Avocado Pasta & Peanut Butter Nutella Bars

So I've been holding out on you with this pasta recipe. I made it the other night and the pictures just don't to it justice. I really wanted to make it again and get some better pictures before unleashing it on you, but I just couldn't wait. So bare with me on my pictures taken with my phone in my horribly lit kitchen.
Alright. So I stumbled upon the pasta recipe awhile back and thought it sounded deeeeelish. Here's the link I found, Creamy Avocado Shells, looks/sounds delicious right? We made this the other night but used whole wheat spaghetti noodles instead (and I'm not going to lie; we did break up two lasagna noodles just to make sure we had enough). I also didn't take the time to do any lemon zesting. It was already reeeeaaaally lemon-y.

And as for the Peanut Butter Nutella Bars, I'm really craving sweets right now and we had some cornflakes to get rid of.

So here we go....

Avocado Pasta

Ingredients:

2 avocados

1 lemon

3 cloves garlic

1/2 c. fresh basil

4 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

noodles (we just used the rest of the spaghetti noodles we had, it was enough for 3 plus...) **the recipe I looked at wanted 4 servings of shell pasta

salt & pepper to taste

Step One: Add your pasta of choice to a boiling pot of water. Drain when cooked.

Step Two: Start blending your garlic cloves, olive oil, and lemon juice (I don't have a food processor so I used my blender).

Step Three: Add the avocados and basil and blend until smooth. 

Step Four: Mix the sauce and cooked pasta together.

Step Five: Salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy. 

Like I said, these pictures don't do it justice it's sooooo green (you'll see). This is soooooo delicious. I didn't really think that it would be so good. I love avocados, but I thought that this seemed too simple. I think that we used just a little too much lemon juice (it was still really good though). The recipe said to add more lemon juice if you had leftovers so they wouldn't brown. We had leftovers but no more lemon juice, but it wasn't needed. It's still looking green and delicious in the fridge as we speak... or type. Either way I recommend you try this. It's another healthy, yummy dinner. Who would have thought all these things would be so good for you? Well, let's not speak too soon...

Peanut Butter Nutella Bars

Ingredients:
1/4 c. butter (margarine, whatever it is you use. I don't even know what we have honestly)
1/2 c. milk
2 c. sugar
1 c. peanut butter
1 tbs. Nutella (you can use more or none, I just threw a dab in for good measure)
1 tsp. vanilla
~3 c. cornflakes (we needed to get rid of them... you could use anything really oatmeal, rice crispies, etc.)

Step One: Mix butter, milk, and sugar in a pan; bring to a boil on medium heat.

Step Two: Let boil for about a minute or so.

Step Three: Remove from heat, and mix in peanut butter and Nutella until melted.

Step Four: Mix in cornflakes or whatever variation you would like.

Step Five: Pour into a greased dish or drop on a greased pan for cookies (that's what I planned to do first, but I went with the bars).

Step Six: Let set (don't worry it doesn't take long).

Enjoy!

So the Peanut Butter Bars taste sooooooooo good. I'm not sure if it was because our cornflakes were really old or what, but these were really chewy. Still delicious. But chewy. The cornflakes didn't have the crunch I would have expected. I also never tested them beforehand, so who knows. Anyway, like I said you can try cornflakes, oatmeal or any other type or cereal you'd like. Also, I'd add some more Nutella. We didn't really have much I just wanted to throw a little in. Needless to say these satisfied my cravings and more. You'd better test these both out.

Baked Egg Boats & Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum.
Where do I even start? These are both sooooooooooo yummy! I stumbled upon both of these recipes awhile ago and had to try them. The Baked Egg Boats are from Spoon Fork Bacon, and the Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites I saw were on Foodaphilia. I did some modification on the Baked Egg Boats, but the Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites are the same (except the pretzel shape).
First, I made my baguettes because we didn't have any. Also, because we were cooking vegetarian I had to make some obvious alterations to the Egg Boat recipe. Other than that they're pretty much the same.
We made these last night for dinner... I love breakfast for dinner. And let me tell you, I was beyond impressed, besides the fact that my Egg Boats weren't quite as sturdy as planned (easy fix though, I just squished them together in some pans so they wouldn't leak out everywhere).
Alrighty get ready cause here it comes.

Baguettes: 
I just googled a recipe for some baguettes and used this one, French Baguettes from Allrecipes.com. We, of course, always use wheat flour. I'd say I ended up using about 3 cups of flour in the end. I also don't have a bread maker... Aaaand I used the oven the help the dough rise because our house is cooooold. Lastly, instead of making two baguettes I made four (which still ended up in half in the end). You don't really have to make your own like I said we didn't have any, but maybe you don't either (if you have baguettes this obviously doesn't apply to you anyway). I think these were pretty dang quick and easy for making myself and they were very tasty as well. Plus, it was perfect to start the pretzels during the rising time (strategy!).
So after you've gotten your baguette situation figured out you're going to A. Want to start dealing with this Egg Boat business and B. You'd better be dreaming about the deliciousness like I was.

