Spinach "Pesto"

I've never been pesto's biggest fan. In fact, I pretty much hate it on pasta. BUT slap it on some meat and I'm in love. One of my favourite fancy-ish suppers to make includes pesto-stuffed, prosciutto-wrapped chicken breasts. Oh baby. So so so good.

Spaghetti Squash "Lasagna"

I wish I could take credit for this brilliant idea, but unfortunately I can't. I didn't really follow a recipe, but the inspiration did come from this recipe.

First, cut open your spaghetti squash...easier said than done, I know!

Scoop out the seeds and gunk. Don't forget to roast them just like pumpkin seeds - set them aside in a bowl of room temperature water for later.

Drizzle with olive oil or spray with PAM and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake (flesh side down) at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or 400°F for 15-20 minutes if you're impatient like me. Using a fork, scrape the strands out from stem to stem. Dry the strands really well.

Put some of the strands back into the bottom of the squash "shell" - or a casserole dish - and top with a layer of sauce (a layer of cheese or other veggies like a noodle lasagna would be good too). Continue layering the squash strands and sauce until full. I used homemade meat sauce with ground chicken and chicken sausage, but any tomato sauce will work just fine.

Sprinkle with some shredded Mozzarella and bake at 400°F for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese is nice and brown.

Slice it in half and enjoy! Yummy!

How have I never tasted a Whoopie Pie before?!

Oh. My. Gosh! These are delicious. I'm sure any recipe will do...this just happened to be the first one I found, but I'm not a good recipe follower anyway. I used frosting that was leftover from a Thanksgiving carrot cake a few days ago. I almost always use this recipe for frosting.

Sorry for the crappy picture, but I was too busy eating these by the handful (kidding...sorta) to get out my real camera.

Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (I omitted the ginger, but added fresh nutmeg, ground cloves, and allspice)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.For cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or line four baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla extract; beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined. Drop by heaping measuring teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. (A total of 72 cookies are needed for the recipe.)

3.Bake for 10 to 13 minutes or until springy to the touch. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Add a dollop of frosting to the flat side of a cookie & sandwich with a similar sized cookie.

Inside-Out Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oh yea...these are sooooo good!

I had some extra Reese's Pieces on hand from a recent trip to Bulk Barn and 15 minutes before my Hubby had to leave for work so I whipped up these delicious cookies and had them mixed, baked, and packed before he was out of the shower. These are FAST and totally customizable! Don't have Reese's Pieces? Add M&Ms or chocolate chips or PB chips or nuts - whatever!

First, cream together the wet ingredients.

Next, add the dry ingredients. Then, stir in the Reese's Pieces.

Bake 'em up and eat more than you're willing to admit ;) Shoot...am I the only one that does that?

Chocolate Reese's Pieces Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar (or all white sugar)
1 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup Reese's Pieces (I roughly chopped 1/2 of mine & left half whole)

Preheat oven to 350°F line baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

Beat butter, egg, vanilla, and sugars until smooth. Mix in dry ingredients; stir in Reese's Pieces.

Drop by tablespoon onto baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcake and Icing!

Stop what you're doing! You need to go make these right now! I used this recipe for the cupcake and made my own frosting.

You can use store-bought refrigerated cookies, but you have to freeze them before you bake them into the cupcake or they will cook. You can also use homemade cupcakes, but I used a mix to test these. Next time I will use homemade.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting (there's a mouthful)

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 Tbsp brown sugar (don't skip it - this is what gives it the cookie dough flavour)

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

1-2 Tbsp milk (optional)

1/8 cup mini chocolate chips (I used 1 square of unsweetened  chocolate and chopped it up really fine)

Cream together butter and brown sugar. Mix in vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar until frosting reaches desired consistency.

Frost cooled cake/cupcakes & enjoy!