Clean Out Your Pantry Cookie Bars

I'm moving in THREE days!  I can't believe it!  We are buying our own condo and I couldn't be more excited.  This past week we have been packing up boxes, cleaning, and getting things in order.  I decided that I was going to cook/bake things that I had all the ingredients for already so that I could clean out the pantry/fridge.  This was the inspiration behind these cookie bars and I've gotta say, it was a great plan.

I only had white whole wheat flour left in the pantry so I used that.  I had more brown sugar than regular sugar, so I used more brown sugar.  And, I already had open bags of peanut butter chips and dark chocolate chips.  I figured that with that combo, I really couldn't go wrong.  Then, just for kicks, I threw in some old-fashioned oats as well.  Why not, right?  These cookie bars are super yummy!!!! I may have to host my own edition of chopped: clean-out-your-pantry-style.   It could be the next big reality show!  I would go to different houses of people who are moving and you would have to cook with whatever they had.  The Goal: make something amazing that uses as many ingredients as possible so that the pantry is clean when you are done.  I feel like I am onto something big here.  Feel free to contact my agent...

Anyways, I have been really busy getting ready for the move and I am grateful that I decided to take off half of Thursday and all of Friday so that I can just focus on moving and getting all settled in our new home.  I have an amazing kitchen waiting for me and I can't wait to beak it in!

Clean Out Your Pantry Cookie Bars
(Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars)

Ingredients:
3 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cornstarch
1 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 egg white
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup dark chocolate chips
sea salt

Directions:
1. Lightly grease a 13 by 9 inch pan and preheat the oven to 350.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cornstarch, and oats.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg until well combined.  Beat in the egg white until well combined.  Beat in the vanilla.
4. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined.  Stir in the peanut butter chips and dark chocolate chips.
5. Spread the batter out in your prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.  The cookie bars should be slightly browned around the edge of the pan.  Let cool for 20 minutes.  Cut into bars!

Enjoy :)

Healthy Brownie Batter Dip

It's finals time again! I can't believe we are at this point in the year.  I have been so busy the past few weeks finishing everything up with school and helping my students prepare for finals.  And now, I just have to grade their tests and summer is here!  Currently, I am sitting in a study hall with my buddy, Ms. Keenan, and we are just waiting for the period to end so that our finals can finally start.

I am pretty pumped about summer and I am already getting ready by meeting with site directors, organizing camp groups, and writing parent letters.  Last night I "had" to go to Portillo's to have a camp dinner/meeting.  The food was delish and it was so fun to get to know the site directors better and hear about their ideas for the summer.  It made me feel so excited!  

I have also been cooking and baking more because of my super-positive attitude.  For example, I made this:

Brownie Batter

This is "healthy" brownie batter.  I have heard that black beans can be a substitute in brownies or other desserts and I must admit, I was pretty skeptical about if it would actually taste good.  I am here to attest that black beans totally work and this brownie batter was just amazing.  I was inspired by Sweet As Sugar Cookie's recipe and I adapted it a little based on what I wanted/had on hand.  This is a great treat to spread on fruit, eat with pretzels, or just dig into with a spoon!

Healthy Brownie Batter Dip

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2-3 tsp vanilla
5 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until mixture becomes completely smooth.  Add in toppings if you want.

Enjoy :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! 

Every day is mother's day.  I mean, what would we do without mom's?  Literally, no one would exist!  My mom is pretty amazing and I just wanted to say, I love you!  Bri and I are planning on having brunch with my mommy today and then dinner with his mommy later.  It is going to be a really nice day!  

Here is a round-up of some of my mommy's favorite recipes that I have made in the past:

Oreo Coffee Ice Cream Cake

Skinny Mocha Cupcakes

Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

Chocolate Chip Banana Cupcakes with Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

I hope that all the mother's out there have a really great day!

Enjoy :)

Mini Brown Sugar Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Frosting

I have some pretty exciting news to share and it is not simply these gorgeous mini cupcakes!

Bri and I adopted a new kitty into our family!! Benny is now a big brother!  We found this amazing five-month old kitten through Hyde Park Cats and per a suggestion from our vet, we adopted him.  Benny has been a little hyperactive and crazy and we think its because he is young and we are not home very often.  So, we got a playmate for him!  Welcome to the family, Nigel!

