allrecipes.com's best chocolate chip cookie

These are seriously amazing cookies, and I think I agree that they are the best.
I discovered them in a baking phase maybe 4 years ago and was in complete agreement.
I'm posting a link to the original recipe, along with how I do it differently.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/10813/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/


Preheat oven to 350


you need:
cooking trays

ingredients are:

1 cup softened butter- I use olive oil and I use half a cup
1 cup white sugar- I use half a cup
1 cup packed brown sugar- I use half a cup

With the fat and sugars in recipes I tend to cut them in half and replace them with unsweetened applesauce. I have found that this is a rougly perfect ration to substitute and make changes with.

2 eggs

2 tea spoons vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 tea spoon baking soda

2 teaspoons hot water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips - I was making these and only had semi-sweet chocolate chip mini-morsels, so I used them and I used the entire bag without measuring. Actually really liked it!

1 cup chopped walnuts (I say this is optional. I'll try them out and put an update of how much I like the in here. I'm not a huge nut fan, but I've been changing my mind on them recently).

Follow the recipe, Cream together the sugars and olive oil, plus the applesauce.
Beat the eggs in one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. Dissolve  the baking soda in the hot water, then add with the salt. Stir in the flour (this will take a bit of time and be a bit challenging. Stir in the chocolate chips and optional walnuts.

The recipe says to drop by large spoonfuls on ungreased pans. I have done that and they are amazing.
I however recently bought a cookie dough scoop, so I used that. And I plopped them down on parchment paper.

Bake for 10 minutes.

I really love how they came out.

 

They are soft and fluffy, yet firm. And al the mini-morsels fit so well. I believe the applesauce helped them keep their form from the scoop. I have made chocolate cookies with that same scoop and witout applesauce, they expanded out rathre than up.

Here's what they look like when I only add a couple tablepoons of apple sauce rather than half a cup.

They came out delicious and amazing, just not quite the same. 

Stuffed Peppers

This is a recipe that takes maybe an 1-2 hours of prep time...well if you are making over 6 peppers.
So I tend to make this recipe only when I know I have the time to put ino the prep work, and also when I'm trying to impress someone.

This recipe makes about 12 servings. I repeat, I live with 3 men, it is necessary.
 Preheat oven to 350

Items you will need,
Cutting board
good knife
cast iron skillet (my preference, you can use any large skillet)
wooden spoon
large metal serving spoon
can to drain grease into
dish big enough to put your peppers in to bake them
4 lbs ground turkey
7 stalks of chopped celery (optional but great!)
half a large red onion or an entire medium red onion diced
4 tablespoons diced garlic
salt
bell peppers
pasta sauce  (i use this recipe, you can use whatever you like http://cuisinewithmaureen.blogspot.com/2016/12/tomato-garlic-and-fresh-basil-pasta.html)
rice (optional)
nut of your choice (optional. I have not tried this yet, I just image they would taste great with almonds, cashews or water chestnuts)

Empty your defrostd ground turkey into our skillet
have your grease can and metal spoon at the ready to collect grease
break the meat down with the wooden spoon
some people will season their meat now, just throw some pinches of salt and pepper on it and stir

cut the stems off the tops of the peppers and clean out the insides

dice the onion ( or buy prediced onion, it's okay to cheat sometimes)
rince and shop the celery, cut into small bit size pieces,
I cut eat stalk in half lenghtwise  and then cut into quarter inch pieaces

dice your garlic (or buy prediced garlic)
if you don't have garlic, garlic powder or garlic salt work just fine!!

add these to the meat once you have all the grease drained from the skillet. Stir them all in and add pinch of salt.

Let them until they are a little wilted.

You can cut your peppers in half or leave them as a bowl.
Assemble them in your baking dish.
I actually use 2 baking dishes, a smaller one for my dad who wants nothing to do with tomatoes and a large one for the rest that receivethe sauce.

If you don't have a need to separate the meat, skip this step.
I fill 2 peppers with the sauceless meat, and put a little extra filling in that dish.

I add my pasta sauce to the rest of the filling, making sure it's all well coated, I like to put a bit more in for the flavor. You can add as much as you want.

Add this filling to the peppers. And top them off with a even layer of sauce on top of each.

Put these in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Meat sauce

Follow this recipe.
http://cuisinewithmaureen.blogspot.com/2016/12/tomato-garlic-and-fresh-basil-pasta.html

I basically do the same thing with this as I do with my regular sauce. I would just add more tomatoes. I also had 2 pounds of ground turkey.

