Chipster-Topped Brownies - TWD

I love brownies....I love chocolate chip cookies. Who wouldn't like them layered together? Needless to say I was stoked to make this recipe! They were even made way earlier in the week than I normally make any of my TWD recipes. While preparing them and getting the ingredients ready I wish that I would have thought to halve the recipe though. This makes an insane amount of brownies that only Ben and I ended up eating. The boys didn't seem to enjoy them.

The recipe was chosen by Beth from Supplicious. It can be found on pages 94-95 in Dorie's book as well.

The only modification I did was substitute peanut butter chips for the bittersweet ones in the cookie layer. I also skipped the walnuts. My brownies baked up strange though. The bottom layer of brownies were fine. The problem came in with the cookie layer. While it was baking the top seemed to get very brown and seemed done. However, when I removed it from the oven and let it cool I noticed that it was still very gooey inside after the top cracked. We still ate it but it certainly wasn't done all the way through. And if I would have left it in the oven more to bake I am certain that the cookie layer would have been black.

While this recipe was fun to make I probably wouldn't make try it again. Although we did eat all the brownies, raw or not...they were good.

Creamy Shrimp Alfredo

I am a fan of the Food & Family magazine I receive in the mail from Kraft Foods. They have really good recipes that are easy to make. And the best part is that the ingredients are simple to find. I usually try several of the recipes each time I get the latest in the mail.

This week I tried the shrimp alfredo pasta on page 35. It is made with cream cheese and chicken broth. I used shrimp and peas but think that it would taste fantastic with chicken too.

creamy shrimp alfredo

Prep: 25 minutes

Makes: 4 servings, 1 1/4 cups each

what you need

1/2 lb. linguine, uncooked
2 Tbsp. Kraft Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
1/2 lb. uncooked deveined peeled medium shrimp
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz. (3/4 of 8 oz. pkg.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, cubed
3/4 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

make it

Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, heat dressing in large skillet on medium heat. Add shrimp; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes. or until shrimp turn pink, adding garlic for the last minute. Remove shrimp with slotted spoon; set aside.
Add cream cheese and broth to skillet; cook until cream cheese is completely melted, stirring frequently. Stir in shrimp and 3 Tbsp. Parmesan.
Drain pasta. Add to skillet; toss to coat. Transfer to platter; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and parsley.

You Capture. Sweet

I participated in another You Capture Challenge. The theme for this week was to capture something 'Sweet'.

Beth is the creator of this fun event and her pictures are always awesome. Her "sweet" pictures today do not disappoint either. You have to check them out and also see everyone's pictures. There are some really good ones and always are.

This is a French Brownie I made a couple of weeks ago doing a catch-up for TWD. They were delicious and sweet. Especially with vanilla ice cream. You can find the recipe HERE.

My last picture is of my youngest son, Brady. He was sharing his popcorn with his rubber duckie today at snack.


Does that get any sweeter?

Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut-Curry Broth - CEiMB

The recipe this week was chosen by The Not So Skinny Kitchen. You can check out her post and find the recipe HERE or HERE. She has some great looking stuff on her blog and I am jealous of her photography skills. All the pictures look great. Something that I have been trying to work harder on.

I wasn't sure that I wanted to make this dish or sit this one out. I am not a huge coconut fan and Ben hates cilantro. I really am not a fan of cilantro either but I can deal with it much better than him. In the end I decided to forge ahead because I skipped the jerk chicken last week.

While I was cooking dinner Ben walked through the kitchen and made a comment that it smelled good. I made no mention of the cilantro and he then proceeded to take a shower while the boys played outside. I quickly cut the cilantro (maybe he wouldn't figure it out?) and then realized that I had gotten coconut juice instead of coconut milk. I decided to use half coconut juice and half 2% milk, which seemed to work. As I was just about finishing up he came back into the kitchen and immediately stated that now the kitchen smelled like a "urinal". He is obviously very honest. I told him to just give it a chance.