And now, onto those cupcakes.  Mini cupcakes are pretty amazing plus they are a great way to celebrate our new little guy.  In fact, I have decided to eat healthy by only eating desserts that are mini or homemade.  Not sure this is considered a "diet," but at least it helps me focus on portion control without feeling like I'm really giving anything up.  And lets be honest, I don't think I can totally give up sweets.  I saw this recipe on How Sweet It Is and I simply adapted the cupcakes to include some slightly lighter ingredients and I made them mini which changes the baking time a bit.


Mini Brown Sugar Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients:
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
Frosting:
4 oz low-fat cream cheese
1/2 cup natural, creamy peanut butter (I love Skippy)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
skim milk, if needed

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line 24 mini cupcake wells with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar with unsalted butter.  Beat in the egg until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flours with the baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Add 1/3 of this mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined.  Add in about 1/2 of the milk and 1/2 tbsp of vanilla and beat to combine.  Repeat with the flour mixture, then the rest of the milk/vanilla and then end with the rest of the flour mixture.  Divide the batter into your cupcake pan so that each well is about 3/4 of the way full.
4. Bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes.  Let cool completely.
5. To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter in a bowl until smooth.  Beat in the sugars and vanilla until creamy.  Add in a few tsp of milk if your mixture is too thick.  Frost those cupcakes!

Enjoy :)

Monster Cookie Layer Bars

We just had parent-teacher conferences this past week and I can't believe that this means there are only 6 weeks until finals!!! My second year of teaching has just flown by!  Along with that, I have been having a great year with my co-teacher in Geometry and my Algebra Advance students are pretty awesome.  I can't believe they started off as freshmen and now they are like "grown up" sophomores!  This year has been so much smoother than my first one and I have been working hard to incorporate new lessons that are more investigative and model based.  I love that I feel confident enough to try new things and evaluate if they are successful.  I even brought in a GIANT gummy bear to show my students and talk about similarity ratios between the little gummy bears and the big guy.  Today, I am even presenting one of these lessons to a group of teachers!

Along with school ending, I am also getting ready for camp to begin! This is crazy!  I am so excited that summer is right around the corner.

To celebrate this excitement, I am going to share with you all a recipe for one yummy treat.  I love the idea of Monster Cookies because it means you can basically throw whatever you are craving into a cookie.  This recipe, which I adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything, takes that idea to a whole new level.  Instead of all that work to drop cookies onto a cookie sheet, lets just dump it all into a pan and go with layers! I love combining salty with sweet so I went with some chocolatey things and pretzels and peanut butter.  You can use whatever toppings your little heart desires!

Monster Cookie Layer Bars

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk (I used light)
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups of the toppings you want

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a 9 by 13 inch pan with foil or parchment paper.  Spray the foil of parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter.  Mix the butter and graham cracker crumbs together and press evenly into the bottom of your pan.
3. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the graham cracker crust and then sprinkle the oats and your toppings over the top.  Gently press this down into the sweetened condensed milk layer.
4. Bake for 20 minutes.  Let cool for 20 minutes and then use the foil to take the layers out of the pan to cool completely.

Enjoy :)

Happy Pi Day! 3.141592653...

Happy Pi Day everyone! Today is an especially epic Pi day as it is March 14th of 2015!  Since Pi starts with 3.1415 this is the first time this has happened in 100 years and I am pretty excited about it!  For school, I brought in oreo pie and chocolate chip cookie pie for my students and a ton of my kiddos brought in their own circular treats to share.  It was pretty great!

It also happens to be the St. Patricks Day celebration in Chicago and my friend Lauren's bday celebration.  Can today get any more epic?

The answer is yes.  Here is an epically delicious pie for you all!  This is like a "better than sex" pie and it was truly AH-mazing.  I hope you all have a fantastic Pi/St. Pattys/Whatever day and enjoy your weekend!

The Epically AH-mazing Pi Day Pie

Crust:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter

1 tsp white vinegar

2-3 tbsp cold water

Filling:

Your favorite hot fudge

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

8 oz light cream cheese

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Your favorite caramel sauce (I recommend salted caramel)

2 cups cool whip topping

Mini PB cups, M&Ms...and whatever other toppings you want!

Directions:

1. Make the crust: place flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.  Cut cold butter into cubes and place in food processor with vinegar.  Pulse until you have a sand like combination.  Pour water in, 1 tbsp at a time, while pulsing, until your dough comes together.  Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.  Once chilled, heat oven to 400 degrees and roll out pie dough so that you have a large circle.  I usually try to go for a circle with a 12 inch diameter.  Then, place pie dough into a 9 inch pie pan and form crust to your liking.  Place in preheated oven and cook for 10-12 minutes or until dough starts to brown.  Cool

2. To make the filling, melt the dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl.  Once melted, whip with the cream cheese and heavy cream until you have a light and fluffy filling. 

3. To assemble the pie: spread hot fudge into your cooked pie crust so that it covers the bottom.  Then, spread the chocolate mixture on top.  Next, drizzle caramel sauce over the chocolate filling.  Finally, top with the whipped topping and sprinkle extra hot fudge/caramel/other toppings on top.  Place in fridge to chill until you are ready to serve.

Enjoy :)

Homemade Moose Tracks Ice Cream

So, I am sitting in the cafeteria because it is finals week and I am supposed to "supervise" aka babysit the children who do not have a first period final and do not want to go to the library to study.  It's times like these where I just love my job....

After this awful time of doing nothing, my finals actually begin and I have a geometry final and algebra final later today.  Although this morning time is pretty much the worst, I am excited to see how my students do on their finals today.

To pass the time, I am sitting with my English teacher friend and we are grading/chatting.  This is really not as bad as it could be.  I could be the person who has to walk around and ask students to settle down even though  it is a totally free time in the cafeteria...I mean, do we really expect them to study in here?

Of course, I am also sitting here thinking about food.  If I wasn't, I wouldn't be writing this blog post.  When I was thinking about what to write, I realized that on a cold day like today, it would be nice to think of something awesome like ice cream!  I can't put into words how much I miss summer and therefore how much I miss ice cream.  A while back, I decided that I wanted Moose Tracks because it is the best and so I made homemade Moose Tracks Ice Cream.  It was freaking amazing.  I spent a day eating it while watching a Sex and the City marathon on HBO and I truly don't have any regrets about it.  I forgot to share the recipe here, but I figured that its never too late or too cold to talk about ice cream.

Moose Tracks Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1 egg
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 1/2 cups half and half
1/2 cup skim milk
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla
20 mini peanut butter cups, halved
1-2 cups fudge sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
6 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Make the fudge sauce: place the sugar, corn syrup, water and cocoa powder in a medium pot.  Heat until the mixture comes to a rolling boil while whisking constantly.  Cook while boiling for about 1 minute while continue to whisk.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.  Transfer to a container and let cool completely in the fridge.
2. In a large sauce pan, pour 1 1/2 cups of half and half and heat over medium until steamy and then remove from heat.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with the sugar, brown sugar, and sweetened condensed milk.  Pour in 1/2 cup of the warm half and half and beat until combined.  Pour the entire mixture back into the half and half saucepan.  Heat over medium, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and coats the back of your spoon. Don't let it boil.
4. Pour the mixture into a separate bowl and whisk in the rest of the half and half, skim milk, salt, and vanilla.  Cover and place in fridge to chill for at least 4 hours.  
5. Once your ice cream mixture is chilled, freeze in ice cream machine according to directions.  Once down, pour into a bowl and stir in the fudge sauce and peanut butter cups.  Place in freezer to harden.

Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Yay Passover! I just love not being about to eat bread for a week...

Okay, I am very excited to eat bread again! In fact, every year, I take a break from Passover to enjoy Easter! My mom's side of the family has an Easter party every year and it is a lot of fun.  I love doing the colored eggs and sharing a big family meal.  She even brings a Lamb Cake! It's really cute and then we fight over who gets the butt (typical).  So, today I am off to my cousin's to celebrate Easter and I am very excited to enjoy the food and take a little vacation from Passover.

If you didn't see yesterday, I fell while running, and today I am still feeling very sore and beaten up.  My knee has developed a small bump this morning and I am not sure if I am going to make it through my Sunday morning Jillian Michaels work-out.  Wish me luck because I am going to try!

After my work out, I have homework to do for an online class that I am taking and then I am going to attempt to cook a few meals so that we are all ready for the week.  This is all before we drive to my cousins (about an hour away) for Easter.  So, I am up bright and early to share this with you all and then get to work!

Keeping with the Passover theme, today I am telling you about some amazing Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins.  They are crazy simply and crazy yummy.  I have made these multiple times and I even brought them in to school to share with my fellow teachers.  Everyone loved them!

Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
(adapted from Averie Cooks)

Ingredients: 
1 medium ripe banana
1 egg
1/2 cup creamy, natural peanut butter
3 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (mini or regular)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place everything except the chocolate chips into a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Spoon into a greased mini-muffin pan until about 3/4 full, or regular muffin pan.  Bake for 7-8 minutes if a regular muffin pan and 8-10 minutes for a mini muffin pan.

Enjoy!

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

I may or may not be being a bad teacher right now.  It is finals week, and I am currently sitting in the 2nd period final.  2nd period is my Math Lab and so it is not a "math class" and I don't have a final to give.  Instead, I am sitting in a "supervision" where I have to observe students in the cafeteria and keep them from leaving.  It's tough work, but someones got to do it :)

I have some work to do for next semester, but I already graded the three finals from yesterday and I decided that a therapeutic blogging break was in order before I got back to more work.  Plus, I made homemade Peanut Butter Cups and they are just too cute and too yummy to keep hidden from you all.

Plus, I made a major life change yesterday! Well, major and exciting for me.  This is probably too much build up for normal people, but I am not one of those.  I am a crazy enthusiastic reader.  I love books.  I love reading for fun and I have always kept a book next to my bed.  Even in college when I didn't have any time, I still tried to get in 5-10 minutes every night of reading.  I love the way books feel, I love the way a library smells, and I am a tad crazy.  I get stressed when I don't have a new book in mind once I finish one.  Now that I ride the train for an hour every morning and another hour every afternoon, I am going through books like crazy.  I like to buy my books because I like collecting them, rereading them, and lending them out to friends.  So, I am running out of space.  Also, I am running out of money!

For the holidays, I got a ton of money in amazon gift cards and last night I finally broke down and purchased a kindle.  I was holding out because I really love holding a book, but since it is becoming such a passion of mine to read and collect books, I figured this would be a good move.  I am excited to get my new toy and to read more!  I have no idea how these guys work and so if anyone out there has any recommendations, please let me know! And now, back to my delicious treat for the day!

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients:
1/2 cup creamy, natural peanut butter
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
pinch of salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar
9 oz dark chocolate chips
9 oz milk chocolate chips
1 tbsp unsalted butter

Directions:
1. In a microwave safe bowl, melt 1 tbsp butter, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate in the microwave stirring after every 30 seconds until smooth.
2. In a bowl, beat peanut butter, 2 tbsp butter, and salt.  Beat in powdered sugar until well combined.
3. Line a mini muffin pan with paper liners.  Drop 1 tbsp of chocolate into the bottom of each one.  Then drop 1 heaping tsp of the peanut butter mixture into the center of the chocolate.  Then drop enough chocolate on top to cover the peanut butter and fill to the top.  Place in fridge to chill until hardened.

Enjoy :)

PB Crave: Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

I have found the new perfect peanut butter.  Seriously, this stuff is amazing!  I was lucky to sample 4 different flavors of PB Crave and all of them were delicious!  Of course, being the chocoholic that I am, my favorites were their Cookie Nookie flavor and Choco Choco.

This peanut butter makes any recipe better! I made oatmeal peanut butter cookie cups, but I used Choco Choco flavor and it was amazing!  That hint of cocoa in the peanut butter cookie sent it way over the top.  The cookies were a hit and I fell in love with this peanut butter!  With the holidays ending, and the new year approaching, these cookies are a great way to celebrate or send some love to your friends and family!  When you are done with the cookies, you can then snack on that Cookie Nookie flavor with some pretzels, or my favorite, apple slices!  Head on over to PB Crave to check our all the amazing flavors and products!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cornstarch
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup creamy, Choco Choco PB Crave
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flours, baking soda, salt, and cornstarch.
3. In another large bowl, beat butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined.  Slowly, beat in the flour until just combined.
4.  Scoop cookie dough into a mini muffin pan so that each well is filled about 3/4 of the way up.  Place in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies have risen and just start to brown.

Enjoy :)

Gluten Free Treats

It's time for camp again and I love bringing in treats to share with my counselors.  We end up being like a little family by the end of camp since we spend so much time together and so it is nice to share treats with them once in a while.  Two of my counselors cannot eat gluten products and so I try to incorporate a gluten free treat whenever I can.  Today I am bringing in one of my favorites: Gluten Free Nutella Brownie Bites.  These brownies look just like the mini ones you get from the store, but they are homemade, gluten free, and even better!  I love Nutella and this is one awesome dessert.

