Chocolate Molten Cake

Mark and I ate this every day on our cruise (both cruises we took together). Thanks once more to lindsey for the recipe!

(Lindsey says that muffin tins work just a well! Yay!)


Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp real butter
1/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
8 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips and it's about 1 1/3 cup chocolate chips)
powdered sugar for dusting
whipped cream or ice cream (I did ice cream)
butter and granulated sugar for preparing pans

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400º. Prepare pans by using fingers (or butter wrapper) to rub butter in the muffin tins (maybe 4–6) or four ramekins. Sprinkle in some sugar to coat the entire inner surface and tap out any extra.
Melt chocolate in the microwave, heating for one minute, stirring, and then 20-second intervals until melted.
With a mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly add flour and salt into the butter mixture until just combined. Stir in melted chocolate by hand, until just combined. Don't over-mix.
Divide batter evenly into muffin tins or ramekins (place ramekins on a baking sheet).
Bake until tops of cakes no longer jiggle when pan is lightly shaken, about 8–10 minutes for a muffin pan and 10–12 minutes for ramekins. Remove from the oven and let stand for ten minutes.
If using muffin tins, invert the pan. You can do this with the ramekins, too, or just leave them in. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Enjoy!

Cilantro Lime Chicken

Again, another goodie from lindsey's blog.

Cilantro Lime Pork Chops (or chicken)

Ingredients:
6–8 pork chops (or chicken tenders or breasts, I like tenders better because smaller pieces of chicken means more sauce per bite!)
1 cup finely chopped cilantro* (reserve a little for garnish)
1/4 cup peeled grated ginger* (promise me you'll use FRESH ginger—it's the best part!)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce (find it in the Asian foods aisle. Don't smell it. But it makes a big difference in the recipe!)
Juice of one lime
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp–1 Tbsp red pepper flakes (or cayenne pepper), depending on how much heat you desire
1–2 garlic cloves, minced*
Coarse salt and pepper

Directions:
*It takes a while to chop all the cilantro, grate the ginger, and mince the garlic...so what I do now is cut small pieces of ginger off the root and place it in a food processor with cilantro leaves and whole cloves of garlic. Then pulse away! This saves a lot of time!
Place all ingredients in a ziploc bag and marinate in the refrigerator for 2–3 hours. Grill for about 10 minutes, basting with leftover marinade until about halfway through (to make sure the raw juices cook).

Bread Twists (Like PIzza Factory)

I found this on my friend, Lindsey's, website. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks delish! Here's her blog.... http://lindstewfoodies.blogspot.com

Bread Twists

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp yeast
3 1/2 cups flour (I did 1 cup whole wheat)
1 tsp salt
Melted butter (2–4 Tbsp, plus more to brush on baked bread twists)
2–4 cloves of garlic, minced (promise me you'll use real garlic for the insides, it's SOOOOOO good! You've GOT to!)
Kosher salt (for sprinkling)

Directions:
Put sugar and yeast in the mixing bowl and add warm water. Cover and let sit for 5–10 minutes. Then mix in 3 1/2 cups flour, a cup at a time, and the salt. Mix until smooth (I used my KitchenAid, it took a about 3 minutes). Cover and let rise for 10 minutes.
On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a large square (this is as close as mine got to the square—haha).
Mix minced garlic with the melted butter and brush onto the dough. Then sprinkle with Kosher salt.

Fold dough in half.

Cut into one-inch strips.
Twist and place on cookie sheet. We tried a few on bamboo skewers and they were really fun! The bread twists can be placed pretty close together.
Let rise for 15–20 minutes while preheating the oven to 400º. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Immediately after baking, brush with more garlic butter (I used powdered garlic here, I didn't know if fresh would be too strong) and sprinkle with Kosher salt and grated parmesan cheese (we were out of cheese, but they were still phenomenal without!).

We just ate them plain, but you can dip them in marinara, alfredo sauce, or ranch!

*The site where I got this recipe says it makes great pizza dough: just roll it into a circle, top, and bake at 400º for 15–20 minutes.

Southwestern Chicken

I found this on my friend, Mandy's, blog. Sounds SO delish! I'm making it tonight!

Ingredients:
Chicken
1 Can Black beans
onion
paprika
parsley
cumin
sour cream
pepper jack cheese

Recipe:
1. Cook chicken breasts however you like--grilling would be ideal, but I used the George Foreman
2. While cookin' chicken, heat up can of black beans and grill your onions.
3. Take chicken off grill when done, top with desired spices--I used paprika, parsley, and cumin...don't ask me why I just did.....although, I don't know why I didn't add a little cayenne...next time! (just thought of that--that would add a little kick)
4. Put however many slices of jack cheese you want on hot chicken so it can be melting.
5. Add onions, black beans on top of cheese, top with sour cream!

Black Beans

Seriously so easy, so healthy, and so yummy! You can't lose!

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt to taste

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine beans, onion, and garlic, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Season with cilantro, cayenne, and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes, and serve.

Found Here. I drain and rinse the beans and then add a can of chicken broth for the liquid. Yum Yum Yum!!!

apple crisp

Ingredients

• 5 medium tart apples, peeled and sliced
• 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
• 1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold butter
• 1 cup water

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the apples, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Transfer to a greased 8-in. square baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and remaining sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples, pressing down to smooth top.
2. Slowly pour water over the top; sprinkle with remaining cinnamon. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm.