Whole Wheat Brownies

Source: adapted from a recipe on marthastewart.com, via Pinterest

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan (I used salted butter and should have lowered the added salt later on because they taste a bit salty to me - Gregg didn't notice - but they're still good)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon coarse salt (see note above about salted butter)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce

1 large egg

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I just dumped in some semisweet chocolate chips - what was left in my bag that I didn't measure - maybe 2/3 - 3/4 cup? - and they're plenty chocolatey)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish; line with parchment (skipped the parchment and life still went on), leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, stir together sugar, applesauce, and egg. Place butter and 6 ounces chocolate (see note above about chocolate chips) in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pot of simmering water; stir until melted (I just did this in the microwave for 33 seconds - worked like a charm). Stir chocolate mixture into sugar mixture. Stir in flour mixture. Pour into pan and top with 2 ounces chocolate (didn't measure - just sprinkled a few chips on top to look purdy).

Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 40 minutes (35 for me). Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Use parchment to lift cake from pan and cut into 16 squares (ha! we went for more substantial 9 squares).

Notes:
When I saw Laurel pin this on pinterest a few weeks ago I knew I had to give them a whirl.  I liked the idea of adding whole wheat flour and applesauce (though, seriously, I don't think these really can count as "healthy" despite all that).  The batter texture wasn't really doing it for me (yes, I like to lick the bowl - so sue me), so I was a bit anxious for how they'd turn out cooked.  Turns out you can't judge a brownie by it's batter.  Holy moly were these good.  And fudgy.  And moist.  And thick!  Probably the best "from scratch" brownies I've ever made.  And not too much harder than from a box.  Win!

Lemon (or Lime) Crinkle Cookies

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe via my sister, Heather

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon (or lime) zest
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon (or lime) juice, from about 1/2 lemon (or 1 lime)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment or lightly coat with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, egg, lemon (or lime) zest and juice and mix well, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the dry ingredients (except the powdered sugar) and mix until just combined. Place the powdered sugar in a bowl or plate and roll tablespoon-size balls of dough in the powdered sugar to coat. Place on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. The cookies will not be browned on the edges but they will have lost a bit of their shininess on top. Don’t overbake! Cool the cookies on a cooling rack and store in an airtight container or eat immediately.

Notes:
I had seen this recipe pop up on Mel's blog in January, but had forgotten about it till my mom told me my sister had made "some yummy lime cookies" and when she shared the recipe with me, they were one and the same except Heather substituted lime juice and zest for the lemon called for in the recipe.  I got overzealous at the grocery store a few weeks ago and bought four limes, not knowing exactly what I was going to do with them.  Bingo!  These cookies were it.  Next time I think I'll add even more lime juice, just to give it a little extra flavor (I didn't measure with this batch - just squeezed as much juice as I could out of a lime and dumped it in).  But yum - fun, and cute, and springy, and delicious.

Cream Cheese Lemon Bars

Source: RecipeTips.com (via pinterest)

Ingredients

• 1 box lemon cake mix
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine - softened
• 1 egg
• 8 ounces cream cheese - softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 lemon - grated
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1/2 fresh squeezed lemon
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

• In a mixing bowl, blend dry cake mix, butter, and 1 egg.
• Press into a 9 x 13 pan, ungreased.
• Beat the cream cheese until smooth.
• Gradually blend in the powdered sugar.
• Stir in lemon peel and lemon juice until smooth.
• Reserve 1/2 cup of this mixture and refrigerate it for later use.
• Beat the remaining 2 eggs, add the vanilla, and then beat this mixture into the remaining cream cheese mixture until well blended.
• Spread over the cake mixture.
• Bake at 350° until set, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.
• Cool completely.
• Spread the reserved cream cheese mixture onto the bars.
• Refrigerate until firm; then cut into squares and serve.

Notes

• I made these when I was in a pinch for a new dessert last week and they were fantastic! A happy medium between lemon cake, cheesecake, and lemon bars. Yum!

Paprika Chicken Stroganoff

Recipe and Photo Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chicken thighs or a combination of both, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tablespoon sweet paprika or regular paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
8 ounces white button mushrooms or baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup plain yogurt, creme fraiche, or sour cream
Hot, cooked egg noodles, for serving (about 12 ounces to 1 pound)
Fresh, chopped parsley for garnish

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl or shallow pie plate, toss the cubed chicken with the paprika, salt and pepper. Sprinkle the flour on top of the chicken and toss to coat.

Heat the olive oil in a large 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until rippling and hot. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook until golden brown on each side, tossing occasionally, about 5 minutes. The chicken will finish cooking fully a bit later so it doesn’t need to be cooked all the way through. Scrape the chicken onto a plate and set aside.

Add another teaspoon of oil to the pan, if needed, and stir in the onions and mushrooms. Saute the mixture, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned bits from the chicken, until the onion is translucent and the onions and mushrooms are browned, about 5 minutes.

Pour in about 1/4 cup of the chicken broth and deglaze the pan by scraping up any bits from the bottom. Stir in the tomato paste, whisking to combine. Add the rest of the chicken broth and the bay leaf, stirring well.

