Hot Cocoa Chocolate Chip Cookies

I participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap of 2014 this year. It's an awesome program; food bloggers all donate to Cookies For Kids' Cancer to participate and then swap cookies with other food bloggers. I started compiling a ton of awesome cookie recipes and stumbled upon this great one from The Girl Who Ate Everything (great blog title, too). These hot cocoa cookies are easy to make and extremely delicious. This recipe makes about 30 medium-sized cookies. Enjoy & happy holidays!

Glühwein

I used to live in Germany during my early teenage years and one thing that is extremely popular over there - especially during the Christmas holiday - is warm, mulled wine. I decided to make a batch for myself and some friends to enjoy and couldn't believe just how easy it was. Enjoy & Frohe Weihnachten!

Thanksgiving Quiche

Need something to do with those Thanksgiving leftovers other than sandwiches or Thanksgiving pizza? Grab some of those veggies, potatoes, and stuffing to make a delicious and filling Thanksgiving quiche. This recipe makes one quiche.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
One (1) 9" frozen pie crust -- you can also use homemade pie crust, especially if you have some left over from the holiday.
Four (4) large eggs, scrambled
One & a half (1 1/2) cups of chopped veggies -- I used mushroom, potato slices, onion, and green beans. I'm thinking corn, peas, or any other veggies you might have left over would be a great addition.
One (1) cup of cheese , shredded-- I used sharp cheddar cheese. You can use as many types of cheese as you'd like.
1/2 cup of stuffing
Small handful of Craisins
Two (2) cloves of minced garlic
One (1) tablespoon of butter
Salt & pepper to season 

Directions
Preheat your oven to 425F degrees.
Saute your veggies in butter and garlic until mostly soft.

Place these veggies at the bottom of the pie crust and cover with cheese.
Pour scrambled eggs on top of veggies, until it almost reaches the top of the pie crust, but not quite.

Cover eggs with stuffing and top with Craisins.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until completely cooked through (this may vary based on oven).

Remove from oven and enjoy while it is still warm.

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

If you don't like green bean casserole, but have only tried the Campbell's soup version, I highly urge you to try this recipe before you completely nix the idea. This fresh twist on an old classic is a great addition to your Thanksgiving table. This recipe makes about eight servings and is based off of a recipe over at The Novice Chef.

Guest Post: An Omnivore’s Quest for the Best Vegetarian “Meatball” - Part II

Welcome back, Chris! I look forward to one of your Friday Night Meatball get-togethers because these sound amazing.
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You may recall back in September I wrote a guest post for this blog in which I compared three vegetarian meatball recipes, in the hope that one of them would be my go-to recipe for vegetarian friends at our version of Friday Night Meatballs. You may also recall that none of the three recipes completely captured my endorsement.I’m back now after more time in my secret subterranean meatball laboratory*, and I’m happy to report that I have a recipe for vege-meatballs that I can proudly serve my guests. The recipe is a modification of Whole Foods’ Spaghetti and Vegan Meatballs recipe. This recipe won my competition but had some flaws that I couldn’t tolerate. 

With a scale of 1 (hideous) to 5 (excellent), the original recipe scored as follows: 

Preparation 4.5, Flavor 3.5, Texture 4, Sturdiness 3, Versatility 5. 

This gave it an overall score of 4.0, and a clear win over the other two recipes.  My modifications needed to focus on flavor and sturdiness, hopefully without compromising the other characteristics too much.  Sturdiness, in particular, was a big problem – the Whole Foods meatballs could not be trusted not to turn to mush in my marinara.

The original recipe has a body of black beans, brown rice, cremini mushrooms, sunflower seeds and spinach.  It adds garlic, onions, basil and oregano for flavor.

Vegan Chik'n Salad

I recently went to Land of Kush (Baltimore's only Southern-inspired vegan restaurant) for the first time this past month and was completely blown away. They have an amazing chicken salad wrap (in addition to everything else on their menu!) that I absolutely needed to replicate. I came up with something that is a hybrid of Land of Kush's meal and a recipe on FatFree Vegan Kitchen's website. This recipe makes about three cups of chik'n salad.

Vote for Me: Mobbies Edition!

