Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know, I know. They are probably the simplest thing to make, but they are so good to eat! I took a picture, but it seems to have gotten lost. 

So imagine this. A warm chocolate chip cookie. With melted chocolate chips. Melts as soon as you bite into it.

yummm

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 tbsp. milk
• 1 tbsp. vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or more! ;-))

See if I had different types of chocolate chips I would add them. 

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375F.
2. Combine sugar, vegetable oil, butter, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat until well belnded.
3. Beat in egg.
4. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in separate bowl. Mix into sugar mixture.
5. Stir in chocolate chip cookies. 
6. Drop by the tablespoonfuls onto pan.
7. Bake for 8 minutes.

Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macroons!

So I am not a huge fan coconut, but I had a bag of coconut flakes and this was the first idea to come to mind of what to make. I got this recipe from one of my cookbooks.

Ingredients:

• 1 package (14 ounces) coconut flakes
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 6 tbsp. flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg whites
• 1 trsp. almond extract
• Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325F. 
2. Mix coconut flakes, sugar, flour, and salt in bowl.
3. Stir in egg whites and almond extract.
4. Drop by the teaspoonfuls onto greased pan.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until edges of cookies are golden brown.
6. Place on wire racks.
7. Once completely cooled dip halfway into melted chocolate.
8. Let stand until chocolate is firm.

Enjoyyy!

Pasta and Herbs

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. garlic powder
• salt
• 1/4 tsp. rosemary
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. parsley flakes
• 1 tsp. marjoram
• 1/8 cup Parmesan cheese
• Lemon juice

Directions

1. Cook pasta as directed on the box. Add some salt and garlic powder in the water before you add the pasta.
2. Once cooked, strain the pasta. Return to pot.
3. Add pasta all of herbs and cheese. Mix well.
4. Add a  little bit of lemon juice. I always find that lemon brings out the flavor.

Oreo Cheescake

Ingredients:

• Package of Oreo cookies or the same type of cookies
• 1/3 cup butter
• 3-8oz packages of cream cheese
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Finely crush 30 cookies. 
3. Mix crushed cookies with butter. And press on bottom of pan you are going to use. Set aside.
4. Finely chop ~15 cookies or as how man you want.
5. Beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy.
6. Blend in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla.
7. Fold in cookies into mixture.
8. Spread mixture into prepared crusts.
9. OK so I didn't do this, but if you put your pan in a water bath it helps to stop any cracks in the cheesecake.
10. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until set. 
11. Again, I didn't do this, but in the cookbook I used it says to place foil for final 15-20 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning. 
12. Allow to cool, then refrigerate.
13. Garnish with cookies. 

Shepherd's Pie

My mom is out of town so I am left fending for myself. Which means I will be cooking a lot more, but it also means I might not be able to update as often as I would like.

I kind of just threw a bunch of things together.

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil
• 1.5 lb ground beef
• 1 onion
• 1 tbsp. garlic powder
• 1.5 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 tbsp. rosemary leaves
• 1 tbsp. parsley flakes
• Mashed Potatoes prepared from a box! (After a long day of work I do not feel dealing with potatoes) 2-3 servings should be enough.
• Optional
• Extra paprika
• Butter
• Mozzarella Cheese

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
2. Pour some vegetable oil in a pot.
3. Add onions.
4. Once the onions have a slight color to them, add the ground beef and all the spices and tomato past.
5. Keep stirring and mixing up the ground beef until it turns brown.
6. I also added a little bit of grated mozzarella cheese.
7. Continue to cook for 15-20 minutes.
8. Once thoroughly cooked, place in a 9X11 pan. Smoothen it out.
9. Prepare mashed potatoes according to box.
10. Add mashed potatoes on top of meat. Smoothen out. Make sure the mashed potatoes are up against the sides.
11. Sprinkle some paprika on top.
12. Use fork to create lines across dish.
13.  Cut up slice of butter and place on top too. or until potatoes start to brown.
14. Bake for 20 minutes

Shrimp Alfredo

So usually my favorite recipes are the ones I come up with when I have something extra leftover from another recipe. This time I had leftover heavy whipping cream so I made some shrimp alfredo.

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbps. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp. cream cheese
• 1 tsp. parsley flakes
• Cooked pasta
• Cooked shrimp

Instructions:

1. Melt butter over medium heat.
2. Add cream. Make sure to stir a lot.
3. Add garlic powder, black pepper, and basil.
4. Add cheese.
5. Stir mixture until melted. (if you are not using fresh grated cheese it wont be creamy, but it still tastes good!)
6. Remove some of mixture and place in bowl. Add egg yolk and stir.
7. Add yolk mixture to cheese and cream mixture.
8. Add cream cheese.
9. Stir until smooth.
10. Simmer over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.
11. Add parsley flakes.
12. If sauce is too salty for your taste, add some milk.
13. In big bowl add sauce, pasta, and shrimp.

Chocolate Lover's Cheesecake

So I found I love cheesecake. I also love making it. This weekend I made some cheesecake with a chocolate twist. I got the recipe from one of my cook books.

Ingredients

• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups semi-sweet mini-chocolate chips, divided
• 1 extra serving-size packaged graham cracker crumb crust (9 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream.

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 450F.
2. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended.
3. Add eggs and vanilla. 
4. Stir in 1 2/3 cups small chocolate chips.
5. Pour into crust.
6. Bake for ten minutes. Do not open the door.
7. REduce temperature to 250F. Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until set.
8. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool.
9. Cover, and refrigerate until chilled.
10. Place remaining 1/3 cup chocolate chips and whipping cream ina  microwave-safe bowl. 
11. Microwave at HIGH 20-30 seconds or until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when sitrred.
12. Allow to cool slightly and then spread over top of the cheesecake.
13. Refrigerate to allow topping to set.

yummm