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Food

My Love Affair with Cookie Chips

/ Food

I’ll be the first to admit that I have a love for snacks! Whenever I come across something new and delicious, I just feel like it’s my duty, as an American, to let everyone else know about it too. Recently I attended a fun blogger event called The Socal Social. Inside our Swag Bag, we were each given a bag of Chocolate Chip Cookie Chips.

I had never heard of them before but the packaging looked adorable and with a motto like, “Tastes like a Cookie, Eats like a Chip“, how could I NOT rush to try them? I, of course, had to wait to try them with Emi, as she’s always been my taste-testing partner. Look what happened when I poured some out of the bag!!!

I swear the came out of the bag and landed like this! hehe! 
(I can’t help that I see Hidden Mickeys everywhere!)
 
Cookie Chips are so yummy! They are very light and crunchy and made a perfect after-school snack for Emi with a glass of milk. After Emi read the part that said “Eats like a Chip”, she said to me, “Mommy, since they eat like a chip, can I have them in my lunch EVERY day with my sandwich?” Now I’m dying to try one of the other flavors. They are available in Original, Chocolate Chip, Cinnamon Sugar, Dark Chocolate Chip, and Sea Salted Peanut Butter. To find a list of stores where you can find Cookie Chips, click here. I promise you, once you have just one bite of a Cookie Chip, you’ll start your own love affair with them too!

Scrummy Joe’s Spaghetti Squash

/ Food, Recipes

I’m on a constant quest for semi-quick and easy meals to prepare for dinner that my daughter will actually eat. One of the best places I’ve gotten ideas from is at Trader Joe’s. Every week when we go in to do our weekly shopping, my daughter gets excited to visit the back of the store where the samples are being made. On our last visit there, they were preparing this Scrummy Joe’s Spaghetti Squash. (How cute is that name?) Emi kept sneaking back for more. (shhhh!) I knew she was “sold” on it when she asked, “Mommy, WHICH part is the squash?” as she kept eating it. The best part about their samples, is that everything that’s used in the recipe is usually in a fridge right next to the preparation area or sitting up on the counter. They also have little recipe cards typed out for you to take home. It really couldn’t be any simpler. Moms like me REALLY appreciate Trader Joe’s!

So here is the recipe. Just wait til’ you taste it!
Ingredients:
  • 1 spaghetti squash
  • 1 bottle Kansas City BBQ Sauce
  • I can diced tomatoes with green chiles (drained)
  • 2 lbs Organic ground beef (turkey meat can be substituted)
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • Shredded cheddar cheese

 

  1. Preparation:
    The first thing you have to do is to conquer the spaghetti squash! First wash it really well. Then cut it VERY CAREFULLY the long way and scoop out the inside, along with the seeds. It’s JUST like a pumpkin! Then place half of it in a microwave safe bowl, pour a little bit of water actually on the squash, cover with plastic and microwave for about 10 minutes total. The plastic is going to be EXTREMELY HOT, as well as the bowl so use caution when taking it out of the microwave to allow it to cool. I removed the plastic right away and left it on the counter for a few minutes. After the squash is cooled a bit, you can use a fork to make it shred into spaghetti-like strands. I shredded all of the inside, placed it in a bowl, sprinkled with some salt and pepper to taste, and set it aside.
  2. Saute ground beef (or turkey) with onion and drain.
  3. Add the bottle of BBQ sauce and the can of drained tomatoes and mix well. (I actually blended up the can of tomatoes so it was a fine sauce because my daughter is picky if she sees big, red tomatoes in her food)
  4. In a 9 X 13 dish, spread the squash evenly in the bottom, layer the meat/sauce mix on top of that, cover with cheese and warm in the oven until the cheese is melted!
I could barely wait until it cooled down to eat it! Emi ate 2 servings of it. Now your turn!
*For more Trader Joe’s recipes, go here.

Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread!

