Triple Layer Chocolate Chip Cookie-Fudge Brownie-Peanut Butter Blondie Bars

I think these are on my list of desserts to try next....can we say yummy?  Not that my waistline needs it, but I'm so glad I found How Sweet It Is.

Triple Layer Chocolate Chip Cookie-Fudge Brownie-Peanut Butter Blondie Bars

Roasted Honey Cinnamon Chickpeas: The Result

I didn't expect this recipe to take all day....and had I had help, it probably wouldn't have.  Talk about a lesson learned.  Actually since I started with raw beans, it took almost 24 hours!  I let a cup of chickpeas (a.k.a garbanzo beans) sit overnight in a bowl of water...they grew to about twice their original size.  Then today I boiled them, and let them simmer and cook for about an hour on the stove.  THEN I started with the actual recipe. :)

After cooking them, I needed to peel the skins off. Now, I knew this would time-consuming, but I didn't think 2 cups of peas would take ALL afternoon....but it did.  I sat and watched TV...and more TV....and even more TV because it took forever to peel all those stinkin' things!  But, here is the evidence:

All the shells!

 

 

 

And all the "clean" beans/peas!

 

Mix with 1 Tbsp of oil and 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

Spread out on cookie sheet and bake

Take out of oven, put them into something glass because they're hot and plastic is bad for them; add honey, stick back in oven for a few minutes....and then you've got a healthy snack!

Here is the recipe:

Roasted Cinnamon Honey Chickpeas (makes about 2 cups)
1 15 oz. Can Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans)
1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Canola or Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Honey

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Place the beans between two paper towels and pat dry, loosening the outer skin of the beans.
3. Remove the outer skins of the beans and pat dry to remove any other excess liquid.
4. Whisk the cinnamon and oil in a bowl to combine, add the beans stirring to coat and place on a baking sheet.
5. Roast for 40 minutes.
6. Remove the beans from the oven, place in a glass bowl and toss with 1 tbsp of honey.
7. Place the beans back into the oven and roast an additional 7 minutes.
8. Cool completely and serve.
* Store in a covered container on your counter for up to 2 weeks

This recipe was taken from Weelicious.com...go check out all of the other great recipes on there!

Roasted Honey Cinnamon Chickpeas

Trying this recipe for roasted honey cinnamon chickpeas....I'll let you know how it turns out, but since I'm using raw beans (not out of a can), I've got to soak them overnight to soften them up a little...before I toast them to make 'em crunchy. :)

Kung Pao Chicken

I am always trying to come up with new recipes, but being the picky eater than I am, it's hard to find things I like! This one came in an email to me a while back (I get the daily recipe emails...I maybe use 1 out of every 100 I get!), and I've been wanting to try it.  I just couldn't seem to get all the ingredients together at one time, but I finally did last night!  And, I even documented the whole process with pictures!

Start with your ingredients:

  1 cup of sliced red bell pepper

 A few tablespoons of peanuts

 1 cups of snow peas, trimmed

 About 1 pound of skinless, boneless chicken cut into 1-inch pieces

 

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil 

1 cup chopped onion (I omitted this because I really can't stand onion!) 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

3/4 cup water 

3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce 

2 teaspoons cornstarch 

1 teaspoon brown sugar 

1/2 teaspoon bottled minced ginger 

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper

Directions:  

1. Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until softened. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add chicken; sauté 3-5 minutes or until chicken begins to brown.

2. Combine 3/4 cup water and the next 5 ingredients (through crushed red pepper), stirring until sugar dissolves. Add water mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Add bell pepper and snow peas to pan; cook for 2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender and sauce thickens. Sprinkle with nuts.

The finished product! (well, before the peanuts were added.)

We made some brown rice to go with this and it was a very easy and filling meal!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Brownie

Ok, so I couldn't get a good picture of my yummy dessert...but trust me when I say it's delicious!  I found this recipe via Pennies on a Platter.  I love pumpkin bread and chocolate so this seemed a perfect combo....and indeed, the husband I enjoyed it ALOT! (read: we had no trouble eating the whole thing ourselves!)

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 whole egg
2 egg whites
1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Line an 11″- x 7″-inch pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, eggs and oil until smooth.  Set aside.

In a separate medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, spices, salt and brown sugar.  Add to the wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly.  Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until passes toothpick test.  Cool completely before cutting.

