Toasty Banana Muffins

Last year when I made this for the first time it was a HUGE hit in my home. I made 12 muffins and 7 days later they were gone! This is a simple recipe that anyone can do (whether you're good in the kitchen or not) and something you can do with your kids. This recipe has something for everyone.

Toasty Banana Muffins
1 1/2 cups all purpose whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 large bananas mashed
3/4 cup of white sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup of margarine or butter- melted
3/4 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350*
2. Mash the bananas
3. combine the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour
4. add in the egg and margarine/butter and banaas
5. mix in the chocolate chips
6. lightly grease and flour 12 mini muffin pans
7. bake in the oven for 35 minutes
8. turn off oven and let sit there for 10 minutes before taking it out
9. let the muffins cool and serve with tea or coffee or just plain

Any way you eat them you will love them! 

Honey Mustard Salmon

 So my dad was away and normally (well actually all the time) we have chicken on Friday nights, since my dad wants to have chicken on Fridays. But since he was away on business for a few weeks I decided to make something different, my mom after all isn't picky about what she eats and doesn't eat. This is when I discovered this recipe. Yes I know many of you have heard of it before, but mine is the best. I've been told it tastes like it is from a restaurant! And even my mom's friend who doesn't like fish tried it and liked it. So I promise you that if you love fish- you will love this! And even if you don't like fish- you will love this..well maybe not love but you will definitely like it a lot!!

Honey Mustard Salmon

2 fish fillets (that is 4oz of salmon)
2 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. light sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1. rinse the salmon
2. mix the honey, Dijon, soy sauce, brown sugar, oil and lemon juice together
3. put the salmon and dressing into a large baggy and marinate in fridge for 20-30 minutes
4. preheat oven to 325* and bake for 30 minutes

you can serve this warm or cold- but cold is better!

Old Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese

So I am afraid to say this but I don't like cheese...yes I know you may be thinking "what you don't like cheese? Doesn't everyone like it?" Well not me and I never have. However, just because I don't enjoy cheese does not mean I refrain from using it in many of my recipes. After all most people love it! I want to share with all of you my great grandmother (Ganny)'s famous macaroni and cheese. Everyone in my mother's family loves this and we have it at almost every family get together.

Macaroni and Cheese
1 pound of whole wheat elbow pasta or whole wheat linguini 
2 pounds of shredded low fat cheddar cheese
dash of salt
dash of pepper
low fat milk
1/4 onion sliced (optional)

1. cook the pasta for 7 minutes (until al dente)
2. Preheat oven to 325*
3. mix the pasta with the cheddar cheese
4. pour it into the pan and then pour the milk into the pan until the pan is filled half way with milk
5. add a dash of salt and pepper on top along with the slices of onions
6. cook in oven for 45-60 minutes (depending on browned you like it) I recommend 50 minutes.

Serve Hot! I promise you that you will never go back to Kraft Macaroni & Cheese again!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

So I had made my spinach lasagna rolls and had left over cottage cheese and had to think of a recipe to finish it off. But what? Yes I know you can eat it plain but how boring is that? So I found this recipe and then added my own little twist to it. Here it is...you will love, love it!


Cottage Cheese Pancakes

1 1/2 cups of fat free cottage cheese
1  1/3 cup of whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
3 large eggs
4 tbsp. vegetable oil
3 tbsp. strawberry jelly

1. in a large mixing bowl combine the egg, flour, cottage and oil- mix well
2. in preheated skillet form pancakes and pour onto the pan
3. heat on each side for about 6 minutes on each side- until you see bubbles forming

Serve immediately with jelly on the side
(makes about 8 pancakes)

Grilled Avocado Melts

If you like avocado then I promise you will like this. Avocados sometimes get a bad rap because they are high in fat but the fat from an avocado is healthy for you, the fat from ice cream not so much. Avocado have 18 essential amino acids, high in vitamin C and E and can lead to a healthy heart. Okay so enough with the health lesson let's get down to recipe, right?!

