Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies - July 31st, 2012

I know this one wasn't on the list of recipes for the week but my office is doing a pot luck tomorrow and I needed something to make. I did a quick flip through the dessert section and I had everything on hand to make these wonderous cookies.

This book has blown my mind once again! I had no idea you could make cookies this way. No butter or flour, and they taste amazing!

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies - page 224

"This recipe is a reader favorite! With only six ingredients, these cookies are easy to make and even easier to enjoy."

When I said I had all the ingredients already on hand, I was partly right. The recipe calls for "Sucanat" (a brand name for a minimally refined form of cane sugar which is known for its grainy texture and extreme sweetness). I used brown sugar.

By chance I already had dark chocolate - chocolate chips, although the recipe would use a solid piece broken into chunks. I wanted to add a little extra to these cookies so added some white chocolate chunks and chopped apricots.

I was amazed at how easy these were. Almond butter, brown sugar, egg, baking soda, sea salt, and add-ins. These are hands down my new favourite way to make cookies. They bake up so nice. While really delicate when you first take them out of the oven, once they cool they firm up and are perfect little cookies.

Excited to take these into work tomorrow. I hope everyone likes them. :)

33 Down, 168 to go...

Thai Coconut Shrimp with Brown Rice Pasta

Thai Coconut Shrimp with Brown Rice Pasta - July 31st, 2012

Niall was successful in obtaining a can of coconut milk for me today. After relaxing abit once I got home from work, I resumed chef duties and began making supper.

Thai Coconut Shrimp with Brown Rice Pasta - page 53

"Thai cuisine is beloved for its pungent flavors and fiery curries. In this noodle bowl, we've used the sweet creaminess of light coconut milk and the good-for-you monounsaturated fat of natural peanut butter to balance the sharper tastes of garlic, ginger and spicy red pepper."

I really loved this recipe. I was a little hesitant when I originally read over the ingredients and saw peanut butter on the list. A few months ago we had a very bad encounter with a peanut butter involved recipe that I found on Pinterest. Niall referred to it as an "atrocity"...he wasn't far off. It was terrible. We could not eat it. We felt very ill afterwards.

While I think Niall still has nightmares about that previous meal, he still wasn't in love with this one. I think he will be forever turned off of peanut butter in anything savory. I found the peanut butter element in this meal so much better. To me, it wasn't the most predominant flavour (unlike the last one where the ONLY thing you could taste was PB). I'm quite looking forward to my leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I would have loved the ginger flavour to be a little stronger. Next time, I'd use grate 'fresh' frozen ginger into the dish instead for extra impact.

I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but I made one little mistake. I was in such a rush to get the shrimp thawed and into the skillet, that I failed to notice that the shells were still on. LOL. I knew I wanted the tails still on, but didn't realize that the bag I bought was 'shell-on'. At least they were already deveined. It was a little messy peeling them when they were covered in sauce, but not the end of the world.

I was a little frustrated with the pasta though. The package said to boil them for 13-15 minutes, I wanted slight al-dente noodles, so I drained them at 12 minutes. They were pretty soft. When I mixed them into the shrimp, veggies & sauce, they started to break into pieces. Bah.... Still tasted like noodles though.

32 Down, 169 to go...

Penne with Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce

Penne with Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce - July 30th, 2012

Tonight's meal was supposed to be Thai Coconut Shrimp, but I apparently don't have the can of coconut milk that I thought I did. Niall is going to pick some up tomorrow so we can have that for supper then.

In any case, Niall wanted me to make this one instead. I was immediately on-board as I heart mushrooms!

Penne with Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce - page 87

"Pasta dishes are a staple of many homes, but this one is far from ordinary! The combination of dried and fresh mushrooms along with ricotta cheese gives it a savory creaminess the whole family will rave about!"

I again didn't use the dried variety of wild mushrooms. Kinda forgot when grocery shopping and picked up a combo package of already sliced shiitake, mini portobello, and cremini mushrooms. These worked great though. For the liquid that would have been made when re-hydrating the dried mushrooms, I just made some vegetable bouillon to replace it.

Another dish that used the food processor. I was at first worried that not all the ingredients would fit inside for me to pulse the sauce, but it was just the right size.

This was a quick and easy recipe. I'm loving this quick and easy bit for sure, especially when it produces such delicious meals.

I perhaps made abit too much pasta (I have a bad habit of just pouring the pasta out of the box and into the pot, and in-the-process over-estimating how much I'll need). Even with the high ratio of pasta to sauce, this was really good. Mushrooms, mushrooms, and mushrooms...need I say more? The sauce was nice, creamy, and flavourful. Delightful.

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Cavatappi with Spinach Ricotta Pesto & Seared Filet Mignon

'Cavatappi' with Spinach Ricotta Pesto & Seared 'Filet Mignon' - July 29th,2012

I was super excited to use my food processor again to make the pesto. I know its sad, but joy is joy no-matter where you find it.

