Muffins from Triscuits?

We had a little bit of Triscuits left in the cupboard so I decided to be creative AGAIN. (I've just recently discovered that you can make muffins from just about anything!) I thought the Parmesan Garlic Thin Crisps would be perfect as savory muffins with some Green Onions and Cheese. They came out really moist and yummy. The Triscuits grinded up really easily in the food processor and made perfect crumbs.


Ingredients: (6 muffins)

1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c Triscuits, crushed in food processor
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 green onions, finely sliced
1 c Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 c milk
1/2 veg oil
2 eggs

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Whisk milk with eggs and oil. Blend mixture with flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in Triscuits, cheese and onions until everything is mixed.
3. Fill lined muffins cups all the way. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center come out clean.

Our Fav Outside Seating Spot - HOUSTON'S!

It was such a nice day today so we headed to Houston's for lunch. It's our favorite spot for sitting in the sun because they've got a great outside seating part right on the Embarcadero. We ordered some of our regulars like Artichoke Dip and Spinach Salad but the best part of our meal was the Pork Ribs. They were SO juicy and yummy! I also really love their Globe sugar container! :)

Zazil at the Mall

We went to Zazil for dinner again before catching a movie. It's inside the new part of Westfield Mall and NOTHING like regular "mall food." They start your meal off with a tray of 3 different salsas. My fav is the one on the left, which is pretty mild but has a great tomato flavor. The other 2 are good too. I also LOVE the fact that they serve warm soft tortillas instead of chips!

Then we had fresh Guac and a salad with Jigama and flowers. Our main dishes were Chicken Enchiladas and Carnitas, which were yummy with the warm tortillas.

We both really enjoyed Zazil. (I was just happy I remembered my camera thus time!) This restaurant is definitely not just a typical mall place. :)

A Box of Nilla Wafers = Coconut Muffins!

I had a box of Nilla Wafers left over from my Mini Cheesecakes so I decided to be creative. So I grinded the wafers up in my food processor and turn them into Muffin Mix! The sweet VANILLA flavor mixed perfectly with the flaked COCONUT and the muffins turned out moist and really yummy!

Ingredients: (6 muffins)

1/2 c + 6 tsp flaked Coconut, divided
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c (20) Nilla Wafers
1/2 c sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 c milk
3 Tbsp Veg oil

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Line 6 muffin cups with paper baking cups.
2. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into large bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat egg in medium bowl, then stir in milk and oil. Add to flour mixture along with coconut and stir just until dry ingredients are moinstened. Do not overmix.
4. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling almost to the top. Sprinkle a tsp of coconut flakes on top of each muffin.
5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into muffins come out clean.

Popeye Muffins!

I bought a can of Spinach today at Safeway and wanted to bake Spinach Muffins! They're super "Spinachy" (is that a word?") and PERFECT with a bowl of soup for dinner!

Ingredients: (6 muffins)

1 can (13½ oz) cut spinach

1/3 c melted unsalted butter

2 Tbsp garlic salt

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp baking soda

1 c all-purpose flour

½ c Cornmeal

1 c Mozzarella Cheese

Prep:

*You don't need a mixer for this recipe.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, spinach, cheese and melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda, salt and pepper over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour and cornmeal.

2. Distribute the muffin dough equally among lined muffin cups, filling the cups up completely.

3. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.

Raspberry Pound Cake

I had some Raspberries left over from my Chocolate Raspberry Cookies so I decided to make Raspberry Pound Cake! These came out SO moist and the Raspberries just burst when you bite into them. Look at the shiney top of the cake. YUM! :)

Ingredients:

2 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ c (1 stick) butter, softened
1 c sugar
4 eggs
1 (6 oz) carton vanilla yogurt
¼ tsp almond extract
1 c fresh or frozen raspberries

Prep:

