Arnold Sandwich Thins Two Ways

 

This morning my mom and I enjoyed a wonderful 4.5 mile walk through around Wilmington Island. We enjoyed marsh views, early morning animal sightings, and even waved to Paula Deen as we passed her house.

By 9am our stomachs were growling for a warm, healthy, and filling breakfast. I knew I wanted to make something I can’t make at the office on a daily basis. I scoured my parents fridge and found the following ingredients:

  • Eggland’s Best Eggs
  • Laughing Cow Light Mozzarella cheese
  • Arnold Sandwich Thins
  • Kraft 2% slices
  • Tomatoes

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Isn’t my new placemat cute? I found 3 of these at Target in different fun, bright colors like aqua and yellow! IMG_0494I had a great idea for breakfast and quickly started working on a warm breakfast delight for my the two of us.

IMG_0493Instead of settling for an Arnold Sandwich thin one way, I used each individual thin as a base for a different type of breakfast sandwich.

The warm one included 2 egg whites, 1 egg, salt & pepper, Garlic Gold, and melted Kraft single atop an Arnold Thin.   

IMG_0490The second thin included a thin spread of Laughing Cow cheese and tomato slices.

IMG_0489These were exactly what I was craving and my mom loved the combination too!

What is your favorite breakfast sandwich?

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Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookie Recipe

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As I left my office last night, this sight provided me just the inspiration I needed. Instead of waiting in line at Buttercup Bake Shop, I wanted to bake my valentine a homemade treat.

I rushed home to make my Valentine his favorite dessert, homemade chocolate chip cookies. While we decided this year was going to be casual, I still wanted to surprise him. Instead of making traditional Toll House chocolate chip cookies, I spent a few minutes looking up recipes online before stumbling upon Epicurious’ recipe.

IMG_0333Luckily, I knew that I had delicious, high end dark chocolate in my pantry which Foodbuzz sent me last week. This chocolate, mixed with some added salt, would make the perfect cookies for Bo’s taste.

He prefers dark chocolate and craves savory treats. My goal was to combine these two tastes into one delicious cookie, inspired by Epicurious’ recipe.

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Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies  (Adapted from Epicurious’  2003 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe)

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoons salt plus extra teaspoon salt for final sprinkle
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1  teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 Pure Dark chocolate bars chopped in chunks, ~ 6 ounces

     

    Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with Silpat or wax paper.

    Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

    Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Lightly beat 1 egg with a fork in a small bowl and add 1 3/4 tablespoons of it plus remaining whole egg to butter mixture, beating with mixer until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and mix in flour mixture until just blended, then stir in chocolate chips.

    Scoop 1/4 cup batter for each cookie, arranging mounds 3 inches apart, on 2 baking sheets. Flatten mounds into 3-inch rounds using moistened palm of your hand.  Form remaining cookies on additional sheets of parchment. Sprinkle each cookie with a dash of additional salt.

    Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool and continue making cookies in same manner using cooled baking sheets.

    Makes 9 large cookies.

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    I highly recommend this recipe for even the most discerning tastes. They were both sweet and savory while still having the wonderful “goo factor” required for the best chocolate chip cookies, in my humble opinion.

     

    Question: What is your favorite type of chocolate chip cookie? Crunchy? Chewy? Dark chocolate? Light?

    *Note: I received this chocolate sample free of charge through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.

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    Delicious Breakfast on the Go: Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins

    This morning I’m spending my last day of vacation checking everything off my to do list.

    • Social Security Office for official name change round #3
    • DMV
    • Returning a few items to Macy’s Herald Square and J Crew
    • Writing and mailing holiday thank you notes
    • UPS
    • 4 mile run

    While I have fun trekking around Manhattan ;) , I thought I’d leave you with a delicious new recipe I made my last day in Savannah. Enjoy!

    Whole wheat banana nut muffins

    Upon returning to my parent’s home for our last night in Savannah, two very ripe bananas greeted me from their place in the fruit bowl.

    Growing up, there was nothing I loved more than a warm slice of banana bread as a breakfast treat, afternoon snack, or even dessert. The ripened fruit’s sweetness is my favorite flavor and still today is one of my favorite comfort foods. Banana bread is the only bread I grew up baking on a regular basis, using my grandmother’s age old recipe. Every time, we’d forget her recipe required buttermilk, and we’d always turn to our trusty substitute recipe of lemon juice and milk.

    Yesterday, however, I thought that banana muffins would be more apt for my family’s lifestyle. I knew my mom would appreciate the gesture as she has been quite stressed lately due to my grandmother’s illness. These delicious, healthy muffins are perfect when toasted for a breakfast treat at the table or packed in a Tupperware for a breakfast on the go or afternoon treat.banana nut muffins

    I made some adjustments to the Better Homes and Garden cookbook’s banana muffin recipe yesterday, adding a few of our favorite flavors and improving their fiber by substituting whole wheat flour for half the flour quantity.

    Whole Wheat Banana Walnut Muffins- Adapted from Better Homes & Garden Cookbookwhole wheat banana muffins 2

    Ingredients

    1 cup whole wheat flour

    3/4 cup all-purpose flour

    1/3 cup sugar

    2 teaspoons baking powder

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    2 teaspoons cinnamon

    1 teaspoon nutmeg

    1 beaten egg

    1/2 cup skim milk

    1/4 c cooking oil

    2 teaspoons vanilla

    Directions

    1. Spray 12 muffin cups with Pam (I used Baking Pam) and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

    2. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Make a well in the center of the dry mixture with the back of a large spoon or a measuring cup.

    3. In another mixing bowl combine egg, milk, oil, bananas, and nuts. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture in the well. Stir or mix just until moistened. Do not worry if the batter has some lumps remaining, just insure all the flour is well mixed.

    4. Use a large spoon or small measuring cup to transfer batter into the muffin tins, filling each 2/3 full. Bake in the 400 degree oven 20 minutes, or until golden rown. (It only took 18 minutes to bake in our oven.) Cool in muffin tins on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin tins and serve warm. Makes 12 muffins.

    Whole wheat banana nut muffins

    I think these delicious muffins would pair perfectly with a mug of tea for an afternoon snack in the office this week.

    What is your favorite type of muffin? Do you prefer muffins or breads?

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