Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Best part about these cookies? Except for the butter, chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips, they're HEALTHY! Ok, not really healthy, exactly. But I took the original recipe and substituted some of the ingredients with healthier options.

To start, I got the original recipe from the back of a chocolate chip bag. Ryan and I love to eat chocolate chips straight from the freezer. That's where I keep them, in the freezer. My mom kept them in the freezer, so that's what I do, even though I really don't know why!

Our favorite kind of chocolate chips are Market Pantry Semi-Sweet. In case any of you live in a cave and don't know this, Market Pantry is Target's store brand. They are delicious! On the bag it says "rich & creamy" and boy are they right! They are better than any other brand name ever and I know this because I have tried every single chocolate chip brand ever in the whole world.

Here it is with my alterations:

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated Splenda (or store brand equivalent)
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp packed Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2-1/3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 pkg (6 oz.) Market Pantry Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1/2 pkg (5 oz.) Reese's Peanut Butter Chips

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Beat butter, both sugars, and vanilla on medium speed until creamy. Beat in eggs until light and fluffy.

3. Blend in flour, soda and salt on low speed until mixed. Stir in chocolate and peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2-inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

4. Bake 7 minutes or until top of cookie is slightly firm to touch. Cool on baking sheet 2 minutes; remove to wire racks.

Now, before you go and make these cookies, there are just a couple things you need to know about baking with Splenda instead of sugar.

Cookies made with Splenda don't turn golden brown like regular cookies. That's why "bake until edges are golden brown" doesn't work as one of the steps--because the edges don't get brown.

Cookies--and other baked goods--made with Splenda also bake faster than those made with sugar. Therefore, when the directions said to bake 8 to 11 minutes, I set the microwave timer for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, the cookies were baked perfectly and ready to be taken out of the oven. My general rule is to set the alarm for a minute or two before the shortest baking time recommended, then I check them to see if they need more time and adjust my timer accordingly.

Another thing about these cookies is that while I was stirring in the chocolate and peanut butter chips, I was finding that the chips were being mixed throughout the dough, but not really getting mixed into the dough. I don't know if that makes sense, but basically if I tried to use a spoon to scoop out the dough onto the baking sheet, it would have all fallen apart instead of staying in a nice little round ball. So instead I used my hands to mold the dough into tablespoon-size balls to place on the baking sheet.

Lastly, these cookies will not flatten. The baking soda helps them rise a little bit, but after the first dozen came out of the oven, I found that if I flattened the balls and molded them into a normal cookie shape before I baked them, they came out looking like regular cookies instead of cookie balls. That sounds weird. Whatever.

Enjoy!

Life Lately in Photos

Hello! I haven't been blogging for a while, and I must say it feels good to be back.

I borrowed the title for this blog from my best friend Sarah [<---click on her name to view her blog!]. I love when she does these posts, so I decided to do my own! I haven't blogged in a long time, so I have a LOT of photos to share.

My mom usually sends me holiday care packages and these window decorations were from my mama in October 2010! I saved them to use again this past October and I have been too lazy to take them down. I was looking at them the other day and noticed there's a fly that got stuck on one of the pumpkins and died...oops. That's pretty sick.

Speaking of NASTY INSECTS...see this lovely little thing? I found it in my apartment. More specifically, I found it in my BED. I'm getting the chills just thinking about it!!! We have since had our apartment sprayed for spiders.

I decided one day to try curling my hair with my flatiron. I think it turned out really well! Ryan told me I look like January Jones in Mad Men. I'll take that as a compliment :)

I hate to say it, but I love energy drinks. I used to have an obsession, then I quit cold turkey, but now I'm back on them. I found this new Rockstar at a Speedway gas station this past Thursday. It is blueberry, pomegranate, and acai flavored and it's delicious. Have I ever mentioned that I love going to the gas station for anything other than buying gas?

This past Tuesday after work I met my friend Cortney at Cinema Grill on the North side of Indianapolis. It's a movie theater that is filled with tables and comfy chairs and they have a server walking around so you get to order food and eat it during the movie! It's a really cool idea and the ticket for the movie was only $7.50, which is already $2.50 cheaper than a regular movie theater, PLUS you get to eat dinner while you watch!

 This is the inside of CInema Grill. Terrible picture quality, but you get the idea.

What do you get when you mix everything pictured above plus one egg and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees?