1. Heat oven to 325°.In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, the baking powder and salt, seta side.
2. In a large mixing bowl at medium speed, beat together the butter and the sugar until it's light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, the yogurt and extract until well blended. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, beating just until blended.
3. Fold in the raspberries. Spread evenly in a greased and floured 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan.
4. Bake for about 70 minutes, until cake tester inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Chocolate Raspberry Cookies

Summer is almost over so I wanted to make the most of what's in season. I saw some Raspberries at Safeway (Buy 1 Get 1 FREE) so that's what I used. I wasn't really sure what to do with them but then I got the idea of mixing them with CHOCOLATE! I just thought of all the yummy desserts we get at fancy restaurants where they would bring out a Chocolate Cake or Brownie and add a few Raspberries on top. These turned out SO yummy! The ooey gooey Brownie Mix was just perfect with the sweet fresh Raspberries! Definitely a summer dessert! :)

Ingredients: (24 cookies)

1 pkg Brownie Mix
1 large egg
2 Tbsp water
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 c fresh raspberries, chopped into quarters

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease cookie sheet.
2. Combine brownie mix, egg, water and oil in large bowl. Stir until blended and soft dough forms. Add raspberries and mix gently.
3. Drop by level measuring tablespoons about 2-inches apart onto greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 12 minutes or until cookies are set in center. Cool 1 minute before removing to cooling rack. Cool completely before serving.

Mini Cheesecakes

I had half a block of cream cheese left over from my Carrot Cake Muffins so I decided to make some Mini Cheesecakes! I found this recipe on the McCormick's website and added my own touch with some left over Crushed Pineapples. Don't they look SO creamy and yummy?

Ingredients: (6 muffins)

4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
6 vanilla wafers
1 c crushed pineapples

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and extract; beat well. Fold in crushed pineapples.

2. Line 6 muffin cups with paper baking cups. Place a wafer in bottom of each muffin cup. Evenly divide cheese mixture among cups.

3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Refrigerate 4 hours to overnight.

Hawaiian Pizza in a MUFFIN!

I used the LAST of my can of Crushed Pineapples and made Hawaiian Pizza Muffins! It might sound a lil weird but the sweetness from the Pineapples went perfectly with the salty Ham and creamy CHEESE! I also added Green Onions for flavor and color. Don't they look SO cute?

Ingredients: (6 muffins)

1 c all-purpose flour
½ c cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 green onions, finely sliced
1 c shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 c diced country ham
1 c canned crushed pineapple, drained
2 eggs
½ c milk

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and soda, sliced onions, cheese, pineapples and the country ham. (You don't need a mixer for this.)

3. Whisk in milk and egg and mix until all dry ingredients are moistened.

4. Fill muffin cups and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes and place onto wire rack to cool.

Carrot Cake with Frosting in the MIDDLE!

Greg LOVES Carrot Cake so I decided to give them another try. This time without the Fiber Cereal, so he's actually eat it! I also wanted to add frosting but it's SO messy. THEN I came up with an idea...put the frosting in the middle! They ooze out a little as you bake the muffins and you get ALL the FROSTING FLAVOR when you bite into them. YUMMY!

Ingredients: (6 muffins)

Muffin Batter:
1 c of all-purpose flour
1/3 c of firmly packed light brown sugar
½ tsp of baking powder
¼ tsp of baking soda
¼ tsp of salt
½ tsp of ground cinnamon
¼ c crushed pineapple in juice
¼ c of vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp of vanilla
1 c of shredded carrots

Filling:
4 oz cream cheese
¼ c sugar

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Make the cream cheese filling: soften the cream cheese and beat in the sugar, mixing gradually, until the filling is smooth and fluffy. (I used the food processor for this.)

2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Then add in pineapple, oil, egg, and vanilla until blended. Stir in carrots last and mix well.

3. Spoon 2 Tbsp of batter into lined muffin cups. Place 1 Tbsp of filling on top and distribute the remaining batter over each cup, filling to the top.

