Last-minute holiday recipes for the procrastinator

I've said it time and time again- I am a procrastinator. Not to say I'm proud of it, of course, although sometimes it does feel like quite an accomplishment to sucessfully pull together a last-minute project. So obviously, I put off all my holiday wrapping and baking until the night before I need to have it done. Oops.
Not to fear however- here're two go-to treats that each take about 15 minutes to make, and will be thoroughly appreciated by children. Plus they're relatively mess-free, so if you're really running late you can whip them up in your party outfit right before you leave. (Not that I'd ever recommend piping chocolate in Lanvin.)


QUICK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES:

RECIPE:
*3 cups of chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
*Any topping or filling of your choice- I mixed in some failed toffee that had stuck to the pan and topped it with almonds. Crushed candy canes, walnuts, and jam are all great. You can pretty do whatever for this one.

PREPERATION:
1.) Melt chocolate in microwave for about 1 minute, then mix in filling (optional)
2.) Microwave for another 30 second and stir well
3.) Pipe onto greased cookie sheets, or do as I did and just drop by heaping spoonfuls.

4.) Let chocolate set for 30 seconds and then press topping onto each. Chill for 30 minutes; if you're really pressed for time, pop then in the freezer and you'll be good to go in 10.

PEANUT BUTTER M&M COOKIES:

Simply use this 3-ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe and roll dough into small 1-inch balls, then press an M&M into the center of each.

Banana Orange "Sunshine Smoothie"



I don't know about you, but I start longing for beaches and sunshine approximately 3.5 days after the first snowfall. Honestly, I am a tropical weather girl. In my perfect world, 1 week of fluffy light snowfall a year (ideal for skiing!) is enough. Fall is romantic and summer is bright, but winter and spring are just cold, slogging affairs that drag on and on and on. Plus the weather outside today is gloomy and dark, a strangely wet day for the beginning of winter.

So as another pick-me-up (I seem to require a lot of those lately) I made myself a banana-orange smoothie, also largely due to the fact that bananas and oranges are the only fresh tropical fruits I have on hand right now.

RECIPE:

*1 ripe banana, roughly sliced

*1/2 cup milk

*Juice of 1/2 a fresh orange

*3-4 ice cubes

PREPERATION:

1.) Put everything in blender and blend on high for about 10-15 seconds.

2.) Garnish with wedge of orange if desired and serve.

Easy Holiday Sugar Cookies drizzled with chocolate and almonds

My little brother was apparently craving some basic sugar cookies last night, so we embarked on a late-night baking session. It was really nice to spend some (though slightly rushed) time with him, and I kept everything super basic as per his instructions.
You see, my little brother is a super exact person who at age ten has the meticulousness which makes him obviously destined for some anal profession such as dentistry or accounting, not to say that's a bad thing or to bash on those highly respectable professions since I'm sure I'll be grateful for his dental services in my old age.

These are just your basic sugar cookies which you can either keep simple or go all out and use the recipe as a base for add-ins such as chocolate kisses and pretzel bits, or frost them. I drizzled the top with chocolate and sprinkled on some chopped almonds.
Either way, this recipe is a super easy one that takes only about 15 minutes total to concoct and is also perfect for tackling wayward cravings.

RECIPE: (from allrecipes.com)
*2 3/4 cups flour
*1 teaspoon baking soda
*1/2 teaspoon baking powder
*1 cup butter
*1 cup sugar
*1 egg
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract

CHOCOLATE AND ALMOND TOPPING:
*3 cups of chocolate chips, melted
*About 1/2 cup of almonds (might be less; that's just a guesstimate), chopped

PREPERATION:
1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2.) Sift together dry ingredients
3.) Soften butter and cream together with sugar, egg, and vanilla. Mix in well with the dry ingredients
4.) Roll dough into balls and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden. Set out to cool on wire rack.

5.) When completely cool, drizzle with chocolate and top with almonds.

Granola bars: turned into an awesome pre-workout snack/breakfast!

This is hands-down the simplest, tastiest, and best granola recipe I have ever tried. The saying "the best things are simple" clearly applies to this case. Yum. I've been looking for a granola recipe that's simple and has more of an earthy/oaty taste, and this is it.
It's a great recipe if you (like me) don't have any rice crispie cereal on hand and need a super nutritious and non-processed yet satisfying snack.

They're a great no-bake option as well- just press dough into pan and refridgerate for 60 minutes.

You can add dried fruit, chocolate chips, wheat germ, flaxseed, nuts, other seeds, and such to your granola bars to your taste. I added some wheat germ and chocolate chips, since in my world everything's better with chocolate!

RECIPE: (from howsweeteats.com)
*4 cups rolled oats
*1/2 cup unsalted peanuts, chopped
*3/4 cup natural peanut butter or sunbutter, melted
*1/2 cup brown rice syrup (I used honey and it works gorgeously)

PREPERATION:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2.) Mix all ingredients together and knead until fully incorporated. You may need to add a bit more honey or peanut butter depending on what you added into the granola bar
3.) Press dough firmly into greased pan and bake for about 25 minutes
4.) Take out and let cool

Also...

