Sweet & Sour Shrimp Stir Fry

I love stir fry! I literally came up with this recipe 10 minutes ago and just made it. I got the idea from Clean Eating's sweet & sour chicken recipe. This recipe is SUPER easy and healthy! This recipe is a single serving recipe and brown rice can be added to it to make it a dinner dish.

Sweet & Sour Shrimp Stir Fry

Stir Fry:

2 cups frozen oriental stir fry vegetables

4 oz. frozen shrimp

Sweet & Sour Sauce:

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 tsp honey

1/2 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1. Coat a small skillet with non-stick cooking spray as well as a stove top grill. Add the frozen vegetables to the skillet and cover to heat. Transfer shrimp to grill and heat through.

2. In a small bowl microwave honey, then add soy sauce, lime juice, minced garlic, and ground ginger. Mix until combined.

3. Once shrimp and vegetables are warmed through, add the shrimp and sweet & sour sauce to the skillet with the vegetables.

4. Serve and enjoy!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yesterday I went to the Kiss 108 concert with my friend and she told me to make some cookies that I thought everyone would like. I didn't think the girls would like them as much as they did! They were gone before I could blink! You can't bring food or drinks into the concert so everyone chowed down on these before we went in. They loved the hint of cinnamon with the chocolate chips.

I'm planning on for my next cookie adventure to make chocolate chip cookies with pudding mix, so keep an eye out for those soon! :)

(Recipe from Nestle)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup egg beaters

2 tablespoons low fat milk

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup white chocolate morsels

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup sliced walnuts 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Beat in egg beaters. Gradually add in flour mixture and milk. Stir in morsels and oats. Drop onto baking sheets in heaping tablespoons.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown with soft centers. Transfer and cool on baking racks for 2 minutes. (I like my cookies super soft and chewy so I baked them for around 8 minutes)

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

I saw the original recipe for these cookies on Sugar Derby's website and I knew I had to try them. I was feeling a little lazy today though since I've been at work since 6:30 am. YUCK! So I went out and bought Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookie mix. I wanted to make these for my friends since we're all back from college now! I love Ghirardelli so I knew it would be a good mix. I changed a couple things pertaining to the way I made these cookies though didn't quite follow the directions because I wanted to experiment!

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

(Adapted from Sugar Derby)

1 box Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookie mix

1 egg

1 stick butter, melted

1 cup white chocolate covered pretzels, crushed

1. In a small bowl melt butter in microwave. Set aside to cool.

2. Add the egg to the cookie mix and the cooled butter.

3. In a ziplock bag crush the pretzels. (I used an ice cream scoops) REMEMBER we don't want a pretzel powder we want PIECES of pretzels!

4. Fold in the pretzels and chill the mixture in the fridge for about an hour.

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and drop heaping tablespoons of mixture onto cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

 

So the other day we had some brown semi-rotting bananas in the fruit bowl at my house. My mom told me to do something with them, she suggested bread, but instead I made muffins. Muffins are so much better, you can take them with you in the morning and they're perfectly portioned out! This recipe comes from an old cook book my Memere had. It's called The Blender Cookbook. Pretty funny! I didn't blend this recipe though I wanted to keep the bananas chunky. 

(Recipe from The Blender Cookbook)

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 small ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

walnuts to garnish muffin tops

1. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cream of tartar, and salt and set aside in a small bowl.

2. Mix the eggs, softened butter, mashed bananas, sugar, and vanilla extract. 

3. Pour the dry ingredients over the wet and fold in gently. Fold in the chocolate chips.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and scoop mix into lined muffin tins. Sprinkle muffin tops with chopped walnuts and bake for 20-30 minutes. 

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love coffee and I love chocolate. It's such a great combination! When i saw these cookies from Lovin' in the Oven I knew they would be amazing. I love the fact that the dough is refrigerated overnight. I always feel that melting the butter and then refrigerating the dough overnight makes a better cookie. But hey, that's just me. :) Hope you enjoy these they're super good and they make AWESOME ice cream sandwiches :) :)

(Recipe from Lovin' from the Oven)

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups flour

3 tablespoons instant coffee powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks of butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks

1. Whisk the flour, coffee, baking soda, and salt together in a medium sized bowl.

2. Beat the butter and granulated sugar for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and beat for 30 seconds. Add eggs and beat until the mixture is blended.

3. Add flour mixture and slowly mix with a mixer until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for several hours or overnight.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Cake Batter Blondies

I saw this recipe and I knew I had to to try it. What is better than cake batter, white chocolate chips, and sprinkles? I made these for my Dad and I thought he was going to fall over when he tried them. Lets just say he loved them and could not stop eating them! I can't blame him these blondies are delicious. This recipe can be adapted to satisfy any of your cravings because all you do is change your flavor of cake mix and add different mix-ins! (I recently tried yellow cake mix, white chocolate chips, and walnuts. These blondies were good, but not as good as these cake batter ones!) I can't wait to try Girl Meets Life's other cake box brownies! Almost tempted to try them out today, but I know I should wait. :) PS make sure you under bake these puppies, it's supposed to be cake batter after all!

