Enjoy Some Shamrock Cookies This St. Patrick's Day

Recipe: Shamrock Cookies Dipped in Chocolate
Song: "C'est La Vie" by B*Witched

Yes, my blog is still going. I haven't been on here in a while, but I'm happy to announce that I started a new temporary job! I'm hoping that since I don't have to concentrate on looking for a position anymore, I can start blogging much more than I used to. I'm starting to adjust to a work schedule again!

While I'm enjoying this new position, this post is about a recipe for St. Patrick's Day, so let me cut to the chase and tell you about it.

During my train ride home from work one day, my mom sent me this recipe from Joann Fabrics. I didn't follow it completely because I forgot to get green and white non-pareils, but these chocolate-dipped shamrock cookies still turned out great! My co-workers and family loved them, and I'll definitely be making these again.






Shamrock Cookies Dipped In Chocolate

My co-worker loved discovering the chocolate!

What You'll Need:

• Shamrock cookie-cutter
• Green sprinkles for garnish
• A sugar cookie recipe-I used one from one of my mom's old Betty Crocker books
• Green food-coloring
• 12oz Light Cocoa Candy Melts Candy

Directions:

1. Make sugar cookies. Tint the dough green.
      *Note: Joann's website tells you to use a formula using blue and yellow food coloring by i just used green 
        food-colring. I decided to not go too crazy with it. It's a bit difficult coloring food sometimes (especially making 
        something appear red!) but my cookies came out looking a bit tye-dyed. They still looked nice!
2. Shape cookies using shamrock cookie cutter.
3. Sprinkle green sprinkles on top of cookies before placing them in the oven
4. Once the cookies are finished baking, cool them completely.
5. Prepare the chocolate candy melts according to package instructions.
6. Spread melted chocolate on the bottom of each cookie
7. Place cookies chocolate-side down on a cookie sheet covered with parchment or wax paper.
8. Refrigerate cookies for 10-15 minutes.
7. Enjoy!

During my spin class Wednesday morning, my instructor played some Irish music in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  However, she also did something creative and decided to feature a song by an Irish band (U2). I chose to do the same thing for this recipe. When I was in elementary school, B*Witched, an Irish band, was very popular. And I remember singing along to their hit song "C'est La Vie." It has a very catchy tune and I'll admit that I still play it from time-to time. Here is a link to its music video. It goes perfect with this recipe, don't you think? You can hear them sing with an Irish accent, and they even do a little bit of Irish step-dancing in the video!

*All rights to the original recipe go to Joann Fabrics.
*All rights to the song "C'est La Vie" go to B*Witched.

Healthier Pizza!

Recipe: Flatout Bread Pizza
Song: Dean Martin's "That's Amore"


Helloooooo

Sorry I haven't been on here in a while- a lot has happened since my last blog post such as going to Florida and holding a contract position. But I'm back now, and I have a recipe that I think you'll enjoy. It's my own version of flatbread pizza using Flatout Bread. If you haven't used it before, I highly recommend it because it tastes great and it's good for you! When I visited my friend Amanda, her mom introduced my dad and I to it when she presented us with her pizza. The pizza was so good I just had to ask my nutritionist about the bread. The cool part? My nutritionist said it was great for someone who is on a low-carb diet.

Friday is always pizza night for my family. Sometimes we'll skip ordering it and eat my version with the Flatout Bread. I especially like this recipe because it's good year-round. It's especially enjoyable in the summer when we have my mom's fresh veggies from her garden.



Better For You Flatbread Pizza


What you'll need:  

Six slices of your favorite Flatout bread. (I usually give everyone two slices of this Bread but the amount you use really depends on how much you eat and how many people you're serving. The same goes for the veggies and cheese listed below-only use the amount that you need).


1/2 chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
4 small tomatoes, sliced
1 quick drizzle of olive oil
A dash of oregano
1/2 8.0 oz bag Mozzarella cheese (enough to cover each slice of pizza)
4 cloves of garlic


Directions:

1. Prepare the Flatout bread according to directions. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. One time I forgot to spray the bread with cooking spray before heating it in the oven and we had pizza nachos as a result!

