White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies & Chicken Sushi

I know I'm not the only person who absolutely loves the white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies from Subway. I seriously think they cook crack into those things just to get you hooked; no cookie can be that good.

So, because I have an unhealthy  addiction to those sweet, chewy, cookies, I had to make some at home. I had to especially emphasize that because I insisted we go to the grocery store for macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips at about 9:30 the other night. Sometimes you just have to eat something sweet, this instant. I know you ladies out there understand. Holla! ;)

These were super easy and super yummy. I'm thinking that I need to make some more because I'm typing this and starting to drool a little...

In addition to these gooey, delicious morsels; we made some chicken sushi!

Are you too chicken to actually try real sushi? Or maybe you have tried it and raw fish just doesn't float your boat... OR if you're like us; you just love sushi and you're going the easiest route.

This stuff was delicious and there was a TON of sushi!

The hardest part of this was finding a bamboo mat (we finally found one at the Good Food Store)!

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. white sugar

1 egg

1/4 tsp. vanilla

1 heaping cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

3 oz white chocolate chips

1/3 c. macadamia nuts, chopped


Step One: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step Two: Beat butter and sugars until creamy (I microwaved my butter just a tad to make this easier).

Step Three: Add in egg and vanilla. Mix well.

Step Four: Mix in flour and salt. Blend well.

Step Five: Mix in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Make sure you get them evenly distributed.

Step Six: Plop heaping teaspoons of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet. Place into the oven for 10 minutes. Make sure to watch them closely you don't want to over do them. I also read that they continue to cook after you pull them out so take them out when they are a tad al dente.

Enjoy!

I'm not even going to lie. I ate a ton of these cookies. Thankfully I only made enough for about a dozen. I didn't need any more than that. I sure wanted more though. I'll leave the portions up to you though.

Chicken Sushi

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast

Sriracha

Soy sauce

1/4 of a cucumber

2 c. rice

2 c. water

2 tbs. rice vinegar

2 tbs. sugar

1 tbs. salt

dash of lemon juice

Step One: Start by cooking your chicken. We did ours on the stove top. Not the most efficient way to go about cooking frozen chicken breast I'll tell you. I recommend throwing it into the oven. But whatever you like.

Step Two: Boil water. Pour it over the rice when done and cover.

Step Three: Mix sugar, rice vinegar, salt, and lemon juice in a pan. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the rice has absorbed all of the water.

Step Four: Mix together rice and vinegar mixture. Make sure to get it evenly distributed. And here's a tip from a pro (my boyfriend used to roll sushi and was the mastermind behind this meal and full of helpful hints); you're going to want to make a mound of rice in your bowl. Scrape all the rice from the sides. Apparently this is to keep any from getting bitter or sour or something. You're also going to toss the rice periodically and re-shape the mound to let everything air out. We did this twice before all was said and done.

Step Five: Shred the chicken and throw in some Sriracha and a little soy sauce.

Step Six: Lay out bamboo mat and a sheet of seaweed; look at the seaweed carefully, you want the shiny side up and the if you can see lines you want them running vertically. Cut cucumber into fourths and cut off the strip of seeds. Measure cucumber the length of the seaweed sheets. Set aside.

Step Seven: Start distributing rice across the lower 2/3 of the seaweed. You want an even layer spread nicely across. Don't press.

Step Eight: Add a cucumber strip. Add a line of chicken. Optional: add a line of Sriracha.

Step Nine: Wet the top of the seaweed where there is no rice. Now start rolling! You want to make sure that you keep this super tight; you don't want anything falling out. Start by rolling the bamboo while holding in your ingredients. Tightly start to roll the bamboo under; slip it out and continue to roll tightly. Squeeze into a square. I hope the pictures help with this...

Step Ten: Wet your knife and cut sushi roll in half. Wet knife and continue to cut each half into about five pieces. Serve with soy sauce. Wasabi if you have it of course, we didn't.

 

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum! Seriously so good. And so easy! Well the sushi rolling is a little challenging, but in a good way. It was super fun. I definitely recommend testing this out whether you love sushi or just want to try something sushi-esque. Either way, this is for you. It was honestly pretty quick too.

You'd better hurry and get to the kitchen to test these out!

Creamy Stuffed Chicken Breast

Here, is my latest inspiration. We're finally a little settled into our new place so I got myself back into the kitchen. This one was delicious and so easy. I was saving this one for after we went to the grocery store but to my pleasant surprise we had everything we needed (which doesn't happen often). Of course, I made some minor alterations to the recipe linked above. This is what we ended up with. Creamy deliciousness. Get ready.

