Cookies and Cream Cheese Sandwiches

Want to talk about a party in your mouth that everyone is invited too.... Cause that about sums up these bad boys! 

After Gimmi spent a few days working on her Simple Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, we had all these cookies laying around, along with left over cream cheese icing from my Carrot Cake adventure. So we decided what better thing to do then combine the two together and make yet another mouth watering dessert. 

Here you go... these babies are easy to throw together and are bound to be the talk of the town. 

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING INGREDIENTS:
2 (8 oz.) bricks cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
8 cups powdered sugar

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 sticks softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp good vanilla
2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips (We prefer enjoy life vegan chocolate chips)

HOW TO MAKE THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
Using an electric mixer, mix together cream cheese and butter on medium speed for 1 minute or until smooth with no lumps remaining. Add in vanilla extract and continue mixing until combined. Lower speed to medium-low and gradually add in powdered sugar. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until combined.
If frosting is too thick, you can add in a teaspoon or two of water. If it is too thin, you can add in more powdered sugar.

HOW TO MAKE THE COOKIES
Cream (mix) butter, vanilla and sugar together, and add eggs one at a time. Then slow add dry ingredients. Once mixture is smooth stir in chocolate chips.
Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours, over nigth works best - but I can never wait this long.
Preheat oven to 375
Taking heaping table spoons of dough and roll into balls
Place on an un-greased baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes
Cool and then ... make into delicious little sammies!!!

Xoxo,
G

Cabbage Kale Chips

Cabbage Kale Chips are super easy and super healthy!

What you need:
Kale
EVOO
Savvy Sisters House Seasoning
Cookie sheet

• Pre-heat over to 300 degrees. 
• Rinse your kale very well, dry it, and then tear into small pieces being sure to remove any stems. 
• Next lightly coat your kale in EVOO and massage it into all the nooks and crannies. Season with our house seasoning, you can use a lot or a little it just depends on how much seasoning you like. 
• Take each kale leaf and lay it flat on the baking sheet, be sure not to over crowd them or they will get soggy not crispy like you want. 
• Bake on the bottom rack for 10 minutes and then move to the top rack for another 15 minutes. Take out of oven and let cool. 

Then devour them, because they're delicious and there's no other way.


Kisses,
Gim

Crispy Cauliflower Popcorn

We love a good Friday night movie date and all the snacks that go along with it. However, this Crispy Cauliflower Popcorns has to be our go to movie night snack for sure. It's so easy to make, healthy to eat, and delicious on the taste buds. It's an all around winner in our book and I think you will feel the same way. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 head of cauliflower chopped into bite size pieces
• 1 tablespoon EVOO
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• Peper to taste

How to prepare:

• Preheat over to 425
• Combined all ingredients into a plastic bag and shake it up
• After all cauliflower is good and coated, place it on a baking sheet
• Bake for 10-15 min 
• I like to turn on the broiler for a few minutes to get the edges really crispy, just make sure you don't walk away and forget. 

I really hope you get to make these for your next movie night, you won't regret it. 

Xoxo,

G

Simple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Baking is a much different art form than simply cooking. It involves precise measurements and there is really no improvising. I love to do both but think that baking is much harder and there for I am constantly trying recipes over and over again. This is the current recipe for these chocolate chip cookies but it will definitely change and evolve over time in my quest for making the perfect chocolate chip cookie.

I like my cookies kind of chewy and a little under done. How do you like your cookies??

Chocolate Chip Cookies:
~2 cups all purpose flour
~2 sticks softened butter
~1 cup granulated sugar
~1/2 cup dark brown sugar
~2 eggs
~1 tsp salt
~1 tsp baking soda
~1 tbsp good vanilla
~2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips
(I prefer enjoy life vegan chocolate chips)

Cream (mix) the butter, vanilla and sugar together, and add eggs one at a time. Then slowly add dry ingredients. Once mixture is smooth stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours, over night works best (but Gigi can never wait this long).
Preheat oven to 375
Take heaping tablespoons of dough and roll into balls
Place on an un-greased baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes
Cool and then devour!

Kisses,
Gim

Pineapple Ginger Juice

There is nothing more refreshing then a big glass of a freshly juiced pineapple and some ginger root. But what's even better are the amazing health benefits that come from this juice.

Let's start with the pineapple as it is loaded with vitamin C, B1, B3, B5 and B6. It is also an excellent source of manganese, folic acid, dietary fiber, potassium, copper, and carotene. It also improves digestion, helps with inflammation, as well as respiratory conditions and it can even sooth a sore throat.

 
Now lets talk about this incredible root called ginger, it is used for to help with asthma, coughs, colic, heart palpitations, swellings, dyspepsia, loss of appetite and rheumatism, nausea, vomiting, morning sickness, inflammation, headaches, sore throat, alleviating indigestion and associated problems such as flatulence, along with relieving swelling and pain... just to name a few things! 

As you can tell this juice, while simple, is very powerful. So let all raise a glass of some pineapple ginger juice and cheers to the health of our bodies. 

Recipe: 

1 Pineapple 

1 inch by 3 1/2 inch piece of Ginger 

xoxo,
gigi

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Alright guy's... this is a really exciting post for me because this is the first cake I have ever baked and it turned out so good!!!!!!

Baking is not really my thing. I hate following a recipe (oh the humor in writing a recipe blog) I really just don't like following rules. The struggle is real! So baking and I just never got along, until now!

The idea of baking a carrot cake came to me when we pulled up these amazing and beautiful carrots out of our garden. I knew there were only so many carrots we could eat over the next week and so I thought we could use some to make a yummy treat. After days of talking about, I finally got down and dirty in the kitchen and whipped this bad boy up and man if he was a be-a-u-ty. I do have to say I am pretty proud of this one and am excited to bake another, I'm thinking a coffee cake is next!


CARROT CAKE INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
1 cup organic sugar
1 cup organic brown sugar
5 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups flour
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
2 cups finely-grated fresh carrots
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING INGREDIENTS:
2 (8 oz.) bricks cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
8 cups powdered sugar


HOW TO MAKE THE CARROT CAKE:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Grease four 8-inch round baking pans.

In the bowl of a large stand mixer, mix together oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until combined and smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, and mix until smooth.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cloves) until combined. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the mixing bowl, and beat on medium-speed until well combined. Then fold in the grated carrots and walnuts by hand, and stir until combined.

Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. Then bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Remove pans and let them cool until the cakes reach room temperature.

Layer the cakes with the cream cheese frosting, and then frost the outside of the cake as you desire. Serve that day or store, covered, for up to 4 days.

HOW TO MAKE THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
Using an electric mixer, mix together cream cheese and butter on medium speed for 1 minute or until smooth with no lumps remaining. Add in vanilla extract and continue mixing until combined. Lower speed to medium-low and gradually add in powdered sugar. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until combined.

If frosting is too thick, you can add in a teaspoon or two of water. If it is too thin, you can add in more powdered sugar.

I really hope you give this cake a try!

xoxo,
gigi