Healthy Brownies Turned Naughty

My following brownie recipe (yes, it includes measurements!) is adapted from this clone recipe of No Pudge brownies (which I've actually never tried). I originally wanted to make s'mores brownies, but I had a strange adventure with graham cracker products and somehow ended up leaving the store with a box of crackers I mistook for grahams. So the grahams got substituted for peanuts and the rocky road brownie was born in my kitchen:

What You'll Need:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
• 2-3 tablespoons fat free half & half (this I didn't measure -- just splashed it in because the batter was wwaayyy too thick)
• 1 block of unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped/shaved
• Fluff (about half a jar)
• Peanuts (I dipped into the cocktail peanuts jar, but toasted or dry roasted would be great)
• 1 bar of chocolate of your choice -- this was my choice

Put it All Together:

• Mix dry ingredients.
• Stir in yogurt, half & half and baking chocolate.
• Spread half the batter into small greased baking dish.
• Spread Fluff over batter and sprinkle peanuts over it.
• Spread the last of the batter on top. (It's okay if Fluff and peanuts show through!! Better, actually.)
• Break up your chocolate bar and place sporadically on top.
• Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. 
• Try to let them cool for at least 10 minutes before you dig in. 

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Amazingly Dangerous Cookies

This website has some crazy stuff: picky-palate.com. Go to it. 

But I'm warning you, it looks incredibly dangerous.

...Seriously.

Ham & Veggie Quiche

Dinner last night? Quiche. Easier than expected. And slightly healthier because I opted out of the traditional flaky, buttery crust. It was a pretty easy dinner and that's that. Read all about it...

What You'll Need:

• Red-skinned potatoes
• Ham steak
• Small zucchini
• Cherry tomatoes
• Cheese (your choice -- I used cheddar & mozzarella)
• Eggs (about 5)
• Milk (I used 1% with a splash of half & half)

Put it All Together:

• Set your oven to broil. Thinly slice enough potatoes to line the bottom of your baking dish. You're going to put these in the oven just until they get a little brown and crispy to act as a kind of crust. Don't use olive oil, or it'll be too greasy/slippery. I just sprayed the pan with cooking spray and then gave the top of the potatoes a good spray too. Sprinkle with S&P and some garlic powder.
• Cut up the zucchini into small chunks, put the pieces on a paper-towel lined plate and salt them. They just need to sweat out some of their water a little. 
• Dice about a third of an onion and cut your cherry tomatoes in half.
• I browned half of a ham steak on the stove before cutting it up, but I really don't think it had any redeeming factor for the whole dish. So you can skip that and just chop it up.
• Whisk 5 eggs with milk... probably about a cup to a cup and a half. (You know I don't measure, so...) Also add some half & half to make a little thicker. (I also whisked in a little mascarpone because I had leftover and can't let it go to waste!) Pepper too!
• On top of your browned potato slices, add ham, zucchini (dredge in some flour first! It will make the quiche less runny/watery!!), tomatoes and cheddar cheese. Pour egg mixture on top and then sprinkle some shredded mozzarella on top of that. 
• Bake at 350 for about an hour. 

*When the quiche has about 20 minutes to go, throw some asparagus (coated with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic chunks) into the oven as well. They make a great side... as well as a nice slice of quality bread. (I used a rustic loaf with pancetta and provolone -- courtesy of Eataly once again!)

(That first piece looks like a mess because I didn't let it cool enough before I cut it -- I just wanted to get the photo out of the way so I could eat it! "Patienncce, Iago...")

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A High Class Peanut Butter Sandwich

I recently started a new job behind the bread counter at Eataly. As a result, the amount of bread I have consumed in the past week has been kiiind of ridiculous. I thought I'd be able to resist, but when you have the opportunity to take free loaves of bread home... well... could you resist?

Right now I've got a semolina baguette with lots of seeds all over it, a bag of chocolate rolls, a cinnamon raisin loaf and one with pancetta and provolone baked right in. Sheesh. But the one that didn't last very long was the fig bread. Amazingly delicious. (Especially toasted for breakfast with a teeny bit of mascarpone spread on top instead of butter.)

One day for lunch I decided to make a grilled cheese on fig bread. Unfortunately I didn't have anything fancy -- I could have gone for some brie or jarlsberg, or even some gouda. All I had was slices of store-brand cheddar. So I thought to myself, "Well... What else goes with cheese?" And I bet your first thought would not be "Peanut butter, obviously." But think about it: Everybody loves those cheese and peanut butter sandwich crackers. And that's how my sandwich was created.

Toast 2 slices of fig bread (of course, any bread would do if you don't have this amazing creation available to you) with cheese on top. Just enough so the cheese is melty and the bread is a little toasty. But before putting them together, add some peanut butter. I used natural crunchy (as always) and it made the sandwich a little messy, but what did I care? I was alone and didn't think twice about mopping up my peanut butter drips with the bread. Completely worth the mess.

So next time you have a craving for a peanut butter sandwich, try it with a slice of cheese. It'd be equally delicious on whatever bread you like and untoasted.

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Superior Meatloaf

3 Key Ingredients That Makes My Meatloaf Better Than Yours:

• Bacon. (Cooked and chopped and mixed right in AND right on top.)
• Barbecue sauce.
• Cheddar cheese (in the middle).

 Add these to your ground beef and you're all set. (Oh yeah... and don't forget 2 eggs, breadcrumbs, crushed garlic, diced onion, salt & pepper and some ketchup... there may have also been some paprika and crushed red pepper involved.) Serve with baked potatoes (with cheese and grape tomatoes -- sauteed mushrooms would have been a great addition, but unfortunately the boyfriend doesn't eat them so I rarely buy them, so when you make this meal have some for me) and broccoli.

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Not a Lonely Heart in the Bunch

You'll never find yourself like Miss Lonely-Heart on Valentine's Day with these treats -- no one can resist them. And they're so easy, they make do for a perfect last minute Valentine... or... since it's past Valentine's Day, they serve just as well as an impressive any time treat.

This was my edition of "Nutella Pop-Tarts." Last weekend Rachael made some s'mores pastry desserts that were just puff pastry wrapped around a graham cracker and a piece of chocolate with Fluff on top. (Genius, right?) I kind of combined the two ideas; instead of going through making my own dough and all that, like the pop-tart recipe called for, I decided to go with ready-to-go dough as well and added a few extra flavor touches. :D

What You'll Need:

• 1 package of pie crusts
• Nutella
• Raspberry jam or preserves 
• Egg
• Fluff
• Heart-shaped cookie cutter

Put it All Together:

• Spread out one of the pie crusts and cut out lots of hearts. Repeat with second sheet. (You can roll out the extras and get some more hearts out of it if you need to... They just might be a little thicker.)
• Place hearts on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. 

• Blob some Nutella on a heart and then a blob of Raspberry. Take another heart and put it on top, pinch sides down with a fork. Repeat until all your hearts are full.

• Brush the tops of the hearts with an egg wash.
• Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until their browned nicely on top.

They might leak a little bit if you leave them in a smidgen too long, but don't worry about it. The time between looking perfect and looking delicious is minuscule, but there's no taste difference. They'll be just as delicious. Top them with some Fluff for a super quick frosting. (I thought about doing a nice raspberry glaze, but was feel pretty lazy.)

Go make them! They're fantastic!

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