Ridiculously Easy Chocolate Mousse

This is something i kinda came up with by accident one day. I thought it was mighty brilliant, if i may say so myself. It takes 5 minutes, and it's really just the best thing ever when you need a light fluffy chocolate fix. Plus, made with skim milk and using fat free whipped topping, the whole dessert is less than 200 cals.

• instant chocolate pudding mix (i use Jell-O singles)
• skim milk
  
• cool-whip fat free whipped topping

Make the chocolate pudding as instructed on the box. Then once the pudding has set (5 minutes tops), put one serving of pudding into a pretty cup and add in a few heaping spoonfuls of whipped topping. Fold gently until you get a nice chocolate mousse! Enjoy!

Baguette Pizzas

Something I never get sick of making, especially variations of it, is pizza. And there are so many ways you can interpret pizza because there are so many layers to it: crust, sauce, cheese, toppings. Here is one I made with drew once. We had leftover ricotta and sauce from making calzones (i'll have to post that recipe sometime), so we used the leftovers to make these little baguette pizzas.

• 1 day old baguette
• olive oil
  
• 1/2 package of ricotta
• pizza sauce
• whatever italian-ish herbs you have on hand
• whatever topping you want
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Okay, so this is not a very complicated recipe. You probably already get the point. Here are the directions anyway, with some tips that helped me when I made them.

1. Preheat oven to 375F
   
2. slice baguette into slats. [tip: cutting them on an angle gives you more surface area. so from the side they should be more like parallelograms]
   
3. brush flat surface of baguette slices with olive oil.
4. mix ricotta with salt and pepper, add herbs, like oregano or basil [tip: reserve some of the herbs for garnish later]
5. Put a spoonful of pizza sauce on baguette.
6. Put a few globs of cheese on it next.
7. Layer it with whatever toppings you desire (we used maple honey ham and fresh mozzerella) [tip: gluing down the toppings with a little more cheese helps keep it in place]
   
8. Bake on cookie sheet for about 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese has a little brown edge to it.
   
9. Garnish with remaining herbs.

Here is what ours looked like when we were done:

These would be great as appetizers too. We just ate like 7 of these each and called it dinner :)

Lemon Chicken Pasta

This is a great dish for the summer. It has a light, citrus-y taste that is wonderful on a hot day. If you have fresh herbs (i have one little oregano plant and a basil plant, and both contributed a few leaves for this recipe), it tastes excellent as garnish.

• 5 oz pasta, tube pasta like mostacchioli or penne works best
• 4 oz chicken breast
  
• salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, italian seasoning
• 1 lemon
• olive oil
• 1/2 small onion
• a few cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan
  
• fresh herbs, like oregano, basil, and/or parsley
  

1. Boil pasta.
   
2. While that's going on, season your chicken with the seasonings above, or whatever you like to season your chicken with. those are just suggestions.
3. Grill chicken. I used a george foreman. Then slice into chunks.
   
4. Put olive oil in skillet, bring to medium low heat. Sweat the onions and garlic until golden.
5. Throw in chicken, bring the heat up a little and stir.
6. Add cooked pasta. Remove from heat. Add parmesan cheese.
   
7. Squeeze the juice of one lemon into the skillet, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Garnish with herbs.
   

Serves 2. Enjoy!

Milkshake smoothie

A few weekends ago, my roommates from college and I had our annual reunion. We basically get together once a year, catch up on each other's lives, take a million pictures, and eat ravenously. Two nights in a row, Sidney made this delicious drink. It's wonderful, i'm totally hooked on these. Not only is it simple, but it's actually very healthy and has the texture of a milkshake. What more could you possibly want?

• 1 frozen banana
  
• 1 cup milk (i use skim)
• 1 packet of hot chocolate mix

Blend! Serves 2. 155 cals per serving.

A few tips: i know it's a DUH statement, but you should peel the banana before putting it in the freezer. also, it might help if you cut it up into ice cube-sized pieces first.

Enjoy!

[This recipe comes from Sidney's friend, but i forgot which friend it was]

Cream Cheese Frosting

Multi-purpose cream cheese frosting that would go great with Apple Cake.

• 1 pkg. (3 ounce) cream cheese, softened
  
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
  
• Pinch of salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Mix and spread!

Apple Cake

This is a recipe from Lindsey, my childhood friend from Kirkton Avenue. We were chatting online recently, and found we're both into cooking. Here is one she sent me that sound absolutely divine.

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsps cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 4 cups diced peeled apples
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Beat eggs until light and fluffy.
   
2. Gradually add sugar, oil and vanilla.
   
3. Into a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir into first mixture.
   
4. Stir in apples and walnuts.
   
5. Put in greased or floured 13x9x2-inch baking pan and bake at 350° for 45 minutes.
   
6. Let cake cool in pan on a rack for 10 to 15 minutes.
   
7. Spread apple cake with cream cheese frosting.

Yum! I'll bet it's delicious served warm and paired with black espresso. Drool...

Waffles

I've tried a lot of different waffle recipes, but I think this one is my favorite because I don't have to make the dough the night before to let it rise, and i just love the way it's very fluffy and not as dense and clog-your-heart as other recipes i've seen.

• 1 3/4 cup flour (whole wheat is best)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 3 eggs
• 7 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups milk

1. Separate eggs. Make sure the egg white are in clean, oil free mixing bowl and that NO YOLK gets in.
2. Beat whites until gloriously foamy.
3. Beat all the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl.
   
4. Fold the mixture in with the foamed egg whites. A rubber spatula works best for folding.
5. Waffle iron it!

I have a standard waffle iron and I get 14 waffles. 276 calories for 2 waffles.