Grilled Avocado Melts

1 large avocado
dash of salt
dash of pepper
1/4 tsp. lemon juice
4 slices of whole wheat bread
2 thick slices of tomato
4 slices of sliced mozzarella or munster cheee
1 tbsp. of unsalted butter


1. mash the avocado and add in salt, pepper and lemon juice
2. lightly butter one side of each slice of bread
3. place 2 slices of bread (butter side down) on a preheated skillet
4. carefully spread the avocado on the bread with a spatula [remember the stove top is hot]
5. then carefully place the tomato down on each bread, on top of the avocado mush
6. then place 2 slices of cheese down and then top it with the other piece of bread (butter side facing up this time).
7. with the spatula push the bread down as you would if you were making a grilled cheese sandwich. After about 3 minutes flip the sandwich over and repeat with the other side for 3 minutes. Then flip a few times making sure each side is lightly browned and then serve each sandwich on 2 plates. 
Serve each grilled sandwich on a plate and enjoy!

Yummy and healthy- Each sandwich has about 380 calories.

Summer Chili

I hate having ingredients in the house that isn't be used...I know this sounds strange but it's one of my biggest pet peeves. I looked in the cabinet already annoyed and saw canned beans. We've have them in our cabinet for over a month. Why are we even buying them? I decided I needed to find a recipe for it and that is when I came up with my famous chili.

Summer Chili
15oz canned red kidney beans
15oz canned black beans
15oz diced regular diced tomatoes
8oz canned corn- no salt added
1 12oz package of Morning Star Farms meatless crumblers
1 1/2 tbsp. chili sauce
2 cups of tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. onion powder
dash of pepper
dash of salt

1. combine red kidney beans, black beans and diced tomatoes in a pot- put heat on low (make sure you drain the cans)
2. on a large skillet heat the morning star farms and 2 cups of tomato sauce until the fake meat is at room temperature.
3. pour the fake meat into the pot and bring flame to medium
4. add in the chili sauce, chili powder, onion powder, garlic salt and dash of pepper and salt
5. pour the canned corn into the pot and bring flame to high stirring every 30 seconds.

Serve warm with bread, crackers, rice cakes or just with a spoon and fork.

Cheese Burger, Fries and Milk Shake Please...oh no!

Well I've never actually ate this nor would I eat my version of it but from what I hear a cheese burger with fries and a milk shake is like heave. If you grew up in the 50's , 60's or 70's I'm sure you have one these once in your life and if you haven't I am sure you have dreamed about it. Remember in the movie Grease when all they really eat their hangs out are milkshakes and burgers? Yum! Well it does not take a rocket scientist to realize that this combo is not exactly going to lower your cholesterol. But still why shouldn't we be able to indulge a little? Well I am not going to give you permission to indulge completely but at least a little bit. Here is an amazing recipe to have your cheese burger, fries and milkshake and eat it too!!

Morning Star Original Burgers - a normal burger has between 250-300 calories. This only has 130 calories!

1 Slice of of low fat cheese- between 60-100 calories!

Whole Wheat Bun- the normal bun you get has 160 calories and enriched flour (which may sound healthy but it is actually so bad for you) a whole wheat bun has only 120 calories.

French Fries- just buy the kind in the store and reheat it without any oil!

1. Cook burger according to directions (meanwhile heat up the fries)
2. Place the slice of cheese on the hot bun and let it melt just a little
3. Place one bun on the whole wheat bun 
4. Serve on a plate with side of fries

Milk Shake
1 cup of vanilla frozen yogurt
1/2 cup of  low fat milk
2 tbsp. chocolate syrup

Pour all ingredients into a blender and blend on high for about 2-3 minutes or until nice and creamy.

Eat with Burger and Fries

Total Calories Healthy Version: 800 calories
Total Calories of Unhealthy Version: 1100 calories        

You just saved 300 calories!

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Everyone loves peanut butter and jelly, right? Isn't that what so many of us grew up on as kids. I know I did. This blog entry is 100% dedicated to all forms of eating the famous Peanut Butter and Jelly combo.

So it's breakfast and you decide that you're really hungry and want some peanut butter with jelly...what can you make?

 Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast

2 Arnold select thin breads- whole wheat (or a loaf of bread that is not already cut is fine too)
2 tbsp. 100% natural peanut butter (just peanuts and salt!)
2 tbsp. of your favorite jelly
1 extra large egg

1. spread 1 tbsp. of peanut butter on each sandwich
2. drench each bread in egg and cook on a heated skillet for 3 minutes on each side (may need more depending on how your flame is)
3. serve with heaping tbsp. of your favorite jelly

So it's lunch time and you want peanut butter and jelly. Other then of course just making yourself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which would just be boring and gone before you even realized what you were eating there are so many other alternatives. Here are a few of them:

Peanut Butter and Jelly on Rice Cakes

5 rice cakes
5 tbsp. peanut butter (remember make is 100% natural it taste better and is better for you)
5 tbsp. of your favorite jelly

1. Spread 1 tbsp. of peanut butter and 1 tbsp. of jelly one each rice cake. It will last longer and you will actually enjoy it a lot more. I promise!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Pinwheels

2 slices of bread
2 tbsp. of peanut butter
2 tbsp. of jelly

1. cut off the crust from each slice of bread
2. then spread 1 tbsp. of peanut butter and 1 tbsp. of jelly on each peice
3. then cut each side in half
4. finally roll of the bread creating a pinwheel look
All done...now eat up!!

Okay so the day is almost over, you've eaten dinner (sorry I don't have appropriate dinner recipes yet but I'm sure I will soon) and now you're in the mood for some dessert. Well as I am sure you can imagine that the recipes and ideas are endless but I will share with you only my top two recipes:







Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies
(Hamantashin)

1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup light packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of butter or margarine melted
1 1/4 cup of flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup of 100% natural peanut butter
6 heaping (maybe more) tbsp. of jelly

1. Melt the butter
2. Add the sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt
3. Mix in the egg, butter and peanut butter
4. Mix well for 3 minutes on high
5. put in fridge for 2 hours
6. Preheat oven to 300*
7. Lightly grease and flour a baking pan
8. Pinch the dough and form little triangle shaped cookies, leaving a hole in the center.
9. Place some jelly into each hole
10. Bake in oven for 20 minutes.
11. Let cool and then eat up!!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
1 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup melted margarine
1/2 cup of natural peanut butter
1 large egg
3/4 cup cup of milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
dash of salt
strawberry perserves
12 strawberries 

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. melt the butter
3. combine the sugar, flour, salt, baking soda together
4. add in butter, milk, egg and peanut butter
5. Beat well
6. Lightly grease and flour 12 cupcake tins
7. scoop cupcake mixture into pans and bake for 20-25 minutes
8. Let cool for 20 minutes
9. with strawberry preserves frost each cupcake and top it with 1 fresh strawberry

Cupcakes at a Party

When you're having a party it is always a good idea to have foods that appeal to all ages and to have foods that don't need a fork. Many times people don't actually ever sit down, they tend to mingle and walk around with food in their hand. Cupcakes are always a fun thing to have especially if you are having kids at the party! Here are a few ideas of cupcakes for a party.

Cupcake Ingredients (use this for all- makes 12) 
3/4 cup butter- softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups flour

3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. In a large bowl mix the softened butter with the eggs, sugar, flour and vanilla on medium speed for
4 minutes
3. Lightly grease and flour cupcake tin pans and then pour the cupcake batter in the tins.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes
5. Let cool for 30 minutes before you start your decorating!

Beach Cupcakes
2 cups of crushed graham crackers
Blue frosting
12 Cocktail umberellas
12 gummy star fish candies

1. spread frosting on each cupcakes
2. crush the graham crackers in sandwich baggy and then pour the mixture over half of the cupcakes
3. stick each cupcake with an umbrella and place 1 gummy star fish on each cupcake

Enjoy!

Baseball Cupcakes
White frosting
Red Gel Frosting

1. spread frosting over each cup cake
2. with the red gel carefully from the two half circle lines and the stitching on a baseball

Play ball! 

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

White Frosting
Black Gel (in a small tube)
Blue Granulated Sugar
6 Chocolate Chip Cookies
24 white gum drop candies (for the eyes)

1. lightly frost each cupcake with frosting
2. sprinkle the blue sugar covering the icing
3. break each cookie in half and stick each half into the cupcake (where the mouth would be)
4. place 2 white gum drops on each cupcake (where the eye would be)
5. Put 1 dot of the black gel on each gum drop creating  eye balls

Gimme Cookie!!

Rotten Apple Cupcakes
Red frosting
Mini pretzel sticks
12 green gumdrops
12 gummy worms

1. frost each cupcake
2. stick the pretzel on top of the cupcake creating a stem
3. then stick the gum drop next to the pretzel creating a leaf
4. with a fork scoop out a small portion of the cupcake and stick the worm in the hole making it look like the worm is crawling out of the apple..ick! :)

It's okay you can still eat it even though there is a worm in it...just kidding! 

