Homemade Chocolate Chip Granola Bites (or bars!)

We eat a lot of granola bars and other fitness bars in our home - so while browsing Pinterest on the way to work one morning, I came across a few recipes to make your own granola bars and thought to myself, "why not?!" We had all of the ingredients that we needed except for the honey and Rice Krispies, so it was an extremely cheap snack! I originally had planned to make granola bars but ended up making them into bites instead (much easier!) Here is the version that I found to be quick and easy. Hope that you enjoy!

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup coconut oil or unsalted butter

- 1/3 cup light-brown sugar

- 1/4 cup honey

- 1/8 tsp salt

- 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

- 2 cups quick oats

- 1 1/4 cups Rice Krispies cereal

- 3 tbsp chocolate chips

Directions:

• Add coconut oil or unsalted butter, brown sugar and honey to a microwave safe bowl and heat the mixture in the microwave on high power for 1 minute. 
• Remove from heat and stir, then return to the microwave and heat on high power again (1 minute if using coconut oil and 1.5 minutes if using butter).
• Carefully remove from the microwave and blend in vanilla.
• Add in the quick oats and stir until evenly coated.
• Fold in the Rice Krispies and toss well to evenly coat.
• If making bars, firmly press the mixture into one side of a buttered baking sheet then sprinkle tops with chocolate chips and press into bars. If making bites, add in the chocolate chips and roll the mixture into small 1-inch balls, placing them on a baking sheet. 
• Transfer the baking sheet to the refrigerator and chill for 10 minutes.
• Remove from the refrigerator and if making bars, cut into desired-size bars (should make approx. 9 granola bars). If you made bites, you are ready to enjoy!

Blue Apron Dish 4: Corned Beef-Spiced Flank Steaks with Braised Cabbage and Buttered Red Potatoes

We had this dish the week of St. Patty's Day - a nice little Irish-American dish to celebrate the holiday!

Ingredients:

- 2 Flank Steaks
- 2 Carrots
- 1 lb. Green Cabbage
- 1 Yellow Onion
- 3/4 lb. Red Potatoes
- 1 large bunch of Parsley
- 4 tablespoons of Champagne Vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of Butter
- 2 tablespoons of Honey
- 2 tablespoons of Whole Grain Dijon Mustard
- 2 teaspoons Corned Beef Spice Blend

Makes: 2 Servings
Cooking Time: 25 to 35 minutes

Directions:

Prepare the Ingredients!

• Wash and dry the fresh produce.
• Heat a medium pot of salted water to a boil on high heat.
• Remove the steaks from the refrigerator to bring to room temperature.
• Peel and thinly slice the onion.
• Peel the carrots; thinly slice into rounds.
• Remove and discard the cabbage core; thinly slice the leaves.
• Pick the parsley leaves off the stems (discard the stems).
• Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. 

Braise the cabbage!

• In a large pot, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium-high heat until hot.
• Add the carrots and onion.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, 3 to 4 minutes, or until softened.
• Add the cabbage and cook, stirring frequently, 2-3 minutes, or until the cabbage has wilted.
• Stir in the vinegar, honey, mustard and 2 tablespoons of water.
• Cover and reduce the heat to medium-low.
• Cook 16 to 18 minutes, or until very tender.
• Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook and butter the potatoes!

• While the cabbage braises, add the potatoes to the pot of boiling water.
• Cook 13 to 15 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork.
• Remove from heat and drain thoroughly.
• Return to the pot and stir the butter until melted.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Season and cook the steaks!

• Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and season both sides with salt, pepper and the spice blend.
• In a medium-sized pan, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium-high heat until hot.
• Add the seasoned steaks and cook 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare, or until cooked to your desired degree of doneness.
• Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.

Finish and plate your dish!

• Find the lines of the muscle of the steaks and thinly slice against the grain.
• Add any juices from the cutting board to the pot of braised cabbage; stir to combine.
• Stir half the parsley into the buttered potatoes.
• Add the potatoes and braised cabbage to your plate and top with your sliced steak.
• Garnish with the remaining parsley.
• Enjoy!

Blue Apron Dish 3: Miso Yuzu-Glazed Cod with Black Rice & Water Spinach

This was my first time trying Cod! I'm not a fan of fish and have stayed away from pretty much all fish up until this point of time, but I actually enjoyed this dish! The East Asian glaze and touches were amazing and smelled so good! The black rice and water spinach were probably my favorite part of this dish.


