C is for Cookie

I hope everyone had a perfect Thanksgiving filled with family, friends, food, and football! 👪🏈🍗

It is now the time of year where cookies, cakes, and treats are a food group, so lets get fat together. Happy December!


Cookies, cookies, cookies, cookies! As you can tell, I love Shoprite.

Those are the ingredients to make these bad boys. Two years ago I pinned these mini chocolate chip cookies. One, they are adorable. And two, I knew they were going to be delicious. Fast forward two years  later...









What a beautiful sight!! Cookies are on their way!



Let's remember they were supposed to be mini chocolate chip cookies..



I tried to make them the 1/2 tsp size it called for. FUN FACT: I was never good at properly measuring the size of cookie dough. I always just eyeballed them and hoped for the best. Lets see if it worked..



Hmmmm....not quite mini....(especially first guy on the left in the second row 😬.)

BUT LOOK HOW PERFECT THEY CAME OUT!!!



I packed these up nice and we traveled to my sister's house for a fantastic Thanksgiving meal! For the first cookie of the season, it was a success!!

Should I Make This Again?

Sometimes you win.....and sometimes you lose.

I really wanted to use my crockpot again and have a delicious successful dinner. I did a nice food shopping and I was ready to get started on honey garlic chicken with vegetables.

I was ready! I gathered up all my ingredients like any other day and had positive thoughts in my head about tonight's dinner.



I loaded up the bottom of the crockpot with my red potatoes and went to work.




Next up, chicken thighs.



I measured and mixed up all the ingredients to create the seasoning. I used the measurements given in the recipe but I didn't use the whole mixture. I have a smaller crockpot (boo) and in return had to use less potatoes and chicken originally called for.







I guess I could have just used the rest, right? 

Anyway, I turned on my crockpot and walked out the door. When I came home hours later, my apartment smelled like we were about to indulge in something delicious. When I opened the lid.....I didn't quite feel that way anymore.



Something wasn't right.

I continued on with my dinner routine. I steamed our vegetables and set the table. Lets keep positive, I thought to myself.  I took out the chicken and it didn't look too too bad. So that's always a good thing. When the meat in a meal is ruined, there is literally no bright side to anything.

Ok. Now for the potatoes.



The color of the potatoes is due to the soy sauce, honey, ketchup, garlic mixture. One of my mistakes is that I didn't even try one of them before figuring out how to fix them. I was a little nervous about what the texture of these were going to be. Knowing Hubs, he wasn't going to like them. Just by looking at them I thought, these are going to be too mushy and I need to fix the problem. Why didn't I just taste them first?

So, I took out my trusty hand mixer!



If Hubs isn't going to like mushy cut potatoes, he sure will like mashed mushy cut potatoes. Right? WHY DIDN'T I JUST TASTE THE POTATOES!??!

I added a little sour cream and went to mashing. And this is what I got....................


Oh please don't judge me!!!

It was time to finally taste them. FINALLY! What took me so long???

 IT WAS NOT GOOD!!!  It was sticky and thick and cement like! What was I going to do now? I guess I'll just serve it to my husband....

That night for dinner, I gave Hubs an A++ for effort! He said things like, "It's really not that bad." "I like it." "Babe, look, I'm eating it. It's good."

.....he was lying.

Crock Pot Time

You are in for  a treat!! Today is a two for one deal! That wasn't the plan but everything happens in this life the way it is supposed to.

The other day I bought this nice looking pork loin. This already was a stretch for me because when it comes to pork, I usually go with the pork chop. But this day, I was feeling adventurous and thought to myself, there has to be a great recipe I pinned for this kind of meat. So I began to search.

I had a few to choose from and it even took me about two days to settle, but I made a decision and decided to make "Amazing Pork Tenderloin." I pinned this three years ago! The ingredient list wasn't too bad and I had most of them already so that was a plus!

This pin was exciting for me for a few reasons. Number one: I got to use my slow cooker! I really do enjoy using it but I just haven't been able to utilize it to it's full potential. (Slow cooker challenge coming soon?)

Number two: This recipe calls for wine! Never have I even cooked with wine before. This was going to be my first time including with delicious beverage in a meal as an ingredient.

And finally, number three: Another ingredients this recipe calls for is "one envelope of dry onion soup mix". Yes, it could have been easier to pick up a pack of Liptons soup mix and use that. But, why not search for homemade onion soup  mixes and make it myself!! So I used this homemade onion soup mix recipe.

Now I am ready to begin. I first had to make the mix.








Five tablespoons of this, equals to one envelope of store brought. After making this, and using what you need, there will be plenty left over. If you feel like the left over soup mix might go to waste, then I would suggest cutting the recipe in half.

The only thing left to do really was get all other other ingredients together and put them in the crock pot. Easy peasy.





The garlic is just spread on the top of the pork and that is where it is to remain until it is all done cooking.