I am pretty new to this Gluten Free thing and while I am decently good at cooking gluten free, I am still searching for those great Gluten Free baking ideas.  If you have any I would love if you would share them with me! 

Here are a few of the other things I've made that are Gluten Free:

Puppy Chow

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

Gluten Free Cheesecake

Apple Crisp

Skinny Peanut Butter Brownies

What I really need is some gluten free cupcakes...I'll get right on it!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Skillet Cookies

For the past 10 weeks, I have been updating you on my Half Marathon progress.  Well, now it is over! So, I guess I'll update you on my post-half marathon progress.  It took me a while to get back out there running.  I was a little lazy and a little sore.  However, after a difficult three mile run the Tuesday after, I attempted a 4 mile run on Wednesday and felt much better.  By Friday and Saturday, I was feeling like myself again and even got up to a 6 mile run.  I also did my cross training work out video which was especially difficult because of my sore legs and because I skipped it the week before.  All in all, it was good and I am glad I pushed myself to get back into my routine.  Now, I need to find another Half to train for.  I am totally addicted!

Today's recipe is super yummy and definitely something you should all indulge in.  I have cute miniature cast iron skillets and I have decided that the best use for them is to make miniature skillet cookies.  These are perfectly sized to be split by Bri and I and they encourage the use of ice cream as a topping.  Don't they sound wonderful?  Last week, I made Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies in them and threw in some chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  YUM! I used my recipe for whole wheat peanut butter oatmeal cookies and halved it.  Then, the batter fit perfectly into my two miniature skillets.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Skillet Cookies

Ingredients:
Half Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
1/2 cup chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Directions:
1. Make the cookie dough according to directions and mix in the peanut butter cups.  Divide the batter between the two mini skillets.
2. Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cookie just begins to brown.

Enjoy :)

Peanut Butter Nutella Swirled Mini Cheesecakes with Oreo Crust

I was proposed to by another math teacher because of these.  She said she was willing to leave her husband if it meant getting to eat these Peanut Butter Nutella Swirled Mini Cheesecakes with Oreo Crust.  They were pretty fantastic.

But first, I can't believe that tomorrow is my Half Marathon! I have been training for over 10 weeks now and it totally snuck up on me.  I feel pretty ready, but I am still nervous! I hope that the weather is nice and I am excited to run it with my friends, Lauren and Patrick.

I am also pretty darn excited about this long weekend.  These past few weeks of school have been pretty crazy.  I started teaching Pre-Calculus in addition to my Geometry block and two Algebra 2 blocks.  Having three preps is hectic and for a while I wasn't really sure of myself.  I couldn't keep all of my plans straight! However, now that I have gotten used to it, I feel much more confident and I am glad that I took on the challenge of teaching all of my cooperating teacher's classes because it has made me feel better prepared for next year.

Speaking of next year... I am going to have my own classroom! This is slowly sinking in and I keep getting nervous and excited about everything that goes with teaching.  I am so nervous for the first day and I keep running through what I want to say.  I am also nervous about having questions or being unsure of myself and NOT having a cooperating teacher there to help.  I am sure that once this all gets going it will be okay, but right now I feel like I have a million things on my mind! Any teachers out there with any words of wisdom about the first year?

And, back to the cheesecake.  Keeping up with cooking and baking while also trying to be the best teacher ever is difficult  but it keeps me happy! This dessert was super yummy and I shared with my teacher friends in the math department.  I was inspired by Chocolate Therapy and then got creative with the rest!

Peanut Butter Nutella Swirled Cheesecakes with Oreo Crust

Ingredients:
16 oreos
16 oz light cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup natural, creamy peanut butter
3 tbsp flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup nutella

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a cupcake pan with 16 liners.
2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar until well combined.  Beat in the vanilla and peanut butter until smooth and creamy.  Sprinkle flour over the mixture and beat to combine.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Scrape down sides and beat to combine.
3. Place an oreo in the bottom of each cupcake well.  Fill the cupcake to the top with your cheesecake batter.  Drop 1/2 tbsp of nutella on the top of each cupcake and, using a tooth pick, swirl.

4.  Bake for 20 minutes or until cheesecakes are no longer wobbly.  Let cool.  Serve same day or place in fridge overnight.

