Recipes

Ever have a happy accident? These cookies are a very happy accident! I was going to make chocolate cake mix cookies, and after mixing up the dough, I was folding the box to put into the recycling and I discovered it was actually brownie mix. I was a little upset, but I needed to make cookies for an event the next day. So I figured I’d bake them and see what happened, and I was so glad I did! Chocolate cake mix cookies are good, but brownie mix cookies are even better!

Like all cake mix cookies, these are super-easy! The best part is that they come out crispy on the bottom and chewy on the inside! And they are so chocolately! If you’ve ever been disappointed in a chocolate cookie that just didn’t taste enough like chocolate, try these and you won’t be disappointed again.

The dough does have to be chilled after mixing, because it’s a little sticky. That said, I don’t think it’s as sticky as cake mix cookie dough. They make a nice sized cookie too – not too big or too small. And if you want to treat yourself or someone you love, have them warm! But warm or cool, brownie mix cookies are worth trying!

Brownie Mix Cookies

Using a brownie mix in these cake mix cookies produces an intensely chocolate cookie with a crisp bottom and a chewy inside!

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Refrigeration 1 hour hr

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Servings: 4 dozen

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 box brownie mix (any size)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Method

 

1. Combine ingredients in a mixer bowl.
2. Mix until completely combined.
3. Stir chocolate chips in by hand.
4. Refrigerate for at least an hour or as long as overnight (if you refrigerate them overnight, take them out of the fridge about 15 minutes before you plan to bake them)
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6. Scoop about 1/2 teaspoon of dough and form into a “tall ball” (the ball should be taller than it is wide). Do not overcrowd on pan – these cookies spread quite a bit.
   
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookies should look slightly glossy on top.
8. Let cool on pan for about 5 minutes and remove them to wire rack to cool.
   

Let’s hear it for happy accidents!

Spinning an old recipe!

I’ve made chicken with spinach and tomatoes and shared it with you before, but I never thought of using those ingredients with sausage! One night, I had some sausages defrosted for something that didn’t work (yet!) We still needed dinner, though. I had spinach and cherry tomatoes in the fridge for other meals, and I decided to put them together and see what happened. Well, what happened was JP saying, “you can make this again any time”. Does it get better than that? This is a quick, easy and delicious meal you can make with one cutting board, one knife, and one pan!

Sausage, Spinach and Tomatoes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 3 Italian sausages
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 bag spinach
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ground pepper
• 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

Method

 

1. Remove stems from spinach (If they bother you – they bother me, so I generally always remove them. If you’re ok with them, you can skip this step.) Set aside.
2. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and set aside.
3. Cut sausages into 1/4″ pieces.
4. Heat large frying pan over medium-high heat.
5. Add olive oil and swirl to cover bottom of pan.
6. Add sausage pieces to pan and cook for 15 minutes or until browned and cooked through.
7. Add spinach, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
8. Toss sausages and spinach together in frying pan.
9. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until spinach is wilted.
10. Add cherry tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes – tomatoes should start to pop and release juice.
11. Remove to serving bowl and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Quick, easy, and (usually) inexpensive!

All of the ingredients are usually on sale at the supermarket, so this is a great way to take advantage of those sales when you’re planning menus! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Do you like strawberries? I love strawberries and for whatever reason, I seem to get nice strawberries year-round now. I don’t really like most dinner salads until it gets warm out, and it certainly feels like winter is never going to end here in the Northeast! That said, I make a great salad with these ingredients. I’ll share that recipe once it gets warmer, but as I’ve mentioned this is a great way to enjoy these flavors even when it’s cold!

This is a quick, easy, and delicious recipe! And it’s a perfect way to use up some leftover strawberries, or a good excuse to buy some strawberries.