A little over 4 hours later this is what I came home to.



Not the prettiest of pictures but this is what it is. I'm not fancy. It did smell delicious so that gave me high hopes.

The meat was tender and easy to slice and I knew for sure I made a good choice with this recipe.



Hubs did the rest of the slicing because that is his job (plus I asked him to!). I made steamed broccoli and buttered whole wheat spaghetti for the sides. Now it was time to eat.

It really was very good. It was not dry at all and you could honestly taste the flavors in every bite. For my liking, it was a little salty. There wasn't any added salt, just what was in the onion mix. But all in all, a great recipe that was quick and delicious. It didn't take long to prepare and using the crock pot is a big help with that as well! I would say another successful dinner. On to the next pin!

I never met a Pizza like you before

It's been a few days blog world! I have been thinking about this post since I made it on Friday. It was very delicious and I had it all to myself because I knew Hubs wasn't going to eat any of it.

So for the next few Fridays, Hubs comes home from work half day. He is in the house by 1 o'clock and it's nice to see him so early. ::insert "awwwwww" and lovey eyes here:: 

I usually try to make an egg sandwich for him to bring to work for the end of the week treat, but that morning I was feeling a little sluggish. Because of this, I decided that we were going to have breakfast for lunch! A nice brunch for the two of us. All the delicious breakfast foods starting dancing around my head! Thinking about my Pinterest boards, I knew I had plenty of ideas to pick from. Should I go all out or something simple? Typical breakfast or something unusual? 

This is what I decided to make! Paleo Breakfast Pizza! You can find this prize on my Paleo board from 2 years ago!! 

This recipe caught my eye because, number one, it looked fantastic. And number two, I have never attempted to make a Paelo crust of any kind even when I was following a super strict Paleo lifestyle. 

I gathered my ingredients and went to work. I needed Tapioca Flour (which I already had!), an egg, olive oil, and water for the dough/crust. 

 

The original blog post states that the dough isn't going to form like a dough you might be used to and boy were they right! It was very crumbly and it took a little for the tapioca flour to form into anything remotely close to dough. I just kept adding a little water at a time till what I thought was a pretty good consistency. 

I also added sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder to add a little more flavor to the mixture. 

You might think, "what a cute little crust you got there." Well my friends, let me tell you. It was harder then you think to shape the dough from a ball to a flat crust. I didn't grease the foil and I had to press down to "stretch" it out as much as I could. Where I formed it on the cookie sheet, was where it had to stay. I tried moving it over and some dough got stuck while I had the rest on my hand. Well, it is what it is. Was this going to be my first Pinterest fail? 

I kept trucking along because I am not a quitter!!! (And I was hungry for breakfast and was going to eat this no matter what....don't judge me.)

Now for the topping: Pesto sauce (I used this one), Jones' Canadian Bacon, 2 eggs and a little shredded mozzarella cheese. 

The original recipes doesn't call for the Canadian bacon but rather uses prosciutto on top when it comes out of the oven. I pictured my lunch a little different so decided to run with it. 

AND HERE. WE. GO.......

Ok, that didn't go as planned. But, what great successes really go as planned anyway? I will just gently scoop and move this cracked egg back on to the pizza. What can go wrong?

.......................................................................

Well you win some you lose some. 

I was ready for whatever fate had to offer. My breakfast pizza cooked in the oven for about 15 minutes and this was the end result.

Not bad at all!! The crust didn't taste like much but the combination of the pesto and the egg, Canadian bacon and cheese, was surprisingly delightful! The only thing I would change if (and when) I do this again is to make the crust a little thinner. Or try to at least. It really was all the components of a fantastic breakfast on a gluten free crust! And because it was gluten free, I felt full after I ate but not the weighed down kind. It was so filling in fact, that I actually didn't eat the whole thing. 

I left a little behind and tried to go back to it before heading to work but it wasn't the same. The good thing was my body didn't even really need that little piece. What I did finish, kept me satisfied for a long time. 

All in all, a great recipe that I am happy I finally got to try! 

Whip it, whip it real good

Time to visit another board. Sweets and Treats. Here you will find this three ingredient pineapple dole whip!

First, let me tell you a little about myself. I. LOVE. ICE CREAM. I love it any time of day, any flavor. There's just something about ice cream that can literally turn my frown, upside down. Hubs on the other hand, can take it or leave it. ::insert disappointed emoji here:: 

Another food hubs really doesn't like is pineapple. So, it is looking like this creamy, whip delight is all mine!

For the ingredients:



THAT'S IT!!! For real, no joke. I opted for the can pineapples for one reason: buying the canned pineapples got me both the amount of chunks needed AND the juice. The other option would have been to buy the frozen pineapples and the juice separate which would have cost me some cents more and an almost full carton of pineapple juice sitting in my fridge.

Let's continue. I drained the pineapples into a measuring cup and placed the pineapple pieces in a container to freeze while I went to work.

