Edamame Chicken Wraps

Made these wraps over the weekend for our Duffy cruise in Newport Harbor. Easy and delicious...this would actually fall into the category of semi-homemade. All ingredients were all picked up at Trader Joe's. This came from my sister-in-law who got it from their in-store demo:

1 box of Just Chicken
1 pack of flat bread
1 pack of Baby Spring Mix salad
1 pack of Parisian cucumbers - sliced
1 med tomato - diced
Champagne vinaigrette dressing
1 box of Edamame Hummus

Toss salad, cucumbers, and tomatoes with dressing. Spread edamame hummus on flat bread. Wrap with desired tossed green salad and chicken. Enjoy!

Raspberry Merlot Brownies

I concocted this for a party we went to over the weekend.  It was inspired by a cupcake I had a couple weeks ago...more on that later, here's the recipe I'd like to share:

Raspberry Merlot Brownies

2 sticks butter

7oz  semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 ¾ cups light brown sugar

4 eggs

1 2/3 cups flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup merlot

2 cups frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter and chocolate over low heat (stir until smooth).  Beat sugar and eggs until smooth.  Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, merlot and chocolate.  Stir well.  Pour into pan lined with parchment paper.  Sprinkle raspberries on top.  Bake 50 minutes. 

Back to the inspiration.  I went cupcake tasting in Santa Barbara a couple weekends ago with my friend Tania.  We tasted all kinds of goodies from Alison of Sugar Cat Studio - Winner of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network.  Alison is super nice and her cupcakes are to die for!  If you're ever in the Santa Barbara area, make sure you stop off at one of the retail locations that sells her cupcakes.  Check out her website for all the different flavors.  Anyway, we got to taste 6 different cupcakes and my favs were the White Chocolate Coconut, Blackberry Syrah, and Cookies & Cream. I happened to have an opened bottle of merlot when I baked the brownies and thought why not. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. It turned out very good : )

Black Raspberry Swirl Cupcakes

I made these black raspberry swirl cupcakes last week. I simply added a teaspoon dollop of black raspberry jam into the cupcakes ans swirled with a toothpick before putting them in the oven. These were finshed with cream cheese frosting.

How to eat your vegetables

I saw this healthier zucchini bread recipe on Prudent Baby come through this week and was anxious to give it a try.  It was easy and delicious.  Definitely worth a try. 

At my neighbors suggestion, I picked up some of Trader Joe's pizza dough last night for $1.29 each.  I've been diggin on thin crust pizzas these days, so I only used 1/2 of the dough to make a nice veggie pizza for lunch today.  Instead of rolling it out, I just stretched out the dough to fit inside my ceramic baking pan.  I used marinara sauce and cut up some veggies I had lying around.

In my oven, I had to bake for 16 minutes to get it golden and crispy.  I think the instructions on the package said 12 minutes.  I know generally when baking with ceramic dishes, you gave to go a little longer than a metal baking sheet.  I got mine a few years ago at a Pampered Chef party.

I don't know what took me so long to try this!

Spicy Soy Garlic Chicken

Made this for lunch/dinner today.  This is an easy & fool proof recipe:

1 family pack of chicken thighs & legs (6 of each)

1/2 C soy sauce

2 Tsp honey

2 Tsp sriracha

3 gloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix soy sauce, honey, sriracha and garlic in a small bowl.  Coat chicken in sauce and place in oven safe dish.  Drizzle remainder sauce all over chicken.  Bake 1hr, skin side down for the 1st 30min and flip for remainder.  Enjoy!

Raspberry Brownies

In the event you're wondering why all the sweets recipes...I'm trying them out because I'm making a sweets table for my sister's up-coming bridal shower. Good thing I've got a preggo neighbor to help put away all these calories!

I got this recipe from the Spring issue of Sweet Paul (online magazine). If you haven't seen it yet, you have to check it out. There's great ideas of the kiddos and a bunch of recipes!

Quinoa Butternut Squash & Spinach Risotto

I found this quinoa risotto recipe this week and gave it a try tonight.  I made a few modifications to the recipe and it still turned out delicious:

• Replaced onions with celery, and peas with frozen spinach.
• Used powdered thyme instead of fresh.
• Skipped on the goat cheese, sage, and walnuts

This was easy and super healthy.  Now I just have to convince the kids to eat it.

PS - I kinda miss my sewing machine.  I think I'll work on a couple projects this week.

Yummy Yummy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie

I LOVE chocolate chocolate chip cookies.  Feeling kinda confident from the Bakelab, I found this super easy recipe on Allrecipes.com.  We reduced the recipe in 1/2 and make 24 cookies.  The Piggie and I whipped it up in no time.  Also, I baked on Pampered Chef stoneware bar pan.  I had to increase the cook time to 14 mins per batch.  Boy oh boy...these were delicious : )

Zucchini Soup

With inspiration from Gina's Skinny Recipes, I whipped up a batch of soup totally on the fly for lunch.  I used:

•  1 package of fresh zucchini from Trader Joe's, chopped
• 34 oz box of chicken stock
• 2 carrots chopped
• 1 med onion chopped,
• 2-3 cups of water
• salt & pepper to taste

I haven't been drinking my V8 and thought this would be a great way to get my veggies.  I paired it with a ham & swiss cheese quesadilla for lunch.  Now I have some left overs for a couple more meals.  Nice and warm soup for this wacky cool weather.

Valentine's Day Cookies

I picked up heart shaped cookie cutters this week at Michael's for $1.99.  Using the cream cheese sugar cookie recipe on Blonde Designs (via Homemade by Jill) and store bought frosting, I whipped up a batch of these.  What's great about the recipe is that you can make the dough ahead of time and stick it in the fridge.  The recipe yields more than 24 cookies.  The Piggie had a great time decorating with sprinkles.  The cookies are delicious.  This will be my go to recipe.  Thanks Blonde Designs!

My Easy Split Peas Soup Recipe

1 lb of split peas

2 small carrots diced

3 stalks celery diced

1 med onion diced

1 can chicken stock

1 lb of ham diced

3 cloves garlic smashed

1tsp thyme

Olive oil



1. Sauté onions and ham in olive oil until onions are translucent.

2. Stir in carrots, celery, garlic and thyme.

3. Add chicken stock and water to bring liquid approximately 1 inch above ingredients in stock pot.

4. Bring to boil and simmer until peas dissolve.