Healthy homemade granola bars! I got this recipe here [<---click the word "here" to see the awesome Tumblr!] and I added chocolate chips to make them a little sweeter! They taste soooo good, they're healthy, and it's a great snack to bring with me to work to tide me over between breakfast and lunch.

Finally, a picture of me with Ryan! Whenever we have any free time, it seems like we are always driving up north to the mall to go shopping. I'm pretty certain that Ryan likes to shop more than I do, and he'll definitely be the second to admit that, if not first. The two of us together in a mall isn't the greatest thing for either of our bank accounts, but we sure have fun together! This picture was taken before we went shopping one day. I just love him so much :)

Baked Mac & Cheese with Broccoli

Last night I made something super delicious! I used a combination of two different recipes that I found to create my own version.

Baked Mac & Cheese with Broccoli

Ingredients

16 oz. whole wheat penne pasta

1 head fresh broccoli florets

1 3/4 c. low-fat milk, divided

3 T. whole wheat flour

3 T. dry breadcrumbs (plain or italian seasoned)

1 t. extra virgin olive oil

2 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 c. low-fat cottage cheese

1/4 t. salt

Freshly ground pepper, to taste


Directions

1. Put large pot of water on to boil. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Coat an 11"x7" baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Mix breadcrumbs and oil in small bowl. [I used Italian seasoned breadcrumbs because I already had them in my pantry]

3. Boil pasta and broccoli in the same pot until pasta isn't quite fully cooked. [Pasta will continue to cook in the oven] Drain and set aside.

4. Heat 1 1/2 cups milk in large heavy sauce pan over medium-high heat until steaming. Whisk remaining 1/4 cup milk with flour in small bowl until smooth; add to the hot milk and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce simmers and thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. REmove from heat and stir in Cheddar until melted. Stir in cottage cheese, salt and pepper.

5. Add pasta and broccoli to the cheese sauce mixture. Gently stir until pasta and broccoli are coated with sauce. Spread in 11"x7" baking dish and sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture.

6. Bake until bubbly and golden, 25 to 30 minutes.

Happy half birthday to me!

Today is my half birthday!

My [real] 18th birthday when I had very long hair.

Ever since my freshman year at Hanover College, I have been celebrating my half birthday (in addition to my real birthday). As you are very capable of figuring out, my real birthday is August 10, which means I was almost never in school on my birthday. That's a good thing, kind of, but it also means that I never got to have the whole class sing to me or tell me happy birthday. Now that I think about it, I always got really nervous at my birthday parties when it was time for everyone to look at me and sing happy birthday, but you always want what you can't have!

Does anyone remember having their locker wrapped with wrapping paper on their birthday??

My birthday happened to fall on my first day of middle school and my best friend at the time wanted to wrap my locker for me. I was terrified of middle school as it was, so I didn't want any extra attention to go to me on my very first day. I can't remember exactly what happened, but I am sure my mom can fill us in down in the comments area :) At the time, it felt like it would be embarrassing because I didn't know that it happened frequently to other people.

Well, I don't have any exciting half birthday plans except working until 7! Maybe my half birthday will motivate me to come home and do my workout video. Maybe.

Have a great day! Stay warm! And happy half birthday to ME! :)

Brunch and new shoes!

Last year when I thought I was going to run the mini-marathon (HA!) I went to Blue Mile in Broadripple and I bought some nice running shoes. They did the whole thing where they videotaped me running on the treadmill to see how my feet were hitting and decide which shoes to have me try on. I ended up getting some Saucony shoes that look like old grandma shoes with all of its large mesh and large size. [The lady at the shoe store made me get size 9 because she said my feet will swell when I run. They look enormous, but they fit.] I don't know, they probably don't look that bad, but when I look down at my feet I don't really like how they look. Oh well, they work well for running!

So while I have been doing my JM workout, I have been using my running shoes because they are the only tennis shoes I have! They aren't great when you need foot flexibility, such as when I am required to hold a static lunge. Usually my back toes end up kind of hurting because my running shoes aren't meant to bend like that.

I met up with Sarah yesterday to go to brunch at 3 Sisters Cafe in Broadripple. It was sooo good! I had a 3 egg scramble with bacon, avocado, mushrooms, basil, and feta cheese.

We weren't ready to part ways after brunch, so we decided to go to Castleton Square Mall to do a little shopping! Neither of us really needed anything, but thought it would be fun to walk around together anyway. At least I thought I didn't need anything...