I crumbled a bar onto half a cup of low fat plain yogurt and added some raspberries and blackberries. Drizzled it with some honey and voila! The perfect pre-workout snack!

Just looking at this makes me happy ;p

Cilantro Lime rice

I had some leftover rice from yesterday, so I decided to make some cilantro lime rice (as the title implies.) This classic recipe has become quite well-known to anyone who has been to a Chipotle burrito place. The acidic hint of lime is balanced out with the softer tones of cilantro, and the whole thing is just delicious. My little brother loves this recipe as much as he loves Chipotle (which is a LOT) and I make it whenever I feel like adding a little zing to my plain rice but am tired of regular greasy fried rice.

It makes a great complement to a burrito as well as a nice side dish, and can be served on it's own as well. Of course, I had to check out how the original recipe went from the source itself at chipotlefan.com, and found the ingredients to be super simple. Pretty much just throw in whatever you want, just keep a watch on the lime juice because a little goes a long way on that front.

RECIPE: (from the original source)
*1 teaspoon vegetable oil or butter
*2 tsp. fresh cilantro
*2/3 cup white basmati rice (pretty much any rice will do)
*1 cup water
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*1 Lime

PREPERATION: (If you have pre-cooked rice like I did, just stir-fry everything in a skillet)
1.) In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil or butter over low heat, stirring occasionally until melted.
2.) Add rice and lime juice, stir for 1 minute.
3.) Add water and salt, bring to a full rolling boil. At boiling, cover, turn down to simmer over low heat until rice is tender and the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork.

Halloween cookies- Nutella to the rescue!

Making homemade treats for kids on Halloween is a time-honored tradition that this year, I've decided to join in myself.
Originally, I had planned on making chocolate "Mummy" cookies with M&M eyes, and bloody marshmallow treats. However, when I checked the pantry today, there was no cocoa powder and no grape juice! I was strapped for time and in need of a chocolate cookie recipe that didn't require any cocoa powder or baking chocolate.
Then my eyes happened to rest upon this lifesaver:

Total "Heaven Hallelujah" moment. (And by the way this whole post is pretty much an ode to how unprepared I can be at times.)

I used this super simple 3 ingredient nutella cookie recipe, but you can add any variety of variations, uch as adding some chocolate chips or chopped almonds, or melting ome mini marshmallows on top. Caramel would be great too...
I added 1/4 of a cup of peanut butter to make the nutty taste stand out more, but left the cookie mostly plain for further decoration.

RECIPE:
*1 cup nutella
*1 cup flour
*1 egg

PREPERATION:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.) Mix all the ingredients together. The dough will be a bit crumbly but will hold.



(Yes I realize this looks quite dubious)



3.) Roll into 1 inch balls and then press down until they are round and flat
4.) Bake for 7-8 minutes

They don't turn out super pretty, but are quite delicious and not too sweet.

Then I drizzled them with vanilla frosting and put two Skittles to resemble eyes on top. I had originally planned on M&Ms to do that but couldn't find them, so I substituted with Skittles.

You can use a flat piper and make bandage-like strips (which was, again, what I had been planning on doing, but I had lost that particular piping tip so I had to make do with drizzling.)
or you can go creative and decorate it with skull heads and such. I was strapped for time and too tired to be creative, so the results were less fantastic as I would've liked the to be, but they still turned out great and plus I had everything done in under 30 minutes.
Happy Halloween!

Nutella brownies

Ah... Nutella...
Can you say that it's like the oreo of chocolate hazelnut sauces in a jar? I have quite a flamboyant love affair with this hazelnutty chocolate sauce. Over the years, I've experimented with brand new jars of Nutella and various results; peanut butter and nutella swirled together with peanuts and marshmallows and crumbled grahmn crackers, nutella french toast, nutella cupcakes, nutella brownies, nutella and a spoon. This heavenly delight is one of my many vices, along with Gossip Girl novels, Chanel, and anything and everything chocolate.

Okay, okay, I get it- I guess I live a mostly hedonistic lifestyle where I give in to the majority of my cravings. But I deserve that after all those hours of tennis and having to stay awake through first period.

These brownies come out super moist, and the hazelnut taste of the nutella balances everything out perfectly. I like to put some sort of topping on it to add some crunch and break up the monotony. The original recipe, which I think I got from my friend's mom and have seen on countless websites, calls for 1/2 a cup of nutella, but my brownies didn't come out as fudgey as I wanted them at first, so I ended up adding more nutella and it turned out way more dense- yum!


RECIPE:
*3/4 cup of nutella, or just 1/2 if you're going to add instant coffee powder
*1 teaspoon instant coffee powder (optional)
*1 egg
*5 tablespoons flour
*1/2 cup chopped peanuts to top, or any kind of topping you would like- nuts, chocolate chips, cranberries (optional)

PREPERATION:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit
2.) Mix together the nutella and egg
3.) Add in the flour and instant coffee powder
4.) Spoon into greased mini-muffin or cups and sprinkle the peanuts
5.) Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until you can put a toothpick through the center and it comes out clean