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts

1 clove of garlic (minced)

1/4 cup of cream cheese

1/3 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp Italian seasoning (just a random one we have in the cupboard)

1/2 tbs olive oil

Step One: Mix together garlic, cream cheese, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

Step Two: Make a slit directly into the middle of the chicken breast. This is where you are going to stuff the cream cheese-y goodness. Make sure you leave about an inch or so in either side of your slit so you have a solid "pouch". Also, make sure that you slice as far into the chicken as you can (making sure not to break through). 

Step Three: Now, you're going to stuff that chicken. I was totally grossed out by this part, but don't worry. Just get in there real nice and deep like... Also, remember how delicious this is going to be. So shove all that cream cheese filling as far down as you can into the chicken. Once you've gotten all your breasts stuffed... Sorry, but that is the most awkward phrase ever, but you know what I mean. It's time to move onto the next step. Seal those things up with a few toothpicks. Poke them in real nicely, closing the chicken as much as possible.

Step Four: Now you're going to fry these into a golden brown, crispy deliciousness. Put a pan on the stove top with a little olive oil and throw 'em in. Well, set them in gently with love and care. You don't want them exploding just yet. Try to keep all the creamy goodness inside the chicken. You'll see why later. Make sure that you get the chicken cooked all the way through. About five minutes or so on each side. You want them to be brown and crispy and oh, soooooo yummy. This is where you start to drool.

Step Five: Plate up and enjoy.

This was seriously so good and so easy I can't even believe it. It's definitely something that I will continue to make. The cream cheese melted into the chicken perfectly and the Parmesan was so gooey and delicious. The rice was also perfect as a side dish for this meal. It honestly doesn't get much better than this. I finished off the night with some tea and passed out into a food coma. 

Hasselback Potatoes; Mac 'n' Cheese; Pop Tarts; Chocolate Ice Cream; Mozzarella Sticks; AND Green Eggs and Ham!

Well I've done it again. We have an overload of goodness. I just can't keep up with all this cooking. And it's starting to get nice out. It's tough to be productive behind the computer. But I'm getting started. That's what counts.

So here we go. Get ready for a plethora of magnificent foods. All fast, easy, and yuuuuuummmmyyyyy!

Hasselback Potatoes: Or as I'd like to think of them... Hasselhoff potatoes. Don't ask... But don't deny that you want to call them that too.

Ingredients:

potato (the bigger the better)

minced garlic

~ 1 tsp. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

other toppings optional

Step One: Carefully slice your potato like you're making chips BUT only cute through about 2/3 of the way.

Step Two: Lather that baby up with some olive oil. Making sure to get in between all of the different potato leaves.

Step Three: Shove some garlic in. The more the merrier.

Step Four: Toss on some salt and pepper and throw into the oven at about 425 for roughly 45 minutes.

Step Five: Take out and top with anything you'd like. I went with some cheese.

Mac 'n' Cheese:

Ingredients:

package of elbow noodles

~ 1tbs. oil

~ 3-4 c. grated cheese

~ 1/2 c. milk

~ 1 tbs. flour

~ 1/4 c. butter

salt and pepper to taste

Step One: Cook noodle until they are basically done. Just a tiny bit under cooked.

Step Two: Toss drained, cooked noodles into a greased cake pan (or whatever).

Step Three: Add cheese or your liking, oil, butter, milk, flour, salt and pepper and mix well.

Step Four: Toss in the oven to let the cheese melt. I'd say just about 15 minutes at 350.

Step Five: Give a solid taste testing and see what needs to be done. Salt and pepper can do wonders. I also recommend throwing on some Sriracha, which is delicious on anything and everything. If you don't have some already you're missing out, big time.

Pop Tarts: So I saw these just about everywhere after finding them on smittenkitten, and I absolutely had to try them. As do you. Get ready for some awesomeness; you're going to love these. The best part is you can stuff them with anything; jellies, chocolate, cinnamon and sugar, eggs, veggies, the list goes on. I've been testing out different things in here for awhile. I really like the savory pop tarts; with mushroom, garlic, and cheese, yuuuum. Really you can throw just about anything you have in this little pastry crust and make the most delicious thing you've ever tasted. I'll say it again, you're going to love these. Also, you're going to wonder how in the world you've been eating store bought pop tarts all your life. Enjoy. P.S. I cut out a stick of butter; I'm sure they are d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. and oh, so flaky with two sticks of butter, but I just can't bring myself to put two sticks of butter into such a little pastry crust. Do as you wish, but your heart will thank me, and you, later.

Ingredients:

2 c. flour
1 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) of butter
1 egg
2 tbs. milk

Step One: Mix together flour, sugar, and salt.

Step Two: Mix in butter. I recommend using two butter knives and kind of slicing the butter up real small. You want to end up with pea sized chunks. You could also use a fork, your hands, a food processor, other handy gadgets, whatever you want really; just get it evenly distributed.

Step Three: Mix in egg and milk; stir well. Get your hands in there and knead it up a little bit to ensure even distribution of this magic.