Enjoy :)

Thai Turkey Burgers

I GOT A JOB! Well, I haven't signed anything yet and I don't know many details, but I do know that I got a job offer at a high school to teach math! I am crazy excited and can't wait to start getting ready!

Also, now that I know where I am going to be, Bri and I are moving forward on looking for an apartment! I can't believe all of this.  I feel a little too grown up right now.  

Since, it is Monday, I also have a Half Marathon Monday update for you all.  I got up to 12 miles and now I get to taper off a little.  My long run this week was 9 miles and honestly it felt like a breeze.  I love getting out there in the morning and getting in a long run.  During the week I didn't run as much because of how busy I was, but I am still feeling great.  The run is only 2 weeks away and I can't wait! 

And, of course I have a recipe to share! This is a super yummy recipe and I found it over on How Sweet It Is.  These Thai Turkey Burgers are full of flavor and super healthy.  I had them for lunch at school and everyone was jealous of how yummy it smelled! I love the flavors here and it was a perfect little meal to have for dinner and then leftover for lunch.  

Thai Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean turkey

2 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup shredded carrot

salt and pepper

4 whole wheat buns

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup light coconut milk

3 tbsp brown sugar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp natural, creamy peanut butter

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1 tbsp lime juice

1/2 tbsp soy sauce

2-3 tbsp hot sauce or chili sauce (depending on taste)

3 cups coleslaw mix

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Directions:

1. Make the sauce: whisk together the rice vinegar, coconut milk, garlic, peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, and hot sauce.  Pour into a small sauce pan and heat until simmering.  

2. In a large bowl, combine the turkey meat with the carrots and green onion.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour about 3/4 of your sauce mixture into the turkey mixture and combine.  

3. In another bowl, place the coleslaw mix and toss with the peanuts. Pour the other 1/4 of the sauce over the coleslaw and set aside.

4. Form the turkey meat into 4 patties.  Place in a grill or saute pan and cook for about 4-5 minutes or until browned, flip patties and cook for another 4-5 minutes.  

5. Place burgers on buns, top with coleslaw and serve!

Enjoy :)

Chocolate Chip Banana Cupcakes with Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting

I did not have such a great day yesterday.  I have been feeling super stressed out, my lesson was stressful, and I feel exhausted.  It is a good thing it is Fine Arts week at school and I get to go see some pretty neat performances with my math classes.  On Monday, I saw some highly entertaining group and individual acts and yesterday, I got to see a jazz band concert.  Today I am seeing yet another performance and I can't wait!

These cupcakes are AMAZING.  My mom found a great recipe and then I helped her make it over my Spring Break.  We brought these to my brother for his birthday and him and his friends loved them.  This is such a simple recipe and I am excited to share it with you all because it was so good! Enjoy!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes (adapted from Baked Perfection)

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup skim milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup semi sweet or dark chocolate chips, dusted in 1 tbsp of flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees & line cupcake pan with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, & salt.  

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter & sugar until combined.  Add the milk & vanilla.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until combined.  Slowly beat in the flour mixture, until just combined.  Slowly add in the bananas.  Once all combined, stir in the chocolate chips by hand.  

4. Divide batter evenly into 12 cupcake cups.  Bake until the tops are golden, about 17-20 minutes.  Remove to wire rack & cool completely before frosting.

Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 tbsp milk

2 cups powdered sugar

Directions: 

1. Cream the butter, peanut butter, salt & vanilla.  Slowly add in 1 cup of powdered sugar.  Then add in 2 tbsp of milk.  Add in the rest of the sugar and add 1-2 more tbsp of milk until you have the desired consistency. 

Puppy Chow-Two Ways!

I can't believe the week is already winding down.  I have had such a nice break.  Between a visit to St. Louis, Passover Seders, a getaway to a spa with my mom, and now a trip to Champaign-Urbana to visit my little brother, it has been an amazing Spring Break.  I am in for a rude awakening when my alarm goes off at 5:55 on Monday!

Need another Passover snack? I know I do!  Guess what? Puppy Chow can be totally Passover friendly! I keep passover by basically going gluten free for the week.  This has not been that much of a challenge and it has been fun to come up with ideas for every meal of the day.

Puppy chow is great because you can use Chex Cereal that comes in many different gluten free flavors! Then, I substituted butter for coconut oil and went a little crazy with some different flavors for my puppy chow.  I hope you enjoy...I did!

