Tasty Tuesday: Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sunday I was finally able to celebrate Bradley's birthday after not seeing him for three weeks since he's been in Serbia!

More on our sweet time together tomorrow :)

Today I want to share with you this piece of divine deliciousness.

Bradley's favorite flavor is mint chocolate chip (very important girlfriend information).

This flavor, however, is most often found in ice cream and milkshakes.  I couldn't exactly drive for two and a half hours in July with frozen milk in my car, so I found this recipe for mint chocolate chip cookies (via Pinterest, of course).

Here's my altered version:

Ingredients:

1 pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

1/2 cup Smart Balance Buttery Spread, softened (or butter)

1/2 teaspoon mint extract

1 egg

5 drops of green food color

 1 cup dark chocolate chips

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 Andes mint per cookie (the recipe makes 24)

Directions:

1.  Mix the sugar cookie mix, buttery spread, extract, egg, and food color together in a mixing bowl.

2.  Stir in the dark chocolate and semi sweet chocolate chips (not the Andes mints).

3.  Scoop 24 dough rounds an inch or two apart on two baking sheets.

4.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12.5 minutes.

5.  Let cool for 5 minutes.

6.  Gently press a single Andes mint into the top of each cookie.

If you want to add some extra sweetness, write down a certain number of reasons why you're glad someone you love was born, cut out each of the reasons, tape them to toothpicks, and stick one toothpick in the middle of each cookie :)

Tasty Tuesday: Banana Quinoa Breakfast Spread

Late last week I was searching the interwebs for a simple breakfast recipe with bananas, oatmeal, and quinoa.  I never found one.

So I decided to think for myself and create my own!

Experimental baking makes me nervous, so I made a breakfast spread!

Ingredients:

2 bananas

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 - 1 cup uncooked quinoa

~ 1 1/2 tbs honey

Extremely Complicated Directions:

Mash bananas;

peel bananas;

combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

I later decided to throw in a handful of dried cranberries to the mix.

It was a good decision.

This spread is great on a toasted bagel.

Or just by the spoonful :)

Tasty Tuesday: Blueberry Broccoli Summer Salad

Saturday evening, after Trey and I had a super fun and humbling date, we went home. 

(After trying to go to a church service that night, and then realizing that particular church has Sunday night services, not Saturday. Summit member mistake.)

I made a salad while Trey made the biggest fish taco I've ever seen.

Here's what I made:

Ingredients:

2/3 cup fresh blueberries

2/3 cup broccoli

1/2 cup carrots, chopped

1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped

2 egg whites

juice of 1/2 lemon

3 tablespoons olive oil & balsamic organic vinaigrette 

(or any vinaigrette-based dressing of your choice)

First I chopped up the veggies:

Then I threw in the veggies and blueberries in a large bowl.

I removed the yoke from the two boiled eggs, chopped the whites, and threw them in the mix.

Finally I squeezed the lemon juice and drizzled the dressing over the salad, and gobbled half of it up!

You could easily double this recipe to feed a family of four.

Yes, this can be a meal--veggies, fruit, and protein!

Or it can be a great summer snack to reach for.

No more sugary cereal, Kayla.

Trey tasted it, and wasn't a fan to say the least...but he's a sixteen year old boy who eat fish tacos the size of his head.

Tasty Tuesday: Culturally Confused/Healthy Burrito

Friday night I came home from a ten-hour work day to a Mexican dinner.  Score.

However...Mexican food is typically in conjunction with extreme overeating and a load of regret.

So I decided to be proactive and before I gazed too long at a giant white flour tortilla and regular sour cream (fortunately, I don't eat red meat), and tried to make it healthy!

I grabbed these tortillas that I knew were hiding in the fridge just waiting to be chosen instead of their nutritionally and financially cheaper counterparts. 

Not too shabby.

I grabbed two (it was Mexican night, give me a break):

Opened a can of black beans, and distributed 2/3 of a cup of the beans onto the tortillas.

Sprinkled some feta cheese on top...

Now I know what you're thinking.  It does indeed seem like a Greek dish thus far.  I promise I indulged in the deliciousness of Mexican night.

Zapped it in the microwave for about a minute, and loaded some mild (I'm a wimp and unashamed) salsa and lettuce on top.

Yummy, filling, and not too much.

What are some tricks that you use to make Mexican food a little less...suicidal to your health?

Tasty Tuesday: Cinnamon Walnut Oatmeal Muffins

...What a mouthful! (punny.)

Sunday late afternoon, after church and beach time with my momma, I decided to make a breakfast dish.

The idea made total sense at the time.

Pinterest is always great for recipes...but the recipes I had pinned I needed to go to the grocery store to get a few items. And it was just too great of a day to leave my house alone. 

