White Chocolate Mixed Berry Cheesecake Cookies

I love, love, love Subway's white chocolate raspberry cheesecake cookies.  Ever since I had my first bite one of those addicting treats, I've wanted to recreate the recipe at home but was never sure where to start.  Luckily, one of my favorite bloggers, Janetha at Meals and Moves, saved me the hassle.

Enjoy! 

White Chocolate Mixed Berry Cheesecake Cookies
1/2 cup (one stick) margarine
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried mixed berries


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using a mixer, cream together margarine, cream cheese, sugars, egg, and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.  With mixer on low, slowly add flour mixture to the bowl. mix well.  Fold in white chocolate and berries.  Chill batter for 30 minutes.  Scoop dough by heaping tablespoons and drop onto prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely before eating.

Pesto Shrimp & Garlic Couscous

Couscous is an underutilized pasta (yes, it is a pasta), at least in my world.  I was well into my mid-20s before I had even ventured to try it, although I thought it was fun to say (and spell) long before that.

If you have never tried couscous before, I highly encourage you to buy a box.  It is cheap and super versatile.  It has a very mild flavor, much like rice, so it easily adapts to tons of recipes.   

Why not give this couscous recipe a try? 

Pesto Shrimp & Garlic Couscous

1 1/4 cup uncooked couscous
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder 
1 tablespoon olive oil (or cooking spray)
2 cups broccoli florets
1 package (8oz) baby bella mushrooms, cleaned & cut in 1/2
1 onion, chopped 
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 bag (16oz) large, uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined
1/2 jar pesto sauce 
Salt & pepper, to taste

Add chicken broth, water, olive oil, garlic powder, salt & pepper to sauce pan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Add couscous.  Remove from heat and cover.  After 5 minutes, fluff with fork. 

Heat olive oil or cooking spray over medium in a large skillet.  Add broccoli, mushrooms,  onions, garlic, salt and pepper.  Saute until broccoli is bright green and onions have become opaque.  Add shrimp and cook until shrimp have just turned pink, about 3 minutes.

Add pesto to shrimp & veggie mixture before serving.  Serve over warm couscous.  

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Truth be told, my husband is the chef in our household.  The man is a genius with knowing what seasonings & spices to use and definitely can handle himself around a grill.  He also owns three smokers, his prized possession being a Weber Smokey Mountain.  I think you have to be a male to understand.

Recently, he's been busy remodeling our bathroom, so I've been in charge of cooking.  Although I love it, I sometimes like to take the easy way out.  Crockpot cooking is fabulous!  And this recipe combines my three favorite things....Mexican flavors, soup and the crockpot.  Truly a match made in heaven!

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup
2 large chicken breasts, frozen
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
2 cans Rotel
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt & pepper, to taste
Sour cream
Avocado
Cheddar cheese

Corn Tortilla Strips
6 corn tortillas
Cooking spray
Salt

Add chicken breasts, chicken broth, water, black beans, Rotel, onion, green pepper, garlic, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper in crockpot.  Cook on low heat 6-8+ hours.  

Prior to serving, shred chicken breasts.  To do so, you can remove chicken from crockpot but chicken should be tender enough to shred in the crockpot.

At serving, top bowl of soup with sour cream, cheddar cheese, sliced avocado & corn tortilla strips*.  Hot sauce is also a great addition!

To make corn tortilla strips:
Heat oven to 350 degreens.  Cut corn tortillas into strips and place on a sprayed or lined cookie sheet.  Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt.  Bake for 10-12 minutes until strips crisp. 

Valentine's Sweet Popcorn Treat

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

To share the love with my co-workers, I made this simple sweet popcorn treat.  

I have a thing for almond bark!  Coupled with the peanut butter cereal and the chocolate M&Ms, there is nothing not to fall in love with about this recipe.  Even better, it is super easy to change out the M&M color to match any holiday or event.  


