Blast from the past

This reminds me of something we used to have at my Grandma K's growing up. Last Sunday we had a simple dinner of grilled chicken, cous cous and veggies. This Banana Pudding was dessert, it may just be the perfect summer time dessert!

Creamy Banana Pudding
Source: cooks.com



1 3oz package of instant banana pudding
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1.5 cups cold water
1 8oz container of cool whip
Vanilla Wafters
5 - 6 Medium Bananas, sliced

In large bowl combine water and condensed milk add pudding and beat until well blended. Fold in whipped cream - (I used probably 3/4 of the container). In baking dish (I used a 2 qt pyrex) layer Vanilla Wafers, banana slices, and pudding mixture. Continue in layers ending with pudding on top. Cover and Chill for 3 hours. When serving top with additional wafers, banana slices, and cool whip.

This dessert gets better the longer it sits in the fridge. The next day, it was heavenly!

I'll admit it

These cookies look pretty damn unremarkable. Never judge a cookie by it's appearance though, because these babies were delicious! I took them to work today and my coworkers LOVED them. My work will sometimes get the Hyvee Bakery to cater meetings and this cookie really reminded me of their Heath Toffee cookie. This is from The Cookie Bible (of course!) It's a Hersey's Recipe.

The actual name of the recipe is "Build Your Own Chocolate Cookie". I decided to add Heath Bits and White Chocolate Chips. The result was a success... for the most part.**

Heath and White Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cookies
The Cookie Bible


Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
Heath Bits (about 3/4 cup)... see below...
White Chocolate Chips (about 1 cup).... see below





Directions:


1. Heat oven to 375 F.
2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs; beat well.
3. Stir together flour, cocoa and baking soda; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 5 dozen cookies.
To see other add-ins go here

**My disaster:


I was doing great with these, I had 4 batches down and was on my last dozen. I popped these in the oven, went to the computer and started working on a paper. 20something minutes later I remembered my cookies. I opened the oven to a bunch of smoke and charred cookies. It was quite sad. Damn School... always gettin in the way!

Partner in Crime

Baking is my partner in crime when it comes to procrastination. The summer semester is winding down (ONE MORE WEEK! I've been in class every week since January 13th, I need a break!) and I have lost all focus on school. Rather than writing my Classroom Management Philosophy Paper or creating a graphic organizer on Michele Borba, I decided I needed chocolate.

I turned to The Cookie Bible and got ticked off that for every recipe I found, I was missing one stupid ingredient. I finally decided on Mocha Crinkles. They are super similar to these cookies I made back in December, but I liked the Mocha Crinkles better. (Pretty sure it was the powdered sugar!) I took one bite and was extremely satisfied with the flavor and texture - very rich and brownie-like. I think these would also be great with some dark chocolate chunks in them.

Mocha Crinkles
Source: The Cookie Bible





1-1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil *I used canola oil
1/4 cup lowfat sour cream *I used fat free
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp instant espresso or coffee granules
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup powdered sugar


1. Combine brown sugar and oil in medium bowl. with an electric mixer, beat at medium speed until well blended. Beat in sour cream, egg and vanilla.

2. Mix flour, cocoa, coffee granules, baking soda, salt and pepper in another medium bowl. Beat the flour mixture into the brown sugar mixture until a soft dough forms. form into a ball; cover and refrigerate until firm, 3-4 hours. I only chilled for about 45 min

3. Preheat oven to 350 f. place powdered sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll dough into 1 inch balls; roll in powdered sugar.

4. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. I used parchment paper Bake for 10-12 *I baked mine 6 - 7 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are firm to the touch. Do not overbake! Cool completely on wire racks.

makes 6 dozen cookies. I made 30 large cookies

Chicken Salad

So my pictures from dinner tonight aren't the best, but the hubster gave the meal two thumbs. I'm not a big fan of chicken salad by any means. I don't like mayo so I guess that's why I don't like it. I saw this recipe and was intrigued because it used Greek Yogurt. I've read lots of good things about Greek Yogurt, but had never tried it.

