Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies

I cannot believe I have never blogged these cookies before! I used to make them for my husband ALL. THE. TIME. when we were first married. Today he said, "Why don't you ever make those cake mix cookies anymore? They are my favorite!" And so I just had to (it was his birthday a few days ago, after all).....

So, my daughter and I hurried off to the grocery and whipped these up in no time. I let the dough rest for a couple of hours in the fridge before rolling and baking them, and I think that resting time really enhanced the flavor and gave them a nice shape once cooked. One of my sons said, "Mom, I think these are my favorite cookies you have ever made!" That made me smile, but, it also felt like a bit of a burn since they aren't really "homemade" and I truly pride myself on making things from scratch! HA! I'm going to just say it was the Mini Reese's Cups that won him over because they are pretty much his favorite sweet in the world!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake mix (I like Pilsbury's Devil's Food)
1 stick of butter, melted
2 eggs
3/4 cup of peanut butter chips*
1/2 to 1 cup of MINI Reese's PB Cups (you buy them unwrapped and in a bag)**

Melt the butter completely in a microwave safe bowl.

Add half of the cake mix to the melted butter and use a hand mixer to blend. Add the rest of the cake mix and blend. The mix will be crumbly.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend with the mixer until smooth. Add the peanut butter chips and blend. Add half of the mini Reese's cups and blend. If you have the time, put the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour. I chilled my dough today for about four hours.

Roll the dough into decent sized balls - like the size of a golf ball. Press one or two of the extra mini Reese's cups into the top of each cookie dough ball. Flatten slightly so the cookie is more of a disk than a ball.

Bake at 350F for 9 - 10 minutes. Don't overcook.

Let cool on the sheet then transfer them to a platter.

My husband reminded me that he likes to warm each cookie up in the microwave before he eats it - but only for 10 seconds, not longer....just enough to get it gooey. It's really good!

*If you do not want to use peanut butter chips, these would also taste good with chocolate chips, white chocolate chips or even mint chocolate chips (which you can find during the holidays). I think crushed Andes candies would be good, too (and they are allergy friendly).

**If you do not want to use the mini Reese's cups, omit and add an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup PB chips.

Nourishing Pumpkin & Squash Soup

This healthy soup was super easy to throw together (thank you canned pumpkin and frozen butternut squash) and tasted delicious. What more can you ask for? Enjoy!

• 2 Tbl olive oil, divided
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 pound bag of frozen butternut squash
• 3 cups of canned pumpkin 
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, optional
• 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
• ½ cup full fat coconut milk OR whole fat milk/heavy cream
• 1 Tbl maple syrup or honey
• 2 Tbl freshly squeeze orange juice, for brightness 
• 2 cups of cooked brown rice, optional
• ¼ cup toasted pepitas, for garnish
• salt & pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 10 minutes. Add garlic, salt, and frozen butternut squash stirring to combine and cook for another 6 minutes.

Add canned pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne and vegetable broth. Stir and bring to a low boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.  If you have the time, turn off the heat, cover with a lid and let soup sit for an hour - #1. The flavors will meld as the soup sits and #2. It is safer to blend the soup when it is room temperature. If you must blend the soup when it is hot, please make sure to remove the plastic insert from the top of the blender lid and cover with a clean kitchen towel to let the steam escape.

Blend soup and return to pan. Add coconut milk and freshly squeezed orange juice and stir.  Add brown rice if using. Warm to desired temperature. Ladle into bowls. Top with a sprinkling of toasted pepitas. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with a side salad and some good crusty bread. Enjoy!

Pineapple Fried Rice

This pineapple friend rice recipe from Carlsbad Cravings was absolutely delicious!! My only complaint was that I didn't double the recipe because everyone in my house was crying for second helpings - it was that yummy!!!! I made mine vegetarian, but she recommends using shrimp or chicken.

I really really love the blog Carlsbad Cravings and I go there often for recipes.  Everything I have ever tried has been delicious.  Please click HERE for her very detailed, in depth descriptions and photos explaining how to make this rice taste like you ordered it from your favorite Thai restaurant! It is definitely worth the read!!!!

Here is Carlsbad Cravings' recipe word for word:

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
• 1 ripe pineapple chopped
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 12 oz. medium shrimp peeled and deveined, with tails
• 4-6 garlic cloves minced
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon curry powder or more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder (or 1 ½ teaspoons fresh)
• 4 cups cooked CHILLED long grain rice like jasmine or basmati rice
• 1 cup raisins or craisins
• 1/2 cup unsalted roasted cashews
• 2 Roma tomatoes seeded, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon pepper
• salt to taste I use 1/4 teaspoon
• 3 stalks green onions thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Melt butter with 1 tablespoon canola/vegetable oil in a large wok, cast iron skillet or non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Increase to medium high and add pineapple. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes or until the edges of the pineapple are caramelized. Remove to a plate using a slotted spoon.
2. Add 1 tablespoon canola/vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon sesame oil to any juices/oil left in the pan. Add the shrimp in a single layer and cook over medium-high heat for approximately 3 minutes per side, or until fully cooked. Transfer shrimp to the pineapple plate using a slotted spoon and set aside (leave oils/juices in pan). You can chop the tails once cool enough to handle if desired.
3. Add onions to remaining oil and cook 3 minutes over medium-high heat. Add the curry powder, ginger powder and garlic and cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
4. Add rice to the pan, give it a good stir then pat the rice grains down with a spatula. Let rice cook for about 30 seconds, then fold the rice over. Repeat patting the rice down and folding over a few times until the rice grains have separated and the rice is fully coated with the curry powder.
5. Add the raisins/craisins, cashews, tomatoes, pineapple and shrimp to the pan (reserving some shrimp for garnish if desired) along with fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper etc. if needed.
6. Transfer to hollowed out pineapples or serving plate and garnish with green onions and any remaining shrimp. Serve with soy sauce and additional sesame oil if desired.

