Oh boy. Not healthy. Too easy. Really fast. At least they are perfect to share! There's not too much to say about these. If you like Rice Krispie Treats (and really, who doesn't?) and peanut butter, and chocolate, you'll dig these. Like a crispy peanut butter cup, but cut to your own specific size needs. That's about all you need to know. Make them. Love them. Enjoy treat karma and share them.
The base of this recipe is just straight up Rice Krispie Treats, but I decreased the butter, added peanut butter and on top, added quick melted chocolate that cools to a nice mess-free hardness. It's the same thing I like to do with these zucchini brownies.
Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats with Chocolate
Preheat oven to 200 degrees
Butter a 9x13 glass baking dish
6 cups Rice Krispies
40 large marshmallows (about 10oz or 4 cups)
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips
Measure out Rice Krispies and set aside in a large bowl. In a pot large enough to hold all of the ingredients, including the Rice Krispies, melt the butter and peanut butter. Add in the marshmallows and melt everything together stirring constantly.
When the marshmallows are nearly melted, add in all of the Rice Krispies and stir gently to combine.
When everything is evenly combined, pour everything into the prepared pan. I like to lightly spray my hands with cooking spray, or rub a little butter into my palms and then press down the cereal mixture to even it out a bit.
Sprinkle about a cup of chocolate chips on top of the cereal in the glass pan. Pop the pan into the warm oven for about 5 minutes. When the chips are soft and starting to melt, take the pan out and spread the chocolate over the top of the Rice Krispies treats.
Let the treats cool completely and enjoy!!
Things made this time last year...
Charred Artichokes
Dijon Vinaigrette Potato Salad
Things made this time two years ago...
Pappardelle with White Truffle Butter
Pizza and Bread Sticks
Yikes!! Sorry it's been so long... the kick off to summer this year has been REALLY busy for both of us. Our apologies!!
I read something once that granola cereal is pretty much crumbled up cookies. I knew there was a good reason I've always liked granola.
Not wanting to give my kid crumbled up cookies for breakfast, I set out to make my own. My husband had given me the Bob's Red Mill cookbook for Mother's Day and they had a few different granola recipes. They were great starting points, but I wanted something pretty simple, and I didn't want to have to search out ingredients I wouldn't normally use.
I settled on Coconut Almond as the base and added orange zest and dried cranberries. This is an amazing combo and one I've used in actual cookies before. This is great on Greek yogurt, with berries or just in a bowl of milk. I suppose it's a little healthier than crumbled cookies, but it doesn't taste like it!
This is a really easy recipe that makes about 5 cups of granola. A little more than that, but 5 solid cups.
Coconut Almond Granola with Orange Zest and Dried Cranberries - inspired by Bob's Red Mill cookbook
Preheat oven to 275
Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment
4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup raw sliced almonds
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
zest of 1 orange (about 1 tablespoon)
1/4 cup almond butter
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup dried cranberries
Combine oats, almonds, orange zest, and shredded coconut in a very large bowl. In a microwave proof bowl, heat almond butter, honey, and coconut oil until it's easily stirred.
Mix the dry ingredients with the almond butter mixture. Stir until everything is really equally distributed.
Spread evenly over two lined baking sheets and bake at 275 for a grand total of 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
This is so easy, adaptable to what is in the pantry, and substitutions are really easy. Peanut butter can be used for the almond butter, raisins for the dried cranberries, pecans or walnuts for the almonds. Butter could be used for the coconut oil, pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon. The orange zest is totally optional, but really delicious!
Things made this time last year...
Homemade Tortillas
Huevos Rancheros
Baked Ziti
Braised Short Ribs over Penne
Chocolate Mug Cake
Lemon and Parmesan Crusted Salmon
Homemade Rainforest Crackers
Things made TWO years ago... Check out these oldies but goodies!! I can't believe it's been TWO years already!!!
Carnitas with Cilantro Lime Cole Slaw and Grapefruit Poundcake
Shredded Chicken Sandwiches with Mom's Cole Slaw and Mini Lemon Bundt Cakes
Whole Wheat and Yogurt Pancakes
Turkey Spaghetti
Lettuce Wrap Salad
Chicken with Balsamic Peppers
Roasted Strawberry Shortcakes
Banana Nut Muffins
Chocolate Cheesecake Marbled Brownies
The last few weeks in our house have been wonderfully hectic... Mother's Day, my sweet mama visiting, my birthday, dear friends in town, Memorial Day... and insane work. But my dear boys love me and treated me SO well for all the celebration days, and we got a wonderful bit of time at the Oregon coast with our friends who came in from out of town. It's been a glorious few weeks!