For a non-chicken salad person this was really good. It was super quick and easy to prepare and the clean up was cinch too! The flavor was pretty good. My husband thought it was perfect, I think it could have used a little something else. Maybe some diced jalapeno.

Next time, I'm going to cut this in half. It made way too much for 2 people. Also, I think adding some more veggies would be right up my alley.

Mediterranean Chicken Salad
Adapted From: Cooking Light July 2008



Ingredients
1 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 cups chopped cooked chicken 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped pitted green olives (about 20 small) omitted
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
6 (6-inch) whole wheat pitas, cut in half Omitted, we ate ours on whole grain English muffins
12 Bibb lettuce leaves
6 (1/8-inch-thick) slices tomato, cut in half


Preparation

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. Combine chicken and next 5 ingredients (through chickpeas) in a large bowl. Add yogurt mixture to chicken mixture; toss gently to coat. Line each pita half with 1 lettuce leaf and 1 tomato piece; add 1/2 cup chicken mixture to each pita half.


Yield
6 servings (serving size: 2 stuffed pita halves)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 404(23% from fat); FAT 10.2g (sat 3.8g,mono 4g,poly 1.5g); IRON 3.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 66mg; CALCIUM 110mg; CARBOHYDRATE 46.4g; SODIUM 575mg; PROTEIN 33.6g; FIBER 6g

Carrot Bread

I marked quite a few recipes out of the July Cooking Light. After we got back from STL last night I decided to give this one a whirl because I had all the ingredients on hand. The Carrot Bread turned out very moist and delicious - similar to a Zucchini Bread. I'll definitely be making this again, next time with some walnuts.

Carrot Bread
Source: July 2008 Cooking Light



Ingredients

3/4 cup sliced carrot
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup vanilla fat-free yogurt
1 large egg
1 large egg white
Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Cook carrot in boiling water 15 minutes or until tender; drain. Place carrot in a food processor; process until smooth.

3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine whole wheat flour and the next 6 ingredients (through cloves) in a large bowl. Combine carrot, sugar, and the next 4 ingredients (through egg white) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add carrot mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined.

4. Pour batter into an 8-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. I baked mine for 40 min and it was pretty dark (but not dry). I think closer to 35 would have been better. Cool bread in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cut bread into 12 slices





Yield
1 loaf; 12 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 151(32% from fat); FAT 5.3g (sat 0.5g,mono 3g,poly 1.6g); IRON 0.9mg; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; CALCIUM 34mg; CARBOHYDRATE 24g; SODIUM 240mg; PROTEIN 3.2g; FIBER 2.1g

I missed it...

My blog turned one yesterday and I didn't even know.

The hubs and I went out for dinner tonight and started talking about what we did last year on the 4th - long bike ride in the morning followed by easy Strawberry Shortcake. Then I remembered that one of my first posts was about the Strawberry Shortcake.

I feel like I've come so far in a year! I'm still super picky and don't cook fancy things, but I've come so far from Hamburger Helper, Salad, Pillsbury Rolls, and chocolate pudding for dessert. :)

Penzeys

We received a Penzeys Spices gift box as a wedding gift. It had 9 different spices and bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, and whole nutmegs. I remember thinking it was a strange gift when I opened it. Who would have thought just a short time later I'd fall in love with that stuff!

I finally busted open the Pasta Sprinkle last Sunday. We're going out of town tomorrow, so I didn't want to go to the store this week. The goal was to use up the veggies and whatever else we could find. For this meal I cooked pasta (a mixture of rotini and penne), sautéed broccoli, red pepper, zucchini, and carrots, and added some grilled chicken and crumbled bacon I tossed it with a little bit of red wine vinegar and salt and pepper and added the Pasta Sprinkle. Top with a little parm cheese and you have a delicious pasta meal.

So simple, inexpensive and tasty. The next day I added some baby spinach and took it to work for lunch. It was even better!