Skinny Spaghetti

I found this recipe on Pintrest (shocker) and what I found was that it's a great recipe for like a week night. Its takes like 15 min and it's quite healthy too! Its just as good leftover as it is at first. Yummo! What I like to pair it with is Schwans Italian bread that you throw in the microwave for like a minute. Its a pretty simple (but delicous) meal. There is no real recipe so you can decide how much of each ingredient you want to use! Also, please comment on recipies you liked, loved, or got lost in, I am happy to help! And please please PLEASE sign up for e-mail notifications on the right hand side of the home page!

Skinny Spaghetti

Spaghetti, cooked according to package

Olive oil

Breadcrumbs

Melted butter

Lemon juice

Parsley

Parmesan cheese (Usually I would hate grated but this recipe is better with grated:)

Minced garlic or garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

Toss all ingredients together

Brownie Cookies

Being a young teenager is hard. I don't have my license so I can't go anywhere but even if I could, I don't have any money. So when Christmas comes around, I for one don't know hat to get my friends and if I did, I couldn't go to buy it. So last year, I started giving them stuff like cookies and bars. One of my friends really liked brownies and I was still obsessed with making everything into a cookie so this is what I made. The were delicious and it made a ton! Also, make sure you sign up for e-mail subscriptions on the home screen on the right side!!

Brownie Cookies

1/2 cup butter

4 (1 oz) squares of unsweetened chocolate, chopped

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 baking powder

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees

In a saucepan, combine butter, unsweetened chocolate, and 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chips. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until butter and chocolate are completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool to room temp.

In a medium, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of electric mixer beat together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and gradually add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Make sure to scrape down the sides to mix fully. 

Add the chocolate mixture and beat well stir in remaining chocolate chips.

Scoop batter in tablespoons of dough and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet about 1" apart Bake for 10 min. Allow cookies to rest on cookie sheet more 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

*Recipe from Erica's Sweet Tooth

An Emerging Epidemic: Food Allergies in America

Here is the show I was talking about a few weeks ago. It was very good and I recommend everyone watches it. It talks about the research that is being done and how little information there is on this disease. There are a some good examples of people living with multiple food allergies. I love this video and I am probably going to make all my friends watch it. Its worth watching because before you know it, someone you know will most likely have an allergy. It offers many tips on how to cope with it and shows you that it doesn't have to be the end of the world. Please watch this!! For video, click here.

Garlic Bread stuffed with Baked Spaghetti

My cousin, Sam told me about this recipe. He said he finally started making supper and this is what he started with! After he told me about it I quickly went to google to make it myself. This recipe is a simpler recipe so you can add your own variations. It seems like a lot of food, but my family of 4 can gobble it up without leftovers! 

Garlic Bread Stuffed with Spaghetti

1 Loaf Rhodes™ Bread Dough or 12 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls, thawed to room temperature*

6 ounces spaghetti, cooked

1 cup thick spaghetti sauce

1 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded (Also can use Romano and mozzarella)

1 egg white, beaten

Parmesan cheese

Parsley flakes

On the counter, lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray or wax paper (which makes it easier to move to the pan), roll out bread dough into a 12 x16 in rectangle. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10-15 min.

Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain and let cool slightly.

Remove wrap from dough. Place spaghetti lengthwise in a 4-inch strip down center of dough. Top with sauce and cheese. 

 Make cuts 1 1/2-inches apart on long sides of dough to within 1/2-inch of filling. Begin braid by folding top and bottom strips toward filling. Then braid strips left over right, right over left. Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under braid.

Brush the braided dough with egg and sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley. Bake at 350°F 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly and slice to serve.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

Two years ago, if you asked me if I wanted cheesecake, I would have said no way! and made a face. Now if you ask me, its YES! I love cheesecake and these bars were the first time I made it myself. I just started goggling and found this awesome recipe. It's two of my favorite things combined into one. The worst part is that after you bake it, you can't eat it right away. It's suppose to be cooled. So its a bummer when it comes out of the oven and the smell is enough to make you drool.It is a very popular recipe at get togethers or just for yourself !

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

Crust:

1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers

5 T butter, melted

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Filling:

10 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg at room temperature

1 t vanilla

Cookie Dough:

5 T butter, softened

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 T sugar

1 t

dash of salt

1 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9x9 baking pan with foil leaving extra foil over the edges, spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together graham crackers and butter, until crackers are moistened. Then stir in chocolate chips. Press into the bottom of prepared pan and bake for 6 minutes, or until set. Remove and set onto a cooling rack. Decrease oven to 325 F.

In a larger bowl,beat cream cheese and sugar together on low until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla until just blended. Pour into prepared pan.

In the same bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt on medium until blended. Beat in flour until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop tsp. of dough into the filling. Bake for 30-35 min or until top is dry and looks set when gently shaken.Cool until not hot then place in refrigerator until cool. Cut and eat! Refrigerate leftovers. 