I ended up buying much more than planned, but I did get something I really needed. Workout shoes! They are very flexible and extremely comfortable. I was instantly motivated to do my workout video so I could wear the shoes! I can't wait to put them on again. Of course, that means I will have to do my workout again, but it could be worse, right? :)

They are Nike Women's Free TR Fit Training Shoes. Whatever all that means. All I know is they are very flexible and light! I got them at Dick's and they also have them in lime green, which I wanted most, but they only had size 6.5 and I'm really 8.5 to 9, so that wasn't going to work. Best part? They were on sale for $10 off the normal price, which brought them down to $75. Still a lot of money, but totally worth it.

Well, I've got lots on the agenda for today: reading for class, getting killed in my week 4 workout video, baking triple chocolate peanut butter cookies, and bringing said cookies to Ryan's parents' house for the Super Bowl! It's going to be a great day!

Chicken Fajita Lettuce Cups

Another Hungry Girl recipe! This flavorful dish is super easy to make and it proves that you don't need a long list of ingredients to make a dish taste really good.

Another thing that I really love about the Hungry Girl cookbooks is that many, if not most, of the recipes are for single servings. It's nearly impossible to find recipes for just one person, and that makes cooking for one really difficult. So I am very glad to have all of these single serving recipes! And that also makes it easy to double, triple, or quadruple the recipe depending on how many people you are cooking for.

Chicken Fajita Lettuce Cups

Ingredients:
3 leaves romaine, butter, or green leaf lettuce
3 ounces raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast, sliced
1/2 c. sliced red and green bell peppers
1/2 c. sliced onions
2 Tbsp. Holy Moly Guacamole
1 Tbsp. salsa
1 Tbsp. fat-free sour cream
1 & 1/2 tsp. dry fajita seasoning mix

Directions:

• Place chicken, peppers, and onions in a medium bowl. In a separate dish, blend fajita seasoning mix with 3 Tbsp. water.

• Pour seasoning mixture over chicken and veggies. Stir until chicken and veggies are thoroughly coated. Let marinate for 5 minutes.

• Spray a medium pan with nonstick spray and bring to medium-high heat. Pour chicken-veggie mixture--including any excess marinade--into the pan.

• Stirring occasionally, saute until chicken is cooked through and veggies are slightly browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl.

• Enjoy fajita-style, by loading up each lettuce "cup" with one-third of the chicken-veggie mixture and topping with the guacamole, salsa, and sour cream. Yum!

Makes 1 serving.

Per serving (3 lettuce cups):

190 calories

2.5g fat

562mg sodium

18g carbs

4g fiber

7g sugars

23g protein

Although it might seem like these three lettuce cups wouldn't fill you up, there is so much stuff inside them that it really does! They are definitely messy, so don't even try wiping your face or hands until you're done eating. This recipe is mouthwatering goodness and I can't believe it's less than 200 calories!

Hope you enjoy!

Holy Moly Guacamole

This delicious recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 by Lisa Lillien, where every recipe is under 200 calories! 

What's great about this cookbook is that there are so many recipes (200) and she covers all different kinds of foods. There are options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. I just love it! This recipe was super easy to follow and didn't take very long at all.

Holy Moly Guacamole

Ingredients:

One 15-ounce can early (young) peas, drained

1/2 c. mashed avocado (about 1 medium-small avocado's worth)

1/3 c. chopped cherry or grape tomatoes

1/4 c. finely chopped onion

1/4 c. plain fat-free Greek yogurt

4 tsp. lime juice

1/2 tsp. chopped garlic

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. ground cumin

1/8 tsp. chili powder

Additional salt and black pepper, to taste

Optional: chopped fresh cilantro (SICK), chopped jarred jalapenos

Directions:

• Place peas in a medium bowl and mash thoroughly with a potato masher or fork.

• Add avocado, yogurt, lime juice, garlic, and seasonings. Continue to mash until blended.

• Stir in tomatoes, onion, and, if you like, some cilantro (SICK) and/or jalapenos. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Per serving (1/3 cup):
78 calories
3g fat
320mg sodium
10.5g carbs
3.5g fiber
4g sugars
3.5g protein

Makes 6 servings.

I didn't make mine with onion because I don't like raw onion, and obviously I left out the cilantro. Also, I doubled the recipe because I didn't think the original would make very much and I ended up accidentally quadrupling the amount of Greek yogurt. I only realized that I did that when I was typing up the ingredients. Oops! It still tastes really good, though.

I hope yours turns out just as delicious as mine did!