Monster Cookie Dough Dip

Today I made an awesome dip that I pinned a long time ago. I found it on The Girl Who Ate Everything's blog. I've made a few recipes of hers and they have always turned out great. Does anyone else have the problem of things not turning out as delicious as the blogger's pictures look? I made some chocolate & peanut butter brownie bars last week, and I followed the blogger's recipe exactly! Only problem... they turned out very, very strange. But anyway, TGWAE's recipes have always been spot on for me. Makes a girl like me happy.

 

This dip is no different. I followed her recipe exactly and ended up with a delicious, creamy cookie dough tasting dip. Bonus, there are no raw eggs so your chances of getting salmonella are low. Woohoo, am I right? 

You can serve this dip with graham crackers (we tried chocolate, YUM), Nilla Wafers, or for a sweet and salty treat try Ritz Crackers. Just eating it with a spoon works too. Or at least, that's what I've been told anyway. 

Click here for the recipe.

Enjoy!!

Mixed Berry Streusel Coffee Cake

I was starting to think I participate in this blog just to have an excuse to make naughty desserts. But then I remember... I want to please our readers. So I remind myself that it's a "need" not a "want" - it's necessary that I bring happiness to your taste buds. If I can't achieve that, what I am doing here?

Over the winter I went through a I-gotta-have-a-smoothie-everyday phase. I stocked up on frozen berries, and then naturally I lost my obsession for smoothies shortly after. I was pregnant so cravings completely took control of my life.

I wanted to use up those berries, and knew I wanted to use them in a dessert that include streusel. Yum! If you don't enjoy a good streusel topping, go immediately to the doctor, because obviously there is something wrong with you.

I found this recipe on the Taste of Home website. I love this site. I could spend an entire afternoon drooling over the recipes.

This coffee cake is amazing! For real, I'm not just saying it. I made two 8x8 pans. One to give away and the other for my family. Our pan was gone the next morning (yep, I had some for breakfast... with my coffee... because it's coffee cake, that's why!). I made the first two pans with raspberries.

Wait. Did you catch that? "I made the first two pans"... if you figured out that I made another 9x13 pan two days later, you are correct. That is exactly what I did. This time I used mixed berries.

If you are like me, you are not a huge fan of the seeds in certain berries. I tolerate them because the fruit is so damn good. I was concerned the filling for the cake would be too seedy. Not true. At all. I think the fact that it wasn't seedy made my love this cake even stronger.

This recipe makes more filling than I wanted to use, so I jarred and refrigerated the rest. It was great to use as jelly. I stored it for about two weeks. It may store longer, but I am not expert on that.

Mixed Berry Streusel Coffee Cake
Adapted from: Taste of Home

Mixed berry filling:
3 1/2 cups unsweetened berries
1 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn starch

Cake:
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter, cold & cubed
2 eggs
1 cup (8oz) sour cream
1 tsp vanilla

Streusel topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened

Make the filling:
In a large saucepan, cook berries and water over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add lemon juice. Combine sugar and cornstarch; stir into fruit mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Cool.

Make the cake mix:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in eggs, sour cream and vanilla (batter will be stiff). 

Make the streusel: 
Combine all ingredients into a separate bowl. 

Bake the cake: 
Spread half of the cake mix into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Spread berry filling over batter; spoon remaining batter over filling. Sprinkle streusel over top. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm or cool. Both are equally delicious! 

 

Omelette Quesadilla and Wrap

Once again life became crazy busy, and I was forced to put my blog posts on hold. Long story short - I carried twins for another couple. At 28 weeks, I was admitted into the hospital for Pre-eclampsia with severe features. My only severe feature was high blood pressure, but it was high enough that I had to remain in the hospital until I delivered. You can read more about it here. On top of that, I was also taking a college English course on-line. Life is now getting back to normal after the twins were born and my English course is winding down.

I'm excited to get back in the kitchen. I have some fun ideas I'd like to start doing. Almost a year ago, I received my grandma's old recipes, like old as in - handwritten on recipe cards. I'd like to dedicate a post each month to making something from her collection of recipes. Also, I am continuing to make a baked good once a month for a year as part of my daughter's mission trip fundraiser. I'm hoping to dedicate a post to this as well.

Today I have two delicious and satisfying breakfast ideas. Yeah... my last post was a breakfast item too. So what? I like breakfast, okay? I made these dishes vegetarian, but feel free to add ham, bacon, or sausage or get wild and add them all! Like I've said before, I like making dishes that allow you to get creative - add or subtract any ingredients you want.

