The Chocoholic

In the past month I haven't had a moment to even sit down unless it was to work on homework, or anything work related.

I came home about a week ago and even since I've been home I haven't had very much "down" time.

Yesterday I had this insanely wonderful idea.

I decided that I wanted to be the official Christmas Candy maker.

I began the process of melting my body weight in chocolate.

I made some homemade peanut butter cups which turned out lovely in a very vernacular kind of way, so I decided to try my hand at Peppermint Bark.

Then I realized I needed more chocolate.

I headed off to the grocery store because by this point I had become a crazed chocoholic and I needed more.

When I was walking into the store I wasn't really paying attention because my brain was buzzing with chocolate ideas and suddenly my life was flashing before my eyes because I walked through a bathtub of a puddle in the entrance of the store.

I'm sure if I had been paying attention I wouldn't have made half as much of a fool of myself.

But alas, it was not so.

I simply skated through the puddle as if I meant to do it.

Trust me, I didn't.

And then I proceeded to laugh the entire time I was in the store.

I blame the chocolate.

xo

P.s. For your chocolate fix I've added both the Peppermint Bark and Peanut Butter Cup recipes

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

2 11-oz bags of dark chocolate (You can use whatever your heart desires, but I am a dark chocolate junkie)

1 cup peanut butter

48 tiny muffin cup

1. Melt one bag of the chocolate and spoon into the muffin cups. Let set in fridge for about 1 hour.

2. Spoon little dollops of peanut butter on top of each cup.

3. Melt the second bag of chocolate and then cover peanut butter.

4. Set in fridge for another hour

5. Enjoy!

Peppermint Bark

4 11-oz bags of dark chocolate

2 11-oz bags of white chocolate

12 Candy Canes

1 tsp peppermint extract

1.line an 11-by-17-inch baking sheet with parchment, and set aside.

2. In the top of a double boiler, melt dark chocolate, stirring constantly.

3. pour into the prepared pan and let set in the fridge for about one hour.

4. With a chef’s knife or meat tenderizer, pound candy canes into 1/4-inch pieces.

5.In the top of a double boiler, melt white chocolate, stirring constantly.

Stir pieces of candy canes and peppermint oil into the melted chocolate.

Remove from heat, and pour quickly(dark chocolate will melt) over the chilled dark chocolate; spread evenly. Chill until firm.

Break into pieces, and serve. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Cook: Fruit Pizza

Today I had one of those weird days.

I felt snarky.

But I protested and decided by 12 o'clock I would no longer be snarky.

At 12 o'clock I jumped in the shower.

I then fixed my hair and put on make up.

Still snarky.

I remembered that I needed to make fruit pizza for a relief society activity.

I tried to do this without being snarky.

So, I turned on some Brazilian Lounge music and went to town beating butter, sugar, and eggs.

It's hard to be snarky under those circumstances.

Fruit Pizza

by Dandee

Crust

1/2 C. butter

3/4 C. sugar

1 egg

Beat until light and fluffy.

Add 1 t. cream of tarter

1/2 t. soda

pinch salt

1 1/3 C + 2 T. flour

Press into sprayed pan, bake 12 minutes @350.

Let cool.

Filling

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 C. sugar

2 T. pineapple juice

Mix together and spread over cooled crust.

Top with fresh fruit.

xo

p.s. who wants to go to Brazil?

Cook: Pesto Meatballs & Couscous

I hope everyone's weekend has been great thus far!

Mine has been pretty good.

Though I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get the campfire smell out of my hair.

Anywho..Pesto Meatballs.

I got the original recipe for from my sister Jaclyn who got it from Real Simple Magazine.

When I made it myself I changed it up a little bit.

The recipe originally calls for ground beef, but I switched it out for ground turkey.

And I added a couple of things to make it a bit healthier.

This is a great dish for a lot of people or even for two.

It's similar to the stuffed shells, in that it looks like you've been in the kitchen all day.

But in reality it'll take you about 40 minutes from start to finish.