Sobey's didn't carry 'cavatappi' pasta, but the recipe says you can use rotini or fusilli , so I went with whole wheat rotini.

Cavatappi with Spinach Ricotta Pesto & Seared Filet Mignon - page 174

"Spinach has the unique ability to stay green in pesto much longer than an herb such as basil. Pureeing the tender leaves transforms a whole serving of salad greens into just the right amount of sauce. Add just a bit of lean beef and you've got a satisfying meal with complementary flavors. Remember, they serve creamy spinach at steak houses for a delicious reason."

To be a little more cost effective I chose not to use 'filet mignon'. Seemed like a much too expensive cut of beef to use for a regular day meal. I bought two top sirloin medallions for $8 instead. That price-tag agreed with me (and Niall) much more.

This recipe was crazy easy! Three steps: Cook pasta, make pesto, sear meat. Everything else is just presentation.

I unfortunately didn't have any parsley, but the pesto was delicious despite that. Although, it was really garlicky. There was only one clove of garlic, but it's all I could taste after we were done eating. Even after brushing my teeth before bed, there was still that garlic taste. Next time, I would use half a clove, or just a smaller clove (I think the one I used was larger than most). Have I mentioned before how much I love my food processor? I've wanted to make pesto for YEARS, but never could... until now.

The steaks seared BEAUTIFULLY!! Two minutes each side, rested for five, slice.

This was so good. I was sad when it was all gone and that there were no leftovers. :(

30 Down, 171 to go...

Crustless Broccoli & Cheese Mini Quiches

Crustless Broccoli & Cheese Mini Quiches - July 29th, 2012

This recipe was listed as a "Snack", but I thought these would be perfect for breakfast. Thankfully, I was right.

Crustless Broccoli & Cheese Mini Quiches - page 160

"These low-fat quiches come with an impressive amount of protein for a meat-free snack. Use them as snacks throughout the day to keep cravings at bay, or pair a couple of quiches with some fresh fruit and a slice of multigrain bread or a bowl of oatmeal for a balanced start to your day (eggs are a breakfast favorite, after all!)."

While making these I did doubt how these would turn out. After stirring up the yogurt-egg mixture, it didn't look like there was enough to actually produce 10 quiches. I was kinda right...there was enough for 9...small ones.

With the sauteed broccoli and cheese in the muffin cups, there was only enough liquid mixture to put one and a half tablespoons into each cup.  While these didn't exactly 'puff up' while baking, they cooked around the broccoli and made these cute little quiches.

Greek yogurt is my new favourite. Even better is that I discovered 3/4 cup of it has 18g of protein. When used in this recipe, two quiches have 11g of protein. Not bad at all. A very sufficient breakfast, especially when paired with a gorgeous fruit salad.

29 Down, 172 to go...

Week Eight

I'm finding it hard to believe that this is my eighth week doing this challenge. Time flies when you're having fun. :)

I've decided that for any recipes that I don't get to complete on any given week, those recipes will get put in a separate bag/container and I'll have to finish those off before the end.

Here are the recipes for week number 8:

• Crustless Broccoli & Cheese Mini Quiches - page 160
• Thai Coconut Shrimp with Brown Rice Pasta - page 53
• Breakfast Bars - page 156
• Cavatappi with Spinach Ricotta Pesto & Seared Filet Mignon - page 174
• Penne with Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce - page 87

I already made two of them today, and will write those posts tomorrow.
Having so much fun with this challenge. I hope you have been enjoying it as well.

Open-Face Tuna Veggie Melt

Open-Face Tuna Veggie Melt - July 28th, 2012

When it was time to make lunch yesterday, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. We needed a bread and cheese, so first to the grocery store, then lunch-time.

Open-Face Tuna Veggie Melt - page 177

"We've made our tuna salad with apples, mixed vegetables and thick yogurt, topping it with low-fat cheese. This amps up the flavor and cuts back on the fat, leaving you with a healthy midday meal."

I've always enjoyed tuna melts, but I absolutely love the new twist this recipe presents. Using a golden delicious apple in the mix really does make this a whole new type of melt. You get the sweetness from the apple which is great. Combine that with the yogurt dressing, celery, carrot, red onion, and tomato....yum.

I bought an un-sliced loaf of whole wheat bread so I could cut my own thick slices for this. Yet again, I ran into another confusing directional reference in the recipe. This is how it reads: "Slice bread horizontally, making a top and bottom. Place both halves crust-side down...". If they meant what it sounds like, that's definitely not a slice of bread and would give you a really awkward chunk of bread. I went with just a thick regular slice instead.

This was really yummy. We ate them with a fork and knife. It might not seem like much, but they were infact very filling.

28 Down, 173 to go...