It's time for Mobbies voting again! The Mobbies is an annual Baltimore Sun-promoted social media and blogging competition. This blog won Best Food Blog two years in a row and this year, I've been nominated again!

If you have a moment, please click through the link, log in (you can do it through Facebook, if that's easiest for you), and vote! Everyone can vote once per day between now and November 19th to choose your favorite bloggers. Here's what I've been nominated for:

Best Food Blog -- Let's Give Peas a Chance
Best Personal Twitter -- @annmariebrok

Click on the image above or follow this link and vote today!

Please feel free to vote for me in any or all of these categories. Thank you for your support!

xoxo,
Ann Marie

Best of 90s Food: DIY Lunchables

This year, the Baltimore Sun's Mobbies is asking each blogger to blog about the thing that she would like to bring back from the 90s. Being that this is a food blog, I went straight for everyone's favorite snacks from the 90s. Earlier this week, I posted a recipe for Hot Pockets and Dunkaroos. Today is a "recipe" for DIY Lunchables. Enjoy!

Best of 90s Food: Dunkaroos

This year, the Baltimore Sun's Mobbies is asking each blogger to blog about the thing that she would like to bring back from the 90s. Being that this is a food blog, I went straight for everyone's favorite snacks from the 90s. Earlier this week, I posted a recipe for Hot Pockets, and below is a recipe for the beloved Dunkaroos. Up next will be some DIY Lunchables and Pudding Pops. Enjoy!

Best of 90s Food: Hot Pockets

This year, the Baltimore Sun's Mobbies are asking each blogger to blog about the thing that she would like to bring back from the 90s. Being that this is a food blog, I went straight for everyone's favorite snacks from the 90s. Not only have I chosen to recognize various 90s food that I miss, but I have recreated them with homemade recipes. In addition to this recipe, I will be recreating and blogging the recipes for Dunkaroos, Lunchables and Pudding Pops. Sit back and enjoy this recipe for homemade Hot Pockets.

Red Potato and Roasted Summer Corn Chowder

I love when the weather gets a little crisp and I can huddle around a bowl of soup. I've been dying to make some soup this week, but kept forgetting to buy ingredients, so I went with what I had in my pantry: summer corn and red potatoes. This recipe makes about four servings (about 1 1/2 cups each) and is adapted from Damn Delicious' recipe. So, fire up your slow cooker and get to it!

Hearty Veggie and Brown Rice Salad Bowl

I love copycat recipes. I've made a couple before and google them often. One of my current favorite salads is Starbucks' veggies & rice salad bowl, but it costs about $8 each time I buy it (which is very often). I decided to make it for myself and spent about $15 on ingredients that made about five salads! The recipe is below and makes two salads.

Apple & Honey Flatbread Pizza

L'shanah Tova! Okay, I'm a couple days late in posting a Rosh Hashanah recipe, but it's so delicious, you'll be making it year-round. Here's to a sweet new year!

Side note: I'm living in a new house
with new lighting and it's taking me time
to figure out how to take good photos. Apologies!

Guest Post: An Omnivore’s Quest for the Best Vegetarian “Meatball”

Please welcome my friend & amazing home (& Instagram) chef, Chris. He decided to do the dirty work for us in finding the best veg meatball in all of the land. Welcome, Chris!

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I love meatballs.

I love vegetables too, and eat lots of them, but I’m a pretty committed omnivore. And I reserve a special place in hell for the commercial vegetarian burgers and meatballs that attempt to duplicate the taste of meat – usually with a list of unpronounceable chemicals. Why bother, when vegetables taste so great? Now if a veggie meatball can taste great without loading up on artificial flavorings, and come close to the texture and, well, meatballness of a real meatball, then we’re talking.

A friend alerted me to a wonderful blog post by Sarah Grey on the Serious Eats website. The post, Friday Night Meatballs: How to Change Your Life With Pasta describes her 9-month experiment with “Friday Night Meatballs” in which her family extends an open invitation to friends, relatives, social media contacts, and whoever to come by every Friday night for a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. It is a simple yet powerful idea; have company for a sit-down meal once a week, where those from all areas of your life meet and break bread, and take a regular break from your busy life and social isolation.

