Salty Sprinkled
Chip Cookies
Chocolate
Oh hey there pretty little salty and sprinkled chocolate chip
cookies! Oh how I’ve been waiting for February to show it’s
face just to have reasons to use all of my naturally dyed
sprinkles I’ve been stock-piling! Ok, so it isn’t exactly
February yet, but it is really close, right?!?!
Yes, that’s right. Valentine’s Day is upon us. For some
couples this “holiday” means going on extra special trips and
doing all kinds of fabulous, lovey-dovey things. For couples
with kids this “holiday” means reminiscing about the days
before you had kids and you could do those things. HA! Ok, you
know sometimes we just have to be real and this my friends is
the truth about Hallmark “holidays” after having kids!
I think last year we all went out to eat as a family. My
husband can tell you, I’m always the voice of reason when he
suggests such outtings.
“Buuuut remember last time we tried that and it was a horrible
event that I never want to relive, like ever in my life
again?”
Yeah, it never really goes the way you were thinking when you
have small children. Two of our kids are past the *NEVER
TAKING OUT TO EAT, EVER* age, but we still have little baby
Christian who is kind of still unpredictable in public. So
that means I’ll probably just get my husband a plant for
Valentine’s Day again and then we can name it Heart-y or
something. Then of course I will have a huge tray of fresh,
just out of the oven chocolate chip cookies to go along with
my completely random present. Works like a charm every time!
Ok, now that I’ve just given all of you un-married and un-kided folks the truth about well…life… let’s move on because
Hello! These cookies are pretty and delicious and slightly
better then your average cookie. By slightly I mean that we
subbed some whole wheat flour, and added sprinkles that aren’t
so offensive because they don’t contain trans fats (partially
hydrogenated oils), like most sprinkles, and they are
naturally dyed. No laboratory chemicals in these cookies!
Ok, so you might be wondering why I’m not going 100% whole
wheat on these because normally, I do. The truth is I just
can’t get a 100% whole wheat cookie to taste good. I’ve tried,
and tried, and failed, and failed. Then I realized it is a
damn cookie. Just put some white flour in it and forget about
it! So I did, and they were perfect, and delicious, and gooey,
and chocolatey, and ever so slightly salty in the most perfect
cookie way. The End!
*I used 3 different naturally dyed sprinkles on these cookies
but my most recommended naturally dyed sprinkles are these
India Tree sprinkles. The price reflected is for a bulk order
but you can find them individually in stores and on Amazon.
I’ve found them in stores for $4-5 a jar so it is cheaper if
you can find them locally. Wegman’s carries a ton of their
line.
*Recipe adapted from Chocolate Chip cookie recipe printed on
Wegman’s Organic Chocolate Chip bag.
Creamy Chicken and Dumpling
Soup
This super silky milk based soup will have your family smiling
ear to ear on cold winter days. Great for thermoses and
leftovers!
This soup will hit your mouth like BAM! The perfect dreamy,
creamy, comforting chicken soup + dumplings. Does it get any
more comfort food then this? I think not.
While the Holiday cheer was wrapping up I was all like *Creamy
Chicken and Dumpling Soup must happen now!* Parties are over,
gatherings are over, and I don’t have to share with anyone!
This soup = Not for sharing! That is, unless your trying to
impress your hunky new man (or woman), or trying to prove to
your kids that you are indeed the best cook ever and nobody
will ever come close to Mama’s home cooking.
Speaking of Mama’s home cooking… I have an 8 year old that is
determined to tell me about every single time in his life that
he hated my food. Today in the car I heard something along the
lines of:
“Remember that time that you made that lasagna with the
broccoli and squash and you promised me that you were going to
save a corner with no veggies for me, and then you didn’t, and
then you actually burnt it and I hated it. Remember that
time?”
Of course I remember that time honey, the time I actually
tried to get you to eat broccoli and you acted like I was
trying to kill you. How could I possibly forget that you don’t
understand that cruciferous veggies are loaded with all the
good stuff to keep your little body growing the right way? How
could I possibly forget that I didn’t make enough béchamel to
cover the noodles completely and ONE BITE got a little crispy
on top? One….bite….!!!!! Kids, they don’t forget a thing!
Cooking Tips and Techniques
I used chicken breasts for this soup, however you could
sub 2 cups of shredded chicken if you’d like.
I added 1/2 cup finely chopped kale for some extra
nutrients. I added it very last so it didn’t get soggy
and gross. I promise, you can’t even tell it is there!
Oh Hi Kale!
I adapted this recipe for the dumplings. I used whole
wheat white flour, which does yield a courser dumpling.
I advise using whole wheat flour MOST of the time, but
if your family isn’t used to whole grains you might want
to sub 1/2 all purpose. I loved the dumplings, they had
a great flavor, and the longer they sat in the broth the
better they were!