4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until the tops of each muffin spring back when lightly touched. Remove muffin tin to wire rack.

5. Cool 5 minutes before removing muffins from cups; finish cooling on rack. Serve warm or store completely cooled muffins in an airtight container at room temperature. These muffins freeze well.

Cheeseburger CALZONES!

I found this recipe on Pillsbury.com a while ago and have been itching to try it out. Tonight we had some ground beef in the freezer and Crescent Rolls so it was perfect! They turned out SO yummy! I didn't use any onions or bacon (cuz I didn't have any) but threw in some chopped mushrooms and Burger seasoning. Even the left-overs look good! :)

Ingredients:

1/2 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1 c sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp Hamburger seasoning
4 slices Cheddar cheese
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 egg, beaten

Prep:
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium heat 2 minutes. Add ground beef and mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until beef is thoroughly cooked. Drain if necessary. Stir in seasoning.
2. Unroll dough and separate into 4 rectangles; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press each into 7x4-inch rectangle, firmly pressing perforations to seal.
3. Spoon about 1/3 cup ground beef mixture onto one end of each rectangle. Top each with 1 piece of cheese. Fold dough over filling; press edges with fork to seal (sandwiches will be full). Brush tops with egg.
4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until deep golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm.

Garbanzo Beans Muffins!

I know Garbanzo Beans aren't exactly what you think of when baking muffins but they work! It's almost like just making Veggie Burgers but baked in a muffin pan. Even NON-vegetarians (AKA Greg) like them!

Ingredients: (6 muffins)

1 c garbanzo beans (canned)

1 c Fiber One cereal

1/2 c roasted red peppers (jarred), juice reserved

1/2 Cheddar cheese, shredded

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tin.

2. Grinde cereal in food processor. Mix it with the red peppers and let stand for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in cereal and cheese.

4. Fill muffin tin to the top and bake for 1 hour.

3.

Eggs Benedict with TOMATO

I bought some BIG JUICY tomatoes at Safeway and thought they would be PERFECT on Eggs Benedict! SO that's what I made for brunch this morning. They were AWESOME! I just heated the tomatoes up in the same sauce pan as the ham and the result was just SUPERB! :)

Left-over CRAB!

I had about half of my Crab Mixture left over from my Crab Crescent Purses because I only used the mini canister of crescents. SO I decided to make Crabcakes! I remembered how much Greg loved the crabcakes from our Sac Trip and these did NOT disappoint either! I basically just added about a cup of seasoned bread crumbs to my crab mixture and shaped it into 2 patties. Then I cooked them in about 2 Tbsp of olive oil for about 3 minutes on each side. Topped with some extra Blue Cheese dressing and a BIG Chunk of Tomato and we have a winner! :)

I've Got a Can of Crabmeat

It's Friday night and I have a can of Geisha Crabmeat sitting in my cupboard so I figured I should make something! I found these Crescent Crab Purses from the Pillsbury website and they just look SO cute I had to try them! This was only the second time that I've ever baked anything using these Crescent Rolls and I'm still trying to get the hang of making them look perfect but I'm getting there! The dough is just so moist that it's pretty hard to wrap around the filling without breaking it apart but they turned out great right? I used the mini canisters that only hold 6 rolls and mayo and Blue Cheese Dressing instead of cream cheese because that's what I had in the fridge.


Ingredients: (6 purses)

1 can (6 oz) crabmeat, well drained
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp mayo
2 Tbsp Blue Cheese dressing
1 can (4 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

Prep:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix all ingredients except dough. Unroll dough into 1 large rectangle; press into 12x9-inch rectangle, firmly pressing perforations to seal. Cut rectangle into 6 (3-inch) squares.

2. Place about 1 Tbsp crab mixture on each dough square. Bring all sides together in center; press to seal. With fingers, pinch dough firmly about 1/4 inch below edges, making a pouch with points extending over top. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 12 to 17 minutes or until deep golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm.

