Friday Treat -- Valentine's Cookies!

Two recipes in one week....I know. I know. I'm practically a food blogger. What can I say? These cookies are so easy, so fun, and so yummy. I originally found them on Facebook. I made them at Christmas time but with Christmas themed sprinkles. Brian was super skeptical. He told me the other night that he initially underrated them. Imagine that!? I'm the one with the sweet tooth...I know better. Let's get on with the recipe shall we?

Ingredients

• 48 Ritz crackers
• 1/2 cup Marshmallow Fluff
• 1/2 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1lb Melting Chocolate (Milk, Dark, or White)
• Sprinkles

Directions
Lay out 24 Ritz crackers on a baking sheet. Mix together your marshmallow fluff & creamy peanut butter in a bowl. After thoroughly mixed, put a little bit on each of the Ritz crackers....just enough to cover the cracker. Once complete, top each with the remaining crackers. Now the fun part, melt the chocolate according to the package directions. I used dark chocolate on this time, and they turned out really good! Coat each "sandwich" entirely in chocolate and lay back on your baking sheet. Once all have been coated in chocolate, add your sprinkles. This might be fun if you have little ones who want to help. Once the sprinkles have been added, just pop the baking sheet into the fridge for 30 mins-1 hour so the chocolate can really harden. And you're done!

These are really tasty, and we ended up putting ours in the freezer when it was all said and done. Makes for a good crunch in my opinion. You can do these for ANY holiday or even for birthday parties. They would also be fun to give away as homemade gifts for the holidays. It's up to you. I hope you enjoyed this & let me know if you make them!

Savory Monday: Crack Potatoes

Good Monday morning friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Ours was mostly gray and overcast. We did a whole lot of nothing which I was totally fine with. We have been spending our days just soaking up the last 2 months of just us before baby boy arrives.

Let's get right down to it, shall we? I found this recipe from vlogger, Mallory Ervin/Dimeola. If you aren't following her on Insta, do yourself a favor, and GO. FOLLOW. HER. She is hilarious as his her husband. They keep me in stitches, and I wish she was my BFF in real life. HA! So this is a side that I have cooked probably 4 times in the last, let's say week and a half to two weeks. We call them crack potatoes because that's what they are. They are easy, and there probably won't be leftovers. #Truth

Ingredients

• One bag of small golden round potatoes
• One whole bulb of garlic
• 2-3 TBS butter
• EVOO
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. While your oven is preheating, boil potatoes WHOLE for about 10 minutes until they are tender (you can stick a fork in them easily). Once done boiling, drain and cut them in half and place on lined cooking sheet. You can use a baking liner like this one or just some parchment paper will do as well. Take your whole bulb of garlic & cut off just the top so the cloves inside are exposed. I usually will also peel off some of the extra skin too. Place that on the baking pan as well. I then drizzle about 2 TBS of EVOO over the pan, sprinkle in some sea salt & pepper and make sure all the potatoes are evenly coated. It doesn't hurt to get a little EVOO on your garlic bulb either. Then put those bad boys into the oven for approximately 35 minutes. Once they are done baking, put your bulb of garlic in the fridge so it can cool. I usually let it sit in there for about 5 minutes or so. Put your 2-3 TBS of butter in a small bowl and melt in the microwave. Once melted, pull that garlic bulb out of the fridge and squeeze the garlic cloves into the melted butter. You will take a fork and mix that butter/garlic combo together and mash the cloves even more. Pour over your potatoes, coat evenly and VOILA! You can thank me later. It may sound like a lot, but I PROMISE it's not

Let me know what y'all think about this when you try it. It was an INSTANT favorite in our house and I am sure it will be in yours too. Enjoy!

Gimme all the Brussel Sprouts!

I may be an outlier, but my affinity for brussels sprouts may be off the charts. Really! I promise you, I could eat a bag of them by myself. This recipe was a great way to jazz them up and try out something I have never cooked with before...shallots. Look like a large garlic bulb, but burn your eyes like an onion.

I found this recipe on Pinterest. [If you aren't following me, you can find me at haley_marozas]. It looked easy enough, and I had almost all of the ingredients in my pantry/fridge. Let's get on with it shall we?

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Mustard Sauce & Charred Shallots

Ingredients

• 20 brussels sprouts
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 TBS stone ground/whole grain mustard
• 2 tsp honey
• 2 TBS water
• 2 shallots

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. You will need to slice the bottom of your brussels sprouts off and then cut in half.
3. Spread them all out on a baking pan and toss them with 3tsp of olive oil. I used EVOO. Also add in your garlic powder and some salt (I prefer sea salt) and pepper to taste. 
4. Roast them for 15 minutes. Pull them out and toss them around some more and add back in to your oven for another 5 minutes or until goldeny brown.
5. Char your shallots. You will need to slice them thin and add to a frying pan with the remaining 1tsp of olive oil. This will take about 10-15 minutes to get a charred/golden brown look to them.
6. Remove the shallots.
7. Using the same pan, add your vinegar, mustard and water. Bring them to a boil over medium heat. 
8. Let it simmer for about 3 minutes until it reduces and thickens up. Once reduced/thickened, add in your honey and stir. 
9. Pull those sprouts out the oven, throw in the charred shallots and add your sauce and mix well. 
10. VOILA!