So if you did make your own baguettes like I did*you're going to want to hollow them out so you can fill them up with your egg mixture. You've got to make sure that they don't get too shallow or you end up with a mess (like me) but don't worry you can handle it.  *You might not have a bread maker either so just combine the water, yeast and flour until foamy, then mix everything else together kneading and flouring until smooth.

Baked Egg Boats:
So this is what we used (vegetarian), but you can always add meat or whatever else you want or follow this recipe.

Ingredients:
5 eggs
~ 1/3 c. milk
~1/4 c. mushrooms
~1/4 c. onion
~1/4 c. red pepper
~1/4 c. broccoli
**(we didn't actually measure any of the vegetables we just chopped some up and threw them in)
handful of shredded cheese (the pizza kind, because that's what we had)
salt & pepper to taste
a dash of basil

Oven should be at 350 degrees.
Step One: Mix together your eggs and milk.

Step Two: Add the cheese, spices, and vegetables and mix.

Step Three: Pour this into your hollow baguettes. This is where things got messy for me and the cookie sheet wasn't cutting it anymore. I crammed them into dishes with sides and poured the remaining liquid in.

Step Four: Put in the oven for about 20 minutes and waaaaaait. (You should be sneaking a pretzel bite about now if you're timing like I did)
Step Five: Take out and eat those dang things!

**Thanks to the wonderful wonderful Molly for taking this picture!

Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites!
(YES, that deserves an apostrophe!)

Ingredients:
pretzels (surprisingly doesn't take too many, but you're still going to end up with a lot of these suckers)
1 c. creamy peanut butter (we use Adam's, because it's delicious)
~ 2 tbs. butter
1/2 c. powdered sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Step One: Mix peanut butter and butter together.

Step Two: Mix in sugars.

Step Three: Take teaspoons of the "dough" and roll them into balls (add more sugar if it's too sticky) and squish between two pretzels. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat until gone.

Step Four: Place in freezer for about 30 minutes.

Step Five: Pour chocolate chips into a bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted.
Step Six: Dip pretzels into chocolate and place back onto cookie sheet. Put back into freezer to set when you are done.

**Thanks again to the wonderful Molly for the photographs!

Eat & eat & EAT because these are AMAZING. Like the best thing EVER. I've said it before, but I mean it every time.

Like I said, I'm amazed. These are delicious. The Pretzel Bites are p.e.r.f.e.c.t. just the way they are, and the Egg Boats can be tweaked in any way you want for a custom meal anytime of the day. I approve of these foods. I love these foods. I'm going to go get another one of those pretzels because all of this has gotten me drooling.
You should start making these. Now. Sorry it took so long to get this awesomeness to you.
And again thank you thank you thank you Molly for taking these amazing after shots for me!

Vegetable Stuffed Crust Pizza

Sorry it took so long, but here you go! For starters, I recommend adding some herbs and spices to the dough so it has some more pizazz (we didn't, but it would have been way better). Here's a healthy dinner perfect for two with maybe a little left over (for breakfast in our case). I'm not going to lie I wouldn't think that all of this sounds that great right off the bat, but thinking out of the box is never a bad idea. Plus having a vegetarian roommate you have to have a broad palate, and be ready to try something new. So, here you go. A delicious, easy, pretty quick, healthy pizza.


Vegetable Stuffed Crust Pizza

Ingredients:
Dough  **I like Jay's Signature Pizza Crust Recipe from Allrecipes.com, but you can use whatever you'd like.
~1/2 c. Carrots, sliced thinly
~ 1/2 c. Broccoli, broken into small pieces
~ 1/2 c. Onion, thinly sliced
~ 1 c.  Cheese, shredded (we used Cheddar)
~ 1/2 c. Mozzarella -for stuffing crust- (we had the big chunk of it, but you could use shredded or none or whatever)
Alfredo Sauce **Of course you can use whatever sauce you want this is just what we chose (because there was still heavy whipping cream from the ice cream!).

(Ingredients for Alfredo)
1/2 c. Heavy Whipping Cream
~ 1/2 tbs. Minced Garlic
~ 1 tbs. Cooking Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
dash of Basil
dash of Parsley
a little chunk of Mozzarella (that's all the we had... just to thicken up a bit)
Step One: Get your dough mixed together (set aside to double) and your oven preheated (if you're using Jay's Signature Recipe it's 425 degrees).

Step Two: Heat garlic and oil in a skillet, on low.

Step Three: Add whipping cream, cheese and spices.
Step Four: Increase heat to about medium and let your mixture come to a boil. Stir and wait for sauce to thicken.

Step Five: After a few minutes you should have a pretty thick sauce, set it aside until ready to  put on pizza. **It will thicken more after cooling so if it's a little runny don't worry.

Step Six: Spread dough flat on your pan, make sure to leave a good lip for the crust if you plan on stuffing it.

Step Seven: Place cheese along edges for stuffing and fold dough over it tucking it in nicely.

Step Eight: Spread your sauce on.
Step Nine: Top it! ** We did vegetables first and cheese last.

