Avocado Spinach Egg Salad

From We Are Not Martha.

We know my love of shoving veggies in stuff to make myself feel slightly less guilty about eating my weight in it.

This egg salad?

GUILT FREE. Completely. Also completely great tasting.

Ingredients:

• 7 eggs, hardboiled
• 4 oz. plain greek yogurt
• 2 avocados
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 C baby spinach (I chopped mine just a bit)
• Hot pepper flakes to taste
• Good bread, toasted if you want

Instructions:

1) Once your eggs are cooled, peel them and mash them up with the Greek yogurt. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top, too. 

2) Peel and pit your avocados and mash those up, too. Add a little salt and pepper to this, too, if you'd like.

3) Combine the egg with the avocado. 

4) Mix in the cup of spinach and the celery.

5) Add hot pepper flakes for an extra punch.

6) Serve on good, crusty bread. 

(Makes 5-6 sandwiches)

How I cook my eggs: place the eggs in the pan, then put your cool water in, covering the eggs with it. By putting the eggs in first, you're less likely to crack one than if you drop it into the water. Also, heating the eggs up with the water will usually prevent them busting open from heating up too fast. When they're done cooking, toss them in some ice water to cool. The quick cool will make the egg pull away from the shell a bit and make it way easier to peel.

I opted to make this as more of a dip than a sandwich and served with wheat crackers instead of on bread. Both the boy and I wolfed it down! It's really filling and doesn't even have mayo in it! The avo made it plenty creamy. Make sure it's properly seasoned, though. Mine needed just a touch more S&P, and it made all the difference. 

This recipe is an absolute keeper! I'll for sure be making it again. And again....and again....

Crockpot BBQ Beer Chicken

How Sweet It Is strikes again!

This recipe was the first thing to grace my new crockpot.

And it was WORTHY.

Crockpot BBQ Beer Chicken

serves about 8-10

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 large)

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

8 ounces of beer (I used a classic amber)

32 ounces of barbecue sauce

Season chicken with onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Add to crockpot, then add beer and 24 ounces of barbecue sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours, tossing once or twice if desired. After 8 hours, shred and add remaining barbecue sauce. Serve as desired.

Notes (these are all hers):

1. I’ve found that *thinner* barbecue sauce works better (such as Bone Suckin’ Sauce) than thicker sauce (like Sweet Baby Ray’s). If you choose to use a thicker sauce, you may want to add a little more beer (or liquid) in order for the sauce not to burn and thicken on the edges of the pot. This is also the reason I don’t use myhomemade barbecue sauce.

2. If you don’t want to use beer, you can try a ginger ale, chicken stock, or even water.

3. This makes a ton of chicken and I usually freeze immediately freeze a container for later.

I set everything up this morning and let this blaze all day. It has SO few ingredients and was SO easy to make! When I got home from work, I panicked. The sauce had cooked WAY down (duh) and the chicken looked dry. Once I took a fork to it, shredded it up, and mixed it with the remaining sauce, all worries were gone. This couldn't be easier! I plopped a bunch on a slice of whole wheat bread, topped with a drizzle of bbq sauce and went to town. 

LeGreg was supposed to come down here tonight, which is why I made food. Now he's not coming until tomorrow. There will be no leftovers. That's a promise, not a threat.   

Cookie Dough Dip

( From Chocolate Covered Katie. The pic, too )

You guys.

What we have here, is a game changer.

A healthy cookie dough dip that REALLY tastes like cookie dough.

• 1 1/2 cups chickpeas (1 can, drained) (250g)
• 1/8 tsp plus 1/16 tsp salt (maybe a TINY bit more? MAYBE 1/4 tsp?)
• tiny bit over 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup nut butter (You can get away with using only 3 T. If you use peanut butter, it’ll have a very-slight “pb cookie dough” taste, so if you don’t want this, you can sub oil.)(I used almond oil)
• up to 1/4 cup milk of choice (Start with 1 T, and add more as needed) (I used 1/4 cup almond milk)
• Sweetener (see note below, for amount) (her note says that she used 2/3 cup of brown sugar, so I followed suit)
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup. Let's be honest.)
• 2 to 3 T oats (or flaxmeal) (You can omit, but also omit the milk if you do) (I used the flax seed, 2 T)

Add all ingredients (except for chocolate chips) to a food processor, and blend until very smooth. Then mix in the chocolate chips.