* Optional: Drizzle 1/4 of melted chocolate chips on bars after finished cooking.

Rice Krispy Chicken

This is a good recipe, one of my favorites. We used to make it all the time. Chicken, butter, and a little crunch, you just can't go wrong! We would make it with sliced potatoes with butter, salt, and cheese. It was my favorite dish as a child. It was in an old magazine, Taste of Home. Its old-timey but aren't Grandma's recipes always the best?

Rice Krispy Chicken

1 1/2 cups crushed Rice Krispies
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 T. flour
1/2 t salt
1/4 t thyme
1/4 t. poultry seasoning
4-6 servings of chicken breast, thawed.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Place butter in a shallow dish and in a separate dish combine flour, rice krispies, and seasonings together. Dip the chicken breast in the butter then dry ingredients making sure the entire breast is coated. Then place in a large, greased, casserole dish. Bake for 20-25 min.

More on Food Allergies

Sorry, no recipe today folks. But, I would like to share with you more about my allergy. Most people think that food allergies aren't that serious but those people...are WRONG! All allergies can be severe. I have two big pet peeves that just make me so angry. One is when I go out to restaurants and ask the waitress what oil they fry in and if my meal is okay and they answer with: "I think..." No. You can't think. You have to KNOW! It's a life or death situation. Just find out! Ugh...so annoying. This summer, when I went down to Tennessee with my family, the people were SO good about my allergy."Yeah, the owner has the same allergy!" or "I do, too!". It was really nice! The other thing that is super annoying is when people threaten me. "I'm gonna shove peanut butter on your face if you don't do what I want." Those people....enough said.

There will be a documentary on the discovery channel about food allergies and how they are serious and they are a problem. I recommend you watch even though I know many won't. Here is a link with more:
http://www.foodallergy.org/emerging-epidemic#.UifpRzasim4

Cookie Dough Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

I love cookie dough and chocolate. Like, a lot. Its not hard to tell, haha. So every time I get the chance to make dessert, it usually involves one of these 2 items. When I saw this recipe, I was a little nervous to try it. It does look difficult! But when they came out of the oven perfectly, I knew that it was one of those recipes I was going to make all the time! I brought them to a BBQ this summer, and they were a big hit! The best part? No need to mess with frosting!!

Cookie Dough Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Filling:

8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened 
1/3 cup sugar 
1 egg 
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cupcake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups water

2/3 cups vegetable oil

2 Tbsp white vinegar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tins (24) with cupcake liners.

To prepare filling- Beat all ingredients except chocolate chips together until smooth and creamy. Stir in chocolate chips.

To prepare cupcakes- Stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla.  Beat for 3 minutes. 

Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full with muffin batter. In each cup, spoon about 1 T. of filling and drop into middle. Bake for 20-25 min or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Let cool for 5 min in pans. Use a fork to lift out of muffin tin and onto cooling rack. Cool completely before serving.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Tops

At our house, we usually have bananas that get really brown and then nobody will eat them. So usually I would make banana bread, muffins, or bars but last year I had this obsession with cookies so I googled a banana cookie recipe and found this one. The thing is though, they were more like muffin tops than cookies so I renamed them. This recipe doesn't make much, but they are so good!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Tops

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup ripe, mashed banana

1/2 t vanilla

1 t. baking powder

1 cup flour

1/4 t salt

1/8 t baking soda

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar together until creamy. Beat in vanilla, banana, and egg. 

In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Gradually beat into banana mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. 

Drop by tablespoon 2 in apart on a sprayed baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 min. Let cool for 2 min before moving muffin tops to a cooling rack.

Zucchini Bread

So like I said earlier in the week, we have a ton of zucchini just sitting around at our house. So yesterday I made 6 loaves of zucchini bread. I found a good, easy recipe online. It's also kinda healthy because instead of butter it uses applesauce...I know what your thinking "wouldn't that make it apple bread...?" No. I was skeptical when I started this recipe but it is AMAZING and there are a ton of different variations to it!

Zucchini Bread*

Makes: 2 loaves

3 cups flour

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 T. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1 cup applesauce

2 eggs

2 t. vanilla

1 cup grated zucchini

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, both sugars, baking powder, and baking soda. Then add the applesauce, eggs, and vanilla and mix well. Once combined, add zucchini and mix.

Spray 2 loaf pans and split the batter between the 2 of them. Bake for 40-45 min or until it passes the tooth pick test. Wait until cooled to removed from pan.

* Variations:

Add 1 cup of mini chocolate chips with zucchini

Add 1-2 mashed bananas with applesauce (Warning: I have not tried this yet..)

After 15 minutes of baking, top with 1/2-1 cup of coconut (Haven't perfected this one yet)

Comment any other variations that you try!! :)