Ingredients:

- 2 Cod Filets
- 2/3 cup of Black Rice
- 3 Cloves of Garlic
- 2 Scallions
- 1 Bunch of Water Spinach
- 2 tablespoons of Red Miso Paste
- 2 teaspoons of Light Brown Sugar
- 1 1-inch piece of Ginger
- 1 tablespoon of Soy Sauce
- 1 tablespoon of Yuzu Juice

Makes: 2 servings
Cooking Time: 35 to 45 minutes

Directions:

Cook the rice!

• Heat a medium pot of salted water to boiling on high heat.
• Once boiling, add the rice and cook 24 to 26 minutes, or until tender.
• Drain thoroughly.

Prepare the ingredients!

• While the rice cooks, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Wash and dry the fresh produce.
• Peel and mince the garlic and ginger.
• Cut off and discard the root ends of the scallions; thinly slice the scallions on an angle, separating the white bottoms and green tops.
• Cut off and discard the root ends of water spinach; roughly chop the leaves and stems. 

Make the glaze!

• While the rice continues to cook, in a small bowl, combine the miso paste, brown sugar, soy sauce, yuzu juice and half the ginger.
• Wisk until smooth.

Roast the cod!

• While the rice continues to cook, pat the cod fillets dry with the paper towels and season with pepper on both sides.
• Place the seasoned fillets on a lightly-oiled sheet pan.
• Top with 2/3 of the miso-yuzu glaze, spreading to evenly coat. 
• Roast in the oven 12 to 14 minutes, or until the glaze is browned and the fish is cooked through.
• Remove from the oven.

Cook the water spinach and finish the rice!

• In the same pot used to cook the rice, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium-high heat until hot.
• Add the garlic, white bottoms of the scallions and remaining ginger.
• Cook, stirring frequently, 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until fragrant.
• Add the water spinach and season with salt and pepper.
• Cook, stirring frequently, 1 to 2 minutes, or until wilted.
• Add the cooked rice and remaining miso-glaze; stir until well combined.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste and remove the heat.

Plate your dish!

• Top your plate with the finished rice and add a roasted cod fillet.
• Garnish with the green tops of the scallions.
• Enjoy!

Blue Apron Dish 2: Za'atar-Spiced Steaks with Rutabaga-Barberry Tabbouleh & Labneh Cheese

This was my favorite meal from my first Blue Apron box - so, so good! I loved the extra spice and the fact that I hadn't ever had the majority of the ingredients (continuing to add things to my 'foods I've never tried list for 2015').

Ingredients:

- 2 Flank Steaks
- 3/4 cup Bulgur
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Lemon
- 1 pound Rutabaga
- 1 bunch of Mint
- 1 large bunch of Parsley
- 3 ounces of Labneh Cheese
- 2 tablespoons of Pomegranate Molasses
- 1 tablespoon of Dried Barberries
- 2 teaspoons Za'atar Steak Spice Blend

Makes: 2 servings
Cooking Time: 25 to 30 minutes

Directions:

Cook the Bulgur!

• Heat a small pot of salted water to boiling on high heat.
• Once boiling, add the bulgur and cook for 12 to 14 minutes, or until tender but slightly chewy.
• Using a fine strainer, thoroughly drain the bulgur.

Prepare the ingredients!

• Wash and dry the fresh produce.
• Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature.
• Peel and mince the garlic - smash with the flat side of your knife until it resembles a paste.
• Using a peeler, remove the lemon rind, avoiding the pith; mince to get 2 teaspoons of zest (or use a zester).
• Quarter and deseed the lemon.
• Using a sharp, sturdy knife, peel and small dice the rutabaga. 
• Pick the mint and parsley off the stems (discard the stems). Roughly chop the leaves.
• In a small bowl, combine the labneh cheese, a pinch of the garlic paste, half the mint and the juice of 2 lemon wedges. 
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the steaks!

• Season both sides of the steak with salt, pepper and half the spice blend (reserve the remaining spice blend for later). 
• In a large pan, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium-high until hot. Add the seasoned steaks and cook 2 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare or until cooked until your desired degree of doneness.
• Transfer to a plate, leaving behind any browned bits in the pan.

Start the tabbouleh!

• Heat the pan of the reserved browned bits on medium-high until hot. If the pan seems dry, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
• Add the rutabaga and season with salt and pepper.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, 6 to 8 minutes or until browned and tender.
• Add the remaining garlic paste and spice blend.
• Cook, stirring frequently, 30 seconds to 1 minute or until fragrant.
• Stir in the barberries, pomegranate molasses and 2 tablespoons of water.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes to 1 minute, or until thoroughly combined.
• Remove from heat.

