Belaŧed Ċhristmąs

Merry belated Christmas! We had the most delicious Christmas dinner. And there was lots of it! Not to mention the endless platters of cookies. I baked. Grandma baked. My friends baked. Afternoon walks became a must! I gained at least three pounds at dinner. .

As I said in a previous post, I will be posting another savory recipe. Kathy's Thanksgiving Dinner. The dish has nothing to do with Thanksgiving and it's not Mrs. Kathy's recipe. But that is what we call it. And it is so so good. It's packed with awesome flavor. Unfortunately, the original recipe isn't gluten-free friendly. But I will make the necessary adjustments to the recipe.

It's so crunchy and buttery on top. One of my favorites!

I am really excited to share the recipe with y'all. I have grown up enjoying Kathy's Thanksgiving Dinner and I hope y'all enjoy it too!

Christmas was pretty fantastic. We got to spend it with my sister and her little girls. It was a lot of fun. My grandmother, Mimi, came over for dinner and dessert. . we feasted pretty heavily.

We made great memories that I won't soon forget!

⎨Happy Belated Christmas, friends⎬

Corn and Black Bean Stoup

 Stoup is one of my favorite dinner dishes. You can have so many delicious things going on at once!           In this particular stoup you have - corn, sweet potato, black beans, chicken, green, yellow, and orange peppers, green chillies, and tomatoes. It's a burst of savory goodness.

By way of clarification. . . stoup is a cross between stew and soup. It's the best!

The recipe is pretty simple, especially since I took a short cut.
I used a pre cooked hen from the deli at my grocery store. It was Mojo flavor. So Good. It paired really well with the other flavors in the stoup.

To start -
Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil and in a large pot. Add paprika and cumin to the oil to infuse the flavor. You can also add some chili powder. I don't measure out the spices. Remember, I'm "a dash of this and a dash of that" kind if girl. I eyeball it.

Next, add your corn, sweet potato, peppers, and green chillies. I did not use three whole peppers. I used about a third of each pepper. Add in your black beans and chicken pieces. Ideally I would use all fresh ingredients. This time around I used canned corn and black beans. Now, add chicken stock. I used about 3/4 of a quart.

 Season away! I put a ton of "dashes" of chili powder, paprika, and cumin. As well as black pepper, and a little salt. If it starts to get too spicy ( I taste along the way) add a little agave nectar. Now add a splash of milk and around a teaspoon of guar gum and you're set!

The only thing left to do is let it simmer and simmer and simmer some more. The longer it simmers the better it gets.

Ţookìes

So, I just had to bake chocolate peppermint cookies. Peppermint screams Christmas to me. But this time around I had a little helper in the kitchen. My Boo. My niece, Hannah, joined me in baking these Christmas inspired cookies. Or as she calls them "tookies"

This was Hannah's first scratch baking experience. It was so special to share that with her. We had so much fun! I measured; she poured and mixed. She was über excited!

As I mentioned above, we made Chocolate Peppermint Cookies. I was in Whole Foods the other day and found organic 70% dark chocolate with peppermint pieces. I was instantly inspired to bake cookies!

This was some of the best chocolate I have ever had. I had a quick taste before we melted it down to bake with. It has a great depth of flavor. It was an extra special chocolate for an extra special baking experience.

My little love bug was so proud of our yummy creation. 

I will post the recipe for these cookies at a later date. I also have the most amazing stoup 〔stew/soup〕 recipe for y'all. It is so so good. Perfect for chilly weather.

I'll try to have it posted on Monday.

⎨Much love, J⎬

Vanılla Banäna Nuŧ Cőokies

I enjoy baking so much! It is incredibly relaxing for me. I also love whipping up new recipes. This particular recipe instantly became a family favorite. Vanilla Banana Nut Cookies. As always this recipe is super simple, which makes it fun to make.

You will need. . 

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour. (Bob's Red Mill is the best)    

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp salt ( I used sea salt)

1 large pkg Vanilla Jello instant pudding

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 

1 c. light brown sugar

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

2 medium bananas

1/3 c sugar

1 cup macadamia nuts

+ 1/2 c. semi sweet chocolate chips

Now comes the super easy part.

In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, pudding powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a medium bowl cream together brown sugar and butter. Then add in the eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, bananas-sliced, sugar, and macadamia nuts.

Now you simply combine this with your flour mixture. At this point I added 1/2 c. mini semi sweet chocolate chips. 

My little baker

I like my cookies to look homemade, so I just use a spoon to place the batter on the baking sheet.

 You're going to bake these cookies on 360º for about 20 min. They may need to go a little longer because of the two bananas in the batter. If they don't bake long enough they will become sticky later. So aim for 20-30 min.

Ta-da! Vanilla Banana Nut Cookies. They really are quite delicious.

Just a note.

