Skinny Alfredo

THIS IS IT. The big one you guys!

I have dabbled with a couple different, healthier, homemade alfredo recipes. And I liked them.

But....I LOVE this recipe.

It's so simple to throw together--no weird ingredients, I pretty much always have everything I need for this recipe in my kitchen. It only takes like...10 minutes to make. No lie. AND...this is the big one...MICHAEL APPROVED! He never likes my alfredo recipes, he says they're never creamy enough! But this one he approved of (ok...he would've liked it better with white noodles and no zucchini, BUT he liked the sauce!)

I am completely obsessed and in love with everything to do with this recipe. It is so full of flavor, perfectly creamy, and you can use it on whatever kind of noodles you want. I chose to use whole wheat fettuccine or linguine, and also some zucchini noodles--I'm including instructions on how to make those in the recipe but you can completely do your own thing if you want. I just need to trick myself into eating those veggies whenever I can!

Aren't you guys proud of me?

Yeah, me too. And I'll be proud of you WHEN you go and make this. It'll only take like 10-15 minutes sooo...I'll just be waiting here.

go on. I'll see you soon.

Toffee & Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (Gluten Free)

I made these cookies a couple weeks ago, during yet ANOTHER snowstorm. It was coming down, all gross, and I was fed. up! I seriously....this winter. I can't even handle it. Every time I think "maybe it's done." another snowstorm hits! It makes it SO difficult to get anything done in NYC (laundry when there's snow on the ground? Not happening.) So, I was feeling quite cranky. So, what could I do?

Make cookies. Obviously.

Cookies make every day better, in my opinion. And these TOTALLY did perk me up! Now, one thing to remember when whipping this delicious (one bowl) recipe up--they do need chilled. For at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days. Now, I knew snow was coming, so I made these the night before the storm, so the dough was good to go when I awoke the next morning to just....way too much icy white stuff. It was actually sort of nice that the dough was already ready, I just looked outside, got cranky, then began preheating the oven. Next thing I knew I had cookies!

Mmmmm cookies. Cookies that are just a little bit crisp, but mostly soft and cheeewwwyyyy and gooey in the centers. Cookies FULL of peanut butter flavor (no flour=less to take away from that peanut buttery goodness), with crunchy little bites of toffee, and gooey wonderful bites of rich milk chocolate. Ahh these cookies. Delightful when they are warm from the oven, and matured and complex and perfect at room temperature. 

Now, these cookies you see in my pictures might be a little more brown than yours will be. You see, you're not supposed to use homemade or natural pb in these, it doesn't make for the best texture. And I happened to have a bunch of PB & Co peanut butters hanging around. So...I sort of frankenstein'd it up and used a mix  of honey peanut butter, white chocolate peanut butter, and dark chocolate peanut butter (and that is to blame for the slightly darker color). I would've just used regular peanut butter but hey, either way...DELISH.

And let's not forget that these perfect little treats are gluten free, and I know A TON of people who are off that gluten but cravinggg sweets. Friends, never fear-THESE COOKIES ARE HERE!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oat Muffins {HEALTHY}

Muffins get kind of a bum rap in the breakfast world.

Not that people don't love em...oh no...people LOVE muffins. But everyone says they're not healthy, it's cake for breakfast, sugar, carbs, blah blah blahhhhhh. Well, worry no more my friends! You can eat THESE muffins and not have your annoying best friend who's going to grad school for nutrition and food science giving you a hard time about it (wait...is that just me?). REGARDLESS-muffins. Healthified. Oh yeah.

These muffins taste healthy. But like...in a good way. In a hearty, filling, makes you feel good about yourself kind of way. There are oats, whole wheat flour, Greek yogurt, peanut butter....and....well....ok....chocolate chips. BUT you can omit them if you really want. But like...dark chocolate is an antioxidant. And really, there are NOT a lot of choc chips in this recipe.

Really. Seriously. I'm not kidding. Scout's honor.* (I really was a Girl Scout so you know that's legit.)

The only problem I have when I make muffins is....there's 12. For just me and Michael. And we can each really only eat like 1 a day soooo it's a smidge difficult. But no worries, these beautiful muffins did not go to waste-I gave a few to the parents of a little girl I babysit, and Michael and I managed to finish off the rest. :D

Of course you can always freeze leftover muffins. Or, if you have a big family, do not worry because these will get gobbled up before you know it! Perfect for breakfast or a nice healthy snack!