2. Once bread is ready, spread the cheese all over it evenly.

3. Next, distribute and spread out the tomatoes on each slice before adding the green pepper, garlic and onion.

4. Finally, lightly drizzle the olive oil on your pizzas before adding a quick dash of oregano.

5. Cook the pizza for however long the instructions tell you (about 5-10 minutes).

6. Remove slices with a spatula and enjoy!



The song I decided to pair with this recipe is "That's Amore." Pizza is an Italian dish, and the song is Italian so I thought it would be appropriate. Pizza is also mentioned in this song! Click here to watch the video and if you're really into it, play it while you eat/make the pizza. I studied abroad in Italy when I was in college and let me tell you-I miss it. This song definitely reminds me of my experiences there.

*All rights to the song "That's Amore" go to Dean Martin

Meet the longly anticipated characters of my blog!

Hi Everyone!

Guess what? Remember how when I first started this blog, I told you that my brother (Chris) would be developing characters for it? Well, my birthday was last week, and after months and months of asking for the characters, Chris surprised me and finally got them done! The picture below is what Chris gave me for my gift this year. My mom thinks I should frame it, and I definitely will.

Chris let me name them, so I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what their names should be. Everyone, I would like you to meet Bernadette the snail, Earwyn the pig, and Marley the lobster. Occasionally they will pop up with things to say about the recipes. Feel free to give them a huge welcome, or let me know which character is your favorite one!


By they way, I didn't make anything for my birthday this year because I'm trying to eat more healthy!

Bye Bye Brownies

Recipe: Simple Brownies with White Chocolate Chips
Song: "So Long, Farewell" from "The Sound of Music"

When you work for a company, sometimes you think you'll be there for a long time. You might even love the company you're working for so much that you think you'll be there forever.

At the company I used to work for, someone that had been working with me ever since I arrived there ended up being offered a position that she had wanted for a long time. And so, it was time for her to leave us and move on.

Because I worked beside her and talked to her often, she was one of the individuals that I was closer too in the office. I'll admit that it was sad to see her go.  When she left, my boss took us all out to lunch, and we even gave her parting gifts. One thing I decided to do was bake something since I always love the opportunity to bake (and I probably mentioned this earlier on in my blog).

Because everyone loves brownies, and they're super easy to make, I decided to make them for her last day. But I didn't want to just bring in ordinary plain brownies.

Instead of sprinkling dark chocolate chips on top of the batter like my mom usually does, I decided to stir the chocolate chips into the batter so they would be blended into the brownies. I'll admit that a couple of them stuck to the bottom of the pan, but other than that, the recipe turned out great! I also decided to use white chocolate chips instead of the dark chocolate chips for once.

The brownies ended up being delicious, and everyone enjoyed them. All of us took multiple trips to get seconds of them at the office, and the few I left behind at my house for my family sat there for only two days.

Since this recipe isn't made from scratch, it's very simple. I've posted it below:

Simple Brownies with White Chocolate Chips

What you'll need:

• 1 box of your favorite brownie mix (I used the Milk Chocolate brownies by Duncan Hines)
• Any additional ingredients your brownie mix requires (such as eggs)
• A couple handfuls of white chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Follow the instructions for the brownie mix, and preheat the oven to the right temperature! Certain brownie mixes might differ from others.

2. Once you finish combining the ingredients for the brownie batter, stir in the white chocolate chips.

3. Bake the brownies until you're sure that they're completely done. I'm only saying this because my oven sometimes has a mind of it's own. Usually I have to bake anything in there for a longer period of time.

Because these brownies went quickly, and they were made to celebrate someone's last day with us, I thought it would be appropriate to pair them with the song "So Long, Farewell" from "The Sound of Music." I'll admit that I never watched the full musical of "The Sound of Music" but from what I hear, it's phenomenal. When ABC put on the musical, I was fortunate to catch the second half of it. I was very impressed-especially because I'm a fan of Carrie Underwood.

Anyway, when the children perform this song earlier on in the musical, it's very adorable. I will admit that the reprise of it at the end is a bit sad, but it is nice to see the cast performing the song before they make their escape. Here is the famous clip of the children performing "So Long, Farewell."