Finish the tabbouleh!

• Off the heat, add the cooked bulgur, parsley, lemon zest and the juice of the remaining lemon wedges to the pan of rutabaga. 
• Drizzle with olive oil.
• Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Plate your dish!

• Find the lines of muscle (or grain) in the cooked steak. Slice the steak against the grain.
• Add any juices from the sliced steak to the tabbouleh, stirring to combine.
• Lay out the finished tabbouleh on a plate and add the sliced steak on top. 
• Garnish with the remaining mint. 
• Serve with the seasoned labneh cheese on the side.

Blue Apron Dish 1: Italian Wedding Soup with Fregola Sarda & Spinach

This was the first Blue Apron meal that I tried from my first box! I love soup and am ashamed to admit that I've never tried Italian Wedding Soup prior to making it (even though I've had plenty of opportunities to). It was delicious (and extremely easy to prepare) - definitely a meal that I will make again in the future. Hope that you enjoy!

Ingredients:

- 10 ounces of Ground Chicken
- 1/2 cup Fregola Sarda Pasta
- 3 ounces of Baby Spinach
- 2 Cloves of Garlic
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Yellow Onion
- 1 Stalk of Celery
- 1 Bunch of Parsley
- 3 Tablespoons of Chicken Demi-Glace
- 1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese
- 1/2 cup Bread Crumbs

Makes: 2 servings
Cooking Time: 15 to 25 minutes

Directions:

Prep your ingredients!

• Wash and dry the fresh produce.
• Finely chop the spinach.
• Peel and mince the garlic.
• Peel and dice the onion in small pieces.
• Peel and dice the carrot in small pieces.
• Pick the parsley leaves off the stems (discard the stems).

Form the meatballs!

• In a medium bowl, combine the ground chicken, breadcrumbs, 1/4 of the onion, half of the garic, half of the Parmesan cheese and half of the parsley.
• Season with salt and pepper and stir to thoroughly combine.
• Using your hands, form the mixture in to about 24 meatballs, 1 inch in diameter.

Cook the aromatics!

• In a medium pot, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium heat until hot. 
• Add the carrot, celery and remaining onion and garlic.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes or until softened and fragrant.

Make the broth and add the meatballs!

• To the pot of aromatics, add the fregola sarda pasta, chicken demi-glace and 3 cups of water.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat to boiling on high.
• Once boiling, add the meatballs.
• Reduce the heat to medium-high and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5-6 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked thoroughly. 

Finish the soup!

• Once the meatballs are cooked through, stir the spinach into the pot of soup.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the spinach has completely wilted.
• Remove from heat

Top your soup with the remaining parmesan cheese and parsley, and you're done!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

This is one of my favorite appetizers! (And one that I'm frequently asked to bring to get-togethers because people love it so much!) It's extremely easy and when serving it at a party, I like to keep it in a mini crockpot so that it stays warm throughout the entire party. I like to serve the dip with tortilla chips, pretzel snaps and celery sticks.

Ingredients:

- 4 cans of cooked chicken

- 2 packages of Cream Cheese, softened

- 1 cup of Frank's Hot Sauce

- 1 cup of Ranch Salad Dressing

- 2 cups of shredded cheese

(I like to use Pepper Jack or Mozzarella cheese)

Directions:

In a large pan on the stove, continue to soften the cream cheese, 
consistently stirring the cream cheese in your pan on low heat.

Once your cream cheese has softened completely, add in your chicken. (For this recipe, I used canned chicken that I had stocked up on for extremely cheap at the Amish market by my parent's house. Usually, I like to bake a few chicken breasts and shred them to use in the dip instead). Continue to stir the dip so that your cream cheese doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan.

Add in the Frank's Hot Sauce and the Ranch Dressing and continue to stir.

Continuing on low heat, stir for approximately five minutes folding in the shredded cheese until it's melted into the dip.

That's it! It's really that easy! 

Like I said above, I like to serve the dip with tortilla chips, 
pretzel snaps and/or celery sticks. 
Hope that you enjoy! :)

Blue Apron Experience!

I received my first delivery and Blue Apron box on Friday. My meals from this box were: Italian Wedding Soup with Fregola Sarda & Spinach, Za'tar-Spiced Steaks with Rutabaga-Barberry Tabbouleh & Labneh Cheese, and Miso Yuzo-Glazed Cod over Black Rice and Water Spinach.

