My first post ever about a year ago was about Buckeyes, a cookie my family makes every Christmas season. They are a pain to make but everyone always loves them. I just made them this week, I split them into two days, the dough the first day, and the chocolate dipping the next. Try them for yourself!
Here are some pictures to help you!
It is officially fall! I have made one of my favorite fall desserts… Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. Everyone is always asking me for my recipe, so here it is! I have changed it over the years to make the best pumpkin cookies ever!
Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
3. In an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla and beat just until blended.
4. Mix in the dry ingredients.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.
7. Bake the cookies for 15 to 18 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Enjoy!!!! Happy Fall!
Sister K
I have been on a Jalapeno Popper kick lately. Although they are soooo delicious store bought they aren’t as healthy as I would like. Therefore I set off to find a healthier version of them. In one of my health magazines I found a recipe for them for 144 calories for 2. The are called Gooey Jalapeno Poppers and they are from the cookbook “Now Eat This!” by Rocco DiSpirito. They are made with reduced-fat whipped cream cheese and 75% fat free cheese. I have already made them twice since I have found the recipe and they are awesome! Enjoy!
-K
I bet you can already guess what magazine I cooked out of tonight. I cooked Easy Grilled Chicken Salad from my August Cooking Light, of course! This recipe was super easy to make (hence the name) and really, really, really good (yes it gets three reallys).
I made a couple of exchanges in this recipe because I already owned some items and I wanted to save some money while I was grocery shopping. First, I replaced the celery with cucumber because I really don’t care for celery. I didn’t know how it was going to taste, but it ended up being really good and sort of reminded me of taziki sauce a little. I ate this right away. I would say if you were going to make this for a meal ahead of time, the cucumbers may get soggy and ruin the salad. The next replacement I made was that I switched the chopped pecans to chopped almonds. Finally, I used a little bit of regular onion instead of green onion. In the end, I think the changes I made were really good. I ended making on 1/4th the recipe because I was making it for just myself. You should try some variations of it yourself and tell me how it goes. The chicken salad is placed on a bed of baby spinach and I also served it with a steamed summer squash. MMMMmmmm!
Enjoy!
-K
Once again, I decided to try a recipe out from my new August Cooking Light. Tonight, I made Quinoa with Roasted Garlic, Tomatoes, and Spinach. This is a side dish but my roommate and I doubled the recipe and made it for 2 meals. I have never cooked with quinoa and I didn’t even know where to find it in the grocery store (which is rare because I know everything in my grocery store). I had to call my mom to ask her where she would find her quinoa. Apparently I was pronouncing it wrong (pronounced KEEN-Wah.) I eventually found it in the organic sections (where would we be without super moms!)
Roasting the garlic is pretty easy- just peel some of the papery skin off and then cut it half (so you are basically cutting every piece of garlic in half.) Next, wrap it in aluminum foil and bake for an hour at 350 degrees. The recipe it pretty simple and besides the hour it takes the roast the garlic, it is pretty quick. It was so good that I ate my serving for tomorrows lunch! Oops!
I used an onion instead of shallots because I already had one, and the garlic bunch in the picture is not a whole one because the whole one is in the oven during this picture. I also used Pecorino Romano cheese instead of parm because I like it better.
Enjoy!
-K
Tonight, my roommate and I made a recipe from the new August Cooking Light. While in a rush to the grocery store I looked at the Cooking Light and picked out the recipe Whole-Wheat Pasta with Edamame, Arugula, and Herbs. It was pretty easy to make- just a lot of herb chopping (basil, parsley, and thyme.)
Start boiling the pasta water before doing anything else and cut up everything else in the meanwhile. The edamame only takes about 3-4 minutes to heat up. Make sure you read the whole recipe on the link before you start making it! The recipe makes 4 pretty large portions so we got dinner and lunch for tomorrow out of it.
Enjoy!
-k
I got my new Cooking Light on Friday and found a lot of recipes I wanted to cook. I have been having problems with getting motivated about cooking lately, so I was happy I finally found something that interest me. Tonight I am going to be making Summer Squash and Corn Chowder with tomato brushcetta on fresh toasted French bread for the side.
It was delicious!! You should make it, but crank the A/C up because it can get hot in the kitchen especially in the summer.
I am turning 25 this coming weekend so stay tuned to hear about my birthday.
Enjoy
-k
-K
My boyfriend loves potato pancakes, so I decided I would attempt to make them for him on Friday. I picked a recipe from my newest Cooking Light cookbook, “Cooking Light Way to Cook” because it was a little healthier than classic recipes. They turned out really good, but I didn’t have a working camera this weekend, so no pictures :(.
