Cookies For Breakfast

But first things first. The other day I received a notification that I had a new comment on one of my posts. It was from Anonymous but I quickly found out it was actually from my Grandma:

Hi Stacey-This is the 23rd of May and I just went in to your blog to see what's new. Surprised and "thrilled" to see the group at the winery for Ann's birthday celebration.. And for anyone else seeing this that birthday cake is fantastic!! Have a good one-love to you and Matt--G'ma M.

The post she's referring to is here. 1) I love that my grandma reads my blog and comments on posts. 2) You know if Grandma says a cake is good, it MUST be good. So everyone needs to make the Italian Birthday Cake!

Ok, now on to cookies for breakfast.

I saw this recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies on Baking Bites recently and decided I needed to make it ASAP. Peanut Butter and Bananas make such a good combination I couldn't wait to try. The recipe is fairly simple and the cookies seem fairly simple but the taste is far from simple. One bite and I felt like I was eating a bowl of oatmeal with PB and bananas mixed in. I added some chopped honey roasted peanuts to add to the texture of the cookies and bring out the peanut flavor a bit more. The cookies are soft and chewy, similar to traditional oatmeal cookies, but the peanut butter gives them a bit more substance.

I made these 2 days in a row. The first day in cookie form and the second day in bar form. I took them to work and got rave reviews and requests for seconds. Overall my coworkers seemed to go for the bars over the cookies. Matt loved these - he was definitely not happy when I took them into work. Keeping them in my house would have been trouble. Like I said, they tasted like a bowl of oatmeal and with only 2tbsp of butter I rationalized they were a good choice for breakfast and a good pre-workout snack. :)

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Source: Baking Bites



1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used chunky)
1/4 cup mashed banana
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup finely chopped Honey Roasted Peanuts





Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.In a large bowl, cream together sugars and butter. Beat in egg until smooth, then mix in the peanut butter and mashed banana. Working by hand or with a mixer on low speed, blend dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture. Stir in the oats and chopped peanuts.

Shape dough into tablespoons and place on baking sheet, flattening each slightly with your fingers. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies just begin to turn golden around the edges. Cool on a wire rack.

Bakes approx 2 dozen. I got 2.5 dozen.

Belated Cookie Carnival: Toasted Almond Pink Lemonade Bars

I missed Cookie Carnival last month and was really bummed out. I was so looking forward to making lemon bars. I don’t like lemon bars but really wanted to mess around with the recipe a bit. Even though I missed the carnival I decided to play along when I had time. Rather than just making “plain” lemon bars I made Pink Lemonade Bars using Strawberry and Lemon.

The bars were tart yet very sweet, just like Strawberry Lemonade and the almond shortbread gave a nice crunch to the bars. I took these took work and got as many compliments on the yummy shortbread crust as I did the bars as a whole. They have definitely beat out my old favorite Strawberry Bar recipe. They are a bit labor intensive but well worth it. Kate and Holly, I'm so bummed out I missed this month. These were absolutely wonderful. I just bought 4lbs of Strawberries and I know where some of them will be going…

Toasted Almond Pink Lemonade Bars
Adapted From The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy
Makes 1 dozen bars



For the Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup sliced blanched almonds, lightly toasted
1/2 teaspoon salt
20 Tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

For the Stawberry Lemon Filling:
4 large eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons)
1 cup strawberries, hulled and pureed 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

To Toast the Almonds:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the almonds in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden and you can smell them. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Before You Start:
Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 - inch pan with nonstick vegetable cooking spray. Make a parchment "sling" by cutting two pieces of parchment paper, measuring 16 1/2 inches long by 12 inches wide (you can also use aluminum foil). Place one piece across the length, and the other across the width of the pan, with the excess hanging over the edges. You will use this sling later to lift the finished bar from the pan. Spray the sling with the cooking spray.