*All rights to this song go to "The Sound of Music."

Pizza That's Good Enough for a Ninja Turtle

Recipe: Pizza With Broccoli!
Song: "Ninja Rap (Go Ninja Go)" by Vanilla Ice

I'm proud to say that I was born in the early 90's. I had a great childhood then, and I feel like a lot of great stuff happened during that decade. Things also occurred that I still laugh about today. My friends and I lived for the Backstreet Boys, the Spice Girls, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears. And then there was the overall craze.

There were also amazing cartoons that my friends and I still remember. There was CatDog, Rocko's Modern Life, Rugrats, and more. And then there was my brother's fascination with The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

My brother (Chris) is still a fan of the Ninja Turtles today, and I have to admit, so am I. A lot of us still are. They're funny, and the cartoons were well-animated with an entertaining story line. I was even April O'Neil for Halloween last year (of course no one could tell who I was but oh, well).

Anyway, when I baked my very first pizza without a recipe last Friday, I figured that I would pair Vanilla Ice's "Ninja Rap" with my pizza. The Ninja Turtles LOVE pizza. And they also seem to like dancing in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze." This movie came out in 1991, and there's a scene where Vanilla Ice performs the "Ninja Rap," and the turtles dance to it. Funny, right? Below is the recipe that goes with this song.

Pizza With Broccoli 

What You'll Need:
Your favorite pizza crust
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes-preferably ones that are seasoned with garlic, oregano, and basil
8 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/4 c shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese 
A little bit of oregano
Cooked Broccoli, cut-up into small pieces

Directions: 
1. Prepare the pizza crust according to its instructions. Make sure you preheat the oven to the appropriate temperature first!
2. Heat up the diced tomatoes and garlic cloves in a saucepan until most of the liquid is evaporated.
3. Once the pizza crust is ready in the pizza pan and the diced tomatoes are done, spread the diced tomato mixture out evenly on the pizza crust. 
4. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly on top of the sauce.
5. Distribute broccoli evenly around the pizza.
6. Sprinkle just a little bit of oregano around the pizza-not too much because it's very strong!
7. Bake the pizza according to the pizza dough instructions (mine had to bake for 20 minutes).
8. Cut-up the pizza into 6 pieces and enjoy!


This recipe can obviously be made with pizza sauce but diced tomatoes taste just as good! I was going to make it with pizza sauce originally, but my mom forgot to pick it up from the store. Here is another prime example of great things you can make while improvising with what you have in your house! 

*All the rights to "Ninja Rap" go to Vanilla Ice. The lyrics to the song can be found here. All credit for the movie clip goes to "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze."

Smile! There's a cookie that resembles one of America's favorite foods-burgers!

Recipe: Meredith's Mini Burger Cookies
Song: McDonald's "Put A Smile On"


Yikes! I can't believe how long it's been since I posted something on this blog. I'm going to take a moment to be brutally honest with you-I tried making/creating a couple recipes in November for this blog, but they didn't turn out as good as I hoped they would be. Because of this, I didn't post them. Until recently when my editor, Mary Ann, asked to see my blog, I had no idea that my last post was in October!

Anyway, Mary Ann is very sweet, and I was thrilled when I got my first-ever blog request from her. She asked me to feature a recipe by her daughter, Meredith, on my blog! When Mary Ann first showed us Meredith's unique dessert creation, all of us were very impressed. I don't even like mint, but I thought her cookies were delicious!

Yup, this is a real dessert! Meredith was able to craft mini burgers out of cookies and other ingredients. Read on to see how she did it!


Meredith's Mini Burger Cookies

What you'll need:

• 1 box Nabisco Nilla Wafers cookies
• 1 box Keebler's Fudge Shoppe Grasshopper Mint cookies (You could also use thin mints because Girl Scouts will be selling cookies soon! Hey, did you hear the recent news about Girl Scout cookies being sold online and through mobile apps? Yup, it's true! Why couldn't this occur when I was a Girl Scout?)
• 1 cup Vanilla Frosting
• 1 Package Shredded coconut
• Green food-coloring
• A handful of sesame seeds
• A small amount of honey

* The amount of each individual ingredient depends on how many burgers you want to make. I just find that having a little extra of everything is always a safe idea in case something goes wrong!

