Oreo Truffles

I got this recipe from my girl Colleen. She used to make these delectable chocolate-y truffles for us at PSU, so I thought I'd take on the challenge myself. But of course, I gave it my own little twist! You can't tell from the picture but under the chocolate shell, and inside the truffle are either peanut butter or caramel fillings.  The peanut butter ones are soooo good!

Oreo Truffles

Ingredients: 

- 1 bag of Oreo cookies

- 1 package of cream cheese (room temperature)

- 1 bag of chocolate chips (white, or semi-sweet.. your choice!)

- 1 cookie sheet and wax paper (optional)

- 2 tablespoons shortening

Procedure:

1.   Crush up entire pack of oreos (food processor would work best, if not a blender works, or even putting them in a ziploc and pounding).  The finer you crush the oreos, the better.

2.  In a bowl, add room temperature cream cheese to crushed oreos.  Combine completely until mixed evenly throughout.

3.  Spoon 1 inch balls of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. This is where I added in the peanut butter and caramel. Just dab inside the middle of the cookie dough and roll up!

4.  Put into refrigerator for an hour (or until completely firm)

5.  Once firm, melt half the bag of morsels with a dab of vegetable shortening (to thin) in the microwave (follow melting directions on packaging) *I do half a bag at a time just to keep the chocolate soft

6.  Dip balls into melted chocolate

7.  Drizzle remaining chocolate over top of the truffles

*These truffles usually need to be refrigerated at all times to avoid melting of the outer chocolate.

Thanks Coll! 

Smoothie Time!

Good morning Hoboken! Every morning, I wake up and make a smoothie for breakfast. This usually consists of me throwing what ever fruit and juice I have in a blender then running out the door. But today, I had a little more time to put some love into my creation.. and it looked so pretty that I just had to take a picture!

Today we have - Acai juice, bananas, mangos, spinach (yes spinach!), strawberries, and yogurt.

Drink it up!

Roasted and Pureed Cauliflower

This was a fun and easy recipe to make; similar to mashed potatoes.. but better!  I've never had cauliflower puree before but after making it, I'm definitely a fan! Trust me, you should give it a try. It's a delicious side dish to any meal.

Roasted and Pureed Cauliflower

• 2 heads cauliflower, core removed, cut into florets
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 bunch chives, minced for garnish

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

- On a sheet tray, spread 1/4 of the florets with the oil, season with salt and bake until caramelized, about 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine remaining cauliflower, milk and half a teaspoon of salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Bring mixture to a simmer, cover, and cook until cauliflower is tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Strain cauliflower from milk mixture, reserving both.
- Transfer cauliflower to a blender. Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and butter to the blender. Add half of the reserved milk liquid.
- Secure top on blender and puree mixture until smooth. If mixture is too thick, thin by adding some of the remaining liquid. Season, to taste.
- Serve in a large serving bowl topped with caramelized florets.
(foodnetwork.com)

Special White Pizza

Today's lunch special: Garlic white pizza topped with spinach, broccoli, mutz (in Hoboken thats means mozzarella), and goat cheese. SOOO good! My sister Jillian gave me the recipe to her pizza dough a while back and I use it often... Homemade pizza just tastes so much better than take out.


Pizza dough:

2 cups flour (I use 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup white)
1 1/4 tsp yeast
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients.
Add olive oil and water.
Knead and let rise.

Vermont Cheddar Soup

Cheese. Yum. Enough said.

This recipe was given to be my Dave; he actually went to a Simon Pearce restaurant and was so impressed by this soup that we had to make it ourselves! Here is the recipe.

I have always wanted to make a homemade soup and this one was a great first choice! All the cooking steps were moving very quickly, so it was great to have some extra help in the kitchen to chop and stir! Celina actually got to enjoy some leftovers when she came to visit me in Hoboken over the weekend and it tasted even better the second time around.


As you can see, I am a big fan of spinach salads. Once again, this is due in part to Dave's influence. The definition of proper salad is spinach, a nut, a fruit, and a cheese. Simple but perfect. We also make a homemade dressing, which I will post another time. Pictured with the soup we have spinach, cashews, green apples, cranberries, and goat cheese. Yum-o!

With a cold winter approaching, be prepared to see more soups!