Oatmeal Scotchies

I love the Baked Perfection blog. All Risa's recipes seem flawless. Whenever I want to bake something, I check her blog first. When I saw that these cookies were her self-proclaimed weakness, I wanted to try them out. Since Bryan and I decided to bring cookies to his parents' house for Memorial Day, this weekend was the perfect time.

Verdict? I liked them a lot. They were soft and the butterscotch worked really well with the oatmeal. It was also nice to get away from the traditional oatmeal raisin or oatmeal chocolate chip recipe. Another plus: with the butter really softened from the hot weather, a mixer was not required. I'd make them again. Not now though. Now I have to go get Rita's for dinner.

Oatmeal Scotchies
(recipe from Baked Perfection)

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 11oz package butterscotch chips

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. (You can do this by hand. I mashed the butter a bit first, then mashed it a little more with the sugar, and then stirred/beat the the vanilla and eggs in.)

Slowly mix in the flour mixture. Stir in the oats, then butterscotch chips.

Drop by the spoonful onto ungreased baking sheets and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until JUST starting to brown. Don't overdo it (I have a tendency to overcook cookies).

Let cool for 1-2 minutes and then transfer onto paper towel to cool completely.

Packaged to bring into work. This turned out to be a dangerous decision, given that I ate them all morning long. I guess it's better than eating them ALL by myself.

Avocado Tomato Salad

Tonight we had a raw vegan potluck at my house. I wasn't sure what to make-torn between charoset and this avocado tomato recipe. Ultimately, this won out. It's easy and crowd-pleasing; who doesn't love avocados?


Avocado Tomato Salad: 

• 2 ripe avocados
• 2 large ripe beefsteak tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste

Slice your avocado. To create pretty chunks, cut in a criss-cross design like this*:

Then pop out the pieces.

Cut your tomato in chunks as well.  Add lemon juice, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Stir and taste (to see if you want more salt, pepper, or anything else).

Serve!

*Learned this avocado technique at Simply Recipes

Soda Cupcakes

I know cupcakes aren't hard to make. Oil, eggs, box mix. So easy. And yet, sometimes, I'm not in the mood even for that. Idk...laziness I guess. Still, when I saw that you could empty a can of soda into a box of cake mix and have cupcakes in 20 minutes, I was definitely interested. It sounded SO much more appealing to me. Dump in the soda, stir, bake! The clean up seemed easier too.

Anyway, these were a total success. We used funfetti cake mix, vanilla "whipped" frosting, sprinkles, and full sugar (not diet) "W-up" (the Wegmans version of 7-up). We did the 1 1/2 cups instead of a can of soda, since I think a 2 liter bottle was under a dollar. The cupcakes turned out really moist, held up well, and were just overall really satisfactory. My boyfriend definitely approved. I'll definitely be making them again. I'm eager to try chocolate cake mix and coke.

Soda Cupcakes
(from Cookies and Cups)

• 1 box cake mix
• 12 oz. soda (aka 1 can  or 1 1/2 cups soda if you're pouring from a 2 liter)
• 1 jar frosting
• Sprinkles (optional)
• Paper cupcake tin liners

Preheat the oven to 350.

Put the cake mix in a mixing bowl. Empty in 1 1/2 cups soda.  Stir to get out the lumps.

Empty the batter into a paper-lined cupcake pan so they cupcakes are about 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool, frost, and enjoy.

Stuffed-crust Mushroom Feta Pizza

This is a really simple yummy recipe. If you don't have beer, white wine or white cooking wine would also be good for the mushrooms. Hey, it might even be better! If you don't have either, I wouldn't let it stop you from making the dish anyway.




Stuffed-crust Mushroom Feta Pizza

• 1 refrigerated pizza dough
• Approx 3/4 of a 1 lb. bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 8 oz. package of sliced white mushrooms
• 1 1/2 shot glasses of beer (yes, that's how I'm measuring it). We used Harpoon IPA.
• 2/3 cup feta cheese
• salt and garlic powder to taste
• cooking spray and/or 1-3 Tbsp. olive oil
• optional: sriracha for on top OR marinara sauce for dipping the crust

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Wash the mushrooms and break the bigger slices in half so they are a bit smaller. Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking oil. Add mushrooms and cook, adding more cooking spray/oil as necessary. When they are starting to cook down, drain the pan of the water they released. Add 1/2 shot of beer. Let it cook/absorb, then add another shot. Once that cooks/absorbs, add the last shot of beer. Let that cook, season with salt, and set aside. 

