Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay, so I started a new blog. Not that I'm abandoning this blog, but I saw so many "Mommy" blogs out there and I wanted to try to do one too. So, this is one of my posts on that blog. I haven't shared it with anyone yet. I wanted to just get a bunch of content on there first, because who wants to visit a blog with like 3 posts? Anyway, you should check it out. You guys can even become my first followers.
I have to admit I am so tired of seeing pins all over pinterest claiming to be the best chocolate chip cookies. They can't all be the best, especially because I actually have the best recipe right here in front of me. That's right, I hold in my hands the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies known to man. They are phenomenal. The original recipe comes from Our Best Bites. I have loved almost every single thing I have made using their recipes, but these cookies are, in my opinion, their masterpiece, and maybe also their pizza crust, but that's a post for a different day.
For the most part I like to stick to a recipe. I am not an amazing chef, but I can follow directions really well. The main thing I changed about this recipe was to half the amount of butter and margarine. I have found that by halving the butter I get  more of a puffy shaped cookie instead of a flat cookie. Growing up my mom always made very flat cookies, and while they tasted great and I love my mom, I always wanted the puffy cookies that my friend Cami made. So, half the butter if you want a puffy cookies. I can't tell a difference in taste, and in my mind, it makes eating these cookies almost as healthy as eating an apple.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 C Butter (I used 1/4 C)
1/2 C Margarine (I used 1/4 C)
3/4 C White Sugar
1 C Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 t Vanilla
3 C Flour
3/4 t Salt
3/4 t Baking Soda
12 oz. Chocolate Chips (I usually half this too.)

Cream the butter, margarine, sugars, eggs and vanilla together. In another bowl mix together flour, salt and baking soda, then add to creamed ingredients. Mix together and add chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let them sit on the pan for just a minute or two after taking them out of the oven, then cool on a wire rack. I usually get about 3 dozen cookies out of this recipe.

*Side note- I have read on several blogs and heard from friends who are much better cooks than I am, that you should use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients to get more accurate measurements. I'm a little lazy, so I don't often do this. But, I hate measuring our brown sugar and packing it into the cup. I just hate it. So when I am using brown sugar I pull out my kitchen scale, set my mixing bowl on top, tare off the weight of my mixing bowl and then just pour the brown sugar in straight from the bag. 1 Cup Brown Sugar = 7 oz. It is so much easier.

Green Monster Smoothie

I've been wanting to try a green smoothie for a while now but never had the courage to put spinach into a perfectly good smoothie. But when I found this recipe on pinterest it said that It "doesn't taste healthy at all" so i decided to give it a try. I absolutely loved it and you literally cannot taste the spinach at all. So before you just push this aside and decide not to try it, just trust me and give it a try. I had one for breakfast and I wasn't hungry again until 2 when I got off work. It was awesome!

                                                 (Don't mind the mess)

Green Monster Smoothie

1 frozen sliced banana (peel and slice before you freeze or you'll be sorry)

1 Tbsp peanut butter

1/2 cup 0% or fat free vanilla greek yogurt (I use dannon)

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk 

4 cups spinach (or more, or less)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth

350 calories, 10 grams fiber, 21 grams protein.

Fruit Dip

My cohort at school is having an end of the year potluck and so I decided to bring fruit and fruit dip. I found this recipe on a blog and I decided to try it since it looked super easy. I figured this would be pretty hard to mess up. It's just 3 ingredients and all you do is mix it together. It turned out amazing!!! I love it. To bad its super unhealthy. It kinda cancels out the healthiness of the fruit you are dipping in it. Oh well. It tastes good and thats all that matters. Super Duper easy!

1- 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1- 7oz. Jar marshmallow creme

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Soften the cream cheese either by leaving it on the counter or microwaving it for 30 seconds on low power. Place all ingredients in a bowl, and with an electric mixer, beat until smooth. Serve with an assortment of fresh fruit. (My favorite is strawberries! Yum!) Makes 2 cups.

P.S. I hate marshmallow but love this dip. So TRY IT!

Homemade Tortillas

The tortillas are not a must make, but they definitely add something delicious to the salad. If you really don't want to make your own tortillas, even though it is super easy, you should at least buy the raw ones from the store and cook them up. They are way better than the precooked ones you can buy.

Flour Tortillas

2 ½ C Flour

¾ t Kosher Salt

¼ C Plus 2 T Shortening

¾ – 1 C Hot Water

Combine flour and salt in a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add shortening and combine until crumbly.

Slowly add in water. Mix until the dough comes together like play dough. Divide dough into 8-10 balls. Roll out each tortilla as thin as possible and heat in a skillet.

Pico de Gallo

This is from Our Best Bites. It is delicious, and adds a nice kick to the salad.

Pico de Gallo

3 Medium Roma Tomatoes

½ Small Onion

1 Jalapeno

Juice of ½ to 1 lime

¼ C Cilantro

Kosher Salt to taste

Scrape seeds out of the tomatoes. Dice onion and tomatoes and toss together. Finely chop jalapeno and toss in. Add lime juice, cilantro and salt. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes if possible.

Cafe Rio Cilantro Lime Dressing

What is a salad without this amazing dressing?

House Dressing

1 Packet Traditional Hidden valley Ranch Mix (Not Buttermilk)

1 C Mayonnaise

1 C Buttermilk

2 Tomatillos, remove husks and dice

½ Bunch of Fresh Cilantro

1 Clove Garlic, minced

Juice of 1 Lime

1 Jalapeno, optional

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until creamy.

Cafe Rio Black Beans

I wish I had taken a picture of how our Cafe Rio salads came together. They were delicious. Too delicious to pause for pictures. We already have the meat and rice recipes posted, so I'm going to try to finish off the salad. As a side note, you can buy the tortilla strips in the salad toppings section at Smith's.

I don't really like beans, but these beans were delicious in the salad.

Black Beans

2 T Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 t Ground Cumin

1 Can Black Beans, rinsed and drained

1 1/3 C Tomato Juice

1 ½ t Salt

2 T Fresh Chopped Cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.