I bought this because the Bottle was cute...

and I LOVED it! OK so I'm not a wine snob but usually Merlot is a bit too strong for me but this one wasn't at all! It was on sale at Safeway and I just couldn't resist the little Rooster on the bottle!

White Chocolate Macadamia COOKIES!

I found this recipe from my favorite Cookie Blog, Cookie Madness! They are to DIE for! I mean, seriously, you can't get much better than WHITE CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA NUTS! I've actually heard rumors that these are my best creations yet! I guess I've gotta keep out-doing myself huh?

The only difference with my cookies is that I grinded the Macadamia Nuts in my mini food processor before I put them in. I figured this way you get more nuts in every bite! hehe

The Perfect Margarita

After years (ok a couple of months) of perfecting my Margarita, I think I've finally got it! The recipe? 2 parts Patron Silver (the good stuff!), 1 part Agave Nectar (our fav is Tres Agave) and 1 part Sweet & Sour Mix over LOTS of ice. It doesn't get better than this! :)

Juicy Pears = MUFFINS!

I saw some juicy PEARS on sale at Safeway and decided to bake something with them. I know it's not a very traditional ingredient for muffins, but hey, that's why we experiment right? I did some research online to find a recipe but nothing seemed perfect. SO I just combined a bunch of the ones I saw and tweaked them to make my very own ORIGINAL Pear Walnut Muffins! Look how YUMMY they look with the butter all melting in the middle! :)

Ingredients: (6 muffins)

¼ c sugar
1 c all-purpose flour
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
2 ripe pears, medium sized, stems, cores and skin removed
1 egg
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
½ c chopped walnuts

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Chop pears into chunks and grate them in a food processor.
3. Beat together grated pears, egg, and oil. Stir in dry ingredients.
4. Add walnuts and mix gently.
5. Put batter in lined muffin pan and bake for 25 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

I Got My Body Fat Tested!

SO...being the little Workout Addict that I am, I got my body fat tested today by my good friend and personal trainer, Phil. He used the 7-Site Caliper Method, which is similar to the one here and the result? 20.88%! Not bad for a girl right?

Burn More Calories!

According to CaloriesperHour.com, a person of my weight can burn 7 calories per minute doing Jumping Jacks! SO, if I was to do 6 exercises and 3 sets each, Jumping Jacks for 1 minute in between each set, I can burn an extra 126 calories per workout! BURN baby BURN!

Mini Vacation in Sac Town!

It's been about 60 degrees in SF pretty much this entire summer so I thought it'd be really fun to just get away, even if it was just for a day. SO we decided to go to Sacramento! I found a great deal for a hotel room at the Hyatt Regency downtown so off we went. It's AMAZING how much warmer it is just an hour and a half away from the city! 95 degrees! :)

We started our "vacation" with an outdoor lunch in Old Sacramento aboard the Delta King. We didn't make it there in time for lunch but the menu was the same for the lounge. It was SO nice to sit outside in the sun with my Bloody Mary! We ate while watching sailboats and water jets go by.

Afterwards, we walked around for a bit and decided to head back to the hotel. The only problem was that we took a taxi to Old Town but there were NO taxis to be found to take us back! So the only option was to walk. Even though our hotel was probably only a mile away, WALKING in 95 degree heat FELT like a LOT farther! At least I worked off my lunch! We did get to see a few couples getting married, which was fun. :)

After watching a couple of movies in the room, we decided to check out the hotel's restaurant, Dawson's for dinner. It was FABULOUS! The food was yummy and the service was incredible! We LOVED our waiter, who was witty and charming. Here is some of the stuff we had: Bread Basket with Olive Spread and creamy Butter, VERY fresh Oysters with a Champagne Dipping Sauce, the most AWESOME Crabcakes EVER and Carrotcake Dessert to DIE for!

