Blonde Brownies

Want the deliciousness of a brownie but not a huge fan of chocolate?? My wonderful roommate Ashley has the PERFECT alternative and they are sinfully delicious!! I am in love with blonde brownies!!

What You'll Need
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups brown sugar
2/3 vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Bake-tastic!!!
Mix together the sugar and oil. Then mix the eggs, vanilla, then add to the sugar/oil mixture. Add to flour and spices. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour the pan well (unless you want it to stick to the pan...then it becomes a pain). Bake for 25-30 minutes. See? Super easy, chocolate free, and still freaking amazing! Enjoy!

They've got such a unique, almost crumbly texture that just mushes in your mouth in the best way possible!

Taco Soup

Here's some soup with some kick!! It's SUPER easy, though it does take a while! But it's nice to set it up, go to class, then come home to a delicious meal! :)

What You'll Need

1 lb hamburger

2 cups chopped celery

2 cups chopped carrots

2 cans cream of potato soup

1 can beef consumme

¼ taco seasoning mix (heaping tablespoon)

2 cans chili beans (30 oz) don’t drain

1 can tomatoes (quart size)

Small can tomato sauce (8 oz)

Basically all you need to do is brown your meat then throw everything else into the pot and let it simmer for about two hours! Throw some mozzarella/cheddar cheese on top with come Cool Ranch Doritos and you've got a delicious meal that will leave PLENTY of leftovers!!

Easy Shepherd's Pie

Want something that gives the "homecooked" feeling in your apartment AND is easy to make?? Well I've got the recipe for you! Nothing says "home" like creamy mashed potatoes, hearty beef, and good ol' vegetables! Luckily, shepherd's pie does the trick (I always amaze myself at how incredibly cheesy I sound in describing the dishes I make...sorry guys, I'm a dork) My dear friend Mary Rendon suggested this recipe AND it comes with a vegetarian alternative which I thought was absolutely brilliant!! She got it from a blog called Simply Recipes, which I highly recommend! I may try some of their recipes out as well!!

What You'll Need
1 lb ground beef (for the vegetarian option, my friend suggested I get the meat crumbles from the frozen food aisle)
1 onion (yellow) chopped
About 2 cups vegetables, but if you want you can definitely add more! I used frozen vegetables (like corn, beans, peas, and carrots) and they worked just fine!
3-4 good sized potatoes
8 tablespoons of butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper, and other seasonings of your choice (I just stuck with salt, pepper, and some garlic!)

Getting Started
Start by washing, peeling, and quartering your potatoes. Boil them in salted water until they are tender (the way I check is I take a fork and stab the potatoes when I think they're done. If the fork goes through easily, they are done! If not, keep boiling! Will take about 15-20ish minutes) While the potatoes are cooking, time to work on the main part of the pie! Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter (1/2 the stick) in a large frying pan (make sure it's a good sized frying pan, or at least that it's deep - trust me, you'll thank me later!) Saute onions in butter until tender over medium heat, then add vegetables. When the onions start becoming transparent, throw in your ground beef or meat crumbles (I didn't get the chance to try it with the meat crumbles, I just did ground beef, so I will assume meat crumbles work the same way). Cook until no longer pink. Add in your salt and pepper (I added about a teaspoon of salt and a couple cracks of fresh ground pepper, but I'm not a huge pepper fan so if you feel like changing up the ratio with that, then go for it! I also added the garlic at this time as well.) Add Worcestershire sauce, beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes. Make sure it stays moist. If it's not, add more beef broth (but when I made it, the 1/2 cup called for worked just fine). By this time your potatoes will be done. Strain the water out, put the potatoes in a bowl and throw in the remainder of the butter and pour some milk in it (this keeps the potatoes creamy and delicious! Mash the potatoes and season it according to taste. Grab a baking dish (like 9x13) and place the beef and veggie mix into baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. You can let loose with your creative side and draw on teh top of the potatoes if you want :) have fun with your cooking!! Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (I just baked it for about 30 minutes) Just because I love it, I threw some cheese on top the last five minutes so that is another option! Careful when you eat it - its HOT (my blistered tongue can attest to that - but it was sooo worth it!) Enjoy!

