Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie

2/3 old fashioned oats (ground, I used my super blender to do this but I guess you can keep it as is if you can't grind it)

2 Tbsp ground flaxseed

1 cup whole white wheat flour (trader joe's has it)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup canola oil (i used butter)

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 large egg

1/3 cup granulated sugar (I used raw turbinado sugar from trader joe's)

1/3 cup brown sugar (I used raw turbinado sugar from trader joe's)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

-Preheat oven to 350

-Mix dry ingredients in large bowl, add chocolate chips and mix them in

-Mix (or blend in blender) wet ingredients, add to dry ingredients

-Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet

-Bake for 8-10 minutes

Brown rice pasta with pesto

I'm trying to change the way we eat... it's been pretty good so far. Today, I made brown rice pasta for the first time. It's really delicious and much healthier to eat that wheat pasta. I included some of Trader Joe's "Chickenless chicken strips", mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and broccoli.

Ingredients:

3 garlic cloves

1/3 cup pine nuts

3 cups of fresh basil leaves

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

salt to taste

1 cup heavy cream or half & half

1 cup of chopped broccoli

1/2 cup of sundried tomatoes

1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms

1 lb package of brown rice pasta of your choice

-boil pasta according to package instructions and reserve about 2 cups of pasta water.

-In your food processor, combine garlic and pine nuts, pulse a few times. Add basil and pulse, then slowly start to drizzle in the olive oil while the food processor is on, add the cheese and a bit of salt, pulse to combine.

-In the pot you intent to combine everything in, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, add mushrooms and saute for a few minutes, then add broccoli and sundried tomatoes. Add pesto mixture, and then add a cup of heavy cream. Add about a cup of the pasta water.

-Bring mixture to boil, then add pasta and chickenless chicken. Heat through and serve!

Enjoy with some freshly ground black pepper and an extra sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Chocolate covered dates

8 Large Majdool dates

6 cubes of 72% dark chocolate (I use the one pound chocolate bar from Trader Joe's)

16 roasted almonds

shredded coconut for decoration

-Melt the chocolate in a double boiler

-Meanwhile, slice dates open, remove pits, and place two almonds inside. Squeeze date closed.

-When chocolate has melted, let stand for 5 minutes then start rolling dates in it... coat dates with chocolate and sprinkle with some coconut.

-Place dates on parchment paper and freeze for about an hour before serving

enjoy

Oven Baked Haddock

1.5 pounds of haddock fillets (I get the wild kind from Costco)

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp salt

for the coating combine:

1/2 cup of plain bread crumbs

1 tsp thyme

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup melted butter

-preheat oven to 500 degrees

-wash the fish in cool water, dry with paper towels

-combine milk and salt, dip fillet into milk mixture, then into bread crumbs mixture

-lay onto greased cookie sheet or any baking pan of your choice

-drizzle melted butter onto coated fish fillets

-place in oven and bake on top rack for 15 minutes or until desired "doneness" is reached

I usually make mashed potatoes next to this and some sautéed baby spinach, steamed broccoli, or grilled asparagus

enjoy! :)

Oven baked chicken

We're trying to limit our meat consumption these days, but this is a great recipe for chicken night ;) very easy as well

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
2. Mix the mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, and garlic powder. Place bread crumbs in a separate bowl. Dip chicken into the mayonnaise mixture, then into the bread crumbs to coat. Arrange coated chicken on a baking sheet.
3. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken juices run clear and coating is golden brown.

Vegetarian Asian Stir Fry

The most time consuming part about making this dish is chopping all the veggies. Once you start cooking it'll take about 15 minutes for everything to be ready :)

Ingredients:

1 Onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon of minced ginger

salt & pepper (to taste)

soy sauce

oyster sauce

water

2 or 3 stems of Broccoli, chopped

4 medium carrots, sliced

1 large zucchini, sliced

1/2 a small cabbage, sliced

1/2 cup of roasted cashew nuts

-Coat your wok or saute pan with olive oil, add onion and saute until wilted. Add garlic and ginger, and saute for a few seconds then start adding your veggies.

(I like to add one veggie at a time, starting with the hardest. I usually add the broccoli at the very end because we like it crispy.)