Here we are with our new favorite Cabernet, Raymond Vineyards R Collection. We found them later at BevMo and bought 4 bottles since they were on sale! :)

And the best part of our trip? FREE Breakfast! Thanks to our AAA discount, our room included a FREE Breakfast Buffet! There was SO much yummy food there. Here is my plate with Smoked Salmon, Tomatoes and Capers on an English Muffin, Cantaloupe, Honey Dew, Pineapple and a BIG Bran Muffin. But you know what my favorite item was? CHEERIOS! I guess I haven't had a good bowl of cereal forever now and it was SO good!

This was an AWESOME mini vacation for us! Sometimes you just NEED to get away for the weekend! Thanks honey! MUAH!

Super Fiber Carrot Muffins!

I had a box of Trader Joe's Fiber Cereal at home and decided to bake with it. I saw this recipe on the Fiber One website and it gave me a great idea! BUT since I've already used Blueberries quite a few times lately, I thought I'd try something different...CARROTS! I also added some chopped Walnuts for that extra crunch and these came out SO good! The best part is, they're SUPER healthy! There's barely any oil in them and they're SO moist from the yogurt! YUM!

Ingredients: (6 muffins)

½ c Trader Joe's Fiber Cereal, crushed in food processor
1 egg white, slightly beaten
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 containers (6 oz) Yoplait® Original 99% Fat Free French vanilla yogurt
3/4 c all-purpose flour
¼ c packed brown sugar
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ c baby carrots, shredded in food processor

Prep:

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 6 regular-size muffin cups, or grease bottom of each muffin cup with shortening.

2. In medium bowl, stir together egg white, oil and yogurt. Add cereal, flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in carrots. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling to the top.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan.

GOOD Olives!

I found these Triple Stuffed Olives at Bev Mo today and they are SO good! They're stuff with Pimento, Almonds and Onions. For a salty craving, these are just PERFECT and only 5 calories each! You really can't beat that!

Orange Cranberry Cookies

To me, summertime is all about FRESH and LIGHT, and there's nothing that says "Summer" like FRESH ORANGES! And what goes perfect with ORANGES? CRANBERRIES of course! These cookies are super MOIST and has "SUMMER" written all over them!

Ingredients: (48 cookies)

2 c all purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ c butter (1½ sticks), room temperature
1 c white sugar
1 large egg
zest of one large orange (about 1 Tbsp)
¾ c dried cranberries

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar, beating with an electric mixer until light. Beat in egg and orange zest. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add in the flour mixture, stirring only until just combined. Stir in the cranberries.

4. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls (about 1 1/4-inch balls) onto prepared cookie sheets and bake for 9-12 minutes, until edges are very lightly browned. Cool for 3-4 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

They LOVE me! They really do!

These are my coworker, Alex's daughters, Sammy (right) and Mimi (left) enjoying my Chocolate Chip Cookies! Aren't they adorable?

The Old Staple - Spaghetti!

I bought a 4-lbs package of ground beef at Safeway today because it was only $8. We were running out of freezer goodies so I figured I could just use a pound today and freeze the rest in 1-pound baggies. Looking through my pantry for dinner ideas, I saw that we had spaghetti and marinara sauce so Voila...dinner was served! :)

No MARATHON for me but the Bar is YUMMY!

I saw these Snickers Marathon Bars on sale at Safeway and thought I'd give them a try. I figured you can't really go wrong with a bar that has 10g of Protein, 7g of Fiber and only 150 Calories! The verdict? They're YUMMY! They taste like a big Rice Krispie Treat with CHOCOLATE on the bottom! :)

Zucchini Muffins!

I saw this recipe on a blog a while ago and have been wanting to make them for my mommy. They just look so light and healthy! I added some chopped walnuts for some extra crunch and they came out just perfect!

Ingredients: (6 muffins)

1½ c grated fresh zucchini (I used a small food processor)
1/3 c melted unsalted butter
½ c sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
1½ c all-purpose flour
½ c walnuts

Preparations:

*You don't need a mixer for this recipe.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add these dry ingredients to the zucchini mixture. Fold in the walnuts.

