Ritual Weekend Pancakes

Lately, I've been treating myself to Chocolate Chip Pancakes once per weekend.  It's become a lovely little ritual and I really enjoy it.

Some would say that eating chocolate chip pancakes once a week, every week is not healthy.  To those people, I say, "You've obviously not had a good chocolate chip pancake because when they are this good, it doesn't matter."

And, can I just add, emotional health is just as important as physical health. This has become a relaxing, peaceful ritual and it helps me destress. I enjoy the act of whipping up batter and creating new flavors based on the type of chocolate laying around. Most of the time it's semi-sweet chocolate chips, but sometimes I will have stopped of at Whole Foods and picked up a fancy chocolate bar (of the dark chocolate variety) and I'll chop some of that up and throw it in.

It's fun, and I love it.

This past weekend, I escaped to my Mom's house with my laundry, and Sunday morning woke up to find:

NO PANCAKE MIX!
NO BISQUICK!
ONLY AN UNAPPETIZING BUTTERMILK MIX (Mom, toss that mix. Please.)!

I was desperate. So I turned to trusty google, and found the following recipe: 

1.5 cups flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar*
1 + 1/4 cup milk
1 egg
3 tbsp butter, melted**

and, of course, chocolate!

*It's standard practice in my household to add a touch of extra sugar and a splash and a half of vanilla extract.
**I'd cut down the butter amount. It was quite strong and I had to add extra ingredients to tone down the butter flavor. I want pancake flavored pancakes, not butter flavored pancakes.

This is a fantastic recipe, and I see it becoming my go-to.  It was easy to throw together, the batter was a great consistency, and I loved the coloring of the pancakes. I topped with maple syrup this time; I tend to vary in my toppings from week to week.

Do you have any weekend rituals?

Holy. Smokes.

That's what I said out loud after my first bite of dinner tonight.

I've truly outdone myself.

Grilled Chicken
   Seasoned with Lemon Pepper, Sea Salt, Garlic Powder, and Onion Powder, thrown onto a piping hot George Foreman.

Garlic and Olive Oil Organic Brown Rice Couscous
   Stolen from Mom's pantry.  Mom, buy this again.

Sautéed Green Beans
   Butter and a sprinkle of sea salt. Because sea salt is amazing. Why did I wait so long to buy it??


This is absolutely, positively on the dinner rotation FOR LIFE.

The textures perfectly melded, and the flavors complemented one another beautifully. The dry couscous with the wet green beans, and salty, moist chicken.

I... I'm speechless.

Spicy Lemon Chicken Wraps

a la Rosie over at The Londoner.  (aka girl crush.)

Can I just say, I dropped $75 at the store this morning picking up food for the week. Okay, for more than the week- a lot of it is cooking accessories (hot sauce, sea salt, cocoa powder... etc), but still. And, okay, I got 8 avocados because, hey, I'm cooking with avocados a lot this week. I need a grocery store scholarship. Or sponsor. To be repaid in delicious foods. I really am a good cook.

Words to the wise:

• Lemon juice stings cuts. 
• 80's Pop Pandora station is probably the greatest "radio" station around.
• Hot sauce stings too.

Okay! On with things. 

I invite you to check out Rosie's post of the recipe as I am too lazy she has already taken the time to make a lovely post. But here's a general idea:

The taste is unlike anything I've had before... You certainly taste the honey, something I'll go easier on next time. I was definitely concerned it would be too spicy- but it wasn't! There were moments of heat, but I loved it.   Now the lemon was the cool part.  It was only after I was done eating that I noticed the hint of citrus hanging around in my mouth. And I do believe it was the best part.



These are your marinate ingredients + olive oil.

Cut chicken into strips + Marinade ingredients + Mix & Cover and place in fridge for a few hours.

Have these bad boys out on the counter. They're going to wait until tonight when it's time to make the guacamole. 

......

Hello again!

It's hours later and I'm halfway through dinner. 

Um, YUM.

Guac got made, per Mom's recipe.

Assembled on a large tortilla, sour cream on the bottom, guac, chicken, and romaine lettuce. 

Wrap and enjoy. 

Quick, easy, light, FILLING dinner. Apart from the morning prep (which I feel could easily be done the night before if the timing is better for you), it's incredibly simple to throw together.  I can see this dish becoming a regular around these parts!

Breakfast (Brunch?) of Champions

At what time of day does breakfast become brunch?

I'm calling this one brunch, because it's 10 am and I've already been up for a while.

Ultimate. Bacon. Sandwich.
Or at least that's what I'm calling it.

Bacon:

•  Preheat oven to 375 degrees
•  Cookie sheet covered in foil 
•  Cooling rack placed on top
•  Lay bacon on the rack
• Cook until done (about 25/30 minutes)

Eggs:

• 2 whites, 1 yolk, lightly beaten
• Turkey breast (I used my Foster Farms oven roasted deli meat)
• Warm the turkey in the pan
• Add the eggs
• Cook through

Toast:

• Toast your bread

Assembly:

• Bread
• Bit of mayo (if that's your thing)
• Layer your bacon
• Add your eggs 
• EAT.

And enjoy! 

Current Location: Cookie Town

So I decided to try a new recipe, yesterday! 

Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I found this recipe via my FoodGawker which, in turn, led me to Kelsey's blog! 

I'm pretty excited. 

They were deemed the "BEST-EVER Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie," and if that doesn't scream "make me!" then I don't know what does. I have a fondness for chewy chocolate chip cookies.  The day I failed my behind the wheel driving test when I was 16, I ate an entire pack of Chewy Chips Ahoy. I'm not particularly proud of that, but it made me feel better (Thank you Chips Ahoy.) 

(P.S. I passed the driving test 2 weeks later. Thank you Dexter. I"m sure you were wonderful in your high school production of South Pacific.)

Here are your ingredients:

• 3/4 c. unsalted butter [oh no, I just realized I used salted butter and put salt in. Um. WHOOPS (this is on top of almost forgetting half of the butter at first....)]
• 3/4 c. brown sugar  
• 1/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp. Vanilla extract
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt (ahem...)
• 1 c. bittersweet chocolate chunks/chips

Directions:

1.Preheat your oven to 350* F

2. Cream you butter and sugars

3.Once light and fluffy, add the egg and vanilla and cream some more

4. MIX in your flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.  Next add your chocolate.  I would also like to note that I tend to use my hands during this step, a lot, when I'm making cookies. It's easier for me to get all of my fry ingredients mixed in. Also adds a little extra love.  ;)

5. Using your preferred method, make your dough balls (heh) and place on your cookie sheet.  I usually use parchment paper when I bake, but didn't have any on hand.  :(  So I did grease my sheet a tad. 

6. I smushed my dough balls a bit (as I tend to do for all cookies) and they were ready to cook! 10 minutes in your preheated oven.  Kelsey notes, "The tops will not brown, but do NOT cook longer than ten minutes." I broke this cardinal rule, because I know that my oven cooks cool- I had mine in for 11 minutes. 

7. Let the little darlings cool on the sheet or a rack or however you would like  to cool completely (My aunt usually cools her cookies on a brown grocery bag... She makes really good cookies.)

I'm scared to try mine. 

Never fear! They're still delicious, even with my salt incident. 

These cookies are certainly good, and I do recommend them. The texture is really different from a "typical" chocolate chip cookie, but I wouldn't go as far as to say they're the "best-ever." Maybe if I make them without mucking up the recipe... 

Non cookie related note:

I highly recommend cooking with the Mumford & Sons Pandora station playing in the background.