Nic and I gobbled this up. It was....surprisingly spot on. I mean, it probably wouldn't win a side by side comparison with real cookie dough, but it was pretty damn close. Nic nailed it when she said that it needed to be a little thicker. Sticking it in the fridge for a bit might have thickened it up. We had no such will power to wait.

We used pretzels and wafer cookies as vessels to shove this in our faces. It was REALLY good. There is a decent amount of sugar in it, but not too bad. And garbanzo beans?! Are you kidding me? Brills! Chocolate Covered Katie has a snickerdoodle version, too...will probably need to check that out immediately.

Edit: LeGreg's mom brought this to a work potluck. Everyone gobbled it up and refused to believe her when she finally told them what was in it. They made her show them the recipe. Also, Nic brought this to her moms house. Her stepbrothers who, I'm not even slightly joking, eat almost NOTHING except cheese pizza, went to town on this. I don't think she ever told them what was in it. Why ruin a good thing, right?

Stuffed Chicken with Tomatoes and Arugula

I got some pretty rad new additions to my kitchen for Christmas!

• Crockpot (from my parents)
• Cast iron dutch oven pot thing (from LeGreg's parents, at his suggestion)
• What to Cook & How to Cook It, by Jane Hornby (from my sister)

My sister got me the cookbook after I flipped when she mentioned making goat cheese stuffed, bacon wrapped chicken. Can you even imagine. The cookbook is rad, because it shows pictures of the ingredients and each step of each recipe. I had to stop putting sticky notes on the recipes I liked out of it, because it was basically every page.

Last night, for New Years Eve, I decided to make that chicken for LeGreg and our friends Nic and Rob. It was....killer.

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Serves: 4 (easily halved)

Ingredients
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 med skinless boneless chicken breasts (omg the ones I got from Trader Joe's were ENORMOUS)
3.5 oz soft goat cheese (or any full-fat soft cheese)
8 strips dry-cured smoked bacon (Trader Joe's didn't have any cured bacon, so I just got smoked un-cured)
1 Tbl sunflower or veggie oil
4 large or 6 smaller ripe tomatoes (I got 5 med, and it was A LOT...but not too much)
1 clove of garlic
2 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil
3.5 oz arugula or other leafy salad green
1/2 lemon
S&P

Preheat the oven to 400F. Finely chop the needle-shape leaves from the rosemary. Put the chicken onto a cutting board. Using a small sharp knife, cut a slit into the thickest part of each chicken breast, then poke down inside the chicken to make a pocket, using your fingers to help, then seal the pocket up as well as you can (uhhh.....yeah right).

Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with half of the rosemary. Wrap 2 strips of the bacon tightly around each piece of chicken, tucking in any loose ends.

Place a shallow, flameproof casserole (dish?) (like your brand new cast iron dish!!) over high heat, then add the sunflower or veggie oil. After 30 secs, add the chicken. Cook for at least 2 mins on each side, until the bacon is starting to turn golden. Kitchen tongs are useful here. (The bacon totally stuck to the pan and my gigantor chicken had to be shoved in there for all 4 pieces to fit, so it looked slightly mangled by the time they were done browning. Oops)

Meanwhile, very thickly slice the tomatoes and thinly slice the garlic. Add the tomatoes to the casserole (DISH), then sprinkle them with the remaining rosemary and the garlic. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with about 1/2 Tbl of the olive oil. Put the pan into the oven for 25 mins.

Remove the pan from the oven and set aside for a couple of minutes to let the chicken rest. The chicken will be surrounded with delicious tomato flavored juices.