Basic Puppy Chow

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups Chex Cereal
1/2 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk)
1/4 cup natural, creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar (about)

Cookie Butter Puppy Chow

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups Chex Cereal
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup Cookie Butter (from Trader Joe's)
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar (about)

Directions (They are the same for both types):
1. Place chex in a large bowl, set aside.
2. Place coconut oil, peanut butter/cookie butter, and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds.  Stir in vanilla.
3.  Pour mixture over the chex and toss until well coated.  Place chex in a large plastic bag and add about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.  Shake the bag.  Keep adding powdered sugar and shaking until your puppy chow is well coated in powdered sugar.

Enjoy :)

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

I recently made some AMAZING cookies.  My mommy visited me a few weekends ago with my dad to celebrate his birthday.  She brought with her a little Valentine's Day Care Package for me! It was just adorable! I got a cute stuffed animal, awesome nail polish, some new running socks, and peanut butter m&ms! My mom wanted to try the m&ms right away, but I wanted to save them for something special...cookies!

I made great Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Peanut Butter M&Ms.  I ended up sharing them with friends and bringing them into school.  Everyone loved them!

School has been going really well! My cooperating teacher is taking more of a backseat and letting me lead the lessons all on my own! It makes me a little nervous, but it is also tons of fun.  I am having a great time connecting with the students.  I learn more and more from them every day! Tomorrow I am giving a Geometry Test so it will be exciting to see what the students know and on Friday we are learning about the Unit Circle in Algebra 2! So much Mathmagical Fun! I even created a cute worksheet that I am pretty proud about, but more on that later.  Now, it's time to talk cookies!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Peanut Butter M&Ms (adapted from Simply Scratch)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cornstarch
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup creamy, natural peanut butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup Peanut Butter M&Ms

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flours, oats, baking soda, salt, and cornstarch.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter with the brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the peanut butter until well combined.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla.  Slowly, mix in the dry ingredients until just combined and then stir in the M&Ms.
4.  Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough on the prepared pans and bake for about 13-15 minutes.  Cookies do not spread out much and should be slightly puffy. Let cool.

Enjoy :)

Foodie Friends Friday: Don Thomas Coffee

This week, Foodie Friends Friday is back with some Don Thomas Coffee!  This week you can win from our sponsor Don Thomas.  This is a great giveaway! The coffee is so good! Just follow the rules and link up your recipes! Also, host favorites will be featured on Daily Dish!  This week I'm linking up my new Waffle Recipe, Monster Cookies, and Red Velvet Cheesecake!

Last Foodie Friends Friday was sponsored by Lodge and here were the winners:

And, of course, here were your top 3 voted and clicked recipes!

Most Votes:

1. Giant Orange Rolls

2. Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

3. Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

Most Clicks:

1. Strawberry Heart Bundt Cake

2. Chocolate Pudding Cupcakes with Strawberry Centers

3. Cherry Swirled Cheesecake

Grab our NEW button! 

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.foodiefriendsfridaydailydish.com/" title="Foodie Friends Friday" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/busyvegetarianmom/FFFDDButtonNEW150Darker_zpse238f637.jpg" alt="Foodie Friends Friday" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Enter below and you might be a lucky winner!!

But first, here are this week's co-hosts:

Foodie Friends Friday http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com

Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom http://www.busyvegetarianmom.com

Robyn's View http://www.robynsview.com

Marlys at This and That  http://marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com/

Lois at  Walking on Sunshine http://walkingonsunshinerecipes.com

Michelle at  From Calculus to Cupcakes http://www.fromcalculustocupcakes.com

Cynthia at Feeding Big  http://www.feedingbig.com

Jodie at Binomial Baker http://www.binomialbaker.blogspot.com

R Dawn at Spatulas on Parade http://www.spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

Angie at A lil Country Sugar http://www.alilcountrysugar.blogspot.com

Kelly at Adorned Well http://www.adornedwell.blogspot.com/

Cindy at Cindy's Recipes and Writings: : http://www.cindysrecipesandwritings.com 

Joanne at Winelady Cooks: http://www.wineladycooks.blogspot.com

Marlene at Nosh My Way: http://www.noshmyway.com

Jutta at Hungry Little Girl: http://www.hungrylittlegirl.com/

Erika at Chef Picky Kid: http://www.chefpickykid.com/

Beth at Honey Locust Hills http://www.honeylocusthills.com

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