/ Food, Recipes
I love Fall! I love so many things about it, but mostly the fact that it’s the beginning of the October-December holiday season which means time to bake!
This year I decided to start hand writing the recipes as I make them. With so much technology available, I find that I rarely hand write anything. I want Emi to have things that I’ve actually written, which I can only hope will become some of her most cherished keepsakes of me. I want her to have a recipe book full of things I’ve made for her. What this also means is that I need to start expanding my recipe repertoire because she probably thinks I can’t cook anything unless it has batter!
Today I am making chocolate chip banana nut bread. The great thing about this recipe, aside from the fact that it’s easy to make, is that you can alter it. If you don’t want it too sweet, omit the chocolate chips. If you don’t like or can’t eat nuts, leave them out, and if you aren’t a big banana lover, you can still just make this with the chocolate chips and nuts. I am in LOVE with using Nestle mini chocolate chips for this recipe. I’ve made it with regular size chocolate chips too, but the minis are WAY better.
 These are a few of my favorite things (for baking):
Ok so here comes the recipe:

The Ingredients:
*2 1/2 c. All-Purpose Flour
*2 c. sugar
*1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
*1/2 tsp. salt
*3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, softened
*2 large eggs
*1 tsp. vanilla extract
*3 c. (about 7 medium) ripe bananas, mashed (I only use about 3)
*12 oz. mini (or regular) chocolate chips
*4 oz. walnuts, chopped
The Instructions:
*Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
*Grease two 9X5 inch loaf pans.
*In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt with a wire whisk; set aside.
*In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with mixer on high speed. Add eggs, bananas, and vanilla, and      beat at a medium speed until thick. Scrape sides of bowl.
*Add the flour mixture, chocolate chips, and nuts, and then blend at low speed just until combined.      DON’T over mix.
*Pour batter into prepared pans.
*Bake on center rack of oven for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
*Cool in pan for 10 minutes. turn pans on sides; cool to room temperature before removing and slicing.

I hope you get as addicted to this chocolate chip banana nut bread as I am! Happy Fall!

What Happens in the Teachers Lounge, Stays in the Teachers Lounge

/ Food, The Teacher in Me

Today was my first official day back to my school site for an inservice! After being off and home with my daughter for 10 1/2 weeks, I was kind of sad to be away from her. I do know that I’m more fortunate than most people though to even have that much time off at once. (even though teachers don’t get paid when they don’t work)

Of course, it was all temporarily better the moment I got a hold of this…..
Seriously though…everything is better with a donut….and some coffee!
My most favorite donut in the whole world is a sprinkled donut!
So tell me, what’s yours? *cue for YOU to leave a comment

I’m Craving Apple Pie Pops!

/ Food, Recipes

I’m not sure if it’s because today seemed kind of like the beginning of fall, even though I know it’s not, or what is going on but I’ve had the biggest craving for apple pie pops all day! They’re like little heavenly pockets of apple, in an adorable little crust and served on a stick!
I actually made these back in May after I saw a post on http://aimeebroussard.com/tag/pie-pops/! Mine came out nowhere NEAR as adorbs as hers did, but it was my first attempt, so perhaps my next batch will turn out cuter than these did. Regardless, they tasted yummy and I sure wish I had some right now!

I can only imagine how difficult it must be when you’re 8 and your mom hands you one of these but says NOT to eat it! Does she seriously expect you to just pose with it a whole bunch of times and NOT bite into it? Poor Emi! She’s such a good sport. Just look at those pleading eyes!

Don’t worry, I let her eat it eventually….in addition to a few more!

 

Monkey Bread: a 4th of July Tradition

/ Celebrations, Food
It’s a tradition in our house, to have “Monkey Bread” on 4th of July morning. Personally, I find it to be  one of the yummiest things in the whole world! This year, I decided to add some BACON to half of it.
Monkey Bread basics:
*sugar
*cinnamon
*2 sticks of melted butter
*6 rolls of biscuits (I used store brand this time)
*chopped up, crispy bacon (about 1/2 lb)
 It’s VERY easy to make. First you need to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Next, start to cut up each roll of biscuits, roll each piece in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, then toss into a bundt pan. After each roll of biscuits, I pour some butter over the top of what’s in the pan. The more moist the layers are with butter, the better it will taste. This year I also added crumbled bacon to half of the pan, so I layered the bacon in between the rolls of biscuits.  Continue layering everything and at the end, pour the rest of the melted butter over the top of what’s in the pan. (At this point, just try not to think about calories and fat)
It should look something like this. Bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until it’s a little brown and crispy on the top.  After it’s done, cut into it and serve a big hunk to everyone. We end up picking at it over the entirety of the day! It even tastes good cold!So what’s something YOU like to eat on the 4th of July?

 It was kid tested and kid approved by this girl! 🙂
Happy 4th of July!