Sweet Treats

I really do enjoy baking, however, Mr. Lucas does not eat a bunch of sweet stuff. The problem is, since he does not eat sweets, if I baked them regularly I would eat it all myself and be morbidly obese. I have really been wanting to bake so this weekend, I just did it. I figured I could give most of it away and not feel guilty for eating a few treats. So, I got to baking!

But first things first, egg nog! 

I made chocolate chip walnut cookies from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, best recipe ever!

Some of the cookies I dipped in chocolate. 

I also made chocolate dipped pretzel sticks and coated some with chopped walnuts.

Then, to bring things to a close, I made molasses cookies. It was so much fun, I have not baked that much...ever! All while jamming out to some Christmas tunes on Pandora. 

My parents and Grandmother leave for Ruidoso, NM, tomorrow morning so packaged up some of the treats for them to have while they are on the road. 

I ended the evening with watching Christmas Vacation, the funniest Christmas move ever!

Cheers! 

Happy New Year's Eve!

I have had a rather nice day today. I woke up at the crack of dawn to get in line at the DMV to change the last name on my drivers licence since I am married, and have been for the last 2 months. Figured it was about time. Yep, I am now a Lucas. You know...there is a semi identity crisis that comes along with changing your name but I got over it pretty quickly!

Then, when I got back home after the hustle and bustle of the DMV, I made a crack at vegan baking! I wanted to make something for a friend that is Vegan. Since I eat meat, I know not a whole lot about Vegan baking, but I do know that the Spiral Diner is pretty fantastic! 

I found a great recipe for cookies over at Veg Fort Worth. This is a great recipe. The cookies turned out fantastic! You would never know they were Vegan. You know, this girl over at Veg Fort Worth just may turn me Vegan! You must try this recipe. I did not have vegan white choc so I just used semi sweet chocolate chips. 

Cheers and Happy New Year! 

Food

Last night I made one of my favorite sandwiches to eat. The weather has been a little cooler and it is just starting to feel like fall so...I pulled out this recipe that reminds me of fall for some reason.

Balsamic-Glazed Chicken Sandwiches with Red Onions and Goat Cheese and Sweet Potato Wedges:

The recipe came from my November 2004 issue of Cooking Light. I love that magazine!! I just got one in the mail today. I am going to read on the drive to Arkansas tomorrow.

3/4c balsamic vinegar

1/2c dry red wine

1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2 (6oz.) skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/12c thinly sliced red onion

1 (3oz.) pack of goat cheese

4 whole wheat/grain buns



1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring mixture to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook until reduces to 1/3c (about 12 minutes). Remove from heat. Cool slightly (**Warning this stuff is scalding hot! Be careful. I burned my hand very badly once from sloshing this on myself by accident**).

2. While vinegar mixture is cooking, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan, cook for 4 minutes on each side or until done (I usually cook them longer). Remove chicken from pan and thinly slice. Cover and keep warm.

3. Add oil to pan; reduce temp to medium-low. Add onion, cook for 5 minutes or until onion is soft and beginning to brown, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

4. Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons goat cheese evenly over bottom half of bun, divide sliced chicken and onion evenly over rolls. Drizzle each serving with about 1 tablespoon balsamic mixture and top with other half of bun. You can also add arugula if you like.

Yields 4 servings.

I also made some lemon drop cookies and Oatmeal muffins for the trip. The oatmeal muffins turned out great. I added extra Cinnamon and used almond extract instead of vanilla.

I may post these recipes a little later. Now I am off to the Herb n' Health to pick some stuff up for the trip.