Valentine's Sweet Popcorn Treat
1 bag microwave popcorn
1/2 package vanilla almond bark
1/2 bag holiday M&Ms (or to taste)
1 cup peanut butter & chocolate cereal (or to taste)


Pop microwave popcorn according to directions.  When popped, spread on a cookie sheet and pick out seeds.  Place popcorn in a large bowl.  Microwave almond bark according to package directions until melted completely.  Pour over popped popcorn and stir until well coated*.  Spread on cookie sheet to harden.

Once almond bark has set, place popcorn back into a large bowl.  Mix with M&Ms and cereal.  

*For an extra holiday twist, dust sprinkles over popcorn as you stir in almond bark. 

Crockpot Smoked Sausage & Lentil Soup

A few years ago I got brave enough to try Progresso lentil soup on a whim and was highly impressed.  Prior to that, I had never eaten a lentil or any kind of dried bean for that matter.  

To be honest, before I typed this, I even Googled lentil just to make sure I knew exactly what one was.  I found out a lentil is a high-protein pulse that is dried and then soaked and cooked before eating.  Once I read that, I had to find out what a "pulse" was and found out that is the edible seeds of various leguminous plants, for example chickpeas, lentils, and beans.

To further my knowledge (and yours), lentils are a great source of fiber, folate and vitamin B.  They have the third-highest level of protein, by weight, of any legume or nut, after soybeans and hemp. 

And they happen to be delicious as well.  If you don't believe me, I urge you to give this soup a try.  It is super easy, super cheap and I promise you won't be disappointed!

Crockpot Smoked Sausage & Lentil Soup
1 bag dried lentils
4 cups vegetable broth
4 cups water
1 green pepper, chopped
1 can fire roasted vegetables
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Black pepper, to taste
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
7 smoked turkey sausages
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Salt, to taste


Combine lentils,  vegetable broth, water, canned tomatoes, green pepper, onion, garlic, oregano and pepper in crockpot.  Heat on high for 1 1/2 hours then reduce to low for 6-7 hours.  Fifteen minutes before serving, add spinach, smoked turkey sausage, red wine vinegar and salt.  

Makes 6-8 servings. 

Sweet Potato & Turkey Sausage Hash

Well it has been almost 10 months since I posted a recipe, but I'm back!  

I'm really hoping to make 2013 count for something.  Maybe stick to a few goals slash resolutions for once, even though I just realized I never actually set any.  Looks like bringing the recipe blog back is resolution numero uno for 2013! 

Let's start 2013 off with something delicious AND healthy, shall we?!

Sweet Potato & Turkey Sausage Hash

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & diced

½-1 onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

1 cup (or more) fresh spinach

1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking spray

1 tablespoon minced garlic

6 pre-cooked smoked turkey sausages

Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions: 

Place potatoes in sauce pan and cover with water.  Heat over medium heat until potatoes are tender.  Drain.  Meanwhile, heat olive oil in large pan over medium heat.  When hot, cook onion & bell pepper, season with salt & pepper.  Saute vegetables until tender, 5-10 minutes.  Add garlic and spinach; cook until spinach is wilted.  Add sweet potatoes & turkey sausage.  Heat until warmed through.

 I didn't plan on posting this so I apologize for the camera-phone picture.

Calories: 256

Fat: 8.5 g

Sodium: 1027 g

Carbs: 27 g

Fiber; 3.4 g

Protein: 15 g

(Calories are from Sparkrecipes.com calculator for 4 servings).

White Chocolate Cashew Granola

White Chocolate Cashew Granola
2 cups oats
1/2 cup cashews
1/3 cup vanilla chocolate chips
2 tablespoons ground flax.
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons honey
Pinch kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Heat oven to 350F.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Pour the mixture onto the prepared (I typically cover mine with foil, then spray with cooking spray) baking sheet. Spread it out evenly.  Bake for 15-20 minutes stirring every 5-10 minutes until light golden brown.  Let cool completely before serving.

Delicious alone or mixed in yogurt!