Oreo Truffles

As I mentioned in another post, I went to the grocery store the other day and bought a ton of really healthy/wonderful foods- and a bag of oreos.  Sam has been asking for oreo truffles for a while now, so I decided to surprise him :)
Originally there were like 25 of these bad boys, but I sent a bag of them with Sam to his group meeting (they're going to be working for a loooong time today so I figured they could use the treat to get them through it).  This was the last long oreo truffle, and it's a good thing I remembered to take a picture before I ate it!

yeah baby!

Oreo Truffles

1 (16oz) package of oreos

1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened

2 (8 oz) packages of semi-sweet Baker's chocolate

Crush 9 cookies in a food processor, and save for later use.

Crush remaining cookies; place in a medium sized bowl.  Add cream cheese and mix until well blended.  Form into bite-sized balls.  Melt chocolate, then dip cookie balls in chocolate.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and garnish with extra cookie crumbs.  Place in fridge until hardened (about 1 hour).  Store in fridge in a sealed container.

(Apparently "bite sized" means you get 42 balls out of it.  I made about 25, so what does that say about the size of my bites?)

7 Layer Tortilla Pie

I have this habit of buying tortillas and then never doing anything with them.  They just get forgotten in the bottom of the fridge!  I had a bag of them hanging out, and I decided that I needed to find something to do with them. I adapted this recipe from one I found on allrecipes.com

Layered Tortilla Pie

• 1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup salsa, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp cilantro (optional)
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 cup chopped tomatoes (canned/drained works)
• 7 (8 inch) flour tortillas
• Enchilada sauce
• 1 1/2 cup corn
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. In a large bowl, mash pinto beans.  Stir in 3/4 c salsa and garlic

3. In separate bowl, mix together 1/4 cup salsa, cilantro, black beans, and tomatoes.

4. Place 1 tortilla in a round dish.  Spread some pinto mixture, some cheese, some enchilada sauce, and some corn to within  1/2 inch of edge.  Place another tortilla on top, then layer black bean mixture, cheese, enchilada sauce, and corn.  Continue the layering process until you have used up your ingredients.  Finish off with a tortilla, enchilada sauce, and cheese.

5. Cover with foil and bake for about 40 minutes.  Remove foil and broil to brown cheese slightly.  Cut into wedges and serve with salsa and sour cream.

This dish was SO good.  Tip: A regular pie plate is not deep enough.  I used a springform pan to get this all in there.  You can use less cheese if you would like (we did) and it's still fantastic.  The great thing is that you can change it to use whatever ingredients you have.  You could add rice or quinoa, omit the corn, use just black beans, whatever!  It was waaaay good, and I am slightly embarrassed to say that our gluttony got the better of us and we ate almost the whole thing in one night.  It was very sad to not have leftovers of this one. It would reheat in an oven to perfection!

'Tis the season!

So today I went grocery shopping. I got wheat bran and germ, oat bran, strawberries, sweet potatoes, non-fat cottage cheese, apples, carrots, bananas, spinach, blueberries, almonds, grapefruit, broccoli, calcium, wheat bread... and Oreos (well, the fake/cheaper ones). I'll post later on what I did with those :) Sam has been asking for a certain treat, and I like to keep husband happy!

c-c-c-combo breaker!

  

hello friend, I have missed you so.

I love this time of year.  Some of my favourite fresh produce is coming into season, and farmers markets will be opening up soon!  I have loved going to the farmers market since I was in elementary school.  I'm just cool like that.  It is so much easier to eat healthy during these warmer months.  Fresh, local fruit and veggies are the bomb!  Then there is the winter, when I just want to eat pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes all day...  That must just be the natural survival instincts kicking in.

Anywho- best salad ever: baby spinach and strawberries. Sliced almonds are also great additions if you're feeling the urge.  

Things I'm looking forward to way more than is normal: nectarines, peas in the pod, blackberries, blueberries (with milk), raspberries, and watermelon.  Yesssss.

