Roasted Chick Peas

Or... my accidental dinner. 

Seriously, I made these on a whim and while watching a movie, accidentally ate the entire pan!  

This recipe may be one of the easiest ones I have ever seen, made and posted.  I did take the extra time to peel all my chickpeas but it's a great small motor activity! 

ROASTED AND SEASONED CHICK PEAS

(makes 2 cups/ from How Sweet Eats)

1 can chick peas (drained/rinsed)

Olive Oil Spray

Seasoning (I eyeballed sweet paprika, pepper and garlic salt)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Drain, rinse and shell chick peas. Dry thoroughly.  In a single layer arrange chick peas.  Spray with olive oil and sprinkle, evenly, with seasoning.

Bake 10 minutes, flip and bake an additional 10 minutes.

ENJOY!

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

I'm not a big fan of fish.  The scales, skin, eyes, smell usually gives me the heebie-jeebies.

That being said, I love tilapia.  Tilapia has a mild taste and you can usually find "clean" (ie minus all the things that freak me out!)  tilapia at the grocery store.  Because of the mild flavor, marinades/crusts for tilapia can easily be interchanged with chicken.

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

(serves 6; recipe found on Pinterest)

1 cup parmasean (I used a mix of shave and powdered) 

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic salt

1 Tbs parsley

dash red pepper flakes 

Olive Oil

Directions 

Preheat oven to 400

Mix cheese and spices in a small bowl.  Once mixed, pour into a large plate. Coat fish with olive oil and cover in cheese mixture. Bake for 10-12 minutes until fish is white in middle

ENJOY!!

Pepperoni Pizza Casserole

Pizza.  I've made my fair share of combinations and have tasted many others BUT sometimes, you get bored. Sometimes you need to switch it up the presentation and voila, this is what this is.

I first found this recipe on Pinterest and, of course, had to try it.  

It could not have been an easier recipe to follow and my four taste testers managed to eat an entire 9x11 dish in one sitting! (If that's not a positive review, I don't know what is!)

Pepperoni Pizza Casserole 

(from Sweet Treats and More)

1 package uncooked spaghetti

1lb ground turkey burger (plus 1 TBS olive oil)

1 (26oz) jar tomato sauce

1/2 package pepperoni

1 (8oz) bag shredded cheese (I used an Italian 6 blend)

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350* and spray a 9x11 casserole dish with nonstick spray.

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and place in casserole dish.

In a large skillet brown the turkey burger in the olive oil.  Once cooked, pour on top of noodles in the casserole dish. Pour jar of sauce over the noodles and ground turkey.

In the same skillet used for the ground turkey, heat pepperoni for three to five minutes.  Place half of the pepperoni on top of sauce.  Cover the noodles, ground turkey, sauce and pepperoni with the cheese and sprinkle remaining pepperoni on top.  Spray one side of aluminum foil and cover casserole dish (spray side down)

Bake for 30 minutes until cheese is melted and starting to brown.  Serve immediately.

 ENJOY! 

Roasted Green Beans

Confession time, I do not like green beans.  

I'll eat a little bit if they're baked in mushroom soup and topped with fried onions.

But really, nope. Not a fan.

Enter these lovelies.

I first made these a few months back when I made a gourmet dinner for my brother and sister-in-law (they are fans of the "greenie- beanies") and I was shocked when I couldn't keep my hands off of them.

I have since made them three more times and every time I'm shocked by how good they are.

ROASTED GREEN BEANS

1 package "Haricots Verts" /french style green beans

Olive oil

Salt, Pepper and freshly crushed garlic

(other seasonings you prefer work too!)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400*.  Rinse green beans. Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Toss green beans in olive oil and seasonings and arrange on baking sheet in a single layer.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until crisp.

ENJOY!!!  

**(In my experience I've found 1 package from Trader Joe's feeds 3 people)**

***(You MUST use the thinner French style bean, the other types contain too much water and do not crisp/roast) ***

Rum and Coke Gummies

This is for the adults (21+) who are really kids at heart.

The classic gummy colas are one of the candies that screams childhood, summer vacation and instantly brings back memories of VH1 music videos and MTV shows with drunken bikini clad girls and (equally drunk) boys with spiked bleached hair (oh late 90's/early 2000's... I miss you sooooo)

Sorry, distracted.

These gummies are a great mashup of childhood slamming into adulthood and it couldn't be any easier

Rum and Coke Gummies

1 bag Haribo gummy cola

1 pint of rum

Directions 

In a large container, 9x 13 would be best, arrange gummies in a single layer.  Pour rum over gummies until completely submerged. (Depending on size of container, amount of gummies the amount of rum you need will vary)  

Let soak for 3-5 days and enjoy!

(**Gummies will swell as they soak up the rum**)

(I'd say these are perfect for Spring Break or a summer trip at the beach!)

(ALWAYS drink responsibly!)

ENJOY

Easter Cupcake Toppers

These are the cupcakes that make me the most proud!

I made them for Easter 2012 and I actually drew a picture outline of my idea!  

Talk about taking baking seriously!

Since my brother, sister-in-law and I all live in Chicago, my parents come to us to celebrate.  However, since we are no... old.. and there is a 6hr trip involved, we no longer get Easter baskets.  These cupcakes were the perfect compromise (and I don't think anyone realized the baskets were missing!!!!)

These cupcakes can be, easily, copied and I will  make them again in the future.

Cupcakes: I used a yellow mix from Elinor Kilvan's book: Cupcakes! (but you could use a box mix!)

Frosting: I did a vanilla cream cheese frosting because it is less sweet than butter cream.  

Bake the cupcakes and let the cupcakes cool COMPLETELY before frosting.  Refrigerate cupcakes for an hour or so to allow frosting to firm up.  This will make the decorating process much easier.

With a toothpick make a small hole in the cupcake and lightly push the Twizzler into the cupcake (only about a quarter of the way down) and then repeat on the other side.  It should look like a handle to a basket.  

Next, sprinkle colored sprinkles to the frosting.  

Add a couple of jelly beans (I used JellyBellies!) and add a chocolate egg (I had mini Resee's eggs and mini Cadbury eggs) 

And voila..  a perfect Easter Basket Cupcake

 ENJOY!!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chips Pancakes

I have a problem.

A pancake problem.

I LOVE pancakes.

I love to add fun things to my pancakes, like bananas, Nutella, peanutbutter, blueberries, and chocolate.

And I never top with maple syrup.  

I typically opt for peanutbutter or Nutella or even jelly. 

And fresh whipped cream. 

My recipe is simple enough

(Bisquick with unmeasured add ins)

And while this is delicious, sometimes you want to up the ante. 

And that's what I did here.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

(makes about 12 pancakes)

(from A Cozy Kitchen)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 ground cloves
1/8 ground ginger
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1 egg
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tablespoons of butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.  In a measuring cup measure out the buttermilk. Add the egg and lightly beat. Next, mix in the pumpkin puree until completely blended. Pour in the slightly cooled melted butter and mix some more.
Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. The batter should be a little lumpy.

Heat up your griddle (spray with nonstick spray OR melt a little butter on it) then pour batter on the warm griddle. (I use either a ¼ measuring cup OR a laddle to make even pancakes). 

Top each pancake with desired amount of chocolate chips.

Cook until small bubbles form on the surface of the pancake and then flip. Cook on opposite side for about 40 seconds, or until golden brown.

ENJOY!