Cookie Dough Truffles

I got this recipe from Paula Dean. It's brilliant, I tell you. Just brilliant! I really was amazed at how much it tasted like regular cookie dough! My sisters and I love oatmeal cookie dough but when we are pregnant we can't eat it. So... I'm going to adapt this recipe for oatmeal cookie dough that we can eat while we're pregnant! Even though this dough is eggless and you won't get salmonella I can't promise that you won't still get sick from eating this cookie dough because I literally ate so much of it that I got a tummy ache last night. No joke. Anyway here are the ingredients for the cookie dough:
3/4 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. butter
2 c. flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar. Add flour and vanilla. With mixer on, add sweetened condensed milk. stir in chocolate chips. Using a small cookie scoop, form balls with cookie dough. If you don't have a scoop put powdered sugar on your hands and roll dough into balls. I just used my scoop and did not roll them into balls. They weren't as uniformed and perfect but they still turned out great. Chill for 2 hours in freezer. Dip in melted chocolate. Chill again till chocolate is set. I actually left about 1/2 cup of the cookie dough in the bowl for Tyler to eat with a spoon, he loves cookie dough and he loved this!
***Side note: I still eat tons of cookie dough with eggs. That's all.

Pizza Braid

This is another recipe idea from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, you'll probably see a lot of posts from her website here. In fact most of you, assuming anyone reads this blog, could ditch my blog altogether and just visit her website. She's my new hero. She describes food so well, I want to eat everything she makes. She had a recipe for a BBQ chicken braid and I had been craving BBQ chicken pizza so I thought I'd give it a try. I was going to try and describe how to make this but after an entire paragraph I decided I would just confuse everyone and no one would want to make it so here is a link to her recipe and directions. I made one BBQ chicken and one Garlic Chicken Alfredo. I made an Alfredo sauce with cream cheese, milk, garlic and Parmesan cheese. *Also, I brush mine with an egg wash and sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese. They only thing I will do different next time is put more filling in because it ends up being a lot of bread. I didn't have lettuce to make a salad so I served this on its own and my little family ate both braids so if you're making this for more than 2 adults and 2 kids I would make more. Anyway, I just thought it was a fun alternative to regular pizza or pizza bombs. The kids loved it and it will definitely go into my recipe rotation!

Multi-purpose French Bread Roll Recipe

A friend shared this website with me called Mel's Kitchen Cafe and I LOVE it! I have been finding amazing recipes, tips and tricks on her website. You can visit her website here or on my side bar to the right. She has a great tutorial on shaping the perfect roll. Anyway, this is her recipe for French Bread Rolls and I've been using it for dinner rolls, buns, and pizza's.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 c warm water
1 TB active dry yeast
2 TB sugar
2 TB canola oil
1 tsp salt
4 c. flour
Proof yeast in warm water and sugar till frothy and bubbly. Combine remaining ingredients, adding flour slowly. Knead 8-10 minutes. Spray bowl with cooking spray, turn dough in bowl to coat in spray. Cover with a damp, warm cloth and let raise till double. Punch down. Divide in half, then half again till you have 12 equal portions. Roll into balls and place on Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Raise till double. Bake at 400 degrees 12-14 minutes. *I brush mine with butter while they are still warm.
~I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour just to add some pretty color and a bit of healthy goodness. Also, the first time I made these I was trying to make rolls but they came out the size of buns so I used them for sloppy joes instead of dinner rolls. So... if you want dinner rolls divide them into the size of roll you prefer, remembering they will double in size once they raise and bake.

Mustard Coated Fish

I got this recipe from Ina Garten on FoodNetwork. We love fish so I just had to try it out. We've eaten this twice in the last couple months and I continue to crave it. You would think the mustard would be really strong but once it bakes it has the perfect amount of zing. If you haven't tried capers before I strongly recommend them. They are pretty tart on their own but after they have roasted in the oven they become a bit sweeter and more mild, plus, it gives the dish a little acidity - but a lemon wedge on the side is always a must when eating fish!
Ingredients:
4 fillets firm white fish - I use Tilapia
1/2 - 3/4 c. creme fresh or mayo - I use mayo
3 TB Dijon mustard
1 TB whole grain mustard -OR- brown mustard
2 TB minced shallot -OR- red onion
2 TB drained capers
Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Salt and pepper fish fillets and lay in baking dish. Combine all remaining ingredients and spread all over fish. It might look like a lot but you want the fish smothered pretty well. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until fish flakes easily.
Serve with lemon wedges.