Greek Chicken Marinade

When you have time to plan out a meal for a week, it doesn't hurt to have some good marinades to soak your chicken in that way you can whip it out of your freezer and have an (almost) instant tasty meal! This is one of my favorites and it goes well with that Portuguese Rice recipe I just recently posted!!


What You'll Need
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, mashed
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. marjoram
1 small onion, chopped (to release all them yummy juices and flavor!)
1/4 cup minced parsley 
(my friend Clifton would LOVE this recipe - he is STOCKED up on the spices!)


It's EASY! Just mix it all up, put your chicken in the bag, let it marinate for as long or as little as you please (if you aren't gonna cook it that day, put it in the freezer so you can save it for a rainy day, so to speak). Then just cook it and voila! Enjoy!

Portuguese Rice

This comes from my Aunt Lisa and Uncle David! This dish goes so well with so many things and it's a step above your regular sticky white rice as a side dish! It almost shines on its own as an independent dish! I LOVE IT!

What You'll Need
4 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cups long grain white rice
3 1/2 cups water
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 can black beans
(one of my favorite things to pair this recipe with is the Greek Chicken - I'll put that recipe up as soon as I finish posting this one!)

Aaaand...GO!!
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat and add garlic. Cook until crisp; remove garlic before it starts to brown. (Or you can just add some minced garlic that'd be equivalent to that, cause I don't always have fresh garlic on me) Turn heat to high and add rice. STir constantly. When rice begins to look "tweedy" (meaning when some of the grains go white and some become almost clear. DO NOT LET THE RICE BROWN!) Add water, salt and pepper; stir and reduce heat to medium high. Simmer for five minutes. DO NOT STIR!!!! Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover until ready to serve. Heat beans with juice in a small saucepan at medium heat until warmed through. Slap some of them beans on top of your rice and you have a masterpiece! Enjoy!

Raspberry Lemon Muffins with Streusel Topping

Ever need a quick breakfast to-go? Well here's something that makes lots of servings and can double as a delicious treat and a yummy breakfast item!!

What You'll Need
Muffins:
1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
3 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup frozen whole raspberries (not in syrup - that'd be naaaasty!)

Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp butter

Muffin Top!
Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray bottoms only of 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray. In small bowl, combine yogurt, oil, lemon juice and egg whites; blend well. In medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, lemon peel and salt; mix well. Stir in frozen raspberries. Add yogurt mixture to flour mixture; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon batter evenly into sprayed muffin cups. In small bowl, combine all topping ingredients with fork until crumbly; sprinkle evenly over batter in cups before baking. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until muffins are golden brown (and another good way to check it is if you get a toothpick, stick it in the center of the muffin. If it comes out clean, you're good!) Immediately remove from pan. Serve warm. You can also just put cupcake liners in the tin if you don't want to spray - that's what I do! Enjoy!

Don's Delicious

Like salad? Like vinaigrettes? Then look no further! This recipe comes from my Uncle Don and it's absolutely delicious! Though be careful with this salad - the dressing doesn't stay good too long and it'll wilt the salad pretty quickly! So make sure you have lots of people to share this with! 

What You'll Need

1-2 head of lettuce of your choosing (I used green leaf lettuce)

3 good sized tomatoes

2 cucumbers

1 green pepper

(For the vinaigrette - kind of got to eyeball this one)

When you get make this vinaigrette, you can make as much as you want. Just make sure the proportions with 2/3 balsamic vinegar and 1/3 olive oil

2 fresh garlic cloves (get a garlic press - it's imperative! Although it worked with the minced garlic for me!)

Sugar on top of that (sweeten according to taste – 7-10 tsp of sugar)

Diced black olives sprinkle that in

3 cubes of ice

Mix it Up!

This salad is real easy! Mix up your vinaigrette. Once you are done making it, put it in the fridge (it needs to be cold!!!) Wash and chop your vegetables and put in a bowl. Place it in the fridge (yer gonna want this cold!) Don't mix them until like five minutes before you're going to serve it, cause you don't want the salad to wilt!! When you do serve it, dump all the vinaigrette into the salad and mix it well so it coats all the leaves. Enjoy!