Ice Cream Sandwiches- Homemade!!

So I remember the first time I made this. I was hesitant and thought what's the big deal it's just an ice cream sandwich, right? Well no! Homemade ice cream sandwiches are better than purchased ones. I promise you that you will love these and once you finish it you'll be glad there are more. :)

1 pint of frozen vanilla yogurt (Turkey Hill is healthiest)
1/2 cup semi sweet milk chocolate chips or sprinkles- or nuts which is healthiest b/c of the protein
Cookies (you will need 16)
1 Large Egg
5 tbsp. vegetable oil
5 tbsp. water
Here are the choices I suggest are best:
Duncan Hines Chocolate Chip Mix
Duncan Hines Peanut Butter Mix
Duncan Hines Oatmeal Mix

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. In a large bowl combine the egg, oil, water and cookie mix
3. Form them into medium sized cookies (as the box will explain)
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes. (while it is cooking and cooling take out the ice cream and let it soften)
5. Let cool completely- takes about 20 minutes
6. Scoop one scoop of ice cream onto one of the cookies and flatten it out. Then place another cookie covering the ice cream forming a sandwich
7. Pour over the semi sweet chocolate chips or sprinkles onto a plate and roll the sandwich over the chips/sprinkles until it covers the ice cream leaving a few spaces of white.
8. Wrap in saran wrap and put in freezer for at least 3 hours.
Eat right out of freezer. This summer treat is guaranteed to lift up any mood!

Yogurt Parfait

I remember the first time I had a parfait, I was 16 years old and I was in the hospital. I told my mom about having yogurt, granola and fruit together and she became in love with as well. This recipe is so easy, so fun, so good and very healthy.

Yogurt Parfait

6oz fat free vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup of fresh sliced strawberries
1/2 cup of blueberries
3/4 cup of low fat granola cereal OR you can take 2 nature valley granola bars and crush them- I suggest crushing them it tastes better.

1.  put 1/4 cup of granola in a cup
2. 3oz. - 1/2 the yogurt
3. then 1/4 cup of strawberries and /1/4 cup of blueberries
4. put 1/4 cup of granola
5. 3oz- rest of yogurt
6. then the rest of the strawberries and blueberries
7. then put the rest of the granola


This is good for breakfast, lunch or as a snack. If you are in rush you can also just throw it all into a bowl and eat as a mush!

Yummy Healthful Smoothie

So my mom wanted to drop a few pounds and again I wanted to be creative and think of drink she could have that would be sweet yet healthy and of course low in calories. I came up with a juicer that only has about 120 calories. (And by the way she lost 5 pounds on it!)

                                                        Yummy Healthful Smoothies
3/4 cup of tomato juice
4 carrot sticks
6oz of diet raspberry Snapple or 6oz apple juice
cup of frozen mango
4 frozen strawberries 
Dash of Miralax or Benifiber

Put all ingredients into a blender. Blend on high for 2 minutes.
Enjoy!

Strawberry Mango Salad

This is a salad that when I first saw it I thought it looked well...no so good. But once I tasted it I was soon proven wrong. Now that I'm older I don't understand what I was thinking, not only does it taste divine but it looks it too!

Strawberry-Mango Salad
1 bag of spring mix salad greens
1/2 cup mango- peeled and chopped into bite sized
1/2 cup slices strawberries (about 1 container)
2 tbsp. craisins



Dressing:
3 tbsp. olive oil
4 tbsp. white sugar
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
dash of salt

1. Mix the strawberries, mango, craisins and mixed greens together in a large serving bowl
2. mix the olive oil, sugar, balsamic vinegar and salt together
3. Right before serving remix the dressing and the pour over the salad. Toss a few times

Enjoy!

French Toast with Spunk

I think french toast is one of the easiest things to make. If you think about it all you need is bread, eggs and either jelly or syrup; all of which are basics in almost every household. I wanted to think of something different, something with spunk. I knew there had to be another recipe out there besides for bread and eggs. Do you think that when you go to IHOP or some fancy breakfast buffet at an expensive hotel they serve french toast prepared like that? I don't. So here's what I came up with:

French Toast with Spunk
4 medium slices of water challah (this is the best because it doesn't have any egg in it)
2 large eggs
4 tbsp. low fat milk (truthfully what ever you have is fine)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. of your favorite jelly
3 large strawberries- sliced in half.