(Recipe from Girl Meets Life)

Cake Batter Blondies 

1 box of yellow cake mix

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3-1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup sprinkles

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1. Combine cake mix, vegetable oil, egg, and milk. The batter should be very thick.

2. Mix in the chocolate chips and sprinkles.

3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8 x 8 pan with tin foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. 

4. Pour the mixture into the prepped pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are golden. (You may not think they were done BUT the gooey center means you baked them correctly. YUM!)

Guilt-Free Brownie

You won't even miss the fat and calories when you try these brownies. They are amazing! The espresso powder really enhances the chocolate taste and this recipe even uses real sugar. The brownies are small and a little on the cakey side so I baked them on less time since I like a nice gooey brownie.

(Recipe from Devin Alexander's Double Chocolate Brownies)

Guilt-Free Brownies

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 egg whites (I used 1/2 cup egg white beaters)

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used soy flour)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8 x 8 baking pan with tin foil. Spray an 8 x 8 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray

2. Combine applesauce, vanilla, egg whites, and sugar in a medium mixing bowl.

3. Add the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir together until no lumps remain. Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.

4. Bake brownies for 18-20 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

5. Transfer pan to a cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes. Cut brownies into 12 equal pieces.

Each brownie is 88 calories :)

Another Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie

I really love to bake, but I also like to eat healthy and clean. It's hard to do trust me! So I have been trying to make recipes lower calorie or trying out recipes that are made low calorie. I go to the gym everyday and try to eat all my fruits and veggies, but I just cannot resist sweets! :) hehe

(Recipe from Hungry Girl's So-Good Chocolate Chip Softies)

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup soy flour

1/2 cup splenda

6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup canned squash pure

1/4 cup egg beaters

2 1/2 tablespoons chocolate chip morsels, chopped

2 tablespoons brown sugar, not packed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.Combine the applesauce, squash pure, egg beaters,, and vanilla extract in a small bowl.

3.Combine the dry ingredients (soy flour, splenda, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.)

4. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet and then fold in chocolate chips.

5. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and spoon 8 mounds of dough onto the sheet.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes,

1 cookie = 88 calories

Memere's Cookies

These cookies are my Memere's favorite. When she had knee surgery she asked for these all the time (and so did everyone who was visiting her!) These cookies are soft and chewy just the way I like them. The combination of white chocolate chips, cranberries, and walnuts is to die for! She makes hers usually with dried apricots, raisins and nuts, but everyone could use a little chocolate in their day! Everyone loves these cookies and they're great for any occasion! 

(Adapted from Nestle)

Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup egg beaters

2 tablespoons low fat milk

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup white chocolate morsels

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup sliced walnuts 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Beat in egg beaters. Gradually add in flour mixture and milk. Stir in morsels, dried cranberries, walnuts, and oats. Drop onto baking sheets in heaping tablespoons.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown with soft centers. Transfer and cool on baking racks for 2 minutes. (I like my cookies super soft and chewy so I baked them for around 8 minutes)

4. Eat and enjoy! :)

Ice Cream Sundae Brownies!

Since I've gotten out of school for the summer I have been baking and cooking like crazy! I think I've gained 10 pounds because of it. (I just can't resist batter of ANY kind!) I haven't gotten to the point of making my own recipes yet, but I hope to soon! So this recipe today comes from Picky Palate ! 

I made these crazy, delicious brownies for my dad earlier this afternoon. They're actually in the oven as I'm typing this. :) I saw this recipe and I knew he would love them, I mean who wouldn't?! These brownies have ice cream, hot fudge, and chocolate chips, what more could a girl ask for? Well, I guess a glass of cold milk to go with them. :) Here's the recipe!

Ice Cream Sundae Brownies

1 box of brownie mix

2 eggs (I used a 1/2 cup of egg beaters)

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

1/2 cup of ice cream (I used cookies n' cream frozen yogurt)

1/4 cup fudge topping

1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl mix the brownie mix, 2 eggs, and oil until combined. (The batter is going to be SUPER thick, but don't worry). Scoop in the ice cream, chocolate chips, and hot fudge; mix until combined. Pour into a foil lined 8 x 8 baking dish that is sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 40-50 minutes. (I like my brownie gooey so I did around 45 minutes.)

2. Let the brownies cool completely. Remove foil from the dish and cut those brownies!

These brownies came out SO good! Super moist and super dense!