To Make the Crust:
1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse the flour, sugar, almonds, and salt to combine. Add the cold butter in pieces and pulse until the dough comes together in a ball. This was my first time making dough in my food processor and it was so easy. It turned out sooo much better than using my blender.

2. Turn the dough out into the prepared pan and press evenly into the bottom and 1 1/4 inches up the sides. (This crust, once it is baked, needs to act as a liner in which to pour the liquidy lemon filling. So be sure to do a good job of pressing the dough up the sides - no cracks!). Cover the dough with a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil, and fill with pie weights ( you can use dried beans or uncooked rice as pie weights as well). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly golden. Carefully remove the pie weights and the liner and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until the whole crust is golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

To Make the Filling:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until smooth. Add the almond extract and flour, and whisk until smooth. Add the lemon juice and strawberry puree, and whisk to combine.

To Complete the Bars:
1. Pour the lemon strawberry filling into the prepared crust. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling is firm and lightly golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

2. When cool use the parchment sling to lift the entire bar from the pan and onto a cutting board. Slice into twelve 3 x 3 1/2 - inch bars. Remove from the pan and, using a small sifter, dust with the confectioners' sugar.

The bars keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. For longer storage, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze well wrapped in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil for up to 3 weeks. Do not unwrap before defrosting. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.




To check out the results of April’s Cookie Carnival, go visit Holly of Phemomenon who was the guest host this month. For more information on Cookie Carnival go check out Kate at the Clean Plate Club.

Spinach Salad with Strawberries

I made this salad for dinner a few weeks ago and it was a big hit. It's based off a recipe I adapted from my friend Leslie. She made this for a shower a few months ago and from what I remember she couldn't keep the bowl filled. I made a huge batch so I was able to have this for dinner and a few lunches. It's a perfect summertime meal!

Spinach Salad with Strawberries
Adapted from: Leslie



Ingredients:

For Salad:
To be honest, I eyeballed the amounts of everything....

Bag of leaf spinach
Fresh sliced strawberries (sliced)
Red Onion, sliced
Sliced almonds
Chopped Walnuts
Crumbled Bacon
Feta
Cooked BS Chicken Breast Seasoned with S&P

For the dressing (I doubled this based off the size of my salad):

1/4 cup of veg oil
1/4 cup of sugar
1/8 tsp worcestershire
2 T cider vinegar

Mix oil, sugar, worcestershire and vinegar to make dressing. Set aside. Put spinach in salad bowl and top of with strawberries, onion, almonds, walnuts, bacon, feta, and chicken . When ready to serve, pour dressing over the salad and then toss well with tongs.

Banana PB Granola

A few weeks ago I was on overload. I didn't really have time to cook any meals and was pretty much living off snack-type foods. That combined with not having time to workout as much as I like left me feeling pretty gross. I stumbled across this recipe for Banana Peanut Butter Granola on Annie's Eats and immediately put the ingredients I didn't have on hand on my grocery list. I made it that evening and have made 4 batches of it since. I have yet to make a recipe from her blog that isn't a big hit in our house. Matt and I absolutely love the crunchy combination of Banana and Peanut Butter with a hint of chcolate. Vanilla yogurt with this granola mixed it has become my number one snack lately.

Another reason I absolutely love this is because with my old oven I could not make a batch of granola without burning it. My new oven however makes this beautifully. Each time I've made this granola I messed around with the amount of ingredients a bit, the first time I made I used more Rice Krispie (3.5cups) than Oats (2.5 cups) because I ran out of Oats. That has been my favorite batch. I also like to add some of the chocolate before mixture completely cools. Below I have the recipe as found on Annie's blog.

Banana Peanut Butter Granola
Souce: Annie's Eats



Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups rolled oats
2 1/2 cups puffed rice cereal
2 tbsp. honey
1/3 cup applesauce
1/3 cup mashed bananas
1/3-1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, warmed slightly (I use 1/2 heaping cup)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
1-1 1/2 cups dried banana chips
1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts
3-4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (optional)



Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats and puffed rice cereal. In a medium bowl, whisk together the honey, applesauce, mashed banana, peanut butter, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until the oat mixture is evenly coated. Spread onto the prepared baking sheet in a thick even layer.

