Happy Halloween! Double Chocolate Chip Witch Cookies

Happy Halloween Eve! This is one of my favorite childhood holidays. My mom would transform our house into a haunted masterpiece, complete with a graveyard and spooky treats (that tradition is still alive even though I'm not there :)). 

You all have probably seen witch hat cookies before. Usually the recipe calls for the Keebler Fudge Striped Cookies, but why use those when you can use a homemade double chocolate chip cookie instead! I decided to switch the recipe up, so try my double chocolate chip witch hats this Halloween! 

Double Chocolate Chip Witch Cookies
Recipe by: The Cheerful Cook
Total time: 1 hour 
Serves: 24-30 cookies 

Double Chocolate Chip Cookie *Recipe adapted from Real Simple's Double Chocolate Chip Cookies 
Ingredients 
1/2 cup salted butter, softened 
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 bag dark chocolate chips (11.5 oz bag)
30 chocolate kisses, unwrapped
Colored icing of choice 

Directions 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a mixer, cream butter, 1/2 cup sugar, and brown sugar on high speed. Once mixed, add egg and vanilla on medium speed. 
2. Meanwhile, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. 
3. Add dry mixture to butter mixture and beat on low speed. Once all ingredients are incorporated, fold in dark chocolate chips. 
4. Roll cookie dough into balls and coat in remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a separate bowl. Once completely covered in sugar, place cookie dough ball on parchment-lined baking sheet. 
5. Bake cookies until set, about 10-12 minutes. 
6. Immediately after removing cookies from oven, place chocolate kisses in the center of each cookie to set (this will flatten the cookies). Allow the cookies to cool on pan for maximum of 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack. 
7. When completely cooled, add embellishment such as green icing ribbon I added above. 

Time to Hydrate!

 

This week in nutrition the focus has been WATER! Time to hydrate! Most of don't know exactly why water is so important for our bodies. Water is known as the universal solvent--it is able to dissolve all the different nutrients you eat everyday. The human body is 50-70% water, wow!, now you can see why water is important. 

Within the body, water serves many critical functions (from Contemporary Nutrition A Functional Approach): 

• It is the medium in which bodily chemical reactions take place 
• Distributes nutrients to the cells in the body
• Removes waste products from cells 
• Lubricates joints
• Moistens many body system tracts, as well as the eyes and skin
• Maintains body temperature
• Maintains blood volume since it is a major component of blood 

Keep in mind that the daily adequate intake of water for women in 2.7 liters, and 3.7 liters for men. Besides drinking tap or bottled water, water can be easily consumed by drinking other liquids, such as coffee, and eating numerous fruits and vegetables. 

Try these naturally flavored waters to increase your water consumption--who knew water could be so delicious! 

Fab Flavored Water

Recipe by: The Cheerful Cook

Total time: 5 minutes

Serves: Many

Citrus Water

Ingredients

Oranges 

Limes

Lemons

Directions

1. Fill pitcher or glass with ice water. Thinly slice oranges, limes, and lemons. 

2. Drop into water and serve. 

Strawberry-Lime Mint Water

Ingredients

Strawberries, sliced in half

Limes

Fresh mint, without stems

Directions

1. Fill pitcher or glass with ice water. Cut strawberries in half, and limes into slices. Remove mint leaves from stems. 

2. Drop ingredients into water and serve. 

*Tip: For stronger fruit flavor, allow the water to infuse in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 

*Sources: Contemporary Nutrition, A Functional Approach by Wardlaw, Smith, and Collene 

Love your Vitamins and Minerals? Eat Kale.

Kale is one of those greens that has become the newest fad in recipes and grocery stores. It's no wonder everyone is loving kale, since it is an essential source of many antioxidant nutrients, anti-inflammatory nutrients, and anti-cancer nutrients. 

Vitamins are the theme of the week: your mom always told you to take a multi-vitamin daily, but why not eat delicious kale chips as well? Vitamins are important compounds that support chemical reactions in the body, such as metabolism and nerve function. Kale chips contain both fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamins dissolve readily in fat but not in water, and include vitamins A, D, E, and K. Water-soluble vitamins readily dissolve in water, and include B vitamins and vitamin C. Both types are essential to good health. 

Adequate intake of minerals is also important. Minerals allow the body to carry out chemical reactions, especially using enzymes, and are components of important body structures, such as bones. Some minerals present in kale include calcium, copper, iron, phosphorous and magnesium. 

As you can see, kale is a power green! Try these kale chips to boost your vitamins and minerals! 

Kale Chips

Recipe by: The Cheerful Cook

Total time: 25 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients 

5-6 cups Kale, stems removed

Olive oil

Kosher salt, pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

2. Rinse kale and remove leaves from stem. Cut leaves into strips about 1/2 inch wide and 2 inches long. Tip: buy pre-cut kale in bag, saves you this step!

3. Lay kale on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. 

4. Bake 20 minutes until crispy, turning kale after 10 minutes. 

Sources: "Kale," from www.whfoods.com, and Contemporary Nutrition: A Functional Approach by Wardlaw, Smith and Collene.  