To keep it simple week after week, you need to serve something that (a) is easy to prepare in large quantity ahead of time, (b) you can specialize in and do well, and (c) almost everyone likes. Meatballs with pasta fits these requirements very nicely.

So my wife and I, with the cooperation and help from a few good friends, decided we wanted to try this. I’m hoping it changes our lives, just a bit.

This leaves a small but important dilemma. While I cook meatballs very well, a significant fraction of my friends are vegetarian, lactose-intolerant, and/or celiac. And both of my recipes feature copious amounts of meat, cheese and bread.

My turkey/spinach meatballs.
Needed an ironic photo for a vegetarian blog.

Hence, my search for the ultimate vegetarian meatball recipe.

Heirloom Tomato Pie

Tomato pie is a perfect summertime dinner. Head to your local farmers market (or to your home garden), pick up some heirlooms and get baking! I paired a slice of pie with some roasted corn on the cob to make it extra-summery. This recipe is adapted from Southern Boy Dishes, and makes one pie.

Taco Deviled Eggs

The Annual Deviled Egg Pageant strikes again! This year the eggs that I made were not technically winners, unlike previous years' eggs (last year's roasted garlic deviled eggs, and the first year's dill and stone-ground mustard deviled eggs). I like to believe this is because this year's competition was even more fierce than previous years (and plus, I was told that everyone was a winner). Either way, these taco deviled eggs were absolutely delicious and added a spicy twist to a classic dish. This recipe makes 24 deviled eggs.

 

Buffalo Tots

This weekend, I hosted a TOTluck! It's a great idea if you love potatoes and don't mind feeling like you're slowly turning into a tater tot. I made a couple different dishes for it, but this one was easy to throw together and everyone seemed to enjoy it. This recipe makes about two dozen bite-sized appetizers.

Cranberry, Walnut & Goat Cheese Salad

This past month, I went to a family gathering and my aunt made this amazing salad. It was so good and truly is so easy to make. Toss it together for your next event!

Roasted Kale Chips

My partner is damn good at making kale chips, so I had him teach me how and it's surprisingly easy. So, this week, head to your local farmers market, pick up a bag of kale and make some healthy and delicious kale chips. Warning: it is highly likely that you will eat an entire batch in one sitting.

Garlic Basil Beer Bread

I have a little basil plant sitting in my kitchen, begging me to use its leaves every time I walk in the room (so expect a lot of basil posts in the next couple weeks). If you don't know this about me already, I love cooking (especially baking) with beer, because you don't have to add additional yeast and you can just put it right in the oven with no wait time. This recipe makes one loaf of bread and is perfect for a filling snack.

Caprese Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is perfect for a cookout, party, or even a non-occasion because it's super-easy to make with a lot of delicious pay-out. This recipe took some inspiration from Recipe Favorite and makes about 22-ounces of pasta salad. Enjoy!

Roasted Potato Wedges

All you need to make some bitchin' potato wedges are potatoes (I hope that was obvious), salt/pepper/seasoning/herb of your choice, olive oil, and an apple corer. Oh, and about 45 minutes of your time. This recipe makes about 2-3 large servings (or 36 small wedges). Enjoy!

Baked Egg & Avocado

Apparently, baking eggs inside of avocados has been gaining popularity for the past year or so (Pinterest told me so) and I needed to see what all the hype was about. After trying it, I definitely think they are onto something! It is extremely easy to make, has a great full flavor, and is protein-packed. I topped my egg with parmesan and garlic, but you could easily add anything you'd like. Also, I toasted and sliced up an everything bagel to dip into the warm yolk and it was heaven. This recipe makes two servings.

Pistachio Sesame Vegetable & Rice Bowl

There are so many fresh veggies out there right now, it's hard not to get excited about the possibilities! I tossed together some of the veggies hanging out in my house and made a delicious stir fry, served over brown rice. This recipe makes one large dinner serving or two lunch servings. Enjoy!

Sauteed Mushroom, Pistachio & Feta Salad

I'm sure y'all remember that Simpsons episode in which Lisa becomes a vegetarian. The rest of the family berates her with a chant of, You don't win friends with salad!

