

1  - 2″x9″ round baking pan

Non stick cooking spray

parchment paper

6 large eggs (2 yolks, 4 whole eggs)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream or sometimes I cheat and just buy whipped cream in the container – shhhh don’t tell.

1/8 tsp salt

16 oz semi-sweet chocolate (in small pieces or morsels)

powdered sugar for decorating

Preheat to 375 degrees.

Place a baking stone on the very bottom shelf of your oven.  The baking stone helps keep the heat constant while you are baking.  It will also help hold the temperature even when you open the door to put the cake in the oven.

Cut your parchment paper to fit your pan and spray both the pan and the parchment paper with the non stick cooking spray.  This is very very important.  You will not be able to get this dense cake out in one piece if you skip this step.

In a small bowl place the 2 yolks and 4 whole eggs.  Whip them slightly to break up the yolks and blend everything slightly.  Pour the eggs through a strainer into your mixer and discard any goop left over. Begin whipping the eggs on medium high speed and add in the sugar.  Whip for 10 minutes!  No less and I’m serious about this.

While your eggs and sugar are whipping start your water bath.  Find a dish that allows your 9″ x 2″ round baking pan to sit right on the edge.  (My brownie pan works perfectly) Boil enough water to fill this dish full enough so that 1″ deep of your 9″ x 2″ round pan is in the water.  (your cake pan is sitting in the water of the large dish, hence it is called a water “bath”)  You might want to premeasure this with cold water the first time to make sure you have enough water.  I don’t want you spilling boiling water on you.

Place you chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave it for about a minute at a time stirring each time to help break up the morsels until the chocolate is fully melted.

When your eggs and sugar are fluffy and stiff add in the cream of tartar, vanilla and salt.  Beat the mixture a little longer to combine.

Slowly pour in little bit of the melted chocolate at a time and fold in by hand.

Whip the cold whipping cream until it is stiff and slowly add it into the mixture by hand.  (or use your packaged whip cream)

Pour the cake mixture into your pan.

Pour the boiling water into your water bath (oven safe dish).  Place the pan in the bath and the whole thing in the oven on the center rack.  Make sure your cake pan isn’t tilted or that the mixture has stayed nice and even.  You do not want a lop sided cake.

Allow to cook for 45 minutes.  Check to make sure the cake is done by inserting a tooth pick into the center.  If it comes out clean then the cake is finished.  Open the oven door as few times as possible!

Allow the cake to cool for one hour.  When completely cooled wrap the cake in saran wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Run a thin knife along the edge of the cake to help separate the cake from the pan.  Gently flip the cake over and it should slide right out.  Plate your cake and dust it with a little powdered sugar or decorate however you please.

 

 

 

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I wanted to make these meatballs for the Super Bowl but never quite got around to it.  I love wings but I hate them at the same time.  For instance the skin on the chicken wing is gross.  Unless the skin is nice and crispy I peel it right off along with all of the flavor.  AND how many wings do you have to eat to be full?  Like 100 right?  Because by the time you peel every tiny piece of meat from the bone you have worked back up the appetite you just quenched.  Some establishments have tried to remedy this with the boneless buffalo wing….  Um, I’m sorry?  But I prefer my chicken wings not to be fried.  And if you bread and fry a lump of meat I’m pretty sure it is a chicken nugget not a boneless buffalo wing…. 

So this is my answer to the wing dobacle.  Chicken meatballs.  Same thing, no work.  Also, since I missed the super bowl I’m stuffing these awesome “wings” in a sandwich to make them more appropriate for my weekends full of no football!   Finally!

Blue Cheese Meatballs:

1 lb ground chicken (or ground turkey)

1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp crushed garlic

1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles (broken up really small)

1/2 red onion diced

1 large egg

Celery and carrots for the pita

Preheat the oven to 400.   Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process together.  Roll meat combination into small 2″ sized balls and set aside.  Heat a pan with a small amount of olive oil.  Sear each meatball on two sides and place them on a pan lined with aluminum foil.  Bake the meatballs for about 10 minutes or until fully cooked. 

I like to lightly toast my pita’s before I make my sandwiches.  I feel like they are a bit sturdier after they have been toasted and I tend to stuff my pitas pretty full of yummy stuff.  Stuff the pita with the wing balls, sliced carrots, bluecheese crumbles, and celery, dress with some extra hot sauce.

A few years ago Natalie and I lived together for about a year.  I think it was during this time that our love for cooking really started to blossom.  We both always enjoyed it but cooking in the same house was very inspiring.  It was fun to talk about what was for dinner and push each other to try out new things.  Each new success we had gave us the confidence to try to cook stranger things.

We did not grow up eating Asian food of any kind.  Our mother even to this day doesn’t like Asian food.  I have always loved it but because I really only started eating it as an adult this type of food has always been the scariest for me to cook.  I can fight my way through a Mexican market and order strange things with out missing a beat but the Asian markets still scares me just a little.  I don’t know what I’m looking for or why a certain dish tastes so good!  If anyone would like to take me to one of these scary but awesome markets and teach me what all that cool stuff is just let me know!!

One day after buying an interesting looking Asian cook book Natalie and I decided we should start picking countries or food types and have that style be the inspiration for dinner.  I instantly fell in love with making pot stickers.  They were easy and fun.  You can put just about anything in these little packets of gooey awesomeness and steam, saute or fry them into a frenzy.  The possibilities were endless and a new favorite of mine was born.  I heart pot stickers because they can be heart healthy or heart stoppers.  You can follow a recipe or make them your own.  I usually throw whatever I have in the kitchen in them and they always turn out great.  Even when they don’t – a little Hoison sauce makes just about everything taste like heaven.

Green Tea Pot Stickers:

1 lb of ground turkey

1 tbs crushed garlic

3 tbs low sodium soy sauce

2 tbs ground flax seed

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 white onion, diced

1 egg

2 tbs parsley

2 green tea packets

50 wonton wrappers

soy sauce or hoison sauce for dipping

Special equipment:  steaming basket, wok, parchment paper

Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.  Place the won ton wrappers out in a row.  I do about 6 at a time so that the water doesn’t dry before I get to folding them up.  Place a little bit of water in a small bowl next to the wrappers.  Place about 1 tbs of the meat mixture in the center of each wrapper.  With your hands or a marinade brush lightly wet all four sides of the wrapper.  Fold the wrappers up to fully enclose the meat.  You can fold these suckers a million different ways so feel free to get creative.  I think it is easiest to just bring all four corners up together and pinch.

When you are finished, fill your wok with water until it almost touches the bottom of your steaming basket.  You do not want the basket to be in the water.  Place the tea packets in the water and bring the water to boil.  If you don’t have a wok feel free to use any pot.

While the water is heating cut your parchment paper to fit your steaming basket.  I cut little slits throughout my parchment paper to allow the steam to come up more evenly.

Evenly space your pot stickers in the basket and cover with the basket lid.  Place the basket on the wok and steam the pot stickers for about 15 minutes.  Allow them to cool slightly before peeling them from the parchment.  Replace the parchment for each batch you steam.  I have found that when I use the same parchment again I lose the whole bottom part of the wrapper.  Be careful to add more water as needed.  I don’t want you to burn your pan!!!

Disclaimer: The green tea flavor in this is very subtle and is more aromatic.  So if you are expecting a serious green tea flavor you will be dissappointed!