Ja cię kocham…

Okay, okay, I know I have been MIA for a while.  I’m sorry.  My life has been filled with other stuff, and I have not have much time to cook, bake, and post.  Please forgive me.  But I will have you know that I planted my first EVER veggie garden filled with bell peppers, cherry and beefsteak tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, and habanero peppers.

Above is a shot of my veggie plants before I planted them.

Here is my strawberry plant.  Since this photo, my strawberries have gotten bigger and brighter!  I’ll have to post more updated photos in a later posting.

And here is my puppy, Noodles.  She has gotten bigger and cuter!  Gotta love her sweet face…

Anyway, back to chewy, gooey cookies.  I know that a lot of you have your secret recipe for chocolate chip cookies, but please trust me that these are worth baking.  Jay and I hosted a Memorial Day BBQ at our house, and everyone asked where I got these cookies.  They were shocked to discover that I made them… in 20 minutes.   )

They are super simple and super awesome!  My sister made a quick run to the store down the street, and they were almost done by the time she got back.  I found this recipe by Googling “best chocolate chip cookies recipe”, and Google did not fail me.  This recipe was reviewed by THOUSANDS of people, which all had raving comments about them.  (Not that I read them all, but they were rated “outstanding”.) What’s not to like about an ENORMOUS, soft, sweet chocolate chip cookie?!  They pair perfectly with a nice, cold glass of milk.  (One of Jay’s favorite things in the whole wide world…)

The Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Source: Allrecipes.com

Yields: 12-18 cookies  (recipe said 18, but I ended up with 12 cookies somehow!)

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (or M&Ms)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.  Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.

Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips/M&Ms by hand using a wooden spoon.

Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Cookies should be about 3 inches apart – at least.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

This recipe is a crowd pleaser.  I promise!

The only credit that I can take for this recipe is the basil on top and the steamy photo.  (I forgot to wipe off my camera lens, which has caused the steamy/smoky effect in the picture!)

I came home from work last week to find dinner piping hot on the table.   I plopped right in the chair, gave thanks, and DUG IN!   I am one lucky girl!!  Thank you, Sweetheart!!

What makes me even more lucky is how considerate this meal is because it’s from one of my Weight Watchers magazines.  My amazing talented, smart, and gorgeous sister is getting married next year, and we have to be fitted for our bridesmaids dresses in August.  Yep, I have a deadline.  The flabbie must go!   Needless to say, I have some weight to lose to get back into my running 5-6-7 miles a day, every day college bod (was I nuts???), so starting NOW I have to be careful about what I eat.  I have 3 months.  I can do it.  I hope… ;o)

This meal took as long to prepare as it does to boil your pasta.  Not to bad, huh?  Plus, it involves basic ingredients that most of us have in our cabinets.

Thank you, Jay for this wonderful meal! <3

Jay’s Tuna Pasta

Source: Weight Watchers Magazine, May/June 2009, p. 100

Serves 2

5 points/1.5 cup serving

Ingredients:

3 cups whole wheat pasta
28-oz. can diced tomatoes
4 tsp. olive oil
1 Tbs. minced garlic
2 5-oz cans solid white tuna in water, drained
Salt to taste
Basil, to garnish (optional)
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, placed diced tomatoes, oil, and garlic in a large skillet and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in cooked pasta and tuna.

Season with salt, top with basil and red pepper flakes.

It’s that simple!

I discovered this Godsend in college.  I struggle with meal-making decisions because I want something light but I want something that fills me.  Normally an hour after a light meal I’m already hungry, and I end up snacking my face off until bedtime.  Yeah, I know.  The light meal was pointless if I am going to snack all night. )

But then my Mom came to the rescue with a fantastic recipe.  It was fantastic in so many ways.  Being young, I didn’t really know how to cook, but this recipe looked simple enough.  It was fantastically inexpensive, which was great because I worked in the school library for pennies.  And all in all, spaghetti squash is simply a fantastic vegetable.  It has all the qualities of pasta without all the pasta.  Make sense?  You could fill up on this stuff, eat some more, then eat some more and there is no guilt.    It’s light because it’s all veggie, but for some reason it fills you up for hours.  No need to snack after this meal.  I’m satisfied.

Feel free to add your favorite pasta fixings to this dish.  It’s very versatile and super easy to make, and its bright contrasting colors make this particular recipe irresistible to the eye and to the mouth )

Spaghetti Squash with Red Bell Peppers and Basil

Serves 4 as main dish; serves 6-8 as side dish

Ingredients:

1 large spaghetti squash
3 cups of veggie or chicken broth
1 cup sweet onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste (if broth is not overly salty)
Fresh basil, for garnish
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

Poke several holes in the spaghetti squash.

Microwave for 10 minutes.  Using an ovenmit to protect your hand, slice in half and allow to cool so that it’s manageable to touch.

Scoop and discard the seeds.  Then using a fork, scrape the insides of the squash into a large skillet.

Add veggie broth and onion, and peppers to skillet.

Cook uncovered on medium-high until all of the broth is absorbed by the squash, about 10 minutes.  Add desired amount of cheese, red pepper flakes and salt.

Upon serving add basil.  The heat of the squash browns the basil quickly so make sure to add the basil immediately before serving!!

Enjoy!

If my husband had to survive on anything for the rest of his life (other than Yuengling Lager), it would be chips and salsa.  I buy jars and jars of it per week, and they are gone in a few hours.  We have all types – chipotle, tequila and lime, southwestern – and they are all big hits.  This time I wanted to make something a little different.

We’ve always been big fans of the mango salsa at Costco so I took the fruit salsa to the next level – completely tropical.  It’s bright, it’s colorful, and it’s versatile.  Next time I think I’m going to be even more daring and throw a papaya in this mix.  This salsa was a crowd pleaser, and the recipe yielded PLENTY for a huge group.  If you’re a chips and salsa lover like my man, try this one out.  It’s sure to please.

Tropical Fruit Salsa

Source: Party Food, p. 36

Serves 8-12

Ingredients:

1 pineapple, peeled, cored, and diced
2 mangoes or papayas (or one of each), seeded, peeled, and diced
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1 fresh red chili, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
2 Tbs. sugar
juice of 2 limes
6 Tbs. fresh mint
salt to taste

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a nonmetallic bowl.  Cover and let chill until served.