Pumpkin Pancakes

What could be better than combining pumpkin and breakfast? Every fall, I always look forward to eating pumpkin pancakes at the local brunch cafe in my college's town. This year, I decided to make some of my own pumpkin pancakes. Cheer up a fall morning with a warm stack of these flapjacks topped with maple syrup. 

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Pumpkin Pancakes 

Recipe by: The Cheerful Cook 

Total time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients 

2 cups Bisquick 

1 1/4 cup milk

1 egg

1/2 cup pumpkin puree 

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

3 tablespoons sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat large, greased skillet. 

2. Mix Bisquick, milk, egg, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. 

3. Drop batter onto skillet and cook for about 3 minutes, flipping halfway.

Making Healthy Choices: Ice Cream

This week's nutrition theme is learning to make healthy choices, even if that choice is ice cream :) Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too? Before buying products in the grocery store, it is important to read labels and understand what the product is made of as well as the caloric and fat content of the product. By making mental notes like these before purchasing, you can control your calorie intake and stay on track. 

Take Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie for example...Ben & Jerry's makes Chocolate Fudge Brownie in both regular ice cream and in frozen yogurt. Let's compare nutrition labels: 

Chocolate Fudge Brownie (Regular)
Calories: 270
Total fat: 13g
Saturated fat: 8g
Carbs: 32g
Sugar: 28g
Protein: 5g

Chocolate Fudge Brownie (Froyo)
Calories: 180
Total fat: 2.5g
Saturated fat: 1.5g
Carb: 35g
Sugar: 25g
Protein: 5g

Focus on the difference in calories, total fat and saturated fat...BIG DIFFERENCE! For weight management it is important to choose foods lower in fat and calories. So the winner in this test is obviously the froyo version of Chocolate Fudge Brownie. 

Many of us may not want to sacrifice taste for fewer calories or less fat, but after tasting both flavors, I must say the froyo version is on par with the original flavor. 

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

IT'S OCTOBER! What does that mean? PUMPKIN! I think pumpkin-flavored treats may be one of my favorite things about fall. Make these delicious cookies to kick off your fall season.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Recipe by: The Cheerful Cook, adapted from Allrecipes.com Iced Pumpkin Cookies 

Total time: 30 minutes 

Serves: 16-20 cookies 

Ingredients 

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 cup butter softened 

1 1/2 cups white sugar 

1 cup canned pumpkin 

1 egg 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 cup cinnamon sugar roasted pecans 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. 

2. In another medium bowl, mix butter, pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract until creamy. 

3. Once mixed, add in dry ingredients. 

4. Drop dough onto greased cookie sheet, top with 3-4 pecans, and bake 15 minutes or until baked through (trick: since these cookies have a cake-like texture, use the toothpick test). 

5. Cool cookies on wire rack for 5 minutes. 

Red Curry Lentils

Today's theme is plant-based proteins. Protein, protein, protein...it seems as if our society is obsessed with protein but fears carbs. Regardless, people do need to learn to regulate their protein intake because high or excessive intake of protein isn't beneficial to health. The RDA (recommended daily allowance) for protein has been set at 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram that we weigh. Protein can be used as a source of energy since it provides 4 kcals of energy per gram, but it is also used by the body for blood clotting, cell repair, hormone and enzyme production, blood and fluid balance, and visual processes.

Protein is made up of amino acids, which are the monomers (building blocks) used to form proteins in the body. The body needs 20 different types of amino acids to function. There are 9 essential amino acids which the body cannot make, and therefore, need to be consumed in food. The other 11 amino acids are non-essential, meaning they can be made by the body.

It is important to consider plant-based proteins since they are usually lower in calorie than meat-based proteins, and also provide other nutrients such as magnesium, fiber, folate, vitamin E, iron, zinc, and calcium. Lentils are part of the legume family; legumes provide a good source of protein, 5-10 grams, as well as other nutritional benefits: 150 kcal, <1 gram of fat and 5 grams of fiber. 

Try this recipe for red curry lentils to boost your plant-based protein power! 

Red Curry Lentils 
Recipe by: The Cheerful Cook
Total time: 40 minutes
Serves: 8

Ingredients 
2 cups lentils 
Vegetable oil 
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced 
2 tablespoons red curry paste
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon  
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 
1 large can tomato puree (13 oz)

Directions 
1. Rinse lentils with cold water until the water runs clear through the collander. Begin cooking lentils. (I used the stovetop method for this. Put lentils in pot with water just covering the top of the lentils. Bring to a boil and then simmer covered for 25-30 minutes or until tender. More water can be added if necessary.).
2. Chop onion and saute in vegetable oil in large skillet until caramelized. 
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine garlic, ginger, curry paste, curry powder, cumin, tumeric, chili powder, cinnamon, salt and cayenne pepper into a bowl and mix.
4. When the onion has caramelized, add the spice mixture to the skillet and stir for 1-2 minutes on high heat.
5. When finished, stir in tomato puree and reduce the heat to a simmer until the lentils are done. 
6. When lentils are tender, drain the excess water (there should be very little) and add the curry to the lentils. 

Tip: Great served over basmati rice! 

Sources: Protein in the Vegan Diet, The Vegetarian Resource Group and Contemporary Nutrition: A Functional Approach, 3rd Edition by Wardlaw, Smith and Collene.