Omelette Quesadilla
1 serving

2 eggs
Olive oil
Handful of veggies - I used onions, peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes
Salt and pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese
2 Soft tortilla shells (large size)

Add a bit of olive oil to a frying pan. Scramble the eggs either with or without the veggies. I chose to saute mine after the eggs were scrambled. Shake some salt and pepper on the eggs as they scramble. Once the eggs are done and the veggies are softened, transfer them to a bowl. Set bowl aside.

Place one soft shell tortilla in the frying pan. Sprinkle on some cheese. Take the eggs and veggies and scatter them over the shell. Sprinkle on some more cheese and top with another soft shell tortilla. Cook over a medium heat for a few minutes or until the bottom shell is a golden brown. It's important that you don't cook it too fast or over a high heat. The cheese won't have time to melt and flipping it will make a mess - trust me on this one. Once cheese it melted and the shell has reached a nice golden brown, flip the quesadilla and cook another few minutes.

Now for the wrap...

Prepare the eggs and veggies the same as above. Place one soft shell tortilla  on a plate. Sprinkle cheese down the middle of the shell - not too close to the edges. Place the eggs and veggies over the cheese and fold the shell. Check out this link to see how to fold the shell. Heat it, seam side down, over a medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes. Flip and heat for another 5-6 minutes.

Egg Benedict Breakfast Pizza

The.Best.Breakfast.Pizza.Ever.... seriously!

What you'll need:

1 tube of pizza crust
4 eggs, scramble
Canadian Bacon, deli ham or cubed ham
Salt and pepper
1 cup Cheddar Cheese
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese

Hollandaise Sauce:

4 egg yolks,reserve egg whites for pizza
1 stick of butter
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 - 1/2 tsp black pepper

To prepare the sauce:

Melt one stick of butter in microwave. In a separate bowl, add 4 egg yolks. Set the unused egg whites aside. We'll scramble the whites later. Add lemon juice, paprika and pepper to yolks and whisk until smooth. Slowly whisk in melted butter. Whisk together until well combined. Set aside.

Pizza:

Preheat oven for whatever the crust calls for.

Unroll the pizza crust. Press the crust to your desired thickness on a greased baking pan. Spread the sauce on the pizza crust. Scramble 4 eggs along with the 4 egg whites set aside from the Hollandaise sauce. Add scrambled eggs and ham to pizza, and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Top the pizza with cheese. I also suggest adding some veggies - onions, peppers, mushrooms, etc.

Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

Cinco de Mayo Special - Easy & Fresh Guacamole!

 
I never used to be a fan of guacamole but I don't think I had GOOD guacamole for a very long time. It always seemed bland and I was new to avocados (my parents never served them) so I steered clear of it for a while. But then the restaurant Chipotle entered my life and I tried their's. It was GOOD. So I started to make it fresh myself and I really think it's a great snack, appetizer, topping, sandwich spread, etc. And avocados are healthy for you (in moderation of course)! Here is a simple recipe that I turn to time and again and am never disappointed. Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Easy & Fresh Guacamole

2 avocados, mashed
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1-2 diced tomatoes
1/2 freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon cilantro
few dashes salt and pepper

Combine all the ingredients well and serve immediately with tortilla chips or veggies! To store leftovers, press plastic wrap down on top of the guacamole in the bowl to prevent browning and refrigerate.

Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Pasta

I found an alfredo recipe on Pinterest, and I felt it was challenging me to try it. It claimed to be better than Olive Garden's alfredo sauce. I don't think O.G. has the best alfredo sauce, but I don't think it's horrible either. Guess that means I'm neutral, but whoever named this sauce named it "Better Than.." and I agree 100%.

Well, challenge accepted. I give it a pretty good score, too! Creamy and flavorful! Take a look...

Find the original recipe here: Better Than Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce.

Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls

I enjoy making food that looks impressive but is oh so easy to make. I combined two things that my family loves - cream cheese wontons and crescent rolls - and came up with these cream cheese crescent rolls. My kids had fun helping me and they are pretty hard to mess up. Here's what you need: a tube of crescent rolls, a package of cream cheese, and if desired, jam to top it off with. SO easy! Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lay out the crescent rolls and put about a tablespoon of cream cheese in the middle of each triangle. Seal up the edges of the crescent roll surrounding the cream cheese. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 11 - 13 minutes. I added homemade blueberry jam on top. Delicious!