Flourless Peanut Butter and Chocolate Meringue Cookies

 

Flourless Peanut Butter Meringue Cookies

Flourless Peanut Butter Meringue Cookies

If there was ever a food match that was made in heaven, it is peanut butter and chocolate! One of my favorite lazy treats is to dip a dark chocolate bar into peanut butter.  So the other day when I was craving a sweet, I thought what a great idea it would be to make a delicious peanut butter cookie that was both moist and light.  Sort of like my Starbucks Inspired Flourless Chocolate Cookie ,or, (cue the light bulb over my head), how about exactly like my Flourless Chocolate Cookie! But instead of adding melted chocolate to the meringue, I’d add melted/warmed peanut butter—and so this cookie was born! It’s light, moist, gooey, and crisp in all of the right places! A miracle really, considering the fact that we all know that I am not the most proficient baker. I was fully expecting that this would turn out to be another disastrous baking episode for me. I’m so glad that I was wrong, and that this turned out to be all that I wanted and more!

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Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10-12 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Makes 8 cookies

Ingredients:

2 egg whites
6 Tablespoons of creamy peanut butter warmed
1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar
3/4  cup of powdered sugar (I used maple sugar,see how to powder any type of sugar here)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of chocolate chips (optional)

1/8 teaspoon of sea salt

Directions:  Pre-heat the oven to 375F. Over low heat warm the peanut butter, until it begins to thin a bit, and takes on a glossy shine—about 5 minutes, set aside.

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Add the two egg whites to a bowl and beat on low until bubbles form, add the cream of tartar and beat on high, add in the sugar one tablespoon at a time and beat until peaks are stiff and fluffy—you can turn the bowl upside down with out the mixture running.

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Pour in the melted peanut butter and fold it into the egg white fluff–be gentle– fold until the white streaks disappear.

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Fold in the chocolate chips,

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then spoon the cookie mixture onto a parchment/silpat lined cookie sheet.

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Let them cool for 10 minutes, then move them to a cookie rack to continue cooling 5-7 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

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Ground Chicken and Cabbage Curry

Ground Chicken and Cabbage Curry

Ground Chicken and Cabbage Curry

Do you ever pull out something for dinner and then have no clue what you’re going to make with it? I do…all the time! Most of the time it works out, but working out on some days can be relative. Success for me is getting a nutritious meal on the table on most days. This Chicken and Cabbage curry recipe  almost didn’t come together. I pulled out the ground chicken, but all I had to go with it was the cabbage. I didn’t have any fresh onion, no fresh garlic, none of the ingredients one needs to make something taste good. My fridge was empty because I had put off grocery shopping, and now I had to pay the price. I turned to my cupboards for help. I had a bevy of ground dried spices, curry, onion powder, ground ginger and garlic.  From those dried spices, this meal was born, and let me tell you what a delicious meal it was! It is one of my husbands favorite meals. I’ve made this with fresh onion and garlic, but the dried spices give this much better flavor.

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Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground chicken

1 tablespoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

2 tablespoons of curry powder

1 teaspoon of ground ginger powder

2-3 tablespoons of  olive oil, or ghee

1 small head of cabbage, chopped roughly

4 tablespoons of freshly chopped cilantro

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a pan add dried spices and  heat for 20 seconds or just until spices become fragrant. Add in ground meat and brown. Once meat has cooked, add in the cabbage, and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until cabbage wilts a bit.

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Remove from heat, top with cilantro and serve as is, or over a bowl of brown basmati rice and enjoy!

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Grilled Pork Chops with Spicy Mustard Salsa

Grilled Pork Chops With Spicy Brown Mustard Salsa

Grilled Pork Chops With Spicy Brown Mustard Salsa

One of my favorite restaurants to eat at, when we are in Los Angeles, is Cafe Brazil. It’s a small restaurant, with seating for less than 50 people but the food is fantastic. If you’ve ever watched any dating show, then you’ve probably seen this restaurant several times, dating show’s love to film dates there. It holds a special place in my heart because it was one of the first restaurant’s  that my husband I would frequent when we were dating.  His mom lived in LA so we’d go up for a visit, and then grab lunch or dinner before heading back, sometimes with mom in tow.  The food there is pretty straightforward as far as food goes, meat, beans and rice, fresh tropical juices.  Simple as can be, but the food doesn’t have to be fancy to taste good.  One of my favorite entree’s there is grilled pork chops with beans and rice, and a simple tomato and onion salsa, to which they add fresh parsley and a spicy brown mustard vinaigrette! So what’s a girl to do when a craving for Cafe Brazil strikes? Get in the car and drive there, or make it herself! I obviously chose the latter!

 

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Prep time: 5-7 minutes

Cook time: 10-15 minutes

Total time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients:

Ingredients:

Salsa:

1/2 cup tomatoes chopped

2 tablespoons of finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons of parsley

sea salt to taste
Vinaigrette
1 teaspoon spicy mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
3teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Sea salt to taste

Pork chops
2 thick pork chops

1 teaspoon garlic powder,

1 teaspoon onion powder,

1 teaspoon paprika,

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1/8 teaspoon chili powder

sea salt to taste

Directions: Combine the ingredients for the mustard vinaigrette and set aside.

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Combine the ingredients for the salsa, top with the vinaigrette and set aside.

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Combine the seasoning for the pork chops, then rub generously into pork chops

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Grill chops for 5-7 minutes on each side, or until cooked through–do not over cook, pork chops dry out quickly.  Once chops are done, top with spicy salsa and enjoy!

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