You may be wondering why I’m using a picture of a heart instead of a picture of goulash to illustrate crockpot goulash. Well…true confessions time! One year Valentine’s Day fell in the middle of the week, we had plans to go out on the weekend, and when I was planning menus, I just didn’t think of the date! In fairness, I was working for a startup while going to school at night, so I was lucky I could think or cook at all, but still, I put crockpot goulash on the menu for February 14th. The day before, JP asked me “what are we doing for dinner tomorrow” and I said, “oh, I’m making goulash”. I think he was a little startled. I know I was startled once I realized what day it was what I had done, but ever since then, this has been known in our house as the Goulash of Love.

Even if you don’t choose to make it for Valentine’s Day, it’s a great meal for this time of year. It’s super-easy, flavorful, and nice and cozy on these cold winter days!

Have you ever thought of making your own barbecue sauce? It’s really not difficult and it’s better than the store-bought! You can adjust this recipe to your tastes if you like your sauce sweeter, hotter, or more vinegary, but this is a nice balanced barbecue sauce. One of my favorite ways to use it is on cooked ground turkey. You can use ground beef too, but I actually like this better with turkey. You can eat this on a roll, over rice (regular or cauliflower), with mashed potatoes, or just on its own. The sauce recipe makes enough to coat a pound of ground meat with sauce – if you need more, the recipe can easily be doubled. Even people who think they don’t like ground turkey like this!

It’s a nice barbecue sauce for pork, ribs, or chicken too. Like any sweet barbecue sauce, it shouldn’t be put on the meat until the meat is cooked to prevent burning.

You can make this for a party (maybe this Sunday?) and keep it warm in a crockpot on the “keep warm” setting. I would recommend making a double batch of the sauce if you’re going to do that.

Barbecue Ground Turkey

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Servings: 4

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 pound ground turkey or ground beef
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Barbecue Sauce

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1/4 cup diced canned tomatoes with juice
• 1/2 cup juice from tomatoes
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• dash hot sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Method

 

1. Heat one tablespoon vegetable oil in frying pan over medium-high heat
2. Add ground turkey to frying pan and cook, breaking up with spoon, until browned and completely cooked through.
3. Finely dice one medium onion.
4. Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in saucepan over medium heat.
5. Add diced onion and cook for five minutes or until translucent.
6. Reduce heat to low.
7. Add tomatoes, tomato juice, ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.
   
8. Cook on low heat for ten minutes, stirring often.
9. Pour sauce over ground turkey, stir well to coat turkey, and serve.

Continuing this week’s theme of “things to serve at a football party”, here is another twist on chicken wings. I received a gift of some good orange marmalade made by Trappist monks, and immediately started thinking “how can I use this?” Yes, anyone could spread it on toast…I have to be different! 🙂

I love sweet heat, and if you do too, you’ll love these wings. They are more sweet than hot, but if you want to up the heat, simply add more sriracha. I think they’re pretty perfect as is, though!

Orange Marmalade Chicken Wings

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Servings: 24 wingettes

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 12 chicken wings
• 4 tablespoons orange marmalade
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon sriracha
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Method

 

Prepare the Wings (this can be done up to a day in advance)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Remove the ends of the wing tips and cut wings in half to create wingettes. You should be able to feel where to cut them by bending the wings in half.
   
3. Bake wingettes on a rack over a cookie sheet at 425 for 20 minutes.
4. Store wings in fridge.

The Finished Product

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Bake wings at 425 for 15 minutes.
3. While wings are heating, heat butter and marmalade in saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine.
4. When butter is melted and marmalade is incorporated, add sriracha, Worcestershire, and lemon juice. Stir well to combine.
5. Remove wings to large bowl.
6. Toss wings in sauce, adding sauce gradually till wings are covered (you will probably have more sauce than you need, but it’s delicious – feel free to use it all, because it is an excellent dipping sauce).

Hope you enjoy these wings as much as we did!

I like experimenting with different ways to make chicken wings! You can never go wrong with a classic Buffalo wing, but it’s fun to get creative with wings. The rich, savory taste of peanut sauce goes well with chicken, and that includes chicken wings. Double-baking the wings is a little more work, but it makes them crispy outside and juicy inside without the mess of frying.

This is an easy way to do something different the next time you’re making chicken wings!

Orange Marmalade Chicken Wings

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Servings: 24 wingettes

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 12 chicken wings
• 4 tablespoons orange marmalade
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon sriracha
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Method

 

Prepare the Wings (this can be done up to a day in advance)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Remove the ends of the wing tips and cut wings in half to create wingettes. You should be able to feel where to cut them by bending the wings in half.
   
3. Bake wingettes on a rack over a cookie sheet at 425 for 20 minutes.
4. Store wings in fridge.

The Finished Product

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Bake wings at 425 for 15 minutes.
3. While wings are heating, heat butter and marmalade in saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine.
4. When butter is melted and marmalade is incorporated, add sriracha, Worcestershire, and lemon juice. Stir well to combine.
5. Remove wings to large bowl.
6. Toss wings in sauce, adding sauce gradually till wings are covered (you will probably have more sauce than you need, but it’s delicious – feel free to use it all, because it is an excellent dipping sauce).

Do you like broccoli with cheese sauce? It’s a great side dish, but it’s really amazing how easy it is to turn it into dinner! Using pre-cooked chicken makes it even quicker! This is a delicious way to make a casserole without pasta and without cauliflower (JP has made it clear he’s pretty tired of cauliflower casseroles).

Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Course: Main Course

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 broccoli crown
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar plus extra for topping
• 2 cups cooked chicken, diced

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cut chicken into small cubes.
3. If using fresh broccoli, cut into small pieces.
4. Steam broccoli for 5 minutes or until crisp-tender (if you’re using microwave broccoli, microwave for a minute less than recommended).
5. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.
6. Add flour and mix well until completely incorporated into butter.
7. Add milk, stirring constantly (personally, I use a spoon for the step above and a whisk for this step – it’s one extra thing to wash, but I think it makes getting a nice lump-free sauce easier).
8. Season with salt and pepper.
9. When sauce thickens, add 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese and mix well. If desired, add a dash of cayenne pepper. I’ve mentioned it before, but I always add cayenne when cooking with cheese – it doesn’t make the dish hot, but it brings out the cheese flavor.
10. Combine broccoli, chicken, and cheese sauce in large bowl. This is another step that leads to one extra bowl to wash, but it makes it a lot easier to get everything mixed well.
11. Turn into casserole dish and top with cheddar cheese.
12. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until topping is melted and casserole is bubbling.

If you’re a cheese lover like me, it doesn’t get any better than this! And if your family resists vegetable-based casseroles, try this and see what they think!

I have been enjoying hard squash (butternut, acorn, and some of the unusual varieties like honeynut) a lot lately. I do find that roasting whole squash takes a long time, though. One way to make cooking squash quicker is to make it into noodles. When we were in Jamaica this fall, I had stewed pumpkin that was a little more savory than your average American pumpkin. With that in mind, I tried to pick up some of those spices here.

Butternut Squash Noodles

Quick and easy way to prepare spiced butternut squash “noodles”.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Course: Side Dish

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 butternut squash (;ook for a long thin squash rather than a round one)
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• ground pepper
• 2 dashes cayenne pepper (optional depending on your heat tolerance)

Method

 

Prepare butternut squash noodles:

1. I tried a spiralizer and a mandoline, and I found the best way to make my squash into noodles was with the peeler!
2. Peel squash and cut in half. Scoop out seeds and “guts”.
3. Cut halves into smaller pieces (I cut each half in half). Using a peeler, create inch-wide “noodles”.

Cook and spice:

1. Heat butter and oil in large pan over medium-high heat.
2. Combine spices in small bowl.
3. Add squash to pan with butter and oil. Using tongs, toss squash in butter/oil mixture.
4. Add about a quarter of the spice mixture and toss to coat evenly.
5. Keep adding spice mixture and tossing – the goal is to avoid clumping all the spice in any one area.
6. Cook squash for 15 minutes or until it is “al dente”.

Hope you enjoy squash “noodles”!