I am here to tell you that, actually, you can win friends with salad, if that salad is full of hearty mushrooms, creamy cheese, and a spicy Indigo Frisee mix. So, drop on by your local farmers market & start making friends.

Pistachio, Goat Cheese & Arugula Pizza

This pizza is somewhat inspired by Owl Bar's wild mushroom pizza. Instead of using mushrooms, though, I used pistachio. You'll find that these toppings together create a fresh, nutty, and filling pizza.

Cheddar & Roasted Garlic Beer Muffins

I love beer, cheese, and garlic. I love muffins. Must I go on? This recipe is based off of a recipe from the amazing Beeroness (I love her blog so much) and makes about ten muffins.

Boozy French Toast

This recipe is sweet and perfect for feeding a handful of hungry people during brunch. Make the recipe the night before and bake right before you need to serve it! This weekend I made two batches (one with french bread and one with challah) and they were both sweet and filling. The recipe below is adapted from smitten kitchen and makes one 9x13-inch pan's worth of delicious french toast. Enjoy!

Spicy Peanut Butter Tofu Stir Fry

This recipe was a first for me. Preparing tofu is always something I get nervous about every time I make it because it is such a finicky food (it can go anywhere from tasting like an amazing and filling meal to tasting like a sponge). This recipe is based off of a peanut butter tofu recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen and turned out really well. It wasn't as smooth as the original recipe made it look, but it was every bit as delicious as I wanted it to be. Pro tip: the meal tasted even better as leftovers, so try to save a little if you can handle it. This recipe makes about 4-5 servings.

Baked Brie Topped with Raspberry, Almond & Honey

Baked Brie is such a delicious appetizer with little prep time and a big pay-out. I love that Brie tastes just as good if you make it sweet or savory. This recipe is a great appetizer if you are serving anywhere from 5-10 people. Be sure to serve it with a baguette or crackers. Enjoy!

Guest Post: Grow and Cook With Hydroponic Tomatoes

I am so glad that Chris, also known as Captain Hydroponics, offered to do a guest post for me! There's nothing more rewarding than growing your own veggies to then cook and eat. Check out his awesome post on growing hydroponic tomatoes and drool over the grilled homegrown tomato recipe at the end. If you'd like to start hydroponic gardening, check out Chris' free 50+ page guide. Remember, if you also want to guest post, please don't hesitate to contact me. Enjoy!
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Growing vegetables and fruits hydroponically is not only an environmentally-responsible way to feed you and your family; it's really a lot of fun! You don't need to be an expert to build a good setup. There's so much information available about lighting, feeding solutions, and hydroponic budget builds – all that's required is a little reading and a relatively small investment in equipment or virtually nothing if you make a DIY system.

Tomatoes traditionally take about 90 days to ripen and many of us have a growing season that only allows one major harvest a year. As most of you know, the price goes up considerably when they're out of season, while the overall quality of the fruit you actually goes down. This is because they need to be shipped from tropical growing climates, usually far from where you live to get to your supermarket.

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

It was a dark & stormy night and I was craving comfort food. I found a great shepherd's pie recipe from Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen and went to work. This recipe makes about three ramekins worth of this hearty and filling dish. The original recipe called for mushrooms - which I was totally out of - so I omitted them, but I do think they'd be an amazing addition. Whatever you do with it, I'm sure it'll be delicious.

Rosemary, Gruyere & Swiss Beer Muffins

I found this amazing recipe from The Beeroness for cheddar beer bread muffins. I am a huge fan of cheddar, but for these muffins, I decided to change course a bit. I bought the beer first, actually, and decided to choose the herbs and cheese around that. I started with Long Trail Brewing Co.'s Ramble. It's a Kolsch "with a hint of lemon and pepper." This sounded amazing and refreshing to me - especially as I am wishing the winter to go away - and I decided to make a lighter savory muffin, thus settling on rosemary, gruyere, and swiss. This recipe makes 10 muffins.

Buffalo Chickpea Salad

Between work, school, and my internship, I am constantly busy. This salad was perfect for me to make the night before, toss it into a Tupperware container and move on with my life. Not to mention that this recipe (originally from Betsy Life) makes two servings, so you can share or have leftovers all for yourself! Enjoy!

