quick raspberry oatmeal bars

This may be the easiest dessert I have ever made. It’s a one-bowl recipe, which makes clean up so easy and it is so delicious.

In Southern California, they have a restaurant called Corner Bakery that I love – their sandwiches and salads are amazing, but so are their desserts. They have a bunch of bar cookies and one of them is a raspberry bar. This recipe comes pretty close to Corner Bakery’s, which is a big plus.
I first made this a few months ago and have made it a handful of times since then.  I like to use raspberry preserves, partly because that’s what we always have on hand, but I’d like to try it with other jam flavors.

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup butter, softened

¾ cup raspberry preserves (or any other flavored jam)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square pan and line with greased foil.

Combine all ingredients except butter and jam in a large bowl. Rub in the butter using your hands for form a crumbly mixture. Press two cups of the mixture into the bottom of greased pan. Spread jam to within ¼ inch of the edge. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over the top and lightly press into jam.

Bake for 34-40 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into bars.

(Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)

a.m. smoothie

For breakfast, I need something quick and healthy that will get me through the morning. This smoothie is perfect for that.
The recipe is really simple, so after making it a few times, I had the recipe memorized. My mom found this recipe and passed it on to me and my sister and now it’s something we all frequently make.
Smoothies in the morning are perfect because it’s so portable – I can carry it around and drink it while I get ready for work or take it in the car as I drive to work.
One of the things I also like about this recipe is that I can portion out smoothies for the week in Tupperware containers. In each small container, I put the banana, yogurt and apple juice and stick it in the fridge until the morning I want it. In the morning, all I have to do is put that mixture in the blender with frozen fruit and a little bit of honey and breakfast is ready.

Berry Smoothie
1/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/3 cup apple juice
1/3 of a large banana, sliced (half a banana if it’s small)
2/3 cup frozen berries (I use a mix of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, but you can use any type of frozen fruit you like
Honey, to taste (I like the added sweetness, but it’s based on your preference)
Directions:
In a blender, combine all ingredients except honey. Mix until smooth. Add honey if needed and blend until mixed.
Serve immediately.
This makes one serving.

roasted brussel sprouts

Brussel sprouts are one of those vegetables that I was always a little scared to try. I never had them growing up and they have such a bad stigma to them. But, surprisingly they taste really good just cooked in the oven with some olive oil and salt and pepper.
This was our first attempt at cooking them ourselves and Alex and I were pretty impressed with how tasty they were. We served them up with chicken as a side dish and it felt really good knowing that we had such a healthy dinner. Plus, it was such an easy side dish because you just leave them to cook in the oven and serve.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts
10 brussel sprouts, ends trimmed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In an 8x8 pan, place trimmed brussel sprouts, olive oil, salt and pepper, toss gently to coat sprouts evenly.
Place in oven and roast for about 30 minutes, or until edges are dark brown, almost black. Serve immediately, while warm.

Thai pasta

Peanut butter is one of those things that we always, always, always have in the house.
When I spent a semester in Italy, surrounded by yummy pastas, pizzas and desserts, the one food I missed so much was peanut butter. My parents mailed jars of peanut butter to me while I was there and it reminded me so much of home.
Luckily, I married a man who also has a love for peanut butter, maybe even more than me! We love making quick PB&J sandwiches for lunch, peanut butter with apple slices and spoonfulls of peanut butter for mini snacks. So when I found a recipe that included pasta and peanut butter, I thought I should give it a try. I'm so happy I did because it is one of our favorite dinners. And it's so quick and easy. The hardest part about the dish is cooking the chicken. Other than that, it's as simple as dicing up some veggies and boiling some water for pasta.

Thai Peanut Butter Pasta
You can really change around this recipe with more veggies that you like, more or less peanut butter or a different type of meat, depending on your tastes. I love the creamy peanut buttery dressing, the fresh flavor from the cilantro, the crispness and color of the red bell pepper and the crunch from the dry roasted peanuts. 

1 1/4 cups Asian sesame dressing
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 pound cooked spaghetti
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup bean sprouts
1 bunch of green onions, sliced
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
chicken, cooked and chopped
dry roasted peanuts
Directions:
Whisk together sesame dressing and peanut butter until smooth.
While the pasta cooks, chop and dice bell pepper, onions and cilantro and place in a large bowl. Add bean sprouts to the bowl.
Once pasta is cooked al dente, drain and place in bowl with veggies. Mix all ingredients and add dressing and peanut butter mixture to the pasta. Mix well. Top with cooked and chopped chicken and peanuts. Dish up and enjoy.

sangria time!

There has been a ton to celebrate in our house this past month (I got a new job! and Alex finished a huge paper for school and is now one step closer to graduating with his teaching credential!)! So with all of our celebrating, I’ve not only been neglecting my blog, but also the kitchen. Celebration mode for us sometimes means eating at some of our favorite restaurants.
But I’m trying to get back into the swing of things and my most recent blog-worthy recipe was for one of my favorite cocktails – sangria. I’ve yet to find a sangria recipe that I didn’t like, and probably won’t since it’s pretty impossible to screw up sangria. With a bottle of wine, some sliced fresh fruit and other ingredients to doctor up the drink, it’s so delicious! Especially on a warm day, a nice glass of cold sangria is perfect.


