Chubby Hubby Bars w/ M&M Pretzels

Ron and I are trying to cut back on sweets.  Naturally, I made a dessert.

I've been slacking off in the kitchen lately.  Every time I go to cook, I just don't want to.  I know why.  I want summer food.  Summer food = stuff cooked on the grill.  We really need to get out of this hellhole and into our new house so we can start grilling.

But, I've also been struggling trying to come up with ideas.  Despite the cabinet full of cookbooks and cooking magazines.  And despite the 3,000+ recipes I have bookmarked online.  I can't seem to find anything that I want to actually eat.  Nothing appeals to me.  Turning to Ron is not helpful.  I get nothing when I ask.  So, desperately, I asked if he had been craving any type of dessert.  He said no; he's been trying to cut back.

30 seconds later, after careful thought, Ron then said, "But, I did just buy that large bag of M&M Pretzels for baking purposes."  I had to giggle to myself.  What a way to create an excuse to eat some sweets!

I saw the M&M pretzels in an ad and was dying to try them.  M&Ms... and pretzels????  Oh my!  All we need is peanut butter and my life would be complete.  And, after biting into one of these bars, my life is complete.

I changed up the recipe from Cake Batter and Bowl to try and accommodate this candy.  I'm not quite sure if it worked (I used an 8x8, instead of a 9x13) because there was a bit of underbaking that occurred.  But, I can likely blame this on my oven because it went up & down for a good 30 minutes.  I'm pretty sure this is my last baking project in this place.  I simply can't deal with this oven anymore.  In any event, these were really, really, very, very good (even if it was all gooey in some places)!

Chubby Hubby Bars w/ M and M Pretzels
from Cake Batter and Bowl
Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mini pretzels, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup M&M pretzel candy, coarsely chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. 
2. Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. Spread half the dough in a greased 13×9-inch pan. Sprinkle pretzels and M&M Pretzels evenly on top; drop remaining dough in chunks on top and spread evenly, until all the pretzels and candy pieces are covered. 
3. Bake at 350˚F for 23 to 28 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. 
4. Cut into 32 bars after the pan reaches room temperature.

Olive Oil Tomato Basil Fettuccine

I love feeling connected to an enormous community knowing that I share a common bond with millions of other people in the world.  I love being involved in an activity that clears my brain and helps me feel accomplished every single time I place one foot in front of another.  I just love to run.  I love planning out routes.  I love researching new shoes.  I love meeting new running friends.  I love perusing running race expos.  I love thanking the volunteers and race organizers for their amazing help.  But, most of all, I love sitting inside on a beautiful day, looking out at the sun, and counting down the minutes until I can go out for my almost-daily run.  In my life, a day without running is like a day without air.

Some people find this weird.  "You're not even fast."  "You're a middle of the packer."  "You're constantly injured."  "You're going to need a hip or knee replacement."  "What benefit does running give you?"

The truth is: (1) No, I am not fast.  I am comfortably paced.  (2) Indeed I am a middle of the packer, sometimes even a back of the packer.  (3)  I am constantly injured, but I can manage my injuries.  (4)  No comment.  (5)  I cannot think of anything that running doesn't do for me.  And really, #5 is the only one that matters.

Running is my therapy.  It gives me, a slow middle of the packer with relentless injuries, a sense of purpose.  There are so many people out there in this world that can't run; that can't be active for one reason or another, so every single time I am out there, I am reminded of this.  I run because I can run.  But more importantly, I run because I smile when I run.  Well, most days.

Running endurance events has become increasingly popular over the past decade.  When I signed up for my first marathon back in 2006, I had absolutely no idea about the running community that existed out there.  Hundreds of thousands of people run half-marathons and full marathons each year.  Millions more are accomplishing shorter 5k and 10k races.  And, I find it pretty damn awesome that some of those folks are famous chefs.  Did you know that Gordon Ramsay is an avid marathoner and has finished the south Africa 54-mile Comrades ultramarathon 3 times?  That, is impressive.

Runners obsess over carbs during their training regime and before the big event.  It's fitting because running burns nearly 100 calories (this is an approximate number for the average person, your specific number will vary for age, sex & size) for each mile.  If you're out there for 26.2 miles, that's nearly 2,600 some calories burned, at a minimum, just for the race alone.  You better be eating right, and you better be refueling/rehydrating right, or you're not going to be going anywhere.

I'm at about week 4 now for my training for the upcoming Twin Cities marathon.  At the same time, I'm training parallel for the upcoming Disneyland Half-Marathon in September.  The whole family is heading out to participate.  Mom and I will be completing the 5k on Saturday.  Then Dad, Erica, Erica's boyfriend Bo, Ron, and I will be completing the half-marathon on Sunday.  It's Ron's first endurance running event, so we're celebrating our weekly weekend long runs with carb-filled pasta dinners.  This one is incredible.  I'm going to toot my own horn here about 6 times because I basically prepped the recipe all by myself.  Granted, I had help from some athletic chefs from a cookbook titled, The Athlete's Palate Cookbook.  But, the recipe I ultimately came up with was kind of my own measurements and ingredients.