1. beat the egg
2. add in the milk, cinnamon and sugar
3. drench each slices of bread in the egg mixture and place it on a preheated skillet
4. cook each side of bread for 4 minutes on low- flip over 3-4 times.
5. place french toast on plate and top it with strawberries, serve jelly on the side

I promised you breakfast and french toast will never be the same!

Shrimp Scampi Bake

So I don't eat shrimp or any kind of shell fish for that matter but I still like to cook with it - or kind of. I use the fake shrimp. I understand it might not be as good as the real kind but it's better than nothing and most people have told me that they cannot tell the difference.

Shrimp Scampi Bake

1/2 cup of butter- melted
2 tbsp. prepared Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. chopped fresh garlic
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
2 pounds of medium cooked imitation shrimp

1. I a medium saucepan combine the butter, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, garlic and parsley. Once the butter
melts completely, remove from heat
2. Preheat oven to 400*
3. Arrange shrimp in shallow baking dish and pour the mixture over it.
4. Bake in oven for 10 minutes.
5. Garnish it with parsley and serve!!

Apple-Cranberry Crisp

The first time I had this I was 14 years old and at sleep away camp. I remember we only had it on Saturdays and the second it hit the table it was gone! I think I only actually got to eat it 2 out of the 4 Saturdays, but it made a huge impact on me. Then when I came home I told my mom about it and she found the recipe and now it's become a staple. We have it every Thanksgiving and when ever we are having company over for dinner we make it. Here is the recipe- you will love it!




Apple Cranberry-Crisp

3 green apples- peeled and cut into medium thick slices
1 can of jellied cranberry sauce- but you must buy the one without high fructose corn syrum
2 cups of quick oats
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
4 tbsp. maragrine
1 tsp. cinnamon

1. once you have peeled the apples and cut them lay them across a 11x7 inch pan
2. slices the canned cranberry sauce and lay it across the apples evenly
3. in a pan melt the butter and then add the oatmeal, brown sugar and cinnamon. Keep mixing together until it's lightly browned
4. preheat oven to 350*
5. Pour the oatmeal crumble over the cranberry sauce layer spreading evenly (you may need to add a little more crumble - just repeat the combination)
6. Bake for 45 minutes.
Let cool- it can be served warm or cold...Anyway you will love it!!

Chicken Mango Raisin Salad

So as I am sure you know by blog I love cooking, baking and coming up with new and interesting recipes. My mom, like me, is a healthy eater. She's always saying that she wants more protein. So I wanted to think of a creative and new way to get in more protein other than just eating an egg or slice of cheese. So here is a salad recipe that is so good you won't even realize how delicious it is.

1 cup salad (any kind of lettuce: romaine, butter lettuce, ice burg etc.)
1/4 cup of fresh mango cut into bit size pieces
4 tbsp. raisins
chicken thigh (we use dark meat because that's what my mom likes but white meat is fine too)
When we bake the chicken it is normally over the weekend since Friday nights we always eat chicken.
We wash the chicken, leave the skin on and sprinkle it with Season All Salt and bake it for 1 hour and 20 minutes in the oven at 350*.

1. put the salad in a bowl
2. add the chicken at room temp. (cut into pieces)
3. then add the raisins
4. then add the mango pieces
5. dressing: Thousand Island, Honey Mustard or Russian is ideal

Enjoy!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

This is a famous recipe in my house. We make it every single Thanksgiving. Over this last year I developed a semi allergy to peanut butter. I can only have in limited amount which is so annoying because once I eat one peanut butter ball I want to eat 10 more! Not a good idea if your allergic but if you're not...you'll love these!! Promise!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
 Peanut Butter Mixture
14oz 100% natural peanut butter (just salt and peanuts)
3 cups of confectionery sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) of melted margarine or butter

Chocolate Mixture
14oz semi sweet chocolate chips
4 tbsp. margarine or butter

1. Melt the butter
2. Mix all ingredients together (peanut butter, sugar, vanilla and butter)

Line a pan with waxed paper.
3. Form peanut butter ball mixture into 2-3 inch size balls (makes about 50)
4. In a double broiler melt the chocolate with the butter together

Dip the peanut butter balls into the chocolate covering it half way.
Place the balls chocolate side down on the waxed paper.
Put in fridge for at least 2 hours (so the chocolate can harden).