Rojo (Red) Sangria
This recipe was adapted from Raley’s Something Extra magazine. I used the base of ingredients, but added a few others to make it even more delicious.
One of the things that is great about sangria is that you can use cheap wine and no one will ever know the difference, so it takes on the flavors of the fruit and cinnamon.
1 ½ cups orange juice
½ cup apricot flavored brandy
2 tablespoons triple sec
3 tablespoons sugar
1 (750-ml.) bottle of red wine (we used two-buck Chuck Shiraz)
2 cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
Orange, lemon, lime, strawberry slices
1 ½ cups chilled lime flavored sparkling water
Stir juices, liqueur and sugar together in a pitcher until the sugar has dissolved.
Add sliced fruit, cinnamon sticks, clover and chill until ready to serve.
Just before serving, add sparkling water and serve.
Cheers!!

springtime dinner

Inspired by the warmer weather, I decided to make a springtime dinner the other night. I'm always looking for new ways to dress up chicken and salsa is such an easy way. I made this corn and bean salsa ahead of time to let it marinade with the dressing, so when dinner was ready, all I had to do was cook up the chicken. So simple!
The garlic really adds some extra flavor and I love the crunch from the bell pepper with the sweetness of the corn.
This made quite a bit of salsa, but it was perfect the next day on top of a Trader Joe's chicken and cheese tamale for lunch.
For the chicken, one of the most simple and tasty ways I like to cook chicken is in a pan with about a tablespoon of Italian dressing per chicken breast. If I think ahead, I also like to marinate chicken in a simple marinade of about 1/4 cup Italian dressing mixed with about 1 tablespoon of soy sauce in a large ziplock bag. The marinade is so simple and really adds flavor to the chicken.

Corn & Bean Salsa
1 can whole-kernel corn, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons cilantro
1 lime, juice and zest
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/8 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
salt and freshly ground pepper
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir to mix. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight. To serve, top over chicken and garnish with cilantro sprigs or lime slices.
Best if served with an ice-cold beer :)

all-time favorite cookies

I have such a huge sweet tooth and one of my biggest guilty pleasures is homemade chocolate chip cookies - and not just the cookies, but the cookie dough :) I know it's probably not the healthiest thing to eat by the huge spoonfuls, but Alex and I have been known to mix up a batch of cookie dough that never makes it to the oven. Sometimes it's just the only thing that can satisfy my sweet tooth!
The other night, Alex and I were both craving something sweet and always have all the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies - this time they did make it into cookies.

I've tried few recipes for chocolate chip cookies and have yet to find one that I love as much as the Nestle Toll House Original Chocolate Chip Cookies. The key to these cookies is to use semi-sweet Nestle Toll House chocolate chips and make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature. When you leave the butter and eggs out to reach room temperature before you use them, the cookies turn out so much fluffier.
I don't always have the patience to wait for that, so sometimes I will defrost the butter in the microwave. And one thing I've learned through trial and error is that if you accidentally melt the butter a little while defrosting it, you have to add a little extra flour so that the cookies don't spread and aren't so flat. I usually add about 1/8 cup more flour if the butter has melted a little.
I also love my cookies a little chewy, so I tend to take them out of the oven just before they looked cooked all the way through. It makes them so perfect when they've set a little - perfectly chewy! (The directions say to bake for 9-11 minutes, but I usually set the timer for 7 minutes and keep checking every minute until they're perfect).
I'm sure this recipe is a favorite for many people, but just thought I'd share. Plus it's so simple - I've made it so many times since I was a kid that I know the recipe by heart :)


Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
3/4 granulated sugar
3/4 brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 cups (12 ounces) Nestle Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
Beat butter, sugars and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Best served with a glass of cold milk :)
(Recipe from Nestle Toll House)

quick beef stir-fry

At least a few times a month, I test out a new recipe that I’ve found in a magazine, online, got from a friend or have been waiting to try from one of my cookbooks. I get so bored of eating the same things over and over again for dinner that I am always trying to find new recipes. Plus it keeps it interesting – I get excited to see what a new dish will taste like :)
Last week I tested out a stir-fry. It was pretty quick and tasty, but I thought it was a little too heavy on the ginger flavor. I don’t use ginger regularly, so I bought already minced, fresh ginger from the market, which might have affected the taste a little. Besides that, I thought it was a pretty good dish and a great way to eat more veggies. I also don’t cook up a lot of beef, so I thought this was a good recipe to help me get used to cooking beef in different ways.
I served this stir-fry on top of cooked brown rice and it left enough for a few leftovers for dinners and lunches.

Beef, Mushroom & Snow Pea Stir-fry

Beef, Mushroom & Snow Pea Stir-fry
1 pound top sirloin steak
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic, minced
8 ounces mushrooms (I used a mix of shiitake, button and crimini)
8 ounces fresh snow peas
1 bunch green onions, sliced thinly
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
5 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons chili-garlic sauce
Lightly season beef with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Slice into ¼-inch thick slices.
In a wok or large nonstick pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add ginger, garlic and mushrooms. Stir constantly until mushrooms are tender, about 3 minutes.
Add beef and continue cooking ad additional minute until beef is browned on the outside but still pink in the center. Add snow peas, green onions and half the cilantro. Cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute.
Stir in hoisin and chili-garlic sauces and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, until beans are still crisp and beef is cooked through.
Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.
Serve over brown rice.
(Recipe from Cook Like a Champion)