Homemade Ketchup

I have a friend that loves ketchup. Like, the put-it-on-everything kind of love. For his birthday this year, I made some homemade ketchup with the guidance of skinnytaste. This recipe makes about 10 ounces of delicious, and slightly spicy ketchup. Making ketchup yourself allows you to decide on the flavor (more sweet, less sweet, more spicy, etc.) and allows you to control the ingredients (no high fructose corn syrup or "natural flavoring," whatever that means). In that case, enjoy your homemade ketchup!

Chik'n Fried Rice

Making fried rice at home is always something that daunted me. Until now, the closest I got was buying the frozen fried rice and tossing it into a frying pan. Last night, I conquered my fears. It actually turned out really well! There were a few things I want to work on (see "notes"), but overall it was a huge success. This recipe makes 4-5 servings and was inspired by this post by Rachel Schultz.

Goat Cheese Polenta Bites

Last weekend was the Super Bowl, also known as "the only day of the year that I actually watch football and use that as an excuse to eat everything in sight." I was perusing my favorite blogs for a good appetizer to bring to my Super Bowl party & came across this delicious appetizer from The Kitchn. Because I was in such a hurry to get them over to the party, I forgot to take "finished" photos, but they looked as awesome as they tasted. This recipe makes 16 bite-size servings.

Low-Fat Peanut Butter Dip

I think it's safe to say that I am addicted to peanut butter. I can eat (and have eaten) peanut butter as a part of every meal of my day. I realize that this isn't a sustainable model, especially if I am trying not to gain a million pounds simply because I can't cut out Jif. I found this recipe on FitSugar and it promises to be much healthier and lower calories (40 calories)** than peanut butter, but still has the same taste. I tried it out and was pleasantly surprised. The dip doesn't have the same consistency as peanut butter, but it does taste similarly! I'd suggest eating it the same way you would peanut butter, with fruit, veggies, sandwiches, etc. (although I haven't tried eating it on anything warm yet, not sure how that would go). Enjoy!

Coconut Banana Bread

I found this recipe on Pinterest and immediately wanted to make it. Not only does it add coconut (one of my favorites!) to banana bread, but it's low-fat at only 115 calories per slice! The recipe originally comes from FitSugar and makes one loaf of delicious bread.

My Favorite Food Blogs of 2013

Before the January ends, I should probably post this 2013 round-up post. While I'd be flattered to think that this is the only food blog that you read (d'awww), I know that this would be pretty impossible (and mean that you only eat like, once per week). Check out my favorite food blogs of 2013. If I missed any that you specifically love, let me know in the comments. Enjoy!

Photo from blogher.com

Four-Bean Salad

Okay, so you know three-bean salads. They're delicious, healthy, full of protein. Well, I upped the ante and added a fourth bean. I know; I take some pretty intense culinary risks. This healthy and filling salad is perfect with tortilla chips, on a green salad, on pasta, or on its own. Enjoy the protein and the hearty taste! This recipe is based off of a Real Simple recipe and makes a huge bowl.

Two-Year Anniversary

Today marks the two-year anniversary of my first blog post on Let's Give Peas a Chance! I am thrilled to have such an amazing two years cooking and writing, and meeting others who do the same.

Pizza Quiche

This is definitely one of the weirdest recipes I've put together. In fact, I didn't even know if it would work or would taste good at all until it came out of the oven. This weekend, my friend had a pizza party/competition at his house and I brought a cauliflower crust pizza and this concoction. Surprisingly - or at least to me - the pizza quiche tasted good and even won runner-up in the vegetarian category! So, if you're feeling daring or just dying to make a weird pizza, check it out and enjoy.

Caprese Appetizers

I made a bunch of these for a friend's party the other night. They were very easy to make (I actually prepped and assembled everything on-site) and people really enjoyed them. This recipe makes about 16-20 servings.

Hoppin' John

Hoppin' John is a traditional meal to bring luck into the new year. It is usually made with bacon or some other meat, but Thug Kitchen posted an awesome vegan recipe this week. I changed things up a bit and tossed it all in my slow cooker. I served it over brown rice, but I've also heard of it being served with sauteed greens. This recipe makes about six servings. Have a happy & fruitful new year!