Step Four: Ok, now here is the fun part. Putting these puppies together. You can also refrigerate your dough for a day or two if you have the will power to sit around and wait for these. You're crazy if can actually do this though. Anyway, for us normal impatient beings, decide what you want to fill your pastry. Refer to this list below for some ideas (these are just a few I've tried) or be creative and use what you have.

Jelly Filling:

~ 3/4 c. of your favorite jelly/jam

1 tbs. corn starch mixed with 1 tbs. water (I've always skipped this step, but be warned, if you do they will be really runny) **We did try some tapioca flour and it worked perfectly; I just sprinkled a little in**

Bring this to a boil for a couple minutes. Let cool before filling pop tarts.

Savory Filling:

~ 1/4 c. mushrooms

~ 1/4 c. shredded cheese

~ 1/2 tsp. garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Cook up mushrooms and garlic a little bit. Place in pastry crust and add cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. **You could also try adding in some eggs. We are doing this as I type. Just scramble them up first and throw them in**

Step Five: Once you've decided what you want to stuff in here; gauge how many pop tarts you want/can make with the amount of dough you have. This depends on how big (or little) you want these to be. I made 8 decent sized pop tarts with this, but you could make them bigger if you'd like more filling or smaller if you'd like them for something like an appetizer. Either way decide, divide your dough, and get some rectangles, squares, circles, whatever shape you want, rolled out about 1/8 in. thick. Place your filling to one half and fold. Make sure to seal the edges. Use a fork or just press together well with your fingers.

Step Six: Place into your heated oven, which should be at 350 degrees, for roughly 30 minutes. Here's the hard part. Waiting. Our monster oven usually keeps the wait at about 10 minutes. We also turn it down a hefty amount. It's set at about 300 today, we'll see how it goes.

Chocolate Ice Cream: I must say, out of all the ice creams, this just may be my favorite. It's soooooo yummy. And so chocolaty. I love it. I also want to make a note that all these ice cream recipes (vanilla and dulce de leche) I use are the ones you can throw into a bag and shake for like 15 minutes and BOOM! ice cream. I just haven't tried it yet.

Ingredients:

1 pint half and half
1/2 c. whipping cream (honestly this time I just did 1 cup I was sick of having half a cup sitting around. It still tastes the same. Who knows maybes that's why it was so delicious)
~2 tsp. vanilla (you can do more or less or none, whatever)
3/4 c. sugar
pinch of salt
1 bag of chocolate chips (I used semi sweet)

Step One: Whisk all ingredients together (except chocolate). Make sure that all the sugar dissolves.

Step Two: Melt chocolate chips. Stir into liquid mixture. Make sure to distribute evenly.

Step Three: Cover and freeze. Come back and whisk well about every 45 minutes roughly 3 or 4 times; until it looks like ice cream. Eat and love.

Mozzarella Sticks: I came across these little guys on penelope's oasis. I love mozzarella sticks in a bad way so I had to try these. They are super easy, way healthier than anything you're going to buy, and they are soooooo yummy.

Ingredients:

~ 10 cheese sticks (you know, those delicious little string cheeses, they're about to get even better)

1/2 c. flour

2 eggs (the other recipes calls for whites, but I was too lazy to separate them out)

1 c. panko, bread crumbs, whatevers clever.

seasoning (like garlic salt, salt, pepper, you know)

dipping sauce

Step One: Chop cheese sticks in half and toss them in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Step Two: Mix panko and seasonings. Or whatever kind of crumb you choose.

Step Three: Get your bowls of flour, panko, and egg (mixed all up) lined up and ready for dipping.

Step Four: Dip cheese into flour, egg, and panko. I did some double dipping for extra coverage. Lay out on a greased cookie sheet.

Step Five: Put in oven for about 10-15 minutes at 300 degrees. Sit and wait impatiently. It's so worth it. They are golden, crispy and delicious. 

Green Eggs and Ham: Last, but certainly not least, I made green eggs and ham for Dr. Seuss Day. It took me straight back to second grade. Everyone should enjoy these on Dr. Seuss Day. I took some time to read some Dr. Seuss quotes as I ate. I absolutely love Dr. Seuss; you're never too old to enjoy his rhymes. What's your favorite Dr. Seuss quote or book?

Ingredients:

2 eggs

ham (I just tore up a slice of sandwich meat ham)

~4 tbs. milk

cheese

a drop of green food coloring

salt and pepper to taste

Step One: Mix together eggs, milk, salt and pepper, ham, and food coloring (I did mine after cooking, but I think you should do it before).

Step Two: Cook over medium heat and stir frequently until eggs are cooked. Throw some cheese on top and let melt. Smile and enjoy. 

Once again I'm super sorry for the terribly long wait. And I hope that it doesn't take too long to get some more things going. Once things are settled expect a heavy flow of recipes coming your way. I hope you enjoy.