Basic Potato Latkes
2 pounds baking potatoes, peeled
1 small onion (about 6 ounces), peeled
1/4 cup egg substitute
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1. Shred potato and onion using the shredding blade of a food processor (I don’t have this so I just used a box grater.) Combine shredded potato and onion in a colander over a large bowl, tossing well to combine. Let mixture stand 15 minutes, pressing occasionally with the back of a spoon until most of the liquid drains off. Remove colander from bowl. Carefully pour off the potato liquid, reserving thick white layer of potato starch in the bottom of the bowl. Discard potato liquid.
2. Combine egg substitute and next 3 ingredients in small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add egg mixture to potato starch in large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add potato mixture and parsley to bowl, tossing well to combine.
3. Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons oil to pan, swirling to coat. Add potato mixture in 1/4 cupfuls to pan to form 6 latkes; flatten slightly. Cook 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove latkes from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil and remaining potato mixture. Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 latkes)
Calories 208; fat 7.2g; protein 4.9g; carb 32.3g; fiver 2.6g; chol 0 mg.
Enjoy!
-K
Sunday night, B decided to cook a meal from the Lifetime “Cook Yourself Thin” cookbook. I know we are addicted to this cookbook, but how can you blame us when everything has been so good! We had just got back from my boyfriend’s bands show (I’ll tell you more about them later) and had all the ingredients for the recipe since we were suppose to make it earlier this week. Sadly to admit, the wine was corked at 4:30 that day… ha-ha oopps (Mom incase you are reading this, it was non-alcoholic wine grape juice in fact). Well anyways the recipe Penne Alla “Not-ka” is supposed to be the healthier version of Penne Alla Vodka (I guess you could have figured that out on your own right?). Regardless it was really tasty but didn’t taste a whole lot like the real thing. You should try it yourself and tell me what you think.
*Wine Note*- I am going to pretend to be your sommelier right here by saying this meal is really great with lots of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Penne Alla “Not-Ka”
Serves 4
Calories per serving: 371
2 teaspoons olive oil, plus extra for serving
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chopped red onion
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes or whole tomatoes in juice, pureed in a food processor
Pinch red pepper flakes
8 ounces penne
1/4 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons evaporated nonfat milk
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the penne.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the 2 teaspoons oil with the garlic over low heat until the garlic begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt, cover, and cook until the onion is softened, about 2 more minutes. Add the tomato, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat and simmer very gently 10 minutes. Stir in the cream and evaporated milk and simmer 1 more minute.
3. Meanwhile, after the sauce has cooked 5 minutes, add the penne to the boiling water and cook until just shy of al dente, about 6 minutes. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup pasta water. Add the drained penne to the saucepan and simmer until the penne is al dente, 1 to 2 minutes, adding a little of the pasta cooking water if the mixture is dry. Stir in 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, along with the basil and black pepper.
4. To serve, divide pasta among 4 serving bowls. Drizzle each serving with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil, and sprinkle with shredded basil and the remaining Parmesan.
Enjoy!
-K
Friday Night B decided to make a pizza from the Lifetime “Cook Yourself Thin” Cookbook. The pizza is only for one person, so we tripled the recipe for three people. The pizza doesn’t have a ton of cheese on it, but it was still really good! It was definitely a healthy alternative to regular pizza. We had spinach and feta chicken sausage in our freezer already so we just used that, and we omitted the scallions.
Ultimate Sausage Cheese Pizza
Serves 1
Calories per serving: 475
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup organic tomato sauce
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch pepper
1 link precooked chicken basil sausage
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1/2 red bell pepper or jarred roasted red pepper
4 ounces prepared pizza dough
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped scallion, white and green parts
1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh basil
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. For the tomato sauce, heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper, and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Preheat a gas grill or stovetop grill pan over medium-high heat. Place chicken basil sausage and bell pepper on the grill. Grill the sausage until cooked through, about 2 minutes each side; set aside. Continue grilling the pepper, turning, until the skin is blackened, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Place pepper in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand until cool enough to handle. Peel, stem and seed the pepper; cut or tear half the pepper into large dice, reserving the other half of the roasted pepper for another dish. When chicken sausage is done, slice thinly and set aside.
5. Spray an aluminum pizza pan with nonfat cooking spray. On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to stretch the pizza dough into a thin round, about 8 inches. Place it in the prepared pan. Spread the dough with the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Arrange the sliced chicken sausage on top, and scatter the pepper over. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
6. Bake until the edges are crisp and lightly browned, and the cheese is melted, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with scallions and basil, if using. Let pizza stand about 2 to 3 minutes before eating.
Enjoy!
-K
2 sisters 2 cities 