-Start by adding the carrots, when they start to cook add the cabbage and zucchini. After a couple of minutes add the broccoli and start adding the sauces and sal& pepper (to your desired taste), add some water (about half a cup).

-You can add some precooked whole grain spaghetti at this point and stir it in for a minute or two. Or you can serve this with some brown or white rice.

Enjoy :)

Butternut Squash Soup

Nothing better to warm us up in the winter than a delicious soup!

Ingredients:

1 Butternut Squash, peeled and cubed

1 large onion, diced

1 cup red lentils, washed

1 small potato, shredded

3 carrots, shredded

3 sticks of celery, minced

olive oil

water

salt

pepper

Directions:

-Coat the bottom of your soup pot with olive oil. Heat it and then saute the onions, once onions start to brown, add the lentils, potatoes, carrots, and celery. Saute for a few minutes then add the butternut squash and saute for another 1-2 minutes.

-add water enough to cover all ingredients, bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

-Once veggies are cooked (after about 20 minutes or less), pour soup into your blender and blend until smooth. Return to pot and let simmer for a few minutes until the soup is heated through again. Give it a taste and see if you need to add any salt or water.

Enjoy :)

Spinach Lasagna

Ingredients:

1/2 Package of Pre-cooked Spinach lasagna

1/2 cup of flour

1/2 liter of milk

1/2 cup of oil or 1 stick of butter (melted)

a small bunch of fresh spinach, washed and coarsely chopped. (I only use the leaves)

1/4 kilo of ground beef

1 can of tomato sauce

salt & pepper

small onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

olive oil

shredded mozzarella or any cheese of your choice

-start off by preparing the tomato sauce:

in saucepan saute the onion and garlic in a few tablespoons of olive oil, when onions are start to get golden add the meat, add salt and pepper. When meat has cooked through add the tomato sauce and a quarter cup of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes. Add italian seasoning if you like. Your sauce is now ready.

-Next you'll have to make the béchamel sauce:

Melt the butter in a saucepan (or heat the oil), add the flour and whisk together well. Add milk gradually, stirring after each addition. The milk should thicken as it gets heated through before you add more. Keep adding until the sauce reaches a creamy consistency. Add salt to taste. Your béchamel sauce is now ready :)

-Next, in a small pyrex (half the size of the 13x9 standard)... place a layer of lasagna (my tray only takes two sheets of lasagna per layer), then put a layer of the red sauce, drizzle some white sauce on top, a bit of cheese, some chopped spinach and then top with another layer of lasagna sheets. Keep doing this until you run out of ingredients or space in your tray! :)

Bake in a 180 degree oven (celsius) for 45 minutes.

Enjoy! :)

P.S: top layer of lasagna should not be covered with additional lasagna sheets. Just pour the remaining sauces and cheese on top.

Lentils & Bulgur (a.k.a. مجدرة "mjaddarah")

A healthy vegetarian meal that is protein rich!

Ingredients:

1 cup brown lentils

olive oil

chopped onion

1 tsp cumin, ground

salt

1 cup whole wheat bulgur

-Wash lentils. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan, add onions, saute till golden then add the lentils, cumin and a teaspoon of salt.

-Add water, enough to cover lentils by a couple of inches. Bring to boil, place lid on pot and let boil on medium/low heat for 15 minutes. Lentils should be "almost" cooked at the end of the 15 minutes. You don't want them to be cooked all the way through because they will cook again with the bulgur. They should have a slight bite to them but not too hard either.

-Pour lentils into a strainer, save the water so you can use it again to cook the bulgur.

-Place lentils back in the saucepan, combine with bulgur. Add a teaspoon of salt. Add 2 cups of water (use same cup you used to measure both bulgur and lentils). Bring to boil, then place lid and simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until bulgur and lentils are cooked.

This dish is best enjoyed with a finely chopped salad (tomato, cucumber, lettuce, and parsley). Or with plain yogurt.

Optional: Fry some sliced onions in oil until crispy, use as topping.

(this amount will make enough for two adults and two small children)

Enjoy! :)

P.S: sometimes I like the lentils to be less in quantity than the bulgur. So I use 1 1/2 cups of bulgur instead of 1 cup. If you want to do that just make sure you double the water amount in the final cooking stage. So 1 1/2 cups of bulgur need 3 cups of water.