 I actually doubled the sauce so we could have it to drizzle over our chicken. This was a healthy but flavorful meal and very easy. What way do you like to serve up your your brussels sprouts?

Healthy Eats -- Turkey "Spaghetti"

In our house, spaghetti is usually on our rotating menu. However, carbs. We try to eat pretty healthy in our house...lots of chicken and turkey and organic vegetables/fruits. That's not to say we don't have ice cream in the freezer and beer/wine in the fridge. Or Halloween candy. I did the 21 Day Fix back in February and it really helped me to see exactly what I was eating and what I should be eating.

I found this recipe through Pinterest and it's now the only spaghetti sauce I will eat. It is SO good and SO flavorful. Also, it cooks in the crock pot. #Winning! And you can leave it on and let it cook all day if you want. Also, it makes a TON of sauce so we usually do freeze a container so we can have it later on.

Homemade Turkey Spaghetti Sauce

Prep: 30 mins give or take

Cook Time: 1 Hour

Ingredients

20oz Ground Turkey (Lean)

16oz Ground Italian Turkey

1 Large Sweet Onion, diced

16oz Mushrooms, chopped

3 Cloves Garlic, minced

2 -28oz can Crushed Tomatoes (low sodium/organic preferred)

1-14oz can Tomato Sauce (low sodium/organic preferred)

2 Tbsp Dried Oregano

1 Tbsp Dried Basil

1 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper flakes

1 Tbsp Chili Powder

1 Tbsp EVOO

Directions

Turn your crockpot on high & pour in your EVOO. Put in your diced sweet onion and cover. Let the onions get soft & stir every 5 mins or so. Then add in your chopped 'shrooms & minced garlic. Meanwhile, cook ALL the turkey until it is brown all the way through. Drain the meat and add to your crockpot. You can now add in all your spices + crushed tomatoes + tomato sauce. I like to mix after adding each ingredient so it is evenly distributed. (Note: This recipe needs a large crock pot. It makes a ton of sauce and will easily fill it up to the top.) Cover up your sauce and let it cook for atleast 1 hour. Mine always cooks for about 2-2.5hrs. 

Recipe adapted from here.

Bowls: Mikasa

As far as the actual "spaghetti," we use a spaghetti squash. I prepare it by cutting it in half (stem to tail), scooping out the seeds. I then drizzle EVOO & salt & pepper it. Cook at 400 degrees for 30-45 mins face down on a cookie sheet. Once done, you can scrape with a fork and voilà, SPAGHETTI! If you absolutely have to have the real stuff, I would choose a whole wheat pasta.

The sauce is so flavorful and provides lots of leftovers. I topped ours with fresh grated Parmesan I picked up from Central Market. Bon Appétit!

A recipe, y'all!

I am not a chef by any means... but sometimes I do surprise myself. I was perusing Pinterest the other day and stumbled upon Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers. They looked simple (this is key for me to spend any time in my kitchen) and delicious. I had heard people talk about quinoa (pronounced: keen-wa) but had never thought to cook with it. It is LOADED with all kinds of goodness that will surely leave you feeling full.

We paired these with chicken off the grill last night for dinner. Daylight saving time is PRIME TIME for action on the Big Green Egg. This is a before picture. Not much difference in the look after they are cooked. They were awesome. I will say, the bell pepper (to ME & my husband will agree) is more for presentation. But if you like to eat bell pepper, go for it!

The link to the actual recipe can be found here. And below is the recipe with my minor tweaks. Husband loved this and has asked that we incorporate it more! I suggest you do too!

{Side note: I do not cook with a lot of herbs in my kitchen...so when something calls for just a tsp of an herb or spice and I don't have it...I leave it out. I don't like to pay $6 for a small thing of herb/spice to only use it in my kitchen for that one recipe.}

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked quinoa (BE SURE TO READ THE PACKAGING Only 1 1/2 cups dry creates 3cups cooked!!!)
• 1 (4-ounce) can green chiles
• 1 cup corn kernels (I forgot these at the store..will add next time!)
• 1/2 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup petite diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese (I would have added more. I LOVE cheese.)
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (Sounds wierd but it is delish. Will add more next time.)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves (Left out.)
• 1 teaspoon cumin (Left out)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (I used minced garlic because it is what I had on hand.)
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or more to taste
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 6 bell peppers, tops cut, stemmed and seeded

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, combine quinoa, green chiles, corn, beans, tomatoes, cheeses, cilantro, cumin, garlic, onion and chili powder, salt and pepper, to taste.
• Spoon the filling each each bell pepper cavity. Place on prepared baking dish, cavity side up, and bake until the peppers are tender and the filling is heated through, about 25-30 minutes.
• Serve immediately.

And here are come fun facts about it!

courtesy

Happy Eating y'all!!

xoxo,

Haley