The dumplings will get bigger after you drop them in
your pot. Small dumplings = better dumplings because if
you make them too big you will end up with a weird
center.
Crispy Blackened Chicken and
Broccoli Pasta
First, who else is watching The Voice right now? All of these
guys are so amazing!
And second, a big Happy Birthday to my first born baby, who
turns 8 today! I know, I know, shouldn’t I be posting a
cupcake or something? Well, those babies were all finished up
last night around…..11:30 PM. Every procrastinating parent has
been there, right? Luckily my cupcake game is on point and his
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cupcakes made it to school without
anything tragic happening!
So after I completely turned my kitchen upside down last night
and left the mess to deal with this morning I didn’t really
feel like putting something super special together for dinner.
You know, when you’ve spent your entire morning with a bottle
of bleach in your hands, cleaning up your kitchen and, oh
yeah….the pee around the toilet (that whole boy thing is no
joke), and you have little energy left for dinner? Sure, it
happens to the best of us. And then we make some super easy
and delicious Blackened Chicken and Broccoli Pasta and all is
well! Not bragging or anything but my husband totally tasted
this and said “Chik-fil-a doesn’t have anything on Mommy.”
Score!
Ok so yeah, that’s a flax seed in that picture. It has nothing
to do with this recipe. Opppps!
This is a two step recipe that involves just one pan. I’m
going to quickly sum this up to make this real simple and easy
(full recipe below):
1) Coat your chix (restaurant lingo for chicken) in seasoning,
dip in breadcrumbs, BAM!
2) Into EVOO drenched and heated pan for some sizzlin’ action.
POW!
3) Remove the chix when it is nice and crispy. Deglaze pan
with some chicken stock to get all the goodies off the bottom.
WOW!
4) Add some butter lovin’ and some flour, then liquids (stock,
milk), pasta, and cheese, and simmer that goodness until pasta
is about half-way cooked. Add broccoli, allow to cook, and
DONE!
Is it just me, or was that really exciting?
What I love most
about this is the ease of cooking the chicken. No annoying
waste of an egg to coat your chicken, no 3 step flour, egg,
seasoning mess, just an easy cut, coat, and cook method that
delivers the crispiest pan “fried” chicken ever!
*For this recipe, I used a store-bought organic breadcrumb.
Although these are not 100% whole wheat, they are a great
convenience product that doesn’t include any unnecessary
ingredients like hydrogenated oils, HFCS, MSG, etc. Here’s a
link if your interested!
Creamy White Cheddar Baked
Corn
Corn. The glue that holds all Holiday meals together. Don’t
think so? Try omitting it sometime, and everyone will just
keep wondering “What’s missing here???”
I have to admit, I’ve been a corn lover my whole life. As a
child I absolutely despised veggies, but corn…we got along
just fine. So obviously, as an adult and a chef, I look for
ways to make corn even better then it already is. I’ve found a
winner here….ding, ding, ding!
Corn + cheese = yes! It
doesn’t really take a genius to figure that one out though, so
let’s just say I took an obvious combination and upped the
ante a bit by adding a touch of white wine and a layer of
crispy Fontina cheese on top!
And now… I bring to you…more processed food confessions from
my childhood. Boy, I hope my parents decided my blog was too
much of a snooze-fest to even read anymore because I’ve been
calling them out for all the crap they fed me as a child a lot
lately! I’m just going to assume they aren’t reading and
proceed to call them out yet again! The cheese whiz, the
frozen pretzels, and now the Kid Cuisines (among lots of other
crap). I mean, seriously…why? And who? Who goes to the grocery
store and thinks processed junk food in plastic containers
that you cook in a microwave seem like a good idea? Apparently
my parents thought it was quite nifty because let’s just say I
ate Kid Cuisines a few times a week for a few years. I’m still
alive! But no wonder I was fat and awkward!
In their defense, I really loved those things. I came home
from school, watched Nickelodeon, ate my TV-dinner. The life
of a 90’s kid! My favorite Kid Cuisine was the tacos (ok, is
talking about this crap getting creepy yet?!?!?). I refused to
believe the tacos had beans in them (THEY DID) because I
thought I hated beans. I also was quite the little chef
because I always mixed the corn and cheese sauce and it was
the best combo ever. Hence…. this recipe!
One really important step in this recipe is making sure your
frozen corn is defrosted! If it isn’t defrosted it will make
the sauce runny when it defrosts in the oven. I made the same
mistake one time but quickly fixed it by adding a few
tablespoons of flour and baking it for a few more minutes.
Flour fixes everything!
*I recommend looking for frozen corn that is organic/non-GMO
verified! I used sweet corn that I froze this summer, but
store bought is perfectly fine as well!