Finally, the time has come to create this hand crafted masterpiece. For this project I took out the big guns: my regular size food processor.







After about 35 seconds or so this is what this ice cream treat already started to look like. It took about five to six times of whipping for about 40 seconds, stopping to mix, and whipping again to come up with the perfect consistency.



I honestly could eat this whole thing........but I promise I won't. I was able to have a serving for tonight (plus spoonfuls in between to make sure it tasted good!) and realistically have enough left over for at least two more nights. You know how I love having left over!!



Am I proud of this picture? No, no I am not. Maybe I should have put it in my "pipping bag with a star tip" as originally suggested by the Author of this recipe. Well there's always next time.

This pin as a whole was perfect, delicious, simple, and defiantly something I will do again and maybe even with different fruit. The possibilities are truly endless.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

This is what was for dinner tonight! Creamy broccoli, chicken, and bacon pasta! Oh it looks and sounds so good! You can find this recipe pinned to my Good Eats board. I had this little gem collecting dust for a full year.

While in Shoprite, picking up the last of the ingredients, I was on the phone with Hubs to let him know what was on the menu tonight. His response, "Is that healthy for you?"

I was surprised of his response because everything he loves is in one dish. Chicken (yes!) bacon (YES!) Broccoli (favorite? No, it is one of the few veggies he actually enjoys.) Pasta (check!) Alfredo Sauce (yes, yes, yes!) But, I do have to give him credit for looking out for our health.

Hmmm..is it healthy for you? I would say it's not terribly unhealthy. The alfredo sauce is homemade so I know every ingredient that goes in and I chose to use whole grain pasta. You know what, you only live once. Let's start making dinner!



I decided to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs versus chicken breasts. First, it was a better value and I love getting plenty of bang for my buck! Second, we enjoy chicken thighs more anyway.
Instead of cooking the chicken on the stove top, I put them on a backing sheet and seasoned with olive oil, salt,  and pepper and baked them for 30 minutes.



While the chicken was becoming delicious, I boiled the water for the pasta, made the alfredo sauce, heated the broccoli, and cooked the bacon (with the help of Hubs!).



There's my trusty electric griddle!

This was a simple recipe to put together even though it had a few different parts. The original recipe says it should take about an hour. It took me about 45 minutes to prepare from start to finish. It also said it serves four........opps. BUT, I did get left overs for a delicious lunch! (And that's always the goal!)



I asked Hubs, "On a scale from one to ten how would you rate this meal?" His answer, "Definitely an eight or nine!" Another Pinterest success story!

Burgers for Dinner

Dinner tonight is from a Pin that I saved 17 weeks ago. Not too bad. I am making Whole 30 garlic bacon avocado burgers. Mmmmm! I hope they turn out as delicious as they sound!

I make burgers almost once a week, so starting off our Pinterest adventure with a nice burger is not surprising.

You can find this pin on my Paleo board or just follow the link.

Lets get cooking! I first had to go to the store and buy most of these ingredients. I thought to myself, should I really buy pink Himalayan salt for these burgers? The answer, Yes, Nicole! Do it! Buuut, Shoprite had other plans for me. They didn't have pink Himalayan salt so I ended up going with Morton's Sea Salt in the grinder.



All ingredients in order: check! Time to grind that bacon! I do have a large food processor but I decided to use the small one instead. (Again, does it make a difference?) I put 7 slices of bacon in the processor, locked the lid, and starting pulsing. My tiny food processor started making the sound of a sick cat as the bacon strips literally tangled and twirled around the blade. Oh geeze! Is this going to work the way I thought it was going to?



After a few more attempts, I unwrapped the bacon from the blade, laid it on my cutting board, and started cutting chunks of half ground bacon. I put the pieces back in the food processor and tried again. This time it worked!! Thank goodness!

I emptied all the bacon into a bowl, added my crushed/chopped garlic, my ground beef, salt, pepper and started mixing! I really could smell each ingredient as I was mixing it all together. This is going to be delicious! 

I was pretty proud of myself because I was able to make 7 patties with the mixture. Usually, I make monster burgers and only get about 4. They are a little on the small side and they will probably get smaller after I cook them but my goal is to have left over for lunch tomorrow.



Alrighty. Time to cook these bad boys!  My appliance of choice: my electric griddle. First, I love my griddle! This was the first appliance hubs and I bought together when he was still boyfriend!  And second, I do not own a big enough pan to comfortably cook these. I need to invest in one!



Four and a half minutes on each side and they were perfect. I knew they were going to be so good just how the aroma of bacon danced around our apartment! Mmmmm.
I paired these burgers with fries sprinkled with Old Bay. We were ready for dinner and it was a success!!



I loved them, hubs loved them, AND we had two left over for lunch tomorrow! A win, win, win in my book! On to the next. #thankspinterest #becausepinteresttoldmeso