Musakhan wraps

The quick and light way to make home-made musakhan! :)

Ingredients:

-4 chicken cutlets, sliced into thin strips

-olive oil

-Summaq

-salt & pepper

-3 large onions, sliced

-3 large loaves of "shrak" bread-the large thin round bread popular here in Jordan.

-Heat olive oil in pan, add chicken and fry at medium heat until chicken is opaque.

-Add onions, cook until onions and chicken start to brown. Add salt, pepper, and summaq to taste (for this amount I usually add about 3 tablespoons of Summaq). Saute for another 5 minutes then turn off heat.

-Spread a third of the mixture into the bread and wrap well. Cut each wrap in half and place in a sandwich press for a crispy/hot wrap.

enjoy! :)

Oven fries

The healthy and easy way to have fries :)

Ingredients:

olive oil

4 medium potatoes, cut anyway you like (I prefer wedges but you can slice them into circles as well)

salt & pepper

-Preheat oven to 220 degrees celsius

-Brush cookie sheet with a thin layer of olive oil

-Line fries on cookie sheet on their side making sure each one touches the pan

-brush top of potatoes with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper

-Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until bottoms are golden and crispy

-Broil until top is golden/crispy

enjoy! :)

Coconut Macaroons

This is a quick and easy dessert.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups coconut

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sugar

- Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius

-Brush cookie sheet with a layer of vegetable oil/butter or line it with parchment paper (so the macaroons don't stick to the pan)

-Beat the egg with the vanilla well then add the sugar and mix. Add coconut and mix until incorporated.

- Scoop batter with tablespoon measure and place on cookie sheet a couple of inches apart.

-Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes

Makes 12 macaroons

Optional:

You can melt chocolate and drunk the bottom of the macaroons, lay on parchment paper until chocolate hardens.

Pasta with chicken

I made this recipe as I went along today. It came out really good (alhamdulillah). Sorry I can't provide exact measurements but you kinda have to taste it as you go along and add more of taste enhancers as you see fit :)

Ingredients:

Boiled pasta (I used bow-tie, farfalle), I used one whole package

4 cubed chicken cutlets

broccoli, chopped into small florets

grape tomatoes, halved or quartered (depending on size)

sliced fresh mushrooms

olive oil

2 minced garlic cloves

1 chopped medium onion

-After boiling the pasta, set it aside in a strainer (and save the boiled pasta water if you plan to make a white sauce, recipe below)

-In the same pot, saute the chicken in some olive oil. Once the chicken becomes opaque add the onions and garlic. Saute until onions are cooked then add mushrooms, tomatoes, broccoli, and salt and pepper.

-Once the veggies are cooked add the pasta to the pot and mix well.

Note: You can practically stop at this step, eliminating the white sauce. It tastes nice and light. But if you want a creamy dish, add the following:

for the white sauce:

milk

Pasta water (saved from boiling)

3 tablespoons of flour

3 tablespoons of butter

2 minced garlic cloves

parmesan cheese

-melt butter in saucepan, saute garlic a bit then add flour, mix well with wire whisk. Add milk slowly, mixing well after each addition. You're trying to achieve a creamy sauce that's not too thick or too thin. Once the sauce reaches the consistency you desire, add some garlic powered, parmesan cheese to taste and salt if needed. Add some of the pasta water to use less milk and to thicken the sauce if you need to. Add white sauce to pasta mixture and enjoy! :)

(a fattier version of this is to just saute some garlic in butter then add heavy cream and pasta water until the sauce reaches the consistency you like, it's easier to make but heavier)

Basboosa (a.k.a. Hareeseh)

Ingredients:

2 cups semolina

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup shredded coconut

2 heaping teaspoons baking powder

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup yogurt (or milk)

sliced or slivered almonds

Syrup ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/8 cups sugar (i'm halving the original recipe so please excuse the 1/8 )

few drops of lemon juice

Instructions:

for the syrup:

-in a sauce pan, bring wanter and sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar desolves completely. Once mixture starts boiling add a few drops of lemon juice and turn off heat. Let sit at room temperature. Syrup must be at room temperature before it's added to the hot basboosa (I usually make it a few hours ahead or even the night before)

Basboosa:

-Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (or 350 fahrenheit)

-Mix semolina, sugar, shredded coconut and baking powder together, then add melted butter and yogurt. Mix well and spread in 9x13 ungreased pan, press firmly and evenly into pan. Spread almonds as desired (don't put too many or the basboosa won't brown).