The pasta was purchased at the farmers market this past weekend.  Holy buckets, it's amazing.  I highly recommend checking out your specialty section of the grocery store to find some kind of fresh, unique pasta.  Please, PLEASE, PLEASE do not use boxed pasta for this meal.

Olive Oil Tomato Basil Fettuccine
adapted from a number of places
Ingredients

• 8-10 oz. cooked chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces
• 2/3 cup sun-dried tomato halves
• 1 cup hot water
• 8 oz. fresh pasta (We use the Sunrise Creative Gourmet Tomato Basil Fettuccine)
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 t dried basil
• 1 t minced onion
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• salt
• 1/8 t red pepper flakes
• 1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
• 2 T pine nuts

Instructions

1. Cook chicken (I used a boil method, but you can prep however you wish).  Chop and set aside.
2. Place sun dried tomato halves in bowl and pour hot water over tomatoes.  Cover and let sit for about an hour, or until tomatoes are soft.
3. In the last few minutes of the chicken, cook pasta according to package directions, to al dente.
4. While pasta is cooking, whisk chicken broth, olive oil, garlic, and seasonings in a large bowl.
5. Drain tomato halves and mix in bowl broth/oil blend.
6. Stir chicken in broth/oil blend.
7. Once pasta is cooked, drain and transfer to bowl with tomatoes, chicken and broth/oil.
8. Immediately stir in 1/4 c grated cheese, stirring to coat all ingredients.
9. Serve in bowls and sprinkle with pine nuts.

Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf

Chicken parmesan is one of my favorite italian meals.  So, after the chicken parm burgers, it's only fitting that I found yet another way to eat it.  I follow Joelen's blog so when I saw it appear on my iGoogle, I knew I had to make it.  She has a great blog and always gives instructions on how to store food for later use.  Very convenient!

This meatloaf did not disappoint.  It was incredibly delicious and both Ron and I were bummed that we didn't have more.  I had mixed it up before we went on a jog so we could come home and shove it in the oven.  Ron's been working late, so our dinners have been occurring around 8:30-9ish, so I didn't have time to prepare a side.  However, I think some baked potatoes and zucchini would taste very good with this and I'd plan to make that the next time I make this.

P.S. You can probably click on the link below for a much better (and appetizing) picture of this. :)

Chicken Parmesan Meatloaf
from Joelen's Culinary Adventures
Ingredients

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c breadcrumbs
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, grated
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 c grated Parm cheese
• 1/2 c pasta sauce
• 1/2 c shredded italian cheese blend
• minced parsley for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a loaf pan with cooking spray, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine ingredients (from ground chicken through parmesan cheese).  Try not to over handle the mixture (you don't want it getting tough!!) and spread into the greased loaf pan.
3. Top the meatloaf with the pasta sauce.
4. Place the filled loaf pan on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the oven, sprinkle with the shredded cheese and place the meatloaf back in the oven until the cheese is melted.
6. Remove from the oven and rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.  Sprinkle w/ parsley if desired.

Sicilian Style Pizza

Of all of the pizzas I've made since I first tried my own, this one is by far my favorite.  I don't always post the pizza recipes because I've never really measured things as I went.  I'd spread some sauce, add some cheese, cut up some veggies, sprinkle some seasoning... But, my food blog tends to give exact measurements, so if I am going to post a recipe, I need to post the measurements.  I kind of feel like pizza is more of a personable thing though.  While one may love pineapple on their pizza, one may not.  So, I love having the ability to adapt the recipe to your preference.

This recipe was too good not to add.  I found it on the back of a Sargento Bistro Blends package.  I had some pizza dough in the freezer from the last time I'd made fresh dough, so I decided to use it instead of making fresh stuff.  I mixed up a pepperoni pizza for Ron, then got to mine.  I didn't use the exact measurements from the Sargento recipe, but I'm including the suggested measurements below.  Mine had about 1/2 the cheese, 2x as many olives and 2x as many peppers.  Yum!  It was seriously awesome.

Sicilian Style Pizza
adapted from Sargento Bistro Blends
Ingredients

• 1 (12-inch) prepared pizza crust (or use fresh pizza dough)
• 1/3 cup pizza sauce
• 1-3/4 cups (7 oz) Sargento Bistro Blends Shredded Mozzerella Cheese with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Basil, divided
• 1/2 cup bottled roasted red pepper strips
• 1/3 cup sliced kalamata olives
• 1/3 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Place pizza crust on a baking sheet.  (If using fresh dough, roll out dough and prepare as if using pizza stone or baking sheet.)
2. Top dough with pizza sauce, 1 cup cheese, pepper strips and olives.  
3. Sprinkle remaining 3/4 cup cheese and pepper flakes over pizza.
4. Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven, 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and cheese is melted.

Sweet-Potato Beef Stir-Fry

This meal has the potential to be very good.  I say potential, because ours, failed miserably.  Well, not completely.  But, it did remind me why I don't cook red meat.  I never know how to tell if it's done.  And then, I also seem to surpass that point of "Done; stop cooking immediately!" and then we spend 30 minutes extra during meal time just chewing the tough meat.  I even looked up ways to prevent this from happening.  I still failed.  Argh.  No more beef stir fry for us.