They're tiny and full of flavor!

Directions:

1) With the food-coloring, dye the shredded coconut green.


2) Frost the bottoms of two Nilla Wafers with the vanilla frosting


3) Attach one Grasshopper Mint Cookie to one Nilla Wafer.


4) Place a little shredded coconut on top of the grasshopper mint cookie


5) Put the remaining Nilla Wafer on top.


6) Lightly brush the top "bun" of each burger with honey

7) Sprinkle a few sesame seeds on the top of each burger


8) Repeat steps 2-7 until you get the amount of mini hamburger cookies you desire


* Note: If you'd rather have "iceberg" lettuce on your burgers, than liquefy the green food coloring a little bit before you dye the coconut. Also, depending on how much coconut you decide to use, you might need to put more icing on the grasshopper cookie as well!


Now you know as well as I do that there aren't too many songs about burgers out there. The only song I could think of that would go with this recipe was "Put a Smile On" from the old McDonald's commercials back in the day. Click here to view the song with the commercial. Maybe it's not what you had in mind for a song, but it works for me!

*All credit for this recipe goes to Meredith. All credit to the song and video goes to McDonald's.

Cookie Butter Cookies to Share!

Recipe: Cookie Butter Cookies
Song: Cookie Monster's "Share it Maybe"


Many months ago, my friend introduced me to Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter and I both loved and hated her for it. Once you get a jar of your own, you just can't stop eating it. And now I work close to a Trader Joe's so it's easier and more convenient for me to visit the spectacular grocery store.

Soon I realized that the delicious cookie butter actually has a twin called "Biscoff Spread," which I found at Stop and Shop. I tried it, and it was just as good as the Trader Joe's brand. The problem with these cookie butters is finding foods and recipes to use it with. It's so good that it's like Nutella where you want to eat it right out of the jar!

When I realized that I had an unopened jar of it sitting in my pantry, I knew I had to use it quick-especially since it would expire at the end of the month. Obviously I didn't want to eat it all by myself, so I looked up cookie recipes that would feature it. The more cookies I could make, the more cookies I would be able to give away. The recipe I used was adapted from this one, featured on Courtney ODell's blog, Sweet C's Designs. I know that this recipe might be similar to the Nutella cookies I made, but so what?


Cookie Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

6 Tbs butter
1/2 c almond milk
1 1/2 c brown sugar
3/4 c Crunch Biscoff Spread
2 Tsp Vanilla
3 1/4 c quick-cooking oatmeal (I used Quaker Oats)

Directions:

1. Mix butter, milk, cookie butter, and sugar in a large saucepan. Stir the mixture occasionally until it comes to a boil.
2. Remove from heat.
3. Add the vanilla to the warm mixture and mix.
4. Add the oats and stir well. You might need to add more oats or milk depending on the ingredients you use. The cookies should end up thick and gooey, and stay in the shape you mold them into when they're placed on the wax paper.
5. Place the mixture in rounded spoonfulls on the wax paper, and refrigerate them until they're cool and firm.
6. Enjoy!

*Please note that I made the cookies small, and cut the recipe in half. Because I didn't have a car available that night, I couldn't go to the store and had to work with the ingredients I had. You know I love cooking and baking, but I wasn't about to walk a mile in the pouring rain to get Oatmeal! I had even tried getting some at CVS earlier in the day because it was on sale, but they ran out of it. Figures.

I kept a few cookies for my family. The rest went to work with me and my brother!

The song I decided to pair with this recipe is a bit goofy, but because cookies are for sharing, I thought it would be appropriate. I grew up with Sesame Street, and although I don't watch it anymore, I still have a lot respect for the show! Click here to see Cookie Monster sing "Share it Maybe." When "Call Me Maybe" first came out, I hated it because one of my roommates played it practically five times a day. I did grow to like the song, and thought that Cookie Monster had a funny parody of it.

*All credit for the original recipe goes to Courtney ODell of at Sweet C's Designs.
*All rights to the song "Share it Maybe" go to the Sesame Street Workshop