My boss receives them and once you receive a few, you're able to gift a free box to someone else to try! I'm thankful she sent me one to try, because not only was it so much fun to make, but the food was absolutely delicious!

Everyone knows that it takes me forever to try new foods. Prime example - I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I'm all about honesty... last weekend I tried yogurt - yes, you read that correctly... yogurt, for the first time! Ha! So if that gives you a glimpse of what it takes / how long it takes for me to try new foods, you'll be extremely proud of all of the combos and new ingredients that I tried this past weekend while making the meals that I prepared from my first Blue Apron box.

I want to first explain how Blue Apron works, and then in the upcoming weeks, I'll post pictures and step-by-step instructions for each of the meals that were part of my first box, and of any that I'll order again in the future!

I love cooking and love finding new recipes. One of the setbacks I often run into is that I'm either so picky (so I like to stick with the recipes and foods that I already know and love that I've made numerous times) or I easily become overwhelmed with ingredient lists. When I say overwhelming ingredient lists, I mean that either it's a long list of ingredients or it's an unfamiliar ingredient/food that I'm not use to cooking with. Often with new recipes, you'll only need a small size or portion of something that you have to buy in it's whole state, leaving the remaining amount to go to waste. Example - one of my recipes from this weekend had ginger root in it. If I came across a recipe that called for a small amount of ginger root, and I had to buy a whole ginger root from the store, I'd know automatically that the remainder of the unused ginger root would go to waste, and that I'd most likely throw the rest out, not having use for it for additional meals. I hate to waste anything - so in scenarios like the above, I'd probably just avoid the recipe altogether so that I wasn't being wasteful of both money and the ginger root itself. Also - I've never made anything with ginger root, so that can also become a little intimidating if you haven't prepared dishes using a certain food before. Another example is that one of my recipes had a Miso Glaze in it - I have no idea where I'd find that! (I mean, I could definitely search for it, and I'm sure I'd eventually find it; but for me, saving time is precious and Blue Apron made everything so easy and convenient).

So other than convenience and forcing myself to try new things, what else was so great about my Blue Apron experience?

- You receive every single ingredient that you need to make your dishes (except for things that you'll always have in your house - like water, olive oil or pepper). I was a little skeptical at first wondering how fresh everything would stay while being mailed to me, or how the ingredients would keep up all week once I received them if I planned on spreading the meals out during the week, and I was pleasantly surprised! Everything was so fresh and packaged so well that it looked like I had just picked everything up from the grocery store. (Actually, to be honest - it looked even more fresh than some of the produce and ingredients that I get from the grocery store). They purchase all of their seasonal premium ingredients from artisinal purveyors (and you can review the list of each of them from their website to know exactly where and which farms the ingredients are coming from).

- You pick the recipes/dishes that you'd like for each of your boxes! When you create an account, you set your meal preferences - what types of food you like, dislike, and things that you are interested in trying. Depending on the membership you select, you get a set number of meals that you receive for each box. For my box, it included 3 meals to feed two people each. The week before your box is set to be delivered, you can log in to your account and choose from the list of meals that week to select which ones you'd like to be sent. Each meal is between 500-700 calories and takes about 35 minutes prepare (so you're getting a great gourmet meal without the long and complicated gourmet cooking experience and price you'd pay at a nice restaurant). Each box comes with a recipe card with step-by-step photo instructions on how to prep and cook the meal.

- Flexible Plans. When you sign up, it will automatically enroll you in receiving a new box each week. You pick the day of the week that you want it delivered, and you can skip any week that you don't wish to receive a delivery (at no penalty). We're extremely busy and are always running from one event or work commitment to another, or are away for weekends at a time - so this is great for families like ours that are just all over the place constantly! 

- Cost. There are options that you can choose from - either the 2-Person Plan (3 meals to feed 2 people) or the Family Plan (your choice of 4 or 2 meals to feed up to 4 people). If I were to receive the same box that was sent to me on Friday, it'd be the 2-Person Plan box for $59.94/week (which comes to approximately $9.99/person per meal). After I cooked all three meals and realized how incredible they were, I'd have absolutely no problem paying $9.99 for a dish that I'd absolutely spend over $30 each for, if I were to order the same dish from a nice restaurant. Also, to be honest, we don't really eat out at restaurants often. We typically go for special occasions or for a nice treat every once in a while, but we prefer eating at home and making our meals together. Because we already don't spend much on eating out at restaurants and the fact that we have constant busy schedules, I'd probably set up my upcoming orders to be delivered every other week, or maybe even every 3 weeks. Whatever I decide, I'm absolutely looking forward to the nice occasional treat that I can get 3 amazing meals from for less than the price we'd pay at a restaurant for one meal out together!

