Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies 

I thought a little celebration was in order because the weather is starting to cool down. It's no longer 112 F degrees! Crazy, right? Welcome to Arizona. I love when autumn is approaching. I can look forward to walks after dinner with the family and comforting soups. Oh and wearing boots and jackets. Yeah! What season is your favorite? Ok, back to the celebrating, how about some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies? Yum! I was watching Rachael Ray's show and Buddy Valastro from Cake Boss and Carlos Bakery was a guest on the show and he was baking peanut butter cookies. It looked so good, I was inspired. I took this recipe and just changed it up a little. I used unsalted butter instead of vegetable shortening and I omitted the peanut butter chips. I used chopped peanuts and walnuts mixture. Instead of using milk chocolate chips, I used semi-sweet. I also used all natural peanut butter with no added salt or sugar. I baked at 350 F degrees for 12 minutes. Ok, maybe I changed more then a little. :-) It was delicious. Enjoy!     

Friday Favorites

My husband bought this purse for me a while back and I have to say it's my favorite. I normally switch purses to match my outfits or mood, but I pretty much use this everyday. I love this Marc by Marc Jacobs purse! It's a crossbody purse, making it super comfortable to wear. 

I love Lush products. If you don't know the company, they use fresh and organic fruits and vegetables to make their products. They also use little to no preservatives or chemicals. To learn more, go here. I love this shampoo and conditioner. This shampoo has salt in it to give you that extra "oomph" and it really really leaves your hair shiny. The conditioner is great for people with dry hair. It leaves my hair super soft and healthy. 

Best Cupcakes I've made thus far! Unfortunately I can't take credit for the recipe. :-). The recipe is from The Best of America's Test Kitchen Best Recipes and Reviews 2011. The magazine has some really great recipes.  

I wish everyone a great weekend!

Buttermilk Pancakes with Caramelized Apples

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! 

A lot of people ask me how I get the nice "ring" and the "fluff" for my pancakes. These are the rules I follow. I use unsalted butter and butter the frying pan nicely at medium heat. The pan is ready when the butter starts sizzling just slightly. (If you are not sure, you can do the water test. Splash the pan with little water and if it sizzles, it's ready.) After I pour the pancake batter in the pan, I do not touch or flip until I see the nice bubbles and the edges are slightly cooked. 

Then flip. Now, leave it alone. You will see it rise as it cooks. It takes about 3 minutes

 and then transfer to plate. Enjoy! 

Recipe: Buttermilk Pancakes (makes about 8 medium size pancakes) 

Ingredients:

1. 3 eggs 
2. 2 cups buttermilk 
3. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled 
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5. 2 cups all purpose flour
6. 3 tablespoons sugar 
7. 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
8. 1 teaspoon baking soda
9. 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
10. pinch of nutmeg 

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, cooled butter, and vanilla extract. Set aside. 

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center and add the buttermilk mixture. Stir until just combined. Don't over mix, otherwise you will get tough and chewy pancakes. Directions above on how to make the perfect pancakes. 

Recipe: Caramelized Apples

Ingredients:

1. 4 apples, peeled and cored and sliced (I use this.)
2. 1/2 cup of sugar 
3. 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter 
4. 1/2 cup of maple syrup
5. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Over medium-low heat in a saucepan, stir sugar for 2-4 minutes or until the sugar dissolves. Add butter and stir. Add the apples. Cook for 10 minutes or until the apple softens. Add the maple syrup and let it come to a bubble and then remove from heat. Serve over pancakes.      

Roasted Vegetables with Penne Pasta

Today I went to my first Bikram Yoga or otherwise known as Hot Yoga class and it was fantastic. The class combined vinyasa power flow yoga. I took the class at Sumits Yoga. The yoga class is held in a heated room. The idea is that your muscles are more relaxed allowing a deeper and safer stretching. The heat helps you sweat out toxins from your body. Of course, there's also the benefit of weight loss. If you have never tried it, go try it. I've always found yoga a bit boring. I normally take kickboxing class as a form of exercise. I don't know, but with the extra hot and humid room, you were able to relax and actually empty your thoughts and just focus on your body. It was great! A total de-stressor! So, then I had to make something healthy and fantastic for dinner. Answer: Roasted Vegetables with Penne Pasta.  

Ingredients:

1. 1 pint cherry tomatoes
2. 1 zucchini, quartered and sliced
3. 1 yellow squash, quartered and sliced
4. 1 small eggplant, quartered and sliced (I like to peel the skin off)
5. 1 red bell pepper, chopped 
6. 1 red onion, chopped 
7. 1 fennel bulb, chopped 
8. 2 garlic cloves, minced
9. extra virgin olive oil 
10. kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 
11. 1/2 lb whole wheat penne pasta 
12. 3 thick slices of fresh mozzarella cheese, crumbled
13. 1/4 cup of shredded Pecorino Romano cheese 
14. 2 tablespoon truffle oil (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

In a roasting pan, combine tomatoes, zucchini, squash, eggplant, red bell pepper, red onion, fennel bulb, and garlic. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast for 45 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, stirring twice. Remove and set aside. 

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and add to the roasted vegetables. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake in oven for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese has melted. 

Remove and drizzle with the truffle oil. 

Serve. Enjoy!    

A little thought and Cajun Sausage, Shrimp, and Red Beans

Sometimes your days get jumbled up with other days and you end up feeling like you're on a roller coaster ride. You go through the same routine everyday, but then you have an exceptional day. Today, I watched my older son practice at his very competitive swim team and I was filled with such adoration and proudness. As a parent, we have such limited time with our children before they go out into the world and make their own life choices. I have to remember to always savor the little moments I have with them and not worry about the future so much. Because that is in fact what I do way too much! I hope I didn't bore you with my thoughts. Thank you visiting and taking time away from your schedule to read my blog. I appreciate you very much. Ok, on to cooking now. I served this over rice.

Cajun Sausage, Shrimp, and Red Beans    

1. 1 lb of smoked beef sausage, sliced at a diagonal 
2. 1/2 lb of peeled, deveined large shrimp
3. 1 (14.5-ounce) can of red beans
4. 1 cup of vegetable stock 
5. 1 red bell pepper, chopped
6. 1 celery, chopped 
7. 1 onion, chopped 
8. 2 garlic cloves, diced
9. 1 tablespoon Emeril Lagasse's Essence seasoning 
10. kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
11. 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onions, celery, and red bell peppers for about 5 minutes. Add the sausage and saute for 6-8 minutes. Add the beans, garlic, and stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Use a wooden spoon and mash about half of the mixture. This will help thicken up the broth. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Serve. 

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Can it get any better then Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins for breakfast? I think not! The pairing of fruit and chocolate never gets old, just delicious.  

I used this recipe for Banana Bread and I added 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and baked it at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.  

Enjoy!