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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.

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February 18, 2014 by
Food, Sweet

Strawberry Frosted Funfetti Donuts

Funfetti Donuts

I traveled to five stores before I found a doughnut (or donut, however you want to spell it) pan. Apparently the trend to bake your donuts instead of frying them hasn’t made it to New Hampshire yet. No luck at Wal-mart, no luck at Target, no luck at any grocery store. I finally ended up at Kitchen & Company at The Crossings where they have everything from specialty knives to miniature castle-shaped cupcake pans. So yeah, I probably should have stopped there first.

Anyway, I’m going to make as many different types of donuts as possible, starting with Funfetti donuts. Yup, strawberry frosted Funfetti donuts. Maybe next time I’ll make s’more donuts or maple and bacon topped donuts. But for now, we’ll stick with these sweet strawberry frosted Funfetti donuts.

Gather:
1 stick of butter, melted
2 eggs
1 cup of 2% milk
1 package of Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Mix
1 container of Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Strawberry Frosting 

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a bowl, mix eggs, melted butter, and milk. Please note, if the milk is cold, it will harden the butter. It’s best to have the milk room temperature. Once combined, add the cake mix.

Pour mix into a greased donut pan. Fill only halfway. Bake for 15 minutes, or until donuts are golden brown. Remove from pan and let cool on a cooling rack.

In a microwave safe bowl, scoop half of a can of strawberry frosting. Microwave in 10 second increments, stirring between heatings, until smooth. Dip donuts into frosting, one at a time. Let cool for a minute, then do a second dipping. Top with optional sprinkles. Let cool and keep in an air-tight container. Enjoy!

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February 12, 2014 by
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!

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February 9, 2014 by
Food, Sweet

Strawberry Rice Krispies Treats

Strawberry Rice Krispies Treats

So I promised you pink treats for Valentine’s Day, which means I trekked to the store for you all to get ingredients for Strawberry Rice Krispies Treats, packed with love and berries.

I was pleasantly surprised to find bags of freeze dried strawberries. And I’m not talking gummy-like dried strawberries, I mean the ones where you can crush them into powder. Most people don’t even know they exist, but stores, like Target, are starting to carry them. A bag will cost you almost $5, but they’re worth it for a special occasion.

If you want to be more creative, cut the treats with a heart-shaped cookie cutter. Just remember to spray the cookie cutter with cooking spray or else the marshmallow will get stuck to the treats.

I’m hoping my co-workers will like them, because there’s no way I’m leaving them at home. I’d eat every last one of them by myself, that’s how good they are.

Gather
3 Tablespoons butter
1 10-oz bag of large marshmallows
6 cups of Rice Krispy cereal
1 1-oz bag of freeze dried Strawberries, crushed into partially powdered, but with some chunks still (You can find dried strawberries at Target by the trail mix)
Red food dye

In a large pot, melt butter. Add entire bag of marshmallows. Stir on medium to low heat until all marshmallows are melted and mixture is smooth. Add 3/4 of the dried strawberries, previously crushed. Add four drops of red food dye and stir until the mixture is pink.

Fold in cereal until marshmallow is evenly coating the Rice Krispies Treats. Pour into a wax paper-lined or cooking spray-ed rectangular pan and press down so top is flat and mixture is evenly in the pan. Pour remaining strawberries on the top and press into Rice Krispies. Let set for 30 minutes, covered or until marshmallows cool.

Cut into your Rice Krispies Treats into squares. Serve or keep in air-tight containers.

For more recipes, check out my Recipe Index.
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February 7, 2014 by