Pesto Meatballs and Couscous

Hands-on time: 15 minutes total time: 40 minutes

Serves 4

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the pan

1 ½ pounds ground turkey

½ cup dried Italian bread crumbs

¾ cup store-bought pesto

1 large egg

1 ½ tsp. salt

¾ tsp. ground pepper

1 Tbsp. ground flax seed

1 box couscous

Heat oven to 350. Drizzle Olive oil in the bottom of the pan. In a large bowl, combine the beef, bread crumbs, pesto, the egg, salt, and pepper. With your hands mix just until combine. Shape the mixture into 12 meatballs, using about ¼ cup for each. Transfer the meatballs to tray. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn and bake until cooked through, about 10 more minutes. Meanwhile prepare the couscous according to the package directions. Once couscous is fluffed and the meatballs are cooked, sit down and enjoy!

xo

Cook: Saucy Sweet and Sour Chicken

I love me some Pan Asian Cuisine!

This recipe is one of my favorites, courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens.

I'm pretty sure I've made it a couple hundred times.

Plus, it's a crock pot recipe.Yay! Dinner and easy clean up!

ingredients:

• 2-1/2 to 3 lb. meaty chicken pieces (breast halves, thighs, and drumsticks), skinned
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 of a 12-oz. can (about 3/4 cup) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp. ketchup
• 1 Tbsp. vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp. cold water
• Hot cooked rice or fried rice

directions

1. Place chicken pieces in a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt. In a medium bowl, combine lemonade concentrate, brown sugar, ketchup, and vinegar. Pour over chicken in cooker.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Transfer chicken to a serving platter; cover and keep warm.

3. For sauce, pour cooking liquid into a medium saucepan. Skim off fat. Combine cornstarch and the cold water; stir into liquid in saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Spoon sauce over chicken. Serve with hot cooked rice. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Happy Monday!

xo

Cook: Stuffed Shells

(I wish I had a picture of my shells. Sadly, they were inhaled by wolves before I had the chance.)

I hope everyone had a lovely mother's day weekend.

I know I did. I think I gained 15 pounds.

I had a hard time deciding what recipe to post this week.

Mostly because I cooked all weekend long. That's not a complaint. I wouldn't cook if I didn't love it.

However, I pondered and decided to post the most delightful stuffed shells recipe.

This is one of those recipes that looks like you've been in the kitchen all day.

But really the entire dish takes maybe an hour to complete

and tastes divine.

Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) container of cottage cheese

1 (10 ounce) package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained

1 cup mozzarella cheese,

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I love spices, so I usually do about 2tsps.)

20 jumbo pasta shells, cooked, drained

1 (26 ounce) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

(I like to add about a teaspoon of salt as well)

1. Cook the shells, drain and place them on tin foil to prevent them from sticking to each other.
2. Mix together the cottage cheese, spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.
3. Fill each shell with a heaping tablespoon of spinach and cheese mixture.
4. Put half of the spaghetti sauce in a 9×13 inch pan and then put the shells in. Spoon the remaining sauce over the shells.
5. Cover with foil and bake at 400ºF for 25 minutes. Remove the foil for the last few minutes and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake until melted.

If you really want to knock the socks off your family and friends throw this french bread recipe into a bread maker.

Ciao!

xo

Finding Myself...Or something like that

Hellloooo! It has been quite some time since I've blogged.

After finals I pretty sure a fuse popped in my brain and I forgot my identity.

So sorry. I was finding myself. Haha!

Luckily while I was absent from the blogging world I came up with some new tricks.

I'll share the first with you today.

It's called Recipe Monday.

Why?

A) because I haven't cooked very much since the semester started and I'd really love to get back into it.

B) because who doesn't love food?

Are you convinced? Good.

So this Monday I will share with you a new favorite. I have a talent, no a gift, for buying bananas that ripen unnaturally quick. I mean I bring them home nearly green and bam! yes,bam! they're brown. It drives me bananas ha ha the hilarity!

On Saturday, after my bananas turned a disturbing shade of brown, I searched high and low for a yummy banana recipe and fell banana head over heels for a banana muffin recipe from Risa of Baked Perfection la la love this blog.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
recipe from Baked Perfection

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/4 cup butter melted
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I would cut this down to 1 cup)
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (I skipped this)

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Grease or line 12 muffin cups.

In a large bowl mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a second bowl beat together bananas, sugars, vanilla, egg, and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just combined. In a small bowl mix together the chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon flour (this will prevent the chocolate chips from sinking). Stir the chocolate chips into the batter. Spoon batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of each muffin with turbinado sugar. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

I hope you have a lovely Monday.

xo