I got the dinners plated up and took my pictures. By now the fish is no longer hot...which is probably how all of our dinners are eaten, right? As we are eating he says that it is good but there is some taste to it that he doesn't like. He told me that he thought that it was from the sauce on top of the fish. He really is too smart for his own good. I fessed up and told him that he was eating cilantro. He thinks that it the dinner would have been fantastic if I had skipped the cilantro. I tend to agree.

This was a fantastic meal. I especially liked the sauce and spinach. I served it with brown rice as recommended. Even though I prefer white rice it tasted great with the sauce. However, I agree with Ben and think that I should have skipped the cilantro.

Check out how all the other Ellie fish recipes turned out HERE.

Fresh Mango Bread - TWD

This mango bread was chosen by Kelly of Baking with Boys. You can get the recipe and see how Kelly's turned out HERE. Hers looks much better than mine. I thought that it would be a simple recipe, easy ingredients to get together and be similar to banana or strawberry bread that I make. I was wrong. Well, it was simple to make and the ingredients were all in my cupboards (except for the mango) but it was not similar to banana or strawberry bread.

To begin, my mango didn't even come close to being 1 cup of cubed fruit. More like 3/4 cup. I didn't want to go to the grocery store for another mango so I threw in some fresh raspberries and a little bit of sliced cubed bananas. I baked it for the 90 minutes that it called for and then let it cool overnight.

My results:

Maybe I overbaked mine because it was quite dry. I like moist breads and baked goods. Or maybe I should have covered it with a foil tent. Or it could have been better with the right amount of mango and not raspberries or bananas in the mix. Not sure? Whatever it was.....I wasn't very fond of it and won't be making this one again.

Be sure to check out how everyone else's bread turned out HERE.

Next Tuesday: Chipster Topped Brownies.

Lucky Chicken - Taste & Create

This was my second round of participating in Taste & Create. I was paired up with Fun Foods on a Budget. I enjoyed reading Stephanie's blog while searching for a recipe and laughed when I read that she considers herself "an extreme tightwad". I should take some lessons. There are some really good things on her blog that I have bookmarked and am going to make.

In choosing my choice for T&C I simply couldn't get past the Lucky Chicken. I love Chinese food was excited to make this. And we need a little luck at our house. The. recipe. did. not. disappoint. This was phenomenal! A taste sensation and so much better than any Chinese carryout that I have ever ate in my life. After looking at the recipe and the ingredients I thought that it would take like chicken in BBQ sauce. WRONG! It tastes exactly like sweet/sour chicken. And it is super easy. Especially since I chopped up the ingredients the night before for lunch today.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless chicken breast, cut into chunks
1/2 cup flour with salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Oil (for cooking)
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, sliced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup

Directions:
Dredge chicken in flour and coat completely.
In large hot pan heat oil and brown chicken. Add vegetables.
Mix melted butter, brown sugar, and ketchup and add to chicken and vegetables.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve over steamed or fried rice.

The only modification that I did was to add 20 oz. of chicken and added just a heaping 1/2 cup of onion, green pepper and celery and thinly sliced carrots sticks. And I also added about 1/4 cup of dry roasted peanuts to the dish a couple of minutes before removing it from the heat. I served it over white rice with chow mein noodles.

This is a keeper and I have a feeling it will be made over and over again in our house. The Hubster thought that it was as good as I did. Next time I have a craving for Chinese I will be making this easy peasy recipe. Thanks Stephanie and your husband, Jeff!

Now the only question that begs an answer......does this chicken have enough lucky power to help us win Powerball tonight? We'll see.

Snickerdoodles

If you came here looking for jerk chicken with pineapple for Craving Ellie in My Belly you won't find it. I apologize. I looked at the recipe and while it looked good....it required a ton of ingredients that I didn't have on hand and didn't want to purchase this week. I am sure that both myself and The Hubster would have enjoyed it though. I will be back next week.

I made these cookies twice in the past 3 days. They are very good. The recipe is from Martha Stewart's COOKIES cookbook on page 82. I think that they are much better consumed the day of baking though (especially good while still warm). My only complaint is that they seem to dry out quickly, even when stored in airtight containers.

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks butter, room temperature)
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.
2. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into twenty 1 3/4 inch balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.