-Let sit for about 15 minutes then place in preheated oven. bake for 30 minutes or until sides are lightly browned. Broil for a minute or two until you get a nice golden color (sometimes you might not need to broil, it depends on your oven).

-Take out of oven and pour syrup evenly on top of it. The syrup will seem like a lot at first but the basboosa will soak it all up within minutes. Leave it to cool and enjoy! :)

Lazy Cake (a.k.a. Mosaic cake)

Ingredients:

• 32 Rectangular tea biscuits, coarsely crushed (I usually use the ulker brand)
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
• 6 tbsp Powdered sugar
• 6 tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Instructions:

• Mix sweetened condensed milk, sugar, melted butter and cocoa until smooth. Add mixture to biscuits.
• Form mix into log or press into loaf pan that has been lined with plastic wrap. Secure the log, and press to combine very well and wrap. Cover with more wrap and freeze for at least 1 hour.
  
  P.S.: You can also add 100 grams of melted bakers chocolate to the mix to make it more chocolatey

No-fry eggplant parmigiana

Large eggplant, sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices, skin on

bread crumbs seasoned with salt and pepper

egg-wash (scramble an egg into a bowl with some milk and salt)

olive oil

Pasta sauce (made your way)

Shredded Mozzarella cheese

-Coat baking sheet with olive oil.

-Dip eggplant into eggwash, the coat with bread crumbs. Place in baking sheet. Spray top of eggplant with olive oil. You can also not coat the pan and just dip the eggplant very lightly in olive oil before laying it in the pan.

-Place baking sheet in middle of oven. Turn on the broiler and broil until golden.

-Layer the eggplant with a little bit of tomato sauce, and cheese then bake for about 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

Enjoy with some pasta.

Pizza dough

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tsp. dry active yeast

1/4 tsp. sugar

2 TBs warm water

-Start off by mixing the yeast and sugar into the warm water. I usually use a mug for this then put it in a dark place (cupboard) for about 20 minutes. The yeast will at least double or triple in size.

-Mix the flour and salt together, then add the oil and yeast mixture. Knead dough well, you may need to add a bit of extra warm water if it's too dry but be careful only add one tablespoon at a time so your dough doesn't become too sticky.

-Cover the dough with a moist towel and let it sit for half an hour, the longer the better. It will double in size.

-Spread the dough into a greased pan (I usually use a cookie sheet). Let it sit for another 15 minutes it will rise a bit more. Add your toppings and bake in the lowest oven rack for about 15 minutes at 400 degree or until the edges are golden.

Note: Bake time really depends on your oven. I used to have an electric oven and I"d back the pizza at 500 degrees for about 9 minutes. It would come out perfect. Now with my gas oven it takes a longer time. Just test it out the first time until you get used to your oven :)

Homemade Hummus

1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans, heated

1 Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs Tahini sauce

1 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup water

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp. salt

Blend and enjoy! :)

Bilyana's Lentil Soup

1 cup red lentils, washed

2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 stick of butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp pepper

- Melt butter in sauce pan, add onions and fry until wilted, then add garlic and stir for a minute. Add tomatoes, when the tomatoes start to cook down a bit (after about 5 minutes) add lentils and stir. Add water (about 3 cups).

-Bring to a boil, then simmer and let cook until the lentils are soft. Add spices.

-Place soup in blender and blend until smooth, return to heat, cook for a few more minutes, add water and salt if needed and serve! :)

This soup is really delicious with some olive oil, lemon, and pita chips.

For the true middle eastern version: Take out the garlic, replace spices (except for salt and pepper) with ground cumin. And replace butter with 1/4 cup olive oil.

Enjoy! :)

Macaroni Salad

3/4 cup Mayo (I prefer using light mayo)

2 TBs vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

8 oz elbow macaronni

red bell pepper, diced

green bell pepper, diced