Step Ten: Pop it in the oven for whatever time your dough requires (about 20 minutes for Jay's Signature).

Take out and enjoy!

Personally, I went with some ranch dressing to top this pizza, but you could go the plain route too. It's good either way. Also, if you'd like, add some Sriracha or something else to spice things up a bit.
Like I said before, this is a pretty quick and easy meal is far as cooking from scratch goes. You can get everything cut up while your dough is doubling and get started on your sauce. It all works perfectly. All you have to do it sit back and wait for everything to cook. Or be super productive and take care of cleaning while everything is cooking. But lets not push it! So if you're looking to be a little healthier or maybe you're an actual vegetarian, either way, this is the recipe for you! Add or subtract whatever veggies or toppings you desire. As always, this was just what was in our kitchen. Hope you enjoy! And if there's anything you're dying to see here just give us a shout out we're always open to suggestions and new ideas. Plus we're going shopping soon!

Carrot Cake, Ice Cream & Dulce de Leche

The day you've all been waiting for is finally here! And let me just tell you, I am so stinking excited for this it's unbearable! Are you ready to learn how to make a little of your own magic happen? Buckle up, here are three of the most amazing things to ever walk the Earth (ok so food doesn't walk, but you get the point, right?). These are probably just about the most amazing thing to ever be produced in this tiny little kitchen of ours.

So we'll start with the Dulce de Leche.
A) Because that's what I started with. B) You're going to want to have this going for at least 8 hours.

Ingredients:
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
crock pot (or, if you wish, you can do this in the oven... but why not take the easy route?)

Step One: Take the label off of your can, DO NOT OPEN!!
Step Two: Place your unopened can into the crock pot, and fill it up with water so it's covering the entire can. **if you're worried about this leaving a ring of rust (which it does, but it's minor and basically washes away) you can put a plate under the can.

Step Three: Turn crock pot to LOW and leave over night or for at least 8 hours. The longer you leave it, the thicker and darker the caramel is in the end.

Step Four: Turn crock pot off. You can take out your can now or wait if you want (I waited and let it cool first). Either way DO NOT open the can until it is cooled or else you'll have a huge mess to clean up.

Step Five: Once your can is cool, open it up and be amazed! Delicious caramel effortlessly made in your own home! I don't know how I didn't hear about this sooner.

 So, now that you've got that deliciousness made let's move onto number two. Ice Cream!

Ingredients:
1 pint half & half
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
4 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. sugar
pinch of salt

Step One: Mix all your ingredients together. Make sure that all the sugar dissolves.

Step Two (this is probably optional): Refrigerate (I left it over night).
Step Three: Mix again, and put into the freezer.

Step Four: Now, you're going to want to go back and stir the mixture about every 45 minutes so that you have smooth ice cream. **I just used a wire whisk on it for a few minutes each time. 

Step Five (also optional, but highly recommended): Mix in your Dulce de Leche! Put back in the freezer until ready to eat.

And now, drum roll please.... The grand finale!
Carrot Cake!

Ingredients:
6 c. shredded carrot (I'll be honest I got tired of measuring and just used 10 giant carrots, but to be fair i did shred 2 and they were about a cup... but 6 cups is a lot of shredding)
1 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
3 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. raisins
1 c. nuts (I used walnuts)

Step One: Mix sugars and oil well.

Step Two: Mix in eggs (one at a time).

Step Three: Add carrots and pineapple.

Step Four: Add remaining ingredients. Stir together well.

Step Five: Put into greased pans (or pan, your choice).

Step Six: Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.
Step Seven: Take out. Cool for frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting **Oh yeah... That's a free-be!
Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese (I used the 1/3-less-fat again)
1/2 stick of butter
2 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

Step One: Mix together cream cheese and butter.
Step Two: Add in vanilla and powdered sugar.
Step Three: Mix well (You might be thinking that milk would be good to add, don't be fooled. This starts out thick but in the end it's semi-runny). **Mine is obviously still a little chunky. Whatever. It was still amazing.

Step Four: Frost your cake!

(I frosted one layer, put some of the walnuts on, and then spread some more frosting over them so the other layer of cake would stick)

The Review:

Everything is so delicious! The ice cream and Dulce de Leche is soooooooo good! I loooooove the caramel in the vanilla ice cream. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with how amazing this turned out. I had my doubts. The last time I made Dulce de Leche I was a little scared so I just kept the crock pot on warm and ended up with a runny, light brown caramel. It was delicious either way. But this time I went for it and set the crock pot to low and even let it cook a little longer. This left me with a thick, dark brown caramel. I was a tad skeptical at first, but it's absolutely wonderful. The cake, ooooh the cake. Everyone loved the cake. Even a dog or two (someone helped themselves to a corner of the cake while we were out). Besides that, it was moist and delightful. I'm pretty satisfied with this cooking endeavour. I recommend testing it out yourself! And I'm not even going to lie I definitely had some ice cream this morning. After my Panda Puffs of course.