Spray a rectangular baking sheet with cooking spray. Spread the dough into a rectangular shape on the pan. Add some of the mozzarella cheese around the edges (sort of make a little pile/bunch of cheese near the edges) and then fold over the dough so it seals the cheese inside the crust.

Spray your pizza with olive oil spray or spread a very thin layer of olive oil over the dough. Add the rest of the mozzarella cheese. Spread the mushrooms evenly over the cheese and sprinkle the feta on top. Add a dash of garlic powder on top as well. Sprinkle a little extra mozzarella cheese over the crust because it's so good when it gets crispy on top of the crust.

See that beautiful cheese on the crust?

Oven ready:

Bake 10-20 minutes, watching, until it gets bubbly and slightly brown.

Old Bay Popcorn

I have been obsessed with this snack lately. It's something you can munch on for a while and it has a great kick to it.  It isn't even bad for you! Here's what you need:

• 1-3 servings reduced fat pre-popped popcorn (ex: "Trader Joe's reduced guilt air-popped popcorn")
• Old Bay/Chesapeake Bay seasoning

Pour yourself a bowl full of popcorn. Sprinkle on Old Bay. You can put on quite a bit. I tend to just keep the shaker around and pour on more when I eat the top layers. Yes, shaking it up would also work, but this is lazier. Yum!

Creamy Cheesy Cauliflower Mushroom Bake Experiment

I wasn't going to post this at first. I wasn't going to post it because I thought...it wasn't perfect. It wasn't exact. The sauce didn't get thick enough. Then I ate it and I still couldn't stop eating it. I wrote about it to my mom. So...here it is, imperfect, so delicious. When I make it again, I'll update. Until then...if you're someone who feels OK in the kitchen, use this as your guide. :)

Here's the recipe in the form of the email I wrote to my mom: 

I just made SUCH a good dinner.

You need:
1 head of cauliflower broken up
A container of baby bellas (sliced)
Marinated tofu (ie: soyboy) Italian or savory flavor
4 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese (lite)
2 Tbsp. butter
breadcrumbs or panko or crumbled matzo
About 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
salt, pepper, and taco seasoning

Here is what you do:
Steam the cauliflower. It doesn't have to get really soft, just a little. Saute the shroomies also. Season with salt and pepper.

Chop the tofu into pieces. I used one of those soyboy blocks (comes with two in a pack) but you could use the whole thing. It wouldn't really matter.

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir. Slowly pour in the milk and stir until it thickens a little. Mine didn't thicken enough but I ignored it. Add in 1 cup of the cheese and heat until the sauce is cheesy (all the cheese is melted.) Season with salt, pepper, and chili powder.

Put the cauliflower, tofu, and shroomies in a square baking dish and toss them so they're kind of mixed. Pour the sauce over. Layer the top with breadcrumbs and more cheese.

Bake at 350 until it bubbles. My oven got weird so I took it out halfway through, mixed it a little and added more cheese (I hadn't added enough the first time) and then let it cook until it browned. You don't really have to do that though. Add the taco seasoning on top to your liking.

SO CREAMY AND ADDICTING. MAKE IT.

Love,
Me

*Serve over pasta (how I ate the leftovers) or plain in a bowl (also really yummy).

**recipe inspired by ZoomYummy

Magic Bars

This is an incredibly easy and delicious recipe. It's also great for people who are pressed for time, not great at baking, or simply lazy. It's not easy to mess up and you could easily substitute different ingredients (ie: dark chocolate, craisins, etc.). Thanks to my friend Katie for showing me this recipe and making them with me!

Here's what you need:

Magic Bars
(from Baked Perfection)

• 1 1/2 cups (honey, not cinnamon) graham cracker crumbs (approx 16n cracker sheets)
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 bag semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• Approx 1/2 cup flaked coconut (enough to sprinkle on top)
• original recipe calls for 1 1/3 cups so this is flexible
• Cooking spray (or extra butter) for greasing pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put graham crackers in a food processor and pulse until they are crumbs. We did this in two batches since our food processor is small. Alternatively, you could put the crackers in a plastic bag and smash them or use a rolling pin to crumble them. The Whole Foods brand crackers crumble very easily and nicely.

Melt butter in over low-medium heat in a saucepan until melted. Add the crumbs and stir so they are lightly coated with butter.

Coat the bottom of pan with cooking spray. Press these crumbs with your fingers so they cover the base of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour and gently spread the sweetened condensed milk on top. Sprinkle on chocolate chips, then pecans, then coconut. Bake.

Let cool and then cut into squares/bars. Store in the fridge (they are best cold). Enjoy.

 

MMMMMMMMMM.