Magic Bars

This is a recipe I got from my mom. She has made these bars as long as I can remember but I was afraid to try them for so long because of the coconut in them. I don’t remember exactly when I stopped being scared of coconut but I am glad I finally tried them!

• 1 cup Graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 package chocolate chips
• 1 package shredded coconut (I used unsweetened, because the rest of the ingredients are pretty sweet on their own)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Melt the butter. Mix with Graham crumbs. Press into the base of a 13×9 inch baking dish.

3. Spread chocolate chips evenly over crust.

4. Sprinkle coconut evenly over chocolate chips.

5. Spread condensed milk over coconut.

6. Bake 20 to 25 min or until golden.

Verdict: Delicious and super easy to make! Though I think it should probably sit out and set awhile, so that the chocolate isn’t melted when you cut into it. I think it tastes better with a set chocolate layer.

Crispy Baked French Toast

A while back Katsu chicken became my new favourite thing, so I decided to try to make my own. This lead me to Panko breadcrumbs (which were hard to find here before they suddenly became availble everywhere) which lead me to finding other Panko recipes.

This is a recipe I found on the Kikoman site, I just reduced it for a one person serving.

• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs (I thought this wasn’t enough, so I put in a 1/2 cup, which was a little much)
• 2 bread slices
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1. Beat together egg, milk, sugar and vanilla.

2. Place panko breadcrumbs in a shallow dish.

3. Put butter and vegetable oil in an oven dish or jelly roll pan and melt in oven. Remove when melted.

4. Dip bread in egg mixture. Coat in crumbs. Place in oven dish, turning so that bread is coated in butter on both sides.

5. Bake 15 min before turning and baking another 10.

Yum!

Verdict: I am not the biggest fan of French toast, because I find the ones that I make come out too gooey. But I loved the crispiness of this recipe. I think I left them in the oven a little too long, so next time I will try baking them a little less.

In Search Of: the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie Part 27: Banana Chocolate Chip Cookie

I found this recipe in one of my mom’s cookbooks: Magnificent Cookies.

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 mashed bananas
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare baking sheets.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter. Add brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Add mashed bananas.

3. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to wet ingredients.

4. Add chocolate chips.

5. Drop by spoonful onto baking sheets. Bake 12 to 14 min.

Verdict: These were delicious! A main problem we have had with banana pancake recipes is that the banana taste overwhelmed everything else. In this recipe the banana worked to enhance the flavour of the chocolate chip cookie without hiding all the other tastes. And they stayed pretty moist for a couple of days after. We made about 60.

 

Mediterranean Mozza-Chicken

This was a recipe I found from Kraft. I think the online version is the same as the version I have.

• 4 small boneless chicken breasts
• 1 red onion halved and sliced (I don’t think we used a red onion, but I don’t know what kind we did use)
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1/4 cup sundried tomato and oregano dressing (we used this kind, but I think any dressing would do)
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup pitted black olives (didn’t use, because I do not like olives)
• 100g of cubed mozzarella cheese (online it says to use 1 cup)

1. Heat large skillet over medium high heat. Cook chicken 5-7 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.

2. Add zucchini and onions (this was supposed to happen after 5 min, but we waited until the chicken was cooked a little more. We cooked them for 5 min before moving to the next step).

3. Add tomatoes, dressing and olives (if using). Cook 2 min.

4. Stir mixture. Add in cheese. Cover and cook 2 min or until cheese has melted.

I almost forgot to take a picture

Verdict: I am not sure how well this recipe would hold up to being frozen, but I enjoyed it.

In Search Of: the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie Part 26: Low Fat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe on another online food blog. I didn’t calculate the calories (and added more chocolate chips than the recipe called for) so I can’t comment on the accuracy of the recipe’s title.

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (omitted because we use salted butter)
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice (not that easy to find around here)
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 2/3 cup oatmeal (we didn’t have that much left, only about 1 and 1/3 cup)
• 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (I thought this wasn’t enough and used 3/4 cups of regular sized chocolate chips)

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt (if using) and allspice.

3. In a large bowl, mix together butter, applesauce, sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Add in the flour mixture. Add in the oatmeal. Mix in the chocolate chips (you can also just sprinkle on top of each cookie, but we mixed them in).

4. Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 min.

 
 

Verdict: These were supposed to make 22 cookies, but I made 18, because my second batch was rather large. This was the first time I had tried allspice and I didn’t mind it. The allspice was pretty much the only thing that gave flavour to these cookies. I will not be making these again.

Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

I am not sure where I found this recipe. I think the original may have had some salt that we took out.

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare muffin moulds.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.

3. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of the sugar, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture. Add in the chocolate chips.

4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.

5. Bake for 22 min or until done.

Verdict: I made these twice recently and brought them to work. I wasn’t very keen on them, but everyone at work seemed to love them. One person said the reason she liked them was that they weren’t overly buttery tasting (which makes sense because of the lack of butter). I found them to be rather bland in taste myself.

Shepherd’s Pie

I got this recipe from a WeightWatcher’s book. I am kind of bad and don’t really use the low fat/reduced fat stuff they recommend, but I do like the ideas for their recipes.

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon salt (omitted because we use salted butter)
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
• 2 carrots, peeled, sliced and blanched
• 1 cup chopped and cleaned spinach leaves (omitted because I do not like spinach)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup corn (we used 1 medium sized can, so more than what was called for )
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon marjoram
• 3 medium potatoes, cooked, peeled and mashed
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

1. In a small saucepan, over medium-high heat, melt butter. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the flour. Cook for 2 min, stirring constantly. Whisk in the broth, salt (if using) and water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly, for 3-4 min, until thickened.

2. Preheat oven to 400F.

3. In a large bowl, combine chicken and remaining tablespoon of flour. Stir in carrots, spinach (if using), onion, corn, milk, thyme, marjoram and the prepared chicken broth sauce. Transfer to a large casserole. Top with mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and paprika. Bake until bubbling and potatoes are golden, 30-35 min.

Verdict: I did not like this very much. It didn’t really have the same depth of flavour that I find in versions where I use ground beef. I am not sure why, because I love chicken, but I guess it just didn’t work for me in this meal.

And I forgot to take a picture of this meal. 😦

Chocolate Cupcakes

I am not really sure where I found this recipe.

• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (omitted, because we use salted butter)
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare muffin moulds.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt (if using).

3. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Add in vanilla.

4. Alternating with the milk, add the flour to the sugar mixture.

5. Pour into muffin moulds. Bake 15 to 17 min.

Verdict: We made our using my sister’s new castle cupcake mould, so they were largish. They took about 15 min to bake. We made 12 muffins.

The taste was kind of bland, not really all that chocolate-y or moist.

BarBQ “Pulled” Chicken Soup

This is another recipe I got from Kraft. For once the internet version of the recipe and the one I had are the same!

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (we used garlic powder to taste)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
• 2 cups chicken, cooked and finely shredded
• 1 cup broad egg noodles
• 1/2 cup of mozzarella/cheddar cheese

1.  Heat oil in a saucepan (or large pot). Add carrots and celery. Cook 3 min. Stir in garlic and cook 1 min. Add broth, water, barbecue sauce and chicken. Bring to boil.

2. Add noodles and cook until tender. Simmer 5 min or until vegetables are tender.

3. Serve with cheese sprinkled on top.

Not the best picture. I forgot to take one and had to settle for the leftovers!

Verdict: This might be the first time I have not hated celery. This soup had a nice tang to it.

 

Tuna Pizza

This was another attempt to try and make a pizza that I liked. I found this recipe online, though it was a little confusing, having ingredients in the instructions that it didn’t have in the list of ingredients.

• 1 can of tuna, drained (I assume 1 c an = 6 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped (omitted)
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 4 ounces sliced mushrooms (omitted)
• 4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg (the original recipe doesn’t list how many to use and although the instructions had a plural eggs I chose to use 1)
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese (which is less than the 7 teaspoons – or two and one third tablespoon- they said to use)

1. Preheat oven to375F.

2. Place crescent rolls evenly over a 12 inch pizza pan. Press to seal perforations. Sprinkle cheese over crust.

3. In a small bowl, mix together tuna and lemon juice.

4. Spread tuna and vegetables evenly over pizza.

5. Place bacon pieces evenly over pizza.

6. In a medium bowl, combine milk and egg. Pour over pizza.

7. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

8. Bake for 23 to 33 min (mine only needed about 15).

Verdict: There was so much on this pizza that I should like (cheese, tuna and bacon) but I guess I will never get over my dislike of pizza. And, probably because mine cooked so fast, the onions were a little raw, which I am not fond of. Should have cooked them a little first.