Anyway, my sweet husband got me a Cooking Light anthology for my birthday - Antoinette and I both love CL and a lot of our recipes, and inspirations start there. One of the very first recipes in the new book is for a Green Goddess Dip - I read it through and HAD to have it. Like had to eat it right away. I took most of this batch down to the beach and our group gobbled it up!
Green Goddess Dip - from Cooking Light
Makes plenty for 6 people; even better day 2.
2 cups watercress
6 oz Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonaise
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon
5 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste
This is barely a recipe. All you do is put all of this good stuff in a food processor and blend until smooth-ish. It's not really cooking, but it is creating, especially if you tweak the flavors to suit your preferences (or what's left in your fridge, or what's growing in your herb garden.)
The original recipe calls for a lot more basil and no tarragon. I love the lemony spice of tarragon, and definitely wanted some of that zip in this.
The original also called for anchovy paste. I didn't have any, don't really like it, and wasn't going to buy it for one recipe. I think it overpowers with fishy flavor. It's just not for me. So out it goes.
This also called for some red pepper flakes, but we had two toddlers in our group and I wanted to make sure this would be nice for them, so I left it out and didn't miss it.
The last change I made was to swap the quantities of yogurt and mayo. Why not have more of the healthier yogurt? Done.
So that's it. Just blend it up and enjoy! It definitely improves with a little resting time. And the next day it was even better than the first. We ate this with veggies and crackers and it was a great, light snack.
A few things about this recipe...
I think this would be just as good without the mayo, and I'd feel a lot safer having this out at a BBQ having just used yogurt.
Also, watercress is a peppery, sturdy little green. If you want something else, baby spinach would also work, but the dip would be milder.
Things made this time last year...
Strawberry Mint Lemonade
Mango Guacamole and Homemade Salsa
A few weeks ago, Antoinette and I cooked dinner for our families together - SO fun and SO delicious! Antoinette made a similar salad to her Mediterranean Orzo Salad which uses this awesome feta vinaigrette. Tasting as we went, we both joked the feta vinaigrette should be made by the gallon! It's so good, and I've been putting it all over everything. Now that BBQ season hit the Pacific Northwest early, we've made a couple of tri-tip roasts on the grill and a couple more in the smoker. Left over tip is great in a bunch of things - eggs, burritos, salads. I've been making this chopped salad with most of our left overs since our garden lettuce is going nuts, and the feta dressing is perfect!
Steak Salad with Feta Vinaigrette
Serves 2
1/4 cup crumbled feta
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice - about 1/2 a lemon
1/8 teaspoon bouquet garni or herbs de Provence
Fresh ground pepper
1 head of lettuce
2 carrots, julienned (since all of Pintrest went Paleo, I bought a julienne peeler - AWESOME. I love it!)
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
1 cup chopped cucumber
5 basil leafs, chopped
4 ounces chopped left over tri tip or other steak
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
I've taken to making the salad dressing in the bottom of the serving bowl. It makes for one less thing to wash, and I'm guaranteed to get all of the dressing on the salad!
Next, I add the other ingredients to the salad bowl, topping everything with the lettuce last.
Toss everything together, top with the sunflower seeds and enjoy!
This salad can go so many ways depending on what's in season, but I really love adding the fresh basil. It's such a great flavor!
Things made this time last year...
Soy Glazed Salmon
Crab and Kale Manicotti
Ginger Soy Chicken Breasts
Mango Guacamole and Homemade Salsa
The very first time I got in a fight with a mandolin was making a pinwheel appetizer. I lost. Luckily, that was a while ago and my relationship with the mandolin has improved. Double lucky, this recipe doesn't need a mandolin! These cute pinwheels are really tasty and super easy to make. The hardest part about these is letting the puff pastry come to room temp - that takes at least an hour. Waiting is the worst. Bruschetta Pinwheels are worth it.
I default to a cheese platter with some good crackers for appetizers, or grilled artichokes if we are outside, but sometimes, a warm from the oven, bite-sized treat is so nice to have! Puff Pastry makes this kind of thing so very easy.
Preheat oven to 400
Makes ~20 bite-sized appetizers
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 sheet puff (1/2 a package)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
olive oil
Salt and pepper
The trick to these is seeding the tomatoes. Too much pulp would risk the puff pastry being soggy and gross. I was using these cute multicolored cherry tomatoes, so I just cut them in half and squeezed the pulp into a little discard dish. Then I chopped through the remaining tomato meat until they were diced pretty small, about 1/4.
After the tomatoes are seeded and chopped, mix with garlic, basil and a bit of salt and pepper. Place a sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and stretch it out to make a rectangle.