PS: It is currently THUNDERSTORMING and that just joys my heart!  So I've been sitting on the couch by the window, gazing out into the rain and making a duck face. I hope nobody is looking at me being a fool.  

yeah, our light has no shade. keepin' it classy.

Nudey-feet

I haven't run outside in ages.  This morning I was at the gym running, and I just got so bored! The hamster wheel gets old after a while, but normally I can just keep going for ages if there is something on the tv or I have an audiobook on my iPod.  I decided to call it quits for the day, but as I was heading home I decided that since it wasn't very windy or cold that I would take a shot at running outside again.  Allergies and asthma destroy me this time of year, but I guess I need to just get used to it if I'm going to be signing up for legit races.  I got to the outdoor track and had the crazy idea of trying barefoot running.  I started out just walking around the track to get used to the feel, and then just started running.  There is a whole running community of people that swear by barefoot running, and I must say, it felt rather liberating.  I had my iPod at first, but after the first lap I just wanting to ditch it and feel the motion and be outside.  It was fantastic.  I can feel such a difference in the way you hold yourself and move.  I felt so trendy next to the girls running there with shoes ;) I only did about 20 minutes, as I didn't want to tear up my feet or hurt anything.  You totally use different muscles running barefoot.  I then put on my shoes to feel the comparison.  Holy smokes, it was exhausting!  My feet felt so heavy and I was just lagging. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I had already run about 9 miles right before that.  I'm worried that I have opened a can of worms, though.  I don't want to get into doing that exclusively (hello, winter? Glass? Trail runs? Not happening) but I'm still intrigued.  Maybe I could do both and just switch back and forth... We'll see. 

Hankerin' for a good time

Once upon a time, I had met Sam only briefly while helping him get a costume together for a date.  Later that week I noticed that he was the one in charge of this ward facebook group that tried to get people together to go out and be social and actually get off of facebook.  I had received a message from him telling people about the country swing dances that are held twice a week in Provo.  This sounded kind of horrible to me, but on a whim I sent him a private message back saying that if he would come to a rugby game with me, I would come country dancing.  I semi-regretted that statement when he actually showed up at my apartment to make me come. I tried to weasel my way out of dancing while still making him commit to coming to rugby with me.  That didn't work though- he was too cute and convincing. 

just some pre-dancing doritos

Jokes on me- it was a blast!  I ended up going almost every week for a long time (did it have something to do with me having a crush on Sam? Yes. But it was still fun).  It was one of the key activities that we would do during the "getting-to-know-you" and early dating stage.  

Now that we're old married people (in our minds), we hadn't been out in ages until last week.  We were a little rusty, but it was way fun!  And now I don't have to share him with other girls.. Mwahaha!

PS: did you know that Sam is a dang good dancer?  Not just country swing, either.  Ballroom, general club style, the macarena...  The list goes on.  For reals.  It's hot.  I owned him at the kinect dance game, but that's about the extent of my skill.

First place. What.

Frozen Cookie Dough Balls

I love to eat cookie dough, but there's this hassle about raw eggs that makes me hesitate (kind of).  I at least wouldn't want to feed other people, especially little kids, raw eggs.  But then I found this recipe for frozen cookie dough that is the answer to all worries!  There isn't any egg in it, but it still totally tastes like cookie dough!  I decided to make balls and then dip them in chocolate, but you could also just leave them as is.  I think it would also be awesome to make little pieces and use them as ice cream topping or to throw in a milkshake. 

Frozen Cookie Dough Balls

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• Additional semi-sweet chocolate for dipping (optional)
• Additional mini chocolate chips for garnish (optional)

Cream the butter and sugar in  a mixing bowl.  Stir in the vanilla and water.  Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and then stir in chocolate chips.  Roll into desired size balls and freeze on cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Once firm, you can transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer.  If dipping, melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler and place on cookie sheet again and freeze. 

Makes about 40 1-1.5'' balls.

They taste better like this.

Part of the lunch I packed for Sam:

Because I'm just cool like that.