Bake for 30 minutes. Then, using a large spatula, turn the granola over in segments. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Depending on the size of your baking sheet, the center may not be fully dried. If necessary, remove the edges of cooked granola and bake the remaining granola for 10-15 minutes more or until done, being careful not to over-bake. Cool on a wire rack.

Once the granola has cooled, crumble it into a large bowl or plastic bag. Add in the dried banana chips, honey roasted peanuts and bittersweet chocolate, if using. Mix well to combine. Store in an airtight container.

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers

This is a recipe I have heard my friend Leslie rave about for a while but I never made it. At the end of March one of the grocery stores had some excellent 5 for 5 sales on veggies. Red Peppers were one the selected items. I love Red Peppers but was feeling a little overwhelemed at the idea of 5 Red Peppers hanging out in my fridge. I soon remembered this recipe and decided to give it a shot. OK, actually I lied, I was up to my ears in homework so Matt actually made these. He did a wonderful job! These stuffed peppers very tender and juicy, definitely not a diet food but well worth it. I asked Matt how he woluld describe them and he said "Really good, an exquisite meatball in a red pepper". (what a nerd!) I think that means he really liked them. I also loved them and we've been talking about them ever since that night.

Stuffed Zucchini and Red Bell Peppers Recipe
Courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Show: Everyday Italian
Episode: Sinful Vegetables




Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, grated
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 large egg
3 tablespoons ketchup
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup dried plain bread crumbs
1 pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat
2 zucchini, ends removed, halved lengthwise and crosswise
1 short orange bell pepper, halved and seeded
1 short red bell pepper, halved and seeded
1 short yellow bell pepper, halved and seeded
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
(We obviously just used Red Peppers)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Lightly drizzle the olive oil into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Whisk the onion, parsley, egg, ketchup, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese and bread crumbs. Mix in the turkey. Cover and refrigerate the turkey mixture.

Using a melon baller or spoon, carefully scrape out the seeds and inner flesh from the zucchini, leaving 1/8-inch-thick shells. Be careful not to pierce through the skin. Fill the zucchini and pepper halves with the turkey mixture, dividing equally and mounding slightly. Arrange the stuffed vegetables in the baking dish. Pour the marinara sauce over the stuffed vegetables.

Bake uncovered until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown and a thermometer inserted into the filling registers 165 degrees F, about 45 minutes. Transfer the stuffed vegetables to a platter and serve

Where do I begin?

It's hard to believe my last food related post was March 22nd. It sounds like a cop-out to say I've been super busy, but I honestly have. I work for the Layoff King in KC and when we went through the last round of layoffs a massive chunk of my group was laid off leaving the rest of us to do our work and all of theirs. So between all the OT, school, trying to workout, and everyday "stuff" I haven't been very connected to the world of blogging or even the internet in general. Today though, I am back! I spent the morning lying in bed and watching 90210 reruns on Soapnet. I haven't just lounged around in months. It felt great.

My back to blogging recipe is one I got from my coworker Eddie. I know I've mentioned before that I'm not a cake person, but this cake could be reason I'm slowly coming around to the stuff. Back in February Eddie brought some into work and I accepted a piece to be polite, thinking I'd have a bite and bring the rest home for Matt. I quickly ate my words and gobbled up the cake in no time. I asked what kind of cake I'd just inhaled and found out it was Italian Wedding Cake.

I assumed it was some sort of secret family recipe and went home and scoured the internets for what I thought could be the recipe. I found one on All Recipes and bookmarked it to make sometime. Before I had a chance to make it Eddie brought the cake in again. This time I asked her if I could have the recipe, she said sure and started to look it up online and told me it’s just so easy. I was shocked to learn that this recipe came from an episode of Sandra Lee Semi Homemade. Eddie laughed at me when I told her I thought the recipe was top secret. She said one day she was home from work watching the food network and she saw good old Sandy whipping this cake up. Eddie makes a few changes to the recipe which I decided to follow as well.

The first time I made this for my Aunt Ann’s 60th Birthday. The girls (I use the term girls to describe those of us age Twenty-Something to age Eighty-Something) in my family decided to surprise Ann with a Girls Weekend. We spent the day at a winery, a micro-brewery, and ended the night just hanging out at the hotel. It was so much fun and everyone loved the cake. The second time I made this was on Easter and my in-laws all loved the cake as well. The cake itself is incredibly delicious, dense, moist, rich, and did I mention delicious?

It has coconut, walnuts, and pineapple both in the cake and in the frosting. Both my husband and brother in-law dislike coconut, walnuts, and pineapple but loved the cake. I know my description of the cake is very vague, but it’s been so long since I made this I’m having a hard time thinking of descriptors. I would make it again but it’s VERY dangerous to keep around the house! The bottom line is this recipe for Italian Wedding Cake is phenomenal. I'm not even sure I'll ever give Allrecipes a shot.

Italian Wedding Cake
Source: Adapted from Sandra Lee

Ingredients
1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
1 stick butter, softened
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
3 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 (20oz) can crushed pineapple (do not drain)
1 cup sweetened flake coconut, divided
2 cups chopped pecans, divided
2 (16-ounce) cans cream cheese frosting I made my own homemade cream cheese frosting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat 3 9in cake pans with cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, butter, buttermilk, egg whites, and extracts. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in 8oz crushed pineapple, 1/2 cup coconut, and 1 cup pecans. Divide batter into 3 prepared cake pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 31 to 36 minutes or until tester inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes then turn out on to wire racks to cool completely. In a small bowl, stir together remaining 1 cup pecans and frosting. Frost the top of each layer with 1/2 cup of frosting and stack on top of the next layer. Use remaining frosting to frost the entire outside of cake. Slice and serve. If you make homemade frosting, add remaining coconut, pineapple, and pecans to the frosting, frost the top of each layer and entire outside of cake. Slice and Serve (I made my frosting usig 1 8oz cream cheese 4ish cups of powdered sugar, 2 sticks of butter and the pineapple, pecans, and coconut and it was enough frosting for 2 cakes)

And just for fun...

All of us at at the winery with some of our loot (yes, thats frost on the already bloomed trees on March 28th)

Sorry my spacing is messed up... I guess I'm just getting used to this blogging stuff again :)

2,559 Days Ago

7 years and 2 days ago....

Those two dorky kids met and fell in love

731 Days ago or

2 years ago

April 21, 2007...

Those same dorky kids take the plunge and get married...

The hubster and I are celebrating our 2nd Anniversary today. We just got back from a fabulolus little stay at Hermann Hill in Hermann, MO. It was a super relaxing trip filled with lots of good wine, food, and hot tubs! The past 2 years have just flown by. It's hard to believe we have been together for 7 years and married for 2 of those 7. It feels like yesterday we were just college kids whose biggest worry was whether or not to go to a party or stay in and order a pizza. Matt is a really great guy and I still wonder what I did to deserve him. It's been a great 2 years of marriage. I can't wait to see what the years ahead bring us.

And because I've been known to be an attention whore from time to time...a few La Vita Dolce....

Oh and lookie what he got me...

I left my house the other morning with this in the kitchen...

And came home to find this....

YAY!! He decided to break it in by making himself a frozen pizza, but I gave it a good use the next night. I swear I'll be back next week with some new posts. Life has just been hectic, I've been working a ton of OT at work and with school ending in 3 weeks, the last month has been insane. I'm looking forward to the summer when school will be O-V-E-R and I can relax and do the things I love!