So you want to burn your ground turkey and make sure to break it down into small pieces. I use the small end of my wooden spoon to break it down into the tiniest pieaces.
Make sure to drain the grease.
Once this is done, add it into the pasta sauce. You might need to add a 15 oz can of crushed tomoatoes, it sould only have roughly 50mg sodium, which is a good amout compared to others.

Make sure to add a couple more pinches of salt, and add more herbs if you like. The meat tends to absorb the flavors, so add more now.

Simmer for mybe 30 minutes-2 hours. Tasting occasonally.

Tomato, garlic, and fresh basil pasta sauce

So I originally made this over the summer when I decided that I needed a tomato sauce but I refused to get store bought anymore. Too much salt and sugar in those! But I also knew that I needed to run this buy some Italians and get their approval before I posted anything about it.

So normally with cooking something that I've never done before I start with researching various recipes for it. I find what's similar and what I don't want to use that is in some and not others, and then I figure out what I want to do, Which was originally my plan for making tomato sauce. I did not do this. My brother's girlfriend mentioned that she made her own pasta sauce (as far as I'm aware she's not Italian), I asked her if she used a recipe or just winged it. She just winged it and told me the basic things she did. What she used. And I being someone that basically learned everything I know about making pasta sauce from the Italians on Food Network, I had a basic idea of how she did what she did.

I've done this a few times a little different way each time. I have done 3 large batches and 1 small batch because I needed it for my stuffed peppers.

I grab a large pot and drizzle the bottom with olive oil. almost enough to coat the bottom.
I turn the burner on low.
dice up about 3/4 or 1/2 of a red onion. (red onion is key for flavor).
I use a zester to grate in my garlic. about 3-4 cloves. or 3 tablespoons of preminced garlic (cheating can be amazing sometimes).
Stir that up.
I throw in a small can of tomato paste. Find the one with the lowest amount of sodium.
Start chopping up you fresh tomatoes. I use slicing tomotoes because they hold up better under the knife. Throw those in. I use about 10.
Throw in 2-3 tablespoons of salt. Salt to taste.
Throw in a small can of tomato sauce.
A few tablespoons of thyme and oregano.
A handful of ripped up fresh basil.
Let it simmer and stir it. put a lid on.
Wait for the tomatoes to break down.
This will take a few hours.

Taste it every so often to make sure the flavors you want are developing, if not, add a little more or add a pinch more salt. You are in control and can make it how you like. If you have leftovers and mason jars,  jar my sauce, you can too. Put in refrigerator. Still figuring out how many weeks it lasts.

Chicken sausage, veggies with an egg on top

This is a dish that's really easy and I can eat it any time of day.
The hardest part might be cooking the cook sunnyside up.

What you'll need:

2 skillets
wooden spoon
spatula
1-2 eggs ( I prefer 2)
2-3 links of chicken sausage (mine is flavored with sage and thyme)
fresh or frozen veggies. I use broccoli, carrots, cauliflower. You can also throw in zuccini, squash.

A salt for a seasonings (optional) just a small shake or 2
Cheese is a optional.

I grab a large skillet for the sausage and veggies because I need to eat more. A smaller skillet is also perfectly fine.
Spray it with olive oil.
turn the burner on to 3 or 4
I cut open a bag of frozen veggies and pour about half in, sometimes I throw in the whole bag.
Cut up your chicken sausage links. about half an inch. Throw those in.
Stir it all up a bit.

I don't set any timers. So I suggest just checking on it every few minutes and stirring to get a nice even browning on the sausages and the veggies. I also cook with my nose, so once you start to smell it, check it and it's probably done. I cook it until the sausages are browned on both sides because I like that flavor.

Grab a small skillet, spray with olive oil and turn on burner to medium-low,
Grab as many eggs as you want. I'd go somewhere from 1 and 3.
I crack my eggs on the handle of my kettle, but where everyou want.
Carefully open the egg without getting shells inside, and drop the egg as close to the pan as you can, This will help make sure the egg doesn't break upon hitting the pan.
Do the same thing with the other eggs.

Cook the eggs until they are browned along the outside. Don't overcook your eggs, we want them to be runny so that the yoke will make a nice sauce over the sausage and vegetables.

Pour your sausage and vegetables into a bowl and then place egg(s) on top.
OR don't. Tastes just as amazing without the eggs.