2. Distribute the muffin dough equally among lined muffin cups, filling the cups up completely.

3. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.

Champagne Seabass for My Mommy

After impressing Greg's parents with the Chilean Seabass, I knew I had to make some for my mommy. I found this recipe that uses Champagne to poach the seabass and thought it would be just PERFECT! And guess what? It was! The Champagne reduced down and gave the seabass an acidicity sorta like vinegar. Then you add some cream and the flavor is just so buttery and yummy! I served it over some cucumbers and rice and my mommy LOVED it! :)

Ingredients:

½ c champagne or dry sparkling wine
½ tsp salt
½ c scallions, cut into small pieces
½ lb sea-bass fillets
½ seedless cucumber, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch slices
¼ c heavy whipping cream

Preparations:

1. Place the Champagne in a large skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the salt, scallions, and sea bass and return to a boil.

2. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 5 minutes. Add the cucumbers and cook 3 to 5 minutes more or until the fish just flakes when tested with a fork. Remove the fish and vegetables from the skillet and keep warm.

3. Increase heat to high and boil the liquid in the skillet, uncovered, until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 5 minutes. Blend in the light cream. Arrange the vegetables and fish on top of cooked rice and spoon some sauce over dish.

Mrs. Field's Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Greg's mom gave me the Mrs. Field's Cookie Book when we visited and I couldn't WAIT to test out some recipes! I got a request for good old Chocolate Chip Cookies so I thought "What would be better than Mrs. Field's Blue Ribbon Cookies?" They're the ULTIMATE traditional cookie and was a total hit! :)

Ingredients: (40 cookies)

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking sode

1 c brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 c white suger

1 c salted butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 c semisweet chocolate chips

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.

2. In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt.

3. In a large bowl with an electric mixer blend sugars at medium speed. Add butter and mix to form a grainy past, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix at medium speed until light and fluffy.

4. Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips, and blend at low speed until just mixed.

5. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 22-24 min or until golden brown. Transfer cookies immediately to a cool surface with a spatula.

Nectarines are SO Sweet in the Summer!

Even though it feels like winter here in SF, it's summer SOMEWHERE out in the world! That place must be where my Nectarines came from! I found these at Safeway (on sale!) and they were SO juicy and sweet! I knew they'd be perfect in MUFFINS! I found this recipe online for Peach Muffins and substituted for Nectarines instead. They came SO rich from the Ricotta Cheese with a birst of freshness from the Nectarines! They look almost TOO good to eat!

Ingredients: (6 muffins)

1¼ c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ c light brown sugar, packed
¼ c creamy ricotta
¼ c vegetabel oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Nectarine, peeled and diced
1 Nectarine, peeled and sliced for garnish

Preparations:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, blend together brown sugar, ricotta cheese, oil, eggs and vanilla. Add flour to brown sugar mixture and blend just until incorporated.
3. Stir in diced Nectarines and spoon into a greased or lined muffin tin. Arrange a few sliced peaches on each muffin.
4. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until tops are golden brown and a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from muffin pan.

Buitoni Tortellini (AKA Italian Wontons!)

They play the Buitoni commercial on TV just about every 10 minutes so I got brain-washed into REALLY wanting to try them! (They were also on sale at Safeway!) I couldn't find them at first but then I saw them right next to the Pesto and Hummus. There's a few different shapes like Ravioli and Angel Hair but I settled on the Tortellini's cuz they were just SO cute! They also had their own fresh Marinara Sauce but I figured the jarred kind I had at home was probably just as good. So I picked the Three Cheese flavor and decided to make my own meaty sauce. There's really no recipe to go with this since all I did was brown some ground beef, add mushrooms and stir in the marinara sauce. I cooked the Tortellini's according to the package and mixed it ALL together with some Parmesan CHEESE! 15 minutes later, dinner was served! YUM! :)