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food

Food, Sweet

Chocolate Peanut Butter Croissants

chocolate peanut butter croissants

I’ve been stressed lately. Taxes are due, there’s a lot going on at work and in my personal life, and it’s very clear that my workout regimen has slowly been deteriorating. I’m working on fixing it, all of it. Slowly.

And I’ve found in life, that most of the time, simplifying things makes me feel better. A quick cup of hot cocoa, hiding under the covers in bed pretending I don’t have anything on my To-Do List, or even just a simple snack, preferably carb-filled.

When I lived in Grenoble, I used to go to Monoprix, the supermarket, and get a bag of ready-to-eat chocolate stuffed brioche and croissants. They were next to the bagged bread, not exactly as fresh as the French bakery had, but I could keep them for a few days. Nibble on a few here, have a snack with my lunch. And they calmed me. Might have been the carbs, might have been the chocolate, or possibly because they reminded me of all the packaged food we have here in the US. Either way, they were super simple, nothing fancy.

So it got me thinking, why not make my own and put a twist on it. So I grabbed a tube of Pillsbury croissant rolls, a spoonful of peanut butter and some chocolate chips. Just 8 minutes in the oven, a minute to cool, and I had 8 pretty perfect, slightly sweet treats.

Simple. Calming. Yum.

February 18, 2014 by Roni

Food, Savory

Breakfast Sandwiches – Chicken Sausage

Chicken Sausage Breakfast Sandwich

Last year at this time, I was waking up early every day to make myself a breakfast of eggs, fruit, and chicken sausage. But in the last few months I’ve started sleeping in more, not leaving enough time to make food before work. Ultimately, it just made me snack more because I was hungry before lunch time. So I’m making a stand to stop that.

So I’m gong to try a few things, like breakfast sandwiches to spice things up. Starting with a taco-seasoned chicken sausage one. Easy, simple, and delicious. Also figured out a trick to melt the cheese. Just cook your egg over hard, add the cheese on top, splash a half a tablespoon of water in the hot pan and add a lid. The steam will help melt the cheese!

So at only 315 calories, I got this:

Chicken Sausage Breakfast Sandwich

I could have dropped a few more calories by removing the yolk from the sandwich, but I read that if you remove the yolks, you lose a lot of vitamins: A, B12, D, E, and K. And being that I’m trying to eat better, I figured keeping the yolks, and reducing the calories in other places makes sense. So I used a 100 calorie English Muffin and low-fat shredded taco cheese. Basically the cheddar is tossed with a dash of cumin, chili powder, garlic, paprika, and salt. Add half of a link of Al Fresco chicken sausage that’s been grilled, and there ya go!

February 9, 2014 by Roni

Food, Sweet

Monkey Bread

Spent a fabulous Saturday cooking and crafting yesterday with two of my favorites. When we get together, we’re always looking for something to do in the kitchen. And since my oven is working again (!) we decided we had to bake something. That’s when the term “monkey bread” came up.

I have a confession to make. I’ve never made Monkey Bread before. I feel like it’s a New England thing or New Hampshire thing or something, but all of my friends around here know what it is and know how to make it. I did not grow up eating Monkey Bread, so it’s been one of those things that I’ve always wondered about.

What is it? Basically it’s cinnamon and sugar doughy baked goodness. So not good for you. That, however, did not stop us.

Want to make your own? Follow this:

Gather:
1 can of 16.3 oz PIllsbury Grands Buttermilk Biscuits
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 cup of brown sugar
6 tablespoons of melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease or butter a glass baking dish. In a large bowl, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Separate biscuits and cut into quarters. Place in the cinnamon-sugar bowl. Mix until biscuits are completely covered. Place into baking dish.

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and melted butter. Pour over biscuits.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and no longer doughy in the center. Let cool for 10 minutes. Pull apart and serve.

You’ll see that the biscuits fall apart all delicious and flaky when you eat them:

Enjoy!

December 8, 2013 by Roni

Food, Savory

Buffalo Chicken, Bacon, and Cheddar Bites

Oh! An oven that works. How I took the for granted all these years. I house sat for a friend (ok, cat sat, the house was fine) and had access to a working oven. So happy that I decided to make some goodies for a group of friends. Nothing better than a guest who shows up with snacks, right?

Anyway, all I knew was that I wanted something with bacon. And so when I was standing at the meat counter asking for four slices of bacon, I notice some buffalo chicken tenders marinating in the case. Lets just say a few came home with me.

I tossed some cheddar in the cart and a container of pastry dough. A little slaving over the stove and bam, we had a winner.

It ended up being a hit. Not surprising, since the roll ups had bacon, cheddar, and buffalo chicken in them. Like a trifecta of love.

Buffalo Chicken, Bacon, and Cheddar Bites

Gather:

4 oz. extra sharp cheddar, shredded
4 slices of apple smoked bacon, diced
4 buffalo chicken tenders, minced*
1 can of Pilsbury refrigerated dough sheets

Preheat oven to 350. Unroll dough sheet onto a cookie sheet, allow to reach room tempature.

In a sauce pan, cook bacon until crispy. Remove from pan and let cool on paper towels (to remove some of the grease). There will be some fat rendered in the pan, remove half then add diced chicken to pan. Cook chicken thoroughly. Remove from pan.

In a bowl, toss bacon, chicken, and cheddar. Meats should be cooled, so cheddar will not melt into the mixture. Spread evenly on dough sheet.

Along the long edge, slowly roll up the sheet, making sure to have mixture between dough. You would end up with a spirl if you were to look at the side when cut open. Leave sealed and place on cookie sheet into oven.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until dough is golden brown. You might see some cheese melting out, that’s fine. Remove from oven and let cool for 20 to 40 minutes.

When loaf is completely cool, slice into rings and serve.
*If you can’t find some at your supermarket meat counter, just marinate chicken tenders in 1/2 cup of Frank’s Red Hot sauce and 1/4 cup of melted unsalted butter overnight.

November 5, 2013 by Roni

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