Spread the tomato bruschetta all over the puff pastry leaving about an inch on the closure side. Roll up and press the seam to seal - I ran a wet finger across the seam before sealing the edge to really lock in all the tomato goodness.
Once everything is rolled up, slice into about 1/2 inch slices and place on a silpat or parchment lined baking dish. Brush or drizzle (I drizzled) on a bit of olive oil and bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Slices may need to be rearranged to bake evenly - the middle should puff and it should not look like damp dough.
A few things about this recipe...
I made these to take to a friends house. I baked them up at our house, left them on the pan and re-toasted them at their house. Double baked, double delicious!
These would be great with a spread of pesto, or some proscuitto.
Puff Pastry also works great with sweet things - I made a super quick cookie with the extra sheet of pastry.
Makes about 20 cookies
Preheat oven to 400
1 sheet of Puff Pastry
1 tablespoon melted butter
3 tablespoons vanilla sugar (or cinnamon and sugar mixture)
Flatten out a sheet of Puff Pastry, and brush with melted butter. Dust on vanilla sugar, or cinnamon and sugar. Roll up each side to meet in the middle and press down the middle to make a more distinct heart shape. Slice and bake at 400 on a lined baking pan for 15 minutes or until nicely toasted. YUM!
Things made this time last year...
Miso Ginger Quinoa Salad
Apple Almond Muffins
My husband and I are serious DIY house project folks. We've done a LOT of projects in our home and are still working on finishing a few things off. Today my amazing husband powered out the last bit of tiling we needed to do in the kitchen. We had a patch of backsplash that had been just painted, and now it's covered in lovely white subway tiles! Yay husband! As awesome as house projects are, kitchen projects tend to leave you sans fully functional kitchen for some lengths of time. Today I cooked in a corner just the size of my Crockpot.
This is a super easy Crockpot recipe, great for dinner and perfect for cooking ahead for weekday lunches. This chicken makes great tacos, burritos, and salads. I'll be eating this for lunch salads most of next week.
Shredded Salsa Chicken
Makes 6 servings
For the Chicken
4 chicken breasts
1 cup salsa (I used mild this time so my toddler will eat it)
1 15oz can black beans
1 cup frozen corn kernals
1 tablespoon oil
Salt and Pepper
For toppings
Sour cream
Chopped red onion
Chopped cilantro
Avocados
Salsa
Place chicken and 1 cup of salsa in a crockpot. Cook on high for 2 hours. Turn down to low and cook 1 more hour.
When the chicken is 20 minutes shy of done, drain and rinse a can of black beans and set aside. Heat a pan to very hot and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add corn kernels to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook until lightly charred.
Add corn and black beans to the chicken and cook for the last 20 minutes. Shred chicken with forks and enjoy in tacos, burritos or on salad! I like to top my salad with sour cream, chopped onions, avocado slices, cilantro, more salsa and some hot sauce. Delicious!
Things made this time last year...
Dutch Baby
Chicken Cacciatore
Spring is in full force in Portland! The flowers are blooming, the trees are leafing out, the temps are rising (thank goodness!) and lighter food is hitting our table more and more often. I found the recipe for this mango butter sauce a really long time ago in some sort of magazine... I made it once, wrote it down and tossed the mag - totally out of character - I wonder what else was in there! Anyway, this is a great, tangy, citrusy, rich sauce that's good on chicken or fish. Most recently we ate this over a super easy cod baked over sliced onions. On the side we had roasted asparagus and rice cooked with saffron, green onions and pine nuts. So good!!
Mango Butter Sauce
This recipe makes plenty for 6 - makes about a cup of sauce
1/2 cup sherry
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 ripe mangos, peeled and roughly chopped (or 1 cup of mango juice, like Kerns Nectar, or frozen mango chunks)
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup of butter, cubed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Chopped cilantro to top
In a saute pan, cook the shallots in the sherry until the sherry has cooked down to about 2 tablespoons, about 7 minutes.
While the shallots and sherry cooks, peel and chop the mangos. In a blender or food processor, blend mangos, orange juice, and vinegar until pureed. (If using the mango juice, skip this blending step.)
Add the mango juice to the cooked down sherry and shallots. Reduce to low heat and cook until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in butter pieces, salt and pepper. Keep over very low heat until ready to use.
Baked Cod Over Onions
Preheat oven to 350
Serves 4
4 filets of cod (or other mild, white fish)
1 onion, sliced very finely
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper
Spread butter over a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange slices of onion over the butter. Place filets over the onions and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake uncovered for 25 minutes, or until this fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork.
Things made this time last year...
Baked Gnocchi
Potato Galette
White Chicken Chili