There was baking and lounging to be done!

I wanted something oatmeal (duh) and I found THIS fantastic recipe!

I changed quite a few things, so here's my version:

Ingredients

Muffins:

1 cup sifted all purpose flour

1/4 cup of sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (could use raisins, blueberries...my pantry had walnuts)

3 tbsp canola oil

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk

Topping:

2 tbsp honey (could use brown sugar)

1 tbsp cinnamon

2 tsp all purpose flour

1 tbsp butter

Directions for Muffins:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Sift 1 cup of all purpose flour into a mixing bowl.

Add the baking powder and salt, and sift the ingredient all together.

Then add the oatmeal and walnuts into the mix.

(I decided to chop mine)

Then, in a separate mixing bowl, beat one egg well.

Then add the oil and milk; whisk.

Pour the oil/milk/egg into the big mixing bowl and stir well.

I added a dash of cinnamon to the mix.

Stir together and fill muffin tins 2/3 - 1/2 full.

Bake for 15 minutes.

I obviously didn't fill my tins equally.  Oops.

Let cool while you whip up the topping.

Directions for Topping:

Combine the butter, flour, cinnamon, and honey in a microwavable bowl/cup.

Microwave the mixture for 30 seconds; stir.

You can drizzle the topping or let it cool for a bit and then coat the top of each individual muffin. 

Like so:

Enjoy!

My family sure did...as they were GONE before I ate breakfast the next morning.

So much for a breakfast dish.

Tasty Tuesday: Poppyseed Pasta Salad

Friday afternoon, I skipped my run and decided to cook.

What a dream.

Last week, I was hard-core scouring for some easy and delicious pasta dishes -- emphasis on easy.

Pinterest and blogs have been scoured.

My first experiment is this concoction:

Inspired by Kristin at the PickyCook blog!

This dish sounded yummy and easy enough.

Here's my version: 

2 1/2 cups of bowtie pasta
1 can of drained chick peas

2-3 cups of chopped veggies

And for the sauce:

1 cup of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon dijon mustard 

2 tablespoons pomegranate red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

parmesan cheese

sprinkled poppy seeds

1. Cook the pasta.

You'll want to do this first in orer to let the noodles adequatly drain and cool.

2. While the noodles are cooking, go ahead and chop up some veggies.

Grab whatever's in your vegetable drawer.

That's what I did.

3. Drain a can of chick peas.

4. Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan, then add the thyme and garlic.
Cook over low heat for ~1 minute.

4.  Off the heat, add the lemon juice, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper, stirring constantly.

5. Throw the noodles, chick peas, and chopped veggies into a large bowl and pour that divine-smelling warm sauce over the ingredients.

As you can see, I added some of the seeds from the bell pepper and sprinkled some poppy seeds on top of the dish.

Then throw some parmesan cheese on top.

Get in muh belly.

As you can see, there are some cucumbers in there.
That's because when I was adding the parmesan cheese, my grandpa walked in the door with groceries. So I just grabbed a cuc and chopped up half of it and threw it in.

It was perfect because the sauce was a little runny, and the cucumber slices soaked the last of the runniness right up!

I have a strong inkling this I'll be making this dish over and over and over again.

So what?  I like uniformity :)

Tasty Tuesday: Kidney Bean Broccoli Quinoa

Now that all of my friends have left Wilmington (just kidding...kind of), (more on this tomorrow), I have a lot more time on my hands.  Time to teach myself how to cook. 

Read: I can't cook.

Recently, I learned how to cook noodles. At twenty years old. 

One step at a time.

My love for the stove is progressing, although still slightly unrequited.  

After a sweet coffee date and a few errands, I came home and decided to make a big lunch.

These are the ingredients I used:

1 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cup organic kidney beans

1 cup frozen broccoli florets

1/4 - 1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

~ 1/4 teaspoon Mrs. Dash seasoning

lemon half / lemon juice

spoonful feta cheese (optional)

Bring 2 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a boil.

Pour in the cup of quinoa and turn the heat to low; cover and let cook for 10-12 minutes.

 While the quinoa is cooking, steam (or, in my case, microwave) about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of frozen broccoli florets.

Then combine the kidney beans and a little chopped onion.

I threw in some Mrs. Dash.

Add a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil to the quinoa.

Make sure the rings are visible when you're finished cooking the quinoa. If not, continue cooking.

I sprinkled some more Mrs. Dash in the quinoa.

Combine the quinoa with the broccoli/bean mixture and squeeze a lemon half...or just add a few drops of lemon juice (there were no lemons in my house).

I added a spoonful of feta cheese (optional).

This was my serving:

And this was how much was left over--this dish could easily feed four.

Dee-lish! 

Plus, my sweet momma ate it...but that honestly doesn't mean much.