Note: this makes a fairly small batch...perfect for the 2 of us, but I'd double it if I was going to take it anywhere.

Tonight's New Recipe

 I am trying a recipe tonight for Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti.  I found this blog (Our Family Eats) through I Heart Publix, and some of the recipes look super yummy....I'm hoping this one isn't too hot for me!  Instead of using boneless chicken brests, I'm using the remains of a whole chicken I'd gotten last week, and I'm going to omit blue cheese dressing because I can't stand the taste of it.  Oh, and maybe use penne instead of spaghetti....we'll see what I feel like using in a few hours. It may not be the healthiest of dinner's...but we do love some cream cheese.....Anyway, it looks good so I'm hoping it tastes as yummy as it looks!

The Best Coffee Cake. Ever.

So my coffee cake didn't turn out quite as pretty as Ree's, but I must say....it was one of the most delicious things I've ever had, straight out of the oven.  I think I could've eaten the whole thing myself in one sitting.  But I figured I'd save some.  But, please please please go make this coffee cake RIGHT NOW, because it will knock your socks off!

Yes, I am obsessed with the Pioneer Woman's cooking.  But, I don't think I'm the only one....

In fact, I think I hear it calling my name downstairs....

Molasses Spice Muffins

I don't have any pictures, but I just wanted to let ya'll know I CAN bake muffins!  I used the recipe found HERE on AllRecipes.com, which is one of my favorite websites, and I am sititng here eating a warm one right out of the oven and it is delicious!

FAIL

Don't these look like they're going to be deliciously tasty chocolate muffins???  Well, minus the pretty stiff texture of them before they even went into the oven....?

Not quite.  I found the recipe HERE and thought, wow, these are going to be so healthy and yummy!  Well...they were healthy...sort of.  And my husband will eat most anything, thankfully.  He says they "weren't that bad."  Even I who baked them begged to differ.  I will say I've baked other muffins from this recipe book that were very good, but this one was just a big fat flop!

These are a good way to implement some flaxseed into your diet...but I think I need to find another way!  Here are the ingredients that went into making the muffins:

1 8oz package of cream cheese (not so healthy, the first ingredient, go figure!)
2 egg whites
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup fat-free plain yogurt
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup oat flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 ground flaxseed
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Because these didn't turn out well, and I'm giving you the link to the recipe, I'm not going to post the whole thing, just show you the process through pictures.

After mixing the applesauce and cream cheese

My parents gave us this for Christmas...a handmade egg separator--he's supposed to look like the boogers are coming out....cute, no?

After adding ALL of the dry ingredients...it was alot!

Before going into the oven...

After they came out of the oven...didn't change much, huh?

Asian Peanut Butter Porkchops

My new recipe for this week was the Asian Peanut Butter Porkchops that Stephanie posted about on her blog, A Year of Slow Cooking.  I must say...they turned out very well!  Definitely the most tender porkchops I've ever cooked!  I followed her directions, and I don't think they could've turned out better.  I didn't have white whine vinegar, but I did have distilled white vinegar.  What the difference is, I have no idea...but it didn't seem to make a difference in the end, so I'm ok with not knowing the difference!  How many times can I say difference in one sentence???

Anyway, start with the ingredients.  I realized after taking this picture that the porkchops were still in the fridge...oops. :)

 Ingredients

1.5-2lbs pork tenderloin
1 onion, sliced in rings
1/4 cup soy sauce 

1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons water
2 garlic cloves, chopped (I guessed on the amount, since I didn't use fresh garlic)
1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter (might've used a little more than 1/2 cup...:)

I used a 4 qt crockpot...Stephanie says to use one no larger than 6, but 4 worked great for the 2 chops I did.  First, put slices of onion in bottom of crockpot.

Put the pork on top.

Add brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic, and peanut butter. No need to stir--the peanut butter needs to melt before you can do so. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4-6. I did high for about 5 hours.  The pork will be more tender the longer you cook it. 1 hour before serving, flip the meat over in the crockpot to allow the other side to soak up the peanutbuttery goodness.  I know this looks kind of gross, but trust me, it tasted so good and fell right off the bone!

 Here is the finished product.  We also had cheesy cauliflower and peas with the pork.  Very tasty!