TWD: Caramel Crunch Bars

Decadence, thy name is Dorie!

Holy sweet-tooth Batman, these were amazing. I had been feeling so deprived and I knew that my mixer felt neglected, so I baked these and a few other things on Friday afternoon.

At first, I didn't know where the caramel would come into play because there isn't a drop of it in the recipe, but...ohmanohman, after the shortbread base bakes off, it creates this amazing caramelized sugar layer on the edges. Your teeth sink in through the toffee and chocolate topping, into the caramelized crunchy cookie and it's then that you realize Dorie is out to sabatoge all your healthy eating resolutions. And you don't care one bit.

Great selection, Whitney! Want to try these for yourself? The recipe is here. Check out all the other caramelycrunchy creations at TWD.

Reason #48905 Why I Love Our House

With a fireplace, comes....

S'MORES!

Lemon-Lime Cookie Crisps

When I went through my baking frenzy this past Friday night, I knew I had to make something WW-friendly that I could snack on and not feel badly about. I'm not sure how much it helped, since I still nibbled on some pieces of the Caramel Crunch Bars (recipe to come tomorrow!), but these were a tasty surprise that I'll definitely make again!

The only thing I would change is to spread the batter out even more thinly on the baking sheet so that the cookies stay translucent. I was a little too conservative and they weren't really 3 inches across, like the directions state. When they were too thick, they just stayed chewy and sticky. They tasted really good, but the texture wasn't the best. The instructions told me to separate the batter and make 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime, but I wanted the two flavors together, which ended up being delicious. Next time, I might even try orange zest for a true citrus extravaganza!

Ingredients:

3 1/3 TBS unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar (I might cut back on this next time, just a little bit)
2 large egg whites
1/3 cup cake flour (I used regular)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon zest, finely chopped
2 tsp lime zest, finely chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place parchment paper on 2 cookie sheets.
Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy (Mine didn't exactly cream, but came together in a gritty-like mixture. Not a big deal). Add the egg whites and stir until just blended. Sift cake flour over butter mixture and mix with a spoon; fold in the vanilla.
Remove half of batter and place in a medium bowl; set aside. Fold lemon zest into one bowl and lime zest into other bowl. Or, you can be like me and just throw it all in there together. Yeah, I'm a rebel.
Drop heaping teaspoons of batter onto prepared cookie sheets leaving at least 3-inches between each cookie. When cookie sheet is full, flatten out cookies with back of a spoon so cookies look almost translucent and measure about 3-inches across. (You may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your cookie sheets.)
Bake until edges start to brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from oven and quickly transfer cookies to a cooling rack using a thin metal spatula. Yields 4 cookies per serving.

Tuscan Casserole

I think casserole is one of those generic terms that's used to describe a multitude of kitchen concoctions. I tended to shy away from casseroles because you never knew what was really in them. Paula Deen loooves making casseroles with cream of whatever soups, mayo and other heart-clogging delights. Shrimp and grits casserole anyone?

This dish is a WW recipe that I had seen a few times, but always skipped over because the online picture looked weird. Yes, I judge a recipe by the picture. So? Finally, I decided to try it after I made myself read through the ingredients. I already had ricotta in the fridge from a stuffed shells attempt (okay, but not blog-worthy) and I just had Alex pick up the other ingredients for me. It was easy to throw together and I baked it off before I had to go and staff a middle-school dance. Oy, that's a whole other story for another time.

The casserole was pretty good! It was a little salty, so I'll cut back on the amount next time, but I will definitely make this again. It's a good main meal for me, but wouldn't be filling enough for Alex. I think it would be a good brunch side-dish, also. In fact, I'm eating some leftovers right now. Sorry, did I get crumbs on you?

Ingredients:

1 15-oz can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

10-oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained

3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

1/4 cup egg substitute

1.5 tsp salt (I would only use 1 tsp or less next time)

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium garlic cloves, chopped

8 oz sliced mushrooms

3 slices of reduced calorie bread, torn into small pieces (I found it easier to cube the bread)

2 TBS shredded parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine beans, spinach, egg, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix to combine. Heat a skillet over medium high heat, add oil, and saute the onions, garlic and mushrooms until the shrooms start to brown and soften, about 10 minutes. Try to let as much liquid as possible evaporate, otherwise you'll end up with a wet casserole!

