Chocolate, peanut butter, & marshmallow cookies

Monday night was the big Bachelor finale, and I made these chocolate, peanut butter & marshmallow cookies for our watch party. These were gooey, fudgy bites of deliciousness! They were easy to make and got rave reviews from the group.

Brazilian feijoada

Dinner tonight was Brazilian feijoada, a pork and black beans stew. This is a slow-cooker recipe, which makes it a winner in my book, although it does take a bit of prep before you can just throw everything in for the long simmer. We garnished ours with orange slices, scallions, and hot sauce, and served it over rice. Expectations were high for this dish because I had to go to three different grocery stores to gather all of the ingredients (helpful hint: Fresh Market has beef short ribs every day, while Whole Foods only has them occasionally. In fact, I suggest calling around and finding a store that carries both pork shoulder AND the ribs before you venture out). Also, I kept an eye on it and added extra broth throughout the day when it looked too dry. Anyway, despite yesterday's frustration of hunting down those ribs, I licked my bowl clean and smacked my lips on this one. Robert nicknamed it Meat Heaven, so I think he'll be requesting this again.

Bombay sloppy joes and apple-lime-peanut slaw

Dinner tonight was a taste of India: bombay sloppy joes and apple-lime-peanut slaw, both from Aarti Sequeria of Food Network fame. From the smell of the sauce simmering on the stove, I knew we were going to like this - and our dinner guests walked in the door and immediately commented on how good everything smelled. The ingredients were easy to find, with the exception of Garam Masala, which I didn't see at Kroger, but bought from the bulk bin at Whole Foods (which is even better, because I just bought what I needed for these recipes vs a whole jar). And my sister who doesn't care for slaw (or "salad", as she insisted on calling it), went back for seconds. These are a fun way to combine Indian flavors with familiar American dishes!

Italian hand-cut steak chili

We made this slow-cooker Italian hand-cut steak chili recipe from Rachael Ray this week, and we finished it in record time. Robert loves chili with steak vs ground beef, so I knew this would be a hit with him. The pancetta is a nice touch, and definitely use the optional garnishes - we did fontina cheese, onion, and pepperoncinis. Delicious!!!

French onion grilled cheese

We made french onion grilled cheese sandwiches from Rachael Ray last week. They are simple to make, as long as you're patient enough to let your onions caramelize (20 minutes or so). I made a few substitutions based on what we had on hand: brie cheese instead of camembert, sourdough bread instead of regular white, and fontina cheese instead of gruyere. Yum!

Cheese straws

We took dinner this week to friends who have a new baby: on the menu was a repeat of chicken parmesan with pepperoni, but with the addition of these cheese straws from Ina Garten. Oh my. So simple, yet SO delicous! I mean, puff pastry paired with cheese is a no-brainer, right?!

Black bean hummus

My notoriously picky toddler has hummus on her approved foods list, so I tried this recipe from Cooking Light made with black beans. If I told her it was black beans she wouldn't have touched it, but hummus was the magic word. Simple to make, and everyone loved it- young and old!

Brownie-stuffed chocolate chip cookies

Yes, you read that correctly. There is an entire brownie stuffed INSIDE an enormous chocolate chip cookie. A little excessive I'll admit, but we were celebrating a special occasion - last week's Bachelor watch party was also a Welcome Home party for my sister who had been traveling for the past 7 weeks. Everyone was so excited to see her, that we had full attendence to watch the Bachelor- on Valentine's Day. I love our groups' dedication! Anyway, back to the cookies - these are insane. You make a batch of brownies from a box, then a homemade chocolate chip cookie dough (which is fabulous in it's own right) to wrap the brownies in. The cookies are gigantic, and they taste. so. good.

Balsamic onion salad

We made this balsamic onion salad from Ina Garten a few weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to posting about it. This has a very strong onion flavor, so you've been warned, but it is DELICIOUS. We served it as a side with her penne with five cheeses, which we gave an average grade of B-. This salad definitely stole the show, and we'll be making it again and again.

Chicken fried rice

We tried this chicken fried rice recipe from Cooking Light last week. It tasted good, but strayed a bit from typical fried rice (no egg?), which I guess it part of making it healthier considering the source. I subbed green onions for leeks (personal preference, and leeks are so time-consuming to clean), and it was still a hit. I prefer a more traditional fried rice, but this is a good healthy alternative.

Frozen peanut butter bites

Question: could this recipe for frozen peanut butter bites be any easier? Answer: no. Just 4 ingredients and no real cooking involved - I even took a shortcut and melted my chocolate in the microwave instead of the stovetop. This recipe made more than the 20 bites specified - closer to 30, if I remember correctly - which was plenty for my Monday night Bachelor watch party!!

Best. burger. ever

We had some friends over last night to watch the Jets vs Steelers, and it was a unanimous decision that these spicy poblano burgers from Cooking Light (!) were PHENOMENAL. Like, top-5-best recipes-ever material. The toppings are fantastic - I spread the chipotle sour cream on thick and added a big helping of the pickled red onions, too. Seriously, make these immediately- you won't be disappointed.