(I stopped here. I didn't serve with the arugula, instead I served with a side of green beans. )

Put the arugula into a large bowl. Squeeze the juice from the lemon over it and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve the chicken with the salad, drizzling some of the pan juices around each plate.

Everyone, including myself, LOVED this. The chicken was cooked perfectly, the goat cheese was creamy and delish, and BACON. 

I really need to get some different colored plates to take my pics on. My pea green plates look like snot on camera! Damn it...

Turkey Sammy

Sometimes, when I'm lucky, my dad will pick me up a jar of garlic mustard from a winery at the coast. The stuff is to die for. Simply put. Ever since I got my latest jar, I've been dreeeeeaming of putting it on a turkey sandwich. I don't usually MAKE sandwiches, because a loaf of bread in my house will last....about a day. Which is bad.

But today was the day. I bought a small loaf of fresh sourdough, and LeGreg and I went to work.

In order:

• sourdough
• hippie soy cheese
• very thinly sliced red onion
• sprouts
• turkey
• garlic mustard

I slathered on a little Earth Balance non dairy butter and cooked in a frying pan, med heat, on both sides until golden brown and the cheese had melted.

I LOVE sprouts...and everything else in this. So so good. I ate two sandwiches. Oops!

Party Bark

AKA cake batter chocolate bark.

The chick at How Sweet It Is makes me get fat just LOOKING at her posts. They always look SO amazing. I saw this one and immediately thought "OMG PARTY BARK!!!". The colors just screamed "I'm a good time". Mine didn't turn out quite as pretty as her did. Prooooobably because I sorta ignored that whole "high quality chocolate" part and just got some white and dark chips from Trader Joes. I figured I'd get the cheapy stuff my first go round in case I totally biffed. Which is never unexpected. Judging by her pics, the higher quality stuff is a) thinner when melted and b) the white chocolate is WHITE. Meh. Whatevs. Next time.

Cake Batter Chocolate Bark
6 ounces high quality dark chocolate (she used Lindt 70%)

12 ounces high quality white chocolate (she used Lindt)

3 teaspoons yellow cake mix (I used white. Couldnt remember what kind I was supposed to get! I bet the confetti cake mix would be pretty fun, too)

sprinkles of your choice (at least 3 tablespoons worth or more) (the grocery store had pretty crap selection for me! I'll be on the hunt for more fun stuff...)

Melt dark chocolate either in the microwave or a double boiler. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour chocolate on. You can smooth it with a spatula to the thickness you desire. Stick in the freeze for 20 minutes.

Melt while chocolate. Whisk in cake mix slowly, stirring well until no lumps remain. Let it set for 3 full minutes (or at least until it slightly thickens). Remove baking sheet with chocolate from the freezer and immediately pour white chocolate on top. Sprinkle on sprinkles. Freeze for 20 minutes.


Once set, break into chunks. Keep refrigerated.

While mine won't be winning any style awards just yet, this was about as simple as it gets! There were some neon dinosaur sprinkles in my little variety pack that I'm pretty stoked to try out next. I love the endless possibilities for decorating against a "white" background. 

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

I can't BELIEVE I never blogged about these. (Picture from the linked Becky Bakes blog!).

Should you ever need a "stop everyone in their tracks and instantly become the belle of the ball" treat to bring somewhere, these are your guys.

Holy crap.

Words can hardly explain.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

recipe from the fantabulous Jenny of Picky Palate

2 sticks (1 cup) softened butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
1 pkg. Oreo cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugars together with a mixer until well combined.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.  Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo cookie (not that I was even using a scoop, but I smooshed a small ball flat in my hand, sat an oreo on it, put another smooshed cookie dough and sealed up the edges. If you use too much cookie dough, they turn out MONSTROUS) .  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is enclosed with dough.  Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE cookies.

GAH! So amazing.

Becky also has a recipe for Nutter Butter stuffed chocolate cookies, but I haven't tried them  yet. I'm worried that once I do I will never eat anything else in my entire life.