First, I realize the Jello instant pudding really doesn't fit my guidelines. You know. . organic, gluten free, no refined sugar. When I made these cookies I only had access to the Jello brand pudding. If you have a Whole Foods in your area then you can find an organic pudding. If you don't have access to a Whole Foods then you can order the pudding you need here: shoporganic.com-pudding

My Izzaboo helped me bake. Cute little cookie monster!

Cookie thief

⎨Happy Eating, J⎬

Døubļe Täskıng

I kind of enjoy finals. . . A lot! It's odd I know. 

It has to be the increase of my coffee intake. Of course, straight up coffee just won't do.

Cue the cocoa powder, coffee creamer, ice, milk, and a blender. 

Sweet bliss!

Alright, I updated the Double Chocolate Caramel Cookies recipe. I made it even more delicious with only two little changes.  

Change #1 - I replaced the melted semi sweet chocolate chips with Ghirardelli dark chocolate and caramel squares. I melted down eight squares with a tablespoon of milk. Add the melted squares to the wet ingredients just like you would add the semi sweet chips. 

Change # 2 - I replaced the regular cocoa powder with Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder.

These cookies are super delicious! Recipe - double chocolate caramel cookies

Add the changes for even more goodness

I will be posting the recipe for Vanilla Banana Nut Cookies - tomorrow.

Finals shall not slow me down! I have the not so unique ability to double-task. I blog while I study. Throw some texting in there and I'm in my zone.

Textbook. Laptop. Phone. The three essentials.

A little Biebs, Foster the People, or The Eyelight Shine playing in the background makes this set up pretty amazing.

Check back tomorrow for another cookie recipe.
By the way. . . I will be posting savory recipes, for Christmas, this week

How do you get your study on?

⎨Happy Finals!⎬

Āh Deċembeŗ

                         Christmas is in the air; and you know how much I love Christmas.
Scarves, fingerless gloves 〔I realize how unpractical they are〕 boots, people being nicer to each other, hot chocolate, you guys know the drill. My scarf collection has worked it's way to the front of my closet and the jeggings are awaiting their turn to be rocked with a pair of boots! Super cute boots. Ah December. Best. Month. Ever.

As always I have a new recipe for y'all. It should be posted before monday.

Vanilla Banana Nut Cookies

They're kind of super delicious. They only made it a day and a half.

Tomorrow is another bake day. I am making the Double Chocolate Caramel Cookies, that I posted the recipe for recently, for the Marine Corps Band and everyone else coming to hear them play at our church. 

I have since tweaked the recipe just a little. Now it's even yummier!

Of course i'll let y'all in on the new adjustments to the recipe.

Also. . .

Recently I have posted mostly 'sweet' recipes. I have some savory recipes in the works for you guys.

With the big day coming there has been lots of dinner planning.

It's going to be an amazing feast.

This weekend is packed full of holiday fun. 'squeal!' So i'll most likely be posting some "memories made along the way" blog posts. This means pics. Lot's of pics.

⎨Happy December Weekend, J⎬

Tħańksgivıng in a Nůtshell

"Sleigh bells ring, are you listening. . ."


Wait, what happened to Thanksgiving? Every year it seems we start celebrating Christmas by the end of Black Friday. Personally I enjoy this. Christmas is my favorite time of year! It's cold outside and everyone is a little bit nicer to each other. Oh, hot chocolate! Yes, the hot chocolate might be my favorite part.

Okay, let's rewind for a sec.

Thanksgiving was lively this year. My sister came with her two adorable little girls! They're just little munchkins so they have lots of energy. They brought a whole new level of youth and excitement to the Thanksgiving week.
Now on to the most wonderful part of Thanksgiving. . .
The FOOD. Delicious food. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet carrots, green bean casserole, and so much more. The "so much more" includes four dessert choices that were too good to put into words.

Homemade pecan, pumpkin, and chocolate pie!
Plus peanut butter cheesecake squares.

You know me, I like my cheat-treats. I may have indulged in several over the Thanksgiving week. My Yogurt Cafe and Paciugo are two of my favorite cheat-treat stops.

It's my vice

By the way. . . Paciugo is pronounced 〔pa•choo•go〕

My Yogurt Cafe particularly speaks to me. You serve yourself. I like that part. A lot!

I can't finish this post with out adding a shout out to my very favorite place to shop. Whole Foods.

We stopped at Whole Foods on our way to Florida for T-giving. It was magical. It always is.

My trusty Garmin counted down every mile to my Little Eden

I was all too pleased to introduce my dad to Whole Foods.

I hope each and every one of you had a fantastic Thanksgiving filled with feasting!

P. S. I am already on the hunt for Christmas recipes! I cannot wait to share all kinds of wonderful ⎨gluten free⎬ Christmas delights with y'all.

                                                                ⎨Happy Weekend, J⎬