 

Broccoli & Avocado Salad

Yum! A unique, yet delicious, salad that makes a healthy side dish to any meal! Enjoy!

2 broccoli crowns, cut into pieces
1 perfectly ripe avocado, cut into chunks
3 Tbl extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 tsp white wine vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp pure maple syrup (or honey)
1 Tbl black or white sesame seeds
salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400F

Drizzle 1 Tbl of olive oil over raw broccoli and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Spread out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and roast for only 8 minutes (you want the broccoli to still be firm/crisp). Let the broccoli cool for 5 minutes before tossing with dressing.

While the broccoli is roasting, cut the avocado and make the dressing. Add 2 Tbl olive oil, vinegar, Dijon, maple syrup, and sesame seeds to a small bowl and whisk until smooth. 

Right before you are ready to serve, pour dressing over cooled broccoli and toss.  Add avocado and CAREFULLY incorporate it with the broccoli (you don't want it to get smooshy). Season with a little salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Traditional Greek Salad

We recently got home from a wonderful European vacation. One of the countries we visited was Greece. Yes, the food was delicious! One of our favorite things to order at each restaurant we ate at was a Greek salad. We noticed right away that authentic Greek salad has no lettuce! We asked one of our servers about this and she said it is a very American thing to put lettuce in Greek salads and that that isn't Greek at all! Their traditional salads were bursting with flavor - tomatoes, cucumbers, Kalamata olives, green bell pepper, red onion, and feta.....oh, the feta!!! Feta was in abundance during all our Greek meals. And it was so creamy, not hard and overly salty like the feta we generally get in the States. 

**FETA TIP** 
So, one of our servers gave me an easy, yet highly effective tip on how to get American feta to taste more like Greek feta.....I did it, and it worked - it worked SO well!!!! She told me to ONLY buy feta in a block (never crumbled). She said to drain it and put it in a container full of milk and let it soak for at least one day. So that is exactly what I did! I soaked it in organic whole milk for two full days, drained it, and then used it in this salad. It was 100xs better after the milk bath! WOW!! I plan on doing this ALWAYS from here on out! 

I served this salad with falafels, tzatziki sauce, and warm pita bread. Enjoy!

• 4 medium sized tomatoes (I like tomatoes on the vine), sliced into wedges
• 1 cucumber, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• Greek pitted Kalamata olives
• 3 Tbl capers, optional
• 4 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbl red wine vinegar
• block of Greek feta** (see note above on feta!)
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• optional choice of protein - falafels, sliced grilled chicken, or shrimp

In a large bowl combine tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, onion, Kalamata olives and capers, if using. In a small bowl whisk together olive oil and vinegar. Drizzle dressing onto vegetables and very gently toss. Dish onto plates. Top with blocks of feta cheese. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and a bit of dried oregano. 

To make this more of a meal, I served this salad with falafels, pita bread and tzatziki sauce. Sliced chicken or shrimp would be another good addition.

Quinoa & Arugula Salad with Pepitas & Cojita Cheese

This is a copy cat recipe from one of my favorite local Mexican restaurants. I LOVE this salad so much - it is delicious, fresh and healthy! A great alternative to ordering the enchiladas or nachos.  The ingredients are simple, but the salad itself really wows - it's just a great combo of flavors that really come together. I think my copy cat recipe comes pretty close to the original! Enjoy!

This makes two dinner sized salads. I think cooked shrimp or salmon would make good protein additions for a heartier meal.

Salad:
3 cups cooked quinoa
2 handfuls of arugula
1/2 cup cucumber, chopped
2 radishes, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup pepitas
1/3 cup raisins
10 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 cup (or more if you love it) Cojita cheese, cubed (can sub feta cheese)
1 ripe avocado, sliced or cubed

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbl balsamic vinegar
1 Tbl honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt & pepper, each

Add the ingredients from quinoa to tomatoes into a large bowl; drizzle on prepared dressing and toss. Divide salad between two bowls. Top with avocados and cheese. Enjoy!

Dill Pickle Popcorn

We are such a popcorn family!  It's our #1 favorite treat!  I like to air pop it and add our own butter and seasonings because it's so much healthier than microwave popcorn. It is just so easy! And air-poppers are cheap! Check them out on Amazon!

We do love those popcorn stores that sell crazy flavors.....one of our favorite flavors is dill pickle. I thought I would give a shot at making it at home - free of all the food additives and flavorings. If you want to make it even healthier, omit the sugar! Hope you like this as much as we do!

~1/2 cup popcorn kernels, organic if you can (approx 10-12 cups of popcorn when popped)
 2-3 Tbl melted butter
2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt, more to taste

Pop your popcorn! I use an air popper. I have also made popcorn in a giant pot with a touch of olive oil and a tight fitting lid (google that for step by step instructions).

Mix together dill, onion & garlic powders, sugar and salt.  Pour melted butter on top of popped popcorn and sprinkle dill mixture, use your hands to toss it well so popcorn is evenly coated. Enjoy!