Add the chicken back into the skillet and simmer the mixture over medium-low to medium heat, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly, about 5-6 minutes. Stir in the yogurt (or creme fraiche or sour cream) and cook for about 2-3 minutes longer. If you would like the sauce to be a bit thicker, make a cornstarch slurry by mixing 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1-2 tablespoons cold water. Add the cornstarch slurry to the simmering mixture in the skillet, whisking quickly to combine. Let the mixture simmer for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Serve over hot noodles and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

NOTES: I was excited to try this recipe because 1) we have several bags of frozen chicken to eat before we move and 2) it closely resembled a delicious dinner that I was served by a friend several months ago. I was lucky that it was spot on, perhaps better! Not anything fancy, but a wonderful comfort food dish for a cold night. 

Chicken and Black Bean Tacos

Source: not really sure who to credit for this one - my mom made it quite a bit and we always loved it

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can shredded chicken (or you can use 1 large chicken breast, cooked and shredded)
1 cup salsa
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 onion, diced, optional

Directions:
Brown onion in a little bit of oil in a frying pan.  Add chicken, beans, salsa and taco seasoning.  Heat through and serve with your favorite taco toppings in a warm tortilla.

Notes:
Quick.  Easy.  Delish.  What more can you ask for?  I also like to use these leftovers as a quesadilla filling.

Mexican Sweet Potato Skins

. . . or Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (if you don't eat the skins - are you supposed to eat the skins? I just don't know about that . . .)

Source: slightly modified (because I didn't have everything that was needed but wanted to eat them anyway) from pinchofyum.com (via Pinterest)

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients:
3 medium sweet potatoes
1 can corn, rinsed and patted dry (forgot the rinsing and patting step - whoops!)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2-4 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced or pureed (didn't have this - but subbed in a roasted chile pepper that I've had in my freezer since last fall)
1 ounce light cream cheese (didn't have this either - just bumped up the sour cream a titch instead)
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 teaspoon salt (+ more to taste)
1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
6 Tablespoons shredded cheese (Pepperjack, Cheddar, Colby Jack… anything will work)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the sweet potatoes for 45-60 minutes.

While sweet potatoes are baking, place corn in a heavy cast-iron skillet (didn't have one - and while my corn wasn't quite as lovely and roasted as the original author's, I think it smelled and tasted quite divine anyway) over medium-high heat with no butter or oil. Sprinkle with salt and other Mexican seasoning (as much as you want) (I used a few shakes of homemade taco seasoning). Do not stir! Let corn roast for several minutes before stirring. Let it roast for a few more minutes before stirring again. Continue this for about 10 minutes, until corn is browned and roasted on the outside. Set aside in a small bowl with the black beans.

Saute the onion in the butter over medium heat until soft and translucent. Set aside.

Remove sweet potatoes from the oven when fork-tender. Let cool for 5-10 minutes. Cut the sweet potatoes in half. Scrape the flesh of the sweet potatoes out, leaving the skins intact. Sometimes leaving a thin layer of potato inside of the skins helps them hold together better.

Mix the flesh of the sweet potatoes with the cream cheese, sour cream, chipotle peppers, and salt. You can use a mixer or just a spoon (or a potato masher worked awesome!), depending on how soft the potatoes are. When well-mixed, gently stir in the black beans, roasted corn, sauteed onions, and cilantro.

Scoop the filling into the skins and top each with 1 tablespoon shredded cheese. Broil for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Notes:
We had sweet potato fries one night for dinner while I was in Virginia with Victoria and Ryan and it reminded me how much I love sweet potatoes.  So much, in fact, that after I got home I bought some, fully intending to make some fries myself.  Then, I saw this recipe on pinterest and I knew I had to try it with my newly acquired sweet potatoes from City Market.  Black beans plus corn plus anything is lovely in my book, so I knew it would be a winner.  I was a bit hesitant about the whole "twice baked" idea, thinking that it would be kind of a pain and take a long time.  Don't be scared!  This really was a pretty simple recipe to throw together - just be sure to give the potatoes enough time to bake (ours took about an hour) and you're set.  Mmm . . . super filling and super delicious.

Homemade Fajita Seasoning Mix

Source: adapted from about.com

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon paprika
1 Tablespoon sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons crushed chicken bouillon cube
1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (didn't have it so left it out)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (upped it to 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon cumin (upped it to 1 teaspoon)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.  Store in an airtight container (I used an empty chili powder bottle that I had lying around) in a cool dry place (like the spice cupboard).

When making fajitas, mix 3 Tablespoons seasoning mix plus 1/2 cup water.  Add to your browned chicken (or beef or whatever you're making into fajitas) and let it simmer for a few minutes until nice and thickened.  Mix the chicken/sauce mixture into your sauteed bell pepper and onions and serve it all up with sour cream, salsa, tomato, cheese and lettuce (or any combination of toppings that you love best - if I had avocado, it'd be on there!) on a warm tortilla.

Notes:
We love fajitas around here - if not for their deliciousness (which is true) then for the sheer ease and speed it takes in getting them prepped, cooked and in our bellies.  It has been a while since we've eaten them, however, because we've been out of fajita packets.  (For some reason they never make it to the grocery shopping list either.)  Well, last night I decided I wasn't going to let that little fact deter me any longer - and I used my friend Google to find this here recipe for my own seasoning mix.  Voila!  Perfect.  And it really tastes just like the stuff in the envelope you get at the store - at a fraction of the cost.  Love that.