Enjoy!!

Egg, Bacon & Cheese Omelet

So I don't eat bacon but I was tired of making the same type of things. So I looked in my kitchen cabinet and saw that we had bacon bits and my mind went racing. I saw we had fresh eggs and shredded mozzarella cheese and I right away knew what to make...Egg Bacon & Cheese!! Breakfast for dinner is always the best.

Here's the recipe:
2 large eggs- beaten
handful of mozzarella cheese
handful of bacon bits (normally found in the same aisle as croutons for salad)
Pam spray

1. Spray your pan with Pam and heat the skillet
2. Beat 2 eggs and then pour over the pan
3. Let it sit there until gets bubbly - it takes about 3-4 minutes
4. Pour over the cheese and bacon and gently with a spatula go around the edges of the egg. Once you can flip half the egg over covering the bacon and cheese forming a half circle.
5. Push down and after about 2-3 minutes. Flip over. Keep repeating that until it's neat and nothing is gooey.
Serve hot and enjoy!!

Lasagna Spinach Rolls

So I will be 100% honest this recipe was inspired from Shay Shull's Mix & Match Mama Blog...If you haven't check it out yet you have to! It's really good- I have changed the recipe a little bit and here is my alterations:

1/2 pound of lasagna rolls
10 oz. fresh frozen spinach - thawed (the kind in the box)
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup + 1 tbsp. low fat or fat free cottage cheese
1 tsp. onion powder
2 cups (or more depending on you you like it) of marinara sauce
Parmesan cheese

1. cook the lasagna for 7 minutes in a large pot (until al dente)
2. Mix the frozen spinach with 1 1/4 cups of mozzarella cheese and all the cottage cheese and tsp. of onion powder
3. Lay each lasagna roll out and place 2 heaping tbsp. of the mixture on each noodle.
4. Roll the noodles and then place down 11x7 inch baking pan.
5. Preheat oven to 350*
6. Pour the tomato sauce over the lasagna rolls.
7. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese
8. Baking in oven for 25 minutes
9. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the dish and bake for an additional 7 minutes
Serve hot and enjoy!!
YUM!

Homemade Twix Bars

So my neighbor and mom's good friend was turning 45 and our other friend was throwing her a surprise party. It was a small party - each guest brought something for the party. So I brought homemade Twix bars. I was nervous that no one would like them....I always get nervous. Well at the end of the party there was only 1 left over!!
These are promised to be a big hit and the best thing is I made the recipe up!

15oz semi sweet milk chocolate chips
4 tbsp. margarine or butter
8oz caramel (can be found in the ice cream topping aisle)
16 short bread long cookies (found in cookie aisle)

1. Dip each short bread cookie in the caramel, covering the cookie completely.
2. Place each cookie covered caramel on waxed paper
3. Put in fridge for 1-2 hours
4. Melt the chocolate with the butter in a double broiler
5. Dip each caramel covered cookie in the melted creamy chocolate (make sure the cookie is 100% covered)
6. Place it back on the waxed paper and put back in fridge for at least 2 hours (preferably 3-4 hours)
7. Before serving take out and let get to room temperature (about 30 minutes)

It may sound time consuming but it's fun and they taste much better than the store bought kind.

Nutella Cookies

Nutella Cookies
So I was at home feeling bored and trying to think of what to do. I wanted to bake something - but what?
I know my mom loves Nutella and that is when I thought of baking Nutella cookies. I looked up a peanut butter recipe that looked amazing and just substituted Nutella for peanut butter and the cookies came out amazing! Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup of butter- melted
1/2 cup of Nutella
1 large egg
1 1/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup crushed cashews- optional

1. Melt the butter
2. Mix the sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt
3. Add 1 egg, melted butter to the flour mixture
4. Then add in the Nutella
5. Mix well- cover and put in fridge for 1 hour

Preheat oven to 300*

6. Add in cashews
7. Lightly grease a pan
8. Form 2 inch size balls and place down on pan and the flatten
9. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes

Let stand for 15-25 minutes.
Enjoy!