But, the ginger mixed with the asian ingredients was very good on the green beans and sweet potatoes.  So, this is why I'm posting it.  I'm sure there are people out there that actually know how to cook beef correctly.  I highly recommend getting yourself a bottle of sesame oil.  This stuff is awesome!  A little bit goes a long way and truly adds that missing ingredient in stir-fry.  It can be found in your ethnic section of the grocery store.

Sweet-Potato Beef Stir-Fry
adapted from Clean Eating July/August 09, reprinted at Kitchen Goddess
Yield:  4 servings
Ingredients

• 1 lb eye round beef steak, sliced 1/8-inch thick, then cut into 1-inch strips
• 1/2 tsp sesame seed oil
• 1 tbsp unsweetened apple butter
• 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 1/2-inch slice fresh ginger, crushed
• 2 cups sweet potato, diced into 1-inch chunks
• 1 cup green beans
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix beef with sesame seed oil, apple butter, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic and ginger.  Set aside.
2. Bring 3 cups water to boil in a medium pot over high heat.  Add sweet potato, cook for 5-7 minutes, until soft but firm.  Remove sweet potato with slotted spoon; do not drain water.  Return water to a boil.  Add beans and boil for 4 minutes, until soft but still firm.  Drain.
3. Add olive oil to a large skillet over high heat.  Once hot, add beef mixture and onion, tossing quickly until done, about 3-4 minutes.  Then toss in sweet potatoes and beans.  Cool for 1 more minute.  
4. Serve!

M&M Cashew Pretzel Bars

We were heading out to meet up with some friends for a minor league baseball tailgate the other night in St. Paul and I didn't want to go empty handed.  Fortunately, I have a number of recipes on hand that are classified as quick and easy.  I also have an odd assortment of baking ingredients in my kitchen at all times, so I was grateful that all of these things were in the house.

The only thing that wasn't so "quick" about these was the cooling time.  You'd likely have to make these about 3 hours or so before you plan on serving them to make sure that they were ready.  But this recipe was 110% easy and 120% awesome.

They were delicious.  The sweet of the chocolate mixed with the salty of the pretzels and nuts is a winning combination.  Plus, I came home with an empty container.  I always look at that as a bonus.  If I came home with an entire container, then I'd be worried.  But, how could you possibly go wrong with anything made with butter and sugar?

M&M Cashew Pretzel Bars
recipe from Cake Batter and Bowl
Yield:  16 squares
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup AP flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pretzels
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 1/2 cup whole cashews
• 1/2 cup M&Ms

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix butter, brown sugar, flour and baking powder in a medium bowl until smooth.
3. Mix in chopped pretzels.
4. Grease and line an 8x8-inch pan with parchment paper and spread dough evenly across the lined pan.
5. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F or until lightly browned and set.
6. Cool for 15 minutes.
7. In a small bowl, microwave chocolate chips and milk on High 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds; stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth.
8. Spread ganache over cooled bars and top ganache evenly with cashews and M&Ms.
9. Place bars in fridge for an hour or until ganache is set.  
10. Cut into 16 bars.

Greek Wheat Berry Salad

First things first, I'd like to address something important here.  I've been noticing several grammatical errors in my blog posts.  As of today, I have decided that I don't care.  I am normally one to cringe when I see a comma in an inappropriate place, but I have, decided that I, will use as many, commas as, I want.,,,,,  This is my way of rebelling.

When I cook and bake, the kitchen turns into a disaster.  I don't put ingredients away as I go.  I don't clean up things that spill all over the countertops.  It's a terrible habit that I really need to break.  I always hear chefs say, "A clean cook is a happy cook."  Indeed, I am not a happy cook at the end of this process.  So, before I sit down to eat, I normally take the time to return the ingredients to their respective positions in the kitchen and wipe down the counters.

But, there are times that I taste the meal, and the meal is so good that I immediately fix myself a bowl to eat, leaving the kitchen in complete disarray.  This is exactly what happened with this greek salad.  There were dribbles of tahini and red wine vinegar all over the countertops, the remnants of several wheat berries left on the saucepan.  But, I sat, happily, eating my lunch and savoring every single bite... as brine from the empty container of kalamata olives slowly dripped onto the floor.

Note:  it can be a bit salty w/ the olives and feta.  But, considering I have a low-sodium count as it is, I was perfectly fine with this.  Also, a cucumber was meant to go into this recipe, but you can't see it in the photo because a cucumber was not included in mine.  That's another story...

Wheat Berry Greek Salad
recipe from Bitchin' Camero
Ingredients

• For Dressing
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 T red wine vinegar
• 1 t salt
• juice of 1/2 a lime
• 2 T tahini
• 1 t dried oregano
• For Salad
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 large cucumber, diced
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced (or 1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced)
• 1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups cooked grains (I used wheat berries)
• 1/4 lb feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 c chopped kalamata olives

Instructions

1. Place all of the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and whisk together.  Set aside.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients, drizzle with the dressing and toss until thoroughly combined.