Add the onion mixture to the bowl and stir to combine. Spoon everything into the baking dish and evenly top with the bread pieces. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake until bread is toasted and spinach is warmed through, about 25 minutes. This serves 8 people, 2 points per serving.

Shake it Like a Polaroid Picture

My dad worked for Polaroid for 30+ years before he retired. Hence, my entire childhood, from birth to prom is captured in those little white-bordered instant pictures that we know and love. My first camera was a Polaroid Cool Cam, grey and pink, and my sister and I had a blast taking pictures of the dog all dressed up in our t-shirts. Alex and I even had a Polaroid wedding guestbook for people to use at our wedding!

When I saw this really cool application on another blog, I knew I had to try it. It even does the Polaroid sound! Ahhhh...memories. Poladroid is a crazy program that lets you drag over your pictures and it will reproduce them as a Polaroid shot...complete with the tinted colors and white border! You can even "shake" it around as it develops like we used to do (although, according to my dad, shaking Polaroids made the ink run).

My nephew dressed up for Halloween

I haven't had a chance to bake anything new lately. All the meals I've made have been repeats recently, but I do hope to get back to baking this weekend! I have a work trip from Sun - Wed, but you'll hear more from me when I get back.

Now go shake it...shake it...shake it like a Polaroid picture...

"Don't Kiss Me" Chicken

I forgot to take a picture last night, so you get a shot of my lunch on a faboo paper plate.

Otherwise known as Pan-Seared Chicken with Garlic Sauce. It's a lot of garlic, but baking it mellows out the flavor and makes it sweet and buttery. I love garlic - in any form. Bring it on! But, if you plan on kissing someone, make sure they eat it too.

This is another WW recipe. I've finally put the kitchen together (for the most part) because I was sick of buying meals and not being able to count the points on my food. It's fairly easy to put together, and took about 20 minutes. Using a gas stove is so much fun, too! I love that I have much more control over the heat under the pan, so my chicken seared oh-so-perfectly. And I have a real grown-up full-sized oven. With three racks! I can't wait to bake something.

Ingredients:
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, four 4-oz pieces
1 tsp olive oil
12 medium garlic cloves, halved
1 cup fat-free chicken broth, reduced-sodium, divided (or vegetable broth)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450°

Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle both sides of chicken with herb mixture.
Heat oil in a large ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook 2 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. Add the garlic and 3⁄4 cup broth. Place the pan in oven and bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until chicken is done and garlic cloves are soft.

Remove the pan from oven and transfer chicken to a platter; cover with foil to keep warm. Add remaining 1⁄4 cup broth to pan. and mash garlic with a fork. Beware of splatters b/c the broth is going to be hot! Cook garlic mixture over medium heat 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated; stir. Serve garlic sauce over chicken.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast and 2 tablespoons garlic sauce = 3 points).

TWD and 100 Posts!

So I totally forgot that my last post was my 100th! WOOOOO GO ME!


::booty shakin' happy dance::



I was excited when the World Peace Cookies were selected for TWD. Dorie calls them that because if everyone ate them, we would totally have world peace. I agree.

I baked the amazingdeliciousdecadent WPC's last week for a work luncheon, and then "accidentally" left them there. I just couldn't have them around me because I kept scarfing them down. They were chocolately, rich and had just the right amount of salt to make you go "hmmmm?" It was kind of like a chocolate shortbread, but with chocolate chunks, salt and more chocolate than you would ever think to put in a cookie. Not that it's a bad thing!
The dough came together really easily, but the rolling into logs part was a little tricky. It's pretty crumbly, so I ended up with chocolate bits and pieces all over the counter.

Everyone enjoyed them and I will definitely make them again. Great pick, Jess! Visit her blog for the recipe. Your tummy and tastebuds will thank you.

TWD coming on Wednesday instead...

I did bake the World Peace Cookies and they were AMAZING. But you have to wait until Wednesday for my post because WE'RE MOVING TO THE NEW HOUSE!!!!

Be back soon...