Overall, I really enjoyed making the meals from my first box. Not only was it fun to cook new things, but also it forced me to try new foods and ingredients that I wouldn't normally try (something that is one of my new years resolutions for 2015!) 

In the upcoming week(s), I will share pictures and instructions from the meals from Blue Apron that I make and so far, I've enjoyed all of your questions about my experience! Hopefully each of you that have already inquired and placed orders to relieve your first box, will like it as much I have so far!

Stay tuned for future Blue Apron posts! :)

Baked Chicken topped with Crab Imperial

Crab imperial was one of the first dishes that I learned how to make. Chicken is always easy to make and I grew up eating a lot of crab - so this dish was extremely easy to learn and perfect! You can serve it by itself with crackers as an appetizer, serve it as a side for dinner, or use it to dress up any dish. Here's the recipe for one of my favorite dinners - Baked Chicken topped with Crab Imperial :)

Ingredients:

- 4 to 6 chicken breasts

- 1 lb crab meat, rinsed and drained

- 4 tbsp. mayonnaise

- Old Bay seasoning

Directions:

First, combine the crab meat and mayonnaise to make the crab imperial. Sprinkle with Old Bay.

Place your chicken in a Pyrex baking dish. 

Sprinkle the chicken with Old Bay for a nice base coat of seasoning.

Next, you're ready to top your chicken breasts with crab imperial. 

Using a spoon, begin adding the crab imperial to the tops of the chicken.

Sprinkle your dish one last time with Old Bay and bake on 350 for 40 minutes.

Here was my final dish - so delicious! Hope you enjoy!

DIY Craft: Making Your Own Coasters

I've been waiting to try this project for months! I've had all of the supplies ready but things have been so busy lately that I haven't had enough 'down time' to devote to crafting! This past weekend my girlfriend Alison and I finally sat down to make these coasters!

Supplies:

- 10 Acrylic Bathroom Tiles
- Scrapbook Paper
- Mod Podge
- Acrylic Coating / Sealant Spray
- Felt Pads
- Paper Cutter / Scissors

The only items that I needed to purchase for this craft that I didn't already have were the bathroom tiles, acrylic sealant spray and felt pads. The tiles I found online though Home Depot (click here). They do not carry them in-store, so I had them delivered to my local store so that I didn't have to pay for shipping. I ordered the tile in White Ice, but they carry a variety of colors that you can choose from if you wanted to make your coasters more bold. The acrylic sealant spray, I picked up at my local Michaels store with a 50% off coupon. The felt pads I picked up from TJMaxx for a few dollars cheaper than what I found them on Amazon for.

For any crafts that include Mod Podge or anything sticky, I like to use a big piece of cardboard as my "work station" so that I don't mess up any of my counter tops or my glass-top kitchen table.

Directions:

Gather all of your materials and pick the scrapbook paper that you want to use for the design of the coasters. Alison and I opted to make each coaster a different design - and I'm so happy with how they turned out!

First, we traced a tile on each of our scrapbook pages. After cutting them out, we used the paper cutter (to ensure clean straight cuts) to trim about a quarter of an inch from each side. Once you're done cutting each of the papers for the tiles, you're ready to start sticking them to the tiles.

Here are the designs that I chose for my coasters:

Here are the designs that Alison chose for her coasters:

First, spread Mod Podge over the tops of the tiles.

Next, you're ready to stick your pre-cut piece of scrapbook paper on top.

Once you're pressed the paper on the tile firmly, apply 2-3 coats of Mod Podge over the paper.

Wait approximately 20 minutes to let the tiles dry. Once they've dried, you're ready to spray them with the Acrylic Spray. Spray a few coats of acrylic sealant on the tops of the coasters and let dry in a room-temperature location. (Don't leave them outside to dry in colder temperatures).

Once they've dried, you're ready to place the felt pads on the bottom of the tiles. You can use rectangular shaped felt pads for the bottom; however, I chose to use the regular-sized circle pads because they were more cost-effective. Place a felt pad on each of the corners of the tiles.

Once your felt pads are on, they're done! :) 

Here are our finished products - I love they way they turned out!

I feel like they add the perfect pop of design and color to our living room!